2
When people see some things as beautiful,
other things become ugly.
When people see some things as good,
other things become bad.Being and non-being create each other.
Difficult and easy support each other.
Long and short define each other.
High and low depend on each other.
Before and after follow each other.Therefore the master
acts without doing anything
and teaches without saying anything.
Things arise and she lets them come;
things disappear and she lets them go.
She has but doesn't possess,
acts but doesn't expect.
when her work is done, she forgets it.
That is why it lasts forever.Dao De Jing, Chapter 2
Translated by Stephen Mitchell
Jayvant
Comment on February 19, 2004 at 6:01 am
I slightly prefer the following translation
If something's beautiful, something's got to be ugly.
If something's good, something's got to be bad.
You can't have something without nothing.
If no task is difficult, then no task is easy.
Things are up high because other things are down low.
So, the Master gets shit done with moving a muscle
and signifies without saying a word.
When shit happens, he doesn't blink.
When things fall apart, he stays cool.
He doesn't own much, but he's got a lot.
He does his work without expecting any favors.
When the job's finished, he moves on to the next job.
That's why his work is so damn good.
Dao De Jing, Chapter 2
Translated by Jesse Garon
Joel
Comment on February 19, 2004 at 8:58 am
The translation of the Daodejing by Stephen Addiss and Stanley Lombardo is recommended. No gender pronoun at all in that. Mitchell's addition of "she" is a shallow attempt to be right-on. Does Stephen Mitchell even read Chinese? Looks like a paraphrase version to me.
Reginald
Comment on February 19, 2004 at 7:36 pm
Sometimes I believe in synchronicity. Not more than 15 seconds before I red your entry, I was reading theses words from Ren� Daumal (a french writer who lived at the begining of XXth century) :
To act against a law still is to act according to this law; to act systematically against the desire still is to obey it; it is the attraction of the earth that makes the balloon go away from the earth.
(Agir contre une loi est encore agir selon cette loi ; agir syst�matiquement contre le d�sir est encore lui ob�ir ; c'est l'attraction de la terre qui fait que le ballon s'�loigne de la terre.)