红楼梦Chapter18_小升初阅读_小升初-查字典英语网

红楼梦Chapter18

the apricot tree sign to drink wayfarers doth invite; A farm located on a hill， lo! yonder strikes the sight! And water caltrops， golden lotus， geese， as well as flows， And mulberry and elm trees which afford rest to swallows. That wide extent of spring leeks with verdure covers the ground; And oer ten li the paddy blossom fragrance doth abound. In days of plenty theres a lack of dearth and of distress， And what need then is there to plough and weave with such briskness?

When the Chia consort had done with the perusal， excessive joy filled her heart. He has indeed made proGREss! she exclaimed， and went on to point at the verses on the sign on the apricot tree， as being the crowning piece of the four stanzas. In due course， she with her own hands changed the motto a cottage in the hills where dolichos is bleached into the paddy-scented village; and bidding also Tan Chun to take the several tens of stanzas written then， and to transcribe them separately on ornamented silk paper， she commanded a eunuch to send them to the outer quarters. And when Chia Cheng and the other men perused them， one and all sung their incessant praise， while Chia Cheng， on his part， sent in some complimentary message， with regard to her return home on a visit.

Yuan Chun went further and gave orders that luscious wines， a ham and other such presents should be conferred upon Pao-yue， as well as upon Chia Lan. This Chia Lan was as yet at this time a perfect youth without any knowledge of things in general， so that all that he could do was to follow the example of his mother， and imitate his uncle in performing the conventional rites.