(NPPLC) Chapter #11 - Assassin-Retainers: 曹沫

[xuexiansheng]

This thread is for the discussion of chapter eleven in A New Practical Primer of Literary Chinese by Paul Rouzer.
Please keep in mind the ground rules posted in the first lesson's thread.
For general discussion and a schedule for the study group, please see the proposal thread.

 

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I really should be working on papers, but I need a break from poetry in translation. Over winter break, I decided to crack open my NPPLC and have been reviewing. I'm back to where we left off and I'm going to try to keep pushing on!

 

The texts from here on out are without translations by Rouzer. I think we should all give a go at translating them. I'm going to try to 'hide' mine in a post below, so if you want to work on your translation before consulting others, feel free! 

 

曹沫者，魯人也，以勇力事魯莊公。莊公好力。曹沫為魯將，與齊戰，三敗北。魯莊公懼，乃獻遂邑之地以和，猶復以為將。齊桓公許與魯會于柯而盟。桓公與莊公既盟於壇上，曹沫執匕首劫齊桓公，桓公左右莫敢動，而問曰："子將何欲？"曹沫曰："齊彊魯弱，而大國侵魯亦甚矣。今魯城壞即壓齊境，君其圖之。"桓公乃許盡歸魯之侵地。既已言，曹沫投其匕首，下壇，北面就群臣之位，顏色不變，辭令如故。桓公怒，欲倍其約。管仲曰："不 可。夫貪小利以自快，棄信於諸侯，失天下之援，不如與之。"於是桓公乃遂割魯侵地，曹沫三戰所亡地盡復予魯。

 

Text stolen from this Chinese blog.

 

Hey, its our old friend 管仲 from Ch. 04!  And what about his comment? 不如與之 threw me for a loop!

曹沫 is acting for his lord or trying to redeem his good name for the land he lost? (This question assumes I translated this correctly and don't have my who-lost-what-to-whom completely backward.)

猶復以為將 doesn't make any sense to me... re-reading my translation below.....any ideas?

 

Any other thoughts please bring them up and welcome back any and all who are still working on this book!

[xuexiansheng]

Cao Mo, a man of Lu, with bravery and strength served Duke Zhuang of Lu. Duke Zhuang was fond of strengh and with Cao Mo serving general, went to war with Qi and was defeated three times. Duke Zhuang was fearful, so for the sake of peace he surrendered Sui Town, after he still commanded. Duke Huan of Qi agreed to a meeting with Lu regarding Ke and an alliance. Duke Huan and Duke Zhuang after having formed an alliance on the platform, Cao Mo grasped his dagger and threatened Duke Huan. Those surrounding the Duke dared not move, and he (the Duke) said “What does this general want?” Cao Mo replyed: “Qi is strong, Lu is weak, and [your great state is invading Lu], indeed this is already too much. [if now the city walls of Lu were to collapse, they would fall onto the Qi boarder!] [My lord, you should consider it!]” Only then did Duke Huan fully restore Lu's captured lands. After having this pledge, Cao Mo threw aside his dagger and went down from the platform, then the assembled ministers flocked around their lord's position. Cao Mo's expression never changed and his language was just as before. Duke Huan was angry, and wanted to renege on his agreement. Guan Zhong said “You mustn't! Now then, greed lessens profit for the sake of one's happiness, abandons the belief of your ministers, and loses all one's support. Reneging would not be as good as not reneging in this matter.” Therefore from this advice, Duke Huan returned the land taken from Lu. Those places that Cao Mo lost in the three wars, were fully returned to Lu.

 

Above is my translation, please let me know if I misinterpreted anything or you feel there is a better way to express it. I included brackets [Rouzer] around anything that came from Rouzer's notes. 

[Dani_man]

What a nice initiative! Nice translation, couple of suggestions below:

• As for 猶復以為將 - The author writes that even though Cao Mo lost three times as a general, the duke "still once again appointed him as a general". Read as: 猶復以[曹沫]為將.
• 獻 here would be to offer, rather than surrendered.
• "regarding Ke"--> "at Ke"
• "then the assembled ministers flocked around" - I'm not sure the subject changes there. Cao Mo is going to the place where the ministers are. 

加油！

[xuexiansheng]

@ Dani_man Thanks for reading it over! 

