
Lao Tzu for Everyone
Students, Scholars
& Seekers
Peter Gilboy, Ph.D.
第 二十 章
Line 1 絕學无憂
Line 2 唯 與 訶 其 相 去 幾 何
Line 3 美與惡其相去何若
Line 4 人之所畏亦不可以不畏人
Line 5 朢 呵 亓 未 央哉
Line 6 眾人熙熙若鄉於大牢
而春登臺
Line 7 我泊焉未佻若嬰兒未咳
Line 8 累呵如佁无所歸
Line 9 眾人皆有餘我獨遺
Line 10 我愚人之心也蠢蠢呵
Line 11 鬻人昭昭我獨若昏呵 Line 12 鬻人察察我獨悶悶呵
Line 13 惚呵其若海
朢呵其若无所止
Line 14 眾人皆有以我獨頑以悝
Line 15 吾欲獨異於人而貴食母
LESSON 20
I Am Different
from the Others
We believe a lot of things about the world, and they are all true. We know they are true because otherwise we wouldn't believe them And, because they are true, there is no need for us to question them.
Lao Tzu seems to be having great fun in this lesson, challenging all that we passionately believe to be the case. It is a playful lesson, even biographical, but also a very serious lesson.
. . . . . .
Click on each line number
for Chinese-English interlinear
& commentary
Give up learning
and put an
end to your woes.
Yes and no.
How are they
so different?
Beauty and ugliness.
Don't they depend
on each other?
Someone whom
others fear will
always fear someone else.
Think about it!
When would this
ever stop?
Everyone else is so
cheerful and content,
as if off at some
grand feast in the countryside,
and having a great time.
But I am serene,
making no effort at all,
like an infant who
has not yet made a sound.
Alas! It seems that
I am the fool here,
with nowhere
to lay my head.
Everyone else
has enough, and then more,
while I alone
have lost everything.
How simpleminded I am!
There is no end
to my ignorance!
Regular folks know
everything that matters.
I'm the only one
who is in the dark.
Regular folks see
it all so clearly.
I'm the only one who
is deluded and deceived.
Aimless, like the ocean.
And wandering about
with nowhere to go.
Everyone else has
a purpose in life.
I'm the only
bumpkin around.
Yet it is my yearnings alone
that set me apart from others,
in that
I treasure being
nourished by our mother.
. . . . . . .