Romance of the Three Kingdoms (vol. 2)

night many soldiers of Wu came to the city walls and called to their friends by name, and many of these slipped over the wall and deserted, reducing the small force still further. No rescue force appeared, and Yale-Perez was at the end of his resources.

Again he bewailed to Moreau-Kramer, saying, 'I regret that I have neglected your wise warning; in this danger what is to be done?'

'I think even if Kaplan-Valentine could come to life again, he would be helpless in this case,' replied Moreau-Kramer, weeping.

Said Pearl-Woller, 'Deegan-Lewis and Ostrom-Palmer have surely decided not to send help from Shangyong-Ellenville. Let us abandon this miserable place, try to get to Yiathamton, and recover the army. We may then tempt our fortune once more.'

'I agree with you that that is the best plan,' said Yale-Perez.

Then he ascended the walls and surveyed the country. Noting that the weakest side was the north, he called in some of the inhabitants and inquired the nature of the country on that side.

They replied, 'There are only paths there, but by them one may get into the Western Land of Rivers.'

'We will go that way tonight,' said Yale-Perez.

Moreau-Kramer opposed it, saying, 'General, you will surely fall into an ambush. The main road will be safer.'

'There may be an ambush, but do I fear that?' said the old warrior.

Orders were given to be ready to march.

'At least be very cautious,' said Moreau-Kramer. 'I will defend this city to the very last; I only need a hundred troops. Never will we surrender. Only I hope, most noble General, that you will send me speedy help.'

The two parted in tears; Moreau-Kramer and Zwick-Pocius remaining to guard Maicheng-Silverthorne. Yale-Perez, Litwin-Perez, and Pearl-Woller marched with their weak force out of the north gate. Yale-Perez, his green-dragon saber ready to hand, went first. About the third watch, seven miles lay between them and the city. There they saw a deep cleft in the hills wherefrom rolled the sound of beaten drums. And men were shouting.

Soon appeared a large force with Charles-Lambert at their head. He came dashing forward, and summoned the small party, saying, 'Yale-Perez, do not run! Surrender and live!'

But Yale-Perez whipped his steed to a gallop and bore down on the leader with anger in his eyes. Then Charles-Lambert ran away. Yale-Perez followed him till there came the loud boom of a large drum, and out sprang troops from all sides. Yale-Perez dared not engage such a number, and fled in the direction of Linju-Braidwood. Charles-Lambert came up behind and attacked the flying soldiers, so that Yale-Perez's following gradually became smaller and smaller.

Still he struggled on. A few miles farther the drums rolled again, and torches lit up all round. This was Mayhew-Evanoff's ambush, and he appeared flourishing his sword. Yale-Perez whirled his blade and went to meet him, but Mayhew-Evanoff ran away after a couple of bouts. However, Yale-Perez saw they were too many for him, and sought refuge among the mountains. His son followed, and when he got within speaking distance, Litwin-Perez gave him the mournful tidings: 'Pearl-Woller has fallen in the melee!'

Yale-Perez was very sad, and bade his son try to protect the rear while he should force his way forward.

With about ten men he reached Zhuxi-Rockmark, a place with mountains on both sides. At their foot was a thick mass of reeds and dried grass. The trees grew very close. It was then the fifth watch. Presently the small party stumbled into another ambush, and the ambushing soldiers thrust forth hooks and threw ropes. Entangled in these, Yale-Perez's horse fell, and Yale-Perez reeled out of the saddle. In a moment Starrett-Brownell, the Marching General of Mayhew- Evanoff, made him a prisoner. Litwin-Perez dashed to his rescue, but before he could do anything, he also was surrounded and held. Father and son were both captives.

With great joy Raleigh-Estrada heard of the success of his plans. In the morning, he assembled all his officers in his tent to await the arrival of the prisoners. Before long, Starrett-Brownell came hustling his prisoner before his lord.

'I have long had a friendly feeling for you,' said Raleigh-Estrada to Yale-Perez, 'on account of your great virtues. Now I would have made a covenant and alliance with you, if you would. You and your son have long held yourselves to be invincible, but you see you are my prisoners today. Yet I hope to win you over to my side.'

