道——“the way”
德——“the power of the way”
英文版《道德经》封面
中英文对照如下：
第一章
道，可道，非恒道。名，可名，非恒名。无名，天地之始；有名，万物之母。故常无欲，以观其妙；常有欲，以观其徼。此两者同出而异名，同谓之玄。玄之又玄，众妙之门。
The Way that can be told of is not an Unvarying Way; The names that can be named are not unvarying names. It was from the Nameless that Heaven and Earth sprang;
The named is but the mother that rears the ten thousand creatures, each after its kind. Truly, ―Only he that rids himself forever of desire can see the Secret Essences‖;He that has never rid himself of desire can see only the Outcomes.
These two things issued from the same mould, but nevertheless are different in name. This ―same mould‖ we can but call the Mystery,Or rather the ―Darker than any Mystery‖,The Doorway whence issued all Secret Essences.
三十八章
上德不德，是以有德；下德不失德，是以无德。上德无为而无以为；下德无为而有以为。上仁为之而无以为；上义为之而有以为。上礼为之而莫之应，则攘臂而扔之。故失道而后德，失德而后仁，失仁而后义，失义而后礼。夫礼者，忠信之薄，而乱之首。前识者，道之华，而愚之始。是以大丈夫居其厚，不居其薄；居其实，不居其华。故去彼取此。
The man of highest ―power‖ does not reveal himself as a possessor of ―power‖; Therefore he keeps his ―power‖.
The man of inferior ―power‖ cannot rid it of the appearance of ―power‖; Therefore he is in truth without ―power‖.
The man of highest ―power‖ neither acts nor is there any who so regards him; The man of inferior ―power‖ both acts and is so regarded. The man of highest humanity, though he acts, is not regarded;
Whereas a man of even the highest morality both acts and is so regarded; While even he who is best versed in ritual not merely acts, But if people fail to respond
Then he will pull up his sleeves and advance upon them. That is why it is said:
“After Tao was lost, then came the 'power';
After the 'power' was lost, then came human kindness.‖ After human kindness was lost, then came morality, After morality was lost, then came ritual.
Now ritual is the mere husk of loyalty and promise-keeping And is indeed the first step towards brawling.‖ Foreknowledge may be the ―flower of doctrine‖, But it is the beginning of folly.
Therefore the full-grown man takes his stand upon the solid substance And not upon the mere husk,
Upon the fruit and not upon the flower. Truly, ―he reject that and takes this‖.
“道”应该翻译成“大道”，或者说“基本规则”“根本规则”“自然法则”可以翻译为“ground
rule”“root
rule”“Law
of
nature”
“德”为遵循“道”的行为
而我们平时所说的“道德”也是由此引申出来的：遵循社会共识的行为。
不可能用一个单词描述.....
实际上翻译的时候用了书名《Tao
Te
Ching》就是因为没有合适的英文词语