Dao De Jing, chapter 20
Monday, 2 September 2024 09:19![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
lnhammerDiscard learning and have no grief.
A [respectful] “yes” and [superior] “eh” are how far apart?
Between good and evil,[20-1] what is the distance?
What men fear must indeed be feared.
Remote, ah!, without an end!
Many men are oh so satisfied,
Like they’re enjoying a great banquet[20-2]
Or mounting a tower in springtime.
I alone am content[20-3], ah!, [though] this isn’t revealed,
Like an infant who’s not yet a child;
[I look] so listless, ah!, like[20-4] [I’ve] no home to return to.
Many men have enough and to spare,
I alone look like I’m left out.[20-5]
I’ve an untutored spirit, oh!, so chaotic!
Common men are oh so illustrious,
I alone seem dim.
Common men are oh so pristine,
I alone [seem] dull and dour.
Tranquility, ah!, it’s like the ocean,
Emptiness, ah! it’s as if without cease.
Common men all have that which they use,
And I alone am dull[20-6] as a peasant.
I alone am different from [other] men
And value the Nurturing Mother [i.e., the Way].
[20-1] Other texts have “beautiful and ugly”
[20-2] Other texts have the line “Like a great sacrifice in a village”
[20-3] Other texts have “I am expansive”
[20-4] Other texts have “stuck in place [for]”
[20-5] Other texts omit this line
[20-6] Another text has “empty-headed”
绝学无忧。
唯之与阿，相去几何？
善之与恶，相去若何？
人之所畏，不可不畏。
荒兮其未央哉！
衆人熙熙，
如享太牢，
如春登台。
我独怕兮其未兆；
如婴儿之未孩；
儽儽兮若无所归。
衆人皆有馀，
而我独若遗。
我愚人之心也哉，沌沌兮！
俗人昭昭，
我独若昏。
俗人察察，
我独闷闷。
澹兮其若海，
飂兮若无止。
衆人皆有以，
而我独顽似鄙。
我独异于人，
而贵食母。
Explicit “I” all over the place here. Compare ch.22, once we get to that. The originals of the two words in l.2 are a respectful agreement with a superior and an agreement with an inferior with connotations of being disdainful or grudging.
I do wonder whether l.1 is actually misplaced from the previous chapter.
---L.
A [respectful] “yes” and [superior] “eh” are how far apart?
Between good and evil,[20-1] what is the distance?
What men fear must indeed be feared.
Remote, ah!, without an end!
Many men are oh so satisfied,
Like they’re enjoying a great banquet[20-2]
Or mounting a tower in springtime.
I alone am content[20-3], ah!, [though] this isn’t revealed,
Like an infant who’s not yet a child;
[I look] so listless, ah!, like[20-4] [I’ve] no home to return to.
Many men have enough and to spare,
I alone look like I’m left out.[20-5]
I’ve an untutored spirit, oh!, so chaotic!
Common men are oh so illustrious,
I alone seem dim.
Common men are oh so pristine,
I alone [seem] dull and dour.
Tranquility, ah!, it’s like the ocean,
Emptiness, ah! it’s as if without cease.
Common men all have that which they use,
And I alone am dull[20-6] as a peasant.
I alone am different from [other] men
And value the Nurturing Mother [i.e., the Way].
[20-1] Other texts have “beautiful and ugly”
[20-2] Other texts have the line “Like a great sacrifice in a village”
[20-3] Other texts have “I am expansive”
[20-4] Other texts have “stuck in place [for]”
[20-5] Other texts omit this line
[20-6] Another text has “empty-headed”
绝学无忧。
唯之与阿，相去几何？
善之与恶，相去若何？
人之所畏，不可不畏。
荒兮其未央哉！
衆人熙熙，
如享太牢，
如春登台。
我独怕兮其未兆；
如婴儿之未孩；
儽儽兮若无所归。
衆人皆有馀，
而我独若遗。
我愚人之心也哉，沌沌兮！
俗人昭昭，
我独若昏。
俗人察察，
我独闷闷。
澹兮其若海，
飂兮若无止。
衆人皆有以，
而我独顽似鄙。
我独异于人，
而贵食母。
Explicit “I” all over the place here. Compare ch.22, once we get to that. The originals of the two words in l.2 are a respectful agreement with a superior and an agreement with an inferior with connotations of being disdainful or grudging.
I do wonder whether l.1 is actually misplaced from the previous chapter.
---L.