Volume Eight元朝秘史 卷08

At that time they brought the Kereit people down and shared them out, each taking a portion. Takhai Baatur, a man of the Suldus clan, had done Taizu a kindness, and so a hundred of the Jirgin people were given to him. Again, Jakha Gambu, the younger brother of Ong Khan, had two daughters. The elder was named Ibakha, and Taizu took her to wife himself. The younger was named Sorkhakhtani, and she was given to Tolui. For that reason the people of Jakha Gambu were not taken captive.

Taizu gave again to the two men Badai and Kishilik the golden tent of Ong Khan, with its coverings and its golden vessels and the men who had charge of the vessels, the whole of them. He also gave them the men of the Onggojin clan of the Kereit to be their night guards, and let them carry bow and arrow. When wine was drunk they too were allowed to take the cup, and down to their sons and grandsons they were to live as they pleased. Goods seized in battle and wild beasts taken in the hunt they need share with no one, but might keep as much as they wished. Taizu said further, "For one thing, these two men saved my life. For another, because the Everlasting Heaven helped me, I brought the Kereit people down and came to sit in the great seat. In the days to come let my sons and grandsons always know this debt of kindness." So he shared out all the clans of the Kereit among his companions. That winter he stayed in the land of Abujia Khodeger.

Ong Khan and Senggum, father and son, fled with nothing on them and came to the Nekun water in the land of Didik Sakhal. Ong Khan grew thirsty on the way and went down to drink, and there Khori Subechi, a Naiman lookout, seized him. He said of himself, "I am Ong Khan." The lookout did not believe him and killed him. Senggum was outside at that time and had not gone down, and so he went on from there to the land of Chui. When he reached Chui, Senggum and his companion Kokochu and Kokochu's wife were looking for water to drink. Senggum saw a wild horse being bitten by flies, got down from his horse, had Kokochu hold it, and crept up to shoot. In that moment Kokochu led the horse away and fled. His wife said, "In the past he gave you good clothes to wear and good food to eat. He is your very master. How can you cast him off like that?" And she stood still and would not go on. Kokochu said, "You will not go. Is it that you mean to marry Senggum?" His wife said, "Though people say a woman has the face of a dog, throw him at least this golden bowl, so that he may scoop up water and drink." Kokochu then threw the golden bowl down and came with his wife to Taizu, and told him the whole reason he had abandoned Senggum. Taizu said, "How could such a man be taken for a companion?" So he gave a reward to the wife, and Kokochu he put to death.

Gurbesu, the mother of Tayang the Naiman emperor, said, "Ong Khan was the old emperor of former days. Bring his head here and let us look at it. If it is truly he, let us make offering to him." So they sent a man to Khori Subechi, and he cut off the head and brought it. They saw that it was Ong Khan, and they sounded the instruments and made offering to him. While the offering was being made, the head of Ong Khan laughed. Tayang saw it laugh, thought it an ill sign, and trampled it to pieces. A man named Kokseu Sabrakh said, "You cut off the head of a dead man and brought it here, and then you trampled it to pieces. Now even the barking of the dogs sounds ill. In former days your emperor Inancha Bilge said, 'I have grown old, this lady is young in years, and my son Tayang is soft besides. He is a child I begged of the spirits, and I fear that in days to come he will not be able to hold my many people.' So he spoke. And now there is the sound of ruin in the barking of the dogs. The rule of the lady Gurbesu is harsh, and our emperor Tayang is soft, and apart from flying the hawk and hunting he has neither skill nor spirit." So he said. Afterward Tayang said, "There are some Dadan away to the east. In former days they frightened the old Ong Khan with whistling arrows, so that he ran out and died. It looks as if they mean to make themselves emperors. In the sky there is only one sun and one moon. How can there be two masters on the earth? Let us go now and take those Dadan." His mother Gurbesu said, "Those Dadan people have a bad smell and their clothes are dark and dirty. What would we bring them here for? Keep them far off. Only if there are well-made women among them, bring those and have them washed, and set them to milking the cows and the sheep." Tayang said, "If that is all, where is the difficulty? Let us go and take away their bows and arrows."

Kokseu Sabrakh heard what Tayang said and sighed. "You must not talk so big. Do not say such a thing again." Tayang did not listen. He made Torbi Tashi his envoy and sent him to Alakhushi Digit Khuri, the lord of the Onggud people, to say, "There are some Dadan away to the east. Be my right hand. I will set out from here and take away their bows and arrows." Alakhushi Digit Khuri answered, "I cannot be your right hand." Then he sent a man to say to Taizu, "Tayang of the Naiman means to come and take away your bows and arrows, and he asked me to be his right hand. I did not agree. I give you warning now. If you do not guard against him, I fear he will come and take your bows and arrows." At that time Taizu was driving a hunt in the land of Temeen Keer. He learned of these words, and there at the hunt he took counsel with the men. Most of them said, "The horses are thin. What can be done?" Otchigin said, "Why do you hold back and speak of thin horses? My horses are fat. After hearing words like these, how can a man sit still?" Belgutei said further, "If a man lives and lets others take his bow and arrows from him, what is that worth? When a man dies, is it not better that he go with his bow and arrows? The Naiman trust now in their great country and their many people, and they dare to talk big. What is hard about taking their bows and arrows while we have this chance? If we go, their horse herds are many, and they will surely leave them where they stand. Their houses will be empty and their people will all flee into the hills and forests. We may mount and ride at once."

