第11章 · 原文
现代白话译文
三十根辐条汇集到一个毂中，正是因为有了毂中的空虚，车才能发挥作用。揉和陶土做成器具，正是因为有了器具中间的空虚，器具才能发挥作用。开凿门窗建造房屋，正是因为有了门窗四壁中间的空虚，房屋才能发挥作用。所以，有给人以便利，无发挥了它的作用。
英文译本 / English Translations
D.C. Lau
Thirty spokes share one hub. Adapt the nothing therein to the purpose in hand, and you will have the use of the cart. Knead clay in order to make a vessel. Adapt the nothing therein to the purpose in hand, and you will have the use of the vessel. Cut out doors and windows in order to make a room. Adapt the nothing therein to the purpose in hand, and you will have the use of the room. Thus what we gain is Something, yet it is by virtue of Nothing that this can be put to use.
Robert Henricks
1. Thirty spokes unite in one hub; 2. It is precisely where there is nothing, that we find the usefulness of the wheel. 3. We fire clay and make vessels; 4. It is precisely where there's no substance, that we find the usefulness of clay pots. 5. We chisel out doors and windows; 6. It is precisely in these empty spaces, that we find the usefulness of the room. 7. Therefore, we regard having something as beneficial; 8. But having nothing as useful.
Addiss & Lombardo
Thirty spokes share the wheel's hub. It is the center hole that makes it useful. Shape clay into a vessel. It is the emptiness inside that makes it useful. Cut doors and windows for a room. It is the openings that make it useful. Therefore profit comes from what is there, usefulness from what is not.
Arthur Waley
We put thirty spokes together and call it a wheel; But it is on the space where there is nothing That the usefulness of the wheel depends. We turn clay to make a vessel; But it is on the space where there is nothing That the usefulness of the vessel depends. We pierce doors and windows to make a house; And it is on these spaces where there is nothing That the usefulness of the house depends. Therefore just as we take advantage of what is, We should recognize the usefulness of what is not.
林语堂
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Stephen Mitchell
We join spokes together in a wheel, but it is the center hole that makes the wagon move. We shape clay into a pot, but it is the emptiness inside that holds whatever we want. We hammer wood for a house, but it is the inner space that makes it livable. We work with being, but non-being is what we use.