范雎至秦
Fan Ju Arrived in Qin
【原文】
范雎至秦，王庭迎，谓范雎曰：“广寡人宜以身受令久矣！（今者）[会] 义渠之事急，寡人日A请太后。今义渠之事巳，寡人乃得以身受命，躬 窃闵然不敏。”敬执宾主之礼，范雎辞让。
【今译】
范雎来到秦国，秦王在朝廷迎接他。秦王对范雎说我早就应该 亲自接受您的教导了。正赶上义渠的战事非常紧急，我天天亲自去向 太后请示。现在义渠的战事刚刚结束了，我才有时间亲自聆听您的教 海。我认为自己糊涂而且愚钝，请让我用宾主的礼节来接见您/’范雎 辞谢谦让了。
Fan Ju arrived in Qin, where the king welcomed him at court and told him, “I have wished to listen to your advice in person for some time. Recently I have been busy because of the war in Yiqu. I visited the queen mother almost every day to ask for instructions. Now that the war in Yiqu is over, I have time to listen to your advice. I consider myself muddle-headed and want to treat you according to our etiquette between host and guest. ” Fan Ju expressed his thanks and refused to press the king to do so-
【原文】
是日见范雎，见者无不变色易容者。秦王屏左右，宫中虚无人。秦 王跪而请曰先生何以幸教寡人？”范雎唯唯。”有间，秦王复请，范 雎臼广唯唯。”若是者三。
【今译】
这天秦王接见范雎，见到这个场面的人没有一个不改变了脸色。 秦王遣退周围的人，宫廷里没有别人了。秦王跪下请求道先生对我 有什么指教？”范雎说噢，噢。”过了一会儿，秦王继续请教，范雎说: “噢，噢。”这样重复了三次。
On the day Fan Ju was interviewed by the king, everyone who witnessed the reception was terrified and changed their expressions. The king of Qin asked all the people at court to leave. When only the two of them- Fan Ju and the king— were left there, the king knelt down and said, “What are you going to teach me，Sire?” Fan Ju just said, “Oh, Oh!” After a while, the king begged for his instructions again, but Fan Ju said “Oh，（)h，，again. He didn’t give any concrete answer even though the king asked for a third time.
【原文】
秦王跽曰广先生不幸教寡人乎？”
【今译】
秦王长跪不起，说广先生竟然不肯踢教于我吗？”
The king of Qin knelt down before Fan Ju for a long time and said，“Why don’t you give me some instructions?”
【原文】
范雎谢曰：”非敢然也！ 臣闻始时吕尚之遇文王也，身为渔父而钓 于渭阳之滨耳。若是者，交疏也&已一说，而立为太师、载与俱归者，其 言深也。故文王果收功于吕尚，卒擅天下，而身立为帝王。即使文王疏 吕望而弗与深言，是周无天子之德，而文、武无与成其王也。今臣，羁旅 之K也，交疏于王，而所愿陈者，皆匡君之（之）事，处人骨肉之间，愿以 陈臣之陋忠，而未知王心也，所以王三问而不对者是也。K非有所畏而 不敢言也，知今日言之于前，而明日伏诛于后，然S弗敢畏也。大王信 行臣之言，死不足以为臣患，亡不足以为臣忧，漆身而为厉，被发而为 狂，不足以为臣耻。五帝之圣[焉]而死，三王之仁[焉]而死，五伯之贤[焉]而死，乌获之力[焉]而死，奔、育之勇焉而死。死者，人之所必不免 也。处必然之势，可以少有补于秦，此E之所大愿也，臣何患乎？伍子 胥橐载而出昭关，夜行而昼伏，至于蔆水，无以饵其口，坐行蒲服，乞食 丁-吴市，卒兴吴同，阖庐为霸。使得进谋如伍子胥，加之以幽闪，终身 不复见，是臣说之行也，臣何忧乎？箕子、接舆，漆身而为历，被发而为 狂，无意于殷、楚。使K得同行于箕子、接舆，漆身可以补所贤之主，是 臣之大荣也，臣又何耻乎？臣之所恐者，独恐臣死之后，天下见A尽忠 而身蹶也，是以杜口裹足，莫肯即秦耳！足下上畏太后之严，下惑奸臣 之态；居深宫之中，不离保傅之手；终身阍惑，无与照奸；大者宗庙灭覆，小者身以孤危.此臣之所恐耳！若夫穷辱之事，死亡之患，臣弗敢畏 也&臣死而秦治，贤于生也。”
【今译】
范雎道歉说我不敢这么做啊。我听说当初吕尚刚刚遇到周文王 的时候，他只不过是一介渔夫，在渭水边钓鱼罢了，出现这种情况，是因为他们的交情疏浅的缘故。经过一番交谈，文王把吕尚立为太师，并 用自己的车子栽着他一起回宫t是因为他们谈得很深入透彻的缘故g 因此，文王果然依靠吕尚立了大功，最终统一了天下，自己被立为帝王。 假如文王疏远吕尚，不跟他进行深入的交谈，那样一来，周朝就没有天 子的德行，文王和武王也就不能称王了。如今，我不过是从别国来的 人，跟大王的交情非常疏浅，而我所愿意向大王陈述的，都是些匡正君 主过失的事情。我处在你们骨肉同胞之间，愿意谈谈自己粗浅的忠见， 但是不知道大王的心意.大王三次问我，我都不作回答，就是这个原 因。并不是我有所畏惧而不敢说，即使知道我今天说了这些话，明天将 被处死，我也不敢有所畏惧&大王如真能采纳我的意见，即使处死也不 足以让我害怕，流亡也不足以让我担心，身上涂漆、长满疥疮或披头散 发、成为疯子也不足以让我羞耻。像五帝那么圣明的人都死了，像三王那么仁爱的人也死了，像五霸那么贤能的人也死了，像乌获那么有力气的人也死了，像孟贲，夏育那么勇敢的人也死了。死亡，是人人都不能 避免的&处在这种必然的情势下，能够稍微对秦国有点贡献，就是我最 大的愿望了，我有什么值得担心的呢？伍子胥藏在口袋里，被车栽着逃 出昭关，昼伏夜行，到了蔆水，一点吃的东西都没有。他爬着赶路，在吴 国的市场上乞讨，最终振兴吴国.使阖庐成为霸主之一。假使我能像伍 子胥那样向大王进献自己的计策，即使把我囚禁起来，终生不能再见大 王一面，但是我的建议被采纳了，我又有什么值得担心的呢？箕子和接 舆往自己身上涂抹油漆，长出疥疮，披头散发地假装疯狂，对商朝和楚 国也没有任何帮助。假使让我像箕子和接舆那样涂身可以对我所认为 的贤德的大王有所帮助，这就是我最大的荣幸，我又有什么值得羞耻的 呢？我所担忧的，仅仅是害怕我死了以后，天下人看到我因为尽忠而身 亡，就会因此闭上自己的嘴巴，裹足不前，没有人肯再到秦国来。您上 面畏惧太后的威严，下面被奸臣的假态所速惑；处在深宫中，离不开保姆女傅的服侍；终生糊里糊涂，没有人能跟您一同明察奸邪。这种情况从大的方面讲，可以导致国家天亡；从小的方面看，会导致自己被孤立 或处于危险境况之中^这才是我所担忧害怕的！至于那些穷困、屈辱 之类的事情，死亡的忧患，我不敢害怕。如果能以我的死换取秦国政治 的清平，比活着还好呢。”