When Belgutei had said this, Chinggis said, "It is so." He came back from the hunt, set out from the land of Abujikha Khoteger, and came down at Keltegei Khada in the land of Ornuu on the Khalkha River. He counted his own soldiers and horses, set up the heads of thousands and of hundreds, established cherbi officers of six grades, and gave charge to them all. He also made eighty men night guards and seventy men day guards. In choosing the guard he filled it with the sons of the commanders of thousands and of hundreds and of common men, those who had skill and a good body. He also had Arkhai Khasar choose a thousand brave men and command them, to stand in front when there was fighting and to serve as guard at other times. Ogele Cherbi, together with Khudus Khalchan, had charge of the seventy day guards.

Chinggis said again, "The men who carry bow and arrow, and the day guards, and the guard, and the cooks, and the doorkeepers are to come on in eight shifts by day. When the sun goes down they are to hand over what they have charge of to the night guards, and go out to sleep. Those who have charge of the horses are to watch the horses. The night guards are to sleep around the house. The doorkeepers are to stand at the door by turns. The next day, when the soup is brought in, they are to come back in and take up their own charges. Let them change over once in three days." He gave each of the commanders of thousands and hundreds and the cherbi their charges as well.

In the year of the rat, on the sixteenth day of the fourth month, Chinggis made offering to his standard and went to strike the Naiman, riding up along the Kerulen River. He made Jebe and Khubilai his forward scouts. When they came to the land of Saari Keer they met the Naiman lookouts on the top of Mount Khangkharkha. While the two sides chased each other back and forth, the Naiman seized a man from this side who rode a white horse with a worn saddle. They said among themselves, "So the horses of the Dadan are thin after all." After this the great army of Taizu came to the land of Saari Keer and came down there. Dodai Cherbi said to Chinggis, "Our men are few and we have come far. Let us pasture the horses here, and set out many false troops to fill this land of Saari Keer, and have every man light five fires at night. Their men are many, but their lord is soft and has never gone out, and he will surely be startled and made uneasy. Then, when our horses are full, we can chase their lookouts and go straight to their great camp and strike them before they are drawn up, and we will surely win." Chinggis followed his words. The Naiman lookouts did indeed see it from the mountain top, and said, "They said the Dadan were few. How is it that the fires they light are as many as the stars?" So they sent back the man and the horse they had taken before, and reported to Tayang, "The soldiers and horses of the Dadan have already filled the land of Saari Keer. It seems they grow more every day. Only look at the fires they light at night. They are as many as the stars."

When the lookout came, Tayang was at the Khachir water in the land of Khangkhai. He heard these words and sent a man to say to his son Khuchulug, "They say the horses of the Dadan are thin, yet the fires they light are as many as the stars. Their men must be many. People say the Dadan are hard men. Stab them in the eye and the eye does not turn. Stab them in the cheek and they do not flinch. If we join arms with them now, it will be hard to loosen afterward. They say the horses of the Dadan are thin. Let us move the people and go over the Altai, and there put our soldiers and horses in order and draw them after us. By the time they reach the Altai their thin horses will be worn out and our fat horses will be just right. Then we can turn back and fight them, and we can win." Khuchulug heard these words and said, "That woman Tayang is afraid again. However many the Dadan may be, where have they come from? The greater part of them are here with Jamukha. My father Tayang has never gone so far as the place where a woman with child changes her clothes, or where a calf crops the grass. Now he is afraid, and he talks like this." He sent the envoy back to say so. Tayang heard that his son had likened him to a woman, and said, "Khuchulug, you who have strength and courage, do not let that courage go weak when the fighting comes." His minister Khori Subechi said, "Your father Inancha Bilge never showed a man's back or a horse's hindquarters to an equal foe. How is it that you are afraid before anyone else? Had we known you would be like this, it would have been better to give the soldiers to your mother Gurbesu, woman though she is. It is a pity that Kokseu Sabrakh has grown old. The order of our army has gone very slack. Has the turn of the Dadan come?" He said this with a sigh, beat his quiver as he sat on his horse, and rode off apart.

