Page:Romance of the Three Kingdoms - tr. Brewitt-Taylor - Volume 1.djvu/195

 well to camp them in the centre and when permission was given the men of his old command were moved in and placed in four camps.

But Tien Wei, the especial guard of Ts‘ao Ts‘ao’s tent, was a man to be feared, being both brave and powerful. It was hard to know how to attack him. So counsel was taken with an officer, Hu Ch‘êrh, a man of enormous strength and activity. He could carry a burden of six hundred pounds and travel seven hundred li in a day. He proposed a plan. He said, “The fearsome thing about Tien Wei is his double halberd. But get him to come to a party and make him quite drunk before you send him back. I will mingle among his escort and so get into his tent and steal away his weapon. One need not fear him then.”

So the necessary arms were prepared and orders given in the various camps. This done the intended victim was invited and plied vigorously with wine so that he was quite intoxicated when he left. And, as arranged, the officer mingled with his escort and made away with his weapons.

That night, when Ts‘ao Ts‘ao was at supper with the lady, he heard the voices of men and neighing of horses and sent out to ask what it meant. They told him it was the night patrol going the rounds and he was satisfied.

Near the second watch of the night again was heard some noise in the rear of his tent and one of the fodder carts was reported to be burning.

“One of the men has dropped a spark; there is nothing to be alarmed at,” said he.

But very soon the fire spread on all sides and became alarming. He called Tien Wei. But he, usually so alert, was lying down quite intoxicated.

However, the beating of gongs and rolling of drums mingling with his dreams awoke him and he jumped up. His trusty halberd had disappeared. The enemy was near. He hastily snatched up an infantryman’s sword and rushed out. At the gate he saw a crowd of spearmen just bursting in. Tien Wei rushed at them slashing all around him and a score or more fell beneath his blows. The others drew back. But the spears stood around him like reeds on the river bank. Being totally without mail he was soon wounded in several places. He fought desperately till his sword snapped and was no longer of any use. Throwing it aside he seized a couple of soldiers and with their bodies as weapons felled half a score of his opponents. The others dared not approach, but they shot arrows at him. These fell thick as rain but he still maintained the gate against the assailants.

However, the mutineers got in by the rear of the camp and one of them wounded him in the back with a spear thrust. Uttering a loud cry he fell. The blood gushed from the wound