Deep Autumn: A Lute Laments Past Days; Sitting in Meditation, a Mind Possessed

Lin Daiyu told a maid to bring in the young woman from the Xue household. The maid curtseyed and handed Daiyu a letter. Daiyu told her to go have some tea while she opened the letter and read it. The letter read: My dear sister, I was born under an unlucky star. My family has suffered one calamity after another, our kin scattered and alone. My mother is advanced in years and frail in health. Our household is filled with endless quarreling from morning till night. On top of that, we have met with one misfortune after another, like storms that never cease. Lying in bed late at night, tossing and turning, my heart is so full of sorrow it fairly chokes me. You and I understand each other's hearts, so I know you must grieve for me too. I think back to when we founded the Crab-Flower Poetry Club, in the clear crisp days of autumn. We wrote poems about chrysanthemums and ate crabs together—we sisters were so happy then. I still remember your lines: "So proud and aloof, with whom would you retire? / If all flowers bloom alike, why are you so late?" Every time I read them, I......