Ma Zhiyuan (fl.I25I)

PROLOGUE

Huhanye, the Tartar Khan, and his followers enter.

KHAN (recites): The autumn winds wander in the grass by my

A lonely flute sounds through the moonlit firmament.

A million brave archers acknowledge me their khan,

Yet I affirm allegiance to the House of Han.

I am the Khan Hu-han-ye. For many years I have lived in the deserts, and I rule the north alone. Hunting is my people's livelihood, and conquest our busmess. Once Emperor Tai Wang fled before us to the east, and Wei Jiang, trembling before our might, begged us for peace. Huns, Tartars, northern savages--each Chinese dynasty has had its own abusive name for my people, and the Chinese title for our Tartar Chieftain has changed as often. When China was torn by fighting between the Qin and Han, my country was strong and prosperous, and had a million archers and warriors under arms. My ancestor, the Khan Maodun, besieged the Han Emperor Gao at Baideng for seven days. The emperor, adopting the policy proposed by Lou Jing, sued for peace between our two nations, and a Chinese princess was sent in marriage to our khan. This practice has been followed in every generation since the time of the Emperor Hui and the Dowager Empress Lü. In the time of the Emperor Xuan a dispute among my brothers about the succession weakened the country somewhat, but now the tribes of my people have established me as their khan.

I myself on my mother's side am a member of the house of Han. Now, with my hundred thousand armed warriors, I have moved south and approached the Han boarders, intending to declare myself a feudatory of the Han empire. Recently I dispatched an envoy to offer tribute and to request that a princess be given me as my bride. As yet I do not know whether or not the Han emperor is willing to renew our treaty of alliance.

Today the heavens are high, the air is clear. Chiefs-would not a round of hunting on the sandy banks be pleasant sport? Truly Tartars own no land, no houses; bows and arrows are our only wealth. (Exeunt.)

(Enter MAO Yanshou. He recites):

I have a hawk's claws, a vulture's beak;

I deceive the great and oppress the weak.

Thanks to flattery and an avaricious bent

I've built a fortune too huge to be spent.

I have been studying a new plan: if I cm, persuade the emperor to devote as little time as possible to his learned ministers, and to give himself instead to fleshly pleasures, my command over the imperial favor will truly be secure. But while I've been talking, the emperor has arrived.

(Enter the Emperor HAN Yuandi, with a retinue of eunuchs and women)

Emperor (recites): Ten reigns since Fiery Liu founded out lme,

China's four hundred counties, the whole world, are mme.

The borders long have been secured by solemn vow;

At night I sleep in peace, no cares afflict me now.

I am Han Yuandi. My ancestor, the first Han emperor, arose from among the common people, began his career at Fengpei, crushed the Qin dynasty and destroyed Xiang Yu. It was he who established the imperial authority passed down to through ten reigns. Ever since I ascended the throne, the country in all its length and breadth has been at peace, not because of my own virtue, but thanks entirely to the civil and military officials on whose support I depend. The palace ladies were all dismissed after my father's death, and now the women's palace is lonely and deserted. What would be best for me to to do?

Mao Yanshou: Your majesty, even a country fellow, when he harvests ten more loads of wheat than he had expected, wiil want to change his wife. Why should your majesty, whose rank is supreme, and whose riches encompass the nation, not enjoy as much? Would it not be wise to send an offcial throughout the empire to select maidens for the palace? These girls should be chosen without respcet to their families' position, the only condition being that they are between fifteen and twenty year of age, and of pleasing features. You should fill the women's palace with the maidens selected. What objection could there be to this plan?

Emperor: You have spoken well. I therefore appoint you, in addition to your other duties, commissioner in charge of the selection. When you reeeive my written edict you will travel over the empire choosing maidens for the palace. You will have a portrait painted of each girl you pick, and send that portrait to me. I should bestow my favors in accordance with the pictures. When you have returned successful from your mission, I shall reward you as you deserve.

(sings): The world's at peace; no more of swords and horses.

The harvest is rich; war and conquest are ended.

I look to you to choose my palace maids.

I know your search will cost much wearmess,

But see that you discover in your quest

A beauty worthy of an emperor. (Exeunt.)

ACT I

MAO Yanshou enters.

I'll snatch my fill of gold with both rny hands,

And fear no seas of blood nor royal commands.

Alive, I only ask for wealth to spare;

When dead, let men spit on me for all I care.

I, Man Yanshou, have received a mandate from the emperor directing me to travel far and wide over the country selecting beautiful maidens for the palace. I have aleady chosen nmety-nme. The family of each of these girls was only too glad to offer me whatever worldly goods it possessed. I have in this manner amassed quite a fortune. Recently, I visited the Zigui district of Chengdu, where I chose Zhaojun, the Elder Wang's daughter, a girl of dazzling beauty. She is endowed with every grace and charm, truly without peer in all the world. Unfortunately, her family were originaly farmers and have no great wealth. When I asked her father for one hundred ounces of gold to have her narne placed at the head of the list, he at first pleaded his poverty, then refused altogether, relying on his daughter's extmordinary beauty to gain her preference. I intend therefore to remove her name from the list.

(Considers a while, then says): But would not my removing her narne aetually prove a kindness? Let me think a moment, some gpod plan is sure to come. I have it! I'll disfigure the girl's portrait a little, so that when she arrives in the capital She will certainly be relegated to the palace of negleeted ladies. I shall make her lead a lifetime of suffering. Truly is it said that a man with little power of hatred is no man at all. Every real man has his venom. (Exit.)

(Enter WANG ZHAOJUN with two palace maids. She recites):

One day by royal command I came to this sad place;

It seems ten years-I've yet to see my sovereigns face.

This lovely, lonely evening, who will ioin my song?

My lute alone has brought me joy the whole night long.

I am Wang Zhaojun. I come from the Zigui district in Chengdu. My father, the Elder Wang, has been a farmer all his life. When my mother was about to give me birth, she dreamt that moonlight entered her breast and laid her on the ground. Soon afterwards I was born. When I grew to be eighteen, I was honored by being chosen to enter the women's palace. I did not realize, when I could not give Mao Yanshou the money he demanded, that he would take bis revenge by disfiguring my portrait, so that I could never be seen by His Majesty. Now I have been relegated to this dungeon of neglect.

Emperor: In all the time that has passed since the selection of maidens for my palace, there are many I have never favored with my affections. How terribly unhappy they must be! Today I have a little respite from my innumerable duties, and the thought eame to me to take a walk through the palace grounds.

I shall see which lady is destmed to meet me.

(sings): My carriage wheels crush the fallen flowers,

A girl in the moonfight puts down her flute.

Some palace lady I have never met

Has aged with grief, and white now streaks her hair.

On windless nights they jump at bamboo shadows

And loathe their curtains that only moonbeams touch.

Our carriage moving past midst flutes and strin

Must seem some magie raft, rising to the stars.

(Zhaojun plays her lute.)

Emperor: Is that a lute being played somewhere?

Eunuch: It is, Your majesty.

Emperor (sings): Who plays in secret plaintive melodies?

Eunuch: I shall hasten to inform her of your majesty's approach.

Emperor: No, do not.

(sings): Do not too quickly tell her of my will.

Eunuch: Which of you ladies is playing her lute? The emperor approaches. Prepare at onee to meet him. (Zhaojun comes forward.)

Emperor (sings):

(says): Eunuchs! See how the candle-flarne within the gauze

(sings): lt strives to shme more brightly than her beauty:

Zhaojun: Had your humble slave known that your majesty was coming she would have gone to meet you and not kept you waiting so long. She deserves ten thousand deaths.

Emperor (sings): She greets me with the words "your majesty,"

She bows and calls herself my "humble slave."

This surely is no simple peasant girl.

(says): What perfecion I see in her features! She is truly a lovely girl!

(sings): She paints her brows in the palace fashion,

(says): Maiden, most beautiful of all, who are you?

Zhaojun: My name is Wang Zhaojun. I come from the distriet of Zigui in Chengdu, where my father cultivates the fields our ancestors have left us. We are country rustics, and know nothing of court etiquette.

Emperor (sings):

Zhaojun: At the time of the first selection, the commissioner Mao Yanshou asked my father for money, but my farnily was so impoverished that we could raise none. Mao Yanshou took his revenge by disfiguring the eyes in rny portrait. That is why I was sent to the cold palace.

Emperor: Eunuch! Bring me her portrait that I may exarnme it!

(Eunuch shows Emperor the Picture-)

(sings). One question only have I for the artist

Zhaojun: Your majesty, my parents in Chengdu are commoners.

I entreat you in your generosity to show them your favor.

Emperor: That is easily done.