• 猶復以為將 makes sense now, with the 曹沫 added back in there. I'm still working on getting the usage of 以 clear. Sometimes its "with, by means of. [coverb]" and sometimes its "In order to. [conjunction]". (Definitions from Rouzer) Maybe if I understood what coverb and conjuntion meant....this is why I'm a language enthusiast and not a linguist!
• offer, rather than surrender to secure the peace, makes more sense
• 于...don't know why I read it as 'regarding Ke'....maybe I thought they were discussing it as part of the peace process
• I'm confused about 北面就群臣之位 now. The ministers (北面) go to (就)...is 群 being used to pluralize 臣 here? or is 群 a verb and they are flocking around the area where the subjects are (臣之位) ?

[Dani_man]

mmm, actually it makes more sense to me that 于 in 會于柯 will refer to meeting in a place. If it was some other verb, such as 言, then 言于柯 would be talking regarding Ke, but I could be wrong about  會 and it could mean also meeting about Ke. 

 

I thought 北面 literally towards north - means that Cao Mo moved towards north where the other ministers stood. 北面 does figuratively means ministers (as normally they face north, while the ruler faces south), but I'm not sure about here, as the ministers are already mentioned (群臣) (see here http://www.zdic.net/c/7/4/8442.htm)

 

群 is indeed used to pluralize I agree the verb is 就 here. 

[xuexiansheng]

@Dani_man

 

Using 北面as a direction, rather than 'ministers' would make more sense, it seemed like they mentioned ministers twice. I think that is where my confusion sprang from. So....

 

曹沫投其匕首，下壇，北面就群臣之位

 

[i originally wrote]: Cao Mo threw aside his dagger and went down from the platform, then the assembled ministers flocked around their lord's position

 

[should read]: Cao Mo threw aside his dagger and went down from the platform, facing north and moving to the minister's position, 

 

but....if he is leaving the throne...wouldn't he be walking southwards?...or is he walking backwards away from the king...so he doesn't turn his back...? Who wrote this crap!? Whoever it is, is lucky they have been dead almost two thousand years or they would have some explaining to do!   

[Dani_man]

 

The setting of an alter is quite different than a throne I believe, so the meaning of going towards north should be different (if it has any special meaning here at all). 

If we dig deeper we will be able to find the type of alter on which they were made the alliance, this could give us more clue about it. 

[xuexiansheng]

That makes sense, just an altar would not necessarily be placed facing south. I'll have to leave it here and press on to this week's Chapter 12! To be continued....

[somethingfunny]

OK.  This is more like it.  I'm looking forward to a lot of straightforward translation from now on.  I'll agree almost entirely with Xuexiansheng's provided translation.  I do have a few points to raise though:

 

• I initially had it down as "Duke Zhuang was fond of strength, made Cao Mo commander of Lu and then he (Cao Mo) attacked Qi three times and lost each time."  I guess it makes more sense in Xuexiansheng's translation that it is Duke Zhuang who attacks Qi, with Cao Mo as his commander.  Although this doesn't quite line up with the last line where it says that the land that Cao Mo lost in three battles is returned to Lu.  So who does the attacking of Qi?  The Duke or his commander/assassin?
• 犹复以为将: The 以为将 here was covered in the notes, otherwise it would have been a big problem.  
• 子将何欲: OK, so we know that all of Duke Huan's men are big wimps and none of them dares to move, but who asks this question?  Duke Huan or all of his terrified men?  I'm going to go with Duke Huan, as when Cao Mo replies, he addresses the Duke ("君其图之!")
• 北面就群臣之位: originally I had this as "proceeded north to the group of ministers" but after reading the comments here and realising this is contradictory to the customs (if he proceeds north, he will have to sit facing south) I have decided Xuexiansheng's latter translation must be correct - "facing north, he proceeded to the location of the assembled ministers".
• 于是: I don't recall this being covered but it seems to read as it would in modern usage, something along the lines of "as a result..."

 

The big problem for me here is not the translation but just understanding what the hell is going on!  Cao Mo, is this guy a commander or an assassin?  If its the latter, then what exactly does that involve?  He just hangs around, appears out of nowhere with a dagger, threatening to kill rival lords?  I'd love to see this in a film, the actor playing Cao Mo holding the knife to Duke Huan's throat, then as soon as Duke Huan agrees he just tosses the knife aside, goes back to his seat and starts cracking jokes with his minister buddies.  But Duke Huan - what the fuck?  How can you beat Lu in three battles and then have to return ALL of that land you won as a result of such a schoolboy error as not having a quality bodyguard...  seriously?  Is this the whole biography?  I feel like its missing a bit on the end... "The next day Cao Mo returned home to his wife and kids to find them all murdered and a Qi assassin waiting for him."  Surely it can't be this easy to win some land...

