第四十八章
无为不为
原文为学日益，为道日损。损之又损，以至于无为。无为而无不为。取天下常以无事，及其有事，不足以取天下。
英译When You Need Do Nothing, You Can Do Everything
For those who pursue learning,
their knowledge increases day by day,
while for those who seek the divine law,
their confusion decreases day by day.
Step by step,
they finally come into a state of doing nothing.
If they need do nothing, they can do anything.
People who govern the state should always run it
on the basis of not harassing the people.
If they often harass the people with tyranny,
they are not worthy to govern the state.
说明1、“为学日益，为道日损”的英译
各位译者对“学”和“道”的理解相同，但对“益”和“损”的理解不一。Arthur Waley译成“Learning consists in adding to one's stock day by day, the practice of Tao consists in subtracting day by day”，没有点明 “损（subtracting）”的是什么；辜正坤译成“He who seeks learning must increase his knowledge every day; he who seeks Tao must reduce his knowledge every day.”, “益”和“损”分别译成“increase”和“reduce”，十分巧妙，但对“损”的对象的理解和原文有出入；许渊冲译成“The more you know of the human world, the less you know of the divine law.”，用了“The more…, the less…（越……,越……）”的句型结构，“为学”和“为道”是有这样的关系吗？我们不敢妄加评论。
我们的译文是：For those who pursue learning, their knowledge increases day by day, while for those who seek the divine law, their confusion decreases day by day.，因为我们的理解与他们三位不同。
2、“及其有事，不足以取天下”的英译
老子在本章中指出，治理国家，要经常保持清静无为的态度。如果整治措施过于繁多，就不足以治理天下了。辜正坤译成“If one governs with too much action, one is not a worthy governor.”，简洁、明了；Arthur Waley则用了虚拟语气的倒装句结构，译成“Had they interfered, they would never have won this adherence（支持）.”，而且把“有事”译成“interfer（干扰）”，十分契合原文本意；许渊冲译成“If everything need you to do, then you cannot rule over the world.”，“有事”的译文和原文有出入。我们则译成“If they often harass（使苦恼） the people with tyranny（苛政）, they are not worthy to govern the state.”，想必与老子的本意靠得更近吧？
