谓赵王曰三晋合而秦弱
Someone Had a Talk with Zhao's King
【原文】
谓赵王曰广三晋合而秦弱，三晋离而秦强，此天下之所明也。秦之有燕而伐赵,有赵而伐燕；有梁而伐赵，有赵而伐梁；有楚而伐韩，有韩 而伐楚：此天下之所明见也。然山东不能易其路，兵弱也。弱而不能相一，是何楚之知、山东之愚也！是臣所为山东之忧也。虎将即禽，禽不 知虎之即己也而相斗，两罢而归其死于虎。故使禽知虎之即己，决不相 斗矣。今山东之主，不知秦之即己也而尚相斗，两敝而归其国于秦，知 不如禽远矣。愿王熟虑之也。
【今译】
有人对赵王说韩国、赵国和魏国三个国家联合起来，秦国就会削弱；三个国家不联合，秦国就会强大。这是天下人都很清楚的。秦国跟 燕国亲近就会攻打赵国，跟赵国亲近就会攻打燕国；跟魏国亲近就会进 攻赵国，跟赵国亲近就会进攻魏国；跟楚国亲近就会进攻韩国，跟韩国 亲近就会进攻楚国。这是天下人都看得很清楚的。然而山东各国不能 改变它们的策略，因为它们的兵力弱小。兵力弱小而且不能互相联合， 怎么楚国这么聪明，山东各国这么愚蠢呢！这是我为山东各国所担忧 的。老虎即将靠近野兽，野兽不知道老虎靠近自己而互相决斗，两敗俱 伤后都被老虎吃掉。所以假如野兽知道老虎在靠近自己，一定不会互 相决斗的。如果山东各国的君主不知道秦国正在逼近自己而还在互相 争斗，彼此弄得疲惫不堪从而让秦国控制起它们的国家，就远远不如禽 兽聪明。希望大王仔细考虑这件事。
Someone had a talk with the king of the state of Zhao and said，“If the states of Han, Zhao and Wei unite with each other to confront the state of Qin, Qin will be weakened. If these three states don9 t build up an alliance, Qin will be strengthened. This is clear to people all over the world. If the state of Qin establishes good relations with the state of Yan, they will attack the vstate of Zhao together. If it establishes good relations with the state of Zhao, they will launch a concerted attack on the state of Yan, If it establishes good relations with the state of Wei，they will attack the state of Zhao together. If it establishes good relations with the state of Zhao, they will launch a concerted attack on the state of Wei. If it establishes good relations with the state of Chu, they will attack the state of Han together. If it establishes good relations with the state of Han, they will launch a concerted attack on the state of Chu. This is also clear to people all over the world. But those states located east of Mount Xiao wouldn’t change their tactics because their military forces are weak. In this case, they cannot ally with each other. Why is the state of Chu so clever and those state's located east of Mount Xiao so stupid! That’s why I worry about them. Two wild animals are fighting each other without noticing that a tiger is approaching. As a result, they both will become exhausted and be killed by the tiger. So, if the animals knew about the approaching of the tiger，they would no longer fight each other. Now those states east of Mount Xiao don’t realize that the troops of the state of Qin are approaching them，so they are fighting each other and thus allowing the state of Qin to take advantage of them. They are no more intelligent than wild animals in this respect. I hope that Your Majesty meditate on this carefully.
【原文】
“今事有可急者，秦之欲伐韩、梁，东阏于周室甚，惟寐亡之。今南 攻楚者，恶三晋之大合也。今攻楚，休而复之，已五年矣，攘地千余里a 今谓楚王：‘苟来举玉趾而见寡人，必与楚为兄弟之国，必为楚攻韩、梁， 反楚之故地。’楚王美秦之语，怒韩、梁之不救己，必入于秦。有谋故 (杀）[发]使之赵，以燕饵赵，而离三晋。今王美秦之言而欲攻燕，攻燕， 食未饱而祸已及矣。楚王人秦，秦、楚为一，东面而攻韩。韩南无楚，北 无赵，韩不待伐，割挈马（兔）[俛]而西走。秦与韩为上交，秦祸安移于梁矣。以秦之强，有楚、韩之用，梁不待伐矣，割挈马（兔）[俛]而西走。 秦与梁为上交，秦祸案攘于赵矣。以（强秦之）[秦之强]，有韩、梁、楚与 燕之怒，割必深矣。国之举此，臣之所为来。臣故曰：事有可急为者。
【今译】
“如今情况非常紧急。秦国想进攻韩国和魏国，急于_取代周王室, 只有睡着了才能暂且忘记此事口如今秦国向南进攻楚国，是因为担心 韩国、赵国和魏国联合起来。秦国进攻楚国，停战了又重新进攻，已经 有五年时间了，夺取了一千多里土地。如今对楚王说：‘如果亲自来见 我，一定会跟楚国结为兄弟国，必定为楚国进攻韩国和魏国，返还从楚 国侵占的土地。’楚王觉得秦王的话很中听，恼火韩国和魏国不营救自 己，一定要到秦国去。秦国又谋划派使者到赵国去，跟赵国联合起来进 攻燕国，从而离间韩国、赵国和魏国的关系。如今大王听信秦王的甜言 蜜语而打算进攻燕国，如果进攻燕国，一顿饭还没有吃完的工夫灾祸就 已经临头了。楚王去秦国，秦国和楚国联合，一起向东进攻韩国。韩国 南面没有楚国的支持，北面没有赵国的援助，不用等到被进攻，就会牵 着马向西投奔秦国了。秦国和韩国的交情很好了，秦军入侵的灾祸就 转移到魏国了。凭着秦国的强大，又有楚国和韩国的支持，魏国不等秦 国出兵，就会牵着马向西投奔秦国了。秦国和魏国的交情很好了，秦军入侵的灾祸就会转移到赵国了。凭着秦国的强大，又有韩囯、魏国和楚 国的支持，再加上燕国对赵国的愤怒，一定会割让出很多的土地。赵国 有这样的举动，我就是为了这件事而来的。所以我说：如今情况非常紧急的。
