Scene 36: Marriage and Flight

Scene 36: Marriage and Departure

Yi Nan Wang (The Nun supports Du Liniang as she enters)

(Liniang) Half laughing, half dazed, I sigh that the silken threads of love are never broken, and the dream unfurls anew.

(Nun) Your startled soul has bid farewell to the underworld; your coffin has been lifted from the Terrace of Heaven.

(Liniang) Auntie, I force myself to stand, soft and weak, as if I must once again nurture this tender child.

(Together) Still we doubt, fearing we are like mist clasped in an embrace, like a shadow thrown into the arms.

Hua Tang Chun

(Liniang) “My moth-brows have borne three years of autumn sorrow; I wake from a dream by a desolate grave in the slanting sun. Earth-stains have scattered my old silk skirt; my rosy face is ruined by sleep.

(Nun) The wind has ceased, yet I still fear for the colored clouds; the incense embers burn anew, reviving the fragrance. Like a spirit, like a ghost—hard to fathom, unless it be the dream of Gaotang.”

(Liniang) Auntie, I have been dead for three years. Because of a single thread of deep feeling, a hidden marriage bond has been reborn. All thanks to Master Liu and you, Auntie, for your sincere efforts to rescue and restore me. You have also used fine wine and fragrant ointment to nourish me constantly. In these few days, I gradually feel my spirit and strength reviving.

(Nun) Good—the scholar has repeatedly begged me to hasten the wedding.

(Liniang) Auntie, this matter is still too early. We should go to Yangzhou, inquire of my father and mother, and then engage a matchmaker.

(Nun) What leisurely talk! Still, it is up to you. Only tell me—do you remember anything of your former life, miss?

Sheng Ru Hua

(Liniang) My former life, I do recall. I fell ill from grief over spring, and the spring-time dream was hard to bear. I painted my spring portrait, and that man found it. Such attentiveness, such respect—he stared as if waiting for a celestial being, his mouth twisted as if calling upon Guanyin.

(Nun) I have heard something of this. But how did you, miss, know of it in the Yellow Springs?

(Liniang) Though buried, my ears grew hot with hearing. I was moved by his utter sincerity, helpless—so I climbed, drenched in death, to the sunny terrace, and walked forth alive from this spring mound.

(Nun) The scholar has come.

Sheng Zha Zi

(Liu Mengmei enters) Her fair form long buried, she now struggles forth into this world of smoke and flowers. See her smiling, placing a gold hairpin, swaying her long skirt.

(They meet)

(Liu) Liniang, my wife.

(Liniang, shy)

(Liu) Sister, I lifted you from the earth-crypt to be a jade maiden.

(Liniang) To be reborn surpasses the kindness of parents.

(Liu) Let this very night be our union as spouses.

(Liniang) I am still dazed and lacking spirit.

(Nun) Earlier she said her spirit was strong—she was only deceiving the scholar.

(Liniang) Scholar, do you remember the ancient saying: “One must await the command of parents and the words of a matchmaker”?

(Liu) Before, though we did not meet by boring a hole, I did bore into your grave. Today, miss, you start reciting the classics again.

(Liniang) Scholar, this is different from before. That night I was a ghost; today I am a human. A ghost may use false feelings, but a human must observe proper rites. Listen to me:

Sheng Ru Hua

The green terrace was sealed; now the white day opens it.

(She bows) Scholar, receive my homage of three lifetimes. To complete the marriage, we lack an official matchmaker.

(Weeps) For the nuptial cup, we need a parent present in the hall.

(Liu) Once we are wed, we shall visit your honored father and mother—what a joy that will be! As for a matchmaker, the Daoist nun will serve.

(Liniang) Why are you in such haste, scholar? I have already waited through several twilights.

(Liu) What night is tonight?

(Liniang) Such an impatient scholar!

(Liu) Miss, you are playing tricks.

(Liniang, laughing) Scholar, you are playing tricks. It is not I, your ghostly servant, who plays at sorcery.

(Liu) Why?

(Liniang, shy) Half-dead returned, I fear being startled by clouds and rain. This living body is here—only let me nurse my health for half a year.

(Aside) Only let me calm this feeling for half a moment.

Bu Shi Lu

(Chen Zuiliang enters) Deep courtyard and idle steps, flower shadows softly shift on the green moss.

(Knocks) Who is here? It is Chen, come to visit Scholar Liu.

(All start)

(Liu) Master Chen has come—what shall we do?

(Liniang) Auntie, I will hide.

(Exits)

(Chen) Most strange—how can a girl’s voice be heard beyond the gauze window, and the door is stubbornly barred, not answering my knock?

(Knocks again)

(Liu) Who is it?

(Chen) Chen Zuiliang.

(Opens door, meets)

(Liu) I am honored by your visit; my dress is not in order because I delayed.

(Chen) I am somewhat startled.

(Liu) What startles you?

Qian Qiang

(Chen) Is this the Terrace of Heaven? How else could a charming voice from the inner court be heard and guessed at?

(Nun enters) So it is the venerable Chen, the academy head.

(Liu) Master Chen says he heard a woman’s voice within—it is only the old nun.

(Nun) Yes, at the Long Life Assembly, a little nun came from the Lotus Flower Temple.

(Chen) Is it that little nun from the other day?

(Nun) It is a different one.

