第25章 · 原文
现代白话译文
有一个东西混然而成，在天地形成之前就已经产生。它寂静啊空虚啊，独立存在而不改变，循环运行而不停止，可以作为天地的母亲。我不知道它的名字，给它取字叫道，勉强给它取名叫大。大叫做离去，离去叫做遥远，遥远叫做返回。所以道大，天大，地大，人也大。宇宙中有四大，而人占据其中之一。人效法地，地效法天，天效法道，道效法自然。
英文译本 / English Translations
D.C. Lau
There is a thing confusedly formed, Born before heaven and earth. Silent and void It stands alone and does not change, Goes round and does not weary. It is capable of being the mother of the world. I know not its name So I style it 'the way'. I give it the makeshift name of 'the great'. Being great, it is further described as receding, Receding, it is described as far away, Being far away, it is described as turning back. Hence the way is great; Heaven is great; Earth is great; The king is also great. Within the realm there are four things that are great, And the king counts as one. Man models himself on earth, Earth on heaven, Heaven on the way, And the way on that which is naturally so.
Robert Henricks
1. There was something formed out of chaos, 2. That was born before Heaven and Earth. 3. Quiet and Still! Pure and deep! 4. It stands on its own and does not change. 5. It can be regarded as the mother of Heaven and Earth. 6. I do not yet know its name: 7. I "style" it "the Way." 8. Were I forced to give it a name, I would call it "the Great." 9. "Great" means "to depart"; 10. "To depart" means "to be far away"; 11. And "to be far away" means "to return." 12. The Way is great; 13. Heaven is great; 14. Earth is great; 15. And the king is also great. 16. In the country there are four greats, and the king occupies one place among them. 17. Man models himself on the Earth; 18. The Earth models itself on Heaven; 19. Heaven models itself on the Way; 20. And the Way models itself on that which is so on its own.
Addiss & Lombardo
Something formed in chaos, born before heaven and earth. Silent and void, it stands alone and does not change. It goes around and does not tire. It can be the mother of the world. I do not know its name, I call it the way. Forced to name it, I call it great. Great means passing, passing means faring, faring means returning. Therefore the way is great, heaven is great, earth is great, the king is also great. There are four greats in the world, and the king is one of them. Humans follow earth, earth follows heaven, heaven follows the way, the way follows nature.
Arthur Waley
There was something formless yet complete, That existed before heaven and earth; Without sound, without substance, Dependent on nothing, unchanging, All pervading, unfailing. One may think of it as the mother of all things under heaven. Its true name we do not know; Were I forced to say to what class of things it belongs I should call it Great (ta) Now ta also means passing on, And passing on means going Far Away, And going far away means returning. Thus just as Tao has "this greatness" and as earth has it and as heaven has it, So may the ruler also have it. Thus "within the realm there are four portions of greatness", And one belongs to the king. The ways of men are conditioned by those of earth. The ways of earth, by those of heaven. The ways of heaven by those of Tao, and the ways of Tao by the Self-so.
林语堂
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Stephen Mitchell
There was something formless and perfect before the universe was born. It is serene. Empty. Solitary. Unchanging. Infinite. Eternally present. It is the mother of the universe. For lack of a better name, I call it the Tao. It flows through all things, inside and outside, and returns to the origin of all things. The Tao is great. The universe is great. Earth is great. Man is great. These are the four great powers. Man follows the earth. Earth follows the universe. The universe follows the Tao. The Tao follows only itself.