齐将攻宋而秦楚禁之
Qi Was About to Attack Song but Qin and Chu Prevented It
【原文】
齐将攻宋，而秦、楚禁之。齐因欲与赵，赵不听。齐乃令公孙衍说 李兑以攻宋而定封焉。李兑乃谓齐王曰臣之所以坚三晋以攻秦者， 非以为齐得利秦之毁也，欲以使攻宋也。而宋置太子以为王，下亲其上 而守坚，臣是以欲足下之速归休士民也。今太子走，诸善太子者，皆有 死心。若复攻之，其国必有乱，而太子在外，此亦举宋之时也。
【今译】
齐国将要攻打宋国，但是秦国和楚国制止了它。于是齐国想跟赵 国一起攻打宋国，赵国没有听从。齐王就让公孙衍劝说李兑进攻宋国来确立自己的封地。于是李兑对齐王说我之所以坚决支持韩国、赵 国和魏国攻打秦国，并非认为秦国的毁灭会对齐国有利，而是想为攻打 宋国提供便利。然而宋国把太子立为王，民众亲附君主而且防守坚固， 因此我希望您赶快将士民召回，让他们休整。如今太子逃亡，那些跟太 子亲近的人都抱定了必死的决心。假如再进攻它，它国内必定出现大 乱，而且太子在国外，这也是灭掉宋国的时机。
The state of Qi was about to attack the state of Song, but the state of Qin and the state of Chu prevented Qi’s military action. Qi then wanted to unite with the state of Zhao to assault Song, but Zhao didny t take Qi's advice. Qi then asked Gongsun Yan to persuade Li Dui to attack Song so as to establish his fief. Li Dui then had a talk with the king of Qi and said, “The reason why I firmly support Han, Zhao and Wei to attack Qin is not that I think Qi can benefit from the destruction of the state of Qin, but that I want to facilitate attacking Song by doing so. However，Song has designated the crown prince to be its new king. The subjects are very close to the king，and they are on high alert to defend their state. So，I want you to withdraw your officers and men and let them rest. Now the crown prince (referring to the newly enthroned king of Song) has fled. Those close to him will all fight to the death for his sake. If you attack Song again，that state will be in chaos. Since the crown prince is still abroad, this is the right time to attack and ruin Song. ”
【原文】
“臣为足下使公孙衍说奉阳君曰：‘君之身老矣，封不可不早定也。 为君虑，封莫若于宋，他国莫可。夫秦人贪，韩、魏危，燕、楚辟，中山之 地薄，莫如于阴。失今之时，不可复得已。宋之罪重，齐之怒深，残乱 宋，得大齐，定身封，此百代之一时也以。’奉阳君甚食之，唯得大封，齐无大异。臣愿足下之大发攻宋之举，而无庸致兵，姑待已耕，以观奉阳 君之应足下也。县阴以甘之，循有燕以临之，而臣待忠之封，事必大成, 臣又愿足下有地效于襄安君以资臣也。足下果残宋，此两地之（时) [封]也，足下何爱焉？若足下不得志于宋，与国何敢望也？足下以此资 臣也，臣循燕观赵，则足下击溃而决天下矣。”
【今译】
“我替您让公孙衍游说奉阳君道：‘您的年纪已经很大了，不可以不 早点把封地确定下来啊-为您着想，封地没有能比得上宋国的，其他国 家都不行。秦国人很贪婪，封地在韩国和魏国就有危险；燕国和楚国很 偏远，中山国的土地很贫瘠，没有哪里比得上阴。失去了眼前的时机， 就不可以再得到了。宋国罪孽深重，齐国非常愤怒。摧毁混乱的宋国， 给予齐国巨大的恩惠，确定自己的封地，这是百代难逢的机会啊。'奉阳君非常贪婪，一心得到广大的封地，但对齐国没有太大的妨害。我希望 您大力进攻宋国，而不要招致别国的进攻，来观察奉阳君会对您作出什 么反应。用阴利诱他，随同燕国一起威逼赵国，而我会忠心促成他得到 封地，事情一定会大获成功。我又希望您进献土地给襄安君来帮助我。 您若果真能摧毁宋国，就能确定两块封地。您还有什么舍不得的吗? 如果您不能战胜宋国，盟国怎敢指望战胜它呢？您用这来协助我，我顺 从燕国、观察赵国，您就可以击溃宋国并且决胜天下了。”
He continued, “I will ask Gongsun Yan to persuade Lord Fengyang for you as follows： “ Now that you are very old， you should establish your fief as soon as possible. For you, the best location of your fief should be in the state of Song, and no other state is as suitable in this regard. The people of the state of Qin are covetous, so if you choose the state of Han or the state of Wei，your fief will be in danger. The state of Yan and the state of Chu are too far from Zhao. And the land of the state of Zhongshan is barren. No other place can match the region of Yin. If you lose this opportunity now, you will regret it for ever. The state of Song is sinful, and the state of Qi is very angry with it. Destroying the chaotic Song is doing a favour to the big Qi. This is the right time to take action and establish your own fief. It only comes once in a hundred generations. f Lord Fengyang is very greedy. He only wants to gain a large fief，but this is nothing to the state of Qi. I hope that you can launch attacks on Song’s horse and foot instead of suffering aggression. Then you can observe Lord Fengyang’s reaction to you. You can promise to present him with the region of Yin to tempt him， and ally with Yan to approach Zhao. I will facilitate him obtaining the fief. It will definitely result in success. I also want you to present some land to Lord Xiang，an to assist my work. If you really defeat Song, they both can gain their fiefs. Why do you hesitate? If you cannot defeat Song, how can your allied states defeat it? If you help me in this regard. I will ally with Yan and scrutinize Zhao for you. Thus you can defeat Song and take control of the whole world. ”