秦欲攻周
Qin Wanted to Attack West Zhou
【原文】
秦欲攻周，周（最）谓秦王曰为王之国计者，不攻周。攻周， 实不足以利国，而声畏天下,天下以声畏秦，必东合于齐。兵弊于周而 合天下于齐，则秦孤而不王矣。是天下欲罢秦，故劝王攻周。秦与天下 倶罢，则令不横行于周矣。”
【今译】
秦囯想进攻西周，周（最）对秦王说为大王的国家打算，不能 进攻西周。进攻西周，不足以给国家带来实际的利益，并且还会落得恶 名，其他国家因为秦国名声坏了，一定会向东跟齐囯联合。士卒因为 进攻西周而疲惫不堪，而且天下各国跟齐国结成联盟，那样秦国就会孤 立起来而不能一统天下了。其他国家想把秦国弄得疲惫不堪，所以才 劝说大王进攻西周。秦国被各国所困，就不能向东周发号施令了
The state of Qin wanted to attack the state of West Zhou. Zhou Ju had a talk with the king of Qin. He said, “For the sake of your state, you shouldn’t attack West Zhou. In fact, attacking West Zhou cannot bring substantial benefit to your state. On the contrary, you will become notorious, Owing to your notoriety, other states will ally with the state of Qi in the east. Then your officers and men will become exhausted because of the war and other states will unite with Qi. As a result，Qin will be isolated and therefore not able to unify the whole world. Other states in the world hope that Qin will become exhausted, so they try to persuade Your Majesty to attack West Zhou, If Qin is weakened by other states, you cannot make West Zhou follow your orders