The Story of the Stone Volume 5Note on Spelling
Preface
Chapter 99:
Unscrupulous minions make use of their master's virtue to conceal a
multitude of sins; and Jia Zheng is alarmed to read his nephew's
name in the 'Peking Gazette'
Chapter 100:
Caltrop disturbs an elaborate seduction and inspires bitter
resentment; Bao-yu learns of a distressing betrothal and laments an
imminent departure
Chapter 101:
In Prospect Garden a moonlit apparition repeats an ancient warning;
and a Scattered Flowers Convent the fortune-sticks provide a
strange omen
Chapter 102:
Illness descends upon the Jia family in Ning-guo House; and charms
and holy water are used to exorcize Prospect Garden
Chapter 103:
Jin-gui dies by her own hand, caught in a web of her own weaving;
Yu-cun encounters an old friend in vain, blind to the higher truths
of Zen
Chapter 104:
Drunken Dime at large again - a small fish whips up a mighty storm;
our Besotted Hero in agony once more - a chance thrust quickens a
numbed heart
Chapter 105:
The Embroidered Jackets raid Ning-guo House; and Censor Li
impeaches the Prefect of Ping-an
Chapter 106:
Wang Xi-feng feels remorse for the consequences of her past
misdeeds; and Grandmother Jia prays for the family's deliverence
from further calamity
Chapter 107:
Impelled by family devotion, Grandmother Jia distributes her
personal posessions; favoured with an Imperial dispensation, Jia
Zheng recieves his bother's hereditary rank
Chapter 108:
A birthday party held for Sister Allspice necessitiates a false
display of jollity; and ghostly weeping heard at the Naiad's House
provokes a frech outburst of grief
Chapter 109:
Fivey shares a vigil, and receives affection meant for another;
Ying-chun pays her debt to fate, and returns to the Realm of
Primordial Truth
Chapter 110:
Lady Jia ends her days, and returns to the land of shades; Wang
Xi-feng exhausts her strength, and forfeits the family's
esteem
Chapter 111:
A devoted maid renders a final service, and accompanies her
mistress to the Great Void; a villainous slave takes his revenge,
and betrays his masters into the hands of theives
Chapter 112:
Admantina discharges a karmic debt and recieves a blow from the
Hand of Providence; Aunt Zhao concludes a deadly feud and sets out
on the road to the Nether World
Chapter 113:
Xi-feng repents of her former misdeeds, and entrusts her child to a
village dame; Nightengale softens a long-standing animosity, and
warns to ter besotted master
Chapter 114:
Wang Xi-feng ends her life's illusion and returns to Jinling; Zhen
Ying-jia recieves the Emperor's favour and is summoned to the
Palace
Chapter 115:
A private obsessoin revived confirms Xi-chun in an ancient vow; a
physical likeness verified deprives Bao-yu of an imagines
friend
Chapter 116:
Human destinies are revealed in a fairy realm, and the Stone is
restored to its rightful owner; mortal remains are transported to
their terrestrial home, and duty is discharged by a filial
son
Chapter 117:
Two fair damsels conspire to save the jade, and forestall a flight
from earthy bondage; an infamous rogue takes charge of the mansion,
and assembles a gang of cronies
Chapter 118:
Provoked by a ranking antipathy, Uncle and Cousin plot the ruin of
an innocent maid; alarmed by riddling utterances, Wife and
Concubine remonstrate with their idiot master
Chapter 119:
Bao-yu becomes a Provincial Graduate and severs worldly ties: the
House of Jia receives Imperial favour and renews ancestral
glory
Chapter 120:
Zhen Shi-yin expounds the Nature of Passion and Illusion; and Jia
Yu-cun concludes the Dream of Golden Days
Characters in Volume 5
Genealogical Tables
Cao Xueqin (1715-63) was born into a family which for three generations held the office of Commissioner of Imperial Textiles in Nanking, a family so wealthy they were able to entertain the Emperor four times. However, calamity overtook them and their property was consfiscated. Cao Xueqin was living in poverty when he wrote his famous novel The Story of the Stone.
“Filled with classical allusions, multilayered wordplay, and delightful poetry, Cao’s novel is a testament to what Chinese literature was capable of. Readers of English are fortunate to have David Hawkes and John Minford’s The Story of the Stone, which distills a lifetime of scholarship and reading into what is probably the finest work of Chinese-to-English literary translation yet produced. You will be rewarded every bit of attention you give it, many times over.” —SupChina, “The 100 China Books You Have to Read, Ranked” (#1)
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