Scene 18: Diagnosing the Possession

Scene 18: Diagnosing the Curse

[Yijiangfeng] (The maid supports the ailing Du Liniang as she enters.) (Du Liniang) I am sick and dazed. Why do I wither so easily? I cannot break through the melancholy knot of my soul. The dream has just turned back; the swallow’s tail stirs the wind, wildly blowing the green Xiang bamboo curtain. Spring has been gone for some time now, spring has been gone for some time now; the flower’s countenance merely hastens to decay. The sound of parasol leaves by the well tears my heart apart. [Xingxiangzi] (Du Liniang) Chunxiang, ah, my “spirit is clear and bright, my waist is slender and fine; how much suffering can this body endure!” (Chunxiang) “You have arranged it bit by bit, brought it forth in every form—so much charm, so much grace, so much feeling.” (Du Liniang) Ah, my heart set on playing with plum blossoms, the lover who broke a willow twig; gradually I linger in the dream, secretly aging away the remnant spring. (Chunxiang) “It is just the noon hour with incense burning on the bamboo mat, the cool breeze from the fan by the pillow. Who knows for whom you knit your brows, for whom you waste away, for whom your heart aches?” (Du Liniang) Chunxiang, ever since I had a dream during the spring outing, I have been lying ill till now. Neither itchy nor painful, I am like an idiot or like something shattered. I wonder what it is all about? (Chunxiang) Mistress, why dwell on a dream? (Du Liniang) How can I not think of it!

[Jinluosuo] I coveted his half-moment of infatuation, and it earned me so much drowning in passion. I want to stop thinking of him, but how can I stop? Secretly my flesh wastes away, afraid that others might know. Coughing and gasping softly. Aiya, who pities this habit of suffering? How can this tightly locked spring heart endure? I regret in my heart, regret that that one sleep left behind a springtime slumber. (Chunxiang) The old lady wants to drive away bad luck for you, mistress. (Du Liniang) What luck can she drive away? When the time and season come, I fear I will meet my doom in the garden?

[Qianqiang] (Chunxiang) See where spring returns to, where does it go? When has spring sleep ever been sleep? How can this breath of life pass the long daylight? I hold my heart to my brow, a sick Xishi. Mistress, do you know in the dream who he truly was? The sickness only brings a hollow image of you. Before the clouds move, you thirst and fall at the tryst of Wuyang. It is utterly meaningless, pining away in unrequited love so obscurely. It is not the weather that wearies one, nor the mood after wine; secretly I am always as if drunk. (Chen Zuiliang enters.) “Drying books in the sun, I hate the bird tracks; pounding medicine in the moonlight, I need toad venom.” I, Chen Zuiliang, by order of Master Du, have come to take the young lady’s pulse. Having reached the back hall, I might as well call out. Is worthy younger brother Chunxiang here? (Chunxiang greets him.) It is Master Chen. The young lady is asleep. (Chen Zuiliang) Do not disturb her. I will go in myself. (Greets her.) Young lady. (Du Liniang, startled) Who is it? (Chunxiang) It is Master Chen. (Du Liniang is helped to sit up.) Master, your pupil is ill. I have not paid my respects for a long time. (Chen Zuiliang) Pupil, pupil, the ancient books say: “Learning is perfected by diligence, ruined by play.” You caught this illness from facing the wind and sun in the back garden, and neglected your studies. I, as your teacher, have been uneasy, unable to eat or sleep. Fortunately, your father asked me to see you. I did not expect you to have wasted away so. At this rate, when will you be able to get up and study? It will soon be the Dragon Boat Festival. (Chunxiang) Master, at the Dragon Boat Festival you will have your share. (Chen Zuiliang) I mentioned the festival, not that I want your zongzi! Young lady, in diagnosis—look, listen, ask, and feel the pulse—I first ask you: what caused this illness? (Chunxiang) Master, why ask! It is all because of your lecture on the Mao Poetry; this illness comes from “the gentleman seeks the good mate.” (Chen Zuiliang) Which gentleman? (Chunxiang) Who knows which gentleman! (Chen Zuiliang) That being the case, the illness from the Mao Poetry must be cured by the Mao Poetry. The first volume contains a holy prescription for women’s ailments. (Chunxiang) Master, do you remember the prescription from the Mao Poetry? (Chen Zuiliang) I will prescribe according to it. The young lady has caught the “gentleman” illness; we use the shijunzi herb. The Mao Poetry says: “Having seen the gentleman, how could I not be cured?” This illness, once the gentleman gives a tug, will be tugged away. (Du Liniang, embarrassed) Ah! (Chunxiang) What other medicine is there? (Chen Zuiliang) Ten sour plums. The Book of Songs says: “The plums are falling; seven of them remain,” and also: “Three of them remain.” Three plus seven makes ten. This prescription specially cures the illness of men and women who crave sour things past their season. (Du Liniang sighs.) (Chunxiang) And then? (Chen Zuiliang) Three tiannanxing tubers. (Chunxiang) Is that enough? (Chen Zuiliang) Add a bit more. The Book of Songs says: “Three stars are in the sky.” It specially cures the illness of men and women in their proper season. (Chunxiang) And then? (Chen Zuiliang) I see the young lady is full of fire; you clean a large nightstool, and I will use cape jasmine seed and Chinese angelica to purge her fire. This too follows the prescription: “That lady is going to her home; I will feed her horse.” (Chunxiang) Master, this horse is not the same as that “horse.” (Chen Zuiliang) It has the same thighs, backside, and hole below. (Du Liniang) What a fine Chen who prescribes cold remedies! (Chunxiang) Acting as Aunt Chen who regulates monthly courses! (Du Liniang) Master, do not cling to the prescription; it would be safer to take my pulse. (Chen Zuiliang feels for the pulse, mistakenly pressing the back of Du Liniang’s hand.) (Chunxiang) Master, ask for the hand to be turned over. (Chen Zuiliang) “For a woman, turn it over and examine the back,” as Wang Shuhe’s Pulse Formula says. Very well, I will feel the pulse on the proper side. (Takes pulse.) Ah, the young lady’s pulse has reached this state.

