The Cloud Dream of the Nine | Page 8

lovely expression, which took fresh grip of
him. . . . Moonlight saw him dismount and bowed low. She

accompanied him into the guest room, where in her joy of soul she took
hold of the border of his robes. Her tears flowed faster than her words.
She congratulated Yang on his engagement to the daughter of Justice
Cheung, and told him how she had had at one time to cut off her hair to
escape dishonour so that she might remain true to him. "They renewed
their former happy acquaintance and he tarried for several days."
Then follows an account of Moonlight's ruse to let Wildgoose become
acquainted with Master Yang without his knowledge: "That night he
talked over the past with Moonlight and said how they had indeed been
destined for each other. They drank and were happy till the hours grew
late. Then they put out the lights and slept. When the east began to
lighten [pxxviii] he awoke and saw Moonlight dressing her hair before
the mirror. He looked at her with tenderest interest and then gave a start
and looked again. The delicate eyebrows, the bright eyes, the wavy hair
like a cloud over the temples, the rosy-tinted cheeks, the lithe graceful
form, the white complexion--all were Moonlight's, and yet it was not
she."
Wildgoose made an eloquent plea for her presence. "How could I ever
have ventured to do such a thing," she said, "were it not that I have had
born in me one great indomitable longing that has possessed me all my
life--to attach myself to some renowned hero or superior lord. When
the King of Yon learned my name and bought me for a heaped-up bag
of jewels, he fed me on the daintiest fare and dressed me in rarest silk.
Yet I had no delight in it but was in distress. When the King of Yon
invited you to a feast I spied on you through the screen chinks and you
were the one man that my heart bounded forth to follow. The palace
has nine gateways of approach, but when you had been gone ten days I
secretly took one of the King's fast horses and sped forth on my way.
What I did last night was at the request of Moonlight. If you will permit
me to find shelter under your wide-spreading tree, where I may build
my little nest, Moonlight and I will live together, and after the Master is
married to some noble lady, she and I will come and speak our good
wishes and congratulations."
Yang replied with generous words, and Moonlight also appeared and

said: "Now that Wildgoose has waited on my lord as well as I, I thank
thee on her behalf." And they bowed repeatedly. [pxxix]
The most startling of Yang's love stories is his meeting with Swallow.
It happened during a military campaign. The General was seated in his
tent with a lighted candle before him reading despatches during the
third watch of the night. Suddenly a cold wind extinguished the light of
the candle, an eerie chill filled the tent, and a maiden stepped in upon
him from the upper air holding a glittering double-edged sword in her
hand. The General, "guessing her to be an assassin," did not quail but
stood his ground sternly and asked who she was. "I am under the
command of the King of Tibet," she said, "to have thy head." The
General laughed. "The Superior Man," he replied, " never fears to die.
Take my head, if you please, and go." At this the maiden disclosed her
real intent. She had entered the camp at the bidding of the King of
Tibet for the ostensible purpose of carrying back to that monarch the
head of the great General, but her real object was to reveal her love for
Yang and to save his life and help him to victory. "Her face was bright
like rose petals with dew on them. She wore phoenix-tail shoes, and her
tones were like the oriole." The Teacher who had helped her to become
a "master of the sword drill" and had taught her how to "ride the winds,
follow the lightnings, and in an instant travel 3,000 li," had also
revealed to Swallow that Yang was her destined master and her true
affinity.
Yang was naturally as delighted as he had been surprised, so "they
plighted their troth, the glitter of swords and spears serving for candle
light" and the "sound of cymbals for the festal harp." After many days
of pleasure Swallow said to Yang, "A [pxxx] military camp is no place
for women; I fear that I shall hinder the movements of the troops,so I
must go." In vain Yang tried to persuade her that she was not