Scene 8: Making a Fuss at the Pavilion

Scene 8: Commotion at the Pavilion

(Jin Ji Jiao) (Supporting role and young male role, playing Chen Zhenhui and Wu Yingji, enter.) (Supporting role) The examination hall is near the Qinhuai River; scholars vie for brilliance and beauty, leaving behind a faint trace of powder and rouge. (Young male role) The excitement of the Dragon Boat Festival is but a fleeting moment; before our eyes, all is bustling splendor, yet few inquire after the noble of families like Wang Dao and Xie An.

(Supporting role calls to young male role) Brother Ciwei, you and I have been feeling downcast in our lodging, so we came specially to the Qinhuai River to enjoy the festival. How is it that we haven’t seen any of our friends from the Fushe? (Young male role) I expect they’re all on the lantern boats. (Pointing ahead) This is Ding Jizhi’s waterside pavilion—perfect for climbing up and looking out. (On stage, a riverside house is set up, with lanterns hung and curtains drawn.) (The two climb up together.) (Supporting role calls out) Is Master Ding Jizhi at home? (A child actor enters.) Pomegranate blossoms red as fire, mugwort leaves green as smoke. (They bow in greeting.) So it’s Masters Chen and Wu. My master has gone to join the lantern boat gathering. He’s prepared a feast at home; should any guests arrive, they’re welcome to stay and sit a while. (Supporting role) How delightful. (Young male role) One could say the host is most hospitable. (Supporting role) Since we’re holding an elegant gathering here, I fear some vulgar sort might barge in. Better we find a way to refuse them. (Calls out) Boy, bring a lantern. (Child actor responds and exits, then returns with a lantern.) (Supporting role writes on it) “Fushe Literary Meeting: Idlers Forbidden Entry.” (Child actor hangs the lantern.) (Young male role) If any friends from our society arrive here, we should invite them to join. (Supporting role) Precisely. (Child actor points ahead) Listen to that piping and drumming—the lantern boats have come. (Supporting role and young male role lean on the railing to look out. The male lead and female lead, dressed elegantly, along with the clown playing Liu Jingting and the painted-face role playing Su Kunsheng, play instruments and tap clappers as they sit on a boat.)

(Ba Sheng Gan Zhou) (Supporting role) Faint strains of silk and bamboo music, carrying a train of black-capped, red-skirted figures. Natural grace, set off by willow-shaded paths and slanting sunset rays. Famous courtesans need famous scholars as their foil; painted barges pair well with painted towers. (Young male role) Enchanting, taking advantage of the evening cool, immortal companions journey together.

(Supporting role points) On that lantern boat, it looks like Hou Chaozong. (Young male role) Hou Chaozong is a member of our society; we should invite him to join. (Supporting role points) That female guest is Li Xiangjun—should we invite her as well? (Young male role) Li Xiangjun refused Hu Ruan’s dowry; she’s practically a friend of our Fushe. What harm is there in inviting her? (Supporting role) In that case, (pointing) those two musicians, Liu Jingting and Su Kunsheng, who refused to be Hu Ruan’s retainers, are also friends of our Fushe. Inviting them upstairs would be even more interesting. (Young male role) Let me call him. (Calls out) Brother Hou of the society! Brother Hou! (Male lead looks up) Up on that waterside pavilion, the one calling me loudly is Chen Dingsheng and Wu Ciwei. (Clasps hands in greeting) Greetings. (Supporting role waves) This is Ding Jizhi’s pavilion, with a feast prepared. Brother Hou, along with Xiangjun, Jingting, and Kunsheng, please come upstairs—let’s all enjoy the festival together. (Male lead) Excellent. (To clown, painted-face, and female lead) Let’s all go upstairs together. (They play instruments as they ascend.)

(Pai Ge) (Male lead and female lead) Dragon boats race side by side, painted oars part the water; sunflower and lotus leaves float in golden cups. Crimson towers are dense, purple curtains evenly spread; flutes and drums sound straight into layered clouds.

