One day, the miracle-working doctor Bian Que saw Huan
Gong, King of the State of Cai, and said:
一天，神醫(yī)扁鵲見到蔡桓公，就說:
"Your Majesty, I think you are ill. But your illness is only
under the skin and can be easily cured. If you do not treat it now,
I'm afraid your condition will become serious."
“大王，我看您身體有病。不過，您的病還只是在皮膚里，不難治好。如果現(xiàn)在不治，恐怕病情就會(huì)加重。”
Huan Gong did not believe him. He said:
桓公不相信，說:
"I am not ill."
“我沒有病。”
After Bian Que left, Huan Gong said to his subjects around him:
扁鵲走后，桓公對(duì)左右的大臣說:
"These doctors always like to treat people who are not ill in order to brag about their superb medical skill."
“這些醫(yī)生，就是喜歡給沒有病的人治病，好夸耀自己醫(yī)術(shù)高明。”
Ten days later, Bian Que saw Huan Gong again. He said:
過了十天，扁鵲又見到蔡桓公，說:
"Your Majesty, your illness has invaded your muscles. If you do not treat it now, your condition will become more serious."
“大王，您的病已侵人到肌體里了，如果現(xiàn)在不治，病情還會(huì)加重。”
Huan Gong was displeased with what he heard and did not listen to Bian Que.
桓公聽了很不高興，也不理睬扁鵲。
Another ten days later, Bian Que saw Huan Gong and said anxiously:
又過了十天，扁鵲看見蔡桓公，著急地說:
"Your Majesty, your illness has invaded your stomach and intestines. If your do not treat it, your condition will worsen."
“大王，您的病已經(jīng)侵人腸胃，再不治的話，病情會(huì)惡化的啊!”
Huan Gong still would not listen to Bian Que.
桓公還是沒有理睬扁鵲。
Another ten days later, when Bian Que saw Huan Gong, he turned round at once and left. Huan Gong was surprised and sent someone to catch up Bian Que to ask him for the reason. Bian Que said:
再過了十天，扁鵲一見桓公，轉(zhuǎn)身就走�；腹芷婀�，就命人追去詢問扁鵲。扁鵲說:
"When a person gets ill and his illness is only under the skin, it can be easily cured with medical plaster or decoction. When it is between the skin and the flesh, it can still be cured by acupuncture; even if it develops into the stomach and intestines, medical decoctions will still be effective. But when it reaches them arrow, then one can only resign to one's fate, for the doctor can no longer do anything about it. Now His Majesty's illness has penetrated into the marrow. I can do nothing to cure him."
“一個(gè)人生了病，當(dāng)病在皮膚表面時(shí)，只要用膏藥和湯藥洗，就能夠治好;如果發(fā)展到皮肉之間，用針灸還可以治好;即使發(fā)展到腸胃里，服用湯藥還有療效;而發(fā)展到了骨髓，那么只好聽天由命，醫(yī)生就無(wú)能為力了�，F(xiàn)在，大王的病已經(jīng)深人到了骨髓，我再也沒有辦法治好他了。”
Five days afterwards, Huan Gong felt pain all over his body. He sent for Bian Que. Since Bian Que had anticipated that Huan Gong would ask him for treatment and that he would get into trouble if he couldn't cure the illness, he had escaped to the State of Qin a few days before.
五天以后，蔡桓公全身疼痛，派人去請(qǐng)扁鵲來(lái)給他治病。扁鵲因?yàn)樵缌系交腹珪?huì)來(lái)請(qǐng)他去治病，而且治不好會(huì)惹禍的，所以幾天前就逃到秦國(guó)去了。
Soon afterwards, Huan Gong of Cai died of his illness.
不久，蔡桓公就病死了。