(Chen) Good! This Plum Blossom Temple grows more prosperous. It is all due to Miss Du’s blessings from the underworld. Therefore, I have come directly to make an appointment: tomorrow at noon, I will bring a small box and go with Brother Liu to visit the grave. For now, I take my leave. I have no leisure for a long visit—today we make an appointment for tomorrow, to sprinkle wine on the green mound and return.

(Liu) I am grateful for your invitation. This nun cannot even offer you tea. I will return your visit shortly.

(Chen) No need to hurry.

(Exits)

(Liu) Luckily Master Chen has gone. Please, miss, come out and speak.

(Liniang enters)

(Nun) What now? What now? Master Chen wants to visit your grave tomorrow. When the truth comes out, first, miss will gain a reputation for sorcery; second, the minister will be blamed for lack of instruction in the women’s quarters; third, the scholar will suffer the mockery of being bewitched; fourth, I will be charged with grave-robbing. What is to be done?

(Liniang) Old Auntie, what do you think?

(Nun) Miss, this Scholar Liu is about to take the examinations in Lin’an. Better to complete the marriage now, and tell the boy to hire a boat from Ganzhou. We can sail off tonight to cover our tracks. What do you say?

(Liniang) That will do.

(Nun) There is wine here. The two of you, bow to Heaven and Earth.

(They bow and pour wine)

Liu Hua Qi

(Liu) A meeting of three lives, harmony between two in the human world. I receive the nuptial cup, offer the golden goblet. This new wine surpasses the spring wine by the grave, its glow just rising on peach-blossom cheeks.

(Liniang, sad) Grief over spring, then burial—like the drunken dream of Zhongshan that lasted three years. Only one thing: look at your dragon-phoenix appearance—how can it match my earthen, wooden form!

(Liu) Do not say such things!

Qian Qiang

Meeting without a path—on this fine night, why doubt? Sleeping beneath a willow, I have earned the rank of three huai trees. Du Lanxiang truly dwells in the study hall, so Liu Yongqing is no mere immortal talent.

(Liniang, sighing) My hidden form, secretly cherished, is stirred by your primal yang—this yin has no recourse. Liu Lang, I am still a virgin.

(Liu) We have already met in secret several times—how could your jade body remain undamaged?

(Liniang) That was my soul; this is my true body in attendance. The one who accompanied my lover was only a wandering spirit; my maiden body still remains intact in the womb.

(A boatman enters, singing) “The spring girl loves the tavern’s upper floor; she does not worry about coming home late. She says that girl is still asleep, and she must stay to comb her hair.”

(Sings again) “Whether autumn chrysanthemum or spring flower, each can drink a bellyful of tea. Do not often send them into the storehouse—even a useless thing wants a little something.”

(A scabby boy enters) “Boat, boat, boat—to Lin’an!”

(Boatman) “Come, come, come.”

(They moor the boat)

(Boy) The boat is ready outside, sir. Please, miss, board.

(Nun, taking leave) Sir, miss—go carefully.

(Liu) Miss has no one to attend her. I beg you, old auntie, to accompany us. When I gain office, I will repay you.

(Nun) I have not packed.

(Aside) When the affair is exposed, flight is best.

(Turning back) Very well, sir. Give the boy some reward, and let him help me pack up the house. I will go with miss.

(Boy) Agreed.

(Liu) Then I give him this garment.

(Takes off robe)

(Boy) Thank you. Who will take the blame when it comes out?

(Liu) Just say you knew nothing.

(Boy) Then, farewell. “A bald boy can serve as a Daoist companion; a nun’s hat can serve as a maid.”

(Exits)

Ji Ban Ling

(All board the boat) Leaving Nan’an, the lone sail sets out by night; heading for Lin’an, the path of paired flight is arranged.

(Liniang, sad)

(Liu) Why do you shed tears?

(Liniang) I sigh that from now on I am at the world’s end—at the world’s end. I sigh that for three years I dwelt here, for three years I was buried here. In death I could not return; alive, I come back.

(Together) Ask what night is tonight? In this coming, the soul is tender, the heart rejoices.

Qian Qiang

(Liu) Like Qiannu returning to life, plucking the lotus, reborn and riding together.

(Liniang, sighing)

(Liu) Why do you shed tears again?

(Liniang) I think—who will endure alone? Who will endure alone? The fragrant pouch grows dark with green, the gold hairpin stained with mud. I fear that between heaven and earth, the heart’s wish may be hard to fulfill.

(Together, as before)

(Nun) It is late. Tell them to stop the boat. You two go to sleep.

(Liu) On a boat in wind and moonlight, the joy of a new marriage—what bliss is like this!

Yi Cuo Diao

At the Blue Bridge Station, the wind and moon of the Hao River are sifted.

(Liniang) Liu Lang, only today do I know the joy of the human world. The seven-star board, the three-star shine, the two stars arrayed. Tonight, I bring my body, my feelings advance, my affections press close.

(Nun) As you cross the river, your girdle is tight—please relax.

(Liu) Her brows are dark; can this little boat bear the weight? This happy sleep of freedom is worth a thousand trips to the Soul-Shattering Platform.

Wei Sheng

(Liu) A single root of feeling is a debt without birth.

(Liniang) I sigh—where is my lonely grave that was my lookout tower for my husband? Liu Lang, you and I have passed through death to find life, and our love is as deep as the sea.

(Student): "Stealing away must move under moonlight," Wu Rong

(Clean): "A fair breeze seems to send a good time," Lu Guimeng

(Dan): "Bystanders do not speak of the small boat's intent," Zhang Ji

(Clean): "Only the new bride knows it well," Dai Shulun