第六十五章
淳朴治国
原文
英译
Rule the State with Honesty and Simplicity
In ancient times,
people who did things according to the laws of nature taught the people
to be honest and simple rather than cunning and deceitful.
It is difficult for the ruler to govern the people
because the latter use too much ingenuity.
Therefore,
governing the state with ingenuity is bound to endanger the state,
whereas governing the state without ingenuity is the well-being of the state.
Understanding the two models of governing the state
falls in line with the divine law.
Frequent thinking of the two models is known as the mysterious virtue,
which is profound and endless,
and it is often different from something concrete,
so that it can be well adapted to nature.
说明
1. “古之善为道者，非以明民，将以愚之”的英译
有许多人对老子的“愚民”有些误解，所以在英文译文中也可见一斑，比如Arthur Waley将“古之善为道者，非以明民，将以愚之”译为“In the days of old, those who practiced Tao with success did not, by means of it, enlighten the people, but on the contrary sought to make them ignorant.”，即“古代那些善用道者不用道去开化民众，而是努力使民众无知。”。
许渊冲将此句译作“The ancients who followed the divine law would not enlighten the public mind, but simplify it.”，即“古代那些善用道的人，不是去启迪开化民众，而是使他们变的简单。”。
辜正坤译作“Those ancient men of the profound Tao did not use Tao to enlighten the people, but used Tao to make them simple.”，即“古代有道的人不以道开化人民，而是用道使人民淳朴简单”。
我们的译文“In ancient times, people who did things according to the laws of nature taught the people to be honest and simple rather than cunning and deceitful.”即“古代善于按自然规律做事的人，不是教导人民智巧伪诈，而是引导人民淳厚朴实。”
2. “与物反矣，然后乃至大顺”的英译
我们对这句的理解是“和具体的事物往往不一样，这样才能极大地顺乎于自然。”英文译作“it is often different from something concrete, so that it can be well adapted to nature.”。许渊冲译作“help all things develop naturally without his interference.”，即“帮助所有事物自然发展，不加干涉”，而“与物反矣”并没有直译出来。辜正坤译作“Running counter to concrete things. At their extremes there is the most complete conformity to nature.”，即“与具体事物相反，在其尽头与自然完全同一”。Arthur Waley译作“That can follow things back---all the way back to the Great Concordance.”，即“跟随事物，一直回到完全的调和、同一”。