Li Ling was a great general during the time of emperor Han Wu-di. He was a very good fighter, and he won every battle.
One time, however, Li Ling's troops were so hopelessly outnumbered by the Huns that although they fought bravely, the whole army was soon taken captive.
Li Ling shamefully1 surrendered for the moment, planning to wait for an opportunity to strike back.
But when news of the surrender reached the capital, the emperor's jealous ministers began to degrade Li Ling in front of the emperor.
What he heard made the emperor so angry that he had Li Ling's wife and mother put to death.
Ze-ma Chian, who had always respected Li Ling, believed that he wouldn't surrender without a reason, and urged the emperor not to believe rumors2.
This time, the emperor grew angry at Sz-ma Chian, and locking him up, punished him severely3.
Sz-ma Chian then wrote a long letter to a friend, saying, "I am now in the middle of writing a history book. If I die, it will be as if one ox in a group on nine were to lose a single hair. I am willing to withstand punishment in order to complete this book." Sz-ma Chian finally did finish his book - the very famous Shr-Ji.
西漢時(shí)代有個(gè)很有名的大將軍名叫李陵，他驍勇善戰(zhàn)，百戰(zhàn)百贏。
有一次，雖然李陵的軍隊(duì)奮勇殺敵，因?yàn)楸Σ蛔愣鴳?zhàn)敗投降。
李陵打算暫時(shí)先忍辱投降，以便伺機(jī)等待機(jī)會(huì)反擊。
但當(dāng)李陵投降的消息傳到首都，皇上身邊嫉妒的大臣們都開(kāi)始指責(zé)李陵。
皇上十分氣憤，他將李陵的妻子與母親都賜死了。
司馬遷一直很敬重李陵，他不信李陵會(huì)無(wú)緣無(wú)故投降，便諫言皇上不要聽(tīng)信謠言。
但就因?yàn)檫@樣，皇上便遷怒司馬遷，并將他囚禁，進(jìn)行嚴(yán)懲。
司馬遷隨后寫(xiě)了一封長(zhǎng)信給他的朋友，說(shuō)道：“我現(xiàn)在在寫(xiě)一部歷史長(zhǎng)篇，如果我死了，就如同九牛一毛般微不足道，但我愿意承受住這般的懲罰，來(lái)完成這部書(shū)?！弊罱K，司馬遷完成了這部名流千古的史學(xué)著作——《史記》。
1 shamefully
可恥地； 丟臉地； 不體面地； 羞恥地
參考例句：
He misused his dog shamefully. 他可恥地虐待自己的狗。 They have served me shamefully for a long time. 長(zhǎng)期以來(lái)，他們待我很壞。
2 rumors
n.傳聞( rumor的名詞復(fù)數(shù) )；[古]名譽(yù)；咕噥；[古]喧嚷v.傳聞( rumor的第三人稱單數(shù) )；[古]名譽(yù)；咕噥；[古]喧嚷
參考例句：
Rumors have it that the school was burned down. 有謠言說(shuō)學(xué)校給燒掉了。 來(lái)自《簡(jiǎn)明英漢詞典》 Rumors of a revolt were afloat. 叛變的謠言四起。 來(lái)自《簡(jiǎn)明英漢詞典》
3 severely
adv.嚴(yán)格地；嚴(yán)厲地；非常惡劣地
參考例句：
He was severely criticized and removed from his post.他受到了嚴(yán)厲的批評(píng)并且被撤了職。 He is severely put down for his careless work.他因工作上的粗心大意而受到了嚴(yán)厲的批評(píng)
學(xué)網(wǎng)站豎圖.jpg )
