阮小二天剑星 · 27
Leaf 27 of the marsh · 立太岁 Standing Tai Sui
Ruan Xiao'er 阮小二
In Water Margin 水滸傳 (c. 1400) · rank 27 of the 108 Stars · nicknamed 立太岁 “Standing Tai Sui”
The eldest Ruan, who sang while the government boats burned.
The great deeds 大事記
- ch. 15
A Boat, a Song, an Answer
石碣村漁歌The 'Tai-Shan Who Stands' of the three Ruan brothers answers a summons with a boat and a song.
- ch. 19
Burned in the Village Reeds
火燒官船He sings while the government boats burn in the reeds of his own village.
- ch. 113
Cuts His Throat on Wulong Ridge
烏龍嶺自刎Caught in the water at Wulong ridge, he cuts his own banner down — and his own life with it — rather than be taken.
結局 The ending
Rather than be taken alive he cut his own throat at the water fort he had grown up swimming around. The marsh all of it had begun in was already drained dry by the amnesty.
The book itself: how it ends, and who was left — The ending