dismounted and shouted, “What have you to say?” Zhu Wu crying, answered, “We shall be arrested and tried, and cannot live as bandits on the mountains. Once we took a vow that we would die on the same day. Although we have not the heroism of Guan Gong, Zhang Fei, and Liu Bei, yet we have the same objects in mind.50 Today our brother Chen Da did not listen to our advice, but he unintentionally offended your dignity. You, hero, have already arrested him at your noble village. As we have no alternative we come only to beseech you to put us to death together. We hope that you, hero, will send us three men to the magistrate, and ask for a reward. We swear that we shall not feel sorrow at that; we are entirely in your hands and wish to die.”
Shi Jin heard this, and thought that they were brave. If he sent them to the magistrate and requested a reward, then all heroes would be ashamed of him for not being a brave man. The ancients said, “The tiger does not eat the flesh of a tiger.” So he said to these men, “Come inside.” They were not afraid and followed Shi Jin into the hall, where they knelt and asked him to bind them. Shi Jin told them several times to rise but they declined to do so. He thought, “Intelligent people like intelligence in others, and so good folk recognize the good in others.” He said, “As your bravery is so great, I cannot send you to the magistrate. How will it be if I release Chen Da?”
“We do not wish to implicate you,” said Zhu Wu. “It will be better for you to ask for the reward.” “How can I do that?” said Shi Jin. “Are you willing to eat my food and drink wine?”
“We are not even afraid of death so how can we be afraid of meat and drink?”
Shi Jin was much pleased at this, and released Chen Da. He invited all three to dine with him, and they expressed their thanks for his great benevolence. After drinking several cups of wine they departed. As a token of thankfulness the three brigand chiefs got together thirty taels of gold in ingots, which was sent in a dark moonless night by two of their men, to Shi Jin. When the bandits arrived at the farm Shi Jin came to the gate to inquire what they wanted, and they presented the gold and asked him to accept the same. At first Shi Jin refused to accept the gift but he saw that the intention was good so he accepted the gold, and then ordered a servant to give the men refreshments. When they departed he gave them some small pieces of silver for themselves. A fortnight afterwards the bandit leaders took a big jewel which they had looted sometime before, and sent it to Shi Jin who accepted it. He saw that they were grateful for his mercy so he had three gowns made with red embroidered silk and sent these with some wine and three fat roasted sheep to the brigands, and his steward Wang the Fourth was put in charge of this matter. Shi Jin and the brigands became very friendly, and were frequently giving each other presents.
On the fifteenth day of the eighth month, Shi Jin sent Wang the Fourth with an invitation for a banquet and the bandit chiefs wrote a reply, accepting the invitation.51 After a few cups of wine Wang the Fourth left, but on his way down the mountain he met some brigands who took him to an inn where he drank more wine. When he left, he was slightly drunk, and staggered along. After going about three li he came to a forest which he entered and lay down in the long grass to sleep. The hunter, Li Ji came to that spot to look for hares, and recognizing Wang the Fourth he attempted to raise him up, but he could not do so. In doing this some silver fell out from Wang the Fourth’s girdle which made Li Ji meditate, “This man is drunk, but where did the money come from? Why should I not take some?” It was now the opportunity for the baneful forces to come together, so unexpected events ensued naturally. He unloosened Wang the Fourth’s girdle, and upon shaking it, the sealed reply from the bandits fell out. He opened that, and recognized the names of the brigand chiefs. “Here is my luck. A fortune teller told me that I should have great fortune and here it is. A reward is offered for their arrest, and perhaps I can get something for this letter also.” So he took the silver, and the letter, and went to report the matter to the officials at Huayin County.
When Wang the Fourth awoke that evening, the moon was shining through the trees. He found his girdle in the grass, but the silver and the letter were missing. He felt greatly annoyed and thought the matter over. He thought if he said that he had lost the letter Shi Jin would probably dismiss him, so at last he decided to say that the invitation had been accepted, but there was no written reply. He told this to Shi Jin who asked why he had been so long in returning, and he explained that the bandits had pressed him to stay, drinking wine for half the night.
On the day appointed Shi Jin had a banquet prepared, and the three bandit leaders duly arrived with about five armed men. They took their seats. But when they had drunk much wine there was a loud noise and much torchlight outside the gate. Shi Jin was startled, and jumping up told the brigands to keep their seats while he went to see what had happened. He told the servants not to open the gate, and putting a ladder against the wall he looked over. He saw that the county police inspector was on a horse, two constables and about four hundred soldiers surrounded the farm. He returned and told the bandits that the soldiers had come evidently to arrest them.
Men concealed in the deep of reeds,
Prepared their boats among the lotus leaves.
Soldiers sent to capture them,
Did only make them intimate.
We will now relate how the brigands made their escape.
Footnote
44 A Prefecture was a level of government incorporating a number of counties, centered on a prefectural capital city or town. As a general rule, the use of “prefecture” or “county” in this edition will refer to the geographic area, which may include that administrative level’s city or town eg “Yanan Prefecture.” A specific reference to the city or town itself will use the specific name, eg “Yanan.”
45 A common appellation, indicating a person’s place in the family hierarchy, in this case, the second son of the Gao family.
46 A Yamen was the office of a government official or bureaucracy.
47 The Chinese currency of a square holed coin.
48 “Tael” was an English expression of the Chinese measure of weight, the “liang,” approximating an ounce.
49 Li is the Chinese distance equivalent of a mile.
50 The heroes from the historical novel Romance of the Three Kingdoms, who swore an oath of brotherhood.
51 The Mid-Autumn Festival falls on the 15th day of the 8th month in the Chinese lunar calendar.
CHAPTER 2
Shi Jin Leaves During the Night; Major Lu Da Assaults Butcher Zheng
THE bandit chiefs knelt down, saying: “Elder brother, you are guiltless and we do not wish to involve you. You can take a rope and bind us, and ask for the reward.”
“That will not do,” said Shi Jin. “I invited you to come here, and if I seize you for the reward everybody will jeer at me. If this is your time for death, I will die with you; if to live,