(sings). Mornings you picked greens, at night watehed the melons;

In spring you sowed grain, in smmer watered hemp.

You'd like a proclamation on the wall

Exempting all your family from tax

Lucky that you are married to a prince!

My rank is higher than a village chief,

My palace bigger than a judge's court.

Heaven and earth! Have merey on this groom!

Who now will dare to mock your father's house?

Approach and hear my command. I appoint you now Princess of the Court.

Zhaojun: What have I done to deserve your majesty's favor?

Emperor: (sings): Tonight a while we'll give ourselves to love;

Ask not about tomorrow mornmes levee.

Zhaojun: Your majesty, please come early tomorrow morning!

Emperor: (sings): Tomorrow morning--who knows?-I may lie

Zhaojun: I am a poor and insignificant person. Though I have received your favors, how could I aspire to share your court!

Emperor: (sings): Don't take offense: I rnerely joked with you.

Zhaojun: The ernperor has returned. Attendants, shut the gate now. I shall sleep awhile.

ACT II

The KHAN enters with his follwers.

KHAN: I am the Khan Hu-han-ye. Recently I sent envoys to offer my allegiance to the Han and to ask in return for a Han princess. The Chinese emperor refused, claiming that the princesses of his palace are still too young for marriage. I am most annoyed. I am sure that the Chinese court holds countless palace ladies, and it would by no means embarrass the emperor to give me one. I shall recall my envoys at once. I intend to raise troops and invade the Han lands to the south. But I real le, destroy the peace of several years' standing. I shall examme conditions and act accordingly.

(Enter Mao Yanshou.)

Mao: I am Mao Yanshou. When I was charged with selecting maidens for the palace, I demanded money frorn their families. Later, I defaced the portrait of the beautiful Wang Zhaojun and she was sent to the cold palace. I never imagmed that the emperor would visit her personally and ask how she happened to have been relegated to neglect. I learned that he intended to execute me, but I managed to eseape frem the Han territories. I have found no refuge as yet. I have with me a portrait of Wang Zhaojun which I intend to present to the khan. I'll induee him to demand this girl. The Chinese court will assuredly yield her.

I have traveled for days, and now I am here. I can see in the distance an immense number of men and horses. This must be the khan's tent here. (Shouts to a soldier.) Chief! Inform his majesty, the khan, that a minister from the Han court has come to see him. (The soldier reports.)

Khan: Ask him to corne before me. (Sees Mao.) Who are you?

Mao: I am the Middle Counsellor of the Han court, Mao Yanshou. The women's pavilion of the Han palace holds a lady of surpassing beauty named Wang Zhaojun. When your majesty sent an envoy to ask the Chinese court for a princess, this lady begged to go, but the Han emperor, unable to bear to part with her, refused to release her. I repeatedly remonstrated with the emperor, asking him how he could be so given to lust for a woman as to destroy the friendly relations between our two countries, but the emperor, for an answer, ordered that I be beheaded! I have eseaped here, bringing with me a portrait of this beauty for your majesty's approval. If her picture pleases you, your envoy should demand the princess. You will undoubtedly be successful. Here is her likeness.

Khan: Is it possible that the world contains such a woman? My wishes would all be fulfilled if I could have her for my queen. I shall despatch an official and some retamers with a letter to the Chinese emperor asking for Wang Zhaojun. In exchange for the princess, I shall offer peace between our two nations. If the emperor refuses, I shall invade his domains without delay, and he will not find it easy to defend his rivers and mountains. Meanwhile I and my soldiers will make a foray within the Han borders, pretending it is for a hunt, and when we see our chance, we shall strike. (Exit.)

(Enter Wang Zhaojun with palace maid.)

Zhaojun: A month or more has passed since the emperor first favored me with a visit. His majesty has devoted so much attention to me that he has not held court for a long time. I hear that today he has gone to the Hall of Audience. I shall sit before my dressing stand and touch up my rouge and powder. I want to be ready when he comes. (She applies cometics before a mirror. Enter Emperor.)

Emperor: Ever smee I met Zhaojun in the Western Palace I have been mebriated by love for her. It steals my senses away and has kept me from attending court for weeks. Today I went to the Hall of Audience, but could not wait for the levee to end. I had to return to the Western Palace to see her again.

(sings): The rains and dews have fallen in good time;

My country everywhere is prosperous.

