Romance, Chapter 78

Chapter 78. Treating a Wind Ailment, the Divine Physician Loses His Life; Handing Down His Last Commands, the Treacherous Hero Comes to His End

Now when the King of Hanzhong heard that Guan Yu and his son had been killed, he wept and fell to the ground. His civil and military officers hurried to revive him; only after a long while did he come to, and they helped him into the inner hall. Kongming urged him, “Your Highness, grieve less. Since ancient times it has been said that life and death are decreed by fate. Guan Yu was always unbending and proud of himself, and that is why this disaster has befallen him today. For now Your Highness should take care of your august person, and in time plan your revenge.” Xuande said, “When my two brothers Guan and Zhang and I swore brotherhood in the Peach Garden, we vowed to live and die together.

卻說漢中王聞關公父子遇害，哭倒於地；衆文武急救，半晌方醒，扶入內殿。孔明勸曰：“王上少憂。自古道死生有命；關公平日剛而自矜，故今日有此禍。王上且宜保養尊體，徐圖報仇。”玄德曰：“孤與關、張二弟桃園結義時，誓同生死。

Now that Yunchang is dead, how can I enjoy wealth and honour alone?” Before he had finished speaking, Guan Xing came in, wailing bitterly. At the sight of him Xuande gave a great cry and again fell to the ground, weeping himself senseless. The officials revived him. Three to five times a day he wept until he fainted, and for three days he took neither water nor gruel, but only wept bitterly; his tears soaked the front of his robe and spotted it with blood. Kongming and the officials pleaded with him again and again. Xuande said, “I swear I will not live under the same sun and moon as Eastern Wu!”

今雲長已亡，孤豈能獨享富貴乎！”言未已，只見關興號慟而來。玄德見了，大叫一聲，又哭絕於地。衆官救醒。一日哭絕三五次，三日水漿不進，只是痛哭；淚溼衣襟，斑斑成血。孔明與衆官再三勸解。玄德曰：“孤與東吳，誓不同日月也！”

Kongming said, “I hear that Eastern Wu presented Guan Yu’s head to Cao Cao, and that Cao Cao sacrificed to it and buried it with the rites due to a king or a noble.” “What does that mean?” asked Xuande. Kongming said, “Eastern Wu wanted to shift the blame onto Cao Cao. Cao Cao saw through the scheme, and so he buried Guan Yu with lavish honours to make Your Highness turn your resentment against Wu.” Xuande said, “I will lead out my army against Wu at once to call them to account and wipe out my wrong!” Kongming remonstrated, “You must not.

孔明曰：“聞東吳將關公首級獻與曹操，操以王侯禮祭葬之。”玄德曰：“此何意也？”孔明曰：“此是東吳欲移禍於曹操，操知其謀，故以厚禮葬關公，令王上歸怨於吳也。”玄德曰：“吾今即提兵問罪於吳，以雪吾恨！”孔明諫曰：“不可。

At present Wu wants us to attack Wei, and Wei in turn wants us to attack Wu; each harbours a crafty scheme and waits for a gap to exploit. Your Highness should simply hold your troops still and not move, and for now proclaim mourning for Guan Yu. Wait until Wu and Wei fall out, and then seize the moment to attack. That is the way.” The officials too pleaded with him over and over, and only then did Xuande take food. He sent down an order that all officers and men, high and low, throughout Chuan should put on mourning. The King of Hanzhong went out of the south gate in person to summon Guan Yu’s spirit and offer sacrifice, and he wailed the whole day long.

方今吳欲令我伐魏，魏亦欲令我伐吳，各懷譎計，伺隙而乘。王上只宜按兵不動，且與關公發喪。待吳、魏不和，乘時而伐之，可也。”衆官又再三勸諫，玄德方纔進膳，傳旨川中大小將士，盡皆掛孝。漢中王親出南門招魂祭奠，號哭終日。

Meanwhile Cao Cao was in Luoyang. Ever since he had buried Guan Yu, every night as soon as he closed his eyes he saw Guan Yu. Cao Cao was greatly alarmed and afraid, and he asked his officials about it. They said, “The old halls of the Luoyang travelling palace are full of evil spirits. You should build a new hall to live in.” Cao Cao said, “I would like to raise a hall and name it the Jianshi Hall, but unfortunately I have no good craftsman.” Jia Xu said, “Among the good craftsmen of Luoyang there is one Su Yue, who is the most ingenious of all.” Cao Cao summoned him and had him draw up plans.

