第四十六章

知足常足

天下有道，却走马以粪。天下无道，戎马生于郊。祸莫大于不知足；咎莫大于欲得。故知足之足，常足矣。

One Who Knows Contentment Is Always Satisfied

If the governance of the world is in line with the divine law,

the warhorses will be returned to the farmers for farming in the field.

If the governance of the world is not in line with the divine law,

even a pregnant mare will be sent to the battlefield

and give birth to a foal on the outskirts.

The greatest crime is dissatisfaction,

and the biggest fault is greed.

A man who knows when to be satisfied is always satisfied.

1、“咎莫大于欲得”的英译

此句话的意思是“最大的过失是贪得无厌”。Arthur Waley的译文“No presage of evil greater than men should be wanting to get more.”句子结构似乎不太对，但无从考究，暂且不论。其他译者的理解一致，译文精彩纷呈。许渊冲译成“No woe（灾祸） is greater than covetousness（贪婪）”，用词稍偏；辜正坤译成“No crime is greater than greediness”，用“否定词+比较级”来表示最高级；我们则直接用了最高级，译成“the biggest fault is greed”。

2、“故知足之足，常足矣”的英译

各位译者对于此句的的理解基本一致。Arthur Waley的译文是：Truly:“He who has once known the contentment that comes simply through being content, will never again be otherwise than contented”.。该句结构太复杂，用了两个定语从句。先是定语从句“who has…”来修饰“He”,在这个定语从句里又含有一个定语从句“that comes…”来修饰“the contentment”。此外，还用了一个不太常用的短语“otherwise than（除... 以外）”。辜正坤译成“Thus the contentment of feeling content is an eternal contentment.”；许渊冲译成“If you know contentment comes from being content, you will always have enough.”尽管表达不同，但都符合老子的本意。我们译成“A man who knows when to be satisfied is always satisfied.”，句子用了大家熟悉的结构，便于理解。