Five Spice Street

Was Madam X very solemn in sexual relationships? From this incident, it seems she was, but people who know her well know otherwise. For example, she not only ‘‘doesn’t turn male visitors away,’’ she welcomes them-the more, the merrier. Sometimes she also ‘‘tries to seduce them,’’ even ‘‘dropping in on them.’’ While she’s consorting with those people, naturally she has to be furtive. In particular, she has to fool her husband (even if he’s such a ‘‘good husband’’). People would probably have trouble believing that none of those men had a sexual relationship with her. In addition, Madam X surely doesn’t want people to believe this. It’s better to say that ‘‘she doesn’t give a damn.’’ She just keeps her mouth shut, and so do all the men she consorts with. Someone actually saw a man (definitely not Mr. Q) kiss Madam X on the main street in broad daylight, but this onlooker-out of ‘‘disgust and bashfulness’’-was unable to see the expression on Madam X’s face. He could verify, though, that Madam X offered no resistance. Maybe she was already limp with joy! Or maybe she’d had sexual relations with him all along! One day, the first good friend of Madam X’s husband had also seen Madam X holding hands with an extremely young guy and then go off to spend a night with him on a barren hillside in the suburbs. She didn’t return home until nine the next morning. The two of them were ‘‘wan and sallow’’ and ‘‘in high spirits.’’ With bitter hatred and a heavy heart, the good friend admonished Madam X. Madam X just giggled.

‘‘Nothing happened,’’ she said. ‘‘He wanted to, but I finally prevailed. We’re still good friends.’’

‘‘Didn’t it occur to you that he might use force? Perhaps you secretly hoped he would?’’

‘‘Of course it occurred to me. If he had, I would have felt bad for him. But thank God, it didn’t come to that. I persuaded him with my perception.’’

‘‘Did he kiss you?’’

‘‘So what if he did?’’ Madam X was thoroughly exasperated. ‘‘So what if he did?! So what? So what!’’

Step by step, she forced her husband’s friend to the wall. Whenever he recalled his embarrassment, he felt like crawling into a hole. Could such a wanton woman ever be solemn? We can only say that since she has lost all credibility, she must be acting.

We can’t help but think of her demonic instinct to control. Madam X had countless completely different faces. She would disguise her face and brilliantly keep people from seeing any trace of affectation. Around the young man who, as we’ve said, had listened respectfully to her lecture, Madam X surely was relying on her rich experience to sense that if she put on an unusually solemn face and maintained a certain distance, never taking the last step, she would finally be able to tame that crazy, wild, unbridled horse, thereby satisfying her abnormal sexuality. Objectively, this wasn’t premeditated: it was only her nature. So: Madam X is instinctively a good actor-she is always acting. We can also say that she isn’t acting, because it is her nature to be a witch-toying with men is the most enjoyable part of her life. She doesn’t hesitate to hurt people, but she also seems to consider other people. By temperament, she’s cold and severe, but she also seems ebullient. It’s impossible to sum up Madam X’s character. Consider the energy we expended determining her age, and finally, irresponsibly, we had nothing to show for it. It was just a blur. How can we be sure about ‘‘character’’-this infinitely more complicated issue? If we can’t be clear about it, we won’t try. As always, let’s ‘‘wait quietly.’’ But we have confirmed something: she is prone to willful recklessness. Although the residents of our Five Spice Street aren’t ascetics and make a lot of allowances for people, we’re all rather disciplined and orderly. Madam X’s unruliness set our teeth on edge and we wished she would die. Of course we don’t forget the few sordid, vulgar ones among us who wanted to take advantage of the opportunity. At the same time as they cursed her, they also secretly sounded her out and were generally rebuffed. Thus, they abhorred her even more than we did, and cursed her even more. Naturally, this scum cannot be considered part of our community.