《左传·僖公三十年·烛之武退秦师》英译
晋侯、秦伯围郑，以其无礼于晋，且贰于楚也。晋军函陵，秦军氾南。佚之狐言于郑伯曰：“国危矣，若使烛之武见秦君，师必退。”公从之。辞曰：“臣之壮也，犹不如人；今老矣，无能为也已。”公曰：“吾不能早用子，今急而求子，是寡人之过也。然郑亡，子亦有不利焉！”许之。
夜缒而出。见秦伯曰：“秦、晋围郑，郑既知亡矣。若亡郑而有益于君，敢以烦执事。越国以鄙远，君知其难也。焉用亡郑以陪邻？邻之厚，君之薄也。若余郑以为东道主，行李之往来，共其乏困，君亦无所害。且君尝为晋君赐矣，许君焦、瑕，朝济而夕设版焉，君之所知也。夫晋，何厌之有？既东封郑、又欲肆其西封；若不阙秦，将焉取之？阙秦以利晋，唯君图之。”
秦伯说，与郑人盟。使杞子、逢孙、杨孙戍之，乃还。
子犯请击之。公曰：“不可。微夫人之力不及此。因人之力而敝之，不仁；失其所与，不知；以乱易整不武。吾其还也。”亦去之。
Zhu Zhiwu Causes the Withdrawal of Qin’s Army
The marquis of Jin① and the earl of Qin② laid siege to Zheng, because of the want of courtesy which the earl of it had shown to the marquis in his wanderings, and because he was with double-mindedness inclining to Chu. The army of Jin took a position at Hanling, and that of Qin’s one at Fannan.
Yi Zhihu③ said to the earl of Zheng④: “The state is in imminent peril. If you send Zhu Zhiwu to see the earl of Qin, his army is sure to be withdrawn.” The earl took the advice, but Zhu Zhiwu declined the mission, saying: “When your servant was in strength of his age, he was regarded as not equal to others, and now he is old, and unable to render any service.” The earl said, “That I was not able to employ you earlier, and now beg your help in my straits, I acknowledge to be my fault. But if Zheng perish, you also will suffer loss.” On this Zhu Zhiwu agreed, and undertook the mission.
At night he was let down from the city-wall by a rope; and when he saw the earl of Qin, he said, “With Jin and Qin both besieging its capital, Zheng knows that it must perish. If the ruin of Zheng were to benefit your lordship, I should not dare to speak to you; you might well urge your officers and soldiers in such a case⑤. But you know the difficulty there would be with such a distant border, another state intervening. Of what advantage is it to you to destroy Zheng to benefit your neighbor? His advantage will be your disadvantage. If you leave Zheng to be master and host here on the way to the east, when your officers go and come with their baggage, it can minister to their necessities; and surely this will be no injury to you. And moreover, your lordship was a benefactor to the former marquis of Jin, and he promised you the cities of Jiao and Xia; but in the morning he crossed the River, and in the evening he commenced building defenses against you – this your lordship knows. But Jin is insatiable. Having made Zheng its boundary on the east, it will go on to want to enlarge its border on the west. And how will it be able to do that except by taking territory from Qin? To diminish Qin in order to advantage Jin –this is a matter for your lordship to think about.”
The earl of Qin was pleased with this speech, and made a covenant with the people of Zheng, appointing Qizi, Pangsun and Yangsun to guard the territory, while he himself returned to Qin.
Zifan asked leave to pursue and smite him, but the marquis of Jin said:“No. But for his assistance I should not have arrived at my present state. To get the benefit of a man’s help, and then to injure him, would show a want of benevolence. To have erred in those with whom I was to co-operate shows my want of knowledge. To exchange the orderly array in which we came here for one disorder would show a want of warlike skill. I will withdraw.” And upon this he also left Zheng.
From Zuozhuan
Notes:
① The marquis of Jin: Lord Wen of Jin, rules of Jin from 636B.C. to 627 B.C., knighted marquis in Jin, hence “the marquis of Jin”.
② Earl of Qin: Lord Mu of Qin, rules of Qin from 629B.C. to 623B.C., knighted earl, hence “the earl of Qin”.
③ Yi Zhihu: Minister of Zheng.
④ Earl of Zheng: Lord Wen of Zheng, rules of Zheng from 672B.C. to 628B.C.
⑤ Qizi, Pangsun and Yangsun: Ministers of Qin.（王恩宝、王约西 编）