卻說曹操在洛陽，自葬關公後，每夜合眼便見關公。操甚驚懼，問於衆官。衆官曰：“洛陽行宮舊殿多妖，可造新殿居之。”操曰：“吾欲起一殿，名建始殿。恨無良工。”賈詡曰：“洛陽良工有蘇越者，最有巧思。”操召入，令畫圖像。

Su Yue drew a great hall nine bays wide, with corridors, galleries, towers and pavilions front and back, and presented it to Cao Cao. Cao Cao looked at it and said, “Your plan suits me very well, but I fear there is no timber fit for the beams and pillars.” Su Yue said, “Thirty li from the city there is a pool called the Yuelong Pool, and in front of it a shrine called the Yuelong Shrine. Beside the shrine stands a great pear tree more than ten zhang high. It would serve as the beam for the Jianshi Hall.”

蘇越畫成九間大殿，前後廊廡樓閣，呈與操。操視之曰：“汝畫甚合孤意，但恐無棟樑之材。”蘇越曰：“此去離城三十里，有一潭，名躍龍潭；前有一祠，名躍龍祠。祠傍有一株大梨樹，高十餘丈，堪作建始殿之梁。”

Cao Cao was delighted and at once sent workmen there to cut it down. The next day they came back and reported that saws could not cut through the tree and axes could not bite into it; it could not be felled. Cao Cao did not believe them. He led several hundred horsemen himself straight to the front of the Yuelong Shrine, dismounted and looked up at the tree. It rose tall and straight like a canopy, reaching right up into the Milky Way, without a single bend or knot. Cao Cao ordered it cut down, but several village elders came forward and remonstrated: “This tree is already several hundred years old, and a divine being always dwells up in it. We fear it must not be cut down.”

操大喜，即令人工到彼砍伐。次日，回報此樹鋸解不開，斧砍不入，不能斬伐。操不信，自領數百騎，直至躍龍祠前下馬，仰觀那樹，亭亭如華蓋，直侵雲漢，並無曲節。操命砍之，鄉老數人前來諫曰：“此樹已數百年矣，常有神人居其上，恐未可伐。”

Cao Cao flew into a rage. “All my life I have travelled the length and breadth of the land under heaven, for more than forty years,” he said, “and from the Son of Heaven above to the common people below, there is no one who does not fear me. What evil spirit is this that dares to defy my will?” With that he drew the sword he wore and struck at the tree himself. It rang with a clang, and blood spattered all over him. Cao Cao was stunned and terrified. He threw down the sword, mounted and returned to the palace. That night, at the second watch, Cao Cao could not rest in his bed; he sat in the hall and fell asleep leaning on a low table.

操大怒曰：“吾平生遊歷，普天之下，四十餘年，上至天子，下及庶人，無不懼孤；是何妖神，敢違孤意！”言訖，拔所佩劍親自砍之，錚然有聲，血濺滿身。操愕然大驚，擲劍上馬，回至宮內。是夜二更，操睡臥不安，坐於殿中，隱几而寐。

Suddenly he saw a man with his hair unbound and a sword in his hand, dressed in black, come straight up before him. Pointing at Cao Cao, the man shouted, “I am the spirit of the pear tree. You are building the Jianshi Hall because you mean to usurp the throne, and now you come to cut down my sacred tree! I know your days are numbered, and I have come expressly to kill you!” Cao Cao, terrified, cried out, “Where are my guards?” The man in black swung his sword at Cao Cao. Cao Cao gave a great cry and woke with a start, and his head ached unbearably. He sent out an urgent order to seek good physicians everywhere to treat him, but none could cure him. All the officials were worried.

