三國演義雙語故事(19):設連環計

Interlocking Stratagems

the manipulation of state affairs by the prime minister Dong Zhuo towards the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty （25-220） aroused strong anger in people， but nobody dared to air it. Upright ministers wanted to but failed to think of a way to get rid of him. Deep at night and alone in his garden， Wang Yun， a minister， sighed at these worries， his teaful eyes cast up at the moon. Suddenly， he heard a sigh from the pavilion nearby. He went over to see Diao Chan， the sixteen-year-old， very beautiful singsong girl in his family. Upon enquiry， the girl went down on her knees and said， “Your excellency has treated me so nice after Icame. How could I repay your kindness？ Ihave noticed your knitted eyebrows， You must have big worries that Idare not ask. Isighed， because Iwish Icould help you in some way.”

Who could believe， thought Wang that the destiny of the Han Dynasty lies in this girl's hand. He helped the girl up， then he himself prostrated and kowtowed to her. “Why do you bow to me？” the puzzled girl asked. She repeated her offer to help in any way.

Convinced of her resolüte attitude， Wang Yun was straightforward： “Both Dong Zhuo and his stepson Lü Bu love women. I'll take you as my step daughter， then I'll betroth you to Lü Bu before I present you as a gift to Dong Zhuo. You will seek opportunities to sow discord between them and make Lü kill Dong. In this way we can preserve the Han Dynasty.” “If I fail to do as you say，” she vowed， “I will die a violent death.” These were the interlocking stratagems laid by Wang Yun and Diao Chan.

設連環計

東漢末年，太師董卓專權，朝野上下敢怒不敢言。正直的大臣們都想除掉他，但又苦於無好計可施。司徒王允，深夜獨自到花園，望着天空一輪明月，心想着國家大事，不覺悄然淚下，他忽然聽見牡丹亭處有人長嘆，走過去一看，原來是家中十六歲的美麗歌女貂蟬。問她爲何長嘆，貂蟬跪道：“我自入府，大人待我恩重如山，我不知如何報答纔好。最近見大人總是愁眉不展，一定是有難辦的大事，但又不敢問，故而長嘆，如果我能與大人分憂就好了。”王允一聽，猛然醒悟說：“沒想到漢朝天下，竟在一個女子手中啊！”他把貂蟬領到亭內，跪在地上給貂蟬叩頭。貂蟬忙問：“大人，你這是幹什麼？有用我之處，儘管吩咐。”王允見貂蟬十分堅決，就說：“董卓和呂布都是好色之徒。我收你爲義女，先把你許給呂布爲妻，然後再獻給董卓爲妾，你在他們二人之間周旋，見機行事，挑撥離間。設法讓呂布殺掉董卓，以保住漢朝江山。”貂蟬聽後，滿口答應，併發誓說：“如果我不按大人說的去做，不報大義，我當被亂刀砍死！”這就是王允和貂蟬共同定下的連環計，最後除掉了董卓。