Pagina 135 de 266

31. If the enemy sees an advantage to be gained and makes no

effort to secure it, the soldiers are exhausted.

32. If birds gather on any spot, it is unoccupied.

[A useful fact to bear in mind when, for instance, as Ch'en Hao

says, the enemy has secretly abandoned his camp.]

Clamour by night betokens nervousness.

33. If there is disturbance in the camp, the general's authority

is weak. If the banners and flags are shifted about, sedition is

afoot. If the officers are angry, it means that the men are

weary.

[Tu Mu understands the sentence differently: "If all the officers

of an army are angry with their general, it means that they are

broken with fatigue" owing to the exertions which he has demanded

from them.]

34. When an army feeds its horses with grain and kills its cattle

for food,

[In the ordinary course of things, the men would be fed on grain

and the horses chiefly on grass.]