Hsiang-yün immediately put away the tea-cup and added:
On the pond's surface, it allows itself to float.
At the first blush of dawn with effulgence it shines.
Tai-yü recited with alacrity the couplet:
In confused flakes, it ceaseless falls the whole night long.
Troth one forgets that it implies three feet of cold.
Hsiang-yün hastened to smilingly interpose with the distich:
Its auspicious descent dispels the Emperor's grief.
There lies one frozen-stiff, but who asks him a word?
Pao-ch'in too speedily put on a smile and added:
Glad is the proud wayfarer when he's pressed to drink.
Snapped is the weaving belt in the heavenly machine.
Hsiang-yün once again eagerly quoted the line:
In the seaside market is lost a silk kerchief.
But Lin Tai-yü would not let her continue, and taking up the thread, she forthwith said: