THE GOLDEN CANGUE Translated by Eileen ChangSHANGHAI thirty years ago on a moonlit night
maybe we did not get to see the moon of thirty years ago
To young people the moon of thirty years ago should be a reddish-yellow wet stain the size of a copper coin, like a teardrop on letter paper by To-yün Hsüan' worn and blurred
In old people's memory the moon of thirty years ago was gay, larger, rounder, and whiter than the moon now
But looked back on after thirty years on a rough road, the best of moons is apt to be tinged with sadness
The moonlight reached the side of Feng-hsiao pillow
She was a slave girl brought by the bride, the new Third Mistress of the Chiangs
She opened her eyes to take a look and saw her own blue-white hand on the half-worn blanket faced with quilted Kor