Romance, Chapter 68

Chapter 68. Gan Ning Raids the Wei Camp with a Hundred Horsemen; Zuo Ci Flings a Cup and Makes Sport of Cao Cao

Meanwhile Sun Quan was putting his forces in order at Ruxukou when word suddenly came that Cao Cao was marching from Hanzhong with four hundred thousand troops to relieve Hefei. Sun Quan took counsel with his advisers. First he sent Dong Xi and Xu Sheng with fifty large ships to lie in ambush at Ruxukou, and he ordered Chen Wu to lead a force patrolling back and forth along the riverbank. Zhang Zhao said, “Cao Cao has come a long way. We must first blunt his keen edge.”

卻說孫權在濡須口收拾軍馬，忽報曹操自漢中領兵四十萬前來救合淝。孫權與謀士計議，先撥董襲、徐盛二人領五十隻大船，在濡須口埋伏；令陳武帶領人馬，往來江岸巡哨。張昭曰：“今曹操遠來，必須先挫其銳氣。”

Then Sun Quan asked those in his tent, “Cao Cao has come from afar. Who dares to go first, defeat the enemy and blunt his keen edge?” Ling Tong stepped forward and said, “I will go.” “How many men will you take?” asked Sun Quan. “Three thousand will be enough,” said Ling Tong. Gan Ning said, “A mere hundred horsemen are all it takes to defeat the enemy. Why three thousand?” Ling Tong was furious, and the two of them began quarrelling right there in front of Sun Quan. Sun Quan said, “Cao’s army is powerful. We must not take the enemy lightly.”

權乃問帳下曰：“曹操遠來，誰敢當先破敵，以挫其銳氣？”淩統出曰：“某願往。”權曰：“帶多少軍去？”統曰：“三千人足矣。”甘寧曰：“只須百騎，便可破敵，何必三千！”淩統大怒。兩個就在孫權面前爭競起來。權曰：“曹軍勢大，不可輕敵。”

So he ordered Ling Tong to take three thousand men out of Ruxukou to scout, and to give battle if he met Cao’s troops. Ling Tong received the order and led his three thousand out of Ruxuwu. Where the dust rose, Cao’s troops had already arrived. The Van Leader Zhang Liao crossed weapons with Ling Tong, and they fought fifty bouts without either gaining the upper hand. Fearing that Ling Tong might come to grief, Sun Quan sent Lü Meng to meet him and bring him back to camp. When Gan Ning saw Ling Tong return, he at once said to Sun Quan, “Tonight I will take just one hundred men and raid Cao’s camp. If I lose a single man or a single horse, count it no merit of mine.”

乃命淩統帶三千軍出濡須口去哨探，遇曹兵，便與交戰。淩統領命，引着三千人馬，離濡須塢。塵頭起處，曹兵早到。先鋒張遼與淩統交鋒，鬥五十合，不分勝敗。孫權恐淩統有失，令呂蒙接應回營。甘寧見淩統回，即告權曰：“寧今夜只帶一百人馬去劫曹營；若折了一人一騎，也不算功。”

Sun Quan admired his spirit and assigned him a hundred picked horsemen from his own command. He also gave fifty jars of wine and fifty catties of mutton as a reward for the soldiers. Back in his camp, Gan Ning had the hundred men sit down in rows. First he poured wine into a silver bowl and drank two bowls himself; then he said to the hundred, “Tonight, by command, we raid the enemy camp. I ask each of you, gentlemen, to drain a full cup and then to press forward with all your might.” Hearing this, the men only looked at one another.

孫權壯之，乃調撥帳下一百精銳馬兵付寧；又以酒五十瓶，羊肉五十斤，賞賜軍士。甘寧回到營中，教一百人皆列坐，先將銀碗斟酒，自喫兩碗，乃語百人曰：“今夜奉命劫寨，請諸公各滿飲一觴，努力向前。”衆人聞言，面面相覷。

Seeing that the men were reluctant, Gan Ning drew his sword and cried angrily, “I am a senior general, and yet I do not grudge my life. How dare you hesitate?” When they saw his angry look, they all rose, bowed and said, “We will fight to the death for you.” Gan Ning shared the wine and meat with the hundred until all of it had been eaten and drunk. Toward the second watch he took a hundred white goose feathers and had them stuck in the helmets as a mark of recognition. Then, all in armour, they mounted and galloped to the edge of Cao Cao’s camp, pulled aside the deer-horn barricade, raised a great shout and burst in, making straight for the central command to kill Cao Cao.

甘寧見衆人有難色，乃拔劍在手，怒叱曰：“我爲上將，且不惜命；汝等何得遲疑！”衆人見甘寧作色，皆起拜曰：“願效死力。”甘寧將酒肉與百人共飲食盡，約至二更時候取白鵝翎一百根，插於盔上爲號；都披甲上馬，飛奔曹操寨邊，拔開鹿角，大喊一聲，殺入寨中，徑奔中軍來殺曹操。

But the men of the central command had laid their carts across the roads and linked them together, ringing it round like an iron bucket, so that no one could get through. With only his hundred horsemen, Gan Ning charged left and dashed right. Cao’s troops were thrown into panic; not knowing how many enemies there were, they fell into confusion among themselves. Gan Ning’s hundred horsemen galloped back and forth through the camp, killing everyone they met. In every camp the drums beat and men shouted; torches were raised like stars, and the uproar shook the air. Gan Ning cut his way out through the south gate of the camp, and no one dared to stand in his way.

原來中軍人馬，以車仗伏路穿連，圍得鐵桶相似，不能得進。甘寧只將百騎，左衝右突。曹兵驚慌，正不知敵兵多少，自相擾亂。那甘寧百騎，在營內縱橫馳驟，逢着便殺。各營鼓譟，舉火如星，喊聲大震。甘寧從寨之南門殺出，無人敢當。

Sun Quan sent Zhou Tai with a body of troops to meet him, and Gan Ning brought his hundred horsemen back to Ruxu. Fearing an ambush, Cao’s troops did not dare to pursue.

孫權令周泰引一枝兵來接應。甘寧將百騎回到濡須。操兵恐有埋伏，不敢追襲。

A later poet wrote in his praise:
The war drums roar and shake the earth;
Where Wu’s men pass, the spirits wail!
A hundred plumes pierce Cao’s camp through;
All call Gan Ning a tiger of a general.

後人有詩讚曰：“鼙鼓聲喧震地來，吳師到處鬼神哀！
百翎直貫曹家寨，盡說甘寧虎將才。
”

Gan Ning returned to camp with his hundred horsemen without having lost a single man or horse. At the camp gate he had all hundred of them beat drums, blow flutes and shout “Long live!”, and the cheering rang out loudly. Sun Quan came out in person to welcome him. Gan Ning dismounted and prostrated himself. Sun Quan raised him up, took his hand and said, “This expedition of yours, General, is enough to strike terror into the old rebel. It was not that I was willing to throw you away; I only wanted to see your courage!” And he at once gave him a thousand rolls of silk and a hundred keen swords.

甘寧引百騎到寨，不折一人一騎；至營門，令百人皆擊鼓吹笛，口稱“萬歲”，歡聲大震。孫權自來迎接。甘寧下馬拜伏。權扶起，攜寧手曰：“將軍此去，足使老賊驚駭。非孤相舍，正欲觀卿膽耳！”即賜絹千匹，利刀百口。

Gan Ning bowed and accepted the gifts, and then divided them among the hundred as rewards. Sun Quan said to his officers, “Mengde has his Zhang Liao, but I have my Gan Xingba. We are a match for each other.”

寧拜受訖，遂分賞百人。權語諸將曰：“孟德有張遼，孤有甘興霸，足以相敵也。”

The next day Zhang Liao led out his troops and offered battle. Seeing that Gan Ning had won merit, Ling Tong said with spirit, “Let me face Zhang Liao.” Sun Quan consented, and Ling Tong led five thousand troops out of Ruxu. Sun Quan himself took Gan Ning to the front to watch the fight. When the two armies had drawn up facing each other, Zhang Liao rode out, with Li Dian on his left and Yue Jin on his right. Ling Tong galloped out before the lines, sword in hand. Zhang Liao sent Yue Jin out to meet him. The two fought fifty bouts without either gaining the upper hand.

次日，張遼引兵搦戰。淩統見甘寧有功，奮然曰：“統願敵張遼。”權許之。統遂領兵五千，離濡須。權自引甘寧臨陣觀戰。對陣圓處，張遼出馬，左有李典，右有樂進。淩統縱馬提刀，出至陣前。張遼使樂進出迎。兩個鬥到五十合，未分勝敗。

When Cao Cao heard of this, he rode up in person beneath the standard at the gate of his lines to watch. Seeing the two generals locked in fierce combat, he ordered Cao Xiu to shoot a stealthy arrow. Cao Xiu slipped behind Zhang Liao, drew his bow and let fly; the arrow struck the horse Ling Tong was riding, which reared straight up and threw Ling Tong to the ground. Yue Jin hastily came at him with his spear. But before the spear could reach him, there was the twang of a bowstring and an arrow struck Yue Jin full in the face, so that he tumbled from his horse.

曹操聞知，親自策馬到門旗下來看，見二將酣鬥，乃令曹休暗放冷箭。曹休便閃在張遼背後，開弓一箭，正中淩統坐下馬，那馬直立起來，把淩統掀翻在地。樂進連忙持槍來刺。槍還未到，只聽得弓弦響處，一箭射中樂進面門，翻身落馬。

Both armies rushed out, each rescued its own general and returned to camp, and the gongs sounded to end the battle. Back in camp, Ling Tong bowed and thanked Sun Quan. “The man who shot the arrow that saved you was Gan Ning,” said Sun Quan. Then Ling Tong knocked his head to the ground before Gan Ning and said, “I never imagined you would show me such kindness!” From that time on he and Gan Ning were friends sworn to live and die together, and there was no more ill will between them. As for Cao Cao, seeing Yue Jin wounded by the arrow, he had him brought into his own tent to be treated.

兩軍齊出，各救一將回營，鳴金罷戰。淩統回寨中拜謝孫權。權曰：“放箭救你者，甘寧也。”淩統乃頓首拜寧曰：“不想公能如此垂恩！”自此與甘寧結爲生死之交，再不爲惡。且說曹操見樂進中箭，令自到帳中調治。

The next day Cao Cao divided his army into five columns to attack Ruxu. He himself led the centre; on the left, the first column was under Zhang Liao and the second under Li Dian; on the right, the first under Xu Huang and the second under Pang De. Each column had ten thousand men, and they came rushing down to the river’s edge. Dong Xi and Xu Sheng, on board their tower ships, saw the five columns approaching, and the troops all looked afraid. Xu Sheng said, “We eat our lord’s pay, so we must be loyal in our lord’s service. What is there to fear?”

次日，分兵五路來襲濡須：操自領中路；左一路張遼，二路李典；右一路徐晃，二路龐德。每路各帶一萬人馬，殺奔江邊來。時董襲、徐盛二將，在樓船上見五路軍馬來到，諸軍各有懼色。徐盛曰：“食君之祿，忠君之事，何懼哉！”

With that he led several hundred bold fighters across to the shore in small boats and cut his way into Li Dian’s army. On board ship, Dong Xi had the troops beat the drums and shout to lend support. Suddenly a fierce wind sprang up on the river; the white waves reached to the sky and the billows surged and roared. Seeing that the large ships were about to capsize, the soldiers scrambled down into the small boats to save their lives. Dong Xi grasped his sword and shouted, “Your general has received his lord’s command to hold off the rebels here. How dare you abandon ship and go!”

遂引猛士數百人，用小船渡過江邊，殺入李典軍中去了。董襲在船上，令衆軍擂鼓吶喊助威。忽然江上猛風大作，白浪掀天，波濤洶湧。軍士見大船將覆，爭下腳艦逃命。董襲仗劍大喝曰：“將受君命，在此防賊，怎敢棄船而去！”

And he immediately beheaded more than ten men who had gone down from the ship. A moment later the wind grew fiercer and the ship capsized, and Dong Xi met his end in the water at the river mouth. Meanwhile Xu Sheng was charging back and forth among Li Dian’s troops.

立斬下船軍士十餘人。須臾，風急船覆，董襲竟死於江口水中。徐盛在李典軍中，往來衝突。

Meanwhile Chen Wu, hearing the fighting by the river, came up with a force and ran straight into Pang De, and the two armies fell into a confused melee. Sun Quan, in Ruxuwu, heard that Cao’s troops had fought their way to the riverbank, and came out in person with Zhou Tai, leading troops to join the battle. Seeing Xu Sheng caught in a tangled fight among Li Dian’s men, he waved his troops on to cut their way in to his aid. But the two forces of Zhang Liao and Xu Huang trapped Sun Quan in the very heart of their encirclement.

卻說陳武聽得江邊廝殺，引一軍來，正與龐德相遇，兩軍混戰。孫權在濡須塢中，聽得曹兵殺到江邊，親自與周泰引軍前來助戰。正見徐盛在李典軍中攪做一團廝殺，便麾軍殺入接應。卻被張遼、徐晃兩枝軍，把孫權困在垓心。

From a high mound Cao Cao saw that Sun Quan was surrounded, and he quickly ordered Xu Chu to gallop sword in hand into the fray. Xu Chu cut Sun Quan’s army in two, so that neither part could help the other.

曹操上高阜處看見孫權被圍，急令許褚縱馬持刀殺入軍中，把孫權軍衝作兩段，彼此不能相救。

Meanwhile Zhou Tai fought his way out of the melee and reached the river, but could not see Sun Quan. He wheeled his horse around, cut his way back into the battle from outside and asked the men of his own unit, “Where is our lord?” A soldier pointed to where the troops were thickest and said, “Our lord is surrounded and in great danger!” Zhou Tai boldly charged in and found Sun Quan. “My lord, follow me and we will cut our way out,” he said. So with Zhou Tai in front and Sun Quan behind, they fought their way forward with all their strength.

卻說周泰從軍中殺出，到江邊，不見了孫權，勒回馬，從外又殺入陣中，問本部軍：“主公何在？”軍人以手指兵馬厚處，曰：“主公被圍甚急！”周泰挺身殺入，尋見孫權。泰曰：“主公可隨泰殺出。”於是泰在前，權在後，奮力衝突。

When Zhou Tai reached the river and looked back, once again Sun Quan was not there. So he turned yet again, cut his way back into the encirclement and found Sun Quan once more. “Bows and crossbows are shooting all at once,” said Sun Quan. “We cannot get out. What shall we do?” “Let my lord go in front and I will follow behind,” said Zhou Tai. “Then we can break out.” So Sun Quan spurred his horse forward, while Zhou Tai shielded him on left and right. Zhou Tai took several spear wounds, and arrows pierced his double armour, but he saved Sun Quan. When they reached the river, Lü Meng came up with a squadron of the fleet to meet them and took them aboard.

泰到江邊，回頭又不見孫權，乃復翻身殺入圍中，又尋見孫權。權曰：“弓弩齊發，不能得出，如何？”泰曰：“主公在前，某在後，可以出圍。”孫權乃縱馬前行。周泰左右遮護，身被數槍，箭透重鎧，救得孫權。到江邊，呂蒙引一枝水軍前來接應下船。

“It is thanks to Zhou Tai charging in three times that I escaped from that heavy encirclement,” said Sun Quan. “But Xu Sheng is still in the heart of it. How can he get out?” “I will go and rescue him too,” said Zhou Tai. And whirling his spear, he turned once more and cut his way into the thick of the encirclement, and brought Xu Sheng out. Both generals were badly wounded. Lü Meng had his soldiers pour volleys of arrows to hold back the troops on the bank, and got the two generals aboard. Meanwhile Chen Wu had been fighting hard against Pang De, but had no supporting troops behind him. Pang De chased him to the mouth of a valley where the trees grew thick. When Chen Wu tried to turn and fight again, the sleeve of his robe was caught on a tree, so that he could not face his enemy, and he was killed by Pang De.

權曰：“吾虧周泰三番衝殺，得脫重圍。但徐盛在垓心，如何得脫？”周泰曰：“吾再救去。”遂輪槍復翻身殺入重圍之中，救出徐盛。二將各帶重傷。呂蒙教軍士亂箭射住岸上兵，救二將下船。卻說陳武與龐德大戰，後面又無應兵，被龐德趕到峪口，樹林叢密；陳武再欲回身交戰，被樹株抓住袍袖，不能迎敵，爲龐德所殺。

Seeing that Sun Quan had escaped, Cao Cao whipped up his horse and drove his troops on to the riverbank, where the two sides exchanged arrows. Lü Meng’s arrows were all spent, and he was in great alarm when suddenly a fleet of ships arrived from the other side of the river. At its head was a great general, Lu Xun, Sun Ce’s son-in-law, who had come with a hundred thousand men. With one volley they drove back Cao’s troops; then, following up their advantage, they landed and pursued and slew them, capturing several thousand war horses besides. Cao’s wounded were past counting, and his army went back utterly defeated.

曹操見孫權走脫了，自策馬驅兵，趕到江邊對射。呂蒙箭盡，正慌間，忽對江一宗船到，爲首一員大將，乃是孫策女婿陸遜，自引十萬兵到；一陣射退曹兵，乘勢登岸追殺曹兵，復奪戰馬數千匹，曹兵傷者，不計其數，大敗而回。

Chen Wu’s body was found among the scattered troops. When Sun Quan learned that Chen Wu was dead and that Dong Xi too had sunk in the river and drowned, his grief was intense. He had men go into the water to find Dong Xi’s body, and buried it with honour together with Chen Wu’s. Moved also by Zhou Tai’s service in rescuing him, he gave a banquet in his honour. Sun Quan himself held the cup, stroked Zhou Tai’s back and, with tears streaming down his face, said, “Twice you saved me, not caring for your own life. You took dozens of spear wounds, until your skin looks carved and painted. How could I have the heart not to treat you with the love due to my own flesh and blood, and not to entrust you with the heavy charge of my armies?

於亂軍中尋見陳武屍首，孫權知陳武已亡，董襲又沉江而死，哀痛至切，令人入水中尋見董襲屍首，與陳武屍一齊厚葬之。又感周泰救護之功，設宴款之。權親自把盞，撫其背，淚流滿面，曰：“卿兩番相救，不惜性命，被槍數十，膚如刻畫，孤亦何心不待卿以骨肉之恩、委卿以兵馬之重乎！

You are a meritorious servant of mine, and I shall share honour and disgrace, joy and sorrow, with you.” When he had finished speaking, he had Zhou Tai take off his clothes to show the officers. His skin and flesh looked as though they had been gouged with knives, and scars twisted like roots all over his body. Sun Quan pointed at the scars one by one and asked about each. Zhou Tai described in full how he had received each wound in battle, and for every wound Sun Quan made him drink a goblet of wine. That day Zhou Tai got very drunk. Sun Quan gave him a blue silk umbrella and ordered that it be held over him whenever he went in or out, as a mark of distinction.

卿乃孤之功臣，孤當與卿共榮辱、同休慼也。”言罷，令周泰解衣與衆將觀之：皮肉肌膚，如同刀剜，盤根遍體。孫權手指其痕，一一問之。周泰具言戰鬥被傷之狀。一處傷令喫一觥酒。是日，周泰大醉。權以青羅傘賜之，令出入張蓋，以爲顯耀。

Sun Quan held out against Cao Cao at Ruxu for more than a month, but could not win a victory. Zhang Zhao and Gu Yong advised him, “Cao Cao is too strong to be overcome by force. If we fight him for long, we shall lose a great many soldiers. The best course is to sue for peace and give the people rest.” Sun Quan took their advice and sent Bu Zhi to Cao’s camp to sue for peace, promising to send tribute every year. Seeing that the land south of the river could not be taken quickly, Cao Cao agreed, and gave orders: “Let Sun Quan first withdraw his forces; then I will lead my army home.”

權在濡須，與操相拒月餘，不能取勝。張昭、顧雍上言：“曹操勢大，不可力取；若與久戰，大損士卒：不若求和安民爲上。”孫權從其言，令步騭往曹營求和，許年納歲貢。操見江南急未可下，乃從之，令：“孫權先撤人馬，吾然後班師。”

When Bu Zhi returned with the answer, Sun Quan left only Jiang Qin and Zhou Tai to hold Ruxukou, put the whole of his great army aboard ship and returned to Moling. Cao Cao left Cao Ren and Zhang Liao to garrison Hefei, and led his army back to Xuchang. There all the civil and military officials proposed that Cao Cao should be made King of Wei. Cui Yan, a President of a Board, argued strongly against it. “Are you the only one who has not seen what happened to Xun Wenruo?” said the officials. Cui Yan was very angry and said, “The times, the times! There is bound to be a change. Do as you please!”

步騭回覆，權只留蔣欽、周泰守濡須口，盡發大兵上船回秣陵。操留曹仁、張遼屯合淝，班師回許昌。文武衆官皆議立曹操爲魏王。尚書崔琰力言不可。衆官曰：“汝獨不見荀文若乎？”琰大怒曰：“時乎，時乎！會當有變，任自爲之！”

Someone who was on bad terms with Cui Yan told Cao Cao of this. Cao Cao was furious, and had Cui Yan arrested, thrown into prison and interrogated. Cui Yan, with his tiger eyes and curling beard, did nothing but loudly revile Cao Cao as a treacherous rebel who deceived his sovereign. When the Commandant of Justice reported this to Cao Cao, he ordered Cui Yan to be beaten to death in prison. A later writer composed this eulogy:
Cui Yan of Qinghe
Was firm and unbending by nature;
Curling beard and tiger eyes,
A heart of iron and stone.
Villains shrank before him;
His fame and integrity shone high.
Loyal to the lord of Han,
His name will ring through the ages!

有與琰不和者，告知操。操大怒，收琰下獄問之。琰虎目虯髯，只是大罵曹操欺君奸賊。廷尉白操，操令杖殺崔琰在獄中。後人有贊曰：“清河崔琰，天性堅剛；虯髯虎目，鐵石心腸；奸邪辟易，聲節顯昂；忠於漢主，千古名揚！”

In the fifth month, in summer, of the twenty-first year of Jian’an, the officials presented a memorial to Emperor Xian extolling the merit and virtue of the Duke of Wei, Cao Cao, as reaching to the heights of heaven and the ends of the earth, beyond anything achieved by Yi Yin or the Duke of Zhou, and declaring that he should be raised in rank to king. Emperor Xian at once ordered Zhong Yao to draft the edict creating Cao Cao King of Wei. Cao Cao feigned modesty and three times submitted letters declining. Three times edicts came back refusing to accept his refusal, and then Cao Cao bowed to the command and received the rank of King of Wei. He wore the crown with twelve strings of pearls and rode in the golden-root carriage drawn by six horses; he used the carriages, robes and insignia of the Son of Heaven, and had the roads cleared when he went out and all traffic stopped when he came in. He built a palace for the King of Wei in Yejun and began to discuss the naming of an heir.

建安二十一年夏五月，羣臣表奏獻帝，頌魏公曹操功德，極天際地，伊、周莫及，宜進爵爲王。獻帝即令鍾繇草詔，冊立曹操爲魏王。曹操假意上書三辭。詔三報不許，操乃拜命受魏王之爵，冕十二旒，乘金根車，駕六馬，用天子車服鑾儀，出警入蹕，於鄴郡蓋魏王宮，議立世子。

Cao Cao’s principal wife, Lady Ding, had no children. His concubine Lady Liu had borne him a son, Cao Ang, who had died at Wan during the campaign against Zhang Xiu. Lady Bian had borne him four sons: the eldest was Pi, the second Zhang, the third Zhi and the fourth Xiong. So Cao Cao set aside Lady Ding and made Lady Bian Queen of Wei. His third son, Cao Zhi, styled Zijian, was extremely clever and could compose a finished piece the moment he took up his brush, and Cao Cao wished to make him his heir. His eldest son, Cao Pi, fearing that he would be passed over, asked the Palace Grandee Jia Xu for a plan.

操大妻丁夫人無出。妾劉氏生子曹昂，因徵張繡時死於宛城。卞氏所生四子：長曰丕，次曰彰，三曰植，四曰熊。於是黜丁夫人，而立卞氏爲魏王后。第三子曹植，字子建，極聰明，舉筆成章，操欲立之爲後嗣。長子曹丕，恐不得立，乃問計於中大夫賈詡。

Jia Xu told him to do thus and thus. From then on, whenever Cao Cao set out on a campaign and his sons saw him off, Cao Zhi would praise his father’s merit and virtue, every word he spoke a polished composition; but Cao Pi, on taking leave of his father, would only weep and bow, and all those about were moved to sorrow. So Cao Cao began to suspect that Cao Zhi was merely clever and that his sincerity fell short of Cao Pi’s. Cao Pi also had people bribe the attendants closest to his father, so that all of them spoke of his virtue. Wishing to name an heir but unable to make up his mind, Cao Cao asked Jia Xu, “I wish to name my heir. Whom should I choose?”

詡教如此如此。自是但凡操出征，諸子送行，曹植乃稱述功德，發言成章；惟曹丕辭父，只是流涕而拜，左右皆感傷。於是操疑植乖巧，誠心不及丕也。丕又使人買囑近侍，皆言丕之德。操欲立後嗣，躊躇不定，乃問賈詡曰：“孤欲立後嗣，當立誰？”

Jia Xu did not answer, and Cao Cao asked him why. “I was just thinking about something,” said Jia Xu, “and so could not answer at once.” “What were you thinking about?” asked Cao Cao. “About Yuan Benchu and Liu Jingsheng and their sons,” replied Jia Xu. Cao Cao laughed heartily, and he made his eldest son, Cao Pi, Heir to the King.

賈詡不答，操問其故，詡曰：“正有所思，故不能即答耳。”操曰：“何所思？”詡對曰：“思袁本初、劉景升父子也。”操大笑，遂立長子曹丕爲王世子。

In the tenth month, in winter, the palace of the King of Wei was completed, and men were sent everywhere to collect rare flowers and strange fruits to plant in the rear gardens. One envoy went to the land of Wu, saw Sun Quan and delivered the King of Wei’s command, and was to go on to Wenzhou for oranges. At that time Sun Quan was showing great deference to the King of Wei, so he had more than forty loads of large oranges picked out in his own city and sent by forced marches, day and night, to Yejun. Halfway there, the porters carrying the loads grew exhausted and rested at the foot of a hill. There they saw a master who was blind in one eye and lame in one leg, wearing a white rattan cap and a loose blue gown. He came up, greeted the porters and said, “You are toiling hard under these loads. How would it be if this poor Taoist took a turn at the shoulder-pole for each of you?”

冬十月，魏王宮成，差人往各處收取奇花異果，栽植後苑。有使者到吳地，見了孫權，傳魏王令旨，再往溫州取柑子。時孫權正尊讓魏王，便令人於本城選了大柑子四十餘擔，星夜送往鄴郡。至中途，挑擔役夫疲睏，歇于山腳下，見一先生，眇一目，跛一足，頭戴白藤冠，身穿青懶衣，來與腳伕作禮，言曰：“你等挑擔勞苦，貧道都替你挑一肩何如？”

The porters were delighted, and the master carried each load for five li. But every load he had carried became lighter, and all were amazed and puzzled. As he was leaving, the master said to the officer in charge of the oranges, “This poor Taoist is an old acquaintance of the King of Wei from his home district. My surname is Zuo, my name Ci and my courtesy name Yuanfang, and my Taoist name is Master Black Horn. When you reach Yejun, you may tell him that Zuo Ci sends his regards.” Then, with a flick of his sleeves, he was gone.

衆人大喜。於是先生每擔各挑五里。但是先生挑過的擔兒都輕了。衆皆驚疑。先生臨去，與領柑子官說：“貧道乃魏王鄉中故人，姓左，名慈，字元放，道號烏角先生。如你到鄴郡，可說左慈申意。”遂拂袖而去。

The men bringing the oranges reached Yejun, saw Cao Cao and presented them. Cao Cao cut one open himself and found only an empty rind with no flesh inside at all. Greatly startled, he questioned the man in charge, who told him about Zuo Ci. Cao Cao would not believe it, when the gatekeeper suddenly announced, “There is a master who calls himself Zuo Ci and begs to see Your Highness.” Cao Cao summoned him in. “This is the very man we met on the road,” said the man who had brought the oranges. Cao Cao shouted at him, “By what sorcery did you snatch away my fine fruit?”

取柑人至鄴郡見操，呈上柑子。操親剖之，但只空殼，內並無肉。操大驚，問取柑人。取柑人以左慈之事對。操未肯信，門吏忽報：“有一先生，自稱左慈，求見大王。”操召入。取柑人曰：“此正途中所見之人。”操叱之曰：“汝以何妖術，攝吾佳果？”

Zuo Ci laughed. “How could such a thing be?” he said. He took an orange and cut it open: inside there was flesh, and it tasted very sweet. But every one that Cao Cao cut open himself was an empty rind. Cao Cao was more astonished than ever. He gave Zuo Ci a seat and questioned him. Zuo Ci asked for wine and meat, and Cao Cao had them given him. He drank five dou of wine without getting drunk and ate a whole sheep without being full. “What arts do you possess that you can do this?” asked Cao Cao. Zuo Ci said, “For thirty years this poor Taoist studied the Way in the Emei Mountains at Jialing in Xichuan. One day I suddenly heard a voice from within the rock face calling my name, but when I looked, there was no one to be seen.

慈笑曰：“豈有此事！”取柑剖之，內皆有肉，其味甚甜。但操自剖者，皆空殼。操愈驚，乃賜左慈坐而問之。慈索酒肉，操令與之，飲酒五斗不醉，肉食全羊不飽。操問曰：“汝有何術，以至於此？”慈曰：“貧道於西川嘉陵峨嵋山中，學道三十年，忽聞石壁中有聲呼我之名；及視，不見。

This went on for several days. Then suddenly a thunderbolt from heaven shattered the rock face, and I obtained three volumes of a heavenly book called the Dunjia Tianshu. The first volume is called ‘Heaven Escape,’ the middle one ‘Earth Escape’ and the last ‘Man Escape.’ With Heaven Escape one can mount the clouds, ride the wind and soar up into the great void; with Earth Escape one can pass through mountains and go through rock; with Man Escape one can roam the four seas like a drifting cloud, hide one’s form and change one’s shape, and send flying swords and hurl knives to take men’s heads. Your Highness has reached the highest rank a subject can attain. Why not step back and follow this poor Taoist to the Emei Mountains to cultivate the Way?

如此者數日。忽有天雷震碎石壁，得天書三卷，名曰《遁甲天書》。上卷名‘天遁’，中卷名‘地遁’，下卷名‘人遁’。天遁能騰雲跨風，飛昇太虛；地遁能穿山透石；人遁能雲遊四海，藏形變身，飛劍擲刀，取人首級。大王位極人臣，何不退步，跟貧道往峨嵋山中修行？

I would then pass on to you the three volumes of the heavenly book.” Cao Cao said, “I too have long thought of retiring boldly while the current runs strong, but the court has not yet found the right man.” Zuo Ci laughed. “Liu Xuande of Yizhou is a scion of the imperial house. Why not yield this position to him? Otherwise this poor Taoist will send a flying sword to take your head.” Cao Cao was furious. “This is certainly a spy of Liu Bei’s!” he said, and shouted to his attendants to seize him. Zuo Ci laughed and laughed without stopping. Cao Cao had a dozen or so jailers seize him and put him to torture.

當以三卷天書相授。”操曰：“我亦久思急流勇退，奈朝廷未得其人耳。”慈笑曰：“益州劉玄德乃帝室之胄，何不讓此位與之？不然，貧道當飛劍取汝之頭也。”操大怒曰：“此正是劉備細作！”喝左右拿下。慈大笑不止。操令十數獄卒，捉下拷之。

The jailers beat him with all their strength, but when they looked at Zuo Ci he was snoring in a sound sleep, feeling no pain at all. In anger Cao Cao ordered a great cangue brought, fastened it with iron nails and locked it with iron chains, and had him sent into the prison and kept under guard. But the cangue and chains all fell away, and Zuo Ci lay on the ground without the slightest injury. He was kept locked up for seven days on end with neither food nor drink; and when they looked in on him, there he sat upright on the ground, his face grown ruddy.

獄卒着力痛打，看左慈時，卻齁齁熟睡，全無痛楚。操怒，命取大枷，鐵釘釘了，鐵鎖鎖了，送入牢中監收，令人看守。只見枷鎖盡落，左慈臥於地上，並無傷損。連監禁七日，不與飲食。及看時，慈端坐於地上，麪皮轉紅。

The jailers reported this to Cao Cao, who had him brought out and questioned him. “I can go without food for decades and be none the worse,” said Zuo Ci, “and I can eat a thousand sheep a day and finish them all.” Cao Cao could do nothing with him.

獄卒報知曹操，操取出問之。慈曰：“我數十年不食，亦不妨；日食千羊，亦能盡。”操無可奈何。

That day all the officials gathered at the palace for a great banquet. While the wine was going round, Zuo Ci appeared before the feast in wooden clogs. All the officials were startled and wondered at him. Zuo Ci said, “Today Your Highness has provided every delicacy of land and water for this great banquet for your ministers, and there are rare things from every quarter in great number. If anything is lacking among them, this poor Taoist will be glad to fetch it.” “I want a dragon’s liver to make soup,” said Cao Cao. “Can you get that?” “What is difficult about that?” said Zuo Ci. He took ink and brush and drew a dragon on the whitewashed wall; then, with one sweep of his sleeve, the dragon’s belly opened of itself.

是日，諸官皆至王宮大宴。正行酒間，左慈足穿木履，立於筵前。衆官驚怪。左慈曰：“大王今日水陸俱備，大宴羣臣，四方異物極多，內中欠少何物，貧道願取之。”操曰：“我要龍肝作羹，汝能取否？”慈曰：“有何難哉！”取墨筆於粉牆上畫一條龍，以袍袖一拂，龍腹自開。

From the dragon’s belly Zuo Ci drew out a dragon’s liver, fresh blood still flowing from it. Cao Cao did not believe it and shouted, “You had it hidden in your sleeve beforehand!” Zuo Ci said, “Now the weather is cold, and the plants and trees are all withered and dead. Whatever fine flower Your Highness wants, name it as you please.” “All I want is a peony,” said Cao Cao. “That is easy,” said Zuo Ci. He had a large flowerpot brought and set before the feast, and sprayed water on it from his mouth. In a moment a peony sprang up and opened two blossoms.

左慈於龍腹中提出龍肝一副，鮮血尚流。操不信，叱之曰：“汝先藏於袖中耳！”慈曰：“即今天寒，草木枯死；大王要甚好花，隨意所欲。”操曰：“吾只要牡丹花。”慈曰：“易耳。”令取大花盆放筵前。以水噀之。頃刻發出牡丹一株，開放雙花。

The officials were astounded and invited Zuo Ci to sit and eat with them. Presently the cook brought in minced raw fish. Zuo Ci said, “Minced fish is only good when it is perch from the Song River.” “It is a thousand li away,” said Cao Cao. “How could you get any?” “Why should that be hard to get either?” said Zuo Ci. He called for a fishing rod and fished in the pond below the hall. In a moment he had pulled out several dozen large perch, which he laid out in the hall. “There were always fish like these in my pond,” said Cao Cao.

衆官大驚，邀慈同坐而食。少刻，庖人進魚膾。慈曰：“膾必松江鱸魚者方美。”操曰：“千里之隔，安能取之？”慈曰：“此亦何難取！”教把釣竿來，於堂下魚池中釣之。頃刻釣出數十尾大鱸魚，放在殿上。操曰：“吾池中原有此魚。”

“Why does Your Highness try to fool me?” said Zuo Ci. “All the perch in the world have only two gills; only the perch of the Song River have four. That is how you can tell.” The officials looked, and indeed they had four gills. Zuo Ci said, “To cook Song River perch, you must have purple-sprouted ginger.” “Can you get that too?” asked Cao Cao. “That is easy,” said Zuo Ci. He had a golden basin brought, and Zuo Ci covered it with his robe. A moment later the basin was full of purple-sprouted ginger, which was set before Cao Cao.

慈曰：“大王何相欺耶？天下鱸魚只兩腮，惟松江鱸魚有四腮：此可辨也。”衆官視之，果是四腮。慈曰：“烹松江鱸魚，須紫芽姜方可。”操曰：“汝亦能取之否？”慈曰：“易耳。”令取金盆一個，慈以衣覆之。須臾，得紫芽姜滿盆，進上操前。

As Cao Cao reached out to take it, there was suddenly a book in the basin, entitled Mengde’s New Book. Cao Cao took it up and looked at it: not a single character was different. Cao Cao grew deeply suspicious. Zuo Ci took a jade cup from the table, filled it to the brim with fine wine and offered it to Cao Cao, saying, “If Your Highness drinks this wine, you will live a thousand years.” “You drink first,” said Cao Cao. Then Zuo Ci drew the jade pin from his cap and drew a line with it through the cup, dividing the wine into two halves. He drank one half himself and offered the other half to Cao Cao.

操以手取之，忽盆內有書一本，題曰《孟德新書》。操取視之，一字不差。操大疑，慈取桌上玉杯，滿斟佳釀進操曰：“大王可飲此酒，壽有千年。”操曰：“汝可先飲。”慈遂拔冠上玉簪，於杯中一畫，將酒分爲兩半；自飲一半，將一半奉操。

Cao Cao rebuked him angrily. Zuo Ci threw the cup up into the air, where it turned into a white dove and flew round and round the hall. While the officials were gazing upward at it, Zuo Ci vanished, no one knew where. Then the attendants suddenly reported, “Zuo Ci has gone out through the palace gate.” Cao Cao said, “A sorcerer like this must be done away with! Otherwise he will surely do harm.” So he ordered Xu Chu to take three hundred armoured troops to pursue and capture him.

操叱之。慈擲杯於空中，化成一白鳩，繞殿而飛。衆官仰面視之，左慈不知所往。左右忽報：“左慈出宮門去了。”操曰：“如此妖人，必當除之！否則必將爲害。”遂命許褚引三百鐵甲軍追擒之。

Xu Chu mounted and led his troops in pursuit as far as the city gate. There he saw Zuo Ci ahead in his wooden clogs, walking along at a leisurely pace. Xu Chu galloped after him as fast as he could, but could not catch up. He chased him straight into the hills, where a shepherd boy was coming along driving a flock of sheep, and Zuo Ci walked into the midst of the flock. Xu Chu took an arrow and shot at him, and at once Zuo Ci vanished. Xu Chu slaughtered the whole flock and went back. The shepherd boy was keeping watch over his sheep and weeping when suddenly he saw a sheep’s head on the ground speaking in a human voice. It called to him, “Put all the sheep’s heads back on the dead sheep’s bodies.”

褚上馬引軍趕至城門，望見左慈穿木履在前，慢步而行。褚飛馬追之，卻只追不上。直趕到一山中，有牧羊小童，趕着一羣羊而來，慈走入羊羣內。褚取箭射之，慈即不見。褚盡殺羣羊而回。牧羊小童守羊而哭，忽見羊頭在地上作人言，喚小童曰：“汝可將羊頭都湊在死羊腔子上。”

The boy was terrified; covering his face, he ran off. Suddenly he heard someone calling behind him, “No need to run away in fright. I am giving you back your sheep alive.” The boy looked round and saw that Zuo Ci had already put the dead sheep on the ground back together, brought them to life and was driving them along toward him. The boy wanted to ask him about it at once, but Zuo Ci had already flicked his sleeves and gone. He moved as if flying, and in an instant he had vanished.

小童大驚，掩面而走。忽聞有人在後呼曰：“不須驚走，還汝活羊。”小童回顧，見左慈已將地上死羊湊活，趕將來了。小童急欲問時，左慈已拂袖而去。其行如飛，倏忽不見。

The boy went home and told his master, who dared not conceal it and reported it to Cao Cao. Cao Cao had portraits drawn and ordered Zuo Ci to be arrested wherever he might be. Within three days, in the city and outside it, they had seized three or four hundred masters, blind in one eye, lame in one leg, wearing a white rattan cap, a loose blue gown and wooden clogs, every one of them looking exactly alike. The whole town was in an uproar. Cao Cao ordered his officers to splash them with the blood of pigs and sheep and march them under guard to the drill ground south of the city.

小童歸告主人，主人不敢隱諱，報知曹操。操畫影圖形，各處捉拿左慈。三日之內，城裏城外，所捉眇一目、跛一足、白藤冠、青懶衣、穿木履先生，都一般模樣者，有三四百個。鬨動街市。操令衆將，將豬羊血潑之，押送城南教場。

Cao Cao himself surrounded them with five hundred armoured troops and had every one of them beheaded. From each severed neck rose a wisp of blue vapour; the wisps went up to the sky and gathered in one place, where they turned into a single Zuo Ci. He beckoned to a white crane in the sky, mounted it and, clapping his hands, laughed loudly, saying, “When the earth rat follows the golden tiger, the treacherous hero’s end will come in a day!” Cao Cao ordered his officers to shoot at him with bows and arrows. Suddenly a violent wind arose, sending stones rolling and sand flying; and all the beheaded corpses leapt up, each holding its head in its hand, and rushed up into the hall of the drill ground to strike at Cao Cao.

曹操親自引甲兵五百人圍住，盡皆斬之。人人頸腔內各起一道青氣，到上天聚成一處，化成一個左慈，向空招白鶴一隻騎坐，拍手大笑曰：“土鼠隨金虎，奸雄一旦休！”操令衆將以弓箭射之。忽然狂風大作，走石揚沙；所斬之屍，皆跳起來，手提其頭，奔上演武廳來打曹操。

The civil officials and military officers covered their faces and fell down in terror, each one heedless of the others.

文官武將，掩面驚倒，各不相顧。

Indeed:
The villain’s power could topple a state,
But the Taoist’s magic was stranger still.
Whether Cao Cao lived or died will be told in the next chapter.

正是：奸雄權勢能傾國，道士仙機更異人。
未知曹操性命如何，且看下文分解。