| | 謂秦王: |
謂秦王曰：「臣竊惑王之輕齊易楚，而卑畜韓也。臣聞，王兵勝而不驕，伯主約而不忿。勝而不驕，故能服世；約而不忿，故能從鄰。今王廣德魏、趙，而輕失齊，驕也；戰勝宜陽，不恤楚交，忿也。驕忿非伯主之業也，臣竊為大王慮之而不取也。」 |
| | He said to King Qin, "I secretly feel puzzled by Your Majesty's light regard for Qi and ease toward Chu, and your lowly treatment of Han." I have heard that a king whose army wins is not arrogant, and a hegemon who makes alliances is not resentful. Victorious yet not arrogant, thus he can subdue the world; Allied yet not resentful, thus he can command his neighbors. Now Your Majesty extends virtue to Wei and Zhao, yet lightly loses Qi—this is arrogance; Having conquered Yiyang in battle, yet showing no concern for the alliance with Chu—is this not resentment? Arrogance and resentment are not the deeds of a hegemon. I secretly fear for Your Majesty, and thus do not approve."
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| | 謂秦王: |
《》云：「」故先王之所重者，唯始與終。何以知其然？昔智伯瑤殘范、中行，圍逼晉陽，卒為三家笑。吳王夫差棲越於會稽，勝齊於艾陵，為黃池之遇，無禮於宋，遂與勾踐禽，死於干遂。梁君伐楚勝齊，制趙、韓之兵，驅十二諸侯以朝天子於孟津，後子死，身布冠而拘於秦。三者非無功也，能始而不能終也。 |
| | The "Shi Jing" says: "All things have their beginning; few can bring them to a successful end." Therefore, what the former kings valued most was only the beginning and the ending. How do we know this to be so? In the past, Zhi Bo Yao devastated Fan and Zhonghang, besieged and pressured Jinyang, and in the end was laughed at by the three families. King Fuchai of Wu exiled Yue to Kuaiji, defeated Qi at Ailing, and attended the Huangchi assembly, where he showed no courtesy toward Song. As a result, he was captured by Goujian and died in Gansui. The ruler of Liang defeated Chu and Qi, controlled the armies of Zhao and Han, drove twelve feudal lords to pay homage to the Son of Heaven at Mengjin. Later his son died, and he himself was captured by Qin in a commoner's hat. The three were not without merit; they could begin but could not bring things to a successful conclusion.
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| | 謂秦王: |
今王破宜陽，殘三川，而使天下之士不敢言，雍天下之國，徙兩周之疆，而世主不敢交陽侯之塞，取黃棘，而韓、楚之兵不敢進。王若能為此尾，則三王不足四，五伯不足六。王若不能為此尾，而有後患，則臣恐諸侯之君，河、濟之士，以王為吳、智之事也。 |
| | Now Your Majesty has captured Yiyang, devastated the Three Rivers, and made the scholars of all under heaven dare not speak. You have blocked the states of the world, moved the borders of the two Zhou kingdoms, and caused the rulers of the age to dare not cross Yanghou's pass; you took Huangji, and the armies of Han and Chu dared not advance. If Your Majesty can bring this matter to a successful conclusion, then three kings would be insufficient for four, five hegemons insufficient for six. If Your Majesty cannot bring this matter to a successful ending and there are later troubles, then I fear the lords of the feudal states and the men of the He and Ji rivers will regard Your Majesty as having done what Wu and Zhi did.
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| | 謂秦王: |
《》云：「行百里者半於九十。」此言末路之難。今大王皆有驕色，以臣之心觀之，天下之事，依世主之心，非楚受兵，必秦也。何以知其然也？秦人援魏以拒楚，楚人援韓以拒秦，四國之兵敵，而未能復戰也。齊、宋在繩墨之外以為權，故曰先得齊、宋者伐秦。秦先得齊、宋，則韓氏鑠，韓氏鑠，則楚孤而受兵也。楚先得齊，則魏氏鑠，魏氏鑠，則秦孤而受兵矣。若隨此計而行之，則兩國者必為天下笑矣。 |
| | The "Shi Jing" says: "He who travels a hundred li is only halfway at ninety." This speaks of the difficulty of the final stretch. Now Your Majesty all show signs of arrogance; in my view, the affairs of all under heaven, according to the minds of the present rulers, will not be Chu suffering military defeat, but Qin. How do I know this? The Qin people supported Wei to resist Chu, while the Chu people supported Han to resist Qin. The armies of four states are evenly matched and have not yet been able to engage in decisive battle. Qi and Song, being outside the bounds of conventional morality, can be used as leverage; therefore it is said that whoever first gains Qi and Song will attack Qin. If Qin first gains Qi and Song, then the House of Han will be weakened; once Han is weakened, Chu will become isolated and suffer military defeat. If Chu first gains Qi, then the House of Wei will be weakened; once Wei is weakened, Qin will become isolated and suffer military defeat instead. If one follows this strategy, then these two states will surely be laughed at by all under heaven.
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