The Story of the Stone, Volume III
$20.00
| Title | Range | Discount |
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| Trade Discount | 5 + | 25% |
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Description
The Story of the Stone (c. 1760), also known by the title of The Dream of the Red Chamber, is the great novel of manners in Chinese literature.
Divided into five volumes, of which The Warning Voice is the third, it charts the glory and decline of the illustrious Jia family (a story which closely accords with the fortunes of the author’s own family). The two main characters, Bao-yu and Dai-yu, are set against a rich tapestry of humour, realistic detail and delicate poetry, which accurately reflects the ritualized hurly-burly of Chinese family life. But over and above the novel hangs the constant reminder that there is another plane of existence – a theme which affirms the Buddhist belief in a supernatural scheme of things.
For more than seventy years, Penguin has been the leading publisher of classic literature in the English-speaking world. With more than 1,700 titles, Penguin Classics represents a global bookshelf of the best works throughout history and across genres and disciplines. Readers trust the series to provide authoritative texts enhanced by introductions and notes by distinguished scholars and contemporary authors, as well as up-to-date translations by award-winning translators.The Story of the Stone Volume 3Note on Spelling
Preface
Chapter 54:
Lady Jia ridicules the cliches of romantic fiction; And Wang Xi-feng emulates the filifal antics of Lao Lia-zi
Chapter 55:
A foolish concubine seeks to humiliate her own daughter; And an ill-natured stewardess tries to outwit her young mistress
Chapter 56:
Resourceful Tan-chun abolilshes abuses in the interests of econoomy; And sapient Bao-chai shows how small consessions can be made without loss of dignity
Chapter 57:
Nightengale tests Jade Boy with a startling message; And Aunt Xue comforts Frowner with words of loving kindness
Chapter 58:
In which the cock-bird who mourns his mate is found to be a hen; And a true heart is able to sympathize with a strange kind of love
Chapter 59:
By Willow Walk the conververs of property resort to violence and abuse; And at Green Delights the defenders of law and order invoke a higher authority
Chapter 60:
As a substiture for rose-orris Jia Huan is given jasmine face-powder; And in return for rose essence Cook Liu is given lycoperdon snow
Chapter 61:
Bao-yu owns up to a crime he did not commit; And Patience bends authority in order that the innocent may be spared
Chapter 62:
A tipsy Xiang-yun sleeps on a peony-petal pillow; And a grateful Caltrop unfastens her pomegranate skirt
Chapter 63:
Flower-maidens combine for nocturnal birthday revels; And a grass widow copes with funeral arrangments single-handed
Chapter 64:
Five fair women make subjects for a chaste maid’s verse; And nine jade dragons make a love-gift for a flirt
Chapter 65:
Jia Lian’s second marriage is celebrated in secret; And the future marriage of San-jie becomes a matter of speculation
Chapter 66:
Shame drives a warm-hearted young woman to take her life; And shock leads a cold-hearted young gentleman to renounce the world
Chapter 67:
Frowner sees something that makes her homesick; And Xi-feng hears something that rouses her suspicions
Chapter 68:
Er-jie takes up residence in Prospect Garden; And Xi-feng makes a disturbance in Ning-guo House
Chapter 69:
A scheming woman kills with a borrowed knife; And one who has ceased to hope swallows gold and dies
Chapter 70:
Lin Dai-yu resuscitates the Poetry Club; And Shi Xiang-yun tries her hand at a song lyric
Chapter 71:
Lady Xing deliberately humiliates her daughter-in-law; And Faithful inadvertently iterrupts a pair of love-birds
Chapter 72:
Wang Xi-fen refuses to see a doctor; And Brightie’s wife seeks help with a betrothal
Chapter 73:
A half-witted servant girl picks up a highly embarrassing object; And an easy-going young mistress refuses to inquire into a theft
Chapter 74:
Lady Wang authorizes a raid on Prospect Garden; And Jia Xi-chun breaks off relations with Ning-guo House
Chapter 75:
Midnight revellers are startled by a sound of evil omen; And Mid-Autumn moon-watchers listen to quantrains of unequal merit
Chapter 76:
Flute-playing at Convex Pavillion provokes too much melancholy; And linked verses at Concave Pavilion betray a morbid sensitivity
Chapter 77:
A wronged maid takes a loving last leave of her master; And three young actresses seek to escape matrimony in the cloister
Chapter 78:
Jia Zheng commissions the Ballad of the Winsome Colonel; And Bao-yu composes an Invocation to the Hibiscus Spirit
Chapter 79:
Xue Pan finds to his sorrow that he is married to a termagant; And Ying-chun’s parents betroth her to a Zhong-shan wolf
Chapter 80:
Unfortunate Caltrop is battered by a philandering husband; And One Plaster Wang presribes for an insufferavle wife
Appendix I: Sandal, Musk, and Skybright
Appendix II: Suncloud, Sunset and Moonrise
Appendix III: You San-jie, Liu Xiang-lian and Jia Lian’s Journeys
Appendix IV: Old Mrs. You and the Zhangs
Appendix V: Fivey, Bao Er and The Mattress
Appendix VI: Euergesia and the Little Actresses
Characters in Volume 3
Genealogical Tables
“Filled with classical allusions, multilayered wordplay, and delightful poetry, Cao’s novel is a testament to what Chinese literature was capable of. Readers of English are fortunate to have David Hawkes and John Minford’s The Story of the Stone, which distills a lifetime of scholarship and reading into what is probably the finest work of Chinese-to-English literary translation yet produced. You will be rewarded every bit of attention you give it, many times over.” —SupChina, “The 100 China Books You Have to Read, Ranked” (#1)Cao Xueqin (1715-63) was born into a family which for three generations held the office of Commissioner of Imperial Textiles in Nanking, a family so wealthy they were able to entertain the Emperor four times. However, calamity overtook them and their property was consfiscated. Cao Xueqin was living in poverty when he wrote his famous novel The Story of the Stone.GB
Additional information
| Dimensions | 1.0600 × 5.1000 × 7.8000 in |
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