卫鞅亡魏入秦
The First Volume on Qin Wei Yang Escaped from Wei to Qin
【原文】
卫鞅亡魏人秦，孝公以为相，封之于商，号曰商君。商君治秦，法令至行，公平无私，罚不讳强大，赏不私亲近。法及太子，黥劓其傅々期年之后，道不拾遗，民不妄取，兵革大强，诸侯畏惧。然刻深寡恩，特以强服之耳。
【今译】
卫鞅逃离魏国，来到秦国，秦孝公任命他为相国，把他封在商，称他为商君。商君治理秦国时，法令推行得非常成功，公正无私，惩项有罪者不怕得罪势力强大的人，奖赏有功者不偏袒亲属与近臣，太子犯法也要受到制裁，于是对太子的老师和辅官分别施以黥刑和劓刑。法律推行满一年以后，丢失在道路上的物品没有人拾取，老百姓不乱拿不属于自己的东西，国家兵力强大、武器先进，各国诸侯都很畏惧秦国的势力。然而，商鞅的法律太过苛刻，缺少仁爱，只不过是用强权压服人民而已。
Wei Yang escaped from the state of Wei and went to the stale of Qin. Duke Xiao, the sovereign of Qin, appointed him prime minister oi his state and presented Shang to him. So Wei Yang was aLso titled “Lord of Shang”，When the lord of Shang governed the state of Qin, hi's law prevailed. Everything whs settled impartially and exactly according to the law. Anyone who had committed crimes was punished no matter how powerful and influential he might be. On the other hand, no one was overly rewarded just because he was a relative of or elose to the royal family. Even the crown prince was punished because of his misconduct ； his tutor and assistant also suffered the Qing (referring to the' penalty of stabbing the faces of criminals with a sharp knife and then smearing the wound with black ink to make a mark so that others could recognize the criminals easily) and Yi ( referring to the penalty of cutting off the noses of criminals). After Shang Yang’s (Wei Yang was called Shang Yang after he was conferred Shang) law been implemented for one year, no one would keep items found on the road to himself. People didn’t take things not belonging to them. The military force of Qin became very formidable，and sovereigns of all the other states were afraid of Qin’s power. However，the law was too unmerciful ? and the people were overborne by nothing but coercion.
【原文】
孝公行之[十]八年，疾且不起，欲传商君，辞不受。孝公已死，惠王 代后，莅政有顷，商君告归。
【今译】
在秦孝公推行商鞅的法律的第十八年，他生病卧床不起，打算把王 位传给商鞅，商鞅推辞而不肯接受。秦孝公死后，秦惠王继承王位，他 执政不久，商鞅就请求辞掉官职回到魏国，
Eighteen years after Duke Xiao implemented this law, he was confined to his bed. He wanted to devolve the throne on to Shang Yang，but Shang Yang refused to take it. When Duke Xiao died，King Hui took over the regime. Not long after King Hui came to power, Shang Yang asked for King Ilui’s permission to allow him to give up his position and go back to Wei>
【原文】
人说惠王曰：“大臣太重者，国危；左右太亲者，身危。今秦妇人婴 儿皆言商君之法，莫言大王之法，是商君反为主，大王更为码也。a夫 商君，固大工仇雠也?愿大王图之！ ”商君归还，惠王车裂之，而秦人不 怜。
【今译】
有人对秦惠王说如果大臣的权势太大，国家就会有危险；如果近 臣与国君过于亲密，国君就会有危除。如今秦国的妇女和孩子都在谈 论商鞅的法律，而没有人谈论大王的法律，这样一来.商鞅反而成了一 国之主，而大王您却成了臣子了。而且商鞅本来就是大王的仇人啊。 请大王仔细考虑考虑吧,商鞅回归魏国不成，又返回秦国。秦惠王动 用了车裂的酷刑将他处死，但秦国人却不同情他。
苏秦始将连横.
Someone told King Hui, “If a high-ranking court official is too powerful? the state is in danger. If the beloved ones are too close to a sovereign, the sovereign is in danger. Nowadays, every man, woman and child in our state is talking about Shang Yang’s law, but no one discusses the law of Your Majesty. Therefore，they take Shang Yang as the sovereign and regard Your Majesty as nothing but a court official. Moreover, Shang Yang is a personal enemy of Your Majesty. Please think it over. ’，Shang Yang failed to return lo Wei and had to go back to Qin. King Hui executed him with the Chelie penalty (referring to the penalty of killing a person by tying his limbs and head to five carriages respectively and then driving the horses to pull the carriages in different directions). Nobody in Qin showed any sympathy towards him.