红楼梦Chapter24_小升初阅读_小升初-查字典英语网

红楼梦Chapter24

the thing is， Chia Yuen replied， that shes not well： she， however， often thinks fondly of you， aunt， and longs to see you; but as for coming round， shes quite unable to do so.

You have， indeed， the knack of telling lies! lady Feng laughed with irony; for hadnt I alluded to her， she would never have thought of me!

Isnt your nephew afraid， Chia Yuen protested smilingly， of being blasted by lightning to have the audacity of telling lies in the presence of an elder! Even so late as yesterday evening， she alluded to you， aunt! Though naturally， she said， of a weak constitution， you had， however， plenty to attend to! that its thanks to your supremely eminent energies， aunt， that youre， after all， able to manage everything in such a perfect manner; and that had you ever made the slightest slip， there would have long ago crept up， goodness knows， what troubles!

As soon as lady Feng heard these words， her whole face beamed with smiles， and she unconsciously halted her steps， while she proceeded to ask： How is it that， both your mother and yourself， tattle about me behind my back， without rhyme or reason?

theres a reason for it， Chia Yuen observed， which is simply this. Ive an excellent friend with considerable money of his own at home， who recently kept a perfumery shop; but as he obtained， by purchase， the rank of deputy sub-prefect， he was， the other day， selected for a post in Yunnan， in some prefecture or other unknown to me; whither he has gone together with his family. He even closed this shop of his， and forthwith collecting all his wares， he gave away， what he could give away， and what he had to sell at a discount， was sold at a loss; while such valuable articles， as these， were all presented to relatives or friends; and thats why it is that I came in for some baroos camphor and musk. But I at the time， deliberated with my mother that to sell them below their price would be a pity， and that if we wished to give them as a present to any one， there was no one good enough to use such perfumes. But remembering how you， aunt， had all along in years gone by， even to this day， to spend large bundles of silver， in purchasing such articles， and how， not to speak of this year with an imperial consort in the Palace， whats even required for this dragon boat festival， will also necessitate the addition of hundred times as much as the quantity of previous years， I therefore present them to you， aunt， as a token of my esteem!