小学英语故事：抱薪救火[1]

In the last years of the Warring States period， the State of Qin attacked the State of Wei on a large scale repeatedly and occupied large areas of land， for the State of Wei was too weak to defend itself. In 273 B.B.， the qin army launched another attack upon the State of Wei with a momentum more vigorous than ever.

　　战国末期，秦国向魏国接连发动大规模的进攻，魏国无力抵抗，大片土地都被秦军占领了。到公元前273年，秦国又一次向魏国出兵，势头空前猛烈。

　　The king of the State of Wei summoned his officials，and asked with a worried look if anyone could propose a way to defeat the Qin army. After years of chaos caused by the wars，the officials trembled when fighting was mentioned， and no one dared to speak ofresistance. At the critical moment when a large enemy force was bearing down upon the border， most of the offinials persuaded the king to sue for peace， at the cost of giving away to the State of Qin the large area of land north of the Huanghe River and south of the Taihang Mountain.

　　魏王把大臣们召来，愁眉苦脸地问大家有没有使秦国退兵的办法。大臣们由于经过多年的战乱，提起打仗就吓得哆嗦，谁也不敢谈“抵抗”二字。在这大兵压境的危急时刻，多数大臣都劝魏王，用黄河以北和太行山以南的大片土地为代价，向秦王求和。

　　However Su Dai， a counsellor， did not agree. He hurried up to the king and said：“Your Majesty， they don‘t think about the interests of the country at all.It is just because they are cowardly and afraid of death that they ask you to sue for peace by betraying the country. Of course you can temperarily satisfy the ambition of the king of the State of Qin is insatiably greedy. It will never stop assaulting us until our land is totally given away.

　　谋士苏代听了这些话，很不以为然，忙上前对魏王说：“大王，他们是因为自己胆小怕死，才让您去卖国求和，根本不为国家着想。您想，把大片土地割让给秦国虽然暂时满足了秦王的野心，但秦国的欲望是无止境的，只要魏国的土地没割完，秦军就不会停止进攻我们。”

　　“Once there was a man whose house was on fire. People told him to put out the fire with water， but he would not listen. Instead， he carried a faggot to put out the fire， only to make the fire fiercer. That was because he didn’t know that，instead of putting out the fire， faggots could only make it burning more vigorously. Isn‘t it equiva小学英语