The Warning Voice (34 page)

Aunt Xue had been delighted by the news of Xiang-lian's betrothal to You San-jie. The wedding would give her an opportunity of demonstrating her gratitude to him for saving her son's life. She was excitedly planning for this event – discussing the purchase of a house and furniture, selecting a date, making arrangements for the ceremony and so forth – when one of the household boys came in with the appalling news that San-jie had cut her throat and Xiang-lian decided to become a Taoist. She was still puzzling over the incomprehensible nature of this disaster when Bao-chai came over from the Garden.

‘Child, have you heard the news?' Aunt Xue asked her. ‘Mrs Zhen's younger sister, San-jie – the one that was engaged to marry Pan's new “brother” Liu Xiang-lian – has cut her throat. I've no idea why. And Xiang-lian has renounced the
world and just disappeared. Isn't it terrible? I don't know what to make of it.'

Bao-chai heard her without emotion.

‘It is as the proverb says, Mamma: “The weather and human life are unpredictable.” This was probably preordained because of something they did in their past lives. The other day you were planning to do everything you could for him because of what he did for Pan. Now she is dead and he has disappeared. I think the best thing you can do is just forget about them. There is no point in upsetting yourself on their account; there are other things to worry about. It is more than a fortnight now since Pan got back from the South and the goods he brought with him must all have been disposed of by now. Surely you ought to have a word with him about entertaining the people who went with him on the journey? They had a good deal of hardship to put up with during their months of travel. It will seem very uncouth of us if we do not find some way of showing our appreciation.'

While Bao-chai and her mother were talking, Xue Pan came in from outside. His eyes were still wet from recent weeping.

‘Mamma,' he said, ‘have you heard about Xiang-lian and San-jie?'

‘They told me only a few minutes ago,' said Aunt Xue. ‘Your sister and I were talking about it when you came in.'

‘You heard that Xiang-lian had gone off with some Taoist then,' said Xue Pan.

‘Yes,' said Aunt Xue. ‘That's what's so extraordinary. Why should an intelligent young man like that suddenly take leave of his senses to go wandering off with a Taoist? As he had no parents or brothers, I think it's up to you as his best friend to find him. They say the Taoist is both mad and lame, so they cannot have got very far – probably no farther than one of the temples or monasteries in this vicinity.'

‘That's exactly what
I
thought, Mamma,' said Xue Pan. ‘As soon as I heard the news, I went around looking for him with the boys, but we couldn't find a trace of him anywhere, and none of the people we talked to seemed to have seen him.'

‘Well, if you've already looked for him and he can't be
found, you've done as much as a friend
could
do,' said Aunt Xue. ‘Some good might yet come of it, you never know. What you've got to do now is start getting your business back into shape. And for another thing, it's time you started thinking about your own marriage and making a few preparations. We've got no other man in the family but you and you're not as bright as you might be. You know what they say about baby birds learning to fly. The sillier the bird, the sooner it must begin. If you start getting ready well in advance, there will be less danger of making yourself ridiculous when the time comes by finding that there are all sorts of things you have forgotten. And there's something else I want to talk to you about. Your sister has just been pointing out to me, it's more than a fortnight since you came back and the goods you brought back with you must all have been sold off by now. You ought to give a little party for those of our employees who went with you on the journey – just a little gesture to show them that you appreciate their services. After all, it was a long journey. What would it be? A thousand miles there and back? Pretty nearly. You were four or five months away, at all events. And don't forget, they underwent some very alarming experiences on your behalf.'

‘You're absolutely right, Mamma,' said Xue Pan. ‘And sis, she always thinks of everything. I
had
thought about it myself, but during these last few days, what with running around everywhere disposing of the stock until my head feels as if it will burst and running around getting things ready for Xiang-lian's wedding (fat lot of good
that
was, now that it's all come to nothing!) I somehow didn't get round to it. Still, it's not too late. We can fix a time for tomorrow or the day after and send the invitations out straight away.'