[Jinsuoguawutong] (Chen Zuiliang) Her talents are so perfect, yet her pulse is so faint. In her little fragrant chamber, why has she been wounded into such emaciation? (Rises.) Chunxiang, with a constitution like hers, pining for spring and fearing summer, you must take good care of her. Sickness easily wearies one and brings autumn thoughts. Young lady, I will go and chew some medicine. (Du Liniang sighs.) Master, inevitably, passion has been planted into the very marrow; the needle cannot pierce it; the sickness hides in the mist of love; how would your medicine know? (Weeps.) I am grateful for your care. On what day will you come to see this female Yan Hui? (Together) In illness, the body fears being startled and alarmed. Rest for a while; do not be troubled. (Du Liniang) Master, please go as you wish. I cannot see you out. Have you cast my horoscope? (Chen Zuiliang) It seems you must pass the Mid-Autumn Festival to recover. “At birth, only eight characters are fixed; to revive the dead, no doctor has three lives.” (Exits.) (Chunxiang) A Daoist nun is coming. (Shi Daogu enters.) “No longer do I hear Nongyu playing her flute; instead I see Chang’e stealing the elixir.” I am Shi Daogu of Ziyang Temple. By order of old Madame Du, I have come to perform a ritual to dispel evil for the young lady. (Greets Chunxiang.) (Chunxiang) Aunt, why are you here? (Shi Daogu) I am Shi Daogu of Ziyang Temple. By the madame’s command, I am to perform a ritual for the young lady. What illness is she suffering from? (Chunxiang) A possession sickness. (Shi Daogu) Who brought it on? (Chunxiang) She played in the back garden. (Shi Daogu raises three fingers; Chunxiang shakes her head.) (Shi Daogu raises five fingers; Chunxiang shakes her head again.) (Shi Daogu) Ah, you say it is three or five—make a decision for her. (Chunxiang) Ask her yourself. (Shi Daogu greets Du Liniang.) Young lady, young lady, the Daoist nun salutes you. (Du Liniang, startled) Where are you from, aunt? (Shi Daogu) From Ziyang Temple, Shi Daogu. The madame summoned me to perform a protective ritual for you. I heard you were haunted in the back garden; I do not believe it.

[Qianqiang] How could someone clear-headed become so bewitched? Staring blankly, you are almost like a demon. (Du Liniang murmurs in her sleep.) My beloved! (Shi Daogu and Chunxiang turn aside.) Listen to her mumbling and raving, acting crazy. That is it. I have a little charm on me. (Takes a small charm from Du Liniang’s hairpin, recites incantation.) “Blazing and bright, the sun rises in the east. This charm drives away evil dreams, wards off all ill. Swiftly, swiftly, as the law commands!” (Places charm back on the hairpin.) This small seal charm on the hairpin, do not let it leave you whether sleeping or sitting. Let all idle spirits and wild dreams be avoided. (Du Liniang wakes.) Ah, this charm is probably useless? My beloved, he is not some weak ghost clinging to flowers or trees; I am one lost in shadows and wind. (Shi Daogu) If you grow more entranced, I will summon the Five Thunders to strike him. (Du Liniang) A trace of feeling, just about to embrace clouds and rain, and you would use the thunderclap of the palm! (Together as before.) (Shi Daogu) Tell me plainly, and I will raise a thirty-foot curse banner for you. (Du Liniang) What should I say?

[Weisheng] I only dimly remember a willow and a plum. Aunt, you need not set up charm stakes or hang bamboo branches; just let me in cold reflection, bit by bit, curse toward the dream. (Chunxiang helps Du Liniang exit.)

(Chunxiang) "My dark brows are pale with grief, I cannot bear it." — Bu Feiyan

(Shi Daogu) "In Taoist robes, I perform rites to ward off evil." — Xue Neng

(Du Liniang) "Now I am no longer amid the red blossoms." — Monk Huai Ji

(Together) "Tell the east wind not to blow just yet." — Li She