Chapter 67
"All in the world call me great; but I resemble the unlikely.
Now a man is great only because he resembles the unlikely.
Did he resemble the likely, how lasting, indeed, would his mediocrity be!
I have three treasures which I cherish and prize.
The first is called compassion.
The second is called economy.
The third is called not daring to come to the front in the world.
The compassionate can be brave;
The economical can be generous;
Those who dare not come to the front in the world can become perfect as chief vessels.
Now, if people discard compassion and are brave;
If they discard economy and are generous;
If they discard modesty and are ambitious, they will surely die."
- Translated by D. T. Suzuki and Paul Carus, 1913, Chapter 67
"In the world each says
My Tao is great and seems to lack resemblance
In the end only great therefore seems to lack resemblance.
It looks like resemblance goes with the long-lasting
With what is tiny as well.
In the end I possess three principles I am obtaining yet defending
One, say compassion
Two, say thrift
Three say lack of venturing to act to precede the world.
Compassion, so be able to be brave
Thrift, so be able to expand
Lack venturing to act to precede the world
So be able to perfect tools of growth.
Right now, abandon compassion just to be brave
Abandon thrift just to expand
Abandon being behind just to precede
Death goes with these.
In the end with compassion
A war happens and next comes conquering
Keeping to it happens and next comes solidity.
The heavens attain helping
It happens that compassion is defending."
- Translated by David Lindauer, Chapter 67
"The inhabitants of the world all say that I am greatly tolerant, although I have the appearance of incompetence.
This apparent incompetence is the result of my very greatness.
In the case of one who is possessed of more than ordinary ability, he sets his mind constantly upon even the smallest matters.
Now there are three things which I regard as precious, which I grasp and prize.
The first is compassion; the second is frugality; the third is not venturing to take precedence of others modesty.
I prize compassion; therefore I am able to be fearless.
I prize frugality; therefore I am able to be liberal.
I prize modesty; therefore I am able to become a leader of men.
But men of the present day abandon compassion, yet aim at valiancy;
they abandon frugality, yet aim at being liberal;
they abandon modesty, yet aim at leadership.
This is death to them.
Now when one is compassionate in battle, he will be victorious.
When one is compassionate in defending, his defenses will be strong.
When Heaven intends to deliver men, it employs compassion to protect them."
- Translated by Frederic Henry Balfour, 1884, Chapter 67
天下皆謂我道大似不肖.
夫唯大, 故似不肖.
若肖, 久矣其細也夫.
我有三寶.
持而保之.
一曰慈.
二曰儉.
三曰不敢為天下先.
慈故能勇.
儉故能廣.
不敢為天下先.
故能成器長.
今舍慈且勇.
舍儉且廣.
舍後且先.
死矣.
夫慈以戰則勝.
以守則固.
天將救之.
以慈衛之.
- Chinese characters, Tao Te Ching, Chapter 67
t'ien hsia chieh wei wo tao ta ssu pu hsiao.
fu wei ta, ku ssu pu hsiao.
jo hsuao, chiu yi ch'i hsi yeh fu.
wo yu san pao.
ch'ih erh pao chih.
yi yüeh tz'u.
erh yüeh chien.
san yüeh pu kan wei t'ien hsia hsien.
tz'u ku nêng yung.
chien ku nêng kuang.
pu kan wei t'ien hsia hsien.
ku nêng ch'êng ch'i ch'ang.
chin shê tz'u ch'ieh yung.
shê chien ch'ieh kuang.
shê hou ch'ieh hsien.
ssu yi.
fu tz'u yi chan tsê shêng.
yi shou tsê ku.
t'ien chiang chiu chih.
yi tz'u wei chih.
- Wade-Giles Romanization, Tao Te Ching, Chapter 67
"Everyone says my Dao is so great that it does not look like anything.
I say because it is so great, it does not look like anything.
If it were like anything, it would have disappeared long ago.
I have three treasures to keep and protect:
The first is kindness, the second is thrift, and the third is not fighting to be first.
Only if you are kind, can you be brave;
Only if you are thrifty, can you be generous;
Only if you do not fight to be first, can you be a leader.
However, the people today are not kind but brave,
Are not thrifty but generous,
Are not humble but want to be leaders.
These people are destined for failure.
With kindness, when you fight, you will win; when you defend, you will be strong.
If the heavens wants to save someone, it will always give him kindness as his defense."
- Translated by Xiaolin Yang, Chapter 67
"En el mundo todos dicen que soy grande
y no lo parezco.
Porque soy grande
no lo parezco.
Si lo pareciera hubiera dejado de serio,
y hace mucho tiempo que sería pequeño.
Poseo tres tesoros que guardo:
el primero es amor,
el segundo es moderación,
el tercero es humildad.
Por el amor puedo ser valeroso.
Por la moderación puedo ser generoso.
Por la humildad puedo ser el primero.
Pero sin amor no se puede ser valeroso,
sin moderación no se puede ser generoso,
sin humildad no se puede ser el primero.
De otro modo se camina a la muerte.
Quien ataca con amor, vence.
Quien se defiende con amor, es firme.
Quien por el cielo es salvado, le protege el amor."
- Spanish Version Online at RatMachines, Capitulo 67
"All the world avows that while my Taoism is great, it is yet incompetent!
It is its greatness which makes it appear incompetent.
If it were like others, it would long ago have been recognized as incompetent.
But I hold fast to three precious things, which I also cherish.
The first is gentleness.
The second is economy.
The third is humility.
With such gentleness I can be daring.
With such economy I can be generous.
With such humility I can be great in service, as a vessel of honour.
But in these days men forsake gentleness and become only obtrusive.
They abandon economy and become only excessive.
They relinquish humility and strive for precedence, and thus for death.
Gentleness is ever victorious in attack and secure in defence.
Therefore when Heaven would preserve a man it enfolds him with gentleness."
- Translated by Walter Gorn Old, 1904, Chapter 67
Chapter and Thematic Index (Concordance) to the Tao Te Ching
Taoism: A Selected Reading List
No comments:
Post a Comment