| Chapter I |
Chen Shih-yin, in a vision, apprehends perception and spirituality.
Chia Yü-ts'un, in the (windy and dusty) world, cherishes fond thoughts of a beautiful maiden. |
| Chapter II |
The spirit of Mrs. Chia Shih-yin departs from the town of Yang Chou.
Leng Tzu-hsing dilates upon the Jung Kuo Mansion. |
| Chapter III |
Lin Ju-hai appeals to his brother-in-law, Chia Cheng, recommending Yü-ts'un, his daughter's tutor, to his consideration.
Dowager lady Chia sends to fetch her granddaughter, out of commiseration for her being a motherless child. |
| Chapter IV |
An ill-fated girl happens to meet an ill-fated young man.
The Hu Lu Bonze adjudicates the Hu Lu case. |
| Chapter V |
The spirit of Chia Pao-yü visits the confines of the Great Void.
The Monitory Vision Fairy expounds, in ballads, the Dream of the Red Chamber. |
| Chapter VI |
Chia Pao-yü reaps his first experience in licentious love.
Old Goody Liu pays a visit to the Jung Kuo Mansion. |
| Chapter VII |
Presentation of artificial flowers made in the Palace.
Chia Lien disports himself with Hsi-feng.
Pao-yü meets Ch'in Chung at a family party. |
| Chapter VIII |
By a strange coincidence, Chia Pao-yü becomes acquainted with the golden clasp.
In an unexpected meeting, Hsüeh Pao-ch'ai sees the jade of spiritual perception. |
| Chapter IX |
Chia Cheng gives good advice to his wayward son.
Li Kuei receives a reprimand.
Chia Jui and Li Kuei rebuke the obstinate youths!
Ming Yen causes trouble in the school-room. |
| Chapter X |
Widow Chin, prompted by a desire to reap advantage, puts up temporarily with an insult.
Dr. Chang in discussing Mrs. Chin's illness minutely exhausts its origin. |
| Chapter XI |
In honour of Chia Ching's birthday, a family banquet is spread in the Ning Mansion.
At the sight of Hsi-feng, Chia Jui entertains feelings of licentious love. |
| Chapter XII |
Wang Hsi-feng maliciously lays a trap for Chia Jui, under pretence that his affection is reciprocated.
Chia T'ien-hsiang gazes at the face of the mirror of Voluptuousness. |
| Chapter XIII |
Ch'in K'o-ch'ing dies, and Chia Jung is invested with the rank of military officer to the Imperial Body-guard.
Wang Hsi-feng lends her help in the management of the Jung Kuo Mansion. |
| Chapter XIV |
Lin Ju-hai dies in the City of Yang Chou.
Chia Pao-yü meets the Prince of Pei Ching on the way. |
| Chapter XV |
Lady Peng, née Wang, exercises her authority in the Iron Fence Temple.
Ch'in Ching-ch'ing (Ch'ing Chung) amuses himself in the Man-t'ou (Bread) nunnery. |
| Chapter XVI |
Chia Yuan-ch'un is, on account of her talents, selected to enter the Feng Ts'ao Palace.
Ch'in Ching-ch'ing departs, in the prime of life, by the yellow spring road. |
| Chapter XVII |
In the Ta Kuan Garden, (Broad Vista,) the merits of Pao-yü are put to the test, by his being told to write devices for scrolls and tablets.
Yuan Ch'un returns to the Jung Kuo mansion, on a visit to her parents,
. |
| Chapter XVIII |
His Majesty shows magnanimous bounty.
The Imperial consort Yuan pays a visit to her parents.
The happiness of a family gathering.
Pao-yü displays his polished talents. |
| Chapter XIX |
In the vehemence of her feelings, Hua (Hsi Jen) on a quiet evening admonishes Pao-yü.
While (the spell) of affection continues unbroken, Pao-yü, on a still day, perceives the fragrance emitted from Tai-yü's person. |
| Chapter XX |
Wang Hsi-feng with earnest words upbraids Mrs.
Chao's jealous notions.
Lin Tai-yü uses specious language to make sport of Shih Hsiang-yün's querulous tone of voice. |
| Chapter XXI |
The eminent Hsi Jen, with winsome ways, rails at Pao-yü, with a view to exhortation.
The beauteous P'ing Erh, with soft words, screens Chia Lien. |
| Chapter XXII |
Upon hearing the text of the stanza, Pao-yü comprehends the Buddhistic spells.
While the enigmas for the lanterns are being devised, Chia Cheng is grieved by a prognostic. |
| Chapter XXIII |
Pao-yü and Tai-yü make use of some beautiful passages from the Record of the Western Side-building to bandy jokes.
The excellent ballads sung in the Peony Pavilion touch the tender heart of Tai-yü. |
| Chapter XXIV |
The drunken Chin Kang makes light of lucre and shows a preference for generosity.
The foolish girl mislays her handkerchief and arouses mutual thoughts. |
| Chapter XXV |
By a demoniacal art, a junior uncle and an elder brother's wife (Pao-yü and lady Feng) come across five devils.
The gem of Spiritual Perception meets, in a fit of torpor, the two perfect men. |
| Chapter XXVI |
On the Feng Yao bridge, Hsiao Hung makes known sentimental matters in equivocal language.
In the Hsiao Hsiang lodge, Tai-yü gives, while under the effects of the spring lassitude, expression to her secret feelings. |
| Chapter XXVII |
In the Ti Ts'ui pavilion, Pao-ch'ai diverts herself with the multi-coloured butterflies.
Over the mound, where the flowers had been interred, Tai-yü bewails their withered bloom. |
| Chapter XXVIII |
Chiang Yü-han lovingly presents a rubia-scented silk sash.
