说张相国
Someone Had a Talk with Prime Minister Zhang
【原文】
说张相国曰君安能少赵人而令赵人多君？君安能憎赵人而令赵 人爱君乎？夫胶漆，至靭也，而不能合远；鸿毛，至轻也，而不能自举。 夫飘于清风，则横行四海。故事有简而功成者，因也。今赵万乘之强国 也，前漳、滏，右常山，左河间，北有代，带甲百万，尝抑强齐，四十余年而 秦不能得所欲。由是观之，赵之于天下也不轻。今君易万乘之强赵，而慕思不可得之小梁，臣窃为君不取也。”君曰善。”自是之后，众人广坐 之中，未尝不言赵人之长者也，未尝不言赵俗之善者也。
【今译】
有人游说赵国的张相国说您怎能轻视赵国人，而让赵国人尊重 您？您怎能憎恨赵国人，而让赵国人热爱您？胶和漆是最黏稠的东西， 却不能把两个相距遥远的东西粘合在一起；羽毛是最轻的东西，却不能 把自己飘举起来。乘着清鼠飞翔，就能在四海内横行。所以有的事情 做起来很简单却能成功，是因为善于凭借有利形势的缘故。如今赵国 是一个拥有一万辆战车的强国，前面有漳水和滏水，右边有常山，左边 有河间，北面有代国，有一百万武装的军队，曾经控制着强大的齐国，使 秦国在四十多年时间里不能实现自己扩张的愿望。由此看来，赵国在天下的地位不容忽鉍。现在您轻视拥有一万辆战车的强大的赵国T却 思慕您在那里不能得志的小小的魏国，我私下认为您这么做是不可取 的。”张相国说:‘说得好。”从这以后，在大庭广众之中，张相国没有不谈 论赵国人的长处的，没有不谈论赵国风俗的优良的。
Someone had a talk with Prime Minister Zhang of the state of Zhao and said，“How can you make the people of the state of Zhao look up to you while you yourself look down on them? How can you make the people of the state of Zhao love you while you yourself hate them? Glue and lacquer are the most sticky materials. However, they cannot pull two things far from each other together. Feather is the lightest thing. Nonetheless，it cannot lift itself up, but it can travel all over the world with the help of the wind. Hence, if an objective situation can be made good use of，some undertakings can be easily fulfiled. Now Zhao is a powerful state with ten thousand chariots. It has the Zhangshui River and the Fushui River in the south，Mount Chang on its right side,the area of Hejian on the left, and the state of Dai in the north. It also has one million armoured troops. For more than forty years, it has been controlling the powerful Qi and preventing the state of Qin fulfilling its wish to encroach upon other states to enlarge its own territory. From this point of view, the state of Zhao plays an important role in the world. However, you are not paying any attention to the powerful Zhao which possesses ten thousand chariots. You long for the weak and small Wei where you will not realize your goal. I personally think it is unwise for you to do so. ” Prime Minister Zhang said, “Very good,” From then on, he would always talk about the strong points of the Zhao people and praise their excellent customs and conventions*