忽見一人披髮仗劍，身穿皁衣，直至面前，指操喝曰：“吾乃梨樹之神也。汝蓋建始殿，意欲篡逆，卻來伐吾神木！吾知汝數盡，特來殺汝！”操大驚，急呼：“武士安在？”皁衣人仗劍砍操。操大叫一聲，忽然驚覺，頭腦疼痛不可忍。急傳旨遍求良醫治療，不能痊可。衆官皆憂。

Hua Xin came in and said, “Does Your Highness know of the divine physician Hua Tuo?” “Is that the one who healed Zhou Tai in Jiangdong?” asked Cao Cao. “It is,” said Hua Xin. “I have heard his name,” said Cao Cao, “but I know nothing of his art.” Hua Xin said, “Hua Tuo, styled Yuanhua, is a man of Qiao Commandery in the state of Pei. The wonders of his medical art are rare in this world. Whenever there is a sick person, he uses drugs, or needles, or moxibustion, and the patient is cured at his touch. If someone suffers from a disease of the five viscera and six bowels that drugs cannot cure, he gives him the Mafei Decoction to drink, which makes the patient as though dead drunk; then he cuts open the belly with a sharp knife and washes the organs with a medicinal lotion, and the patient feels no pain at all.

華歆入奏曰：“大王知有神醫華佗否？”操曰：“即江東醫周泰者乎？”歆曰：“是也。”操曰：“雖聞其名，未知其術。”歆曰：“華佗字元化，沛國譙郡人也。其醫術之妙，世所罕有。但有患者，或用藥，或用針，或用灸，隨手而愈。若患五臟六腑之疾，藥不能效者，以麻肺湯飲之，令病者如醉死，卻用尖刀剖開其腹，以藥湯洗其臟腑，病人略無疼痛。

When the washing is done, he sews up the wound with medicated thread and applies ointment, and in a month, or twenty days, the patient is fully recovered. Such is his marvellous skill! One day, as Hua Tuo was walking along the road, he heard a man groaning. ‘This is an illness in which food and drink will not go down,’ said Hua Tuo, and when he asked, it was indeed so. He had three sheng of juice from crushed garlic brought and made the man drink it, and the man vomited up a snake two or three chi long, after which his food and drink went down at once. Chen Deng, the Prefect of Guangling, suffered from a feeling of oppression in his chest and a flushed face and could not eat or drink, and he asked Hua Tuo to treat him.

洗畢，然後以藥線縫口，用藥敷之；或一月，或二十日，即平復矣：其神妙如此！一日，佗行於道上，聞一人呻吟之聲。佗曰：此飲食不下之病。問之果然。佗令取蒜齏汁三升飲之，吐蛇一條，長二三尺，飲食即下。廣陵太守陳登，心中煩懣，面赤，不能飲食，求佗醫治。

Hua Tuo gave him a drug to drink, and he vomited up three sheng of worms, all with red heads, their heads and tails wriggling. When Chen Deng asked the cause, Hua Tuo said, ‘This comes from eating too much raw fish, which is why you have this poison. You may be well today, but three years from now it will certainly flare up again, and then you cannot be saved.’ And indeed Chen Deng died three years later. There was another man who had a tumour growing between his eyebrows that itched unbearably, and he had Hua Tuo examine it. Hua Tuo said, ‘There is something inside that flies.’ Everyone laughed at him.

佗以藥飲之，吐蟲三升，皆赤頭，首尾動搖。登問其故，佗曰：此因多食魚腥，故有此毒。今日雖可，三年之後，必將復發，不可救也。後陳登果三年而死。又有一人眉間生一瘤，癢不可當，令佗視之。佗曰：內有飛物。人皆笑之。

Hua Tuo cut it open with a knife, a yellow sparrow flew out, and the patient was cured at once. Another man was bitten on the toe by a dog, and afterwards two lumps of flesh grew there, one painful and one itchy, both unbearable. Hua Tuo said, ‘In the painful one there are ten needles, and in the itchy one two go pieces, one black and one white.’ No one believed him, but when Hua Tuo cut them open with a knife, it was just as he had said. This man is truly of the company of Bian Que and Canggong! He is living now at Jincheng, not far from here. Why does Your Highness not send for him?”

佗以刀割開，一黃雀飛去，病者即愈。有一人被犬咬足指，隨長肉二塊，一痛一癢，俱不可忍。佗曰：痛者內有針十個，癢者內有黑白棋子二枚。人皆不信。佗以刀割開，果應其言。此人真扁鵲，倉公之流也！現居金城，離此不遠，大王何不召之？”

Cao Cao at once sent men to fetch Hua Tuo with all speed through the night, and had him feel his pulse and examine his illness. Hua Tuo said, “Your Highness’s headaches come from a wind ailment. The root of the illness is inside your head, where the wind-phlegm cannot get out; decoctions are useless and cannot cure it. I have one method: first you drink the Mafei Decoction, then I split open your head with a sharp axe and take out the wind-phlegm. Only then can the root be removed.” Cao Cao said in a great rage, “You mean to kill me!”

