《道德经》英译比读(1)

 James Legge/许渊冲/赵彦春

道可道，非常道。名可名，非常名。无名，天地之始也；有名，万物之母也。故恒无欲也，以观其眇；恒有欲也，以观其所徼。两者同出，异名同谓。玄之又玄，众眇之门。

[译文]

“道”如果可以用言语来表述，那它就是常“道”(“道”是可以用言语来表述的，它并非一般的“道”)；“名”如果可以用文辞去命名，那它就是常“名”(“名”也是可以说明的，它并非普通的“名”)。“无”可以用来表述天地浑沌未开之际的状况；而“有”，则是宇宙万物产生之本原的命名。因此，要常从“无”中去观察领悟“道”的奥妙；要常从“有”中去观察体会“道”的端倪。无与有这两者，来源相同而名称相异，都可以称之为玄妙、深远。它不是一般的玄妙、深奥，而是玄妙又玄妙、深远又深远，是宇宙天地万物之奥妙的总门(从“有名”的奥妙到达无形的奥妙，“道”是洞悉一切奥妙变化的门径)。

 The Tao And Its Characteristics

         James Legge

The Tao that can be trodden is not the enduring and unchanging Tao. The name that can be named is not the enduring and unchanging name.

(Conceived of as) having no name, it is the Originator of Heaven and earth; (conceived of as)having a name, it is the Mother of all things.

Always without desire we must be found,

If its deep mystery we would sound;

But if desire always within us be

Its outer fringe is all that we shall see

Under these two aspects, it is really the same; but as development 

takes place, it receives the different names. Together we call them

the Mystery. Where the Mystery is the deepest is the gate of all that 

is subtle and wonderful

      许渊冲

The divine law may be spoken of,
but it is not the common law.
Things may be named,
but names are not the things.
In the beginning heaven and earth are nameless;
when named, all things become known.
So we should be free from desires
in order to understand the internal
mystery of the divine law;
and we should have desires
in order to observe its external manifestations.
Internal mystery and external manifestations
come from the same origin,
but have different names,
They may be called essence.
The essential of the essence
is the key to the understanding of all mysteries.

         The Word and the World

                 赵彦春

The Word that can be worded is not the Word per se

The Name that can be named is not the Name proper

Void of a name is the beginning of Heaven and earth

Real with a name is the mother of all things

Being eternally void is the access to subtlety

Being eternally real is the approach to boundedness

The two are of the same origin, the same but with different names

The profound of the profoundest is the entrance to all subtleties.