Sunday, December 12, 2010

Line by Line - Verse 16, Line 4

When things (in the vegetable world) have displayed their luxuriant growth, we see each of them return to its root.
~ James Legge translation, from The Sacred Books of the East, 1891 ~

They grow and flourish and then return to the source.
~ Gia-fu Feng and Jane English translation, published by Vintage Books, 1989 ~

Everything flourishes; each returns to its root
~ Derek Lin translation, from Tao Te Ching: Annotated & Explained, published by SkyLight Paths, 2006 ~

Everything reverts to its original state, which was nothing.
~ Ron Hogan rendition, from Beatrice.com, 2004 ~
Everything born, dies. This is one of the simple observations that we can make as we view the world around us. The clouds give birth to a violent storm which eventually subsides. A flower blooms and, in time, shrivels. The sun bursts forth upon the day and shines bright in all its glory, then slowly dims and then disappears altogether.

We are no different. We are born young and supple. We grow strong and can accomplish much. In time, however, we begin to lose our suppleness and we start to slow down. At some point, we stop completely.

As the Feng-English and Lin translations state, all things flourish and then they flourish no more.

To view the Index page for this series to see what you may have missed or would like to read again, go here.

1 comment:

  1. It always kind of interested me to think of the seasons in a time-lapse way. in spring, the sap rises from the roots of the trees, and in fall it returns there. played at high speed, it'd be like a beating heart.

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