Suitors, Servants, &c.
Scene—Outside the city of Ch‘ang-an.
Su T‘ai-ch‘in. At Ch‘ang-an city I reside:
My father is a Mandarin;
Oh! if I get the Flowery Ball,
My cup of joy will overflow.
My humble name is Su T‘ai-ch‘in.
To-day the Lady Wang will throw
A Flowery Ball to get a spouse;
And if perchance this ball strikes me,
I am a lucky man indeed.
But now I must go on my way.
[Walks on towards the city
Enter Hu Mao-yüan.
Hu Mao-yüan. My father is a nobleman,
And I’m a jolly roving blade;
To-day the Lady Wang will throw
A Flowery Ball to get a spouse.
It all depends on destiny
Whether or not this Ball strikes me.
My humble name is Hu Mao-yüan;
But as the Ball is thrown to-day
I must be moving on my way.
Why, that looks very like friend Su!
I’ll call: “Friend Su, don’t go so fast.”
Su. It’s Hu Mao-yüan: now where go you?
Hu. To the Governor’s palace to get me a wife.
Su. To the Flowery Ball? Well, I’m going too.
[Sings.] The Lady Wang the Flowery Ball will throw,
That all the world her chosen spouse might see,
Among the noble suitors down below—
But who knows who the lucky man will be?