Selected Stories from Taiping Guangji: English

Author: Translated by: Zhang Guangqian
Editor-in-Chief: Hu Kaixin
Publisher:
Publishing Date: 1998-01-01
Features: Excerpt:
Old Zhang was a gardener in Liuhe County, Yangzhou Prefecture. Among his neighbors was Mr. Wei, a retired official from the prefectural government, who had settled there during the Tianjian reign of the Liang Dynasty. Wei’s eldest daughter was coming of age, so one day he called in a matchmaker, an old lady, to find him a good son-in-law. The news excited Old Zhang. He waited at Wei’s gate for the matchmaker to come out and ushered her into his house as soon as she emerged. A table was laid out with wine and food. In the heat of the meal, he said, "I heard Mr. Wei’s daughter is looking for a husband. Is that true?"
"Yes."
"Although I might look a bit too old, my garden provides enough food and clothing for a family. Would you kindly make a proposal for me? I’ll give you a hefty commission if you can have me engaged."
The matchmaker threw down her chopsticks and left the room with a stream of angry words. Yet, in a few days, he invited her to dinner again.
"Why can’t you measure yourself properly?" said the frustrated woman. "What makes you imagine a girl from the high class would marry a gardener? To be sure, the Weis are not rich, but they won’t have a problem finding a match among the gentry. You’re far from her match. Do you think, simply because I’ve had a cup of wine at your table, I would bring shame upon myself by suggesting this crazy thing to Mr. Wei?"
"Just put in a word for me, please. If it’s turned down, that’s fate. I won’t blame you."
Pestered by his entreaties, the matchmaker went over to talk to Wei.
"How can you insult me so!" Wei exploded. "I am not so poor as to marry my daughter to a gardener! Go and ask around if any Weih has sunk so low. Who is he that dares to make such a proposal? A rustic laborer like him is beneath my reproach, but you, experienced and respected, how can you lose your sense of value?"
"I do know it was not proper to suggest this, but I was obliged and had to pass on his word."
"Tell him then," Wei accentuated his words, "if he can give me a bride-price of 500,000 strings of cash before the sun goes down, I will give him my daughter."
The matchmaker went out to tell Old Zhang.
"Fine," was all Zhang said, and in good time he had a cartload of coins sent to the Weis. The Weis were dumbfounded.
"How can a gardener have so much money, and in ready cash?" exclaimed Mr. Wei.
"I was just kidding him. I never thought he could have that much. Now the money is here and the sun is still high, what shall we do?" He had someone seek out his daughter’s opinion.
"That must be fate," she said calmly.
So the marriage was agreed upon. Old Zhang didn’t give up gardening and selling vegetables after the marriage. He went on collecting manure and hoeing the field as he used to do, and his wife did all the daily cooking and washing without a word of complaint. The Weis and their relatives were ashamed of them, but the couple didn’t give that a thought.