第四十九章
圣人恒无心，以百姓之心为心。善者善之；不善者亦善之；德善也。信者信之，不信者亦信之，德信也。圣人之在天下，歙歙焉，为天下浑其心，百姓皆注其耳目焉，圣人皆孩之。
The Sage Is Kind to Those Who Are Kind
The sage seldom has his personal will or desire,
but takes the will of the people as his own.
For the kind person, I treat him kindly;
for the unkind person, I also treat him kindly,
so that I can get kindness and make everyone kind.
For those who keep their word, I trust them;
for those who do not keep their word, I also trust them,
so that I can get trust and make everyone trustworthy.
When the sage following the divine law is in his position,
he restrains his own desire and makes the people’s minds simple.
The common people all watch the leader's words and deeds,
and the sage brings them back to a baby-like simplicity.
1、「圣人恒无心，以百姓之心为心」的英译
百度百科对「心」的解释是： 「心」古字形像人或鸟兽的心脏，本意即心脏（heart）。古人认为心是思维的器官，因此把思想、感情都说做「心」；又由思维器官引申为心思、思想、意念、感情、性情等；又引申为思虑、谋划。此句中的「心」是「意念、意愿」。很显然，Arthur Waley的译文「The Sage has no heart of his own; he uses the heart of the people as his heart.」 和原文有出入；辜正坤的译文 「The sage often has no will; he takes the people’s will as his own.」和许渊冲的译文「The sage has no personal will; he takes the people’s will as his own.」几乎相同，都把「心」译成「will」。对于圣人的「心」，许渊冲用了「personal will（私心）」，更符合原意。我们则更进一步，译成「The sage seldom has his personal will or desire, but takes the will of the people as his own. 」。
2、「信者信之，不信者亦信之，德信也」的英译
此句中「信」有两个意思：「守信用、实践诺言」和「相信、信任」。许渊冲的译文是「He trusts not only the trustworthy, but also those who are not, so all become trustworthy.」，分别把「信」译成了「trust（信任）」 、「trustworthy（可信任的）」；辜正坤译成「Those who are of faith, I put faith in; those who are of no faith, I also put faith in. Thus I obtain faith.」,把「信」分别译成「put faith in（信任）」、「 of faith(（可信任的）」; Arthur Waley译成「The truthful man I believe, but the liar I also believe, and thus he gets truthfulness.」， 把「信」分别译成「believe（信任）」、「 truthful(诚实的）」。虽然用词不同，但理解基本一致，也基本符合了老子的原意。
遵循原文，我们译成了「For those who keep their word（遵守诺言）, I trust them; for those who do not keep their word, I also trust them, so that I can get trust and make everyone trustworthy.」，更全面、更易于理解。
3、「百姓皆注其耳目，圣人皆孩之」的英译
此句中的两个关键词是「耳目」和「孩」。「耳目」本意是「耳朵和眼睛」，引申为「视听」 ， 「注其耳目」是「其耳目注圣人」，意思是「老百姓观察着圣人的言行」。「孩」是使动用法，意思是 「 使老百姓回复到婴儿般的状态 」 。
Arthur Waley译成「The Hundred Families all the time strain（过分使用） their eyes and ears, the Sage all the time sees and hears no more than an infant sees and hears.」和原文有很大出入， 而且把百姓直译成「Hundred Families」，让人不仅失笑。许渊冲译成「The people are all eyes and ears; the sage restores them to their childhood.」，前半句的意思不甚明朗。辜正坤译成「The people are all preoccupied（全神贯注的） with their eyes and ears, the sage helps them return to the childhood state」，符合原意。我们和辜正坤的理解一致， 则译成「The common people all watch the leader's words and deeds, and the sage brings them back to a baby-like simplicity.」
