The Three Kingdoms Volume 2 (84 page)

As the water had not receded, they again boarded their boats to seize Fancheng, which now stood as an island, with waves lashing against its walls. Under the pounding of the water the city wall began to crumble and the residents, male and female, tried in vain to strengthen it with mud and bricks. The officers, scared out of their wits, went to see Cao Ren and said, “It is beyond man’s power to fend off this danger. Since the enemy is not yet here we may have a chance to escape by boat at night. We will lose the city, but we will save our lives.”

Cao Ren agreed. But Man Chong interposed before the boats could be got ready. He pointed out that the sudden flooding could not last for long and would certainly recede within ten days.

He added, “Though Guan Yu has not assaulted the city, he has sent another force to Jiaxia. He has not advanced so far because he is afraid lest we might fall upon his rear. Remember, too, that the abandonment of this city means the whole area south of the Yellow River no longer belongs to us. I pray, General, you will do your best to hold this place to safeguard our country.”

Cao Ren joined his hands together to thank Man Chong, saying, “What a serious error I would have committed had it not been for you, sir!”

Then riding his white charger he went up to the city wall, gathered his officers around him and vowed: “The prince has commanded me to defend this city, and defend it I will. Whoever dares to mention abandoning the city will be put to death.”

Inspired by this, his officers all promised to defend the city till their last gasp. Then they saw to it that the means of defense were good. Hundreds of archers and crossbowmen were stationed on the wall, which was closely watched night and day. Ordinary folks, old and young, were made to carry earth and rocks to strengthen the wall. After some ten days the flood gradually receded.

Since his sweeping victory over the men of Wei, Guan Yu’s fame spread even wider and his name became a terror to all. About this time his second son, Xing, came to visit his father. Guan Yu thought this a good opportunity to send his report of success to Chengdu, and so he told Guan Xing to deliver to the Prince of Hanzhong a dispatch mentioning each officer’s services and requesting promotions for them. Guan Xing accordingly took leave of his father and left for Chengdu.

After his son’s departure he divided his men into two divisions, one under himself to attack the city, and the other to go to Jiaxia. That day Guan Yu rode over to the north gate. Reining in his steed, he pointed with his whip toward the defenders on the wall, and called out: “Surrender, you bunch of rats! What are you waiting for?”

Cao Ren, who was on the wall, saw that Guan Yu had worn only a breast-plate and one of his arms was left uncovered by his green robe. He hastened to order his five hundred men to shoot, who at once let out a tremendous volley of arrows toward the great warrior. Guan Yu hastily withdrew, but an arrow struck his right arm and he fell from his horse.

Seven forces had just perished by the river’s overflow;

An arrow from the city wall laid a valiant warrior low.

What would befall Guan Yu will be told in the next chapter.

Continued in Volume 3 of
The Three Kingdoms
.

Ron Iverson
first visited China in 1984 as the personal representative of the Mayor of Chicago as part of a Sister Cities program. For the past 30 years he has continued to regularly visit China and has founded joint business ventures with Chinese partners and taught Business Strategy at Tongji University in Shanghai. He also personally arranged the first ever exhibition of Forbidden City artifacts from the palace Museum in Beijing to tour the US.

Early in his visits to China, Iverson discovered
The Three Kingdoms
and came to realize the enormous cultural significance the Chinese people place in the book. Believing that one needed to be familiar with the principles revealed in the book in order to find business or political success in China, and being dissatisfied with existing translations, Iverson decided to fund and edit a new translation aimed towards delivering the thrill of a contemporary novel while imparting understanding of a key aspect of Chinese culture.

Yu Sumei
is a professor of English at East China Normal University. She has translated several English language books into Chinese and is the first native Chinese speaker to translate
The Three Kingdoms
into English. She invested a total of two years into working on this new translation of
The Three Kingdoms
, spending the time on sabbatical in New York with her daughter, who typed the translation out as she completed it.