The Sry of the Stone（97－120）.doc

CHAPTER 97 Lin Dai-yu burns her poems to signal the end of her heart’s folly And Xue Bao-chai leaves home to take part in a solemn rite We have seen how Dai-yu，on reaching the entrance of the Naiad’s House，and on hearing Nightingale’s cry of relief，slumped forward，vomited blood and almost fainted．Luckily Nightingale and Ripple were both at hand to assist her into the house．When Ripple left，Nightingale and Snowgoose stood by Dai-yu’s bedside and watched her gradually come round． Why are you two standing round me crying？’asked Dai-yu，and Nightingale，greatly reassured to hear her talking sense again，replied： On your way back from Her Old Ladyship’s，’Miss，you had quite a nasty turn．We were scared and did not know what to do．That’s why we were crying．’ I am not going to die yet！’said Dai-yu，with a bitter smile．But before she could even finish this sentence，she was doubled up and gasping for breath once more． When she had learned earlier that day that Bao-yu and Bao-chai were to be married，the shock of knowing that what she had feared for so long was now about to come true，had thrown her into such a turmoil that at first she had quite taken leave of her senses．Now that she had brought up the blood，her mind gradually became clearer．Though at first she could remember nothing，when she saw Nightingale crying，Simple’s words slowly came back to her．This time she did not succumb to her emotions，but set her heart instead on a speedy death and final settlement of her debt with fate． Nightingale and Snowgoose could only stand by helplessly．They would have gone to inform the ladies，but were afraid of a repetition of the last occasion，when Xifeng had rebuked them for creating a false alarm．Ripple had already given all away，however，by the look of horror on her face when she returned to Grandmother Jia’s apartment．The old lady，who had just risen from her midday nap，asked her what the matter was，and in her shocked state Ripple told her all that she had just witnessed． What a terrible th