《道德经》的英译

道可道，非常道。名可名，非常名。无名天地之始；有名万物之母。
The Tao that can be told of
Is not the Absolute Tao;
The Names that can be given
Are not Absolute Names.
The Nameless is the origin of Heaven and Earth;
The Named is the Mother of All Things.

故常无欲，以观其妙；常有欲，以观其徼。
Therefore:
Oftentimes, one strips oneself of passion
In order to see the Secret of Life;
Oftentimes, one regards life with passion,
In order to see its manifest forms.

此两者同出而异名，同谓之玄。玄之又玄，众妙之门。
These two (the Secret and its manifestations)
Are (in their nature) the same;
They are given different names
When they become manifest.
They may both be called the Cosmic Mystery.
Reaching from the Mystery into the Deeper Mystery
Is the Gate to the Secret of All Life.

天下皆知美之为美，斯恶已；皆知善之为善，斯不善已。
When the people of the Earth all know beauty as beauty,
There arises (the recognition of) ugliness.
When the people of the Earth all know the good as good,
There arises (the recognition of) evil.

故有无相生，难易相成，长短相较，高下相倾，音声相和，前后相随。
Therefore:
Being and non-being interdepend in growth;
Difficult and easy interdepend in completion;
Long and short interdepend in contrast;
High and low interdepend in position;
Tones and voice interdepend in harmony;
Front and behind interdepend in company.

是以圣人处无为之事，行不言之教，万物作焉而不辞，生而不有，为而不恃，功成而弗居。夫唯弗居，是以不去。
Therefore the Sage:
Manages affairs without action;
Preaches the doctrine without words;
All things take their rise, but he does not turn away from them;
He gives them life, but does not take possession of them;
He acts, but does not appropriate;
Accomplishes, but claims no credit.
It is because he lays claim to no credit
That the credit cannot be taken away from him.

道可道，非常道。名可名，非常名。无名天地之始；有名万物之母。
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.

故常无欲，以观其妙；常有欲，以观其徼。
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.

此两者同出而异名，同谓之玄。玄之又玄，众妙之门。
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.

天下皆知美之为美，斯恶已；皆知善之为善，斯不善已。
If all men in the world know what is fair,
then it is unfair.
If all men know what is good,
then it is not good.

故有无相生，难易相成，长短相较，高下相倾，音声相和，前后相随。
For “to be” and “not to be” co-exist,
There cannot be one without the other:
without “difficult”, there cannot be “easy”;
without “long”, there cannot be “short”;
without “high”, there cannot be “low”;
without sound, there can be no voice;
without “before”, there cannot be “after”;
The contrary complement each other.

是以圣人处无为之事，行不言之教，万物作焉而不辞，生而不有，为而不恃，功成而弗居。夫唯弗居，是以不去。
Therefore the sage does everything without interference,
teaches everyone without persuasion,
and lets everything begin uninitiated and grow unpossessed.
Everything is done without being his deed,
and succeeds without being his success.
Only when success belongs to nobody
does it belong to everyone.