第六十三章
圣人无难
原文
英译The Sage Has No Difficulties
Do something with an inactive attitude,
deal with things in a non-troublesome way,
and regard the tasteless as tasteful.
No matter how much others resent you,
you should do things with virtue.
To solve problems,
we should start from their easy parts,
and to achieve the lofty goals,
we should start from their subtle parts.
The difficult things must start being solved from the easy parts,
and the great eventsmust start being achieved from the small parts.
Therefore, the sages with the divine law
do not desire for great contributions,
so they can do great things.
Those who make promises easily are rarely able to keep them.
If you take things too easily,
you are bound to suffer a lot.
Therefore, the sages who follow the divine law always value difficulties,
and so, they have no difficulties.
说明1. “味无味”的英译
对“味无味”的不同理解导致译文的不同。许渊冲将其译为“take the tastful as if it was tasteless”，即“品尝有味的东西当作没有味道来对待”。辜正坤将其译为“taste by means of tastelessness”，即“用无味的方式来品尝”。Arthur Waley将其译作“Finds flavour in what is favourless”，即“在无味的东西里发现味道”。我们的译本译作“regard the tasteless as tasteful”，即“将无味的东西当作有味道”。在这四种译本中，许渊冲和辜正坤的译法相近，即“品尝有味道的东西，假装它没有味道”。而Arthur和我们的译本则表达了“在无味中寻找味道”，和前两者相比差异还是很大的。
2. “夫轻诺必寡信”的英译
虽然各个译本对“夫轻诺必寡信”理解并不存在大的差异，但是用词和译法各有讲究。许渊冲将其译作“much underestimation will entail much difficulty”，即“过于低估问题必然遭遇更多困难”。辜正坤将其直译为“Light promise-giving, light promise-breaking”，即“轻易许诺就容易轻易违背诺言”。Arthur Waley则译成“Light assent inspire little confidence”，即“随口赞成不能给别人足够的自信”，就好比你对一个孩子随口而出的“还不错”，并不能帮助他培养“信心”。我们的译本采用了常见的句法表达原文内涵之意，不拘泥于原文形式。将其译作“Those who make promises easily are rarely able to keep them.”。
