老子道德经英译第五章

　　天地不仁，以万物为刍狗。圣人不仁，以百姓为刍狗。

　　天地之间，其犹橐(tuó)龠(yuè)乎?虚而不屈，动而愈出，多言数穷，不如守中。

　　【译文】

　　天地无所偏爱，对世间万物没有好恶。万物只是依照自然法则运行于天地之间。圣人效法天地的规律，对百姓没有偏爱、成见，让百姓自我发展。

　　天地之间就象一个风箱，内部空虚却又是无穷能量的源泉。

　　与其不断地执行繁杂苛刻的政令而加速败亡，不如保持天地间虚静、无为的状态。

　　【英译】

　　Heaven and earth have no any preference, likes and dislikes to temporal. Everything of the material world just goes according to the law of nature between the world. The sages always imitate the law of nature. They have no preference and prejudice to common people and make them develop themselves.

　　The space between heaven and earth is like a bellows. There is nothing in its inside. But it is the resources of infinite power.

　　For political affair managing, we should keep vacuous and non-action status rather than implement multifarious and rigorous orders. The latter will lead government and politics to decline.

　　【备注】

　　本章为了方便英译，同时为了达到能让英语使用者更容易理解，故很多专有名词没有直接翻译。如“刍狗”、“橐”，“龠”，分别为祭祀用以草捆扎造型的狗、类似风箱功能的鼓风皮囊和一种古代管乐器，如对这些词汇加以直译再作解释，反而会使英语读者感到昏乱，故直接以其引申含义来表达。