My loyal statesmen all are worthy men;

No cares harass my pillow when I sleep.

My love has dazzling teeth and starry eyes;

How could I bear even the daytime without her?

But recendy some ailment has assailed me,

One that comes in part from eares of state,

In part from melancholy and from wme.

When with my ministers I try to show

The courtesy that well becomes a king,

But separation from my princess brings

The autumn sorrow Sung Yu onee described.

How could I keep from clinging to the sleeves

Of dragon robes scented with her rare perfumes?

Her every feature is adorable,

Her every action matches my desire.

She dissipates all gloom and wearmess,

And shares with me my leisure-time delights.

How wonderful to climb with her the terrace

When moonlight lies upon the pear in bloom,

And play at fortunes under gauzy lanterns.

She radiates a warmth and gentleness

That twenty years have polished and perfected.

Ours is a match decreed by destiny

Five hundred years before we even met

Her face reveals a thousand nameless charms:

I would there were some fit comparison--

She's like the Guanyin of Lojia Mountain

Although she lacks the sacred willow branch,

A single glance at her adds long years to life.

The love that binds my heart will some day cease,

But only when desire has been sated.

(Sees her at a distance.) I must not startle her. I shall watch her secretly awhile.

How deeply once she hated my neglect;

She could not know my dreams would turn to her.

I love her when, as now, her make-up done,

Lovelier than an artist's brush could paint,

She still looks shyly at her mirrored face.

(Comes up behind Zhaojun.)

I watch you from behind your dressing-stand;

The goddess of the moon shmes from your glass.

(Zhaojun sees the emperor and gestures in welcome. Enter the Prime Minister with eunuch.)

Minister A minister should give his mind to affäirs of state,

I am the Prime Minister Wulu Chongzong and this is the eunuch Shi Xian. Today, when court was dismissed, a messenger came from the Tartars to ask for the Lady Zhaojun as the condition of making peace. I must report this to the emperor. I have come to the Western Palace and shall now enter. (Sees Emperor.) I wish to report to your majesty that the Khan Hu-han-ye of the northern barbarian has sent an envoy here to say that Mao Yanshou presented him with a portrait of Lady Zhaojun. The khan demands her in marriage as requisite for making peace and ending hostilities. If his demand is refused, he will march south with great numbers of men and you will not be able to defend your territories

Emperor: have maintamed my armies for a thousand days just so that I might use them on one occasion. In vain is my court filled with civil and military officials--who of thern all will drive back the enemy for me? They all fear the Tartar swords and areanxious toescape Tartar arrows. How can you let my lady be exiled

without lifting a finger to prevent it?

(sings) Success is ever fonowed by decay,

And respite from the wars will never corne.

Should not the fate of those who eat my food

Be mme to order any way I choose?

In time of peace you boast of your achievements,

But now that trouble threatens you would send

The girl I love to lonely banishmenL

Falsely you accept a stipend from our house

In what way will you share your sovereign's griefs?

Brave ministers, afraid to draw your bows!

Bold counsellors, who fear to lose your livesl

Minister: In Tartary they say that your rule is deteriorating because of your majesty's excessive fondness for Wang Zhaojun, and they foresee the ruin of the nation. They declare that if you refuse to surrender Zhaojun to the khan, he will use his troops to enforce his demands. Consider the example of King Zhou who, for the love of DA Ji, destroyed his kingdom and lost his life.

Emperor (sings): I am no evil emperor like Zhou

Who raised a palace to pluck down the stars:

And why speak only of a wicked king,

Not of a loyal minister fike Yi Yin?

Once you're dead and reach the underworld,

If you should meet Zhang Liang, the great lieutnant,

I'm sure you'll feel a shame too great to stifle.

You sleep beneath thick quilts, rich dishes grace

Your board, you ride sleek horses, wear soft furs;

You do not think of Zhaoju's slender waist,

A willow branch the winds of spring will sway.

How could you let the shadow of her sash

Tremble in moonlight by the verdant tomb,

'Or make the echoes of her lute die out

Beside the autumn-wasted Amur River?

Minister: Your majesty, our soldiers are not prepared to fight, and we have no skilled generals to lead them. What would happen if our forces were defeated? Your majesty, I pray you will renounce your attachment to the princess and save the country.

Emperor (sings): Who was it once displayed his bravery

Official: The Tartar emissary is waiting for an audience with your majesty.

Emperor: Very well, very well. Let the barbarian approach.

