54 pages • 1 hour read
AnonymousThe Celebrated Cases of Judge Dee
Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 1949A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
InterludeChapter Summaries & Analyses
Interlude Summary
On a stage, which represents a river bank with blooming prune trees, three actors play out a scene. They represent a maiden, a young lover, and an older man.
The maiden has come out by herself to observe the blooms and dream about love. The older man questions why she is all alone, for surely there is someone at home who must love her. The maiden replies that even if that were true, on such a nice day she does not want to think about the people at home.
A young man appears and comments on the view. The maiden is intrigued. She also complains of a “cruel, cruel man, who asks, always asks me questions” (115). The older man replies, “I want to help you” (116), and even suggests that all three of them go together to admire the blossoms. The young man, however, implies that the blooming season, like their encounter, is a fleeting thing. The older man contradicts him, saying that “a flowering spring, well tended, will last long” (116).
The maiden bemoans that “nothing is so brief as a day-dream late in spring” (116). The young man concludes the Interlude by stating that duty has no place when seeking love and beauty.
Interlude Analysis
This scene is likely a hint to the inner thoughts of the three main characters involved in the second case. The blooming season happens in the spring and is considered the time for love. The maiden possibly represents Mrs. Djou, while the young lover represents Student Hsu. The older man could potentially be a stand in for Bee Hsun, as suggested in the translator’s introduction. The fact that the maiden is persecuted by a cruel man aligns with Mrs. Djou being questioned under torture by Judge Dee. The young lover reveals that he is a careless person who does not respect duty when it stands in the way of his love affairs, which aligns with Hsu’s willingness to indulge in an adulterous affair. By sharing how easy it is to forget the previous year’s blossoms, or lovers, he also demonstrates that he is flighty and amorous, someone who quickly loses interest in his conquests.
The translator theorizes that since the older man suggests that all three go to view the blossoms together, Bee Hsun might have known about the affair but been willing to forgive his wife.
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