‘I leave all that to you,' said his mother.

The words were scarcely out of her mouth when one of the pages came in from outside to report.

‘There are some men here from the shop with two cases of stuff for you and a message from Mr Zhang. He says these are the things you bought for yourself, that aren't on the stocklist. He would have sent them round earlier, but there were a lot of other cases on top of them and he couldn't get them
out. He says they didn't finish selling the stock off until yesterday, so this is the first time he has been able to get at them.'

Two other pages carried the two cases in, one after the other, while he was speaking. They were large coir trunks, protectively crated between pairs of roped-together boards.

‘Aiyo!' said Xue Pan. ‘How stupid of me! I brought these things back specially for you and sis, Mamma, but I completely forgot to bring them home with me. Fancy the boys in the shop having to remember them for me!'

‘It's a good thing you “brought them back specially”, said Bao-chai. ‘Now we're only getting them a fortnight late. If you hadn't “brought them back specially”, we should probably have had to wait until the end of the year! It's the same with everything you do. You are so thoughtless.'

Xue Pan laughed.

‘I think it's because of that scare we had on the journey. It scared the wits out of me and they haven't got back into the right holes yet.'

The others laughed. He turned to the boy who had come in with the message.

‘All right. Tell the men outside we've got the stuff now and they can go back to the shop.'

Aunt Xue and Bao-chai were curious.

‘Well, what
is
it you've got all crated and corded up so carefully?'

Xue Pan told the pages to untie the ropes, remove the protecting boards and undo the fastenings of the trunks. The first one contained mostly materials – silks, satins, brocades and so forth – and various foreign articles of domestic use.

‘The other trunk is stuff I got specially for you, sis,' said Xue Pan.

He undid the fastenings of it himself. Besides writing-brushes, ink-sticks, inkstones, different sorts of fancy stationery, purses, rosaries, fans, fan-cases, face-powder, rouge and other feminine articles, it contained a whole lot of novelties from Hu-qiu-shan: little mercury-filled automata who turned somersaults when you put them down on the floor or a table, automata with sand-filled cylindrical bodies whose arms, legs
and heads moved when you set the sand running, and lots and lots of scenes from drama made up of tiny figures moulded in coloured clay in cases of transparent green gauze. Most fascinating of all was a tiny made-to-order figure of Xue Pan himself, looking exactly like the original in every detail. Bao-chai had no eyes for anything but this. Picking the tiny replica up in her hand to examine it, she looked from it to the original and burst out laughing. She had the other things put back into the trunk and ordered two of the older servants to carry it to All-spice Court for her under Oriole's supervision while she herself stayed chatting a little longer with her mother and brother. Then she too went back into the Garden.

After she had gone, Aunt Xue proceeded to go over the contents of the other trunk with Providence, taking them out, putting them into separate piles, and explaining which pile was to be given to Grandmother Jia, which to Lady Wang, and so forth.

Xue Pan for his part began there and then to make preparations for a party. The invitations to his employees were dispatched with great urgency, for he was determined that the party should be on the very next day. As a number of people were invited, it took some time for all of them to assemble and there was much talk about trading, accountancy and the disposal of stock before the last of the guests had arrived. When they were all present, Xue Pan invited them to take their places at table and went round himself with the wine-kettle to fill their cups. Aunt Xue sent someone in to thank them on the family's behalf for their loyal service. Thereupon drinking began and conversation of a more general kind among the guests. Presently one of them observed that a good friend was missing from their company whose presence might have been expected.

‘Oh?' said the others. ‘Who's that?'

‘Mr Liu,' the man said, ‘that saved all our lives and became a blood-brother to the master.'

This started a good deal of speculation among the guests and finally one of them asked Xue Pan outright why he had not invited him. Xue Pan frowned and sighed.

‘Don't ask me about
him
,' he said. ‘It's a very funny business.
It isn't “Mr Liu” now any longer. It's “Father Liu”.'

The others expressed surprise.

‘How can that be?'