(They bow in greeting.) (Supporting role) The four of you have arrived—truly this has become a “Fushe Literary Meeting.” (Male lead) How can you call it a “Fushe Literary Meeting”? (Young male role points to the lantern) Please look. (Male lead reads the lantern) I didn’t know there was a literary meeting today—your younger brother has come just in time. (Clown) “Idlers Forbidden Entry”—we’re being rather presumptuous. (Young male role) All of you who refused to become Hu Ruan’s retainers—which one of you is not a Fushe friend? (Male lead) Is Xiangjun also a Fushe friend, then? (Young male role) In the matter of Xiangjun refusing the dowry, I fear even the Fushe friends would have to yield to her. (Supporting role) From now on, we should call her our “elder sister-in-law of the society.” (Female lead smiles) I wouldn’t dare. (Supporting role calls out) Boy, pour the wine—let’s enjoy the festival. (Supporting role, young male role, and male lead sit on one side; clown, painted-face, and female lead sit on the other. They drink.)

(Ba Sheng Gan Zhou) (Supporting role and young male role) Drawing close to one another, elegant and dashing figures fill the seats with laughter and warmth like spring. (Clown and painted-face) The sorrows of the Liang dynasty, the regrets of the Sui—let the swallows rage and the orioles scold as they will. (Male lead and female lead) Pomegranate blossoms reflect off the tower like spurting flames; summer sweat can hardly stain jade-like persons. (Child actor reports) The lantern boats have come! The lantern boats have come! (Points) Look, a sea of people, surrounding a single candle-dragon—come quickly and see! (All rise and lean on the railing to watch. A lantern boat enters, hung with five-colored horn lanterns, with loud drums and pipes circling the stage several times before exiting.) (Clown) Look at such splendor—these are all from the households of dukes and marquises. (Another lantern boat enters, hung with five-colored gauze lanterns, playing a rough ten-part ensemble, circling several times before exiting.) (Painted-face) These are wealthy merchants and high-ranking officials, and clerks from government offices—quite lively, too. (Another lantern boat enters, hung with five-colored paper lanterns, playing a refined ten-part ensemble, circling several times before exiting.) (Supporting role) Look at those drinking on the boat—all are old gentlemen from the Hanlin Academy and the ministries. (Young male role) Our own efforts, after all, still carry a bit of that “Jiao’s cold and Dao’s lean” impoverished air. (All laugh) (Together) In chaotic profusion, gazing at the golden Milky Way, we lose the ferry crossing.

(Male lead) The night is deep; all the lantern boats have passed. If we compose a poem or a rhapsody, it won’t waste the purpose of our literary meeting. (Supporting role) Yes, yes—but what topic shall we use? (Young male role) Writing a “Rhapsody Lamenting the Xiang River” would be quite meaningful. (Male lead) In your younger brother’s humble opinion, it would be more enjoyable to link verses on the scene before our eyes. (Supporting role) Wonderful, wonderful! (Asks) Among the three of us, who will begin and who will conclude? (Male lead) Naturally, let Brother Dingsheng begin and conclude. (Clown asks) While the three masters link verses to while away the long night, are the three of us to just doze off as company? (Supporting role) There’s also a task where we’ll rely on you. (Painted-face) What service is required? (Supporting role) Whenever we compose a quatrain and drink a cup of wine, you three will play and sing once. (Male lead) Delightful, delightful! Truly a gathering of literature, wine, and music. (Supporting role clasps hands) Then your younger brother will presume to take the lead. (Recites) “Enjoying the festival at the Qinhuai pavilion, discussing our hearts at the house of Ju Meng.” (Young male role) “Yellow opens leaves wrapped in gold, red bursts forth flowers burning with fire.” (Male lead) “Why test the sword-flag of calamus? The sunflower’s heart will not stray.” (Supporting role) “To ward off weapons, we meet colored threads; to repel ghosts, we obtain cinnabar.” (Supporting role, young male role, and male lead drink. Clown strikes a cloud gong, painted-face plays a moon-shaped zither, and female lead plays a flute once.) (Young male role) “Mirage towers, misty and ethereal; rainbow bridges, winding and slanting.” (Male lead) “Lanterns seem like the sun god’s chariot; boats are like dragons being tamed.” (Supporting role) “Stars just left the sea; glass is further refined by Nüwa.” (Young male role) “Light flows through the waters of the Silver River; shadows stir the rosy clouds of Red City.” (They repeat the previous pattern.) (Male lead) “Jade trees cannot keep time; Yuyang drums cannot be distinguished.” (Supporting role) “The old musician’s flutes and pipes clamor; the idle scholar’s zithers and harps make noise.” (Young male role) “Mooring ropes of a thousand silks; window screens of myriad eyes.” (Male lead) “Chessboards pause their counters; teapots constantly call for more tea.” (They repeat the pattern.) (Supporting role) “Flames rival rows of burning pepper; sounds clash like opposing battle lines.” (Young male role) “Thunder and lightning vie this night; pearls and emeralds—who will be left?” (Male lead) “Fireflies illuminate deserted gardens; crows cry on official trees.” (Supporting role) “Leaning on the railing after the crowd has dispersed, composing a rhapsody to lament over Changsha.” (They repeat the pattern. All rise.) (Supporting role) Delightful, delightful! We’ve actually linked sixteen rhymes—tomorrow we can have them carved and printed. (Young male role) We’ve chanted and harmonized with so many emotions; they’ve played and blown with boundless melancholy. Down in the boats below, I doubt anyone can grasp the profound meaning. (Painted-face says to clown) Let’s set aside idle talk for now. As the old saying goes, a fine night is all too short, and a splendid occasion is hard to meet again. The two of us could sing a tune while Masters Chen and Wu urge on the wine—how about letting these famous scholars and beauties create another romantic gathering? (Clown) Agreed—this is our proper role as hangers-on. (Supporting role) Brother Ciwei and I were originally the hosts; it’s only right that we show a little courtesy. (Young male role) Then please take your seats in order. (Male lead and female lead sit in the center; supporting role and young male role sit on the left; clown and painted-face sit on the right.) (Male lead says to female lead) Thanks to everyone’s kind intentions, letting the two of us sit side by side on the ivory bed and drink another cup of nuptial wine—quite amusing. (Female lead smiles.) (Supporting role and young male role urge wine; painted-face and clown sing.)