Tayang heard those words and said in anger, "The life a man dies and the body that suffers are the same for all. If you speak so, let us go out to meet him and fight." So they went along the Tamir River, crossed the Orkhon water, and came to the land of Chakhirmaud, east of the Nakhu cliff. The lookout of Chinggis saw the soldiers and horses of the Naiman. Chinggis put his soldiers and horses in order and drew up his lines. He himself took the forward post, gave the center to his younger brother Khasar, and put Otchigin in charge of the spare horses. At this the Naiman soldiers and horses drew back to the front of the Nakhu cliff and stood along the mountain. The lookouts of Chinggis at once drove the Naiman lookouts to the foot of the mountain. Jamukha was with the Naiman at that time. Tayang asked, "Who are those coming on, driving men as a wolf drives a flock of sheep into the pen?" Jamukha said, "They are the four dogs that my anda Temujin has raised on human flesh. He kept them tied with iron chains. Those dogs have brows of copper and teeth like chisels, tongues like awls and hearts of iron. They use ringed swords for horsewhips. They drink the dew and ride the wind, and when they fight they eat the flesh of men. Now the chains are loosed, and they come slavering and glad. The four dogs are these four men: Jebe, Khubilai, Jelme and Subeetei." Tayang said, "If that is so, let us keep far from these low fellows." So he drew back and stood astride the mountain. He asked again, "Who are those coming behind, like foals that have drunk their fill of milk and leap in joy around their mothers?" Jamukha said, "They are the two peoples of the Uruud and the Mangkhud. They kill men who hold spear and sword and strip the clothes from them." Tayang said, "If that is so, let us keep far from these low fellows." He had them go up the mountain and stand there, and asked again, "Who is that coming at the head of them, like a hawk greedy for its food?" Jamukha said, "That is my anda Temujin. He is clothed in iron mail from head to foot, and he comes like a hawk greedy for its food. Do you see him? You said once that when you saw the Dadan you would leave not so much as the skin of a hoof, as with a coarse lamb. Look at him now." Tayang only said that it was fearful, and had them go higher up the mountain and stand there. He asked again, "Who is that coming behind with so many soldiers and horses?" Jamukha said, "He is one of the sons of mother Hoelun, and he was raised on human flesh. His body is three times the height of a man. He eats a three-year-old beast at a meal. He wears three layers of iron mail, and three strong oxen drag him along. If he swallows a man with bow and arrows whole, it does not catch in his throat. If he swallows a whole man, it is not enough to take the edge off his hunger. When he is angry and shoots the arrow called angkhua over a mountain, it goes through ten men or twenty. When a man stands against him, he shoots the arrow called keibur across the open field, and it goes through the man, mail and all. Drawing full, he shoots nine hundred paces. Drawing short, he shoots five hundred paces. He was not born like ordinary men, but is like a great serpent. His name is Jochi Khasar." Tayang said, "If that is so, let us go up together and stand on the high mountain." He asked again, "Who is that coming behind?" Jamukha said, "He is the youngest son of Hoelun, named Otchigin. He is lazy by nature and likes to sleep early and rise late, but among all those soldiers and horses he has never fallen behind." At this Tayang went up at last and stood on the mountain top.

Jamukha left the Naiman again, and had word sent to Chinggis of what he had said to Tayang. "Tayang has now heard what I said, and he is already dazed with fright. They are all climbing over one another to the top of the high mountain, and there is no sign of fight in them at all. I have left him. Anda, be careful." That day, seeing that the light was late, Taizu ringed Mount Nakhu and slept there. In the night the Naiman tried to slip away, and men and horses fell from the cliff and were crushed against one another, and very many died. The next day they took Tayang. His son Khuchulug was not in the same place, and so he got himself away. He led out a few men and fled, and when he saw the soldiers coming after him he tried to pitch camp on the Tamir River, but could not settle there and fled again. They chased him to the foot of the Altai, and his case grew harder still. In the end all his people were taken. At this time the Jadaran and the Khatagin and the other Dadan clans who had been with Jamukha all came and submitted. Gurbesu, the mother of Tayang, was brought there, and Chinggis said, "You said the Dadan had a bad smell. How is it that you have come?" And Chinggis took her to himself.

In the autumn of that year of the rat, Taizu faced Tokhtoa of the Merkit in the land of Kharadal Khujaura and drove him back. He chased him to the land of Saari Keer and took his people captive. Tokhtoa fled with his two sons Khutu and Chilaun and a few companions. At the first, when the Merkit were being taken, Dair Usun, a man of the Khoas Merkit clan, was bringing his daughter named Khulan to offer her to Chinggis. On the road he was stopped by soldiers in the disorder. He met Nayaa, an officer of the Baarin clan, and said, "I mean to offer this daughter to Chinggis." Nayaa said, "I will go with you and we will offer your daughter together. If you go on ahead, the soldiers in the disorder will kill you too, and the girl will be shamed." So he kept them three days, and they came together and offered her to Chinggis. Chinggis was greatly angered that Nayaa had held them three days, and said, "Question him closely and punish him." While he was being questioned, the girl Khulan said, "Nayaa said, 'I am a great officer of the emperor. Let us go together and offer this daughter.' There were soldiers in disorder on the road, and that is why he kept us. If we had not met Nayaa and stayed, who knows what would have become of us now? There is no need to question him. If the emperor grants me his favor, the skin that Heaven ordained and my father and mother gave me is whole. Let him look at my skin." Nayaa also said, "I serve my lord with a single heart. Whatever fair women and good horses are got in outside lands, I mean to offer to my lord. If I have any other heart than this, then let me die." Chinggis said, "Khulan's words are right." That same day he had Khulan examined, and she had indeed not been defiled, and from this Chinggis came to love her greatly. He let Nayaa go, and said that this man was true to the bone, and that great matters could be entrusted to him in days to come.