Xi Xie Visited Lord Jianxin
希写见建信君
Xi Xie visited Lord Jianxin, and Lord Jianxin said， “Marquis Wenxin is very discourteous towards me. When the state of Qin recommends people to work for our government, I would appoint them to be prime minister or other high-ranking court officials. However，Marquis Wenxin is very discourteous towards me,” Xi Xie said, “ I think contemporary governors are not as good as merchants are, ” Lord Jianxin became very angry and said，“Are you looking down on governors but appreciating merchants?" Xi Xie said, “No, Good merchants won’t bargain with customers about the price of goods. They will just wait for the right time. They buy commodities when their prices come down. Although some items might still be expensive, they are relatively cheap. They sell off these items when the prices go up. Although some items might still be cheap, he can still obtain some profits. Previously, King Wen was detained in Youli, and King Wu used to be confined in Yumen. Nonetheless King Zhou of the Shang Dynasty was finally beheaded and his head was hung on the top of a big white flag. This was attributed to the contribution of King Wu. Now you cannot match Marquis Wenxin in terms of power, but you condemn him for being discourteous, I personally don’t think it is wise for you to do so.”
【原文】
希写见建信君。建信君曰文信侯之于仆也，甚无礼。秦使人来 仕，仆官之丞相，爵五大夫。文信侯之于仆也，甚矣其无礼也。”希写曰： “臣以为今世用事者，不如商贾Z建信君悖然臼：“足下卑用事者而高商 贾乎？” 曰:“不然。夫良商不与人争买卖之贾，而谨司时。时贱而买，虽 贵已贱矣；时贵而卖，虽贱已贵矣。昔者，文王之拘于牖里，而武王羁于玉门，卒断纣之头而县于太白者，是武王之功也。今君不能与文信侯相 伉以权，而责文信侯少礼，臣窃为君不取也
【今译】
希写拜见建信君，建信君说文信侯对我太无礼了。秦国派人来 这里做官，我安排他们做相国，爵位是五大夫。文信侯对我也太无礼 了 希写说我认为现在的执政者不如商人J建信君勃然大怒，说： ‘‘您瞧不起执政者，而抬高商人吗？”希写说不是这样的。好的商人不 跟别人争究买卖货物的价格，而是小心谨慎地等待时机。货价低的时 候买进，即便是责的物品也便宜了不少；货价高的时候卖出，即便是卖 得便宜也已经是高价了。从前，周文王被囚禁在羑里，武王被关押在玉门，最终还是砍掉纣的脑袋并且悬挂在大白旗上，这是武王的功劳。如 今您不能跟文信侯相抗衡，却指责文信侯无礼，我私下认为您这么做是 不可取的。”