不 敢 進 寸 而 退 尺 是 謂 行 無 行 攘 無 臂 • 扔 無 敵 執 無 兵 禍 莫 大 於 輕 敵 輕 敵 幾 喪 吾 寶 • (•)故 抗 兵 相 (若) [則] 哀 者 勝 矣(•) Those who command troops have a saying : I dare not act like the master, but instead act like a guest. Dare not advance an inch, but instead retreat a foot. This is called marching without marching, Seizing without using your arms, Routing without having an enemy, Defending without using weapons. There is no misfortune greater than underestimating the enemy. By underestimating the enemy, I nearly lose my treasures. Therefore : when armies on opposing sides are evenly matched, Then they who mourn will be victorious! Those who command troops2 have a saying : ♦I dare not act like the master, but instead act like a guest. Dare not advance an inchA, but instead retreat a footB. This is called marching without marching, [travelling] [travelling] ♦Seizing without using your armsC, Routing without having an enemy, [throw out] DefendingD without using weapons. [hold,maintain] There is no misfortune greater than underestimating the enemy.E [frivolous,unimportant] By underestimating the enemy, I nearly lose my treasures. [frivolous,unimportant] Therefore : when armies on opposing sides are evenly matched, [similar,like each other,comparable2] Then they who mournF will be victorious ! Notes A : 寸 was a unit of length, very close to one inch B : 尺 was a unit of length, very close to one foot C : this symbol is definitely referring to the limb, not the English synonym for “weapons”; this and the next two lines can be translated in many ways due to their terseness D : as in “hold the fort” or “maintain your position” E : there is a great deal of variation between the sources for this line and the next, so WB and HSG are taken as the “standard”; each later source made changes to try to turn it into something that made sense! F : presumably, mourning the need to fight and/or the death it involves; compare to #31, where war is compared to dwelling at a funeral Cross-references not daring to act : #3, #64, #67 treasures : #62, #67 Chapter Seventy 吾 言 甚 易 知 • 甚 易 行 • [而] 天 下 莫 [之] 能 知 • 莫 [之] 能 行 • 言 有 宗 • 事 有 君 (•)夫 唯 無 知 • 是 以 不 我 知 • 知 我 者 希 則 我 者 貴 [矣(•)] 是 以 聖 人 被 褐 [而] 懷 玉 My words are very easy to understand, Very easy to practice. But there is no one in the world who can understand them,