A brightly painted silk screen with a door in the centre divides the stage in two, creating the illusion of a bedroom and an outer room. Only a Chinese audience would know by the setting that our rooms are prestigiusly located on the second floor and that outer room is where the family customarily worships. The entire scene is set i vivid contrasts...colours denoting the gentle June season and gardens in full bloom are a dramatic contrast to Bai's winter white complexion, Xu's exuberance over Duan Wu - the Dragon Boat Festival - is opposite to her desire to stay in bed. The music veers from slow and graceful melodies pleasing to the ears, to quick and sometimes desultory tempos to match the action. Though almost always dressed in white, Bai's makeup looks even paler without the benefit of the ruby red lipstick and glowing rouge she wore in the previous scenes, and she is wearing an extra layer of robes to denote that she is with child.Her brocade bed curtains are partly drawn to show a subdued Bai reclining against a mound of red silk pillows. A gentle smile brightens her pale face. Sighing, she gazes at the phoenixes that adorn the five coloured-paper medallions hanging from the ceiling, a Chinese symbol of a blissful marriage. Hearing Xu singing and dancing about the outer room, she gracefully glides from the bed and through the silk screen door. Careful not to trip over the folds of her volumious gown, she greets her loving husband Xu, who is singing to the statue of the esteemed poet Qu Yuan on the family shrine. Qu is the patron of the dragon boat race because he waded into a river and committed ritual suicide with a great rock in protest of the corruption of the warring states era. Encumbered by her pregnant state, Bai frowns, convincingly conveying to the audience that she doesn't feel up to going, while returning Xu's wide grins with weak smiles each time he turns to look at her. "Hello dear Bai. You look so beautiful today! Have some wine. It will help us pass the time. Our palaquin will be here soon and we can join the fun. Aren't you excited to see the race? I'd like to arrive before it has begun." Bai makes a comical face at the proffered wine behind Xu's back. It is customary to lace the wine with realgar — arsenic sulfide — to ward off snakes, especially at this time of year when they are at their most active and troublesome. "Must I drink that horrid stuff? It has such a foul stink! And I feel sick." Bai turns to the audience. "See how I wink? I'm playing a trick. I just hope Xu won't call my bluff." Xu laughs at Bai and hugs her, then backs away and pretends to be afraid of her. Alarmed, she quickly takes a few delicate sips of the tainted wine and hands him back the cup. She is quite confident in her magical powers and ability to resist such a simplistic charm. "Is that all you're going to drink, you naughty wench? Did you know it repels snakes with it's stench? You aren't one by any chance? Let me take a second glance." Xu slithers up to her, pretending to be a monstrous serpent, lightly grabs the collar of her robe and tries to peak down the top. "Xu! What are you trying to do?" she laughs and playfully bats his hand. "Of course not! Whatever gave you such a thought? And what's wrong with snakes anyway...the garden variety, not the vipers, really are okay." "Well, if you really must know, a Taoist priest said it was so. Do you remember a while back, when the esteemed Fa Hai called round? He's the abbot of Gold Mountain Temple. He came to warm me that dangers abound, that you and Xiao were evil snakey creatures that slithered on the ground." Xu chortles at the very thought of his exquisite wife behaving in such a lowly, unladylike manner. Xiao maybe...no, not her either. She may be an imp, but she's no demon.

Bai Long ~ Table of Contents ~ Shinju No Touhouya Test rowspan Qilin Qilin Horn Dragon Pearls Burmese Temple Guards Protected by Ninja Test PN Omamori Bangsangssi Masks Takurt Magic Mirrors Skull Necklace Emperor's Emerald Kimono Magic Fans TWTG Decorate a Chinese Opera Mask Oni test Kamakura TEST Act III Scene I, Part I: Dragon Boat Race day! Lunar News 2007 Act Three, Scene One Act Three, Scene Two Setsubun Customs Teahouse Curry Introduction to KamaKura Hangzhou Xi Hu Longjing Tea Plantations Lunar News, Issue 2 Mango Lassi Badam Burfi - Quick Almond Burfi End-of-Fest party ad Chef Senjay presents Cooking the Biryani Way Varaha's Teahouse Curry with Rice Noodles no title