Frontmatter
Contents
Acknowledgments
Introduction
Key to Recurring Characters
1 The Origin of the Stone and the Vicissitudes of Life
2 The Jia Family's Fortune Coldly Appraised by an Antique Dealer
3 Dai-yu's Arrival at the Jia Household
4 A Manslaughter Cover-Up and the Xue Family's Arrival
5 The Girls' Destinies Revealed to a Bewildered Bao-yu
6 Bao-yu's First Sexual Experience; Grannie Liu's First Visit to the Jias
7 The Perspectives of Two Old Servants; Bao-yu Is Smitten by a Bashful Boy
8 Bao-yu and Bao-chai Locked in Fate
9 A Schoolhouse Brawl
10 Qin-shi's Illness Heads Off an Accusation Against Her Brother
11 Xi-feng Visits Qin-shi; Jia Rui Flirts with Xi-feng
12 Xi-feng Sets a Trap for the Amorous Jia Rui; Dai-yu Travels South to See Her Ailing Father
13 Qin-shi's Warning and Her Lavish Funeral
14 Xi-feng Imposes Order on the Ning Household; the Funeral Procession Is Greeted by a Prince
15 Qin Zhong Fools Around with a Nun and with Bao-yu; Xi-feng Takes a Bribe
16 Yuan-chun's Promotion at Court; Dai-yu's Return and Qin Zhong's Death
17 Bao-yu's Poetic Skills Are Tested by His Father; the Household Prepares for the Visitation
18 The Imperial Concubine's Visit to Prospect Garden
19 Bao-yu's Grand Bargain with Aroma and His Growing Intimacy with Dai-yu
20 Bao-yu Tries Unsuccessfully to Please Everyone; Shi Xiang-yun's Arrival Leads to a Declaration
21 Aroma Finds an Ally in Bao-chai; Patience Seizes Evidence of Jia Lian's Misconduct
22 An Opera Piques Bao-yu's Interest in Monkhood; Gloomy Riddles Distress His Father
23 Bao-yu Moves with the Girls Into Prospect Garden; The Lovers Bury Fallen Flowers
24 Two Ambitious Social Climbers: Jia Yun and Crimson
25 Jia Huan and Aunt Zhao Exact Their Revenge; the Monk and the Taoist Come to the Rescue
26 Crimson Sends Jia Yun a Message; Skybright Carelessly Shuts Out Dai-yu
27 Tan-chun Repudiates Her Mother; Dai-yu Ponders Her Fate Seen in Fallen Flowers
28 Bao-yu Gives Aroma's Sash to Jiang Yu-han; Yuan-chun, in Her Gifts, Favors Bao-chai Over Dai-yu
29 Grandmother Jia Shows Her Compassionate Side; a Matchmaking Abbot Provokes a Lovers' Rift
30 Bao-yu Is Chastened by Bao-chai for Being Rude; He Causes Golden to Be Dismissed
31 Bao-yu Lets Skybright Rip Up Two Fans for Fun; Shi Xiang-yun Finds the Kylin Meant for Her
32 Criticism of Dai-yu Prompts Bao-yu to Avow His Love; Golden Commits Suicide
33 Bao-yu Is Savagely Beaten by His Father Due to Jiang Yu-han's Disappearance
34 Aroma Confides Her Worries to Lady Wang; Bao-yu Sends Two Used Handkerchiefs to Dai-yu
35 Grandmother Jia Indicates Her Preference for Bao-chai; Bao-yu Makes Golden's Sister Laugh
36 Aroma Receives an Informal Promotion; Bao-chai Hears Bao-yu Reveal He Prefers Dai-yu
37 The Founding of the Crab-flower Club
38 A Crab-Eating Feast Is Hosted by Shi Xiang-yun
39 Li Wan Laments Her Lack of an Able Assistant; Grannie Liu Is Enlisted for Entertainment
40 Grannie Liu Is Given a Tour of Prospect Garden and Made the Butt of Practical Jokes
41 The Finicky Adamantina Serves Tea; Grannie Liu Passes Out on Bao-yu's Bed
42 Grannie Liu Names Xi-feng's Daughter Before Departing; Bao-chai Befriends Dai-yu
43 Xi-feng Squeezes Aunt Zhou and Aunt Zhao for Her Party; Bao-yu Makes an Offering to Golden
44 Xi-feng Catches Jia Lian with a Servant's Wife; Patience Is Struck and a Woman Hangs Herself
