The Story of the Stone, Volume 1 (Chapters 1-26)
The Story of the Stone (c. 1760), also known by the title of The Dream of the Red Chamber, is one of the greatest novels of Chinese literature.
Divided into five volumes, the first part of the story, The Golden Days, begins the tale of Bao-yu, a gentle young boy who prefers girls to Confucian studies, and his two cousins: Bao-chai,
his parents' choice of a wife for him, and the ethereal beauty Dai-yu. Through the changing fortunes of the Jia family, this rich, magical work sets worldly events - love affairs, sibling
rivalries, political intrigues, even murder - within the context of the Buddhist understanding that earthly existence is an illusion and karma determines the shape of our lives.
