| Speech at Bi: |
The duke said, 'Ah! ye men, make no noise, but listen to my commands. We are going (to punish) those wild tribes of the Huai and of Xu, which have risen up together. Have in good repair your buff coats and helmets; have the laces of your shields well secured;--presume not to have any of them but in perfect order. Prepare your bows and arrows; temper your lances and spears; sharpen your pointed and edged weapons;--presume not to have any of them but in good condition. We must now largely let the oxen and horses loose, and not keep them in enclosures;--(ye people), do you close your traps and fill up your pitfalls, and do not presume to injure any of the animals (so let loose). If any of them be injured, you shall be dealt with according to the regular punishments. When the horses or cattle are seeking one another, or when your followers, male or female, abscond, presume not to leave the ranks to pursue them. But let them be carefully returned. I will reward you (among the people) who return them according to their value. But if you leave your places to pursue them, or if you who find them do not restore them, you shall be dealt with according to the regular punishments. And let none of you presume to commit any robbery or detain any creature that comes in your way, to jump over enclosures and walls to steal (people's) horses or oxen, or to decoy away their servants or female attendants. If you do so, you shall be dealt with according to the regular punishments. |
