Pagina 186 van 266

[Not because they are afraid, but because, as Ts'ao Kung says,

"all have embraced the firm resolution to do or die." We may

remember that the heroes of the Iliad were equally childlike in

showing their emotion. Chang Yu alludes to the mournful parting

at the I River between Ching K'o and his friends, when the former

was sent to attempt the life of the King of Ch'in (afterwards

First Emperor) in 227 B.C. The tears of all flowed down like rain

as he bade them farewell and uttered the following lines: "The

shrill blast is blowing, Chilly the burn; Your champion is

going-Not to return." [1] ]

But let them once be brought to bay, and they will display the

courage of a Chu or a Kuei.