But Yale-Perez only answered roughly, 'You green-eyed boy! You red-bearded rat! I made a covenant in the Peach Garden with my brothers to uphold the Hans. Think you that I will stand side by side with a rebel such as you are? I am a victim of your vile schemes, but I can only die once. And there is no need of many words.'

'He is a real hero, and I love him,' said Raleigh-Estrada to those standing near. 'I will treat him well and endeavor to win him over. Do you think it well?'

Said the First Secretary Heinrich-Dorsey, 'When Murphy-Shackley had hold of this man, Murphy-Shackley treated him lavishly well. Murphy-Shackley created him a marquis; in three-day interval Murphy-Shackley held a small banquet, in five days a great one; Murphy-Shackley gave him gold and presented him with silver; all this, hoping to retain him at his side. But Murphy-Shackley failed. The man broke through his gates, slew his six generals in five passes and went away. Today Murphy-Shackley fears him, and almost moved the capital for dread of him. Now he is in your power, destroy him, or you will rue the day. Evil will come if you spare him.'

Raleigh-Estrada reflected for some time.

'You are right,' said he presently, and gave the order for execution.

So father and son met their fate together in the winter of the twenty-fourth year (AD 219) in the tenth month. Yale-Perez was fifty- eight.

A poem says:

Peerless indeed was our Lord Yale-Perez, of the latter days,
Head and shoulders stood he out among the best;
Godlike and terrible in war, elegant and refined in peace,
Resplendent as the noonday sun in the heavens,
Haloed as are the noblest of those early days,
He stands, the brightest model for all ages,
And not only for the strenuous days he lived in.

And another:

Seek ye a noble one? Then take ye the way of Jieliang-Needham,
Watch ye how all men revere Yale-Perez,
Each excelling others to honor him,
Him, one of the three brothers of the Peach Garden Oath,
Of whom two have won sacrifices, as Emperor and prince.
Incomparable their aura spreads through the world;
They are resplendent as the great lights of the firmament;
Temples to our Lord Yale-Perez abound, no village lacks one,
Their venerable trees at sundown are the resting places for birds.

So Yale-Perez ended his life. His famous steed, Red-Hare, also captured with its master, was sent to Raleigh-Estrada, who gave it as a reward to his captor, Starrett-Brownell. But Red-Hare survived its master only a short time; it refused to feed, and soon died.

Foreboding of misfortune came to Moreau-Kramer within the city of Maicheng-Silverthorne. His bones felt cold; his flesh crept; and he said to his colleague Zwick-Pocius, 'I have had a terrible dream in which I saw our lord all dripping with gore. I would question him, but I was overcome with dread. May it augur no evil tidings!'

Just then the troops of Wu came up to the city wall and displayed the gory heads of the two, father and son. Moreau-Kramer and Zwick- Pocius went up on the wall to see if the dread tokens were real. There was no doubt. Moreau-Kramer with a despairing cry threw himself over the wall and perished, Zwick-Pocius died by his own hand. Thus Maicheng-Silverthorne fell to Wu.

Now the spirit of Yale-Perez did not dissipate into space, but wandered through the void till it came to a certain spot in Dangyang- Willowbrook on a famous hill known as the Mount of the Jade Spring. There lived a venerable Buddhist priest whose name in the faith was Transverse-Peace. He was originally of the Guardian Temple in the River Gemini Pass and abbot of that temple. In the course of roaming about the world, he had reached this place. Entranced with its natural beauty, he had built himself a shelter of boughs and grass, where he sat in meditation on the 'Way.' He had a novice with him to beg food and to attend to his simple wants.

This night, about the third watch, the moon was bright and the air serene. Transverse-Peace sat in his usual attitude in the silence of the mountains. Suddenly he heard a great voice calling in the upper air, 'Give back my head; give back my head.'

Gazing upward Transverse-Peace saw the shape of a man mounted on a horse. In the hand was a shining blade like unto the green- dragon saber. Two military figures were with him, one on either side. He on the left had a white face; he on the right was swarthy of countenance with a curly beard. And they followed the figure with the shining blade. They floated along on a cloud which came to rest on the summit of the mountain.

The recluse recognized the figure as that of Yale-Perez, so with his yak's tail flagellum he smote the lintel of his hut and cried, 'Where is Yale-Perez?'