秦使赵攻魏
Qin Ordered Zhao to Attack Wei
【原文】
秦使赵攻魏，魏谓赵王曰攻魏者，亡赵之始也。昔者，晋人欲亡虞而伐虢，伐虢者，亡虞之始也。故荀息以马与璧假道于虞，宫之奇谏 而不听，卒假晋道。晋人伐虢，反而取虞。故《春秋》书之，以罪虞公。今国莫强于赵，而并齐、秦。王贤而有声者相之，所以为腹心之疾者，赵 也。魏者，赵之虢也;赵者，魏之虞也听秦而攻魏者，虞之为也。愿王 之熟计之也。”
【今译】
秦国让赵国攻打魏国，魏国派人对赵王说：“进攻魏国是赵国灭亡 的开始。从前，晋国人想灭掉虞国而攻打虢国。攻打虢国是虞国灭亡 的并始。所以荀息把宝马和美玉送给虞国君主来向他借道。宫之奇进 谏，虞国君主却不听从，最终同意让晋国借道。晋国军队进攻虢国，回来的请中又攻取了虞国。所以《春秋》中记栽了这件事，来谴责虞国君主。如今各诸侯国中没有比起国更强大的了，国力可以跟齐国和秦国 相提并论，大王贤明而且任用有声望的人做相国。能成为秦国的心腹 之患的，就是赵国。魏国是赵国的虢国，赵国是魏国的虞国。如果听从 秦国来进攻魏国，那就是虞国的所作所为了。希望大王仔细考虑这件 事啊
The state of Qin ordered the state of Zhao to send troops to attack the state of Wei. Wei sent someone to inform the king of Zhao as follows： “Attacking Wei is the beginning of the process of ruining Zhao. Previously, the people of the state of Jin wanted to overthrow the state of Yu,so they made an excuse to launch military action against the state of Guo, Launching military action against Guo is the beginning of the process of the perdition of Yu. So Xun Xi presented swift horses and precious jade to the sovereign of Yu to ask for his permission to let the troops of Jin march through his territory to attack Guo, Gong Zhiqi remonstrated with the sovereign fiercely but the sovereign wouldn’t listen to him. He finally agreed to let the troops of Jin march through his state. Then the troops of Jin attacked Guo. And on their way back, they occupied Yu. Hence, The Spring and Autumn Annals records this story to reprimand the sovereign of Yu. Now Zhao is one of the most powerful states in the world, and it is as powerful as the states of Qi and Qin. In addition, Your Majesty is wise and capable. And your prime minister is a person of high reputation. So Zhao is a serious threat to Qin. The relationship between Wei and Zhao is somewhat the same as that between Guo and Yu, If you take the orders of Qin’s king to attack Wei, you will do the same as Yu did before. I hope that you will think it over carefully.”