siege of gaixia (translation of 垓下之困)

Xianyu, king of Chu, set up his camp in Gai Xia, which is now the province of Ling Bi at the south-western of An Hui. he was left with very few men and much of his rations were depleted, and he was surrounded heavily by the Han army and their generals.

during the night, Xianyu heard songs of Chu sung by the Han army from all four directions of his camp. he was deeply startled, and said: "Chu has fallen onto the hands of Han! if not, why are there so many Chu people in the Han?"

he then rose and went to his wine parlor for a drink. he had a very beautiful concubine named Wu, whom accompanied him all the time , and a fine steed called Zui, on which he rode very often. in his sorrow, he made a poem for himself: "i have the strength which can move mountains, and the courage which can cover the sky; but the time's not right and my steed Zui do not wish to gallop; if my steed do not wish to gallop, what can i do? oh, my dear Wu, what am i to do with you?"

Xianyu repeated the poem continuously, and Wu joined in with him. he repeated the poem until he was overwhelmed with emotions and cried, and those in the wine parlor could not bear but cry also. finally, Xianyu mounted on his steed. he decided to bring his warriors, some eight hundred of them, to break out of the siege during the night towards the south.

i welcome all criticisms and comments.. a+
(to be continued..)

垓下之困

項王軍壁垓下。兵少食盡。
漢軍及諸侯兵圍之數重。
夜聞漢軍四面皆楚歌。
項王乃大驚曰：
「漢皆已得楚乎。是何楚人之多也。」
項王則夜起飲帳中。
美人名虞。常幸從。
駿馬名騅。常騎之。
於是項王乃悲歌忼慨。
自為詩曰：
「力拔山兮氣蓋世。時不利兮騅不逝。
騅不逝兮可奈何。虞兮虞兮奈若何。」
歌數闋。美人和之。項王泣數行下。
左右皆泣。莫能仰視之。
於是項王乃上馬騎。麾下壯士騎從者人八百餘人。
直夜潰圍南出馳走。
平明漢軍乃覺之。令騎將灌嬰以五千騎追之。
項王渡淮。騎能屬者百餘人耳。
項王至陰陵。迷失道。
問一田父。田父給曰。左。
左乃陷大澤中。以故漢追及之。
項王乃復引兵而東。至東城。
乃有二十八騎。漢騎追者數千人。
項王自度不得脫。謂其騎曰：
「吾起兵至今八歲矣。身七十餘戰。
所當者破。所擊者服。未嘗敗北。
遂霸有天下。然今卒困於此。
此天之亡我。非戰之罪也。
今日固決死。願為諸君決戰。必三勝之。
為諸君潰圍。斬將刈旗。
令諸君知天亡我。非戰之罪也。」
乃分其騎。以為四隊。四嚮。
漢軍圍之數重。項王謂其騎曰：
「吾為公取彼一將。」
令四面騎馳下。期山東為三處。
於是項王大呼馳下。漢軍皆披靡。
遂斬漢將一將。是時赤泉侯為騎將。
追項王。項王瞋目叱之。赤泉侯人馬俱驚。
辟易數里。與其騎會為三處。
漢軍不知項王所在。乃分軍為三。復圍之。
項王乃馳。復斬漢將一都尉。殺數十百人。
復聚其騎。亡其兩騎耳。
乃謂其騎曰：「如何。」
騎皆伏曰：「如大王言。」
於是項王欲東渡烏江。烏江亭長檥船待。
謂項王曰：
「江東雖小。地方千里。眾數十萬人。亦足王也。
願大王急渡。今獨臣有船。漢軍至。無以渡。」
項王笑曰：
「天之亡我。我何渡為。
且籍與江東子弟八千人。渡江而西。今無一人還。
縱江東父兄憐而王我。我何面目見之。
縱彼不言。籍獨不愧於心乎。」
乃謂亭長曰：
「吾知公長者。吾騎其馬五歲。
所當無敵。嘗一日行千里。不忍殺之。以賜公。」
乃今騎皆下馬步行。持短兵接戰。獨籍所殺漢軍數百人。
項王身亦被十餘創。顧見漢騎司馬呂馬童。曰。
「若非吾故人乎。」
馬童面之。指王翳曰：
「此項王也。」
項王乃曰：
「吾聞漢購我頭。千金邑萬戶。吾為若德。」
乃自刎而死。
- 取之史記

a day's break from work

an unofficial day break from work, due to flu..

i can take the chance to clean up my table and read some stuffs, even though doctor's advice is to rest more and take more fluids.. which i would.. cleaning up the table doesn't take much effort anyway..

had been rather busy the last week and not much rest, perhaps that caused the weakening of my immune system and rendered me more vulnerable to virus.. ample rest is a necessity but sometimes a luxury which i can't afford sometimes.. a balance must be struck nonetheless.. like today haha..

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went guang ming monastery to pay respect to my ancestors with my parents and relatives..
tons and tons of people there.. each bringing along boxes and boxes of offerings to their ancestors..
years ago, it was just paper cars, then came all kinds of luxury cars like mercedes benz or limo..
then came the pagers (like you really like to page someone from the netherworlds, or you would expect them to return the page!), then the handphones (those big enough to be used as a water bottle in those days), then all sorts of jewellery, then tv, then laptop! (hey, you can even msn you departed ones now!)..
and now louis vuitton bags, gucci bags, you name it, they've got it..
it really seems to me that actually hell is a better place than earth, you get to have the luxury goods you don't get when you are alive and you don't need to pay any coe, petrol, insurances, electricity bills and water bills.. and you get to go for high tea and a cuppa touting your louis vuitton tote while you are at it.. flant it off to the brother cow-head and horse-face in hell.. maybe give them a lift to the hades palace in your latest bmw 3.0 series.. do video conferencing with your loved ones still on earth, show them how hell looks like.. ask them when they are coming down to join them in this 'paradise' of theirs..
but wait, aren't we missing something really essential here? they are in the netherworld isn't it? or the so-called hell as we know it. and it's a place without and pleasures and enjoyment. and unless we are so confident that our loved ones were so holy in their lifes lived, had done no bad deeds whatsoever, they should not be in the netherworld in the first place, ain't it so? and if they are in a better place than here on earth, then i don't think they even need those material offerings to enjoy their stay there. but why do we so paradoxically know that they are in a place called netherworld, know that there are bound to be sufferings, and yet burn them so many luxuries, thinking that they need such 'worldly' pleasures as well, to have a better 'life' down there.. this is a part i don't understand.. do they do it so as to have a peace of mind, 'knowing' that they have done their part for their loved ones, providing for them in their afterlife, because they did not do so when they were alive?? i don't know either.. but i don't need any answer, because there ain't any..
i'm just making fun of people.. bad as i am, doesn't it make us stop and ponder?? perhaps not.. i don't care either.. shall i care?
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