秦攻邯郸
The Troops of Qin Attacked Handan
【原文】
秦攻邯郸，十七月不下。庄谓王稽曰君何不赐军吏乎？”王稽曰: “吾与王也，不用人言。”庄曰：“不然！父之于子也，令有必行者，必不行 者。曰‘去贵妻，卖爱妾’，此令必行者也；因曰‘毋敢思也’，此令必不行 者也。守闾妪曰：‘其夕，某懦子内某士。’贵妻已去，爱妾已卖，而心不 有。欲教之者，人心固有。今君虽幸于王，不过父子之亲；军吏虽贱，不 卑于守闾妪。且君擅主轻下之日久矣。闻‘三人成虎，十夫（揉）[揉] 椎。众口所移，毋翼而飞’。故不如赐军吏而礼之。”王稽不听^军 吏穷，果恶王稽、杜挚以反.
【今译】
秦国军队进攻部郸，经过十七个月仍没有攻克。有一个名字叫庄的人对王稽说您何不赏賜官兵呢？’’王稽说我只听大王的，用不着 别人多说话。”庄说这是不对的。即使是父亲对于儿子，有些命令是 一定要执行的，有些是一定不能执行的。假如父亲对儿子说‘休了你珍 责的老婆，卖掉你心蒙的小妾’，这个命令是一定要执行的；如果再对他 说1不许思念她们\这个命令是一定不能执行的。看守闾里大门的老 太婆对别人说：‘那天晚上，一个年轻女人招进一个男人。，自己珍贵的 老婆已经休掉了，自己心爱的小妾已经卖掉了，但心中不能不思念她 们。每个人心中可能都会有想要诬陷别人的念头，现在虽然大王非常 喜欢您，那也比不上父亲与儿子之间的亲情；官兵地位虽然卑贱，可也 不比守门的老太婆低下。况且，您凭借着大王对您的宠爱而轻视您的 部下已经很长时间了。我听说：‘三个人造谣，能把没有老虎的地方也 说成有老虎。十个人弯一根木椎，可以把它弄曲。从很多人嘴巴里散 布出来的谣言，没有翅膀也可以高飞&，所以说，您不如犒赏官兵并且对 他们以礼相待。”王稽不听庄的建议。官兵处在山穷水尽的地步，果然 诬陷王稽和杜挚造反。
The troops of Qin attacked Handan but they didn't occupy it even after seventeen months. A man called Zhuang told Wang Ji, “Why not reward the officers and men?” Wang Ji said, “I only follow the king’s order and won’t listen to anyone else. ” Zhuang said, “I don ? t think you are right, A son can surely follow some orders issued by his father. But there are some orders that cannot be followed any way. If the father said,:" Get rid of your cherished wife and sell your beloved concubine’ , this order can be followed. However, if the father orders further，‘You should not miss themf, this order can definitely not be carried out. The old female porter says，" A young woman takes back a young man at night.， After the cherished wife is divorced and the beloved concubine is sold t it is not possible for the son to forget them totally. And it is natural for human beings to spread rumours to attack others. Even though the sovereign cherishes you very much，the relationship between you two is not as close as that of son and father. Even though your officers and men are powerless, they are not inferior to the old female porter. Moreover，you have looked down upon your inferiors for a long time because the sovereign regards you highly, I heard that 4 if three people say there is a tiger in a place others will believe there is really a tiger. If ten people bend a tree-trunk, it will become crooked. Rumours spread by many people can fly high in the sky even though they don’t have wings" So I said that you’d better reward your officers and men. ” Wang Ji didn’t listen to him. When the officers and men were at the end of their tether，they spread a rumour that Wang Ji and Du Zhi were going to rebel.
【原文】
秦王大怒，而欲兼诛范雎0范雎曰臣，东鄙之贱人也，开罪于 (楚、）魏，遁逃来奔。臣无诸侯之援、亲习之故，王举臣于羁旅之中，使 职事。天下皆闻臣之身与王之举也。今遇惑或与罪人同心，而王明诛 之，是王过举显于天下，而为诸侯所议也。臣愿请药赐死，而恩以相葬 臣^王必不失臣之罪，而无过举之名。”王曰广有之。”遂弗杀而善遇之。
【今译】
秦王非常愤怒，想连范雎也一并处死。范雎说我本来是东部地 区的一个贫贱的人，得罪了魏国后，逃跑出来投奔大王。我没有诸侯的 帮助，也没有亲朋好友的旧情可以依靠。大王把我从羁旅中提拔起来， 让我主持国家大事，天下的人都听说了我的身世和大王对我的提拔。 如今我被人蒙蔽，跟罪犯王稽一条心，如果大王公开处死我，天下人就 都明白大王提拔我是错误的，您也会成为诸侯议论的对象。我愿意请 求服毒自尽，请恩准按照相国的标准为我举行葬礼。这样大王既追究 了我的罪责，又没有错误地提拔人才的名声。秦王说广有道理。”没有 处死范睢，却对他更好了 ^
The king of Qin was very angry and wanted to sentence Fan Ju to death along with Wang Ji and Du Zhi. Fan Ju said, “I am from the east and used to be a person of low status. I offended the state of Wei and fled from Wei to Qin for shelter. I didn’t have any support from other sovereigns, nor was I backed by any relatives or old friends. Your Majesty appointed me to a powerful position and asked me to manage government affairs. People all over the world know my background and your elevation of me. Now I am hoodwinked by the offenders and share the same accusation with them. If you openly sentence me to death, you will simply show people all over the world that you elevated me wrongly, and you be derided by other sovereigns. I’d rather ask your permission to let me take poison to kill myself. But please assure me that my funeral be held according to the standard for a prime minister. Thus you won y t miss the chance to punish my misdeed, and will also avoid being accused of elevating a wrong person. ，，The king said, u Your argument seems reasonable.，，So he not only didn’t sentence Fan to death, but treated him better.