 

Anyway, that was a lot of fun.  If anyone has read this chapter in the textbook, or is familiar with the original material, please join in!

[Dani_man]

ooh thanks for bringing this thread back! Classical Chinese frustrations are common, we feel for you

 

As for your big problem - so indeed, Cao Mo puts a dagger against his throat, and forces Duke Huan of Qi to return the lands Lu lost to Qi, as part of the agreement they were signing in Ke (regarding your other question, the general responsible for the defeats was Cao Mo, who was appointed by the duke Zhuang of Lu to serve the his own belligerent aspirations). Duke Huan of Qi of course did not like this act, but it was Guan Zhong the legendary adviser who convinced him not to change the terms of the agreement. 

 

But was it just because he put a dagger against his throat that Duke Huan gave up the lands?

 

Take a look at this quote of Cao Mo: 

Qi is strong, Lu is weak, and [your great state is invading Lu], indeed this is already too much. [if now the city walls of Lu were to collapse, they would fall onto the Qi boarder!] [My lord, you should consider it!]

 

Why does he ask him to consider that? Cao Mo indirectly argued that Lu is serves as a buffer zone between Qi and neighboring states (try to google a map of spring and autumn period). If (now much smaller) Lu had fallen, this would have put Qi in the hands of the approaching enemy very fast. 

 

So, this might be another reason why Duke Huan of Qi gave up those lands. But who knows what really happened 2500 years ago...

[Altair]

I am not reading the book, but have an amateur's interest in Classical Chinese, especially as far as grammar issues go.  I am particularly interested in the discourse aspects of the texts, by which I mean the level of organization above the bare syntax that lets you know who is doing what to whom and when.

 

曹沫者，魯人也，以勇力事魯莊公。莊公好力。曹沫為魯將，與齊戰，三敗北。魯莊公懼，乃獻遂邑之地以和，猶復以為將。齊桓公許與魯會于柯而盟。桓公與莊公既盟於壇上，曹沫執匕首劫齊桓公，桓公左右莫敢動，而問曰："子將何欲？"曹沫曰："齊彊魯弱，而大國侵魯亦甚矣。今魯城壞即壓齊境，君其圖之。"桓公乃許盡歸魯之侵地。既已言，曹沫投其匕首，下壇，北面就群臣之位，顏色不變，辭令如故。桓公怒，欲倍其約。管仲曰："不 可。夫貪小利以自快，棄信於諸侯，失天下之援，不如與之。"於是桓公乃遂割魯侵地，曹沫三戰所亡地盡復予魯。

 

Trying to keep rather close to the Chinese, I would translate the passage as follows:

 

Spoiler 

Cao Mo was a man of Lu and served Duke Zhuang of Lu with bravery and strength.  Duke Zhuang of Lu was partial to bravery and strength.  Cao Mo served as a Lu general and campaigned against Qi, losing three times.  Duke Zhuang was fearful and so offered the territory of Sui Town in order to make peace, and yet restored him (Cao Mo) as a general.  Duke Huan of Qi consented to meet with Lu at Ke and make a covenant.  As soon as Duke Huan and Duke Zhuang had nade the covenant on the altar,  Cao Mo grasped a dagger and seized Duke Huan of Qi, who, with his retinue not daring to move a muscle, asked: "What do yo want, General?"  Cao Mo said: "Qi is powerful, and Lu is weak, and yet your great country invades Lu to an extreme degree.  If the walls of Lu now collapsed they would fall right down on the border of Qi.  Think about it, Lord."  Duke Huang then consented to return all the invaded lands of Lu.  As soon as this was said, Cao Mo threw away his dagger, went down from the platform, assumed a place with the various ministers facing (the sovereigns to) the north, without changing his expression and keeping and the same tone in his conversation.  Duke Huan was furious and wanted to go back on his promise.  Guanz Zhong said: "You mustn't do that.  You see, being greedy for small gains to get some satisfaction, losing the trust of the feudal lords, and losing the support of the country is not as good as giving them (the lands) away."  Thereupon, Duke Huan then kept his word to give up the invaded Lu lands, and the territory Cao Mo and lost in three campaigns was all returned to Lu.