【Pai ge】The song had just begun, the lanterns were not yet dim, and the beauty once again mustered her jade-like spirit. Poems were inscribed on the walls, wine moistened the lips, and the talented young man was especially skilled in speaking tender words.

(A servant reports) A lantern boat has come again. (Old man) It’s already the third watch—how can there still be a lantern boat? (The crowd rises and leans on the railing to watch) (Vice leader, playing Ruan Dacheng, sits on the lantern boat. A servant, playing an actor, plays softly and sings slowly as they approach) (Clean face) This boat seems to have some old connoisseurs; let’s all listen carefully and savor it. (Vice leader stands at the boat’s bow, muttering to himself) I, Ruan Dacheng, rented a boat with music, intending to come out early for the tour; but fearing I might encounter unruly youths who would cause trouble, I delayed until midnight. How infuriating! (Pointing) That Ding family’s riverside house still has lanterns. (Calling) Boy, see who is up there? (The servant goes ashore to check, then reports) The lantern reads: ‘Restoration Society literary gathering; no admittance to idlers.’ (Vice leader, startled) How dreadful! How dreadful! (Waving his sleeve) Quickly stop the music, quickly extinguish the lanterns. (Lanterns are put out, music ceases, and the boat is silently poled away) (Old man) What a fine lantern boat—why has it stopped the music, put out the lanterns, and departed without a sound? (Young man) That is strange too—send someone quickly to check. (Clown) No need to check; though my old eyes are dim, I have already seen clearly. That bearded man is Ruan Yuanhai. (Clean face) I thought the music sounded so unusual. (Old man, enraged) The audacious old scoundrel—does he dare come and play here, right in front of the Examination Hall! (Young man) Let me go over and tear off his beard. (About to go down) (Student stops him) Enough, enough! Since he has avoided us, we need not go too far. (Old man) Brother Hou, you do not understand: if I do not go too far, he will go too far. (Clown) The boat has gone far away; let it go. (Young man) That bearded man got off easy. (Female role) The night is deep; let us all disperse. (Clown) Fragrant Sister is thinking of her mother; let us see her home. (Old man, young man) The two of us will not return to our lodgings; we will stay here. (Student) Since you two brothers are not returning, we will go over to our boat and bid you farewell here. Farewell. (Old man, young man) Farewell. (They go down first) (Student, female role, clown, clean face go down to the boat; the servant rows away)

【Yu wen】Descending the tower pavilion, the sightseers all depart; the little boat retains a family’s spring, but I fear it will be hard to knock at the deep-night door beneath the flowers.

(Student) The moon has set, the mist is thick, the road is unclear;

(Female role) The red glow of the small building is the eastern neighbor;

(Clown) The Qinhuai River, a mile of rippling water;

(Clean face) At midnight, the spring sail sends off the beauty.