The Difficulty of Speaking難言
臣非非難言也，所以難言者，言順比滑澤，洋洋纚纚然，則見以爲華而不實；敦祗恭厚，鯁固慎完，則見以爲掘而不倫；多言繁稱，連類比物，則見以爲虚而無用；㹅微說約，徑省而不飾，則見以爲劌而不辯；激急親近，探知人情，則見以爲譖而不讓；閎大廣博，妙遠不測，則見以爲夸而無用；家計小談，以具數言，則見以爲陋；言而近世，辭不悖逆，則見以爲貪生而諛上；言而遠俗，詭躁人間，則見以爲誕；捷敏辯給，繁於文采，則見以爲史；殊釋文學，以質信言，則見以爲鄙；時稱詩書，道法往古，則見以爲誦。此臣非之所以難言而重患也。
It is not that your servant Han Fei finds it hard to speak. The reason speaking is hard is this. If the words run smoothly and easily and flow on and on, they are seen as showy and without substance. If they are earnest and respectful, firm and careful and whole, they are seen as rough and out of order. If they are many and the citations are thick, linking like to like and matching thing to thing, they are seen as empty and of no use. If they hold to the point and are brief, straight and spare and unadorned, they are seen as sharp but without skill in speech. If they press close in haste and probe out what is in a man's heart, they are seen as slanderous and unyielding. If they are great and broad, subtle and far off and beyond measuring, they are seen as boastful and of no use. If they are small talk of household reckonings, setting out the items one by one, they are seen as mean. If they keep close to the age and the wording does not go against it, they are seen as clinging to life and flattering those above. If they are far from common ways and are strange and restless among men, they are seen as wild. If they are quick and ready and rich in ornament, they are seen as the writing of a court recorder. If learning is set wholly aside and the words are plain and honest, they are seen as vulgar. If they cite the Odes and the Documents at times and speak of the models of antiquity, they are seen as mere recitation. This is why your servant Han Fei finds it hard to speak and is heavily troubled.
故度量雖正，未必聽也；義理雖全，未必用也。大王若以此不信，則小者以爲毁訾誹謗，大者患禍災害死亡及其身。故子胥善謀而吳戮之，仲尼善說而匡圍之，管夷吾實賢而魯囚之。故此三大夫豈不賢哉？而三君不明也。上古有湯，至聖也；伊尹，至智也。夫至智說至聖，然且七十說而不受；身執鼎爼爲庖宰，昵近習親，而湯乃僅知其賢而用之。故曰：以至智說至聖，未必至而見受，伊尹說湯是也；以智說愚必不聽，文王說紂是也。故文王說紂而紂囚之；翼侯炙；鬼侯腊；比干剖心；梅伯醢；夷吾束縛；而曹羈奔陳；伯里子道乞；傅說轉鬻；孫子臏腳於魏；吳起抆泣於岸門，痛西河之爲秦，卒枝解於楚；公叔痤言國器反爲悖，公孫鞅奔秦；關龍逄斬；萇弘分胣；尹子穽於棘；司馬子期死而浮於江；田明辜射；宓子賤、西門豹不鬬而死人手；董安于死而陳於市；宰予不免於田常；范雎折脅於魏。此十數人者，皆世之仁賢忠良有道術之士也，不幸而遇悖亂闇惑之主而死。然則雖賢聖不能逃死亡避戮辱者，何也？則愚者難說也，故君子難言也。且至言忤於耳而倒於心，非賢聖莫能聽，願大王熟察之也。
Therefore, though the measure be correct, it is not certain to be heard; and though the rightness and the reason be whole, they are not certain to be used. If the great king does not trust because of this, then at the least he will think it slander and abuse, and at the most disaster and death will come upon the man's own body. So Wu Zixu planned well and Wu killed him; Zhongni spoke well and he was surrounded at Kuang; Guan Yiwu was truly worthy and Lu imprisoned him. Were these three great officers not worthy? It was the three rulers who were not enlightened. In high antiquity there was Tang, the utmost sage, and Yi Yin, the utmost in wisdom. The utmost in wisdom spoke to the utmost sage, and even so he was not received though he spoke seventy times. He took the cauldron and the chopping block in his own hands and became a cook, and only when he had come close and grown familiar did Tang barely come to know his worth and use him. Therefore it is said that when the utmost in wisdom speaks to the utmost sage, he does not certainly get through and find acceptance; Yi Yin speaking to Tang is the proof. And when the wise speak to the foolish they are certainly not heard; King Wen speaking to Zhou Xin is the proof. So King Wen spoke to Zhou Xin and Zhou Xin imprisoned him. Marquis Yi was roasted. Marquis Gui was dried into strips. Bigan's heart was cut open. Mei Bo was minced into pickle. Yiwu was bound. Cao Ji fled to Chen. Boli Zi begged on the road. Fu Yue was sold from hand to hand. Sun Zi had his feet cut off in Wei. Wu Qi wiped away his tears at Anmen, grieving that Xihe had become Qin's, and in the end was torn limb from limb in Chu. Gongshu Cuo spoke of a vessel fit for the state and was taken instead for a man gone wrong, and Gongsun Yang fled to Qin. Guan Longfeng was beheaded. Chang Hong had his bowels torn out. Yin Zi was shut in a pit of thorns. Sima Ziqi died and was set adrift on the river. Tian Ming was torn apart and shot. Fu Zijian and Ximen Bao did not quarrel with anyone and yet died by another's hand. Dong Anyu died and was laid out in the marketplace. Zai Yu did not escape the hand of Tian Chang. Fan Ju had his ribs broken in Wei. These ten and more men were all of them benevolent and worthy, loyal and good, men of the arts of the Way in their age, and they met by ill fortune with rulers who were perverse and disordered and blind, and they died. Why then is it that even the worthy and the sage cannot flee death or escape butchery and disgrace? It is because it is hard to speak to the foolish, and so the gentleman finds speaking hard. And the utmost words go against the ear and lodge crosswise in the heart, and none but the worthy and the sage can listen to them. Your servant asks that the great king look into this with care.
Interlinear notes 1
The base text writes this name as 田常, 田恆, 田成恆 and 田成常; it is given throughout as Tian Chang. — translator