Chapter 4 Writing Poems (1)
It was already night, and the palace lanterns in the flower hall were lit, as bright as the bright day. There were bursts of laughter around Jia Mu from time to time.
When Jia Lan asked, Jia Huan was sitting on a chair and drinking tea. He was bored and was enjoying the many beauties of the Jia family dressed today. The most beautiful ones tonight were Wang Xifeng, Li Wan and Ping'er.
Let’s not talk about Fengjie and Li Wan, they are ranked among the Twelve Beauties of Jinling, and Jia Huan’s ratings are above 90 points.
Li Wan in the 1987 version of Dream of Red Mansions looks like she is in her forties, which is really a failure. Li Wan is actually only about twenty years old this year. She is just in her youth, beautiful and graceful figure. She is tender and beautiful. Her charm is revealed in her inadvertent frowns and smiles.
Ping'er, in Dream of Red Mansions, wrote about Liu Laolao's vision: her beauty and beauty. He also said through Li Wan's mouth: "Such a decent look...I don't know who will regard you as my grandmother and wife." Baoyu commented: "Pinger is a very smart and handsome top-notch girl..."
Jia Huan score: 88 points are above the top.
Hearing Jia Lan's question, Jia Huan withdrew his gaze that fell on Li Wan, dressed in plain and light, and asked back, "Brother Lan, you can write poetry?" Li Wan was in her youth, and her body curves were graceful, which was very consistent with Jia Huan's aesthetic view. It was really embarrassing for him to appreciate the beauty of Lin Daimei, who is only over six years old this year.
Jia Lan nodded, thought about it, and shook her head in frustration. He was only over 5 years old, and what he wrote could not be called poetry.
Jia Huan said: "That's fine. We both write casually later. Let us give you the limelight to Uncle Bao."
Jia Lan nodded in a slight sense of understanding, thinking that what Jia Huan said makes sense. Since he couldn't write well, he was still worried about what he was doing. Just thinking about his mother's expectations, he felt that this idea was wrong.
When Jia Huan picked up the teacup and was about to drink it, a crisp girl's voice came from his ear, "Hmph, I'm afraid you can't even show up if you want to show off."
The person who spoke was Jia Xichun sitting on Jia Huan's left hand. She was wearing a green cotton jacket, and she didn't look too big, and she looked a little cold.
Seeing Jia Huan turning around and looking over, Jia Xichun just raised her white chin and snorted, turning her head to answer Jia Tanchun's question on the left side next to her.
Jia Xichun's sarcasm attracted the attention of Jia Tanchun and Jia Yingchun.
The banquet in the Jia Mansion Flower Hall was divided into several tables according to the Qing Dynasty banquet method. On the main table were Jia Mu, Jia Zheng, Wang Madam, Xing Madam, Jia Baoyu, Lin Daiyu, etc. Sanchun, Jia Huan, and Jia Lan were sitting next to it.
Although the maids and the mothers were busy serving food, they were silent. Except for the laughter at the table of Jia Mu Jia, the conversation between Jia Huan and Jia Lan naturally fell into the ears of Jia Xichun, who was unwilling to pay attention to the table.
Jia Huan withdrew his gaze and continued to drink tea calmly. After recalling Xiao Jia Huan's memory, he understood it.
Because of studying together, Jia Baoyu and Sanchun are in the same circle. He is Jia Lan and Jia Cong. Although Jia Xichun has a low status, she is the sister of Jia Zhen from Ningguo Mansion. She is still not a problem to raise her in front of Jia Mu.
Jia Huan was just saying "bad things" about Jia Baoyu: accusing Jia Baoyu of secretly operating the first place tonight.
Jia Xichun was naturally very unhappy when she heard this. Jia Huan's words sounded like he was not capable and wanted to be jealous of Baoyu. This is in line with Jia Huan's usual image.
Jia Tanchun heard Jia Xichun repeat the retelling, looked at Jia Huan with beautiful eyes, and said angrily: "Brother Huan, don't say anything like this. If you have real skills, you can suppress your second brother. Who can say that you can't do it? Wait a minute, we sisters will write poems. Your sister Lin's poems are excellent. It may not be that the second brother won the championship."
"What the third sister said," Jia Huan replied indifferently, eating vegetables. A joke. If I copy a nalan Rongruo poem, I can't suppress Jia Baoyu and Lin Daiyu?
