had become reddish-grey, and he was absolutely unrecognizable. He
then presented himself with assurance before the officers, who asked
him his name. "My name is Kuan," he replied. It was by that name that
he was thereafter known.


The Meat-seller's Challenge

One day he arrived at Chu-chou, a dependent sub-prefecture of Peking,
in Chihli. There Chang Fei, a butcher, who had been selling his meat
all the morning, at noon lowered what remained into a well, placed
over the mouth of the well a stone weighing twenty-five pounds, and
said with a sneer: "If anyone can lift that stone and take my meat,
I will make him a present of it!" Kuan Yü, going up to the edge of
the well, lifted the stone with the same ease as he would a tile,
took the meat, and made off. Chang Fei pursued him, and eventually
the two came to blows, but no one dared to separate them. Just then
Liu Pei, a hawker of straw shoes, arrived, interposed, and put a stop
to the fight. The community of ideas which they found they possessed
soon gave rise to a firm friendship between the three men.


The Oath in the Peach-orchard

Another account represents Liu Pei and Chang Fei as having entered
a village inn to drink wine, when a man of gigantic stature pushing
a wheelbarrow stopped at the door to rest. As he seated himself,
he hailed the waiter, saying: "Bring me some wine quickly, because
I have to hasten to reach the town to enlist in the army."