应侯谓昭王
Marquis Ying Had a Talk with KingZhao
【原文】
应侯谓昭王曰亦闻恒思有神丛与？恒思有悍少年，请于丛博， 曰：‘吾胜丛，丛籍我神三日；不胜丛，丛困我/乃左手为丛投，右手自为 投，胜丛。丛籍其神6 二 丛往求之，遂弗归。五日而丛枯，七日而丛亡。今国者，王之丛；势者，王之神。籍人以此，得无危乎？ R未尝闻指 大于臂、臂大于股。若有此，则病必甚矣。百人舆瓢而趋，不如一人持 而走疾。西人诚舆瓢，瓢必裂。今秦国，华阳用之，穰侯用之，太后用 之，王亦用之。不称瓢为器则已，已称瓢为器，国必裂矣。臣闻之也: 4木实繁者枝必披，枝之披者伤其心g都大者危其国，臣强者危艽主。’ (其令）[且今]邑中自斗食以上，至尉、内史及王左右，有非相国之人者 乎？闰无事则已，国有事，臣必闻见王独立于庭也！臣窃为王恐，恐万世之后，有国者非王子孙也！
【今译】
应侯对秦昭王说您也听说过恒思那里有个神丛吗？恒思有个勇 猛的少年，他提出要跟丛比赛玩掷骰子的游戏，说：‘我胜了你，你就把 神灵借给我用三天；不能胜你，你就处罚我于是左手为丛掷骰子，右 手为自己掷，胜了丛，丛就把神灵借给了他。过了三天，丛去找少年要回神灵，少年竟不归还。五天后，丛就枯萎了；七天后，丛就死了。如今秦国就是大王的丛，权势就是大王的神灵。把权势都给了别人，能没 有危险吗？我还没有听说手指能大过胳膊、胳脾能大过大腿的。如果 212真有人有这种情形，那一定是病得非常重了。一百个人一起举着一个瓢跑，不如一个人拿着瓢走得快。若果真让一百个人一起举着瓢，瓢必 定会破裂。如今的秦国，华阳君执政，穰侯执政，太后执政，大王也执 政。不把这瓢比作国家也就算了，如果把它比作国家，国家一定会像它 那般分裂了。我听说：‘如果一棵树结很多果实，枝柯一定会被压断。 枝柯被压断了，树干一定会受伤。分封给臣子的采邑太大了就会对国 家造成危害，大臣权势太重就会对君主造成危害。’再说现今囯都中从每天只领一斗俸禄的官员到军尉、内史甚至大王周围的人，有谁不是相国的人？国家没有变故则已，若国内发生变故，我预见大王必定会在朝廷中被孤立起来^我私下为大王感到担忧，恐怕大王辞世以后拥有秦 国的就不是大王您的子孙了。
Marquis Ying had a talk with KingZhaoofthe state of Qin. He said, “Have you ever heard about the story of Shen Cong (referring to a shrine with woods around it) in the area of Hengsi? Once there was a brave boy in Hengsi. He asked Cong to play dice with him. He said, ‘If I win, you should lendyour deity to me for three days. If I losethe game, you canpunish me. y Then he threw the dicewith hisleft hand on behalf of Cong and threw it with his right hand for himself. And he won the game. So Cong lent him the deity. Three days later,Cong went to ask for the deity back. But the boy refused to return it. Five days later, Cong started to wither. Seven day later, Cong died. Now the state of Qin is Your Majesty's Cong, and the authority over the state is Your Majesty f s deity. If you devolve the authority over the state to others, how can you .stay free from danger? I have never heard that one?s finger could be bigger than his arm, or one’ s arm bigger than his thigh. Suppose there were someone really like that, he would soon die. When one hundred people run holding a Piao (referring to a kind of utensil made of gourd and used to fetch water) , they are not faster than a person carrying the Piao and walking quickly. If one hundred people hold a Piao together, the Piao will certainly crack. Now in the state of Qin，Lord Huayang is in power, Marquis Rang is in power, the queen mother is in power, and Your Majesty is also in power. You haven’t sized up this situation properly. If you take the facts into account, you will find that the state of Qin will definitely be divided up by other states. I have heard，‘ If a tree bears a huge amount of fruit，its branches will break. If the branches are broken, the trunk ill also be damaged. If the capital of a state is overly large, it will pose a threat to the state. If high-ranking court officials are overly powerful, they will cause damage to the sovereign. ’ Look, in our capital, from the low-ranking officials with a daily salary of around one dou of grain, to Junwei (the title of a kind of officer in Qin’s army) , Neishi (the title of a kind of high-ranking court official of Qin) and even those court officials around you，is there anyone not manipulated by the prime minister? No! When the state is at pcace t you can enjoy your life here. If there is ever an emergency, I can foresee that you will certainly be isolated at court. I personally worry about you very much. I am also afraid that after you pass away，the new sovereign might not he your own offspring!
【原文】
“臣闻古之善为政也，其威内扶，其辅外布，（四）[而]治政不乱不 逆，使者直道而行，不敢为非。今太后使者分裂诸侯，而符布天下，操大 国之势，强征兵，伐诸侯。战胜攻取，利尽归于陶；国之币帛，竭人太后 之家；竟内之利，分移华阳。古之所谓危主灭国之道，必从此起。三贵 竭国以自安，然则令何得从王出？权何得毋分？是我王果处二.分之一 也,，
【今译】
“我听说古代善于治理国家的君主在朝廷中树立自己的威势，在朝 外安排自己的心腹，这样国家就会被治理得井井有条，不会出现混乱与 忤逆，派出的使臣也会秉公守法，不敢为非作歹。如今太后派出的使臣 瓜分其他国家的土地，而且在天下到处散发符节，掌握着国家大权，征 集强大的军队，攻打别的国家，战无不胜，攻无不克，利益都归陶邑所 有。国家的钱财都流到太后家里，境内的利益都转移到了华阳君名下。 古人所谓的导致君主危急、国家灭亡的做法，必定是从这里开始的5这 三个权责榨空国家来享受安逸。这样一来，大王怎么能够发号施令?大权怎能不被瓜分？大王实际上只拥有三分之一的权势啊
“ I heard that in ancient times, sovereigns adept at governing their states would strengthen their powers at court and appoint those who were really loyal to them to help them govern their states outside the court. Thus their states would be in order and free from chaos or rebellion. Emissaries sent to other states would comply with the law and behave decently. They would dare not commit any misconduct. However，nowadays the emissaries sent by the queen mother aim at carving up other states ’ territory to benefit themselves. They distribute tallies all across the world. By taking firm control of the might of the powerful state of Qin f they use our formidable military forces to attack other states. They win every war and occupy every place they want. However, all the profit they gain have been transferred to Tao. All the wealth of our state is in the hands of the queen mother. And the advantages of the state are devolved to Lord Huayang, According to the sages of ancient times, this is the starting point of the path leading to the most severe danger for a sovereign and the ruin of his state- These three aforementioned powerful aristocrats will exhaust our state to benefit themselves. Therefore, how can your edicts be carried out? How can you ensure that your power not be taken by others? Therefore, in fact, you only possess a third of the
power of our state.