操即差人星夜請華佗入內，令診脈視疾。佗曰：“大王頭腦疼痛，因患風而起。病根在腦袋中，風涎不能出，枉服湯藥，不可治療。某有一法：先飲麻肺湯，然後用利斧砍開腦袋，取出風涎，方可除根。”操大怒曰：“汝要殺孤耶！”

Hua Tuo said, “Your Highness has surely heard how Guan Yu was hit by a poisoned arrow that wounded his right arm, and how I scraped the bone to cure the poison while Guan Yu showed not the least sign of fear. Your Highness’s ailment is a trifling one; why so much suspicion?” Cao Cao said, “An aching arm can be scraped, but how can a head be split open? You must be a close friend of Guan Yu’s and mean to seize this chance to avenge him!” He called his attendants to seize Hua Tuo and throw him into prison, and to torture him to get at the truth. Jia Xu remonstrated, “A good physician like this has few equals in the world. You should not do away with him.”

佗曰：“大王曾聞關公中毒箭，傷其右臂，某刮骨療毒，關公略無懼色；今大王小可之疾，何多疑焉？”操曰：“臂痛可刮，腦袋安可砍開？汝必與關公情熟，乘此機會，欲報仇耳！”呼左右拿下獄中，拷問其情。賈詡諫曰：“似此良醫，世罕其匹，未可廢也。”

Cao Cao snapped, “This man wanted to seize the chance to harm me, just like Ji Ping!” and ordered him to be interrogated under torture without delay. While Hua Tuo was in prison, there was a jailer surnamed Wu, whom everyone called “Jailer Wu”. Every day this man brought Hua Tuo wine and food and waited on him. Moved by his kindness, Hua Tuo said to him, “I am going to die soon, and my regret is that my Blue Bag Book has not been handed down to the world. I am touched by your great kindness but have nothing to repay it with. I will write a letter; send someone with it to my home to fetch the Blue Bag Book, and I will give it to you so that you can carry on my art.”

操叱曰：“此人慾乘機害我，正與吉平無異！”急令追拷。華佗在獄，有一獄卒，姓吳，人皆稱爲“吳押獄”。此人每日以酒食供奉華佗。佗感其恩，乃告曰：“我今將死，恨有《青囊書》未傳於世。感公厚意，無可爲報；我修一書，公可遣人送與我家，取《青囊書》來贈公，以繼吾術。”

Jailer Wu said with delight, “If I get this book, I will give up this post and heal the sick all over the world, to hand on your virtue, master.” Hua Tuo at once wrote the letter and gave it to Jailer Wu. Jailer Wu went straight to Jincheng, obtained the Blue Bag Book from Hua Tuo’s wife and returned to the prison. He handed it to Hua Tuo to look over, and when Hua Tuo had done so, he gave the book to Jailer Wu, who took it home and hid it away.

吳押獄大喜曰：“我若得此書，棄了此役，醫治天下病人，以傳先生之德。”佗即修書付吳押獄。吳押獄直至金城，問佗之妻取了《青囊書》；回至獄中，付與華佗檢看畢，佗即將書贈與吳押獄。吳押獄持回家中藏之。

Some ten days later Hua Tuo died in prison after all. Jailer Wu bought a coffin, saw him laid in it and buried, then gave up his post and went home. He meant to take out the Blue Bag Book and study it, but he found his wife burning it right there. Jailer Wu was aghast and snatched it away at once, but the whole book had already been burnt except for one or two leaves. Jailer Wu cursed his wife angrily. His wife said, “Even if you learned to be as marvellous as Hua Tuo, you would only end up dying in prison. What use is it?”

旬日之後，華佗竟死於獄中。吳押獄買棺殯殮訖，脫了差役回家，欲取《青囊書》看習，只見其妻正將書在那裏焚燒。吳押獄大驚，連忙搶奪，全卷已被燒燬，只剩得一兩葉。吳押獄怒罵其妻。妻曰：“縱然學得與華佗一般神妙，只落得死於牢中，要他何用！”

Jailer Wu could only sigh and let the matter drop. That is why the Blue Bag Book was never handed down to the world. All that has come down are minor techniques such as gelding fowls and pigs, which were written on the one or two leaves left from the fire.

