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Dreams in the Red Chamber.
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bribe. One present, however, could not altogether stay the proceed. ings, and it would indeed have gone hard with the defendant, if a cunning person had not taken the lead in the affair, and suited the gifts to the occasion, keeping the officer constantly in suspense, and causing him to be anxious to defer the sentence. At a critical junc- ture in the case, the emperor went on a visit to his ancestorial tombs, and his pilgrimage obliging all officers to leave their offices in order to accompany the monarch, the trial was arrested, and the manslayer escaped with his life.
Mention is frequently made of nuns, to whom the ladies repaired under difficult circumstances, both for asking their advice, as well as for begging their intercession before the idols. They however held these woman in very low estimation, and treated them as slaves. One of the fair ones having a desire to become a recluse, was conveyed to a temple, and well received by the sisterhood. But on passing one night she heard dreadful noises which repeatedly awakened her from sleep, and she was anxious to discover the cause, but could not find it out. Finally she remembered, that she was in the region of spirits, and that these unruly beings held their carousals during the night. Trembling she sunk upon her couch, and having passed a most wretched night, declared on the following morning that she would not prolong her stay on any account, and took her departure forthwith. In general we find the ladies superstitious, and fond of using incantations, amulets, and philtres.
At the end of the work, we are again introduced to our old ac- quaintances, of whom we had lost sight in the middle of the story. There are the priests, the stone, Nükwá, the hill where it had been lying, and an explanation of the influence it exercised upon the lives of our heroes and heroines.
Having brought this tedious story to a conclusion, in expressing our opinion about the literary merits of the performance, we may say that the style is without any art, being literally the spoken language of the higher classes in the northern provinces. Some words that are used in a sense different from that in ordinary writings, and others are formed for the occasion, to express provincial sounds. But after reading one volume, the sense is easily understood, and whosoever wishes to familiarize himself with the manner of speaking the northern court dialect, may peruse the work with advantage.
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