道德經-第一章

今年掃墓我們家人團聚時，二姊抱怨說她小女兒什麼都好，就是國文差，尤其是文言文。回想以前背論語時的確也是痛苦，還好國文程度都還可以維持在中上水準。文言文的想像空間很大，非常考驗人的解讀能力。

今天在看這本講解道德經的英文書時，發現看英文我～完～全～懂，看中文卻沒辦法讀透。真妙，明明是以中文為母語的人卻要看英文才能懂。

來看看下面中文經文及英文，哪個你比較能吸收。

王弼本:

道可道，非常道。名可名，非常名。無名天地之始，有名萬物之母。故常無欲，以觀其妙；常有欲，以觀其徼。此兩者同出而異名，同謂之玄，玄之又玄，眾妙之門。

帛書校勘本:

道，可道也，非恒道也。名，可名也，非恒名也。無名，萬物之始也；有名，萬物之母也。故恒無欲也，以觀其眇，恒有欲也，以觀其所徼。兩者同出，異名同胃，玄之又玄，眾眇之門。

英文非逐字翻譯，而是義譯，但我覺得譯得非常好。

A way that can be walked is not the Way 

A name that can be named is not the Name

Tao is bothe Named and Nameless

As Nameless, it is the origin of all things

As Named, it is the mother of all things

A mind free of thought, merged within itself, beholds the essence of Tao

A mind filled with thought, identified with its own perceptions,

beholds the mere forms of this world

Tao and this world seem different but in truth they are one and the same

The only difference is in what we call them

How deep and mysterious this unity is

How profound, how great!

It is the truth beyond the truth, the hidden within the hidden

It is the path to all wonder, the gate to the essence of everything!

as named it is the Mother of 10,000 things.

Ever deriseless, one can see the mystery;

ever desiring, one sees only the manifestations.

And the mystery itself is the doorway to

all understanding.