吳押獄嗟嘆而止。因此《青囊書》不曾傳於世，所傳者止閹雞豬等小法，乃燒剩一兩葉中所載也。

A later poet lamented:
Hua Tuo’s immortal art could rival Changsang’s;
His divine insight saw as if through a wall.
Alas, the man is gone and his book is lost as well;
Later generations will never see the Blue Bag again!

後人有詩嘆曰：“華佗仙術比長桑，神識如窺垣一方。
惆悵人亡書亦絕，後人無復見青囊！
”

Now after Cao Cao had killed Hua Tuo, his illness grew worse, and he was also troubled about Wu and Shu. While he was brooding, one of his close attendants announced that Eastern Wu had sent an envoy with a letter. Cao Cao took the letter, opened it and read. It said, in brief: “I, your servant Sun Quan, have long known that the Mandate of Heaven has passed to Your Highness. I humbly hope that you will soon assume the supreme position, and send generals to destroy Liu Bei and sweep the two Chuan clean. Then I will lead my subordinates to surrender my lands and submit to you.” When Cao Cao had read it he laughed aloud and showed it to his ministers, saying, “This boy wants to set me on top of a burning stove!”

卻說曹操自殺華佗之後，病勢愈重，又憂吳、蜀之事。正慮間，近臣忽奏東吳遣使上書。操取書拆視之，略曰：“臣孫權久知天命已歸王上，伏望早正大位，遣將剿滅劉備，掃平兩川，臣即率羣下納土歸降矣。”操觀畢大笑，出示羣臣曰：“是兒欲使吾居爐火上耶！”

The Palace Attendant Chen Qun and others said, “The House of Han has long been in decline, while Your Highness’s merit and virtue are towering, and all living things look up to you. Now Sun Quan calls himself your servant and submits to your command: this is Heaven and man in accord, voices of every kind speaking as one. Your Highness should respond to Heaven and follow the will of the people, and assume the supreme position soon.” Cao Cao laughed and said, “I have served the Han for many years. Though my merit and virtue have reached the people, my rank has risen to king, and my name and title are already at their height. How could I dare hope for anything more? If the Mandate of Heaven does rest with me, I will be a King Wen of Zhou.”

侍中陳羣等奏曰：“漢室久已衰微，殿下功德巍巍，生靈仰望。今孫權稱臣歸命，此天人之應，異氣齊聲。殿下宜應天順人，早正大位。”操笑曰：“吾事漢多年，雖有功德及民，然位至於王，名爵已極，何敢更有他望？苟天命在孤，孤爲周文王矣。”

Sima Yi said, “Now that Sun Quan has declared himself your servant and submitted, Your Highness can confer office and rank on him and have him hold off Liu Bei.” Cao Cao agreed, and sent up a memorial appointing Sun Quan General of Swift Cavalry and Lord of Nanchang, with the post of Imperial Protector of Jingzhou. That same day an envoy was dispatched to Eastern Wu with the patent of appointment.

司馬懿曰：“今孫權既稱臣歸附，王上可封官賜爵，令拒劉備。”操從之，表封孫權爲驃騎將軍、南昌侯，領荊州牧。即日遣使齎誥敕赴東吳去訖。

Cao Cao’s illness grew steadily worse. One night he suddenly dreamed of three horses feeding at the same trough. At dawn he asked Jia Xu, “Some time ago I dreamed of three horses at the same trough, and I suspected that Ma Teng and his sons would bring disaster. Now Ma Teng is dead, yet last night I dreamed again of three horses at the same trough. Does it portend good or ill?” Jia Xu said, “Horses of fortune are a lucky omen. The horses of fortune are coming home to Cao. Why should Your Highness have any doubts?” And so Cao Cao put his doubts aside.

操病勢轉加。忽一夜夢三馬同槽而食，及曉，問賈詡曰：“孤向日曾夢三馬同槽，疑是馬騰父子爲禍；今騰已死，昨宵復夢三馬同槽。主何吉凶？”詡曰：“祿馬，吉兆也。祿馬歸於曹，王上何必疑乎？”操因此不疑。

A later poet wrote:
Three horses at one trough — a thing to give one pause;
He did not know the roots of Jin were planted there already.
Cao Man had a treacherous hero’s cunning, all in vain;
How could he see Sima Shi there within his court?

