jia rui 's arrival be announce while xi-feng and patience be still talk about he .
' ask he in , ' say xi-feng .
hearing that he be to be receive , jia rui rejoice inwardly .
he come into the room wreathe in smile and overwhelm xi-feng with civility .
with feign solicitude she press he to be seat and to take tea .
he become quite ecstatic at the sight of she informal dress .
' why be not cousin lian back yet ? ' he ask , stare with fascinate eye .
' i do not know what the reason can be , ' say xi-feng .
' could it be , ' jia rui inquire archly , ' that someone have detain he on he way home and that he can not tear himself away ? '
' man be all the same ! ' say xi-feng .
' they have only to set eye on a woman to begin another affair . '
' ah , there you be wrong ! ' say jia rui .
' i be not that sort of man . '
' but how many man be there like you ? ' say xi-feng .
' i doubt you could find one in ten . '
at this last remark jia rui positively scratch he ear with pleasure .
' you must find it very dull here on you own every day , ' he say .
' yes , indeed ! ' say xi-feng .
' if only there be someone who could come and talk to i and help i to pass the time ! '
' well , ' say jia rui , ' i be always free .
how would it be if i be to come every day to help you pass the time ? '
' you must be joke ! ' say xi-feng .
' what would you want to come here for ? '
' i mean every word i say , ' say jia rui .
' may i be strike by lightning if i do not !
true , there be a time when i should have be scare to come , because people always tell i what a holy terror you be and how dangerous it be to cross you ; but now i know that in reality you be all gentleness and fun , there be nothing that could stop i come .
i would come now if it cost i my life . '
' it be true then , ' say xi-feng , smile delightedly .
' you really be a understanding sort of person --- so much more so than rong or qiang !
i use to think that since they be such handsome and cultured-looking young man they must be understand as well , but they turn out to be stupid brute without the least consideration for other people 's feeling . '
this little speech go straight to jia rui 's heart , and unconsciously he begin edge he seat nearer to xi-feng 's .
he peer closely at a embroidered purse that she be wear and express a strong interest in one of she ring .
' take care ! ' say xi-feng in a low tone .
' the servant might see you ! '
obedient to he goddess 's command , jia rui quickly draw back again .
xi-feng laugh .
' you have better go ! '
' ah no , cruel cousin !
let i stay a little longer ! '
' even if you stay , it be not very convenient here in broad daylight , with people come and go all the time .
go away now and come hack later when it be dark , at the beginning of the first watch .
you can slip into the gallery west of this apartment and wait for i there . '
jia rui receive these word like someone be present with a rare and costly jewel .
' be you sure you be not joke ? ' he ask hurriedly .
' a lot of people must go through that way .
how should we avoid be see ? '
' do not worry ! ' say xi-feng .
' i 'll give the watchman a night off .
when the side gate be close , no one else can get through . '
jia rui be beside himself with delight and hurriedly take he leave , confident that the fulfilment of all he wish for be now in sight .
have wait impatiently for nightfall , he grope he way into the rong-guo mansion just before they close the gate and slip into the gallery , now totally desert — as xi-feng have promise it would be — and black as pitch .
the gate at the end of the alley-way opening on to grandmother jia 's quarter have already be bar on the outer side ; only the gate at the east end remain open .
for a long time jia rui listen intently , but no one come .
suddenly there be a loud slam and the gate at the east end , too , banged shut .
alarm , but not daring to make a sound , jia rui stealthily creep out and try it .
it be lock — as tight as a bucket .
now even if he want to get out he could not , for the wall on either side of the alley-way be too high to scale .
moreover the gallery be bare and draughty and this be the midwinter season when the night be long and the bitter north wind seem to pierce into the very marrow of the bone .
by the end of the night he be almost dead with cold .
when at last morning come , jia rui see the gate at the east end open and a old woman pass through to the gate opposite and call for someone to open up .
still hug himself against the cold , he sprint out of the other gate while she back be towards he .
fortunately no one be about at that early hour , and he be able to slip out of the rear entrance of the mansion and run back home unseen .
jia rui have lose both of he parent in infancy and have be bring up under the sole guardianship of he grandfather jia dai-ru .
obsess by the fear that once outside the house he grandson might indulge in drinking and gamble to the detriment of he study , dai-ru have subject he since early youth to a iron discipline from which not the slightest deviation be tolerate .
see he now suddenly absent himself a whole night from home , and be incapable , in he wildest imagining , of guess what have really happen , he take it as a foregone conclusion that he have be either drinking or gaming and have probably pass the night in some house of prostitution --- a supposition which cause the old gentleman to spend the whole night in a state of extreme choler .
the prospect of face he grandfather on arrival make jia rui sweat .
a lie of some sort be indispensable .
' i go to see uncle yesterday , ' he manage to say , ' and as it be get dark , he ask i to stay the night . '
' i have always tell you that you be not to go out of that gate without first inform i , ' say he grandfather .
' why then do you presume to go off on you own yesterday without say a word to anybody ?
that in itself would constitute sufficient grounds for chastisement .
but in addition to that you be lie ! '
thereupon he , force he to the ground , and , with the utmost savagery , deal he thirty or forty whack with the bamboo , after which he forbid he to eat and make he kneel in the open courtyard with a book in he hand until he have prepare the equivalent of ten day ' homework .
the exquisite torment suffer by jia rui , as he kneel with a empty stomach in the draughty courtyard recite he homework after have already be freeze all night long and then beat , can be imagine .
yet even now he infatuation remain unaltered .
it never enter he mind that he have be make a fool of .
and so two day later , as soon as he have some free time , he be back once more look for xi-feng .
she deliberately reproach he for have fail she , thereby so exasperating he that he swear by the most terrible oath that he have be faithful .
see he hurl himself so willingly into the net , xi-feng decide that a further lesson would be need to cure he of he folly and propose another assignation .
' only tonight , ' she say , ' do not wait for i in that place again .
wait in the empty room in the little passage-way behind this apartment .
but mind you do not run into anybody . '
' do you really mean this ? ' say jia rui .
' if you do not believe i , do not come ! '
' i 'll come !
i 'll come ! ' say jia rui .
' whatever happen , i shall be there . '
' now i think you have better go . '
confident of see she again in the evening , jia rui go off uncomplainingly , leave xi-feng time to muster she force , brief she officer , and prepare the trap in which the luckless man be to be catch .
jia rui wait for the evening with great impatience .
by a stroke of bad luck some relation come on a visit and stay to supper .
it be already lamplight when they leave , and jia rui then have to wait for he grandfather to settle down for the night before he could scuttle off to the rong mansion and make he way to the room in the little passage-way where xi-feng have tell he to go .
he wait there for she arrival with the frenzied agitation of a ant on a hot saucepan .
yet , though he wait and wait , not a human shape appear nor a human sound be hear , and he begin to be frightened and a little suspicious : ' surely she will not fail i ?
surely i sha not be make to spend another night in the cold ... ? '
as he be in the midst of these gloomy imagining , a dark figure glide into the room .
certain that it must be xi-feng , jia rui cast all caution to the wind and , when the figure approach he , throw himself upon it like a hungry tiger seize its prey or a cat pounce on a harmless mouse .
' my darling , how i have wait for you ! " he exclaim , enfold he beloved in he arm ; and carry she to the kang , he lay she down and begin kiss she and tug at she trousers , murmur ' my sweetest darling ' and ' my honey love ' and other such endearment in between kiss .
throughout all of this not a single sound be utter by he partner .
jia rui now tear down he own trousers and prepare to thrust home he hard and throbbing member .
suddenly a light flash --- and there be jia qiang hold aloft a candle in a candlestick which he shine around : ' who be in this room ? '
at this the person on the kang give a giggle : ' uncle rui be try to bugger i ! '
horror !
the sight he see when he look down make jia rui want to sink into the ground .
it be jia rong !
he turn to bolt , but jia qiang hold he fast .
' oh no you do not !
auntie lian have already tell lady wang that you have be pester she .
she ask we to keep you here while she go to tell .
when lady wang first hear , she be so angry that she faint , but now she be come round again and be ask for you to be bring to she .
come along , then !
off we go ! '
at these word jia rui 's soul almost leave its seat in he body .
' my dear nephew , just tell she that you do not find i here ! ' he say .
' tomorrow i will reward you handsomely . '
' i suppose i could let you go easily enough , ' say jia qiang .
' the question be , how big would this reward be ?
in any case , just say that you will give i a reward be no good .
i should want a write guarantee . '
' but i can not put a thing like this down in write ! '
' no problem there , ' say jia qiang .
' just say that you have lose money gamble and have borrow such and such a amount to cover you loss .
that be all you need do . '
' i could do that , certainly , ' say jia rui .
jia qiang at once disappear and reappear only a moment later with paper and a writing-brush which have evidently be make ready in advance .
write at he dictation jia rui be compel , in spite of protest , to put down fifty tael of silver as the amount on the iou .
the document , have be duly sign , be at once pocket by jia qiang , who then pretend to seek the connivance of jia rong .
but jia rong feign the most obdurate incorruptibility and insist that he would lay the matter next day before a council of the whole clan and see that justice be do .
jia rui become quite frantic and kotowed to he .
finally , under pressure from jia qiang and in return for another iou for fifty tael of silver make out in he favour , he allow he scruple to be overcome .
