died　in　prison。　Wu　the　Gaoler　bought　a　coffin　and　had　him　buried。　This　done；　he　quitted　the　prison　and　went　home。　But　when　he　asked　for　the　book；　he　found　that　his　wife　had　discovered　it　and　was　using　it　to　light　the　fire。　He　snatched　away　what　was　left　of　it；　but　a　whole　volume　was　missing；　and　what　was　left　amounted　only　to　several　pages。　He　vented　his　anger　in　cursing　his　wife。

But　she　retorted；　saying；　〃If　you　bee　such　a　learned　person　as　Hua　Tuo；　you　will　only　die　in　prison　like　him。　What　good　did　it　all　do　him？〃

It　struck　Wu　the　Gaoler　that　there　was　something　in　what　she　said；　and　he　ceased　grumbling　at　her。　But　the　upshot　of　all　this　was　that　the　learning　in　the　〃Treatise　of　the　Black　Bag〃　was　finally　lost　to　the　world；　for　what　was　left　only　contained　the　recipes　relating　to　domestic　animals。

Hua　Tuo　was　the　ablest　of　physician；

Seeing　what　diseases　were　lurking　within　beings。

Alas！　That　he　died；　and　his　writings

Followed　him　to　the　Nine　Golden　Springs。

Meanwhile；　Cao　Cao　became　worse；　the　uncertainty　of　the　intentions　of　his　rivals　aggravating　his　disease　not　a　little。　Then　they　said　an　envoy　had　e　with　letter　from　Wu；　and　it　ran　like　this：

〃Thy　servant；　Sun　Quan；　has　long　seen　destiny　indicates　Your　Highness　as　master　of　all；　and　looks　forward　with　confidence　to　your　early　accession　to　the　dignity　of　the　Son　of　God。　If　you　will　send　your　armies　to　destroy　Liu　Bei　and　sweep　rebellion　from　the　two　River　Lands；　thy　servant　at　the　head　of　his　armies　will　submit　and　accept　his　land　as　a　fief。〃

Cao　Cao　laughed　as　he　read　this；　and　he　said　to　his　officers；　〃Is　this　youth　trying　to　put　me　on　a　furnace？〃

But　Minister　Chen　Qun　and　the　attendants　seriously　replied；　〃O　Prince；　the　Hans　have　been　feebl