後人有詩曰：“三馬同槽事可疑，不知已植晉根基。
曹瞞空有奸雄略，豈識朝中司馬師？
”

That night Cao Cao lay in his bedchamber. At the third watch he felt dizzy and his sight blurred, so he got up and lay slumped over a low table. Suddenly he heard a sound in the hall like the tearing of silk. Startled, he looked, and all at once saw Empress Fu, Consort Dong, the two imperial princes, and Fu Wan, Dong Cheng and others, more than twenty in all, their whole bodies smeared with blood, standing within a gloomy cloud; faintly he could hear voices demanding his life. Cao Cao hastily drew his sword and slashed at the empty air. Suddenly there was a loud crash, and the southwest corner of the hall shook and collapsed.

是夜，操臥寢室，至三更，覺頭目昏眩，乃起，伏几而臥。忽聞殿中聲如裂帛，操驚視之，忽見伏皇后、董貴人、二皇子，並伏完、董承等二十餘人，渾身血污，立於愁雲之內，隱隱聞索命之聲。操急拔劍望空砍去，忽然一聲響亮，震塌殿宇西南一角。

Cao Cao fell to the ground in fright. His attendants carried him out and moved him to another palace to recover. The next night he again heard, outside the hall, the ceaseless sound of men and women weeping. At dawn Cao Cao summoned his ministers and said, “For more than thirty years I have lived amid war horses and never once believed in strange happenings. Why is it like this now?” The ministers said, “Your Highness should order Taoist priests to hold a rite of sacrifice and exorcism.” Cao Cao sighed and said, “The Sage said, ‘He who offends against Heaven has none to whom he can pray.’ My allotted span is at an end. How can I be saved?” And he would not allow the rite to be held.

操驚倒於地，近侍救出，遷於別宮養病。次夜，又聞殿外男女哭聲不絕。至曉，操召羣臣入曰：“孤在戎馬之中，三十餘年，未嘗信怪異之事。今日爲何如此？”羣臣奏曰：“大王當命道士設醮修禳。”操嘆曰：“聖人云：獲罪於天，無所禱也。孤天命已盡，安可救乎？”遂不允設醮。

The next day Cao Cao felt his vital breath surge up into his upper body, and he could see nothing. He hastily summoned Xiahou Dun to take counsel. When Xiahou Dun reached the door of the hall, he suddenly saw Empress Fu, Consort Dong, the two princes, Fu Wan, Dong Cheng and the rest standing in a dark cloud. Xiahou Dun fell down in a faint from the shock; his attendants helped him out, and from then on he was ill. Cao Cao summoned Cao Hong, Chen Qun, Jia Xu, Sima Yi and others to come together to his bedside, and charged them with his affairs after his death. Cao Hong and the others knocked their heads on the ground and said, “Take good care of your precious health, Your Highness. In a few days you will surely be well again.”

次日，覺氣衝上焦，目不見物，急召夏侯惇商議。惇至殿門前，忽見伏皇后、董貴人、二皇子、伏完、董承等，立在陰雲之中。惇大驚昏倒，左右扶出，自此得病。操召曹洪、陳羣、賈詡、司馬懿等，同至臥榻前，囑以後事。曹洪等頓首曰：“大王善保玉體，不日定當霍然。”

Cao Cao said, “For more than thirty years I have ranged freely across the empire, and all the rival lords have been destroyed; only Sun Quan in Jiangdong and Liu Bei in Western Shu have not yet been wiped out. Now I am gravely ill and shall not be able to talk with you again, so I especially entrust my family affairs to you. My eldest son, Cao Ang, born of Lady Liu, unhappily died young at Wan. Now Lady Bian has borne me four sons: Pi, Zhang, Zhi and Xiong. My third son, Zhi, whom I have always loved, is showy and lacking in sincerity, fond of wine and dissolute, and so I will not make him heir.

操曰：“孤縱橫天下三十餘年，羣雄皆滅，止有江東孫權，西蜀劉備，未曾剿除。孤今病危，不能再與卿等相敘，特以家事相托。孤長子曹昂，劉氏所生，不幸早年歿於宛城；今卞氏生四子：丕、彰、植、熊。孤平生所愛第三子植，爲人虛華少誠實，嗜酒放縱，因此不立。

My second son, Zhang, is brave but has no judgement. My fourth son, Xiong, is sickly and may not live long. Only my eldest son, Pi, is steady, generous, respectful and careful; he can carry on my work. You must assist him.” Cao Hong and the others, weeping, accepted the charge and withdrew. Cao Cao had his attendants bring out the famous incense he had long kept stored away and divide it among his concubines, and he instructed them, “After I die, you must work hard at learning needlework and make many silk slippers; by selling them you can earn money to support yourselves.”

