The Sry of the Stone（73－96）.doc

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 As we were saying at the end of the last chapter，Aunt Zhao and Jia zileng were interrupted in the midst of their discussion by a sudden crash．The maids，when questioned，said that it had been caused by an outer casement of one of the windows falling．It could not have been properly fastened and must have slipped its catch．After first roundly cursing them，Aunt Zhao went outside with them to supervise its replacement． When she came in again，she helped Jia Zheng to settle down for the night．And so we leave them． * Meanwhile，over at Green Delights，Bao-yu had just gone to bed．The maids were themselves on the point of doing so when a sudden knocking was heard at the courtyard gate．The old woman who opened it recognized the caller as a maid of Aunt Zhao’s called Magpie，and asked her what she wanted；but instead of answering，the girl pushed past her and rushed straight inside．She found Bao-yu already lying down，but engaged in bantering conversation with Skybright and a couple of other maids who were sitting on the edge of his bed． ‘What’s the matter？’they asked when they saw who their visitor was．‘What brings you out at this hour？’ ‘I’ve come to warn you，’said Magpie，addressing herself in an urgent whisper to Bao-yu．‘I heard my mistress just now jabbering to Sir Zheng about something，and though I couldn’t make out what they were talking about，I heard him say“Bao-yu”a couple of times．I thought I’d better put you on your guard in case he asks to see you tomorrow about anything．’ She turned and hurried out again as soon as she had finished speaking．Aroma told someone to run after her and ask her to stay for a cup of tea，but she was afraid of being shut inside the Garden when they closed the gate，and insisted on going back immediately． Bao-yu knew that in Aunt Zhao’s twisted imagination he was regarded as an enemy，and though he did not know wh