Chapter 35

白玉钏亲尝莲叶羹

黄金莺巧结梅花络

Daiyu watches the other ladies of the household visit Green Delights, and reflects on her loneliness. She returns to take her medicine, and is amused by her parrot reciting poetry.

Baochai goes to Aunt Xue’s early, and they weep over last night’s events; Xue Pan arrives, bowing and wringing his hands in contrition. After a clumsy apology, he declares that he will give up drinking, and cries; he volunteers to treat Baochai to new clothes or a re-gilding of her locket, to no avail. Aunt Xue and Baochai go to join the women seeing Baoyu; he asks for lotus leaf soup, which Grandmother Jia orders to be made up, despite Xifeng claiming it to be of low taste. Some fuss is made over finding the right moulds for the lotuses, and Xifeng orders soup for everyone. All are impressed with Xifeng’s gift of the gab, and they discuss the household ladies. Grandmother Jia declares that Aunt Xue and Baochai are her favourites, despite Baoyu angling for Daiyu. Baoyu asks Baochai to get Oriole to do some knotting for him. Grandmother Jia then leaves, and invites the girls to eat the soup with her in her rooms. The maid Silver 玉钏 brings the soup, and is asked to take a bowl to Baoyu, along with other things, and Oriole helps her with an old woman. When they arrive, Oriole refuses to sit, and Baoyu focuses all his attention on Silver, who is Golden’s sister, out of shame. Silver is very sullen, making conversation with Baoyu and taking his orders strained. He tricks her into drinking from the same bowl by pretending not to like it. She then refuses to give it back. Two old nannies of Fu Shi 傅试, one of Zheng’s protégées, arrive (they are allowed entry because, although he disliked both the old women and Fu, his sister Qiufang 傅秋芳 was a great beauty, very intelligent and unbetrothed, and civil servant Fu was pushing for a matrimonial alliance with an aristocratic family).  Whilst entertaining the guests, Baoyu and Silver accidentally knock the soup over his hand; he doesn’t notice the pain, and asks Silver how she is, causing amusement. The old ladies gossip about him as they leave.

Baoyu asks Oriole to do the knotting, specifying colour, pattern and type. Aroma leaves, and while Oriole knots he chats with her, much enjoying it. They chat about Baochai, at which point she arrives. She suggests that Oriole make a necklet for him, which he had intended to do but had forgotten. Baoyu shouts for Aroma to get some gold thread, at which point she enters, having been given several plates of food especially for her, and feeling quite embarrassed about it; Baochai makes a pointed comment. Baochai leaves; two maids of Lady Xing’s arrive with fruit and invite him over. He cannot yet walk, so invites them to sit; he asks Ripple to take some fruit to Daiyu, before hearing her outside and inviting her in.