次子曹彰，勇而無謀；四子曹熊，多病難保。惟長子曹丕，篤厚恭謹，可繼我業。卿等宜輔佐之。”曹洪等涕泣領命而出。操令近侍取平日所藏名香，分賜諸侍妾，且囑曰：“吾死之後，汝等須勤習女工，多造絲履，賣之可以得錢自給。”

He also ordered that his concubines should mostly live in the Bronze Sparrow Terrace, and that sacrifices should be offered there every day, always with singing girls playing music and serving food. He further left orders that seventy-two decoy tombs be built outside Jiangwu City in Zhangde Prefecture: “Let no one in later times know where I am buried, for fear that my grave will be dug up.” When he had finished giving his instructions, he heaved a long sigh, and his tears fell like rain. A moment later his breath failed and he died. He was sixty-six years old. It was the first month, in spring, of the twenty-fifth year of Jian’an.

又命諸妾多居於銅雀臺中，每日設祭，必令女伎奏樂上食。又遺命於彰德府講武城外，設立疑冢七十二：“勿令後人知吾葬處，恐爲人所發掘故也。”囑畢，長嘆一聲，淚如雨下。須臾，氣絕而死。壽六十六歲。時建安二十五年春正月也。

A later poet wrote the Song of Ye lamenting Cao Cao:
Ye is the city of Ye, its river the Zhang;
Surely some extraordinary man would rise from here.
Heroic plans, graceful deeds and a literary heart
Belonged to ruler and minister, to brothers, to father and sons.
A hero never harbours anything common in his breast;
How could his comings and goings follow the common eye?
First in merit and chief in crime are not two men;
Lasting infamy and lasting fame belong to one and the same.
His writing had spirit, his rule had force;
How could he ever stoop to become one of the crowd?

後人有《鄴中歌》一篇嘆曹操雲：“鄴則鄴城水漳水，定有異人從此起：雄謀韻事與文心，君臣兄弟而父子；英雄未有俗胸中，出沒豈隨人眼底？
功首罪魁非兩人，遺臭流芳本一身；文章有神霸有氣，豈能苟爾化爲羣？

He built his terrace by the raging flood, facing the Taihang;
Spirit, principle and power rose and fell together.
How could such a man not have turned rebel?
Would he not be hegemon at least, and king at most?
The hegemon-king came down to weeping like a woman or a child,
Helpless, and troubled in his heart.
He knew well that facing the curtains would do him no good,
Yet dividing the incense cannot be called unfeeling.
Alas!
The men of old did nothing without meaning, great or small;
In loneliness and in splendour alike there was purpose.
Scholars lightly pass judgement on the man in the tomb,
But the man in the tomb laughs at your scholar’s airs!

橫流築臺距太行，氣與理勢相低昂；安有斯人不作逆，小不爲霸大不王？
霸王降作兒女鳴，無可奈何中不平；向帳明知非有益，分香未可謂無情。
嗚呼！
古人作事無鉅細，寂寞豪華皆有意；書生輕議冢中人，冢中笑爾書生氣！
”

Now when Cao Cao had died, all the civil and military officials raised the lament for him. At the same time men were sent to announce the death to his Heir, Cao Pi, to the Lord of Yanling, Cao Zhang, to the Lord of Linzi, Cao Zhi, and to the Lord Huai of Xiao, Cao Xiong. The officials laid Cao Cao in a golden coffin within a silver outer coffin, and bore the bier through the night to Yejun. When Cao Pi learned of his father’s death, he wept aloud. He led the officials, high and low, ten li out of the city, prostrated himself by the road to receive the coffin, brought it into the city and placed it in a side hall.