Tartar Eunuch: The Khan Hu-han-ye has sent me to report to the great Han emperor. The northern countries and the southern court have long been united by ties of marriage. The khan has twice sent emissaries to ask for a princess, but without success. Recently Mao Yanshou presented the khan with a portrait of a beautiful lady. The khan sent me here especially to ask for this lady. He wishes to make Zhaojun his consort. He will then end all hostifittes between our two countries. If your majesty does not grant this request, the khan has a million brave soldiers ready to start marching south at a moment's notice to settle the issue. I earnestly implore your majesty not to make an unwise decision.

Emperor: Let the emissary rest for a while at his lodgings. (Exit emissary.) Deliberate now, my civil and military offleers! If you have some plan for driving back the barbarians, present it--anything to save Zhaojun from being delivered over to the Tartars. It must be easy to despise so gentle and good a princess. If the Empress Lü were alive now, who would dare disobey if she uttered a word? In light of this experience, I shall henceforth know better than to trust civil or military officers to settle affairs of state. Beautiful women will be my statesmen.

(sings): Tell me at once, if you have things to telL

You need not fear. I have no cauldrons filled

With boiling oil to punish those I hate.

I thought you civil ministers would bring

Our country peace. I thought you generals

Would settle strife with spear and shield. Alas!

Your only wisdom, only bravery,

Consists in trying to be first to cry,

"Long life, your majesty!" in posturing,

And with your scrapings stirring up the dust

Oft have you said, "We tremble and we bow,"

Across the border. Once an empress ruied

I hardly think, officials, you have dared.

Exile the Einpress Lü to save the peace

It's useless now to hope for martial deeds;

My only weapons are my palace maids.

Zhaojun: I have been favored by your majesty's great kindness.

Emperor: I cannot let you go.

Minister: Your majesty must give up this love, and think instead of your country's good. Send away the princess at onee.

Emperor (sings): Today she will be wedded to the khan--

You must be satisfied, my ministers!

The Chinese princess has a country still,

Yet nowhere can she turn. She must go forth

Where yellow clouds rise not from hills of green.

Reduced to distant gazing, our eyes will strain

To sight a lonely goose cross the autumn sky:

This year, my fate decreed I'd suffer grief,

And Zhaojun languish too with wasting sorrow.

Her crown of kingfisher feathers, her sash,

All her Chinese clothes she must now exchange

For brocade hoods and beaded robes of für.

(says to officials:) Today you will escort the princess to the emissary's residence, and deliver her to him. Tomorrow I myself shall go to BaIing Bridge and drink with her a farewell cup of wme.

Minister: I am afraid that would not be seemly, your majesty. You will only arouse the contempt of the barbarim.

Emperor: I have agreed with everything you have proposed. Why can't you in this one point follow my desires? Come what may, I insist on seeing her off. How I detest that loathesome Mao Yanshou!

(sings): I only hate that beast who could forget

My kindnesses and bite his master's hands.

His portrait could have hung in the Hall of Fame,

My trusted nobles, the court was in your hands!

In what did I not share my plans with you,

In what not follow your memorials?

How could you cause my first dreams to go astray?

From now on, instead of Chang'an she will see

The Dipper hanging in the northern sky.

Wrenched apart, we'll drift like never meeting stars.

Minister: It is not we, your servants, who are forcing the lady to marry the Tartar king. We have no other course; he asked fro Zhaojun by name. Many men have lost their kingdoms because of amorous entanglements.

Emperor (sings): For ordinary poople like Zhaojun

There is at least the chance of happmess:

Who is less obeyed than an emperor?

How will she ride a massive camel's back?

She always went by scented palanquins.

She needs a servant's help to leave her chair,

And lacks the strength to lift her bamboo blinds.

Who now will think of her? The empty moon

Will drop reflections in the flowing water;

Her lonely, bitter thoughts run on forever.

Zhaojun: I go now into exile. It is for my country's sake. But I shall never forget your majesty.

Emperor (sings): I fear that when Zhaojun desires to eat,

There'll be no food but tasteless salted flesh;

When thirsty, only clabbered milk and gruel.

IT break a sprig of willow as a pledge,

And drink a parting cup of wme with her.

I'll watch as long as she remains in sight,

My heart consumed by grief to see her turn

Her head to look again, and still again.

She never more will see our phoenix halls.

