試譯《貞觀政要‧君道》第3段

【原文】

    貞觀十年，太宗謂侍臣曰：「帝王之業，草創與守成孰難？」尚書左僕射房玄齡對曰：「天地草昧，群雄競起，攻破乃降，戰勝乃克。由此言之，草創為難。」魏徵對曰：「帝王之起，必承衰亂，覆彼昏狡，百姓樂推，四海歸命，天授人與，乃不為難。然既得之後，志趣驕逸，百姓欲靜而徭役不休，百姓凋殘而侈務不息，國之衰弊，恆由此起。以斯而言，守成則難。」太宗曰：「玄齡昔從我定天下，備嘗艱苦，出萬死而遇一生，所以見草創之難也。魏徵與我安天下，慮生驕逸之端，必踐危亡之地，所以見守成之難也。今草創之難既已往矣，守成之難者，當思與公等慎之。

【翻譯】

貞觀的第十年，唐太宗問他身邊的臣子說：「在帝王治理國家的大業上，你們認為是『開疆闢土』還是『安穩政局』比較難？」

In the tenth year of Zhenguan, Tang Taizong asked his courtiers around him: "In terms of the emperors great cause of ruling the country, do you think it is more difficult to "open up territory" or "secure the political situation"?"

大臣房玄齡回答道：「當天下局勢一片渾沌蒙昧的時候，各方梟雄紛紛競逐，(彼此都不肯屈服或相讓於另外一方)，要等到城池都已被攻破才要投降，完全戰勝才會認為是戰事底定。從這裡來說，草創是比較困難的。」

Minister Fang Xuanling replied: "When the situation is in chaos and ignorance, the heroes of all parties are competing, (not willing to give in to each other), they will not surrender until the city has been breached, and the degree of complete victory is considered to be the final battle. From this point of view, it is more difficult to open up territory."

大臣魏徵則回答道：「當一個帝王興起他的霸業時，常常要去面臨跟處理，在他之前就已經存在且已維持一段時間的昏亂狀態，要去弭平那些造成亂局的各方帶頭者。所以呢，(對於這樣一個大英雄)，大家都很樂意去推崇他，四面八方都有人來跟隨他，天時與人和他都占了優勢，(草創)看來似乎並沒有那麼困難。

Minister Wei Zheng replied: "When an emperor rises up his hegemony, he often has to face and deal with the coma that has existed for a period of time, and he has to quell the leaders of the parties who have caused the chaos. So, (for such a great hero), everyone is willing to admire him, and there are people from all directions to follow him. Since he has timing and people advantage, it seems that it is not that difficult.

但是，當這個帝王人才，已經得到了天下，建立了他自己的國家與朝廷，他的心志可能會逐漸趨於驕傲、放縱。這時候，天下百姓想要過點安寧的日子，政府派下的苦勞差事卻沒有休止；百姓的財務狀況已經不很理想，而政府決定要辦的奢侈的事務，卻好像也沒打算停下來。一個國家的衰弱與疲弊，常常都是從這裡開始的。從這個角度來說，微臣認為是守成比較難。」

However, when this man with the emperors talents has gained the country and established his own court, his aspirations may gradually become proud and indulgent. At this time, although the people want to live a peaceful life, but the hard work sent by the court has not stopped; the financial situation of the people is not very satisfactory, but and the extravagant affairs that the court has decided to do, it seems that it has no intention to stop. The weakness of a country often begin here. From this perspective, I believes that it is more difficult to secure the political situation. "

唐太宗聽了房玄齡與魏徵兩人的說法後，為這段對話做了一個總結，他說：「房玄齡以前追隨我在亂局中安定天下，嘗到許多艱苦，我倆在萬死一生的局勢中挺立過來，所以他深刻理解草創階段的困難；魏徵協助我在開國之後從內部建立使人民安穩生活的基礎，他擔心驕傲與放縱一旦開始終究會到了危險甚至滅亡的處境，所以他對守成的困難也是思維很深。現在，草創的艱難已經過去了，守成的困難，則是我們正在面臨的課題，我們應當一起謹慎於這件事上。

After hearing what Fang Xuanling and Wei Zheng said, Tang Taizong made a summary of this conversation. He said: "Fang Xuanling used to follow me to settle the country in the chaos, and tasted a lot of hardships, so he stood up in the situation, and he deeply understood the difficulties of the opening up territory; Wei Zheng assisted me to establish a foundation for the people to live a stable life after the founding of the country, and he worried that once the pride and indulgence were opened, they would always be in danger or even perish, so he deep thinkin the difficulty of secure the political situation. Now, the difficulty of initial stage has passed, and the difficulty of secure the political situation is the subject we are facing, we should cautious on this matte.

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【參考資料】

貞觀政要全文─中國哲學書電子化計劃

https://ctext.org/wiki.pl?if=gb&res=891288