卻說曹操身亡，文武百官盡皆舉哀；一面遣人赴世子曹丕、鄢陵侯曹彰、臨淄侯曹植、蕭懷侯曹熊處報喪。衆官用金棺銀槨將操入殮，星夜舉靈櫬赴鄴郡來。曹丕聞知父喪，放聲痛哭，率大小官員出城十里，伏道迎櫬入城，停於偏殿。

The officials put on mourning and gathered to weep in the hall. Suddenly one man stepped boldly forward and said, “I beg the Heir to set aside his grief for now and discuss matters of state.” They looked and saw it was Sima Fu, Cadet of the Heir’s Household. Sima Fu said, “The King of Wei has passed away, and the whole empire is shaken. A successor to the king should be set up at once to settle people’s minds. Why do nothing but weep?” The ministers said, “The Heir should succeed, but no edict has yet come from the Son of Heaven. How can we act rashly?”

官僚掛孝，聚哭於殿上。忽一人挺身而出曰：“請世子息哀，且議大事。”衆視之，乃中庶子司馬孚也。孚曰：“魏王既薨，天下震動；當早立嗣王，以安衆心。何但哭泣耶？”羣臣曰：“世子宜嗣位，但未得天子詔命，豈可造次而行？”

Chen Jiao, President of the Board of War, said, “The king has died away from the capital. If a favourite son sets himself up on his own and trouble breaks out between them, the state will be in danger.” He drew his sword and cut off the sleeve of his robe, and cried sternly, “This very day we will ask the Heir to take the throne. Any official who objects will fare like this robe!” All the officials were cowed.

兵部尚書陳矯曰：“王薨於外，愛子私立，彼此生變，則社稷危矣。”遂拔劍割下袍袖，厲聲曰：“即今日便請世子嗣位。衆官有異議者，以此袍爲例！”百官悚懼。

Suddenly it was reported that Hua Xin had come galloping from Xuchang, and everyone was astonished. A moment later Hua Xin came in, and they asked him why he had come. Hua Xin said, “The King of Wei has passed away and the empire is shaken. Why have you not asked the Heir to take the throne at once?” The officials said, “It is precisely because we cannot wait for an edict that we were just discussing making the Heir king by order of the queen, Lady Bian.” Hua Xin said, “I have already obtained an edict from the Han emperor, and I have it here.”

忽報華歆自許昌飛馬而至，衆皆大驚。須臾華歆入，衆問其來意，歆曰：“今魏王薨逝，天下震動，何不早請世子嗣位？”衆官曰：“正因不及候詔命，方議欲以王后卞氏慈旨立世子爲王。”歆曰：“吾已於漢帝處索得詔命在此。”

Everyone leapt up with joy and offered congratulations. Hua Xin took the edict from his bosom, unrolled it and read it out. The fact was that Hua Xin fawned on Wei, and so he had drafted this edict himself and forced Emperor Xian to issue it by intimidation. The emperor had no choice but to comply, and so an edict was sent down at once creating Cao Pi King of Wei, Prime Minister and Imperial Protector of Jizhou. That same day Cao Pi ascended the throne and received the obeisance and greetings of officials high and low.

衆皆踊躍稱賀。歆於懷中取出詔命開讀。原來華歆諂事魏，故草此詔，威逼獻帝降之；帝只得聽從，故下詔即封曹丕爲魏王、丞相、冀州牧。丕即日登位，受大小官僚拜舞起居。

While they were feasting in celebration, news suddenly came that the Lord of Yanling, Cao Zhang, was arriving from Changan with a great army of a hundred thousand. Cao Pi was greatly alarmed and asked his ministers, “My younger brother with the yellow beard has always been hot-tempered and is deeply versed in the martial arts. Now that he has brought an army from afar, it must be to contend with me for the throne. What shall I do?” Suddenly a man below the steps answered and came forward: “I ask leave to go and see the Lord of Yanling and bring him round with a few words.”

正宴會慶賀間，忽報鄢陵侯曹彰，自長安領十萬大軍來到。丕大驚，遂問羣臣曰：“黃鬚小弟；平日性剛，深通武藝。今提兵遠來，必與孤爭王位也。如之奈何？”忽階下一人應聲出曰：“臣請往見鄢陵侯，以片言折之。”

They all said, “No one but you, sir, can avert this disaster.”

衆皆曰：“非大夫莫能解此禍也。”

Indeed:
Behold the affair of Pi and Zhang of the house of Cao:
It nearly became another feud like that of Tan and Shang of the house of Yuan.
Who this man was will be told in the next chapter.

正是：試看曹氏丕彰事，幾作袁家譚尚爭。
未知此人是誰，且看下文分解。