道德经（英汉对照）

　　外语教学与研究出版社自90年代以来，一直以促进国际文化交流为已任，致力于原版外语著作的引进、出版工作，逐步形成了规模化、系统化、精品化的出版传统，在广大读者中产生了一定的影响。当下，我国外语图书出版呈现出较为严重的不均衡局面，即文艺类图书品种相对齐全，而人文科学、社会科学类图书的出版却寥寥可数，远远滞后于日益增长的文化市场需求。为了填补这一空白，外研社决定编辑出版英文版哲学、社会科学类丛书“大师经典文库”，系统地推出一批世界著名思想家、哲学家、政治学家、历史学家、心理学家的经典学术名著，包括我国古代哲学典籍的权威英译本，为广大英语学习者提供高质量的阅读文本，也为各类社会科学研究工作者提供必备的学术资料。本丛书内容详实，制作精美，每一种均级请著名专家、学者专门撰写评价性的序言。外研社将本丛书的出版视做一项利国利民的文化基础工程，将坚持不懈地完善、充实它，希望它能够赢得读者朋友们的喜爱。

　　老聃姓李，名耳，字伯阳，谥曰聃。楚国苦县（今河南鹿邑）人，生活时代在春秋后期，与孔丘同时而略早，曾任周王室的柱下史，掌管王室图籍。孔子到周，曾向他问礼。老子见周衰，即离去，莫知其所终。一说老子即太史儋，又一说老子即老莱子，《道德经》为其主要代表作。

To understand others is to have knowledge;
To understand oneself is to be illumined.
To conquer others needs strength;
To conquer oneself is harder still.
To be content with what one has is to be rich.
He that works through violence may get his way;
But only what stays in its place Can endure.
When one dies one is not lost; there is no other longevity.
载营魄抱一，能无离乎?
专气致柔，能婴儿乎?
涤除玄览，能无疵乎?
爱民治国，能无为乎?
天门开阖，能无雌乎?
明白四达，能无知乎?
(生之畜之，生而不有，为而不恃，长而不宰，是谓玄德。)
Can you keep the unquiet physical-soul from straying,
hold fast to the Unity, and never quit it?
Can you, when concentrating your breath, make it soft
like that of a little child?
Can you wipe and cleanse your vision of the Mystery
fill all is without blur?
Can you love the people and rule the land, yet remain
unknown?
Can you in opening and shutting the heavealy gates
play always file female part?
Can your mind penetrate every corner of the land, but
you yourseff never interfere?
Rear them, then, feed them,
Rear them, but do not lay claim to them.
Control them, but never lean upon them;
Be chief among them, but do not manage them.
This is called the Mysterious Power.
善行无辙迹，善言无瑕谪，善数不用筹策，善闭无关楗而不可开，善结无绳约而不可解。
是以圣人常善救人，故无弃人；常善救物，故无弃物。是谓袭明。
故善人者，不善人之师；不善人者，善人之资。不贵其师，不爱其资，虽智大迷，是谓要妙。
Perfect aaivity leaves no track behind it;
Perfect speech is like a jade worker whose tool leaves no mark.
The perfect reckoner needs no counting-slips;
The perfect door has neither bolt nor bar,
Yet cannot be opened.
The perfect knot needs neither rope nor twine,
Yet cannot be untied,
Therefore the Sage
Is all the time in the most perfect way helping men,
He certainly does not turn his back on men;
Is all the time in the most perfect way helping creatures,
He certainly does not turn his back on creatures.
This is called resorting to the Light.
Truly, ‘the perfect man is the teacher of the imperfect;
But the imperfect is the stock-in-trade of the perfect man‘.
He who does not respect his teacher,
He who does not take care of his stock-in-trade,
Much learning though he may possess, is far astray.
This is the essential secret.
昔之得一者：天得一以清，地得一以宁，神得一以灵，谷得一以盈，万物得一以生，侯王得一以为天下贞，其致之，一也。
天无以清将恐裂，地无以宁将恐发，神无以灵将恐歇，谷无以盈将恐竭，万物无以生将恐灭，侯王无以贵高将恐蹶。
故贵以贱为本，高必以下为基。
As for the things that from of old have understood the Whole -
The sky through such understanding remains limpid,
Earth remains steady,
The spirits keep their holiness,
The abyss is replenished,
The ten thousand creatures bear their kind,
Barons and princes direct their people.
It is the Whole that causes it.
Were it not so limpid, the sky would soon get tom.
Were it not for its steadiness, the earth would soon tip over.
Were it not for their holiness, the spirits would soon wither away.
Were it not for this replenishment, the abyss would soon go dry.
Were it not that the ten thousand creatures can bear their kind,
They would soon become extinct.
Were the barons and princes no longer directors of their
people and for that reason honoured and exalted,
they would soon be overthrown.
Truly ‘the humble is the stem upon which the mighty grows,
The low is the foundation upon which the high is laid.‘
知者不言，言者不知。
塞其兑，闭其门，挫其锐，解其纷，和其光，同其尘，是谓玄同。
故不可得而亲，不可得而疏；不可得而利，不可得而害；不可得而贵，不可得而贱。故为天下贵。
Those who know do not speak;
Those who speak do not know.
Block the passages,
Shut the doors,
Let all sharpness be blunted,
All tangles untied,
All glare temper.
All dust smoothed.
This is called the mysterious levelling.
He who has achieved it cannot either be drawn into friendship or repelled,
Cannot be benefited, cannot be harmed,
Cannot either be raised or humbled,
And for that very reason is highest of all creatures under heaven.
……