6/1 The Eternal Snow Beauty p.1-31 ..•,. • (,-. L by Pai Hsien-yung Translated by Katherine Carlitz and Anthony C. Yu ~ A ~ ~ ~ C£A.e ~ e ~~ ~/ ~ ~ - t . I seemed to age. her admirers more ;than a dozen years ago Paramount Ballroom, some had grown bald on top and some were graying at the temples; some on coming to Taiwan had been downgraded to the level of "consultants" in the foundries, cement works, or artificial- fabric factories, while a small number had risen to become bank presidents or top -executives in the government. But however the "cicada-wing" gauze, smiling as ..,_ l ~ always her faint smil~ permi wrinkle ~ Jte ~~ - to appear ~ the cornefff.\ of her eye; -- "" tf-.s ~- , \ . ~Or1g~ YinAwas ~uinely bewitching, though no one . could say precisely where her charm lay. She rarely-_bothered .- putting on make'-up; at most, she might touch her lips with a little -~ now and then, so faint as to be barely noticeable. Nor did she care to wear vivid colors ~ ESY 2 All through the summer, when the weather was burning hot, she dressed' entirely in silvery white, appearing fresh beyond words. Indeed, she had lovely snow-white skin and a slender figure, with sweet, exquisite eyes set in an oval face, but it was not these features that made her so Yin ~~-~said that, for some curious reason, every lift of her hand and every movement of her foot had an alluring charm the world could never match. While a yawn or a frown would have been unbecoming in others, in her it carried another kind of attraction. She she might throw in a few words, ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ·in her Soochow-accented Shanghainese/ ~Some pa trans who could not afford to have her at their tables came nonetheless to the Paramount just to enjoy her radiant presence and listen to her soft Soochow speech, which seemed to make it all worthwhile. On the dance floor, her head slightly· raised, her __ hijls gently swaying, . she always danced <:@ unhurriedly' j.ven when it was a quick foxtrot, she never M- 0 ~ G::c:iS::1b::Qtrt!~~ of herself, displ ayi ng ve ~ ease ~ suppl~ l1ke a windb~~:atkin drifting along fr.ee of roots. ~owor1 ~ . Yin(\h ad Her own rhythm; she moved to her own beat. No outside disturbance could affect her natural poise. ESY 3 Inexplicable and innumerable as were, one thing added immensely to her mystery. As her fame grew, she found it difficult to avoid the jealousy of her sisters in the profession, who vented their spite by spreading rumors about her horoscope; that it was ufA. domina ted by an evil curse , that 1\ the Wh.i te .-Tiger was , .___ ___ ascendant, 1 and that whoever came near her would lose at ieast his- fortuiie if not his life. Who~ would expect--- ~ that it was precisely this well-publicized curse which made her doubly attractive to Shanghai's fashionable men about town? Their wealth and leisure prompted them to adventure, to try their luck with ;h~ evil star, the queen of the Whangpoo metropolis ~ One of the men who thus tempted fate was Wang Kuei-sheng, ft._ scion of the ,Wang :family · that was 1\ kingpin! in Shanghai·' s-cottono.eyarn. industry. Every evening he ~ _· wai ted bra d-new Cadillac at the entrance of the Paramount ~~-} until ~ · finished her rounds at the tables. 1\ ,.~ ~~ e of the colloquial names for Shanghai was ~~--~-~----~ ~~~~~~~~~~ .~~ (Whangpoo Beach), named after the Yangtze tributar from 'w ose muddy banks had sprung the onetime cosmopolitan ---- city, known to the world as a "paradise for adventurers". ESY 4 Then together they would go up to the roof garden on the twenty-fourth floor of the Park Hotel~ or their gourmet late night snack. As they gazed at the moon and the bright stars in the sky, Wang Kuei-sheng said that if he could use his family's gold bars to build a ladder to the ; · : there and pluck the crescent '.s . ~(~.. e.-tv~ :tr~ moon to ,,.__-""_..u t\hair. · - Yin!\ just smiled. without giving him a word, as she extended her dainty orchid-like hand and slowly conveyed the crescent­ shaped canapes :of .black: caviar into her mouth. Wang Kuei-sheng invested madly, seeking to triple or quadruple his fortune by any means, so that he could. wealthy suitors hanging around diamond . and carnelian chain around her neck and lead her home. rn due course, Wang was charged with the serious crime of manipulating the market in coll~sion with government officials and found guilty. On the day he was taken from prison and H.s~.. ~ -1.. shot, Yin~cance led her appearance for the evening as a gesture of mourning. ~~ ~ du:_ ~vt.- ~ ~In Chinese ~~ International Hotel). For the Shanghai streets and business establishments mentioned in this story, we use their original Western names, rather than translate literally---e.go, Park Hotel in this instance, . and Avenue Joffre, Lyceum Theatre, etc. in the followingo ESY 5 was Director HUng, chief of a government bureau and one of the hotshots in Shanghai's world of finance. When he had divorced his wife, abandoned their three children, and met all of ~~- ~ r. ·. o · "1\condi tions, she married him and moved into an elegant Western-style house taken · ove~ from/\ apanese in the French Conce~~- of Shanghai. In a few months' time, ~inAbur t upon Shanghai's high society in the manner of a late-blooming pear tree, completely overshadowing all the other beauties. She was certainly able to dominate any gathering. At brilliant parties where the exquisi~te daughters of ..:J wealthy families· sat wrapped in their dar sable ·_ or red fox, ·she had only to appear airily in her waist-hugging, high-collared silver fox for all present ~ to feel -themselves intoxicatedAwith the light breeze in March and involuntarily draw~ toward her. In the crowds she seemed a crystalline ice-spirit, her frosty charm a dangerous forcee As she glided along with her zephyr -step, the sight of her called forth an dance floor of the ~ - essfield Nightclub, in the corridors of the Lyceum Theatre, or in the living rooms of the -the.. aristocratic mansions~ Avenue Joffre, ESY 6 leaning against a sofa or a chair, a faint smile playing at the corners of h.er mouth, all in silvery white, she summoned into her presence a host of bankers and bankers' assistants, · ~ . cotton-mill bosses young and old, an~nouveaux r1ches with their wives. But Director Hung's horoscope proved in the end no match y,v\(L tts~- I~ for - evil sign. In a year he had lost his position; after two years he was bankrupt; and upon arriving in Taipei he could not even land an idle consultant's job. Hs~-~ When~ YinAdivorced him, however, she was magnanimous: all she took, aside from her own possessions, were her famous Shanghai chef and two Soochow maids. II was in an elegant section of It was a new Western-style house with a ~ living room spacious enough to acco odate two or three ~~­ dinner-part-y" tables~ owbl:"i"gm; ~rran .ed with meticulous care. he living r.oom --~r-.~ tabl..s and chairs.--: There were several old-fashioned high-backed ofa ~9aped with pillows covered in black silk ~~~~~~~ y mandarin duck in Hunan embroideryo Sinking down 1\ into one of these sofas and resting against the soft, yielding silk pillows, her _guests felt supremely com~o~table. ESY 7 ,She had made the room so inviting that, everyone remarked, <».A ~ Ana one would want to leave. For mah-jong, there was a special parlo~r with the tables and lamps arranged to answer ~! 'U perfectly the needs of the players. For guests who liked to play ua-hua, she had set aside a soundproof room where they could play and sing to their hearts' content.~~ In the winter the rooms were heated, air-conditioned, so that sitting in house one could easily forget Taipei's damp chill or humid heat. The about flower mos year were regularly delivered Rose Florist of Chung­ 'S shan Road. All sum.mer, living room was sweet,- rich fragrance ·of tuberose. · rer-r.~~·s ~~~~~~~~ ~ ~new home soon became a gathering­ place for ~ old friends and new acquaintances. When her old friends came they spoke of times gone by. In a nostalgic mood they talked of the good old days and ESY 8 released their pent-up before she were an eternal symbol of the Paramount days, a living witness to the luxuries of their Shanghai life. "Baby, look how your godpa's,.......... hair has all turned white! But you're like an evergreen--you look younger all the time!" Mr. Wu had been general manager of a bank in Shanghai and a regular customer at the Paramount. When he arrived in Taipei he became a gentleman of leisure, ' ~J , so..w a sinecure with ountlr Whenever he~ ~~~~~~~ he teased her in this half-playful and half-plaintive way. His hair had indeed turned completely white, and he hobbled from severe arthritise His eyes were inflamed with trachoma, and his lashes· were caught under his· eyelids; from constant watering his eye sockets had already started to fest exposing their pale pink flesh. In the winter J~~o~~~~ would place· the electric heater by his ·knees and offer him ' a cup of Iron Kuanyin tea, saying with an indulgent smile: "Come--now, god pa.,. You're stronger ever been!" And Mr. Wu's feelings were soothe~ and his confidence restored. Heblinked his farsighted \ and) in front of everybody in ..t-- room, sang the aria "S:eated in the Palace" in his old, ESY 9 cracked voice: I! as she The group of women who associated with her had been murmuring behind her back since their Shanghai days.