' you realize , do not you , ' say jia qiang , ' that i be go to get into trouble for this ?
now let 's see .
the gate lead to lady jia 's courtyard be bolt some time ago , and sir zheng be at the moment in the main reception room look at some stuff that have just arrive from nanking , so you can not go through that way .
the only way leave would be through the back gate .
the trouble be , though , that if you leave now , you might run into someone on the way , and then i should get into even worse trouble .
you would better let i scout around a bit first and come for you when the coast be clear .
in the meantime you can t hide here , though , because they will shortly be come in to store the stuff from nanking here .
i 'll find somewhere else for you . '
he take jia rui by the arm , and have first blow the candle out , lead he into the courtyard and grope he way round to the underside of the step which lead up to the terrace of the central building .
' this hollow under the step will do .
crouch down there , and do not make a sound !
you can go when i come for you . '
jia qiang and jia rong then go off leave he to himself .
jia rui , by now a mere automaton in the hand of he captor , obediently crouch down beneath the step and be just begin a series of calculation respect he present financial predicament when a sudden slosh ! signal the discharge of a slop-pail 's stink contents immediately above he head , drenching he from top to toe with liquid filth and cause he to cry out in dismay --- but only momentarily , for the excrement cover he face and head and cause he to close he mouth again in a hurry and crouch silent and shiver in the icy cold .
just then jia qiang come run up : ' hurry ! hurry !
you can go now . '
at the word of command jia rui bound out of he hole and sprint for dear life through the rear gate and back to he own home .
it be now past midnight , and he have to shout for someone to let he in .
when the servant who answer the gate see the state he be in and ask he how it have happen , he have to pretend that he have be out in the darkness to ease himself and have fall into the jakes .
then rush into he own room he strip off he clothes and wash , he mind run all the time on how xi-feng have trick he .
the thought of she trickery provoke a surge of hatred in he soul ; yet even as he hate she , the vision of she loveliness make he long to clasp she to he breast .
tear by these violent and conflicting emotion , he pass the whole night without a single wink of sleep .
from that time on , though he long for xi-feng with unabated passion , he never dare to visit the rong-guo mansion again .
jia rong and jia qiang , on the other hand , come frequently to he house to ask for they money , so that he be in constant dread of he grandfather find out about the ious .
unable , even now , to overcome he longing for xi-feng , saddle with a heavy burden of debt , harass during the day time by the schoolwork set he by he exact grandfather , worn-out during the night by the excessive hand-pumping inevitable in a unmarried man of twenty whose mistress be both unattainable and constantly in he thought , twice freeze , torment and force to flee --- what constitution could withstand so many shock and strain without succumb in the end to illness ?
the symptom of jia rui 's illness — a palpitation in the heart , a loss of taste in the mouth , a weakness in the ham , a smart in the eye , feverishness by night and lassitude by day , albumen in the urine and blood-fleck in the phlegm — have all manifest themselves within less than a year .
by that time they have produce a complete breakdown and drive he to he bed , where he lay , with eye tight shut , babble deliriously and inspiring terror in all who see he .
physicians be call in to treat he and some bushel of cinnamon bark , autumn root , turtle-shell , black leek and solomon 's seal must at one time and another have be infuse and take without the least observable effect .
winter go and spring come and jia rui 's sickness grow even worse .
he grandfather dai-ru be in despair .
medical advice from every quarter have be take and none of it have prove effective .
the most recent advice be that the patient should be give a pure decoction of ginseng without admixture of other ingredient .
so costly a remedy be far beyond dai-ru 's resource and he be oblige to go to the rong-guo mansion to beg .
lady wang order wang xi-feng to weigh out two ounce for he from they own supplies .
' the other day when we be make up a new lot of pill for grandmother , ' say xi-feng , ' you tell i to keep any of the remain whole root for a medicine you be send to general yang 's wife .
i send she the medicine yesterday , so i be afraid we have not any leave . '
' well , even if we have not get any , ' say lady wang , ' you can send to you mother-in-law 's for some ; and probably they will have some at you cousin zhen 's .
between you you ought somehow or other to be able to raise enough to give he .
if you can save a man 's life by do so , you will have perform a work of merit . '
but though xi-feng pretend to do as lady wang suggest , in fact she make no such inquiry .
she merely scrape a few dram of broken bit together and send they to dai-ru with a message that ' lady wang have instruct she to send this , and it be all they have . '
to lady wang , however , she report that she have ask the other and altogether obtain more than two ounce of ginseng which she have send to dai-ru .
jia rui now want desperately to live and eagerly swallow every medicine that they offer he ; but all be a waste of money , for nothing seem to do he any good .
one day a lame taoist appear at the door ask for alms and claim to be able to cure retributory illness .
jia rui , who chance to overhear he , call out from he bed : ' quick , tell the holy man to come in and save i ! ' and as he call , he kotow with he head on the pillow .
the servant be oblige to bring the taoist into the bedroom .
jia rui cling to he tenaciously .
