立此存照待商量
——《龙之帝国》传闻记
不久前，南京黄龙先生披露了一项与曹雪芹家世生平有关的“珍贵”史料，引起了海内外红学研究者的极大关注。关于这项史料的来源问题，虽然至今还没有得到满意的佐证，但
研究者们已撰文探讨其内容的重要性，这使我颇有兴味。
承南京友人惠赠《周末》(《南京日报》增刊，1982年7月31日)小报一份，所引原文及译文如下：
The imperial kingdom was symbolized by a five- clawed golden dragon, a legendary reptile nonexistent since Creation. of her indigenous produces shantung commanded the broadest popularity. This rendered her to merit the credit "Land of Silk" in the Orient. There has been cherished as our precious heirloom a piece of homespun fabric with an ornamental pattern of "dragon and phoenix" manufactured at Kiangning Textile Mill. It survived fires and swords. During my grandfather PhiIip's sojourn in China for trade in textiles, he contracted an acquaintance with Mr. Tsao Ku, the then Superintendent of Kiangning Textile Mill, and at the latter's request served as an initiator of textile technology. The hose was hospitality incarnate and oftentimes indited extempore verses in token of rapport. As a reply, my grandfather delivered Biblical sermons and gave a graphic narration of Shakespeare's dramas. For audience he had merely those other than the juvenile and feminine. On the score of eavesdropping, Tsao's parepered son suffered a lashing and castigation.
William Winston, Dragon's Imperial Kingdom
(Douglas, 1874, p.53)
龙之帝国以五爪金龙为其象征，此种传奇式之爬虫，自创世以来，并无其物。在该国各种特产中，柞蚕丝最负盛誉，不愧为东方“丝绸之乡”。余家所藏“江宁织造厂”之手工织品，即饰有龙凤呈祥之图纹。此品素所珍爱，视为传家之宝，几历兵燹而仍幸存无恙。余祖腓立普赴华经商，有缘结识曹頫君，当时彼任“江宁织造”，并应曹君之请为该厂传授纺织工艺。曹君极其好客殷勤，常即兴赋诗以抒情道谊。余祖亦常宣教《圣经》，纵谈莎剧，以资酬和，但听众之中却无妇孺，曹君之娇子竟因窃听而受笞责。
我得到这份材料后，真是“欣喜若狂”了。于是，奔走于京内各家大图书馆，希望查到原书，进而了解上引原文前后相关的内容，以作深入的探讨。但出乎我的意料，这样一本论及中国织造史的重要外文书，不仅偌大京华没有收藏，就连托海外明友奄询，结果也是渺无踪影。因为“红楼”怪事多，只好等待黄龙教授有朝一日出示原书或当年的摘记卡片，以证其不伪了。
从已经披露的一段外文译文看，曹家与西方传教士有密切往来，其间讲谈的内容亦当舍很广泛，如纵谈莎剧，娇子受责，都是可能有的事。但论者以此推测那受责之娇子即曹雪芹，而他所撰《红楼梦》又颇受“西风”影响云云，我倒以为猜测之意多于事实。翻开《红楼梦》，虽然可以找到不少“西洋”玩艺儿，阻那放事情节，神话来源，诗文引处，还是道地的“国货”。所以，“红学”与“莎学”、曹公与莎翁，尽可在世界文学史上双峰并立，不必在字里行间去寻那影响的“影儿”。
1983年4月18日