Retelling a story--On the Demise of the Six States Recently I read a Chinese book which collects ancient Chinese classical proses. I came across a prose talking about the collapse of some six states in ancient China. I just try to retell the article in English. I am not sure about whether you can understand it or not, but I do hope you can give me some suggestions in terms of the word usage and the grammar. On the Demise of the Six States The demise of the six vassal states is not because they did not have sharp weapons or they were unskillful in fighting. The real reason is that some of the states bribed State Qin, which resulted in the loss of their power and their ensuing demise. Someone asked," Have all the six collapsed states bribed Qin?" The answer is," Although some states did not bribe Qin, they still failed to survive because they lost powerful support from those who bribed Qin. So it is said that the real reason lies in that "some states bribed Qin". Apart from the land it won by means of war, Qin also got small towns or big cities from the bribery offered by other states. These towns and cities were much more than the land it won by war. Also, the towns and cities the vassal states lost were much more than all they lost in failed wars. Therefore, what Qin wants most and what the vassal states worry most were not the war. The forefathers of the six states worked in frost and dew at dawn and overcome all kinds of difficulties in order to win a few inches of land. However, their descendents did not cherish the land and gave it casually to others like throwing worthless grass. They cut five cities today and ten tomorrow to give them to Qin so that they could seek for a night-long peace and harmony. When getting up the second day, they found that soldiers of Qin came again. The land of the vassal states is limited, while the greed of Qin is limitless. The more frequently the vassal states bribed Qin, the more eagerly Qin wanted to invade. Therefore, without war, who is strong and who is weak are already evident. Then it is not surprising that all the vassal states fell at last. The ancients said, "Bribing Qin with land is just like trying to put out a fire with wood. The fire will never be put out if the wood was always served." The lines were so true.