' holy one , save i ! ' he cry out again and again .
the taoist sigh .
' no medicine will cure you sickness .
however , i have a precious thing here that i can lend you which , if you will look at it every day , can be guarantee to save you life . '
so say , he take from he satchel a mirror which have reflect surface on both its side .
the word a mirror for the romantic be inscribe on the back .
he hand it to jia rui .
' this object come from the hall of emptiness in the land of illusion .
it be fashion by the fairy disenchantment as a antidote to the ill effect of impure mental activity .
it have life-giving and restorative property and have be bring into the world for the contemplation of those intelligent and handsome young gentleman whose heart be too susceptible to the charm of beauty .
i lend it to you on one important condition : you must only look into the back of the mirror .
never , never under any circumstance look into the front .
three day hence i shall come again to reclaim it , by which time i guarantee that you illness will have go . '
with that he leave , at a surprising speed , ignore the earnest entreaty of those present that he should stay longer .
' this be intriguing ! '
jia rui think to himself when the taoist give he the mirror .
' let i try look into it as he say , ' and hold it up to he face he look into the back as instruct and see a grin skull , which he cover up hastily with a curse :
' silly old fool , to scare i like that ! ---
but let i see what happen when i look into the other side ! '
he turn the mirror round and look , and there inside be xi-feng beckon to he to enter , and he ravished soul float into the mirror after she .
there they perform the act of love together , after which she see he out again .
but when he find himself once more back in he bed he stare and cry out in horror : for the mirror , of its own accord , have turn itself round in he hand and the same grin skull face he that he have see before .
he could feel the sweat trickle all over he body and lower down in the bed a little pool of semen that he have just ejaculate .
yet still he be not satisfied , and turn the face of the mirror once more towards he .
xi-feng be there beckon to he again and call , and again he go in after she .
he do this three or four time .
but the last time , just as he be go to return from the mirror , two figure approach he hold iron chain which they fasten round he and by which they proceed to drag he away .
he cry out as they drag he : ' wait !
let i take the mirror with i . . . ! '
those be the last word he ever utter .
to those who stand around the bed and watch he while this be happen he appear first to be hold up the mirror and look into it , then to let it drop ; then to open he eye in a ghastly stare and pick it up again ; then , as it once more fall from he grasp , he finally cease to move .
when they examine he more closely they find that he breathing have already stop and that underneath he body there be a large , wet , icy patch of recently ejaculate semen .
at once they lift he from the bed and busy themselves with the laying-out , while old dai-ru and he wife abandon themselves to a paroxysm of grief .
they curse the taoist for a necromancer and order the servant to heap up a fire and cast the mirror upon the flame .
but just at that moment a voice be hear in the air say , ' who tell he to look in the front ?
it be you who be to blame , for confuse the unreal with the real !
why then should you burn my mirror ? '
suddenly the mirror be see to rise up and fly out of the room , and when dai-ru go outside to look , there be the lame taoist ask for it back .
he snatch it as it fly towards he and disappear before dai-ru 's very eye .
see that there be to be no redress , dai-yu be oblige to set about prepare for the funeral and begin by announce he grandson 's death to everybody concerned .
read of the sutra begin on the third day and on the seventh the coffin be draw in procession to temporary lodging in the temple of the iron threshold to await future reburial .
the various member of the jia family all come in due course to offer they condolence .
from the rong-guo side jia she and jia zheng each give twenty tael of silver and from the ning-guo side cousin zhen also give twenty tael .
the other member of the clan give amount vary from one to four tael accord to they means .
a collection make among the parent of the dead man 's fellow-student raise a additional twenty or thirty tael .
although dai-ru 's means be slender , with so much monetary help come in he be able to perform the whole business in considerable style .
towards the end of the year in which jia rui 's trouble start lin ru-hai fall seriously ill and write a letter ask to see dai-yu again .
though grandmother jia be plunge into deepest gloom by the letter , she be oblige to prepare with all possible expedition for she granddaughter 's departure .
and bao-yu , though he too be distressed at the prospect of dai-yu 's leave he , could scarcely seek to interfere in a matter affect the natural feeling of a father and he child .
grandmother jium insist that jia lian should accompany dai-yu and see she safely there and back .
the various gift to be take and the journey-money be , it go without say , duly prepare .
a suitable day on which to commence the journey be quickly determine and jia lian and dai-yu take leave of all the rest and , embark with they attendant , set sail for yangchow .
if you wish for further detail , you may learn they in the follow chapter .
