燕饥赵将伐之
The State of Yan Suffered a Famine，So Zhao Planned to Attack It
【原文】
燕饥，赵将伐之。楚使将军之燕，过魏，见赵恢。赵恢曰：“使除患 无至，易于救患。伍子胥、宫之奇不用，烛之武、张孟谈受大赏。是故谋 者皆从事于除患之道，而先使除患无至者。今予以百金送公也，不如以 言。公听吾言而说赵王曰：‘昔者，吴伐齐，为其饥也。伐齐未必胜也， 而弱越乘其弊以霸。今王之伐燕也，亦为其饥也。伐之未必胜，而强秦 将以兵承王之西。是使弱赵居强吴之处，而使强秦处弱越之所，以霸也。愿王之熟计之也！’”
【今译】
燕国闹饥荒，赵国将要攻打它.楚国派一个将军到燕国去，途经魏 国，去见赵恢。赵恢说消除祸患，使它不能出现，要比祸患产生后再 排除它容易得多。伍子胥、宫之奇防患于未然的建议不被采用，烛之 武、张孟谈受到重大的奖赏。因此谋划的人都致力于寻求在祸患产生 后消除它的办法，却没有人杜绝祸患的产生。如今我送您一百镒金子， 不如送您一句话。您听从我的建议去游说赵王，对他说：‘从前吴国进 攻齐国，因为齐国发生了饥荒。攻打齐国未必能够取胜，但是弱小的越 国趁吴国军民疲惫不堪之际成就了霸业。如今大王攻打燕国，也是因 为它国内发生了饥荒。攻打燕国未必能够取胜，然而强大的秦国却将 派兵进攻大王的西部地区。这样一来，就使弱小的赵国处在强大的吴 国的位置上，而让强大的秦国处在弱小的越国成就霸业的位置上了。希望大王仔细考虑这件事啊
The state of Yan suffered a famine，so the state of Zhao planned to attack it. The state of Chu sent a general to visit Yan, He passed by the state of Wei and paid a visit to Zhao Hui, Zhao Hui said, “It is much easier to nip trouble in the bud than taking measures to eliminate trouble after it has already occured. Therefore，Wu Zixu’s and Gong Zhiqi’s advice was not taken by their respective sovereigns, but Zhu Zhiwu and Zhang Mengtan were rewarded very generously. So，all the advisors are engaged in looking for the right ways to eliminate trouble. But no one would nip it in the bud. Even if I presented you with one hundred yi of gold，it wouldn’t be as helpful as words. Listen to me and go to advise the king of Zhao as follows： 6 Previously, the state of Wu assaulted the state of Qi because Qi had a severe famine. It was not guaranteed that the troops of Wu would definitely win the battle. However，the king of the state of Yue took advantage of the exhaustion of Wu to attack it and became Lord-protector. NowYour Majesty is planning on aggression against Yan because of the famine occurring in that state. However, you are not guaranteed to win the war. The powerful Qin will take advantage of you and dispatch troops to occupy the western areas of your state. Thus you will put your weak Zhao in the same position as the powerful Wu. And accordingly，you will make the powerful Qin play the same role as the weak Yue—to become Lord-protector. I hope that Your Majesty will think about it carefully.，”
【原文】
使者乃以说赵王，赵王大悦，乃止。燕昭王闻之，乃封之以地。
【今译】
将军派出使者用这番话劝说赵王，赵王十分高兴，于是停止进攻燕 国的计划。燕昭王听说了这件事，就封赏给这位将军一些土地。
The general ’ s emissary expressed this argument to persuade the king of Zhao, The king was very happy with it and therefore gave up his plan for attacking Yan, When King Zhao of Yan heard of this, he conferred some land on the general,