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Pao-yue was indescribably joyous， and， as he raised his head， he perceived that the text on the tablet consisted of the three characters： the Board of Ill-fated lives； and that on each side was a scroll with the inscription：
Upon one's self are mainly brought reGREts in spring and autumn gloom； A face， flowerlike may be and moonlike too； but beauty all for whom？
Upon perusal of the scroll Pao-yue was， at once， the more stirred with admiration； and， as he crossed the door， and reached the interior， the only things that struck his eye were about ten large presses， the whole number of which were sealed with paper slips； on every one of these slips， he perceived that there were phrases peculiar to each province.
Pao-yue was in his mind merely bent upon discerning， from the rest， the slip referring to his own native village， when he espied， on the other side， a slip with the large characters： "the Principal Record of the Twelve Maidens of Chin Ling."
"What is the meaning，" therefore inquired Pao-yue， "of the Principal Record of the Twelve Maidens of Chin Ling？"
"As this is the record，" explained the Fairy， "of the most excellent and prominent girls in your honourable province， it is， for this reason， called the Principal Record."
"I've often heard people say，" observed Pao-yue， "that Chin Ling is of vast extent； and how can there only be twelve maidens in it！ why， at present， in our own family alone， there are more or less several hundreds of young girls！"
the Fairy gave a faint smile. "Through there be，" she rejoined， "so large a number of girls in your honourable province， those only of any note have been selected and entered in this record. The two presses， on the two sides， contain those who are second best； while， for all who remain， as they are of the ordinary run， there are， consequently， no registers to make any entry of them in."
Pao-yue upon looking at the press below， perceived the inscription： "Secondary Record of the twelve girls of Chin Ling；" while again in another press was inscribed： "Supplementary Secondary Record of the Twelve girls of Chin Ling." Forthwith stretching out his hand， Pao-yue opened first the doors of the press， containing the "supplementary secondary Record，" extracted a volume of the registers， and opened it. When he came to examine it， he saw on the front page a representation of something， which， though bearing no resemblance to a human being， presented， at the same time， no similitude to scenery； consisting simply of huge blotches made with ink. The whole paper was full of nothing else but black clouds and turbid mists， after which appeared the traces of a few characters， explaining that——
A cloudless moon is rare forsooth to see， And pretty clouds so soon scatter and flee！ Thy heart is deeper than the heavens are high， Thy frame consists of base ignominy！ Thy looks and clever mind resentment will provoke， And thine untimely death vile slander will evoke！ A loving noble youth in vain for love will yearn.
After reading these lines， Pao-yue looked below， where was pictured a bouquet of fresh flowers and a bed covered with tattered matting. There were also several distiches running as follows：
Thy self-esteem for kindly gentleness is but a fancy vain！ Thy charms that they can match the olea or orchid， but thoughts inane！ While an actor will， envious lot！ with fortune's smiles be born， A youth of noble birth will， strange to say， be luckless and forlorn.
Pao-yue perused these sentences， but could not unfold their meaning， so， at once discarding this press， he went over and opened the door of the press of the "Secondary Records" and took out a book， in which， on examination， he found a representation of a twig of Olea fragrans. Below， was a pond， the water of which was parched up and the mud dry， the lotus flowers decayed， and even the roots dead. At the back were these lines：
the lotus root and flower but one fragrance will give； How deep alas！ the wounds of thy life's span will be； What time a desolate tree in two places will live， Back to its native home the fragrant ghost will flee！
Pao-yue read these lines， but failed to understand what they meant. He then went and fetched the "Principal Record，" and set to looking it over. He saw on the first page a picture of two rotten trees， while on these trees was suspended a jade girdle. There was also a heap of snow， and under this snow was a golden hair-pin. There were in addition these four lines in verse：
Bitter thy cup will be， e'en were the virtue thine to stop the loom， Thine though the gift the willow fluff to sing， pity who will thy doom？ High in the trees doth hang the girdle of white jade， And lo！ among the snow the golden pin is laid！
To Pao-yue the meaning was again， though he read the lines over， quite unintelligible. He was， about to make inquiries， but he felt convinced that the Fairy would be both to divulge the decrees of Heaven； and though intent upon discarding the book， he could not however tear himself away from it. Forthwith， therefore， he prosecuted a further perusal of what came next， when he caught sight of a picture of a bow. On this bow hung a citron. There was also this ode：
Full twenty years right and wrong to expound will be thy fate！ What place pomegranate blossoms come in bloom will face the Palace Gate！ The third portion of spring， of the first spring in beauty short will fall！ When tiger meets with hare thou wilt return to sleep perennial.
