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.

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(to be continued..)