第三十五章
大道无垠
原文执大象，天下往。往而不害，安平泰。乐与饵，过客止。道之出口，淡乎其无味，视之不足见，听之不足闻，用之不足既。
英译The Divine Law Is Boundless
Whoever has mastered the great divine law,
people all over the world will come to him.
Longing for and turning to him without hurting each other,
everyone is safe, peaceful and calm.
Music and delicious food stop passers-by.
But if you put it in words,
the divine law is tasteless.
When you look at it, it’s invisible,
while you listen to it, it’s inaudible,
but its role is boundless.
说明1、“执大象，天下往”的英译
许渊冲的译文是“Keeping the great image in mind, you may go everywhere.”；辜正坤的译文是“He who holds the great image(Tao) attracts all the people to him.”；Arthur Waley的译文是“He who holding the Great Form goes about his work in the empire.” 。从译文上看，三位译者都把握了“大象”的内涵，是“大道之象”。许渊冲和辜正坤都译成“the great image（意象）”，辜正坤还特意用括号（Tao）来标注；Arthur Waley译成了“the Great Form（形式）”，表面上看翻译欠妥，但他用了大写，表明是特指“道”。但对于“天下往”的理解就有歧义了。许渊冲理解成“往天下（you may go everywhere）”; Arthur Waley则用了“go about(着手做)”,和老子的意思相差甚远；辜正坤理解的是“天下人向往之”，翻译成“attract all the people to him”；我们则根据上下文把整句译成了“Whoever has mastered the great divine law, people all over the world will come to him.”
2、“乐与饵，过客止”的英译
许渊冲的译文是“Music and food may attract travelers.”；辜正坤的译文是“Music and food can allure passersby to stop”；Arthur Waley译成Sound of music, smell of good dishes will make the passing stranger pause.。对“止”的翻译，许渊冲用了“attract(吸引)”一词，形象生动。辜正坤则用了一个不常用的词“allure(引诱)”；Arthur Waley则用了“make…pause(stop)”。有意思的是，三位译者把“过客”分别译成“travelers”、“passersby”和“the passing stranger”。仔细推敲，我们认为“passersby”较为恰当。最后，我们译成“Music and delicious food stop passers-by.”简单明了、通俗易懂。
3、“用之不足既”的英译
此句中，“既”同“尽”，“不足既”是无穷无尽的意思。许渊冲的译文是“……and inexhaustible when used”; 辜正坤的译文是“But when using it, you can never exhaust its use.”；Arthur Waley的译文是“Yet if one uses it, it is inexhaustible.”。三位译者的翻译大同小异，分别用了“exhaust”、“inexhaustible”。我们则想到了“boundless”一词, 其英文解释是“without limits; seeming to have no end”，不正是“大道无垠”吗？因而，我们把该句译成“but its role is boundless”。
