Page:Romance of the Three Kingdoms - tr. Brewitt-Taylor - Volume 1.djvu/50

 soldiers were sent to pursue Chang Jang and rescue the young Emperor.

The two chief eunuchs, Chang Jang and Tuan Kuei, had hustled away the Emperor and the Prince of Ch‘ên-liu. They burst through the smoke and fire and travelled without stopping till they reached the Peimang Hills. It was then the third watch. They heard a great shouting behind them and saw soldiers in pursuit. Their leader was shouting “Stop, stop!” Chang Jang, seeing that he was lost, jumped into the river, where he was drowned.

The two boys ignorant of the meaning of all this confusion and terrified out of their senses, dared not utter a cry; they crept in among the rank grass on the river bank and hid. The soldiers scattered in all directions but failed to find them. So they remained till the fourth watch, shivering with cold from the drenching dew and very hungry. They lay down in the thick grass and wept in each other’s arms, silently, lest any one should discover them.

“This is no a place to stay in,” said the Prince, “we must find some way out.”

So the two children knotted their clothes together and managed to crawl up the bank. They were in a thicket of thorn bushes and it was quite dark. They could not see any path. They were in despair when, all at once, millions of fireflies sprang up all about them and circled in the air in front of the Emperor.

“God is helping us,” said the Prince.

They followed whither the fireflies led and gradually got into a road. They walked till their feet were too sore to go further, when, seeing a heap of straw near the road, they crept to it and lay down.

This heap of straw was close to a farm house. In the night, as the farmer was sleeping, he saw in a vision two brightred suns drop behind his dwelling. Alarmed by the portent he hastily dressed and went forth to look about him. Then he saw a bright light shooting up from a heap of straw. He hastened thither and then saw two youths lying behind it.

“To what household do you belong, young gentlemen?” asked he.

The Emperor was too frightened to reply, but his companion said, “He is the Emperor. There has been a revolution in the palace and we ran away. I am his brother Prince of Ch‘ên-liu.”

The farmer bowed again and again and said, “I am the brother of a former official and my name is Ts‘ui I. My brother was disgusted with thebehaviourof the eunuchs and so resigned and hid away here.”

The two lads were taken into the farm and their host on his knees served them with refreshment.