45 The Steward's Son Is Made a Magistrate; Bao-chai Supplies Dai-yu with Edible Bird's Nest
46 Jia She Tries to Take Faithful as His Concubine
47 Grandmother Jia Gives Lady Xing a Scolding; Xue Pan Is Thrashed by Liu Xiang-lian
48 Jia Lian Is Beaten by His Father for Criticizing Him; Caltrop Becomes Obsessed with Poetry
49 The Arrival of Xue Bao-qin, Xue Ke, Xing Xiu-yan, and the Li Sisters
50 Grandmother Jia Invites Herself to a Merry Gathering in a Garden Blanketed by Snow
51 Aroma Makes a Trip Home in Style; Skybright Catches a Cold
52 Xue Bao-qin Recites a Poem by a Blonde Girl; an Ailing Skybright Mends a Cloak for Bao-yu
53 Solemn Ancestral Rites Are Performed on New Year's Eve; the Festivities Last Half a Month
54 Grandmother Jia Holds Forth at Her Banquet
55 Tan-chun Takes Charge of the Household; Xi-feng Shares Her Views of the Cousins with Patience
56 The Girls Put the Garden to Work; Jia Bao-yu Learns That He Has a Double in Zhen Bao-yu
57 Nightingale Forces Bao-yu to Declare His Love for Dai-yu; Xing Xiu-yan Is Betrothed to Xue Ke
58 A Dowager Consort's Death Disrupts the Jia Household; the Child Actresses Stay On as Maidservants
59 Conflicts Break Out Between the Ex-Actresses and Their Foster Mothers
60 The Ex-Actresses Gang Up to Assault Aunt Zhao; Parfumée Tries to Help Fivey Join Bao-yu's Staff
61 Fivey Is Accused of Theft; Chess Tries to Replace Cook Liu with Her Own Aunt
62 A Garden Party Is Held to Celebrate Bao-yu, Xue Bao-qin, Xing Xiu-yan, and Patience's Birthdays
63 The Party Continues Into the Night; Jia Rong, in Mourning, Flirts with the You Sisters
64 Dai-yu Writes About Beauties in History; Jia Lian Is Urged to Take Er-jie as His Second Wife
65 Jia Lian Secretly Installs You Er-jie in a Second Household; You San-jie Enthralls Cousin Zhen
66 You San-jie Kills Herself with a Sword; Liu Xiang-lian Goes Off with a Crippled Taoist
67 Bao-chai Gives Away the Presents from Her Brother; Xi-feng Discovers Jia Lian's Second Marriage
68 Xi-feng Lures You Er-jie Into the Rong Compound and Humiliates Jia Rong with a Bogus Lawsuit
69 Xi-feng, Feigning Kindness, Drives Er-jie to Her Death
70 The Cousins Release Their Kites; Bao-yu, Though Deeply Troubled, Catches Up on His Studies
71 Jia Zheng Comes Home for Grandmother Jia's Birthday; Faithful Catches Chess in Flagrante
72 Jia Lian Is Driven to Pawning Grandmother Jia's Valuables; Sunset Is Promised to a Wastrel
73 A Maidservant Shows Lady Xing a Piece of Erotica; Ying-chun Refuses to Discipline Her Staff
74 Lady Wang Turns Against Skybright; a Raid Is Conducted on Prospect Garden
75 The Zhen Clan of Nanking Is Disgraced; the Jia Men Take to Gambling
76 Grandmother Jia Resists Ending the Mid-Autumn Party; Shi Xiang-yun Commiserates with Dai-yu
77 Chess and the Ex-Actresses Are Expelled; Bao-yu and Skybright Bid Their Final Farewell
78 Lady Wang Lies About Skybright; Bao-yu Writes an Elegy to the Hibiscus Spirit
79 Jia She Arranges a Hasty Marriage for Ying-chun; Xue Pan Weds a Conceited Girl
80 Xia Jin-gui Turns the Xue Family Upside Down; Ying-chun's Husband Treats Her Like a Slave
81 Bao-yu Learns the Limits of the Matriarch's Power; He Is Sent Back to the Clan School
82 Aroma Probes Dai-yu on Concubines; Dai-yu Coughs Up Blood on Waking from a Nightmare
83 The Matriarch Is Told of Dai-yu's Condition; Yuan-chun's Illness Alarms the Jia Elders
