The poem the old tutor decided to teach first was one in the Book of Songs.
Ospreys are chirping for love at the shoal, and
Slim and beautiful ladies are good partners for gentlemen
He explained to the young lady that the osprey in the poem is a type of bird with beautiful songs.
“What do they sound like?” asked the maid.
To the girls’ surprise, the old tutor began chirping like an osprey. Chunxiang couldn’t help but began imitating him.
Ignoring her, the old tutor continued to explain that ospreys are relatively quiet birds that live on the shoal.
“Right”, the main interrupted again. “There was a turtle dove in our mansion this year or last, I am not too sure. The young lady master set it free and it flew to the State Governor’s house.”[The words “Shoal” and “State Governor’ are homophones. ]
“Nonsense”, irritated by the maid’s constant interruptions, the old tutor said angrily. “This is simply a qixing in the poem, a stimulant that inspire poet’s train of thoughts”.
“What’s a qixing, again?” the maid asked.
“It’s something that inspires the verses that follows. In this case, the sentence ‘the slim and beautiful ladies are good partners for gentlemen’ implies that a quiet and docile lady will be courted by a gentleman. Chen answered her question but, trying to avoid the subject of courting men and women, he said it with a deliberate equivocation.
“Why does the gentleman court her?” The piquant maid probed.
“You ask too many questions”. Chen scolded, his face growing red.
“Teacher, we can try to understand the annotations of the verse by themselves. Why don’t you tell us more about the general ideas of the poem,” Du Liniang hurriedly interjected, trying to ease the tension.
At that, the old tutor solemnly started his teaching. This is in fact a popular love poem which has been extorted by many literati to the works that praises the virtues of the concubines in the royal court. The old tutor would naturally explain the meanings of the poem from the orthodox viewpoint, from the virtuous and open-minded ladies to their appearance and bearing. All the old-fashioned moralizations!
When the class was over, Du Liniang became sleepy. After the truism, the old tutor asked her to practice calligraphy. He got upset when he found that the writing brushes, ink sticks, paper and ink stones which he sent the maid to fetch were not right. However, he was greatly impressed by Du Liniang’s handwritings. How can such a gentle and frail-looking girl handwrite such beautiful characters?
While Du Liniang practiced calligraphy under her tutor’s guidance, the maid slipped away. Unaware of the time passed, Miss Du wanted her maid back but couldn’t find her. Still puzzled, she saw her maid running into the room, breathing heavily.
Only at this moment was the old tutor aware of the maid’s absence, so he asked her angrily: “where have you been, you little girl?”
“There’s a garden out there with a wide variety of flowers and grass,” the maid told her mistress, completely ignoring the tutor. “That’s a nice place to play.”
“How could you go to that garden instead of reading your books?” scolded the old tutor. “Wait till I bring my whipping twigs.”
“What are your whipping twigs for?” asked the maid boldly. Seeing the stupefied old man standing there, she said, “We girls don’t take the imperial exams and we don’t take government posts. All we’re doing here is to learn to read. What’s the big deal?”