Even Lin Daiyu and Xue Baochai's pinnacle work: chanting of burying flowers, verses of crabs, and Nalan Rongruo's sentence "If life is just like the first meeting, why is the autumn wind sadly painting a fan?" is enough to suppress it.
But Jia Huan was not that bored. He threw out Nalan Rongruo's classic poems at the Jia family banquet just to make a sigh of relief. He did not intend to copy poems in the Jia family to gain fame. He was the one who was destined to leave.
When Jia Huan was studying Dream of Red Mansions, he admired Tanchun's beauty and talent very much. He was very careful in Tanchun's growth and benefits to eliminate his past disadvantages! However, when he traveled to Jia Huan, he had some opinions on some of Jia Tanchun's practices.
In order to live a better life in the Jia family, Tanchun adopted the strategy of alienating Aunt Zhao, Jia Huan, getting close to Mrs. Wang and Jia Baoyu. This is understandable. Things are adaptable and urgent. Aunt Zhao is indeed a bit cheating.
However, Tanchun refused to call Aunt Zhao "mother" in private, which is unreasonable. Dogs do not despise their family as poor, and their children do not despise their mother as ugly!
Moreover, the lady of Jia whom she begged for, Mrs. Wang, did not protect her in the end, and was added to the name of a short princess and married away from another party.
Talent is smart and ambitious, and his fortune is declining in the last days. I cry and look at the riverside in the clear and clear direction, and the east wind is far away from me, and I dream of the east wind thousands of miles away.
Jia Tanchun was angry with Jia Huan's perfunctory attitude and ignored Jia Huan. She had met Jia Huan once or twice during this period, and she thought he had changed. Now it seems that he still has some "thoughts" about Baoyu.
Jia Huan naturally didn't know Tanchun's "misunderstanding" about him, and didn't care if he knew it, and he was bored thinking about the various things about Tanchun in the Dream of Red Mansions.
…
…
When Jia Huan, Jia Lan, Jia Tanchun and Jia Xichun were talking, they had drunk three rounds.
Jia Zheng said loudly: "The day before yesterday, the housekeeper of the Zeng family in Jiangnan came to send a New Year gift and brought a poem about snow by Zeng Baoyu from Zeng Mansion. There is a sentence of "Thousands of reeds and snow, falling trees to serve Qionghua" which is very wonderful and is passed down by the literati of Jinling. Today, the New Year's Eve banquet is gathered in the mansion. Baoyu, Huan Ge'er, and Lan Ge'er, you three can try to recite a poem."
He stayed at the banquet, and the female family members here at Jia Mu were not at ease. He was not at ease. The reason why he stayed to drink was for this big event.
The Jia family and the Zeng family have been intimate for generations, but the literary name cannot be suppressed by the other party. If the children in the mansion have good poems, they will naturally have to recite them.
Jia Zheng's eyes fell on Jia Baoyu. He had high hopes for this son. As for Jia Huan and Jia Lan, they both made up the numbers.
Just as he was snuggling in Jia Mu's arms, the eight-year-old Jia Baoyu shivered for a moment and hurriedly avoided Jia Zheng's gaze. He was always afraid of Jia Zheng.
Jia Mu smiled and continued, "I want to give you a prize if you do a good job of poetry."
Everyone who had seats at the banquet agreed and laughed, "Old ancestor, your lottery must be extraordinary. I just covet it, but I can't write poetry. Look at Baoyu."
"Baoyu, don't you like writing poetry the most in your daily life? With the inspiration of your ancestors, you have to show your true skills."
"The ancestors are really partial. The poems written by Master Bao Er are well known to everyone in the family."
Jia Mu, Jia Zheng, Wang Madam, and Wang Xifeng all smiled. They were very satisfied with such a harmonious situation.
Jia Baoyu also looked glamorous and acted coquettishly in Jia Mu's arms: "Old ancestor, today not only do I want to do poetry, but also Lin Meimei, the second sister, the third sister, and the fourth sister, etc. Otherwise, I would rather not have this lottery."
"Okay, okay, okay." Jia Mu's face burst into laughter and agreed repeatedly.
Jia Huan, who was standing beside him, felt chills. He was still acting coquettish in his grandmother's arms at the age of eight. He is really a treasure - Jia Baoyu of Genzi!
