第七十章

知我者希

Few People Understand Me

What I say is very easy to understand and implement,

but no one in the world can understand it and put it into practice.

People do not understand me

because they don’t understand the truth that

a theory should have basis and source,

and to solve a problem,

they should grasp the principal contradiction.

Few people can understand me

and fewer people can act according to my theory.

Therefore, the wise sage always wears plain clothes

but in fact he carries beautiful jade with him.

1. “言有宗，事有君”的英译

对这句话翻译上的差别主要反映在理解上的差异。许渊冲将“言有宗，事有君”译作“My words show what I worship; my deeds show whom I serve.”，即“我的语言表明我的信仰，我的行动表明我为谁效力。”。辜正坤译作“Words must be purpose-oriented. Deeds must be reasonably grounded.”，即“说话要有明确的目的性，做事必须要有合理的依据。”。Arthur Waley译作“But my words have an ancestry, my deeds have a lord;”，即“我的言辞可以溯源，我的行为为主效忠”，带有明显的直译特征。本书译作“a theory should have basis and source, and to deal with things, they should grasp the principal contradiction.”即“理论要有根据和来源，处理事情要抓住主要矛盾。”，我们认为这个译法抓住了原文的内在含义。至此四个译本存在四个不同的视角。

2. “知我者希，则我者贵”英译

各大译本对前半句“知我者希”理解和翻译基本一致，差异主要集中在后半句“则我者贵”。许渊冲译作“Few people understand me, so I am all the more valuable.”，即“理解我的人少，因此我就变得更加可贵。”辜正坤译作“Those who understand me are few; those who can follow advice are even less.”，即“懂我的人少，能采纳我的建议的人更少。”Arthur Waley译作“Few then understand me, but it is upon this very fact my value depends.”，即“少有人理解我，但这正是我的价值所在之处。”。本书译作“Few people can understand me and fewer people can act according to my theory.”即“能理解我的人很少，那么能按照我的理论行事的人就更难得了。”比较以上四个版本，我们的版本和辜正坤的在理解上还是很相近的。