XUĒ Xiānglíng 薛湘灵 = the beautiful daughter of a rich merchant, provided with a rich dowry, but destined to become impoverished
ZHÀO Shǒuzhēn 赵守镇 = an impoverished bride
LÚ Tiānlín 卢天麟 = her son
In Dēngzhōu 登州, in Shāndōng 山东 province in ancient times there lived a rich merchant named XUĒ 薛 who had a daughter named XUĒ Xiānglíng 薛湘灵, who was very beautiful. When it came time for her to marry, her parents prepared a particularly full dowry, and her mother made her a “Unicorn Bag” (suǒlín náng 锁麟囊), which was an embroidered sack filled with jewelry, for it was believed that a bride with such a bag would quickly bear a bright and beautiful baby boy.
On the day of her marriage, Xiānglíng set out in a magnificent bridal palanquin accompanied by horns and drums and much celebration. Along the way, it began to rain, and the procession halted at the Spring and Autumn Pavilion. As they waited for the rain to stop, another bridal procession also arrived, a rather shabby one, in which the bride was sobbing disconsolately. Xiānglíng sent her maid to learn what was the matter.
The poor bride was named ZHÀO Shǒuzhēn 赵守镇. Her mother had died very early and her old father had no money to provide her with a dowry. She feared she would be mocked for trying to marry, and that after her marriage her poor old father would be living alone. So she sobbed.
Xiānglíng, having been raised in the lap of luxury, had never imagined such poverty as not to be able to afford a dowry, and was much moved by the story. Her eye lit upon the Unicorn Bag, which had been placed with her in the palanquin. She gave it to Zhào Shǒuzhēn. She never told Zhào her name. When the rain stopped, the two palanquins set forth on their separate ways. Xiānglíng was duly married, and in time gave birth to a charming little son.
Six years later there was a great flood in Dēngzhōu, and Xiānglíng and her husband and son became separated in the chaos. Xiānglíng was forced from place to place and ended up in Láizhōu 莱州, where he life was very hard. In Láizhōu she chanced upon her old wet nurse, who introduced her to a rich family named Lú 卢, where she became a nursemaid, charged with looking after the family’s 5-year old son LÚ Tiānlín 卢天麟. Little Tiānlín was very fond of Xiānglíng, and each day they played with a ball in the garden behind the mansion.
One day Tiānlín carelessly sent the ball flying into a little building in the garden. Xiānglíng hurried in to fetch it. Inside she suddenly spotted a beautiful bag. Looking closely, it was the very Unicorn Bag that had been given to her when she got married. Looking at it, she reflected on the disintegration of her own family, and couldn’t help but burst out crying.
Tiānlín thought this quite strange, and told his mother about it. His mother, of course, was none other than Zhào Shǒuzhēn, who had married a scion of the Lū family. Because she had the Unicorn Bag, the family had gradually become very wealthy. Ever grateful to her unknown benefactor, Zhào had built the little building in the garden as a memorial to her.
When Zhào learned that Xiānglíng had burst out crying at sight of the Unicorn Bag, she questioned her about her history. Discovering that Xiānglíng was her benefactor, she brought out fine clothes for her to wear, and treated her as a most honored guest. And she helped her seek for her husband and son.
At length Xiānglíng’s husband and son also found their way to Láizhōu, and learned that she was employed as a nurse at the Lú mansion. The family was reunited, and Xuē Xiānglíng and Zhào Shǒuzhēn remained life-long friends.