by Luo Guanzhong
Today's excerpt from Chapter 4
27Cao and Gong had been sitting for a while, when they suddenly heard the sound of knives being sharpened from behind the villa. Cao said, "Lü Boshe is not a very close relative; his leaving seemed suspicious. We should eavesdrop on them." The two of them snuck out to the back of the house, where they heard the voices of people saying, "We'll tie 'em up and then kill 'em, alright?" Cao said, "Aha! If we don't strike first, we will be captured for sure." He then drew his sword, and went straight in, along with Gong. Everyone was killed, regardless of gender; in all, eight people in a row were killed. However, when they found the kitchen, they spotted a pig that had been tied up, ready to be killed. Gong said, "You jumped to conclusions, and killed innocent people by mistake!" They hurriedly ran out of the villa, got on their horses, and fled.
28
They had not gone more than two li, when they saw Lü Boshe come along with two bottles of wine on his donkey's saddle pommel along with fruit and vegetables in his hands; he said, "Why are the two of you leaving?" Cao said, "An accused man cannot afford to stay in one place for too long." Boshe said, "I have already instructed my family to slaughter a pig in your honor; what's wrong with staying for just one night? Please come back with me."
Continued next week. Tomorrow's installment from Lays of Ancient Rome by Macaulay.
This is one of four great novels from China, published when it was the most highly civilization in the world. Map shows China at the time of this story.
Chapter Summary: Deposing the Han emperor: Chenliu becomes emperor; plotting against the villain Dong: Mengde presents a dagger.
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This translation from Wikipedia. See license CC-BY-SA.
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