 

 

 

So who does the attacking of Qi?  The Duke or his commander/assassin?

 

I think that the previous mention of the duke at the beginning of a sentence established him as the default topic or subject for any following comment or predicate until another topic is established.  In other words, I think the Chinese says that Cao Mo did the attacking.

 

 

 

• 子将何欲: OK, so we know that all of Duke Huan's men are big wimps and none of them dares to move, but who asks this question?  Duke Huan or all of his terrified men?  I'm going to go with Duke Huan, as when Cao Mo replies, he addresses the Duke ("君其图之!")

 

I think that here also, Duan Huan is established as the current topic and so 而問曰 refers to him.

 

I think the scene depicted is one in which the Duke and his men have all of Lu at their mercy and have forced them into a humiliating pact.  In the midst of their triumph, one of the defeated officials participating in the ceremony leaps up onto the sacred stage.  Onlookers wonder if this is part of the ceremony or if the guy is drunk or crazy.  The guards wonder what to do.  If you act to early and spoil some harmless part of the ceremony, it could be your head.  Then the crazy guy draws forth a dagger.  If you try to intervene now, you might precipitate an attack.  The attacker is smart and gets close, but not too close.  The offended sovereign demands, "What is the meaning of this?"  The attacker calmly issues a statement implying that the sovereign is a bully with not strategic sense and demands that the Lu lands be restored.  To save his life, the sovereign agrees.  The attacker calmly resumes his place among the ministers acting as if nothing has happened, and the sovereign blows his top.  His most respected adviser than calms him down explaining that this is a minor matter and that going back on his word will make him look stupid and treacherous to his other vassals and that it is not worth keeping those minor lands.

 

 

 

The big problem for me here is not the translation but just understanding what the hell is going on!  Cao Mo, is this guy a commander or an assassin?  If its the latter, then what exactly does that involve? 

 

From what I understand and can guess at, this passage is from the histories of Sima Qian and specifically from the section dealing with notable assassins.  Cao Mo was apparently included as one of the most effective assassins, since he gained more by not killing than by killing.  In fact, he ended up achieving as a would-be assassin what he was unable to achieve as a general, thus vindicating Duke Zhuang's trust in him.

 

By the way, below is part of the Wikipedia entry in modern <<cough>> Mandarin that translates the same story, almost phrase for phrase.  It is interesting to see what changes and what doesn't.

 

當時魯莊公喜愛力士，曹沫便因勇猛有力在魯國任職。後曹沫擔任將軍，與齊國交戰，三戰三敗。魯莊公懼怕齊國，便割讓遂邑求和。但仍以曹沫為將，而齊桓公便決定與魯莊公在柯設壇結盟。

當日，齊桓公與魯莊公在壇上進行儀式，曹沫突然手持匕首挾持桓公，齊桓公左右無人敢動，桓公問曹沫：「子將何欲？」曹沫說：「齊彊魯弱，而大國侵魯亦甚矣。今魯城壞即壓齊境，君其圖之。」桓公於是答應還回侵略魯國得到之地。曹沫扔掉匕首，走下壇並面向北面，回到群臣之中就座，面色不變，辭令如常。

齊桓公非常憤怒，想反口不還。管仲勸說：「不可。夫貪小利以自快，棄信於諸侯，失天下之援，不如與之。」於是，齊桓公割還侵魯所得之地，曹沫三戰所失去之地，又回到魯莊公手中。

 

[somethingfunny]

Dani_man and Altair, thanks a lot for your replies and the time you took to write them!  It's absolutely invaluable reading other people's opinions and interpretations.  I hope you can stick around for the coming chapters.  Altair, you are right, this is taken from the part of Sima Qian concerning notable assassins.  I believe there is an electronic copy of the book floating around somewhere, I'll have a look for it and see if I can link you up.  

 

Thanks for your translation Altair, it looks pretty good, although I have one comment to make:

 

You translated "曹沫執匕首劫齊桓公，桓公左右莫敢動，而問曰: ... " as "Cao Mo grasped a dagger and seized Duke Huan of Qi, who, with his retinue not daring to move a muscle, asked: ..."  I believe the middle section of this (桓公左右莫敢動) refers not to Duke Huan not daring to move, but rather to his surrounding ministers/guards.  This is at least the translation Rouzer provides for 左右 in chapter 10.  Additionally, this is where my confusion arises, as the following 而问曰 would now seem to have 桓公左右 as its subject... "None of Duke Huan's courtiers dared move and instead asking "What does this general want?""

