Gentle coolness surrounds the
dreamer early spring!
The breezes which
caress him fragrant as wine!
In silent admiration Pao Yu let his eyes wander round the
splendid furnishings of the room. Here
on the dressing table was a bronze mirror
which would have done honor to the
mirror palace of the Empress Wu of the
T'ang dynasty. There was a magnificent flat golden
dish on which the
celebrated dancer “Flying Swallow” might
once have danced before her Imperial lord. That splendid jewel-studded couch on a raised dais would have been worthy to adorn the bedroom of Princess Shou Yang
in the Han Chang palace. The strings
of pearls which hung around the
couch might have been fastened there by the hand of Princess Tung Chang.
"What a beautiful room!" cried Pao Yu, enraptured.
"Yes, isn't it? Even
spirits and genii could feel happy
here," remarked his niece, smiling.
Cao Xueqin, Dream of the Red Chamber (Hóng Lóu Mèng) (紅樓夢), ch. 5.
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