第三十一章    兵者不祥

夫兵者，不祥之器，物或惡之，故有道者不處。君子居則貴左，用兵則貴右。兵者不祥之器，非君子之器，不得已而用之，恬淡為上。勝而不美，而美之者，是樂殺人。夫樂殺人者，則不可得志于天下矣。
吉事尚左，兇事尚右。偏將軍居左，上將軍居右，言以喪禮處之。殺人之眾，以悲哀泣之，戰勝以喪禮處之。

The Misfortune of Weapens

Fine weapons are instruments of evil hated by people. Thereforethose who possess Tao turn away from them.The gentleman favors the left incivilian life, But on military occasions favors the right.

Weapons are meant for destruction, and thus are avoided by thewise. Only When he uses them as a last resort, he regards calm restraint as thebest principle.Even when he is victorious, he does not regard it aspraiseworthy, For to praise victory is to delight in the slaughter of men. Hewho delights in the slaughter of men cannot achieve good purposes in the world.

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The left side is a place of honor on happy occasions. The rightside is reserved for mourning at a funeral. When the lieutenants take the leftside to prepare for war, the general should be on the right side,  This means that war is treated as a funeralservice.

The death of many should be greeted with great sorrow, and thevictory celebration should honor those who have died.

 [譯文]

兵器是不詳的東西, 是不受眾人歡迎的， 有道的人遠離它。君子平時以左為上，而用兵之時以右方為貴。兵器這個不祥之物，君子盡量避免使用，即使是不得已而為之，也要適可而止。即使戰勝了也不自鳴得意，如洋洋自得，就暴露嗜血的本性。樂殺者是無法得到天下百姓的擁戴的。人們日常吉慶之事以左為上，而兇事則以右為上。所以偏將軍居于左位，主將軍居于右位，這就是說要以喪禮儀式來處理用兵打仗的事情。

戰爭中殺人眾多，以悲哀心情一起默哀，打了勝仗也要以喪禮之儀對待戰死的人。