红楼梦Chapter19_小升初阅读_小升初-查字典英语网

红楼梦Chapter19

Pao-yue， noticing that the commotion and bustle had reached a stage so unbearable to his taste， speedily betook himself， after merely sitting for a little while， to other places in search of relaxation and fun. First of all， he entered the inner rooms， and after spending some time in chatting and laughing with Mrs. Yu， the waiting-maids， and secondary wives， he eventually took his departure out of the second gate; and as Mrs. Yu and her companions were still under the impression that he was going out again to see the play， they let him speed on his way， without so much as keeping an eye over him.

Chia Chen， Chia Lien， Hsueh Pan and the others were bent upon guessing enigmas， enforcing the penalties and enjoying themselves in a hundred and one ways， so that even allowing that they had for a moment noticed that he was not occupying his seat， they must merely have imagined that he had gone inside and not， in fact， worried their minds about him. And as for the pages， who had come along with Pao-yue， those who were a little advanced in years， knowing very well that Pao-yue would， on an occasion like the present， be sure not to be going before dusk， stealthily therefore took advantage of his absence， those， who could， to gamble for money， and others to go to the houses of relatives and friends to drink of the new year tea， so that what with gambling and drinking the whole bevy surreptitiously dispersed， waiting for dusk before they came back; while those， who were younger， had all crept into the GREen rooms to watch the excitement; with the result that Pao-yue perceiving not one of them about bethought himself of a small reading room， which existed in previous days on this side， in which was suspended a picture of a beauty so artistically executed as to look life-like. On such a bustling day as this， he reasoned， its pretty certain， I fancy， that there will be no one in there; and that beautiful person must surely too feel lonely， so that its only right that I should go and console her a bit. With these thoughts， he hastily betook himself towards the side-house yonder， and as soon as he came up to the window， he heard the sound of groans in the room. Pao-yue was really quite startled. What! (he thought)， can that beautiful girl， possibly， have come to life! and screwing up his courage， he licked a hole in the paper of the window and peeped in. It was not she， however， who had come to life， but Ming Yen holding down a girl and likewise indulging in what the Monitory Dream Fairy had taught him.