Page:The Mythology of All Races Vol 12 (Egyptian and Indo-Chinese).djvu/379

Rh of the Hung, of the country of the Giao-chi, and they lived in the village of Mi-linh in the district of Phong-chau.

Trung-trac was married to a man named Chi-sach, of the village of Chu-duyen, but her husband had the misfortune to displease the Governor in some way, and To-dinh had him beheaded without trial. Chi-sach seems to have been a person of some reputation, or perhaps his execution was the last straw; at any rate it was the cause of a general rising of the Tongkingese. Trung-trac threw off her woman's dress, armed herself with cuirass and sword, and placed herself at the head of the insurgents. Her sister joined her out of natural love, and the native officials and notables flocked to their standard. The Tongkingese fell upon the Chinese everywhere, and Trung-trac's army performed prodigies of valour. Sixty-five towns fell before her attack, the Chinese were driven back beyond the frontier, and To-dinh owed his safety to the speed of his flight. But the Emperor Kwang-vu had him pursued, arrested, and lodged in gaol at Thiem-nhi.

Trung-trac was proclaimed Queen and established her capital in Oduyen, the modern Son-tay. There she reigned with great dignity and popularity, but after three years the Emperor Kwang-vu, determining to have his revenge, gathered an immense army and launched it against Tongking under the command of Ma-vien, the most noted of his generals. The two sisters Trung led out their forces, and battle was joined in the Lang-son Hills. There was a most desperate struggle; and when night fell, neither side had gained any advantage. Then followed a campaign of skirmishes and ambuscades in which Trung-trac displayed most remarkable military qualities, but the Tongkingese army gradually wasted away, whereas every day brought the Chinese fresh reinforcements. Trung-trac had to retire, but she fought bravely all the way and thus held the enemy in check for more than a year. When she reached the Cam-hke River in the Province of Son-tay, she resolved to make a last effort with the forces which she still had.