strict compliance with the directions.

This was the day of the dragon-boat festival. Cat-tail and artemisia
were put over the doors. Tiger charms were suspended on every back. At
noon, Madame Wang got a banquet ready, and to this midday feast, she
invited the mother, daughter and the rest of the members of the Hsueeh
household.

Pao-yue noticed that Pao-ch'ai was in such low spirits that she would not
even speak to him, and concluded that the reason was to be sought in the
incident of the previous day. Madame Wang seeing Pao-yue in a sullen
humour jumped at the surmise that it must be due to Chin Ch'uan's affair
of the day before; and so ill at ease did she feel that she heeded him
less than ever. Lin Tai-yue, detected Pao-yue's apathy, and presumed that
he was out of sorts for having given umbrage to Pao-ch'ai, and her
manner likewise assumed a listless air. Lady Feng had, in the course of
the previous evening, been told by Madame Wang what had taken place
between Pao-yue and Chin Ch'uan, and when she came to know that Madame
Wang was in an unhappy frame of mind she herself did not venture to chat
or laugh, but at once regulated her behaviour to suit Madame Wang's
mood. So the lack of animation became more than ever perceptible; for
the good cheer of Ying Ch'un and her sisters was also damped by the
sight of all of them down in the mouth. The natural consequence
therefore was that they all left after a very short stay.

Lin Tai-yue had a natural predilection for retirement. She did not care
for social gatherings. Her notions, however, were not entirely devoid of
reason. She maintained that people who gathered together must soon part;
that when they came together, they were full of rejoicing, but did they
not feel lonely when they broke up? That since this sense of loneliness