The King of Qin sent someone to pass to the Lord of Anling, “This one wishes to exchange Anling for five-hundred li of land. You must permit me to!”

The Lord of Anling said, “Great King, you are quite gracious. Exchanging something large for something small is very benevolent of you. However, I received this land from the Late King, and wish to guard it to the end. I dare not exchange it!”

The King of Qin said nothing. The Lord of Anling thus dispatched his Envoy, Tang Ju, to Qin.

The King of Qin said to Tang Ju, “I used five-hundred li of land to barter for Anling with, but its Lord won’t listen to me. Why? Furthermore, Qin destroyed Han and killed Wei, yet because he is a survivor on that in fifty li of land, because he is an elder, he held no rebellious thoughts. Now, I’ve used tenfold the land to let him expand his territory, yet he is contrarion to me. Is he looking down on me?”

Tang Ju answered, “No, that’s not it at all. The Lord of Anling received the land from the Late King and has been looking after it. If he wouldn’t exchange it for a thousand li, why would he do so for a paltry five-hundred li?”

The King of Qin grew furious, asking Tang Ju, “Have you also ever heard of the Son of Heaven’s wrath, Sir?”

“This subject never has.”

“A Son of Heaven’s wrath will lay out a million corpses, blood flowing for a thousand li!”

“Have you ever heard of a layman’s wrath, Great King?”

“A layman’s wrath is removing his cap, walking barefoot, and knocking their heads against the ground!”

“This is the wrath of the commoner, the wrath of one not a scholar: Zhuan Zhu assassinated King Liao, and a comet overlapped the moon; Nie Zheng assassinated Han Gui, and a white rainbow pierced through the sun; Yao Li assassinated Qingji, and a blue bird struck the palace hall. Those three were all laymen with chests filled of not-yet-vented anger. Regardless of any portent Heaven sends, this subject will become the fourth! If I must be angered, two corpses will be laid out here, blood flowing for five steps, and the world will be sent into mourning on this day!”

Tang Ju raised up his sword.

With a look of fear, the King of Qin kneeled and begged, “Sir, sit! Why should it come to that?! This is what I will decree: While Han and Wei were wiped out, Anling survived on its fifty li of land solely because you are on it.”

Original Text

        秦王使人谓安陵君曰：“寡人欲以五百里之地易安陵，安陵君其许寡人！”安陵君曰：“大王加惠，以大易小，甚善；虽然，受地于先王，愿终守之，弗敢易！”秦王不说。安陵君因使唐雎使于秦。

        秦王谓唐雎曰：“寡人以五百里之地易安陵，安陵君不听寡人，何也？且秦灭韩亡魏，而君以五十里之地存者，以君为长者，故不错意也。今吾以十倍之地，请广于君，而君逆寡人者，轻寡人与？”唐雎对曰：“否，非若是也。安陵君受地于先王而守之，虽千里不敢易也，岂直五百里哉？”

        秦王怫然怒，谓唐雎曰：“公亦尝闻天子之怒乎？”唐雎对曰：“臣未尝闻也。”秦王曰：“天子之怒，伏尸百万，流血千里。”唐雎曰：“大王尝闻布衣之怒乎？”秦王 曰：“布衣之怒，亦免冠徒跣，以头抢地耳！”唐雎曰：“此庸夫之怒也，非士之怒也。夫专诸之刺王僚也，彗星袭月；聂政之刺韩傀也，白虹贯日；要离之刺庆忌也，仓鹰击于殿上。此三子者，皆布衣之士也，怀怒未发，休祲降于天，与臣而将四矣！若士必怒，伏尸二人， 流血五步，天下缟素，今日是也。”挺剑而起。

        秦王色挠，长跪而谢之曰：“先生坐！何至于此！寡人谕矣：夫韩、魏灭亡，而安陵以五十里之地存者，徒以有先生也。”