第六十九章    慎行包容

用兵有言：吾不敢為主而為客，不敢進寸而退尺。是謂行無行，攘無臂，執無兵, 扔無敵。 禍莫大于輕敵，輕敵幾喪吾寶。 故抗兵相若，哀者勝矣。

Cautious Move

The strategists say, "Do not be the aggressor but the defender. Donot advance an inch, but retreat a foot instead."

This is movement without moving, stretching the arm without showing it,confronting enemies with the idea there is no enemy, holding in the hand noweapons.

This is called marching without any trace ,

Shouting loud without troops,

Well armed without sight ofweapens,

Capturing without resistence.

Nodisaster is greater than underestimating the enemy.

To underestimate the enemy might entail the loss of my treasures. When two great forces oppose eachother,

the victory will go

to the one that knows how to yield.

[譯文]

兵家有這樣的說法：戰爭的勝負不在于先發制人，而在于反客為主，以退為進。這是講戰爭要做到慎謀于未戰之前, 行無蹤跡，喊聲震天而不見人影，武裝到牙卻不露痕跡，進攻則無敵不克。戰爭中沒有比輕敵更大的禍患了，輕敵幾乎完全喪失我的法寶。