310 THE STORY OF THE STONE

removed, was found to contain two different kinds of delicacy.In the first box there were two kinds of steamed thina-s'b'marzipan cakes made of ground lotus-root and sugared cassia-flowers, and pine-nut and goose-fat rolls. The second boxcontained two sorts of fried things, one of them a heap of tinyJiao-zi only-about one inch long

'What have they got inside them?' Grandmother Jia asked.'Crab-meat,' said one of the old women who had brought

the boxes.Grandmother Jia frowned.'I shouldn't think anyone would feel like eating that now,'

she said. 'Much too rich.'The other type of fried confection consisted of a wide

variety of little pastry-shapes deep-fried in butter. These, too,met with the old lady's disapproval. She invited Aunt Xue tochoose first. Aunt Xue selected one of the little cakes oflotus-root marzipan. Grandmother Jia chose a goose-fat andpine-nut roll, but after merely tasting it, handed the-uneatenhalf to a maid.

Grannie Liu was fascinated by the delicately fashioned pas­tries. They had been looped or perforated or criss-crossed inevery conceivable shape and the soft dough instantaneouslyhardened in boiling butter-fat. The one she had selected wasshaped like a peony.

'The cleverest girl in our village couldn't make a paper cut­out as fine as that,' she said, holding it up for the others tosee. 'It seems almost a shame to eat it. I'd like to wrap up afew of these and take them home with me to use as patterns!'

The others laughed.'I'll give you a jarful to take back with you when you go,'

said Grandmother Jia. 'Eat these ones now, while they'restill hot.'

The others contented themselves with nibbling only one ortwo of whichever delicacies in the boxes took their fancy, butGrannie Liu and Ban-er, partly because of the novelty (neitherof them havin'g eaten such things before), and partly becausethe little pastry-shapes really were very pretty and, beingheaped promiscuously together, tempted you to go on eating

CHAPTER 41 311

them to discover what new shapes were lying underneath,went on munching away until they had tried several of everyshape, by which time about half the pile had vanished. Xi-fenghad what was left on the four dishes heaped together onto twoof them and put into a single box, and sent it over to the LotusPavilion for Elegante and the eleven other little actresses toeat.

Just then the nurse appeared carrying Xi-feng's little girl,who at once became the main focus of their attention. She wasclutching a large grapefruit, but as soon as she caught sightof the Buddha's hand that Ban-er was holding, she decidedthat she wanted that, and let up a wail when the maids whowere attempting to coax it from Ban-er could not procure itfor her quickly enough. A resourceful cousin saved thesituation by hurriedly taking the grapefruit and inducing Ban­er to make an exchange. Ban-er had by this time been playingwith the Buddha's hand for quite a long while and had moreor less exhausted its possibilities; moreover at the moment hehad his hands full of fried pastry-shapes; and the grapefruitnot only smelled good but, being round, made an excellentfootball. For these three reasons he concluded that it was analtogether more satisfactory fruit than the Buddha's hand andabandoned all interest in the latter.

*

When everyone had taken tea, Grandmother Jia, with the restof the party following, conducted Grannie Liu to GreenBower Hermitage, where they were met at the gate by the nunAdamantina. Inside the courtyard the trees and shrubs had athriving, well-cared-for look.

'Monks and nuns always have the best-kept gardens,' saidGrandmother Jia, in smiling approval of what she saw. ''Theyhave nothing else to do with their time.'

They were walking towards the meditation hall on the eastside of the courtyard. As they seemed to hesitate in the outerfoyer, Adamantina invited them to go on inside, but Grand­mother Jia declined.

'No, we won't go inside just now. We've all recently taken

312. THE STORY OF THE STONE

wine and meat, and as you've got the Bodhisattva in there, itwould be sacrilege. We can sit out here, where we are. Bringus some of your nice tea. We'll just drink one cup and then goout again.'

Adamantina hurried off to make tea.Having heard a good deal about her, Bao-yu studied her

very attentively, when she arrived back presently with thetray. It was a little cinque-lobed lacquer tea-tray decoratedwith a gold-infilled engraving of a cloud dragon coiled roundthe character for 'longevity'. On it stood a little covered tea­cup of Cheng Hua enamelled porcelain. Holding the tray outrespectfully in both her hands, she offered the cup to Grand­mother Jia.

