- 可以往難以返曰挂
- 挂形者敵無備出而勝之敵若有備出而不勝難以返不利
- 我出而不利彼出而不利曰支
- 支形者敵雖利我我無出也引而去令敵半出而擊之利
4. Ground which can be abandoned but is hard to re-occupy is called entangling.
Capt. Calthrop is wrong in translating 返 “retreat from it.”
5. From a position of this sort, if the enemy is unprepared, you may sally forth and defeat him. But if the enemy is prepared for your coming, and you fail to defeat him, then, return being impossible, disaster will ensue.
不利 (an example of litotes) is paraphrased by Mei Yao-ch‘ên as 必受制 “you will receive a check.”
6. When the position is such that neither side will gain by making the first move, it is called temporising ground.
俱不便久相持也 “Each side finds it inconvenient to move, and the situation remains at a deadlock” (Tu Yu).
7. In a position of this sort, even though the enemy should offer us an attractive bait,
Tu Yu says 佯背我去 “turning their backs on us and pretending to flee.” But this is only one of the lures which might induce us to quit our position. Here again 利 is used as a verb, but this time in a different sense: “to hold out an advantage to.”
it will be advisable not to stir forth, but rather to retreat, thus enticing the enemy in his turn; then, when part of his army has come out, we may deliver our attack with advantage.
Mei Yao-ch‘ên paraphrases the passage in a curious jingle, the scheme of rhymes being abcbdd: 各居所險, 先出必敗, 利而誘我, 我不可愛, 僞去引敵, 半出而擊.
