第二十三章

希言自然

It Is Natural to Speak Little

It is quite natural to speak little.

A strong wind won't last a whole morning,

and a heavy rain won't continue all day long.

What makes it so?

Heaven and earth.

The anger of heaven and earth cannot last long,

let alone that of man.

Therefore, the person who acts

according to the principle of the divine law

is close to the law,

and the person who acts according to the principle of virtue

is consistent with virtue;

the person who does not act according to the divine and human law

is lack of morality.

If you act according to the principle of the divine law,

it is easy to get it;

if you act according to the principle of the human law,

your virtue will gradually increase;

the one who is immoral

is easy to be accepted by those who are immoral.

But if the ruler's integrity is insufficient,

some people will not trust him.

1、“天地尚不能久，而况于人乎”的英译

许渊冲的译文是 Heaven and earth cannot speak long, not to speak of man.总觉得第一个speak用得不对。“飘风、骤雨”岂是“天地在说话”？所以，我们译成了 The anger of heaven and earth cannot last long, let alone man. “Anger”一词我们认为用得很讲究：天地发怒才有“飘风骤雨”。辜正坤的译文 Heaven and Earth cannot make it last long. How can man? 倒也在谱。但Arthur Waley的译文就变得太多了，以至于不好懂：If Heaven and Earth cannot blow or pour for long, how much less in his utterance should man?

2、“信不足焉，有不信焉”的英译

这个句子我们与辜正坤的理解基本相同，分别译成了If the ruler's integrity is insufficient, some people will not trust him. 和The lack of faith on the part of the ruler leads to the lack of the people's confidence in him.然而，许渊冲的译文就大相径庭了：Some are not trustworthy enough, some not at all. 就连Arthur Waley的译文: It is by not believing in people that you turn them into liars.也与我们的译文反道而行。于此，只能抱怨老子为何不把话说得更明白些。但如果想到老子主要把话说给君主听，那么我们的理解无疑更准确。