Fan Ju appologized，“I dare not offend you by doing so. I heard that the first time King Wen met Lii Shang, Lii was nothing but a fisherman busy catching fish along the Weishui River, That happened because the two of them didn t know each other at that time. But after they had a talk, King Wen appointed Lu Shang to be his tutor and drove LU back to his court with the royal carriage. That happened because they had exchanged their views deeply and thoroughly. Hence， King Wen accomplished great achievements with Lu ShangJ s help. As a result, he unified the world and became a King. Suppose King Wen had stood off from Lli Shang and not spoken deeply with him，the Son of Heaven of the Zhou Dynasty would not have established his virtue，and King Wen and King Wu would not have been able to become Kings. As for me，I am a foreigner wishing to serve in your government. I am not close to Your Majesty. What I am going to say is all about how to correct the errors of a sovereign and about your relationship with your relatives, I want to express my views to show my loyalty. However，I don’t know what is on your mind. So I didnf t answer your question though you have asked it three times. It is not because that I was afraid of something different and did not dare lo express my opinions， even though I know I would be sentenced to death because of the arguments I hold, I am not afraid. If Your Majesty can take my advice, I won’t care even if you sentence me to death nor worry that you may exile me. And I won’t feel shamed even though my body may be smeared with lacquer and develop a rash，or I may wear long hair and become insane. The Five Di Ancestors were extremely wise, but they have died. The Three King Ancestors were extremely benevolent but they have died. The Five Lord-protectors were extremely capable，but they have died. Wu Huo was extremely strong, but he has died. Meng Ben and Xia Yu were extremely brave, but they have also died. Everyone will die some day* Bearing this in mindt my most ambitious wish is to do something for the state of Qin，Why should I worry about anything eUe? Wu Zixu put himself in a bag and escaped from Zhao Guan. He lay quietly during the day and fled at night. When ho arrived by ihc Ling Shui River，he didn’t have any food，so he crawled to the market of Wu to cadge some. Finally, the state of Wu became very strong with his help and He Lu,the king of Wu，became one of the Lord-protectors, If I can help you prepare the tactics just like Wu Zixu did for He Lu，and you can take my advice，I won M care even if I were put into prison and never see you again for the rest of my life. Jizi and Jie Yu smeared themselves with lacquer and their bodies developed a rash. They aLso wore long hair to pretend to be insane. But their acts were not helpful to the Shang Dynasty and the state of Chu. If I can do something to help the king I admire the most，even if I might have to smear my body with lacquer just like Jizi and Jie Yu did，I would still consider it a great honour. How can I feel ashamed? The only thing I worry about that when other scholars see me lose my life because I want to serve Your Majesty with loyalty, they will keep silent and give up their plans to come to Qin to serve you. You are threatened by the power of your queen mother and confused by the feints of disloyal court officials. You live in the big palace and your everyday needs are taken care of by maids and servants. Thus you will be cheated all your lifetime and there is no one to inform you about the corrupt and evil conduct of the wicked court officials. This will lead to the perdition of your state or at least isolate you and put you in danger. That's what I worry about. As to the poverty and humiliation I may suffer, or even death，I don’t dare to consider these things, I would like to die as long as Qin can be put in order. ”