《道德經》中英文對照版(6)

第六章

　　穀神不死，是謂玄牝。

　　玄牝之門，是謂天地根。

　　緜緜若存，用之不勤。

　　Chapter6

　　The Valley Spirit never dies.

　　It is named the Mysterious Female.

　　And the Doorway of the Mysterious Female

　　Is the base from which Heaven and Earth sprang.

　　It is there within us all the while；

　　Draw upon it as you will， it never runs dry.[1]

　　[1]Lieh Tzu quotes these lines as coming from the Book of the Yellow Ancestor； but it does not follow that the Tao Ching is actually quothing them from this source. They may belong to the general stock of early Taoist rhymed teaching. For ch' in compare below， Chapter 52， line 9， and Huai-nan Tzu I， fol.2.