評論
打印
Pao-yue dismounted from the carriage； and with hurried step， walked into the apartment， where the coffin was laid. He gave vent to bitter tears for a few minutes， and subsequently paid his salutations to Mrs. Yu. Mrs. Yu， as it happened， had just had a relapse of her old complaint of pains in the stomach and was lying on her bed.
He eventually came out again from her chamber to salute Chia Chen， just at the very moment that Chia Tai-ju， Chia Tai-hsiu， Chia Ch'ih， Chiao Hsiao， Chia Tun， Chia She， Chia Cheng， Chia Tsung， Chia Pin， Chia Hsing， Chia Kuang， Chia Shen， Chia Ch'iung， Chia Lin， Chia Se， Chia Ch'ang， Chia Ling， Chia Yuen， Chia Ch'in， Chia Chen， Chia P'ing， Chia Tsao， Chia Heng， Chia Fen， Chia Fang， Chia Lan， Chia Chun， Chia Chih and the other relatives of the families had likewise arrived in a body.
Chia Chen wept so bitterly that he was like a man of tears. "Of the whole family， whether young or old， distant relatives or close friends，" he was just explaining to Chia Tai-ju and the rest， "who did not know that this girl was a hundred times better than even our son？ but now that her spirit has retired， it's evident that this elder branch of the family will be cut off and that there will be no survivor."
While he gave vent to these words， he again burst into tears， and the whole company of relatives set to work at once to pacify him. "She has already departed this life，" they argued， "and tears are also of no avail， besides the pressing thing now is to consult as to what kind of arrangements are to be made."
Chia Chen clapped his hands. "What arrangements are to be made！" he exclaimed； "nothing is to be done， but what is within my means."
As they conversed， they perceived Ch'in Yeh and Ch'in Chung， as well as several relations of Mrs. Yu， arrive， together with Mrs. Yu's sisters； and Chia Chen forthwith bade Chia Ch'ung， Chia Shen， Chia Lin and Chia Se， the four of them， to go and entertain the guests； while he， at the same time， issued directions to go and ask the Astrologer of the Imperial Observatory to come and choose the days for the ceremonies.
（This Astrologer） decided that the coffin should remain in the house for seven times seven days， that is forty-nine days； that after the third day， the mourning rites should be begun and the formal cards should be distributed； that all that was to be done during these forty-nine days was to invite one hundred and eight Buddhist bonzes to perform， in the main Hall， the High Confession Mass， in order to ford the souls of departed relatives across the abyss of suffering， and afterwards to transmute the spirit （of Mrs. Ch'in）； that， in addition， an altar should be erected in the Tower of Heavenly Fragrance， where nine times nine virtuous Taoist priests should， for nineteen days， offer up prayers for absolution from punishment， and purification from retribution. That after these services， the tablet should be moved into the Garden of Concentrated Fragrance， and that in the presence of the tablet， fifteen additional eminent bonzes and fifteen renowned Taoist Priests should confront the altar and perform meritorious deeds every seven days.
the news of the death of the wife of his eldest grandson reached Chia Ching； but as he himself felt sure that， at no distant date， he would ascend to the regions above， he was loth to return again to his home， and so expose himself to the contamination of the world， as to completely waste the meritorious excellence acquired in past days. For this reason， he paid no heed to the event， but allowed Chia Chen a free hand to accomplish the necessary preparations.
Chia Chen， to whom we again revert， was fond of display and extravagance， so that he found， on inspection of coffins， those few made of pine-wood unsuitable to his taste； when， strange coincidence， Hsueeh P'an came to pay his visit of condolence， and perceiving that Chia Chen was in quest of a good coffin： "In our establishment，" he readily suggested， "we have a lot of timber of some kind or other called Ch'iang wood， which comes from the T'ieh Wang Mount， in Huang Hai； and which made into coffins will not rot， not for ten thousand years. This lot was， in fact， brought down， some years back， by my late father； and had at one time been required by His Highness I Chung， a Prince of the royal blood； but as he became guilty of some mismanagement， it was， in consequence， not used， and is still lying stored up in our establishment； and another thing besides is that there's no one with the means to purchase it. But if you do want it， you should come and have a look at it."
