Story of the Stone (The Dream of the Red Chamber. Tr from the Chinese by David Hawkes. Reprint Ed. Vol 2: The Crab-Flower Club. Tr of Hung Lou Meng)

"The Story of the Stone" (c. 1760), also known as "The Dream of the Red Chamber", is one of the greatest novels of Chinese literature. The second part of Cao Xueqin's magnificent saga, "The Crab-Flower Club" continues the story of the changing fortunes of the Jia dynasty. This volume primarily depicts a gilded year at the Rong-Guo mansion. Bao-yu and a bevy of young ladies move into Prospect Garden and devote themselves to poetry, riddles, and entertainments consisting of crab, flowers, rice wine, painting, cards, and firecrackers.