“Now some things are very urgent. Qin longs to invade the states of Han and Wei and eagerly covets the territory of the royal family of the Zhou Dynasty. These thoughts can only be put aside during sleep. Now the troops of Qin are attacking the state of Chu in the south, because they hate Han, Zhao and Wei building an alliance. As for Qin’s war against the state of Chu, it stopped once but started again. Five years have passed and Qin has seized more than one thousand square li of land from Chu. Recently, the king of Qin sent a message to the king of Chu as follows； If you come to see me in person，I will befriend your state and will also attack the states of Han and Wei to help your state, so that they will return the land taken from you, ‘ The king of Chu thought highly of the words of the king of the state of Qin and was embittered towards the states of Han and Wei since they did not send troops to rescue his state. So he made up his mind to go to the state of Qin in person. The king of Qin also plans to send someone to the state of Zhao to promise to help it attack the state of Yan so as to alienate the states of Han, Zhao and Wei. Now Your Majesty believe the words of the king of Qin and therefore is planning to attack the state of Yan. If you attack Yan, you will find yourself in trouble right away. If the king of Chu goes to the state of Qin, Chu and Qin will unite with each other to dispatch their troops eastwards to attack the state of Han, Han will lose the support of both the state of Chu in the south and the state of Zhao in the north. As a result, even before the two sides engage, the people of Han will turn their horses and head west to submit to the state of Qin. If Han establishes close ties with Qin, the troops of Qin will turn to attack the state of Wei, Because of Qin? s own might and the support of the states of Chu and Han for Qin, even before the two sides engage，people of the state of Wei will turn their horses and head west to submit to the state of Qin. If Wei establishes close ties with Qin, the troops of Qin will attack the state of Zhao. Because of Qin’s own might, the support of the states of Han，Wei and Chu for Qin，and the state of Yan , s bitterness towards the state of Zhao, Zhao will definitely need to cede a lot of land to Qin* Your state is in much trouble. That’s why I have come here. As I said，there are very urgent matters.
【原文】
“及楚王之未人也，三晋相亲相坚，出锐师以戍韩、梁西边，楚王闻 之，必不入秦，秦必怒而循攻楚，是秦祸不离楚也，便于三晋。若楚王 入，秦见三晋之大合而坚也，必不出楚王，即多割，是秦祸不离楚也，有利于三晋。愿王之熟计之也急！
【今译】
“趁楚王还没有到秦国去，韩国、赵国和魏国互相亲近、彼此欠持， 派出精锐部队守卫韩国和魏国西部地区，楚王听说了，一定不会到秦国 去，秦国一定会很恼火从而进攻楚国。这样一来，秦国不入侵楚国，就 侵略韩国、赵国和魏国。如果楚王去了秦国，秦国看见韩国、赵国和魏 国坚定地联合在一起，一定不会放楚王出来，就会从楚国割取很多土 地，这样秦国的灾祸还是没有离开楚国，就对韩国、赵国和魏国有利。希望大王赶快仔细考虑此事。”
“Before the king of the state of Chu enters the state of Qin，the three states—Han, Zhao and Wei can ally with one another and send elite troops to defend the western borders of the states of Han and Wei, When the king of the state of Chu hears that, he will definitely refuse to go to the state of Qin. As a result, the state of Qin will be angered and therefore dispatch troops to attack the state of Chu. Thus Chu will suffer Qin’s aggression which will be advantageous to the three states—Han, Zhao and Wei. If the king of Chu goes to the state of Qin，and the king of Qin realizes that Han, Zhao and Wei have built a firm alliance against him，he will definitely not let the king of Chu return to his own state and then force him to cede more land. If this is the case，Chu still cannot avoid Qin’s threat. This will also be advantageous to the three states—Han, Zhao and Wei. I hope Your Majesty immediately meditate on this thoroughly. ”
【原文】
” 赵王因起兵南戍韩、梁之西边。秦见三晋之坚也，果不出楚王（卬) 而多求地。 【今译】
【今译】
赵王就派兵守卫韩国和魏国西部边境。秦国看到这三个国家紧密 联合在一起，果然不放楚王回国而索取大量的土地。
The king of Zhao then sent troops to defend the western borders of Han and Wei，The king of Qin realized that Han, Zhao and Wei had built a firm alliance against him. So as expected he refused to set the king of Chu free but coerced
him into ceding more land to Qin