評論
打印
the two residences of Ning and Jung were， in these days， it is true， divided by a small street， which served as a boundary line， and there was no communication between them， but this narrow passage was also private property， and not in any way a government street， so that they could easily be connected， and as in the garden of Concentrated Fragrance， there was already a stream of running water， which had been introduced through the corner of the Northern wall， there was no further need now of going to the trouble of bringing in another. Although the rockeries and trees were not sufficient， the place where Chia She lived， was an old garden of the Jung mansion， so that the bamboos， trees， and rockeries in that compound， as well as the arbours， railings and other such things could all be very well removed to the front； and by these means， these two grounds， situated as they were besides so very near to each other， could， by being thrown into one， conduce to the saving of considerable capital and labour； for， in spite of some deficiency， what had to be supplied did not amount to much. And it devolved entirely upon a certain old Hu， a man of note， styled Shan Tzu-yeh， to deliberate upon one thing after another， and to initiate its construction.
Chia Cheng was not up to these ordinary matters， so that it fell to Chia She， Chia Chen， Chia Lien， Lai Ta， Lai Sheng， Lin Chih-hsiao， Wu Hsin-teng， Chan Kuang， Ch'eng Jih-hsing and several others to allot the sites， to set things in order， （and to look after） the heaping up of rockeries， the digging of ponds， the construction of two-storied buildings， the erection of halls， the plantation of bamboos and the cultivation of flowers， everything connected with the improvement of the scenery devolving， on the other hand， upon Shan Tzu-yeh to make provision for， and after leaving Court， he would devote such leisure moments as he had to merely going everywhere to give a look at the most important spots， and to consult with Chia She and the others； after which he troubled his mind no more with anything. And as Chia She did nothing else than stay at home and lie off， whenever any matter turned up， trifling though it may have been as a grain of mustard seed or a bean， Chia Chen and his associates had either to go and report it in person or to write a memorandum of it. Or if he had anything to say， he sent for Chia Lien， Lai Ta and others to come and receive his instructions. Chia Jung had the sole direction of the manufacture of the articles in gold and silver； and as for Chia Se， he had already set out on his journey to Ku Su. Chia Chen， Lai Ta and the rest had also to call out the roll with the names of the workmen， to superintend the works and other duties relative thereto， which could not be recorded by one pen alone； sufficient to say that a GREat bustle and stir prevailed， but to this subject we shall not refer for a time， but allude to Pao-yue.
As of late there were in the household concerns of this magnitude to attend to， Chia Cheng did not come to examine him in his lessons， so that he was， of course， in high spirits， but， as unfortunately Ch'in Chung's complaint became， day by day， more serious， he was at the same time really so very distressed at heart on his account， that enjoyment was for him out of the question.
On this day， he got up as soon as it was dawn， and having just combed his hair and washed his face and hands， he was bent upon going to ask dowager lady Chia to allow him to pay a visit to Ch'in Chung， when he suddenly espied Ming Yen peep round the curtain-wall at the second gate， and then withdraw his head. Pao-yue promptly walked out and inquired what he was up to.
"Mr. Ch'in Chung，" observed Ming Yen， "is not well at all."
Pao-yue at these words was quite taken aback. "It was only yesterday，" he hastily added， "that I saw him， and he was still bright and cheery； and how is it that he's anything but well now？"
