Страница 59 из 266

P'ang Chuan pursued them hotly, saying to himself: "I knew these

men of Ch'i were cowards: their numbers have already fallen away

by more than half." In his retreat, Sun Pin came to a narrow

defile, which he calculated that his pursuers would reach after

dark. Here he had a tree stripped of its bark, and inscribed upon

it the words: "Under this tree shall P'ang Chuan die." Then, as

night began to fall, he placed a strong body of archers in ambush

near by, with orders to shoot directly if they saw a light. Later

on, P'ang Chuan arrived at the spot, and noticing the tree,

struck a light in order to read what was written on it. His body

was immediately riddled by a volley of arrows, and his whole army

thrown into confusion. [The above is Tu Mu's version of the

story; the Shih Chi, less dramatically but probably with more

historical truth, makes P'ang Chuan cut his own throat with an

exclamation of despair, after the rout of his army.] ]