He leaped in the boat and, propelled by an oar,
The frail bark was soon far away from the shore;
Here at least he was safe, for his foes would not dream
He was, thanks to the boat,-far away down the

stream.

He felt safe when once out on the river's broad face, He could drift off unseen, leaving no sign or trace; Being weary and sleepy he lay down and slept, While noiselessly on with the tide the boat swept.

As if led there by fate-dawn scarcely had broke,
When the boat neared an island, King Pa too awoke ;-
Gazed round for a moment, then seizing an oar,
He rapidly guided the boat to the shore.

He leaped on the bank, no mortal was near,

But what made King Pa's ruddy face blanch with fear; On a large rock before him these words caught his

eye;

"At the mouth of the Black River King Pa will die!"

their bodies the living words of the prophecy

, Pa-wang wu-chiang-sang (by rights the character k'ou 口 "mouth" should follow after chiang), as seen by King Pa, which playing on his superstitious fears induced him to commit suicide. Some say he did so by cutting his throat.

It is said that King Pa was so strong that he could blow the tiles off the roof of a house (力吹房上).

This sight filled the heart of the monarch with fear : ""Tis strange! so, 'tis prophesied I shall die here! What hand could have written this strange prophecy 'At the mouth of the Black River King Pa will die!""

"What mystery's this?" He drew near to view; But the words stood out bolder the nearer he drew : "What demon such strange looking words could contrive?

"They move too-by Heaven! all the words are alive!"

Yes, like a thick crust, on the rock's face there swarmed Myriads and myriads of insects, which formed

With their bodies the words of this wierd prophecy

66

At the mouth of the Black River King Pa will die!"

"What! do even the meanest of insects unite My sentence of death with their bodies to write ?

I must be accursed then, when they prophesy

At the mouth of the Black River King Pa will die ?'”

The air seemed alive with the horrible words

They were borne on the breeze, they were sung by the birds

The stream gently moaned them—the trees seemed to

sigh

"At the mouth of the Black River King Pa will die!"

There they were, on all sides-on the hill-on the

plain

Impressed on his heart-burnt into his brain ;—

On each bush and stone-on the earth-in the sky"At the mouth of the Black River King Pa will die!"

""Tis writ I shall die here-they've prophesied so-
But no menial weapon shall strike my death blow."
He drew forth his sword, plunged it into his side-
At the mouth of the Black River thus King Pa died.*

* History gives quite a different version of the death of Pa Wang: "Closely pursued by the troops of Han-hsin he reached the banks of the Black River, where a boat was in waiting to convey him over to the opposite side where he would be safe among his own people. The boat-keeper, named Ting-chang, E, entreated him to cross over and escape; but Pa Wang resolutely refused to do so, averring that he could not face the elders of his native place after his defeat. Turning to the few followers who were with him, he told them a thousand pieces of gold were offered for his head by Han-hsin, and bade them take it to him and receive the reward. He then drew his sword, and in their presence cut his own throat."

Pa Wang was thirty-one years of age when he died. He was born in the fifteenth year of the reign of Ch'in Shihhuang,, and died in the twelfth month of the fifth year of Liu-pang of the Han dynasty.