LO KUAN-CHUNG.
12th century a.d.
[The reputed author of the novel based upon the History of the Three Kingdoms, of which specimens are given below. Of all Chinese works of fiction, this one, largely based upon fact, is undoubtedly the prime favourite. It is written in an easy and picturesque style, and therefore appeals to a very large circle of readers. Many of its episodes have been dramatised, and have thus become familiar to audiences drawn from the most unlettered classes.]
EUNUCHS KIDNAP AN EMPEROR.
THROUGH fire and smoke, Chang Jang and Tuan Kuei[1] hurried away the Emperor[2] and his brother, the Prince. Day and night they travelled on, until they reached Mt. Mang; then, during the second watch,[3] they heard behind them a great hubbub of voices, with men and horses in pursuit. “Stop! you rascally rebels, stop!” cried out in a stentorian voice an officer who was leading the pursuers; at which, Chang Jang, seeing it was all up, threw himself into the river and was drowned. The Emperor and the Prince, not knowing if it was a real deliverance or not, did not dare to utter a sound but hid themselves in the long grass by the riverside. The mounted soldiers scattered on all sides to search for them, but failed to discover their hiding-place. The Emperor and Prince remained concealed until the fourth watch,[4] when drenched with dew and faint with hunger, they embraced one another in tears, at the same time muffling their sobs in the undergrowth lest any one should hear them. At length, the Prince said, “we cannot stay here much longer; let us seek some way of escape.” They then tied themselves together by their clothes and climbed up the bank of the river, to find themselves in a tangled mass of brambles, unable for want of light to see which way to go. They were in despair; when suddenly a huge cluster of fireflies, giving forth a brilliant glow, flew round and round the Emperor. “God is helping us brothers!” cried the Prince; and by following