This night, our last, we'll spend by BaIing Bridge. (Exeunt.)

ACT Ill

Tartar Envoy enters escorting Zhaojun. He plays Tartar music.

Zhaojun: I am Wang Zhaojun. I was selected to serve the Emperor, but rny portrait was disfigured by Mao Yanshou, and I was sent to the cold palace. When at last I began to enjoy his majesty's favors, Mao Yanshou showed another picture of me to the Tartar khan, and the Khan sent an army to demand me. I did not wish to go, but I was afraid that our country would otherwise be lost. I have no choice. I have been sent across the frontier to marry the Tartar khan. The winds and frost are cruel in the northem lands. How shall I endure them? Many tales are told from ancient times of beautiful women who have suffered unhappy fates. But I must not resent the sorrows my beauty has brought on me.

(Enter Emperor with officials.)

Emperor: Today I am to bid farewell to my princess at BaIing Bridge. The time of parting has come so quickly.

(sings): Now she will put aside her Chinese clothes

And change to robes of fur and coarse brocades.

I must look at her portrait once again.

Old pleasures are as short as golden reins;

New grievances outreach jade-handled whips.

We who were once a pair of mandarin ducks

My civil and military officers, why can you think of no way to repel the Tartar soldiers, and save my princess from marrying a Tartar!

My ministers, consider what has happened--

The Tartar envoy will bring rich rewards,

But leave us to despair, my wife and me.

The humblest household shakes with grief at parting

When someone merely takes a little trip.

The willows at Weicheng increase the groom;

The flowing water adds its mournful note

At Baling Bridge. Do you alone grieve not?

A world of sadness clings to Zhaoujun lute.

(Dismount. Grieves with Zhaojun.)

Attendants! Sing slowly as you can. I will drink a last cup of

wine with the princess.

Now play that song, "Thee Parting at Yang Guan"

A foot from her will seem a world away.

Slowly, slowly I lift my cup of jade:

If I could but delay this final hour!

As long as you prolong the melody;

Sing slow and sad a farewell verse for me.

Tartar Envoy: I beg the princess to start at once. It is growing late.

Emperor (sings): Alas, how heavy is this separation!

I know how anxious you must be to leave.

My heart will go before her to the north;

When I return, I'll look for her in dreams.

Oh, never say that great men soon forget.

Zhaojun: When shall I see your majesty again? Put away my Chinese clothes.

(recites): Today I lead a Chinese palace life,

Tomorrow I shall be a Tartar's wife.

How could I wear your gifts of former days

(Zhaojun lays aside her robes.)

Emperor (sings): Why do you leave behind your dancing robes?

The wind will blow away their faded scent.

I truly dread the day my carriage again

Passes your quarters, overgrown with moss,

Suddenly to reach the palace of the queen.

Then I'll remernber how you looked when once

I saw your beauty in a mirror framed,

That loveliness will brush my heart again.

Today Zhaojun must leave her native land.

How long before this banishment will end?

Tartar Enovoy: I beg the princess again to leave. We have already wasted too much time.

Emperor: Very well, very well. Zhaojun, now you must go. Do not hate me for what I have done. (Leaves her.) And I am the emperor of the Great Han!

Minister: Your majesty must not take these matters too heavily to heart.

Emperor (sings): She's gone! And none of you is man enough

To save hert! In vain have I maintained my guards

Along the border. Even you must need

Someone to serve you--why must I lose my wife?

You wave your swords and spears, but well I know

Your hearts are pounding like a frightened fawn's.

Today you forced the princess to consent:

Is that the way you choose to prove your valor?

Minister: Let us return to the palace, your majesty.

Emperor (sings): You fear I may refuse to loose the bridle:

It's true--how could I now return triumphant

With eracking whip and jingling golden stirrups?

You are presumed to know the yin and yang,

To hold the reins of court, to calm the nation,

To swell our borders and extend our lands:

Supposing now the emperor had doomed,

Your only serving maid to banishment,

Away frorn native heath, to he in snow

And sleep in frost--would she not miss your bome?

Tell me so; I'll name you Prince Imperial!

Minister: Your majesty should not be grieved to leave her. Allow her to depart.

Emperor (sings): The Tartar king--I can't recall his name--

What right had he to fall in love with her?

How could I bear to look when last she turned,

Or stand to watch the distant storm-whipped flags?

Such doleful drurns and horns--they shake the mountain!