'I don't drink Lu-an tea,' said Grandmother Jia.'I know you don't,' said Adamantina with a smile. 'This is

Old Man's Eyebrows.'Grandmother 'Jia took the tea and inquired what sort of

water it had been made with.'Last year's rain-water,' said Adamantina.After drinking half, Grandmother Jia handed the cup to

Grannie Liu.'Try it,' she said. 'See what you think of it.'Grannie Liu gulped down the remaining half.'Hmn. All right. A bit on the weak side, though. It would

be better if it were brewed a little longer.'Grandmother Jia and the rest seemed to derive much amuse­

ment from these comments.The others were now served tea in covered cups of' sweet­

white' eggshell china - all, that is, except Bao-chai and Dai-yu,whom Adamantina tugged by the sleeve as an indication thatthey should follow her inside. Bao-yu stealthily slipped outafter them and saw Adamantina usher them into a side-roomleading off the foyer. This was Adamantina's own room.Inside it Bao-chai seated herself on the couch and Dai-yu saton Adamantina's meditation mat. Adamantina busied herselfat the stove, fanning the charcoal until the water was boilingvigorously and brewing them a fresh pot of tea. Bao-yu

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stepped softly into the room and made his presence known tothe two cousins.

'Soyou get the hostess's special brew?''Yes,' they said laughing. 'And it's no good your gate­

crashing in here after us, because there's none for you.'Just as Adamantina was about to fetch cups for the girls,

an old lay-sister appeared at the door carrying the empties shehad been collecting in the foyer.

'Don't bring that Cheng Hua cup in here,' said Adamantina.'Leave it outside.'

Bao-yu understood immediately. It was because GrannieLiu had drunk from it. In Adamantina's eyes the cup was nowcontaminated. He watched her as she got cups out for thegirls. One of them, a cup with a handle, had

THE PUMPKIN CUP

carved in /i-shu characters on one side and

Wang Kai his Treasure

in little autograph characters. on the back, followed by anothercolumn of tiny characters:

Examined by Su Dong-po in the Inner TreasuryFourth month Yuan-feng era anno 5°

When she had poured tea into this cup she handed it to Bao­chai.

The other cup was shaped like a miniature begging-bowland was inscribed with the words

THE HORN LINK GOBLET

in 'pearl-drop' seal script. Adamantina filled it and handed itto Dai-yu.

She poured tea for Baocyu in the green jade mug that shenormally drank from herself. Bao-yu commented jokingly onthe choice:

'I thought you religious were supposed to treat all earthlycreatures alike. How comes it that the other two get priceless

314 THE STORY OF THE STONE

heirlooms to drink out of but I only get a common old thinglike this?'

'I have no wish to boast,' said Adamantina, 'but this "com­mon old thing" as you call it may well be more valuable thananything you could find in your own household.'

'In the world's eyes, yes,' said Bao-yu. 'But "other coun­tries, other ways ", you know. When I enter your domain, Inaturally adopt your standards and look on gold, jewels andjade as common, vulgar things.'

Adamantina glowed with pleasure. In place of the jade mugshe hunted out a large drinking-bowl for him to drink out of.It was carved from a gnarled and ancient bamboo root in thelikeness of a coiled-up dragon with horns like antlers.

'There, that's the only thing I've got left. Do you think youcan drink so much?'

Delightedly he assured her that he could.'Yes, I dare say you could too,' said Adamantina. 'But I'm

not sure that I'm prepared to waste so much of my best tea onyou. You know what they say: "One cup for a connoisseur,two for a rustic, and three for a thirsty mule". What sort ofcreature does that make you if you drink this bowlful?'

Bao-chai, Dai-yu and Bao-yu all three laughed at this.Adamantina poured the equivalent of about a cupful into thebamboo-root bowl. Savouring it carefully in little sips, Bao­yu found it of incomparable freshness and lightness and praisedit enthusiastically.

'You realize, of course,' said Adamantina seriously, 'that itis only because of the other two that you are drinking this. Ifyou had come here alone, I should not have given you any.'

Bao-yu laugh.ed.'I fully reiiiize that, and I don't feel in the least indebted to

you. I shall offer my thanks to them.'

Adamantina pondered this statement with unsmilinggravity.

, Yes. I think that would be sensible.'

'Is this tea made with last year's rain-water too?' Dai-yuasked her.Adamantina looked scornful.

CHAPTER 41 315

'Oh! can you reallY not tell the difference? I am quite disap­pointed in you. This is melted snow that I collected from thebranches of winter-flowering plum-trees five years ago, whenI was living at the Coiled Incense temple on Mt Xuan-mu. Imanaged to fill the whole of that demon-green glaze water-jarwith it. For years I couldn't bring myself to start it; then thissummer I opened it for the first time. Today is only the secondtime I have ever used any. I am most surprised that you cannottell the difference. When did stored ·rain-water have suchbuoyant lightness? How could one possiblY use it for a tea likethis? '

Dai-yu was too well aware of Adamantina's eccentricity toattempt a reply; and since it felt awkward to sit there sayingnothing, she signalled to Bao-chai that they should go. Whilethe three of them were leaving, Bao-yu stopped to have a wordwith Adamantina.

