Hung Lou Meng - book 1 | Page 2

I have been, may have the means to screen my own
shortcomings.
Hence it is that the thatched shed, with bamboo mat windows, the bed
of tow and the stove of brick, which are at present my share, are not
sufficient to deter me from carrying out the fixed purpose of my mind.
And could I, furthermore, confront the morning breeze, the evening
moon, the willows by the steps and the flowers in the courtyard,
methinks these would moisten to a greater degree my mortal pen with
ink; but though I lack culture and erudition, what harm is there,
however, in employing fiction and unrecondite language to give
utterance to the merits of these characters? And were I also able to
induce the inmates of the inner chamber to understand and diffuse them,
could I besides break the weariness of even so much as a single
moment, or could I open the eyes of my contemporaries, will it not
forsooth prove a boon?
This consideration has led to the usage of such names as Chia Yü-ts'un
and other similar appellations.
More than any in these pages have been employed such words as
dreams and visions; but these dreams constitute the main argument of
this work, and combine, furthermore, the design of giving a word of
warning to my readers.
Reader, can you suggest whence the story begins?

The narration may border on the limits of incoherency and triviality,
but it possesses considerable zest. But to begin.
The Empress Nü Wo, (the goddess of works,) in fashioning blocks of
stones, for the repair of the heavens, prepared, at the Ta Huang Hills
and Wu Ch'i cave, 36,501 blocks of rough stone, each twelve chang in
height, and twenty-four chang square. Of these stones, the Empress Wo
only used 36,500; so that one single block remained over and above,
without being turned to any account. This was cast down the Ch'ing
Keng peak. This stone, strange to say, after having undergone a process
of refinement, attained a nature of efficiency, and could, by its innate
powers, set itself into motion and was able to expand and to contract.
When it became aware that the whole number of blocks had been made
use of to repair the heavens, that it alone had been destitute of the
necessary properties and had been unfit to attain selection, it forthwith
felt within itself vexation and shame, and day and night, it gave way to
anguish and sorrow.
One day, while it lamented its lot, it suddenly caught sight, at a great
distance, of a Buddhist bonze and of a Taoist priest coming towards
that direction. Their appearance was uncommon, their easy manner
remarkable. When they drew near this Ch'ing Keng peak, they sat on
the ground to rest, and began to converse. But on noticing the block
newly-polished and brilliantly clear, which had moreover contracted in
dimensions, and become no larger than the pendant of a fan, they were
greatly filled with admiration. The Buddhist priest picked it up, and
laid it in the palm of his hand.
"Your appearance," he said laughingly, "may well declare you to be a
supernatural object, but as you lack any inherent quality it is necessary
to inscribe a few characters on you, so that every one who shall see you
may at once recognise you to be a remarkable thing. And subsequently,
when you will be taken into a country where honour and affluence will
reign, into a family cultured in mind and of official status, in a land
where flowers and trees shall flourish with luxuriance, in a town of
refinement, renown and glory; when you once will have been there..."

The stone listened with intense delight.
"What characters may I ask," it consequently inquired, "will you
inscribe? and what place will I be taken to? pray, pray explain to me in
lucid terms." "You mustn't be inquisitive," the bonze replied, with a
smile, "in days to come you'll certainly understand everything." Having
concluded these words, he forthwith put the stone in his sleeve, and
proceeded leisurely on his journey, in company with the Taoist priest.
Whither, however, he took the stone, is not divulged. Nor can it be
known how many centuries and ages elapsed, before a Taoist priest,
K'ung K'ung by name, passed, during his researches after the eternal
reason and his quest after immortality, by these Ta Huang Hills, Wu
Ch'i cave and Ch'ing Keng Peak. Suddenly perceiving a large block of
stone, on the surface of which the traces of characters giving, in a
connected form, the various incidents of its fate, could be clearly
deciphered, K'ung K'ung examined them from first to last. They, in fact,
explained how that this block of worthless stone had originally been
devoid of the properties essential for the repairs