Han Hsin then went and presented himself at the court of the Prince of Chin Chou. Now, this Prince, Chin Pa, was noted for his strength. It was said of him that, if he tried, he could breathe the roof off the house; also that he could lift himself up by the hair. When he was small he was fed on the milk of the tiger. Thus his strength was not the strength of man.
When Han Hsin was presented to this Prince by his teachers as a wise man and one who could help him make his country strong, he laughed and said, “What can such a boy do? If I hold out my head and tell him to cut it off he has not the strength to do it, even though I stand still and do not resist him. How can there be wisdom in such a small boy? How can such as he help me? He cannot fight for me or wait on me. Take away the child, I do not want him.”
The teachers urged the Prince to give the young man a trial and at last he said, “Here is my spear—let him hold it up straight for half a day. If he is strong enough for that, he may find something to do in my service.” Alas! Han Hsin could not even for half an hour hold up the great iron spear, and he was driven with laughter and derision from the court. [[64]]
When the teachers remonstrated with the Prince he said, “I want no such weakling in my kingdom.”
“But you have made an enemy of him,” they urged, “and if you do not use him, you should kill him. Although you, our Prince, will not believe us, we know if you let him go he will, in the end, be used by some other kingdom to destroy yours.” At this Chin Pa laughed loud and long, but seeing the anxious and serious faces of the teachers he said, “I will take some soldiers and go after him, and if you wish I will kill him.”
Now when Han Hsin, in bitterness of heart, was driven from the court he took the road leading to the mountains, and was part way up when, chancing to look back, he saw the mounted band coming. They did not see him, but he knew that they were in search of him. He knew that he could not escape, so he stretched himself out on the side of the hill with his feet toward the top and his head toward the bottom of the hill, and pretended that he was asleep.
When Chin Pa came up and saw him there he smiled to himself and called to his men to remount, and away they went back to the castle, laughing and making merry over the thought that any one who would sleep in such [[65]]a position, could rend the kingdom away from their great Prince.
When the teachers heard of the outcome of the pursuit of Han Hsin they were troubled and said, “It is craft and not stupidity—go back again, overtake him and kill him.” To please them and for the sport of it, the Prince started out again. By this time Han Hsin had crossed the mountains and was walking on the plain. Again he saw them coming, and looking about he discovered a very ill-smelling hole, and bending over it he exclaimed, as his pursuers came up, “Ah, how sweet, how fragrant!”
This time the Prince declared that Han Hsin was entirely foolish, and he would not kill a fool, for a man who did not know the difference between the sweetly fragrant and the offensive was not one a Prince need fear.
Thus Han Hsin was left to himself, and returned to his own country and village. His own Prince, Han Kao Lin, again refused him. At that time this Prince was at war with Chin Pa and was very hard pressed by the latter, and anxious to surround himself with wise men. He could not see, however, how there could be wisdom in such a small man as Han Hsin. But, at last, after much persuasion, he gave a reluctant permission for him to be made [[66]]leader of the army which was about to set out to attack Chin Pa.