第五十六章

知者不言

Those Who Know Do Not Speak

A wise man does not speak much,

while a talker does not know much.

Blocking the holes of lust,

closing the doors of desire,

removing the edge of people,

liberating their disputes,

restraining their glory

and sharing joys and sorrows with the humble,

each of which implies a profound state in line with the mysterious law.

People who are mingled with the mysterious law

have gone beyond the scope of

closeness, interest and nobleness,

so they are respected by the people all over the world.

1. “玄同”的译法

许多译本对“玄同”的理解和译法不尽相同。何为“玄”，又何为“同”呢？玄即为“神秘法门”，所谓“同”即与神秘法门同一。许渊冲将“玄同”译为“be one with the mysterious law”；辜正坤将其译为“subtle identification”，“subtle”意为“微妙，难以捉摸”，“identification”则为“认同”；Arthur Waley将其译为“mysterious leveling”即神秘的水平或高度，在理解上确实有些“玄”。我们认为所谓“玄同”即是“与神秘之法融合为一”之意，译作“a profound state of being one with the mysterious law”。

2. “亲疏”、“利害”、“贵贱”的译法

常见译本对“亲疏”、“利害”、“贵贱”的理解不存在太大的分歧，但是各家的翻译手法各不相同。许渊冲以名词主打：“亲”则为友，“疏”则为敌---be your friend or foe，而“利害”为“good or harm”，“贵贱”取动词“honor and debase”；辜正坤则以不定时为主打：“亲疏、利害、贵贱”则译作“to be friend, to estrange, to benefit, to harm, to honor, to desabe”;Arthur Waley以过去分词结构为主，“亲疏”译“be drawn into friendship or repelled”，“利害”译“be benefited，be harmed”，“贵贱”译“be raised or humbled”；我们的译法取其意义，简介明了，“beyond the scope of closeness, interest and nobleness”即超出亲（疏）、利（害）、贵（贱），这样抛开复杂结构，更易于读者理解其意。