Before me lie the bleak and ravaged plains,

The grass has yellowed, stricken by the frost,

The mottled coats of dogs grow gray and shaggy.

Men raise their tasseled lances in the chase,

And horses struggle under heavy loads.

Wagons bear provisions for the journey,

And all is ready for the hunt to start.

She, yes, she brokenhearted said good-bye;

I, yes, I took her hand and climbed the bridge.

She and her train ride into the desert;

I in my carriage return now to the palace.

I return now to the palace and, pass the wall,

I pass the wall and follow a twisting lane,

A twisting lane that leads close to her room,

Close to her room where the moon grows dusky;

The moon grows dusky and the night turns cold,

The night turns cold and the cicadas weep.

The cicadas weep by green-curtained windows,

By green-curtained windows that feel nothing.

To feel nothing! Only a man of steel

Could feel nothing. No! Even a man of steel

In grief would shed a thousand trickling tears.

Tonight I'II hang her portrait in the palace

And have a service chanted for her there.

Then I'II lift high the silver eandlestick

And let the light fall on her painted form.

Minister: May your majesty return to your palace. The princess is already far on her journey.

Emperor (sings): I must make some excuse, tell my council

I eannot meet them. They will want to prate

Of state affairs. I cannot bear to talk.

Without her here in flower-like loveliness

What solace do my palace gardens offer?

No doubt she often pauses, paces to and fro,

Irresolute; then suddenly she hears

Caw! Caw! the cries of southward-flymg geese:

But all that fills my eyes is sheep and kine,

The sound I heard was but the creaking wheels

Of the felt-covered cart bearing its load

Of sorrow up the slopes of northem hills. (Exeunt.)

(Enter Tartar Khan with followers leading Zhaojun.)

Khan: Today the Han court has shown itself faithful to our old alliance. The emperor has given me Wang Zhaojun, and made peace between our two houses. I have named Zhaojun my consort. She shall live with me in my chief palace. Now there will be no warfare between our countries. All has been for the best. Offieers! transmit my command to the ranks that we are to start marching north. (They march.)

Zhaojun: Where are we now?

Envoy: This is the Amur River, the boundary between our territories and those of the Han. The lands to the south belong to the Han, and those to the north to us.

Zhaojun: Will your highness gave me a cup of wine that I may pour a libation facing the south. and take a last leave of China before my long journey? (She pours a libation.) Mighty emperor of the Han! Now is this life ended. I await you in the next. (She throws herself into the river.)

(The Khan, alarmed tries to save her but fails.)

Khan (in tears): Alas, alas. Zhaojun was so unwilling to enter my domains that she threw herself into the river and died. Let her be buried, then, on the bank of this river at a place we shall call the Green Mound. She whom I thought to marry is dead. In vain did I create enmity between myself and the Han. It was all schemed by that knave, Mao Yanshou. Men! Bring Mao Yanshou here, then despatch him under guard to the Han court, where he will meet his punishment. I shall resume our traditional alliance with the Emperor of Han, and remain forever to him as nephew to uncle. All may have proved for the best.

I see it now: it was because his picture had done an injustice to Zhaojun that Mao Yanshou betrayed the Han ruler and scretely absconded. Then he beguiled me with another portrait of the beauty and my armies crossed the border to demand her as a condition of peace. How could I know that she would throw herself into the river and die? To no avail was my spirit melted by one glimpse of her. But such a wicked, treacherous villiain will prove the ruin of my court if I keep him here. It is better to send him for execution to the Han court. Then,.by virtue of the long-standing courtesy between nephew and uncle, our two countries wiU prosper förever.

(Exit.)

ACT IV

Emperor enters with officials.

Emperor: A hundred days have passed since my princess was sent away to appease. the barbarians, but I have been unable to hold court all this tirne. Tonight is bleak and desolate. I feel unbearably depressed. Perhaps if I hang her portralt on the wall it may dissipate my melancholy a little.

(sings): The palace chills. The night is far advanced,

And in the women's quarters all is still.

I face a cold lamp on its silver stand.

My empty pillow when I go to bed

Is testimony to my wretched lot.

I wonder where she rests, my soul tonight,

Ten thousand miles from this my dragon hall.

Eunuch! The incense in the stand has burnt out. Put a little more on the stand.

The royal jar of incense is consumed,

I place another yellow stick on the stand.

