方鼓瑟而遣之，誡之曰：「必如吾言。
Just when he had finished playing a piece on a zither to see him off, the king said to the man, “You must do everything according to my instructions.” “Your Majesty’s zither playing has never been as sad as on this occasion!” said the emissary.
」使者曰：「王之鼓瑟，未嘗悲若此也。
“That, naturally, is because the gong and shang tones on the instrument have just been tuned,” said the king.
」王曰：「宮商固方調矣。
“If the tones have just been adjusted,” said the emissary, “why not glue the tuning pegs?” “The tautness of the strings varies as the days are dry and hot, or cool and humid,” said the king.
」使者曰：「調則何不書其柱耶？
“One can never know in advance how the gong and shang tones will shift.
」王曰：「天有燥溼，絃有緩急，宮商移徙不可知，是以不書。
That’s why one can’t glue the pegs.” “When an enlightened ruler sends a man on a mission,” said the emissary, “he gives him a task to perform but does not use words to set limits on his freedom of action. If things go luckily, he will congratulate the man; if unluckily, he will commiserate with him.
」使者曰：「臣聞明君之使人也，任之以事，不制之辭，遇吉則賀之，凶則弔之。
In the present instance, Chu and Jin are more than a thousand li apart from each other, so the difficulties to be encountered can’t be known in advance, just as the position of the zither’s tuning pegs can’t be recorded.
今楚、趙相去千有餘里，吉凶憂患不可豫知，猶柱之不可書也。
」詩云：「莘莘征夫，每懷靡及。」
As is said in the Odes, ‘Crowds of emissaries hastening on their missions, / One cannot know what is in the heart of each.’” Xie Yang of Jin Defies King Zhuang of Chu and Completes His Mission