 

Thanks for linking to the wikipedia page, I'd never thought of checking there for information about this.  It's funny that the entry is essentially the just the entry taken from Shiji.  So that basically means that all the information we have about Cao Mo is this little story that Sima Qian wrote about him?

 

Oh, and one final thing, when I ask is it Duke Zhuang or Cao Mo that does the attacking, I guess what I really mean is who is responsible for the three losses?  Is it Duke Zhuang because he made three bad decisions to go to war, or is it Cao Mo because he's not a very good general.  I guess I might be asking for content beyond what is included in this excerpt though!

 

Anyway, thanks guys, keep it coming...

[somethingfunny]

https://literarych.wordpress.com/category/unit-2/

 

This is an online version posted by someone in the original proposal thread.  I'm not sure how useful it is, maybe if anyone has a better version then they can share it.

[stapler]

Whew, this was hard without all the help of the first Unit. As before I'm going to put up my interpretation first then read through this thread. Hopefully my errors will help other people.

 

About Cao Mo, a man from Lu, he used his bravery and strength in the employ of Lu's Duke Zhuang. Duke Zhuang liked strength so Duke Zhuang let Cao Mo lead his army to attack Qi and but he (Cao Mo) was defeated 3 times. This made Duke Zhuang very anxious so he offered the city of Sui (to Cao Mo) in return for peace (afraid of Cao Mo's power?), and he did this (offering gifts) over and over in order that Cao Mo remain his general/keep leading (猶復以爲將 - with a suppressed object (Cao Mo) in here? - I originally read this as Cao Mo being defeated and then Lu offering Qi land to have peace. But then this sentence wouldn't make sense. Unless maybe this sentence is saying something like "Did this repetitively for the sake of future peace?). Duke Huan of Qi agreed to meet at a place called Ke and make an alliance with Lu. After Duke Huan and Duke Zhuang made their agreement on the ceremonial altar Cao Mo pulled out his dagger and attacked Duke Huan. Duke Huan's retainers didn't move at all then asked "What do you want general?" (子將何欲 - at first I read this 將 as something to do with the future, as in, "what WILL you want?") Cao Mo replied "Qi is strong and Lu is weak and your powerful country has already completely taken over Lu. Today the walls of Lu's capital city are falling and will then be right on Qi's border! You should consider/think about this! (who? presumably Duke Zhuang?). Huan Gong then agreed to return all his captured land to Lu (why? - because Cao Mo is forcing Duke Huan and his retainers aren't intervening?). Having spoken Cao Mo threw his dagger under the altar and walked over to where all the government officials were standing, not changing his expression or words from what they were before. Huan Gong was really pissed, he wanted to renege on the agreement (to give all the land back). But then Guan Zhong said "you can't! Think about it. If you're greedy for small wins to make yourself happy (夫貪小利以自快） （people will) lose their confidence in rulers and ultimately the rulers will lose the support of the world (the people). Isn't it better just to give back the land? (不如與之). Thus Duke Huan separated off the conquered land (from his realm?) (and gave it back to Lu). All the land that Cao Mo lost in his three battles was completely returned to Lu.

[stapler]

Okay I see my translation failed because I misunderstood 猶復以爲將. the suppressed object is the Duke of Lu/his army.

 

I agree with you somethingfunny about the "子將何欲" coming from the duke rather than the retainers for the reasons you mentioned. I think Rouzer's punctuation is actually incorrect because of this. Get rid of the full stop and the duke becomes the subject again (more obviously).

 

Having read this thread I still don't understand why Cao Mo says "君其圖之！", why would Huan of Qi "consider" that he's kicking Lu's arse a disadvantageous position? - maybe the "buffer state" thing is correct? Or maybe the bully theory?

 

I read this whole story as a morality tale set up for Guan Zhong to talk about the importance of rulers keeping their word (even in unreasonable situations - like Cao Mo's demands) because being trustworthy is more important for ruling than actually winning military victories etc.

[somethingfunny]

Stapler, glad to see you going through these.  I haven't had access to my copy of Rouzer recently but do so at the moment so I've got a few comments on your translation.

