第三十三章
知己者明
原文
英译It Needs Intelligence to Know Oneself
To understand and know others requires cleverness,
but to know and understand oneself demands intelligence.
One should be strong to be able to defeat others,
but one should be powerful to restrain his weakness.
He who knows contentment is rich.
He who persists in practice and makes great efforts is ambitious.
The one who does not lose his duty can live forever.
The one who died
can still be regarded truly long-lived
as long as his virtue exists.
说明1、“知人者智，自知者明”的英译
辜正坤译成“He who knows others is wise; He who knows himself is clever”；Waley译成“To understand others is to have knowledge, to understand oneself is to be illumined.”; 许渊冲则用了转译法，译成“It needs observation to know others, but reflection to know oneself.”
我们的译文是“To understand and know others requires cleverness, and to know and understand oneself requires intelligence.”。关于“知”，我们整合了三位译者的翻译，译成“to know and understand”；关于“智”，这里牵扯到对clever、wise、intelligent三个词内涵的准确把握。我们的理解是理解别人易，理解自己难，所以理解别人可以靠“小聪明”即老子的“智”，而理解自己必须靠“大智慧”即老子的“明”。clever是常用词，“聪明，反应快”的意思；wise，强调的是经验、知识及良好的判断力；而“intelligent”强调有学识、理解力或推理能力并能运用智力，尤其是一个人的内察能力，故而我们用了“intelligent”的名词形式“intelligence”。
2、“死而不亡者寿”的英译
四位译者对此句的理解一致，许渊冲的译文“Staying where one should, one can endure long; unforgettable, one is immortal.”很有些“不忘初心”的意蕴；辜正坤的译文“He whose Tao survives him is long-lived” 简短明了，一语道破“道”的威力：人虽死，道犹存。Waley的译文“When one dies one is not lost, there is no other longevity.”句子似乎不太对，可又无从考究，但基本可以看得出来他是直译。我们译成了“The one who died can still be regarded truly long-lived as long as his virtue exists.”，通俗易懂地揭示了“死而不亡”的真正内涵。
