第五十一章
長而不宰
原文
英譯
Lead, but Not Rule
The divine law grows all things,
and virtue nurtures them.
They take on a variety of forms,
and the environment helps them grow up.
Therefore, all things obey the divine law and value virtue.
The reason why the divine law is obeyed and virtue valued
is that the divine law grows all things without interference,
and virtue raises all things without domination.
Therefore, as the divine law grows all things,
virtue rears them,
and they are all grown up and developed, matured and sheltered.
This is the mysterious virtue of
growing all things without taking them as their own,
nurturing them without imposing personal will,
and leading rather than dominating them.
說明
1、“道之尊，德之貴，夫莫之命而常自然”的英譯
對于此句的翻譯，各位譯者的了解基本一緻。Arthur譯成“No mandate（指令） ever went forth that accorded to Tao the right to be worshipped, nor to its “power” the right to be worshipped, nor to its “power” the right to receive homage（尊崇）.”，句子稍長，用詞稍微生僻；辜正坤譯成“This worship and honor stems(起源) from the fact that Tao and Teh (virue) never unnaturally impose their influence on all creatures.”，用了一個同位語從句，修飾“the fact”, 但表達有點繞。許淵沖譯成“The divine law is important and virtue is valuable. None orders them to obey, but they obey naturally.”倒是十分簡單明了。
我們譯成“The reason why the divine law is obeyed and virtue valued is that the divine law grows all things without interference, and virtue raises all things without domination. ”，用了“why”引導的定語從句和“that”引導的表語從句，雖然句子稍長，但意思表達更清晰，易于了解。
2、“故道生之，德畜之；長之育之；成之熟之；養之覆之”的英譯
Arthur Waley譯成“Therefore as Tao bore them and the “power” of Tao reared them, made them grow（長之）, fostered them（育之）, harboured（庇護、保護）them（養之覆之）, brewed（孕育） for them（成之熟之）”；辜正坤譯成“In this way, Tao begets all creatures; The (virtue) rears them, promotes them（長之）, nurture them（育之）, bring them to fruition and maturity（成之熟之）, meanwhile maintains and defends them（養之覆之）.”；許淵沖譯成“In accordance with the divine law, all things are born and bred in their virtue, grown up and developed（長之育之）, completed and matured（成之熟之）, protected and sheltered(養之覆之).”。可以看出，三位譯者的用詞不一，都基本和原文相符，可謂是精彩紛呈。
我們集衆家之長，譯成“Therefore, the divine law grows all things, virtue rears them, and they are all grown up and developed, matured and sheltered. ”,和許淵沖的譯文一樣，句子用了被動語态，用了四個動詞 “grow up”、“develop”、“mature”、“shelter”和原文相對應，一目了然。
3、“玄德”的英譯
“玄”的意思是“深奧不容易了解的(mysterious)”，第一章已有論述。辜正坤譯成 “the most intrinsic Teh (virtue)”。查閱字典，intrinsic: adj (of a value or quality) belonging naturally; existing within, not coming from outside（指價值或性質）固有的, 内在的, 本質的。是以，辜正坤的的了解和原文有出入。Arthur Waley的譯文“the mysterious power”和許淵沖的譯文“the mysterious virtue”符合原意，是以我們也譯成了“the mysterious virtue”。