Hsüeh Pao-ch'ai blushingly covers her musk-perfumed string of red beads. |
| Chapter XXIX |
A happy man enjoys a full measure of happiness, but still prays for happiness.
A beloved girl is very much loved, but yet craves for more love. |
| Chapter XXX |
Pao-ch'ai avails herself of the excuse afforded her by a fan to administer a couple of raps.
While Ch'un Ling traces, in a absent frame of mind, the outlines of the character Ch'iang, a looker-on appears on the scene. |
| Chapter XXXI |
Pao-yü allows the girl Ch'ing Wen to tear his fan so as to afford her amusement.
A wedding proves to be the result of the descent of a unicorn. |
| Chapter XXXII |
Hsi Jen and Hsiang-yün tell their secret thoughts.
Tai-yü is infatuated with the living Pao-yü. |
| Chapter XXXIII |
A brother is prompted by ill-feeling to wag his tongue a bit.
A depraved son receives heavy blows with a rattan cane. |
| Chapter XXXIV |
Tai-yü loves Pao-yü with extreme affection; but, on account of this affection, her female cousin gets indignant.
Hsüeh P'an commits a grave mistake; but Pao-ch'ai makes this mistake a pretext to tender advice to her brother. |
| Chapter XXXV |
Pai Yü-ch'uan tastes too the lotus-leaf soup.
Huang Chin-ying skilfully plaits the plum-blossom-knotted nets. |
| Chapter XXXVI |
While Hsi Jen is busy embroidering mandarin ducks, Pao-yü receives, in the Chiang Yün Pavilion, an omen from a dream.
Pao-yü apprehends that there is a destiny in affections, when his feelings are aroused to a sense of the situation in the Pear
. |
| Chapter XXXVII |
In the Study of Autumnal Cheerfulness is accidentally formed the Cydonia Japonica Society.
In the Heng Wu Court, the chrysanthemum is, on a certain night, proposed as a subject for verses. |
| Chapter XXXVIII |
Lin Hsiao-Hsiang carries the first prize in the poems on chrysanthemums.
Hsueh Heng-wu chaffs Pao-yü by composing verses in the same style as his on the crabs. |
| Chapter XXXIX |
The tongue of the village old dame finds as free vent as a river that has broken its banks.
The affectionate cousin makes up his mind to sift to the very bottom the story told by old goody Liu. |
| Chapter XL |
The venerable lady Shih attends a second banquet in the garden of Broad Vista.
Chin Yüan-yang three times promulgates, by means of dominoes, the order to quote passages from old writers. |
| Chapter XLI |
Chia Pao-yü tastes tea in the Lung Ts'ui monastery.
Old goody Liu gets drunk and falls asleep in the I Hung court. |
| Chapter XLI |
Chia Pao-yü tastes tea in the Lung Ts'ui monastery.
Old goody Liu gets drunk and falls asleep in the I Hung court. |
| Chapter XLIII |
Having time to amuse themselves, the Chia inmates raise, when least expected, funds to celebrate lady Feng's birthday.
In his ceaseless affection for Chin Ch'uen, Pao-yü uses, for the occasion, a pinch of earth as incense and burns it. |
| Chapter XLIV |
By some inscrutable turn of affairs, lady Feng begins to feel the pangs of jealousy.
Pao-yü experiences joy, beyond all his expectations, when P'ing Erh (receives a slap from lady Feng) and has to adjust her hair. |
| Chapter XLIV |
By some inscrutable turn of affairs, lady Feng begins to feel the pangs of jealousy.
Pao-yü experiences joy, beyond all his expectations, when P'ing Erh (receives a slap from lady Feng) and has to adjust her hair. |
| Chapter XLVI |
An improper man with difficulty keeps from improprieties.
The maid, Yüan Yang, vows to break off the marriage match. |
| Chapter XLVII |
An idiotic bully tries to be lewd and comes in for a sound thrashing.
A cold-hearted fellow is prompted by a dread of trouble to betake himself to a strange place. |
| Chapter XLVIII |
A sensual-minded man gets into such trouble through his sensuality that he entertains the idea of going abroad.
An estimable and refined girl manages, after great exertion, to compose verses at a refined meeting. |
| Chapter XLIX |
White snow and red plum blossom in the crystal world.
The pretty girl, fragrant with powder, cuts some meat and eats it. |
| Chapter L |
In the Lu Hsüeh pavilion, they vie with each other in pairing verses on the scenery.
In the Nuan Hsiang village, they compose, in beautiful style, riddles for the spring lanterns. |
| Chapter LI |
The young maiden Hsüeh Pao-ch'in devises, in novel style, odes bearing on antiquities.
A stupid doctor employs, in reckless manner, drugs of great strength. |
| Chapter LII |
The beautiful P'ing Erh endeavours to conceal the loss of the bracelet, made of work as fine as the feelers of a shrimp.
The brave Ch'ing Wen mends the down-cloak during her indisposition. |
| Chapter LIII |
In the Ning Kuo mansion sacrifices are offered to their ancestors on the last night of the year.
In the Jung Kuo mansion, a banquet is given on the evening of the 15th of the first moon. |
| Chapter LIV |
Dowager lady Chia, née Shih, does away with rotten old customs.
Wang Hsi-feng imitates in jest (the dutiful son), by getting herself up in gaudy theatrical clothes. |
| Chapter LV |
The stupid secondary wife, dame Chao, needlessly loses her temper and insults her own daughter, T'an Ch'un.
The perverse servant-girls are so full of malice that they look down contemptuously on their youthful mistresses. |
| Chapter LVI |
The clever T'an Ch'un increases their income and removes long-standing abuses.
The worthy Pao-ch'ai preserves intact, by the display of a little intelligence, the great reputation enjoyed by the Chia family. |
| Chapter LVI was the last translation published by H. Bencraft Joly |
