fox-skin robe, he opened his cabin
window, pretending to look at the white snow as it fell. Shih-niang
had just arranged her hair, and, with her tapering fingers, was
pushing back the short curtains to throw out the dregs of tea in the
bottom of her cup. The freshened splendor of her rouge shone softly.

Sun saw that celestial beauty, that incantation; he scented that
perfume; and his soul boiled over. For a long moment he gazed, and his
spirit was as if submerged. But he recovered himself and, leaning out
of the window, recited, nearly at full voice, the poem of the "Blossom
of the Plum Tree":

Snow covers the mountain where the Sage abides,
Under the trees in the moonlight
Beauty advances.

Li Chia heard the poem and came out of his cabin, curious to see who
was reciting it. In this way he fell into the trap set by Sun, who
hastened to salute him, asking:

"Old-Elder-Brother, what is your honorable name? And what is your
first name which one does not presume to repeat?"

Having answered in accordance with the convention, Li Chia had to
question Sun in his turn. They exchanged such words as are customary
between educated men. Finally the libertine said:

"This snowstorm was sent by Heaven to effect our meeting. It is a
large piece of fortune for your little brother. I was lonely and
without diversion in my cabin. Would it not be my venerable brother's
pleasure that we should go to a riverside pavilion and divert
ourselves by drinking wine?"

Li Chia answered:

"The water-chestnuts meet at the caprice of the current. How should I
not be glad of this offer?"

"Between the four seas all men are brothers."

Then Sun ordered his servant to come with him, sheltering Li Chia
under a large parasol. The two men saluted each other again, landed on
the bank and, after walking a little distance, found a wine pavilion.

Having entered, they chose seats by the window and sat down. The
attendant brought them hot wine, Sun raised his cup to give the
signal, and soon the two were conversing freely and had become
friends. At length Sun leaned forward and said in a low voice:

"Last night a song arose from your honorable ship. Whose was that
voice?"

Wishing to pose as a man of leisure making a journey, Li Chia at once
told the truth:

"It was Tu Shih-niang, the famous singing girl of Peking."

"How comes a singing girl to belong to my brother?"

Li Chia then ingeniously told his story, and the other said: