Everlasting Pearl | Page 7

the
guest-hall. Standing on the table before the ancestral tablet, she
worshipped her dead ancestors for the last time, for from henceforth
they were nothing to her, as she would bear another's name. This
performance over, the middleman again lifted her up like a child, and
placed her in the chair. The little bride was then locked in, the key to
the chair resting in the pocket of her guide. Fire-crackers were let off,
the pipers piped, and the bride, loudly wailing, was on her way to her
future home.
Her brothers followed her for a short distance. After having escorted
her for about a mile, they handed her the keys of her boxes and
cupboard, bade her a last farewell, and returned home, leaving the
middleman and his assistant to escort her all the way. Some ragged
little boys were carrying the large lanterns, on which was inscribed her
husband's name, in front of her chair; others carried red banners; again,
others were beating gongs. One carried the big red umbrella, which
only a bride or a Mandarin is allowed to have carried in front of the
chair.
It was a proud day in the young girl's life. Everywhere the people
crowded round to get a peep at her through the glass windows of her
sedan chair. And she, sitting motionless and with bent head all the way,
was conscious of the deference paid to her. All the people turned
respectfully aside for the procession to pass, and even if a Mandarin
had happened to meet her on the way he would have had to turn aside.
For once in a lifetime the simple country girl was to be honoured by
him, to whom all others had to bow, for, as he would have said, "Who

knows if the bride of to-day may not bear a son, who shall far exceed
me in position and power?"
CHAPTER VI
MARRIAGE--
PART II
Meanwhile the bridegroom's family had not been idle. They had
prepared
and decorated their house; had put up new red scrolls, and draped the
guest-hall and the outside door with red cloth. Large red candles,
painted with gold, were burning on a sort of mantelpiece at the top of
the room, and new lanterns were adorning the hall.
The bedroom for the bride had also been prepared. A man who had
been prosperous in his life and home decided where the bed was to be
placed; and a woman equally prosperous in her home made the bed,
and took good care that no ill-luck should come near the dwelling of
the young couple.
When about a mile's distance from her future husband's home,
Everlasting Pearl suddenly ceased her wailing, for it now behoved her
to show the right submission. The old life lay behind her; she had
mourned for it, but must now prepare for the new life ahead.
She was met by messengers from the Hsü family. The chair was put
down and some superstitious rites were performed to drive away the
evil influences which she might have encountered by the way. And
then, as it was getting dark, the lanterns were lighted for the last stage
of the journey, and soon she was carried into her new home. She
entered it to the sound of fire-crackers, music, beating of gongs, and the
shouts of all the people who had gathered in great numbers, each one
present trying to catch the first glimpse of the bride.

The bridal chair was put down in the guest-hall, and there it remained.
After what seemed an exceptionally long waiting time, the door was
unlocked, but still the bride could not move. At last, a woman, the
proud mother of several sons, came forward and helped her out of the
chair. Two little girls, richly adorned with flowers, were waiting, one
on either side of the chair, to offer her some tea. After that she was led
into the room prepared for her. Her own furniture had already been
placed in the room, and the bridegroom, clad in official robes, was
standing near the bed, waiting for her. Then they both sat down, a table
was placed before them with two basins of rice, some eggs, vermicelli,
and a chicken leg for each. Not much of it was eaten, however; the little
bride, still veiled, could touch nothing, but the guests, who had
crowded into the room to stare at her, helped themselves freely to the
rice.
After a short time the bridegroom left the room, and a little later the
bride was led out to the public guest-hall, supported by two women.
The young man was waiting for her. They took their stand in front of
the ancestral tablet side by side, and now the real wedding ceremony
began.
A wadded quilt,