THE MARRIAGE MAKER 153- 



neither desired the upper hand which many fight for. After 

 this, the couple publicly worshipped "Heaven and Earth" 

 and the Ancestral Tablets. It was while worshipping 

 "Heaven and Earth" that the bride's attendants tied the 

 two together with a red silken cord, an act which is intended 

 to signify that the pair are joined together for life. 



Wei Ku and Ch'un Lai were now man and wife. After 

 being relieved of her veil, it became the duty of Ch'un Lai 

 to present herself to the company and to hand tea to every 

 guest; thus giving everybody an opportunity to see the Hsin 

 N icing and to criticise her. Ch'un Lai bore herself with 

 becoming decorum throughout this ordeal; and the per- 

 sonal remarks openly indulged in about her were all most 

 eulogistic, for the accounts of her charms and wit had not 

 in the least been exaggerated. She moved about like a 

 fairy on her tiny feet that they called "golden lilies," and 

 she bowed to the assembly with dignity and ease, like the 

 pliant bamboo swayed by a gentle wind. Her voice was soft 

 as the cooing of the dove, and when she smiled, her mouth 

 which resembled a ripe cherry, disclosed two rows of dainty 

 teeth like the kernels of watermelon seeds. So refined, and 

 so graceful was she, that all eyes were rivetted upon her in 

 rapt admiration. 



Wei Ku had cause to feel proud of his fascinating bride. 

 The congratulations of his friends rilled him with a sense of 

 exultation such as he had never known before. 



When the company had been presented with tea, and 

 all had seen the bride, Wei Ku and Ch'un Lai retired while 

 the banquet was served in the reception hall. All who* sat 

 down at the twenty "eight-fairy" tables 1 were sumptuously 

 regaled. There were rare viands brought from every part of 

 the country; delicacies from the north and from the sonth, 

 and delicacies from out of the sea, — an interminable suc- 

 cession of savoury victuals served up in big bowls and little 

 bowls, in tiny saucers and big platters, each one a marvellous 

 revelation of culinary art; and the choicest wines of Shao- 

 hsing flowed abundantly. Feasting and drinking lasted till 

 a late hour, and everybody declared that Hsiang Chou had 

 never before seen such a magnificent wedding, nor had ever 

 been treated to such a grand bridal feast. 



Once in the privacy of their own chamber, and away 

 from the excitement and bustle of the day, this happy couple- 



1 The ordinary square Chinese table called Pa-hsitn T'ai which 

 seats two persons on each side. Said to have been first used by the 

 "Eight fairies" of Taoism, viz., Chung-li Ch'uan, Chang Kuo-lao, 

 Lii Tung-pin, Ts'ao Kuo-chiu, Li T'ieh-kuai, Han Hsiang-tzu, Lan. 

 Ts'ai-ho and Ho Hsien-ku ; the last two are females. 