My thoughtis of her remain, but she is gone,

Vanished without a trace, like a mirage,

This portrait here is all that I retain.

She is not dead, she lives this day, and yet

I truly offer her my veneration.

Of a sudden I feel worn and weary. I shall sleep awhile.

How sad I cannot dream the dreams I'd choose:

Oh, dearest, where are you, my dearest one?

Why do you show no sign of your presence

But refuse the joys of love, even in a dream?

(Fall atleep. Enter Zhaojun.)

Zhaojun: I was sent to the northern lands to appease the barbarians, but I have secretly escaped and returned. Is that not my lord? Your majesty, I have come.

(Enter Tartar soldier.)

Soldier: While I was dozing a while ago, Zhaojun stole away from me and escaped to her own country. I have rushed as quickly as I could to the Han Palace. There she is now! (Seizes her, and leads her off.)

(Emperor wakens.)

Emperor: I thought just now I saw my princess. Why has she vanished so quickly?

(sings): A soldier came here from the Tartar khan

And called Zhaojun by name, but when I ealled

She would not come into the candlelight.

It must have been her portrait, not Zhaojun.

But suddenly I hear a phoenix flute,

Ghost sounds within the Hall of Fairy Music.

Is this the ancient melody of Shun?

By daytime there was none to wait on me,

My griefs denied me sleep, though dawn had come,

And would not grant a single pleasant dream.

Listen-a wild goose, calling twice or thrice

At Zhaojun empty palace. How could it know

Another, lonelier than she, waits here?

Probably it is old and strengthless now;

And must be hungry, bones and feathers light.

It would turn back, but fears for southem nets;

It would go forward, but dreads the Tartar bows.

Its mournful notes are like a voice that tells

Of Zhaojun's longing for the Lord of Han:

Sad as the dirges for a fallen hero,

Heart-rending as the odes of Chu at night,

Doleful as thrice-chanted songs of parting.

That cursed bundle of feathers--its cries make me all

My thoughts already filled me with despair,

But now another torturer has come.

Sometimes you moan in long protracted notes,

At other times come rapid, nervous cries:

You harmonize your calls to the watch of night.

What now? You wheel above the palace roofs

And all below responds to your lament.

But surely you mistake the time of year?

Are you searching for Su Wu, for Li Ling's tomb?

Is that why you wake me by the candle stand?

The shadow on the wall stirs bitter grief.

The Han princess, in that distant land, still

But sees and hears you not, you bag of feathers!

Wearisome goose!

It brings my heart no joy to hear your cries:

The sound is like the soughing forest wind

Or icy murmurs of a rocky stream.

I seem to see an endless mountain range

And water that reflects a distant sky.

You surely must have wandered from your way:

You desolate the twilit Xiao and Xiang

And stir again the pangs of separation.

What voices sick with parting do you echo?

How can I pass this everlasting night?

I loathe the moonlight on the palace steps.

Eunuch: Your majesty, put aside this sorrow and think more of your august person.

Emperor: How can I help but be afflicted?

(sings): You must not say my feelings conquer me

You ministers-how loathesome you seem again!

That bird was not a swallow chattering

On sculptured beams, nor yet the oriole

Singing on a gaily colored tree: it was

The bird of sorrow that Zhaojun of Han

Somewhere, far from horne, will hear in misery.

(Wild goose cries again.)

Honking, the other geese have flown across

The weed encumbered banks; one lonely bird

Still lingers by the Phoenix Hafl of State.

Below the painted eaves the little bells

Tinkle thinly: the palace couch is cold.

The falling leaves are sighing in the wind.

The lamps are dark--her quarters hemmed in silence.

One voice has circled round the palace of Han;

Another goes to Zhaojun at Weicheng.

My hair has grayed, my body is sick and weak:

My sorrows lie too deep to be assuaged.

Minister: Today after the morning council was dismissed, an envoy came from Tartary with Mao Yanshou in chains. The envoy declared that Mao Yanshou's treachery had caused the rupture in our alliance and all the ensuing calamities. He further reported that Zhaojun is now dead, and that the khan desires peace between the two nations. The envoy humbly awaits your word.

Emperor: lf that be so, execute the traitor and offer his head to the spirit of the princess. Make preparations in the Imperial Banqueting Hall for a feast to honor the envoy before his return.

(recites): Leaves fell in the courtyard as the wild goose

cried above,

Bringing to my lonely pillow dreams and thoughts of love