 

魯莊公懼，乃獻遂邑之地以和，猶復以為將。

This was a line I had a lot of trouble with.  I think Duke Zhuang is afraid of Qi, so he gives the town to them in order to gain peace, but then the topic of the sentence undergoes a bizarre switch (with different suppressed subjects) and it's Cao Mo who he reinstates as a General.  I think it's the fact that no actual subjects are mentioned anywhere in this sentence that makes it so hard to understand.  I think it should be this: 魯莊公懼齊，乃獻齊遂邑之地以和，猶復以曹沫為將。I think this might be down to punctuation and I think I'd rather have a full stop instead of the second comma.

 

棄信於諸侯，失天下之援

I think you've got the general ideas right here but you just need to be a bite careful with 諸侯 and 天下.  I'd translate this as "losing the confidence of the Feudal Lords and the assistance of Heaven".  I'd even go so far as to say the second part refers to "losing The Mandate of Heaven", which, as we know, is a very important concept in Chinese history.  It would be good to have someone more in the know comment on this last point.

 

Finally we can see from this map that Lu could offer a buffer for Qi and the other states, but I think we'd need a historian to confirm whether the 'buffer theory' is accurate or not.

[rylixe]

Thanks for this superb resource.  Below is my translation.

 

Cao Mo was a man of Lu. With his bravery and strength, he served Duke Zhuang of Lu. Duke Zhuang was fond of strength, and made Cao Mo a general of Lu. He made war with the state of Qi, and was defeated three times. Then Duke Zhuang of Lu became afraid, and thus offered the territory of the City of Yi to obtain peace. Yet he continued to retain Cao Mo as his general. 

Duke Huan of Qi agreed to meet with Lu at a place called Ke to form an alliance. Duke Huan and Duke Zhuang already had formed the alliance upon the altar, when Cao Mo grasped a dagger and attacked Duke Huan. None of Duke Huan’s retainers dared to move, but asked: What do you want? Cao Mo said: “Qi is strong, while Lu is weak, and your great country has invaded Lu. This already is far too much. But now if the walls of Lu’s capital fall, they would immediately fall upon the borders of Qi. My lord, you should consider this!” Duke Huan thus agreed to return all of the land of Lu that he had conquered. 

As soon as the Duke had said this, Cao Mo cast aside his dagger, descended from the altar, and facing north, went to where the other ministers were assembled. His facial expression did not change, and his speech was as usual. Duke Huan was angry, and wanted to renege on his promise. Guan Zhong said: “You cannot do so! Anytime you covet a small gain to satisfy yourself, you will cast aside the trust of the feudal lords, and thereby lose the support of the world. It is better to give back the land.” Accordingly, Duke Huan followed through giving back the land he had conquered from Lu. And the land that Cao Mo had lost over three battles ultimately was returned to Lu.
 

 

 

[Guest realmayo]

於是桓公乃遂割魯侵地

 

割 had me puzzled.  @stapler translated "Thus Duke Huan separated off the conquered land (from his realm?)" which is closest to meeting the sense that is demanded by the context (i.e. he gave the land back) but also which takes on board Rouzer's definition of 割 as "to cut off, to sever, to separate, to exclude". I think "split off" would work well enough too.

 

It's not like 歸 wouldn't work instead of 割: earlier on we see have 桓公乃許盡歸魯之侵地

The Kroll dictionary explicitly includes the sense of apportioning territory for 割 so maybe it's a word that would frequently be used when discussing territory. Then again maybe the writer wanted a "sharp" verb to acknowledge that the Duke almost had his head separated from his body courtesy of Cao Mo's knife!

 

 

 

[somethingfunny]

The translation I wrote in my copy reads "With this, Duke Huan then proceeded to separate off Lu's conquered land.  Cao Mo's land lost in three battles, as much as possible, returned to Lu".

 

I suppose it reads a little strange in English because the two sentences: 於是桓公乃遂割魯侵地。 and   曹沫三戰所亡地盡復予魯。are referring to the same object - the lost land - but in two different ways, specifically, as (1) 魯侵地, and (2) 曹沫三戰所亡地.

 

A smoother translation might be "Duke Huan separated off the land conquered from Lu, the land which Cao Mo had lost over three battles, and returned it to them."

 

Also, I've now realised I had translated 盡 as "as much as possible", rather than "completely".  I wonder how many other mistakes I'd find if I went back through every chapter.