Baoyu's appearance is described in detail in Dream of Red Mansions: his face is like the Mid-Autumn Festival moon, his color is like the flowers in spring morning, his temples are like knife cuts, his eyebrows are like ink paintings, his face is like peach petals, and his eyes are like autumn waves. Jia Huan summarizes it himself: a handsome creamy little Shota with a big round face.
Suddenly I remembered the book that said: Jia Baoyu often jumped into Wang Xifeng's arms and touched it randomly. The scene... I felt my liver hurt when I thought about it.
The maid and the mother brought pens, ink, paper and inkstones, and a maid cleaned up the prepared table. Jia Baoyu, Lin Daiyu, Jia Yingchun, Jia Tanchun, Jia Xichun, Jia Huan, Jia Lan
Jia Baoyu and others wrote their own writing. The title was revealed long ago. Cao Zhi made a poem in seven steps, which was a genius among geniuses. Cao Zijian was the only one in the world. Jia Baoyu and others could not make a poem in an instant. However, maids, mothers, and outsiders don’t know, what a good reputation to spread?
For a moment, the flower hall became quiet, and everyone ate and drank, occasionally talking in a quiet voice, staring at the young masters and ladies who were writing.
Jia Huan knew that he had leaked the topic when he saw the posture around him. Looking at Jia Lan next to him, he had written a five-character poem in a moment, and he was obviously prepared for it. He was obviously forgotten by the people of the Jia family - no one leaked the topic to him.
Jia Lan felt embarrassed and smiled at Jia Huan embarrassedly. His nervousness before the banquet began was real. Although he knew the topic in advance, his mother did not write it for him. He just spent enough time to craft it. However, he lacked confidence in his "poetry".
Jia Huanbao smiled and did not accuse Jia Huan of concealing the topic. What can a child over five years old understand? I’m afraid it was Li Wan’s advice to Jia Lan! On the one hand, he had to reveal what he wanted to write a poem tonight, and on the other hand, he did not leak the topic to avoid dissatisfaction with Mrs. Wang. As long as he was careful and asked a few more questions about Zeng Baoyu’s poems, he would naturally find out the topic of “Ying Xue” tonight.
Jia Huan shook his head in his heart. Li Wan was really smooth in the Jia family. Even a concubine with a low status like him was unwilling to offend her. No wonder she was named a great charity. According to Ruyi, the servant world of the Jia family praised her with tribute.
At this time, a maid over there shouted in surprise: "The Second Master has finished writing!"
Jia Huan lowered his head and didn't go to see it.
Nonsense, those who are a little scheming understand: At this time, you cannot steal Jia Baoyu's limelight. Lin Daiyu enters the Jia Mansion and eats a bowl of tea before she can do it. Naturally, this kind of thing is understandable. There is no need to say Sanchun, because poetry is inferior to Baoyu.
Jia Huan was thinking about what poems to write. He loved literature and history books, but he was really not very good at writing poetry. He couldn't even write limericks like "The sea is full of water, and the horse is four legs". He would become a laughing stock in the Jia family.
Whether it is a good reputation or a bad reputation, Jia Huan doesn't want it now.
It is even more undesirable to copy a good poem to shock the Jia family. Tonight, the Jia family clearly made Baoyu famous. It is better that he can't miss the show.
Jia Huan thought about it and had a scheming in his heart. At this time, Jia Xichun placed the written poem on the lacquered tray of the maid beside him, turned his head and looked at the white paper in front of Jia Huan, and couldn't help but laugh and said, "Do you want to get the first place with a wordless poem?"
Jia Tanchun also finished his pen at this time, glanced at the blank paper in front of Jia Huan, and shook his head gently: Her younger brother is just jealous, which is really annoying.
Jia Huan ignored Jia Xichun and wrote on paper. It was a poem about snow by Su Shi, "Hotian Guobo Xixue Snow". In eight lines, Jia Huan only wrote four lines, and then wrote: poems from previous generations recorded by Jia Huan Jing.
Standing beside Jia Huan was Li Wan's maid Suyun. She smiled and helped Jia Huan collect the paper and presented the poem to Jia Zheng for review.
It was the last time that Jia Huan finished writing. At this time, Jia Baoyu, Lin Daiyu, Jia Yingchun, Jia Tanchun, Jia Xichun and Jia Lan had already finished writing, and the manuscript of the poem was handed over to Jia Zheng.
Jia Zheng was commenting on poetry. Although he failed to pass the exam for his childhood, people in their forties still have a vision of poetry. This is the most basic literary literacy.
Chapter completed!