84 Jia Zheng Considers a Bride for Bao-yu; the Matriarch Is Pleased When Bao-chai Is Suggested
85 Bao-yu Is Kept in the Dark About His Betrothal; Jia Zheng Receives a Promotion
86 Xue Pan's Murder Charge Is Reduced; Dai-yu Teaches Bao-yu About Music
87 Dai-yu Plays a Tune That Snaps Her Qin String; Adamantina Has a Horrific Dream Vision
88 Li Wan Is Consoled by Jia Lan's Achievement; Zhou Rui Is Kicked and Jia Yun Is Humiliated
89 The Snapped String Unnerves Bao-yu; Hearing He Is Betrothed, Dai-yu Stops Eating
90 Hearing the Bride Is to Be a Cousin, Dai-yu Rallies; the Matriarch Bans Talk of the Betrothal
91 A Timetable Is Set for Bao-yu's Wedding; Dai-yu and Bao-yu Communicate by Talking Zen
92 Bao-yu Discusses Noble Women with Qiao-jie; Chess and Her Cousin Commit Double Suicide
93 Bao-yu Identifies with Jiang Yu-Han; Jia Qin Is Caught Seducing the Young Novices
94 Crab-flower Trees Bloom Out of Season; Bao-yu's Jade Mysteriously Disappears
95 Yuan-chun Passes Away in the Palace; Bao-yu Turns Into a Simpleton
96 Wang Zi-teng Dies on His Way to the Capital; a Hasty Wedding Is Set Before Jia Zheng Departs
97 Bao-yu Is Tricked Into Marrying Bao-chai; Dai-yu Burns Her
Poems and Dies
98 Bao-chai Tells Bao-yu That Dai-yu Is Dead; Bao-yu Improves After Mourning for Dai-yu
99 Bao-yu Is Reconciled to Accepting Bao-chai; Jia Zheng Turns a Blind Eye to Misdeeds
100 Tan-chun Is Betrothed to Be Married Afar; Efforts to Save Xue Pan Bankrupt His Family
101 Wang Zi-teng's Debt Strains the Wang Clan; Anxious, Xi-feng Entrusts Qiao-jie to Patience
102 An Exorcism Is Performed in the Garden; Jia Zheng Is Demoted for His Underlings' Abuses
103 Xia Jin-gui Mistakenly Poisons Herself; Jia Yu-cun Happens on Zhen Shi-yin at a Derelict Temple
104 Jia Yun and Ni Er Vow Revenge on the Jias; Bao-yu Wants Nightingale to Know He Was Tricked
105 The Secret Police Conduct a Raid of the Jia Compound; Four Jia Men Are Arrested
106 Jia Zheng Realizes His Family Faces Financial Ruin; the Matriarch Begs Heaven to Punish Her
107 Jia She and Cousin Zhen Go Into Exile; Grandmother Jia Distributes Her Possessions
108 The Matriarch Hosts a Surprise Birthday Party; Bao-yu Wails for Dai-yu in the Desolate Garden
109 Bao-yu's Attempt at Intimacy Is Rebuffed by Fivey; Guilt Stricken, He Makes It Up to Bao-chai
110 The Matriarch Dies with a Smile on Her Face; Lady Xing Makes Life Difficult for Xi-feng
111 A Ghost Shows Faithful How to Hang Herself; the Matriarch's Apartment Is Looted
112 Adamantina Is Abducted by Pirates; Xi-chun Resolves to Become a Nun
113 Grannie Liu Playfully Offers to Be Qiao-jie's Matchmaker; Nightingale Takes Pity on Bao-yu
114 Xi-feng Dies Babbling of the Register; Wang Ren and Qiao-jie Antagonize Each Other
115 Xi-chun Declares She Intends to Take Vows; Bao-yu Relapses After Meeting His Look-Alike
116 Bao-yu Has a Second Dream of Revelations; His Father Takes the Coffins to the South for Burial
117 Bao-yu Reaches an Agreement with the Monk; Jia Lian Leaves Jia Qiang and Jia Yun in Charge
118 Qiao-jie Is Offered to a "Mongol" Prince; Bao-yu Studies to Discharge His Filial Obligations
119 Bao-yu Is Missing After the Examinations; the Emperor Declares a General Amnesty
120 Bao-yu Bids His Father Farewell and Vanishes in the Snow; Aroma Marries the Actor Jiang Yu-han
Selected Bibliography
Index