秦假道于周以伐韩
The Troops of Qin Wanted to March Through East Zhou to Attack Han
【原文】
秦假道于周以伐韩，周恐假之而恶于韩，不假而恶于秦。史黡谓周 君曰君何不令人谓韩公叔曰:”秦敢绝塞而伐韩者，信东周也。公何 不与周地，发重使使之楚？秦必疑，不信周。是韩不伐也。’又谓秦王曰：‘韩强与周地，将以疑周于秦，寡人不敢弗受。’秦必无辞而令周弗受，是得地于韩，而听于秦也。”
【今译】
秦国向东周借道攻打韩国，东周担心借道给秦因会得罪韩国，不借 道会得罪秦国。史黡对东周国君说大王何不派人对韩国君主说：‘秦国敢于跨过东周边境攻打韩国，是因为相信东周。大王何不送给东周 土地，让东周派出重臣出使楚国，那样秦国就会起疑心，不再信任东周， 就不会进攻韩国了。’然后再派人对秦王说：‘韩国强行送给东周土地，是要让责国对东周产生疑心，我不敢不接受。’秦国一定无话可说让东 周不接受韩国的土地。这样东周既得到了韩国的土地又顺从了秦国的 意愿.”
The troops of the state of Qin wanted to march through the state of East Zhou to attack the state of Han. East Zhou was faced with a dilemma： if it allows the troops of Qin to march through its territory, it might offend Han； if it does not allow Qin to do so，it might offend Qin. Shi Yan told the sovereign of East Zhou, “Your Majesty, why not send somebody to take a message to the sovereign of Han as follows： ‘The reason that the troops of Qin dare to cross East Zhou’s border to attack Han lies in their trust in East Zhou. Your Majesty, why not give East Zhou some land，and then ask it to send an important court official on a diplomatic mission to the state of Chu? Thus Qin will doubt East Zhou’s loyalty and will not trust it any more. Therefore，its troops will not attack Han. f Then send another messenger to tell the king of Qin, ‘In order to make Your Majesty doubt our loyalty to you，the state of Han forces us to accept its land, and we dare not refuse it. ’ Thus Qin will not find a way to stop us from accepting the land. As a result, we can obtain land from Han and won’t offend Qin at the same time. ”