51. For it is the soldier's disposition to offer an
obstinate resistance when surrounded, to fight hard when he
cannot help himself, and to obey promptly when he has fallen into
danger.
[Chang Yu alludes to the conduct of Pan Ch`ao's devoted
followers in 73 A.D. The story runs thus in the HOU HAN SHU, ch.
47: "When Pan Ch`ao arrived at Shan-shan, Kuang, the King of the
country, received him at first with great politeness and respect;
but shortly afterwards his behavior underwent a sudden change,
and he became remiss and negligent. Pan Ch`ao spoke about this
to the officers of his suite: 'Have you noticed,' he said, 'that
Kuang's polite intentions are on the wane? This must signify
that envoys have come from the Northern barbarians, and that
consequently he is in a state of indecision, not knowing with
which side to throw in his lot. That surely is the reason. The
truly wise man, we are told, can perceive things before they have
come to pass; how much more, then, those that are already
manifest!' Thereupon he called one of the natives who had been
assigned to his service, and set a trap for him, saying: 'Where
are those envoys from the Hsiung-nu who arrived some day ago?'
The man was so taken aback that between surprise and fear he
presently blurted out the whole truth. Pan Ch`ao, keeping his
informant carefully under lock and key, then summoned a general
gathering of his officers, thirty-six in all, and began drinking
with them. When the wine had mounted into their heads a little,
he tried to rouse their spirit still further by addressing them
thus: 'Gentlemen, here we are in the heart of an isolated
region, anxious to achieve riches and honor by some great
exploit. Now it happens that an ambassador from the Hsiung-no
arrived in this kingdom only a few days ago, and the result is
that the respectful courtesy extended towards us by our royal
host has disappeared. Should this envoy prevail upon him to
seize our party and hand us over to the Hsiung-no, our bones will
become food for the wolves of the desert. What are we to do?'
With one accord, the officers replied: 'Standing as we do in
peril of our lives, we will follow our commander through life and
death.' For the sequel of this adventure, see chap. XII. ss. 1,
note.]
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