Dream of the Red Chamber, Volume 1

“For a long time, Vanitas stood lost in thought, pondering this speech. He then subjected the Story of the Stone to a careful second reading. He could see that its main theme was love; … and that it was entirely free from any tendency to deprave and corrupt.” 

Vanitas is the monk who first transcribes the Story of the Stone for other readers. This quote provides an idea of the meta-narrative behind the novel and discusses the novel’s primary theme, in the author’s own words. 

“He said, ‘Once, when the pain was very bad, I thought that perhaps if I shouted the word ‘girls’ it might help to ease it. Well … I just called out once, and the pain really was quite a bit better.’” 

Bao-yu shows his natural tendency to spend time among women and to seek out the attention of girls to ease his own pain. This is his fate, according to Yu-cun and the jade stone. 

“Once, when I was only three, I can remember a scabby-headed old monk came and said he wanted to take me away and have me brought up as a nun; but of course, Mother and Father wouldn’t hear of it. So he said, ‘Since you are not prepared to give her up, I am afraid her illness will never get better as long as she lives.’” 

Dai-yu tells this story to the Jia family when she first arrives at the palace. The monk is either Impervioso or Mysterioso, and her illness and her meeting with him at a young age marks her as cosmically significant in the spiritual scheme of the novel.