Xue Pan related the whole story to them. They were even more surprised when they heard.

‘Now I understand what they were shouting about yesterday outside the shop,' said one of them. ‘It was something about a man having been converted by only two or three words spoken to him by a Taoist. Someone else said the two of them had vanished into thin air. They didn't say who the man was. We were all busy selling stock at the time, so we couldn't go outside to find out and we've been wondering ever since whether to believe the story or not. We never imagined it was Mr Liu they were talking about. If we'd known, we'd have gone after him and tried to reason with him. I'm sure we'd have found some way of stopping him.'

‘I've got a different theory about what happened,' said one of them.

‘Oh? What's that?' the others asked him.

‘Well,' said the man with the theory, ‘it doesn't seem very likely that a clever young chap like Mr Liu would suddenly go off to become the disciple of an old Taoist. We know how strong he is and how good at martial arts. Perhaps he'd found out that this Taoist was really a wicked magician and just pretended to become his disciple so that when he'd got him to some quiet, out-of-the-way place he could do him in.'

‘If that's what it is, that's very good,' said Xue Pan. ‘There are too many of these fellows going around leading people astray with their silly nonsense. It needs a person like Xiang-lian to put a few of them down.'

‘But didn't you look for Mr Liu yourself when you heard about this?' his guests asked him.

‘Of course I did,' said Xue Pan. ‘Inside
and
outside the city. And I don't mind telling you – you can laugh at me if you like – I had a good old cry when I couldn't find him.'

He sighed several times and looked very despondent. His customary cheerfulness seemed to have deserted him altogether since this loss. Seeing him so downcast, his employees did not venture to stay long, but drank the wine up, finished
up the food, and dispersed. We, too, shall leave him at this point and continue our interrupted narrative of the previous day.

With one exception, the cousins, on receiving their presents, tipped the bearers and said that they would thank Bao-chai in person when they next saw her. Dai-yu alone reacted some-what differently. The sight of the Hu-qiu toys, manufactured only a few miles from her native Soochow, brought on a severe attack of nostalgia. Once more she was reminded of her position: an orphan and an outsider, with no kind brother in
her
case to bring back things for her from the South. Already she was beginning to be upset. Nightingale knew at once what was the matter, but judged it more politic to remonstrate than to let her mistress know that she understood.

‘Look at all the illness you've had, miss. You hardly ever stop taking medicine. It's only just recently that you've begun to look a bit better. Though even now I think it's more a case of being in better spirits than being properly cured. You can see from the fact that Miss Bao has sent you all these things that she must think a lot of you. That ought to make you happy, not upset you. Whatever is Miss Bao going to think if she gets to hear that the things she has sent you have made
you feel miserable? That's not going to be very nice for her, is it? And there's another thing. Look how concerned Her Old Ladyship and Her Ladyship always are about your health, how they get the best doctors and the best medicines to try and cure you. And now, just as you are beginning to be a little bit better, here you go, crying and making yourself miserable. It's as if you
wanted
to get ill again, just to give them something more to worry about! It was too much fretting that brought on your illness in the first place. You ought to have a bit more consideration for yourself.'

While Nightingale was admonishing her mistress, a voice from the courtyard was heard announcing ‘Master Bao'. Nightingale called to him to come inside.

‘Sit down,' said Dai-yu.

Bao-yu noticed that she had been crying.

‘Hullo, what's the matter?' he asked. ‘Who's been upsetting you?'

Dai-yu forced a smile.

‘I'm not upset.'

Nightingale shot her lips out and gestured towards the table behind Dai-yu's bed. His eyes followed her gesture to the pile of presents on the table. He realized she could only just have received them from Bao-chai.

‘Why, what a lot of things you've got there!' he said. ‘Are you planning to set up a shop?'

Dai-yu made no reply.

‘Don't talk about them!' said Nightingale. ‘They're from Miss Bao. As soon as Miss Lin set eyes on them, she burst into tears. I was just trying to talk some sense into her when you came in. Perhaps, now you're here, you'll be able to do it for me.'

Bao-yu knew what Dai-yu's trouble was as well as Nightingale, but was no more willing than Nightingale to show her that he knew. He merely laughed, therefore, and answered Nightingale with a jest.

‘Oh, I know what's upset your mistress. She's cross because Miss Bao didn't send her more. Never mind, coz,' he said, turning to Dai-yu, ‘one of these days I'll be visiting Kiangnan myself, and when I do, I promise to bring you back two whole
boatloads of these things. That should dry your eyes for you!'

Dai-yu, aware that she was being ‘cheered up', could not rebuff the clumsy attempt too impatiently; nor, on the other hand, did she feel inclined to let it pass unreproved.

‘I may be very stupid and ill-bred, but not
quite
to the extent of getting into a passion because I have not been given enough toys. I am not a three-year-old. You make me out to be even more petty-minded than I am. I have my own reasons for what I feel. What do
you
know about them?'

As she said this, the tears began once more to flow. Bao-yu moved over from his seat and sat down beside her on the bed. He began picking the articles on the table up one by one, turning them this way and that to examine them, and asking her all sorts of questions about them. What was this? What did you call it? Wasn't this one clever? What was it made of? And this one, what was it for? He also made various suggestions as to where she should put them. This one he thought would be nice to keep by her on her desk; that one would look well with the vases and other ornaments on the walltable; and so on and so on until Dai-yu felt that, however well-intentioned this might be, she could stand no more.

‘Come on, you're being a nuisance,' she said. ‘Let's go and see Bao-chai.'

This was precisely what Bao-yu had been hoping for. If he could get her to go out, the distraction of doing something else might cause her to forget her sadness.

‘Good!' he said. ‘We ought to go, anyway, to thank her for the things.'

‘I wasn't thinking of that,' said Dai-yu. ‘Between cousins there is no need for such formality. I was thinking that, having just got back from the South, Cousin Pan must have told her a lot about the places there he visited, and hearing about them from Chai would be the next best thing to taking a trip back there myself.'

Her eyes began to redden, and for a moment it seemed in doubt if she would go out after all; but as Bao-yu was already on his feet waiting for her, she was more or less obliged to follow him.

‘After all the trouble Cousin Pan went to in getting them
to you,' Bao-yu told Bao-chai when they were in her room, ‘you ought to have kept those things for yourself, not given them all away to other people.'

‘There's nothing very special about them,' said Bao-chai. ‘They are all inexpensive objects made by local craftsmen which just happen to have come from a long way away. I thought the rest of you might find them amusing.'

‘When I was little, these things were so familiar to me that I thought nothing of them,' said Dai-yu. ‘Now, after all these years, they have become novelties again.'

‘“The farther from home, the more precious the object” as the saying goes,' said Bao-chai. ‘Not that these
are
precious, of course.'

Bao-yu feared that Bao-chai was moving onto dangerous ground and intervened to change the subject.

‘Be sure to make Pan go again next year, Chai, and bring us back a lot more.'

Dai-yu stared.

‘If you want to make such a request, that's your business, but kindly leave others out of it!' She turned to Bao-chai. ‘He has not come here to thank you, you observe, but to put in an order for next year.'

Bao-chai and Bao-yu both laughed.

As the three of them chattered on, the conversation presently turned to the subject of Dai-yu's illness.

‘When you are out of sorts,' Bao-chai suggested, ‘you want to force yourself to go out of doors: walk around, visit people, look at things – anything to take your mind off yourself. You'll find it is much better for you than sitting cooped up indoors feeling miserable.
I
wasn't feeling very well recently. I felt exhausted all day long and hot all over and wanted to do nothing but lie down. This is a bad time of the year for me, and I was afraid of becoming seriously ill. So I started deliberately looking for things to do and forcing myself to do them; and do you know, during the last day or two I really have begun to feel better.'

‘I am sure you are right,' said Dai-yu. ‘I have in fact come to the same conclusion myself.'