rious encounters more than six
hundred captains and soldiers of repute. The inhabitants of the cities
and towns deserted them and fled to the forests with their women and
children. On the same day the Tartars took three cities.

When I heard this news I met with the _Colao_ and the mandarins of
the court to take counsel as to what should be done. And truly it
seems that Heaven is assisting the Tartars, for how else could they
kill so many thousands of men and take three cities in one day? [65]
We all say that this is a punishment from Heaven, like so many other
calamities that are being suffered. For example, it did not rain during
the whole of last year in the province of Paquin, and so the people
went about almost dead. In the province of Xanto the hunger was so
great that they ate human flesh, for which there was a public market. A
great multitude of rats crossed the river. The fires of heaven burned
all the royal palaces. A gale blew down the five towers. There were,
also, in the heavens two suns, one swallowing the other--an occurrence,
certainly, of dire portent. Another very extraordinary thing beside
these occurred. We saw that man called Chanchain enter the palace to
kill the prince, in which event the mandarin [_illegible in MS._]
wishing to speak to you, my king, in a rather loud voice, in order
to show his fidelity. But you did not choose to listen to him, and,
instead, you ordered him to be put in the jail, and in fetters, and
sentenced to death, on the charge of having disturbed the soul of
your mother, who had recently died. We, the mandarins, wishing [to
aid?] him, beg you that you may be pleased to pardon him; because
it would certainly be a great pity to treat as a rebel a faithful
mandarin, who merely showed his love for you.

Moreover, the viceroys and the _Chaiery_ of each province several times
sent you memorials advising you of the calamities of the people, and
begging that you be pleased to diminish the customs and impositions,
a matter worthy of careful consideration. In the same way, all the
mandarins of the court have often implored you, by means of memorials,
that you should go out _incognito_ to hear complaints for the good
of the government of the kingdom, and to bring it into harmony with
the will of Heaven. If you had done this, we would now find ourselves
in a very peaceful condition, and our empire would last a thousand
centuries; but oh king, as you neither listened to nor examined in