红楼梦Chapter22_小升初阅读_小升初-查字典英语网

红楼梦Chapter22

　　Dowager lady Chia was， of course， still more elated. And after this she speedily went on to ask Tai-yue to choose. Tai-yue likewise concedingly yielded her turn in favour of madame Wang and the other seniors， to make their selections before her， but the old lady expostulated. To-day， she said， is primarily an occasion， on which Ive brought all of you here for your special recreation; and we had better look after our own selves and not heed them! For have I， do you imagine， gone to the trouble of having a performance and laying a feast for their special benefit? theyre already reaping benefit enough by being in here， listening to the plays and partaking of the banquet， when they have no right to either; and are they to be pressed further to make a choice of plays?

　　At these words， the whole company had a hearty laugh; after which， Tai-yue， at length， marked off a play; next in order following Pao-yue， Shih Hsiang-yuen， Ying-chun， Tan Chun， Hsi Chun， widow Li Wan， and the rest， each and all of whom made a choice of plays， which were sung in the costumes necessary for each. When the time came to take their places at the banquet， dowager lady Chia bade Pao-chai make another selection， and Pao-chai cast her choice upon the play： Lu Chih-shen， in a fit of drunkenness stirs up a disturbance up the Wu Tai mountain; whereupon Pao-yue interposed， with the remark： All you fancy is to choose plays of this kind; to which Pao-chai rejoined， Youve listened to plays all these years to no avail! How could you know the beauties of this play? the stage effect is grand， but what is still better are the apt and elegant passages in it.