仗 is here probably not a synonym for 倚, but = 兵 “a weapon.” The original text has 杖而立者, which has been corrected from the _T‘ung Tien_ and _Yü Lan_. 30. 汲而先飮者渴也 If those who are sent to draw water begin by drinking themselves, the army is suffering from thirst. As Tu Mu remarks: 覩一人三軍可知也 “One may know the condition of a whole army from the behaviour of a single man.” The 先 may mean either that they drink before drawing water for the army, or before they return to camp. Chang Yü takes the latter view. The _T‘ung Tien_ has the faulty reading 汲役先飮者, and the _Yü Lan_, worse still, 汲設飮者. 31. 見利而不進者勞也 If the enemy sees an advantage to be gained Not necessarily “booty,” as Capt. Calthrop translates it. The _T‘ung Tien_ and _Yü Lan_ read 向人見利, etc. and makes no effort to secure it, the soldiers are exhausted. 32. 鳥集者虛也夜呼者恐也 If birds gather on any spot, it is unoccupied. A useful fact to bear in mind when, for instance, as Ch‘ên Hao says, the enemy has secretly abandoned his camp. Clamour by night betokens nervousness. Owing to false alarms; or, as Tu Mu explains it: 恐懼不安故夜呼以 自壯也 “Fear makes men restless; so they fall to shouting at night in order to keep up their courage.” The _T‘ung Tien_ inserts 喧 before 呼. 33. 軍擾者將不重也旌旗動者亂也吏怒者倦也 If there is disturbance in the camp, the general’s authority is weak. If the banners and flags are shifted about, sedition is afoot. The _T‘ung Tien_ and _Yü Lan_ omit 旌. If the officers are angry, it means that the men are weary. And therefore, as Capt. Calthrop says, slow to obey. Tu Yu 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. 粟馬肉食軍無懸缻不返其舍者窮宼也 When an army feeds its horses with grain and kills its cattle for food, 粟馬肉食 is expanded by Mei Yao-ch‘ên (following Tu Mu) into 給糧以𥞊乎馬殺畜以饗乎士, which is the sense I have given above. In the ordinary course of things, the men would be fed on grain and the horses chiefly on grass. and when the men do not hang their cooking-pots The _T‘ung Tien_ reads 缶, which is much the same as 缻, and the _Yü Lan_ 箠, which is manifestly wrong. over the camp-fires, showing that they will not return to their tents, For 返, the _T‘ung Tien_ and _Yü Lan_ both read 及. you may know that they are determined to fight to the death.