'That cup that the old woman drank out of: of course, Irealize that you can't possibly use it any more, but it seems ashame to throw it on one side. Couldn't you give it to the oldwoman? She's very poor, and if she sold it, she could probablylive for quite a long while on the proceeds. What do you think?'

Adamantina reflected for some moments and then nodded.'Yes, I suppose so. Fortunately I have never drunk out of

that cup myself. If I had, I should have smashed it to piecesrather than give it to her. If you want her to have it, though,you must give it to her yourself. I will have no part in it. Andyou must take it away immediately.'

'But of course,' said Bao-yu. 'No one would expect you tospeak to her. That would be an even greater pollution. Justgive the cup to me and I shall see to the rest.'

Adamantina ordered the cup to be brought in and handedover to Bao-yu. As he took it, Bao-yu said: .

,After we've gone, shall I get my boys to bring a few bucketsof water from the lake and clean the floor for you?'

Adamantina smiled graciously.'That would be very nice. But tell them to bring the water

only as far as the gate. They can leave it there at the foot ofthe outer wall. Tell them not to come inside.'

CHAPTER 41 317

A short walk took them to the monumental stone arch atthe entrance to the Reunion Palace.

'Goodness me!' said the old woman. 'You even have a

temple here!'She fell down on her knees and kat owed, causing her young

companions to double up with laughter.'Why do you laugh?' she said. 'Do you think I don't know

what the words say? We have quite a few temples where Icome from and they all have arches like this. The writing onthe arch is the name of the temple.'

'All right. What's the name of this temple then?' they askedher.

Grannie Liu pointed upwards at the characters inscribedoverhead.

'''Temple of the Jade Emperor". That's what it says,doesn't it?'

This produced an ecstasy of merriment in the young people.No doubt they would have gone on teasing her, but just atthat moment there was an alarming rumble from her bowelsand she clutched the hand of one of the little maidservantsstanding by and begged her for the favour of a couple ofsheets ,ofpaper, while with the other hand she began undoingthe buttons of her dress.

The others, still laughing, shouted at her to stop.'No, no! Not here! Not here!'They told one of the older women to escort her to a place

beyond the north-east corner of the precincts where there wasa privy. Having led Grannie Liu to within sight of it andpointed it out to her, the old servant deemed this an excellentopportunity of taking some time off, and went away, leavingGrannie Liu to make her way back alone.

Now Grannie Liu had drunk quantities of yellow rice-wine,which did not in fact agree with her; on top of that she hadeaten a lot of rich, fatty food; and as the food had made herthirsty, she had concluded by drinking an excessive amount oftea. The upset stomach which was the inevitable consequenceof so much indulgence kept her a wearisome long time in theprivy before her business there was completed.

*

316 THE STORY OF THE STONE

'Of course,' said Bao-yu, putting the cup into his sleeve asthey went into the foyer. He found a junior maid of Grand_mother Jia's there and entrusted it to her.

'When Grannie Liu goes, see that she takes this cup withher, will you?'

By the time he had done this, Grandmother Jia was alreadyoutside in the courtyard expressing a desire to get back. Ada­mantina made no serious effort to detain her, and after seeingher guests out of the Hermitage, went in again and closed thegate after her.

Back at the scene of the party, Grandmother Jia, who wasfeeling somewhat exhausted, told Lady Wang and the girls toact as hostesses to Aunt Xue while she herself went off toSweet-rice Village for a rest. Xi-feng ordered the servants tofetch a little bamboo carrying-chair, which Grandmother Jiagot into. Two old women lifted it up, and then off they allwent, Xi-feng and Li Wan one on either side of it and a littlecohort of maids and older servants bringing up the rear.

As soon as Grandmother Jia had gone, Aunt Xue excusedherself and left. Lady Wang, having dismissed the youngactresses and given orders for the left-over food in the lacquerboxes to be distributed among the maids, also availed herselfof the opportunity of taking a rest. Putting her feet up on thecouch lately occupied by Grandmother Jia, she first caused theblinds to be let down, then, instructing one of the junior maidsto massage her legs, and murmuring something about' callingher if anyone came from Her Old Ladyship', she settled her­self <;lawnfor a nap.

Bao-yu and-the girls watched the maids take the food-boxesout onto the rockery. Some sat there on the rocks for theirpicnic; others spread out over the grass below or sat under thetrees or down at the water's edge. Although so dispersed, theymanaged to create a considerable hubbub.

After a little while Faithful arrived with instructions toshow Grannie Liu some more of the Garden. The cousins,hoping for more laughs, went along with them.