維基百科上說︰
《孫子》，又稱《孫子兵法》 、《孫武兵法》和《吳孫子兵法》，是中國古代的兵書，作者為春秋末年的吳國人孫武，字長卿。一般認為，《孫子兵法》成書於專諸刺吳王僚之後至闔閭三年孫武見吳王之間，也即前 515 至前 512 年，全書為十三篇，是孫武初次見面贈送給吳王的見面禮；事見司馬遷《史記》 ：「孫子武者，齊人也，以兵法見吳王闔閭。闔閭曰：子之十三篇吾盡觀之矣」。
《孫子兵法》是世界上最早的兵書之一。在中國被奉為兵家經典，後世的兵書大多受到它的影響，對中國的軍事學發展影響非常深遠。它也被翻譯成多種語言，在世界軍事史上也具有重要的地位。
為什麼『孫武』被人譽作『兵聖』？或許可以說他對《兵》之一『字』的『概念網絡』上下嚴謹左右通達，對《用兵》之『法』的『理念架構』悠遊陰陽善用動靜，深解『相反相成』方能確定事物之『思維空間』的廣狹，才可運籌『相輔相成』之眾寡。宛若是《兵》演《太極》，終歸於『形‧無形』之兩翼︰
故形兵之極，至於無形。
與其只聽『說文』，何不自己『讀文』，體會一下古典『文章』︰
《孫子兵法》‧虛實第六
孫子曰：凡先處戰地而待敵者佚，後處戰地而趨戰者勞。故善戰者，致人而不致於人。
能使敵自至者，利之也；能使敵不得至者，害之也。故敵佚能勞之，飽能饑之，安能動之。出其所不趨，趨其所不意。
行千里而不勞者，行於無人之地也。攻而必取者，攻其所不守也；守而必固者，守其所不攻也。故善攻者，敵不知其所守；善守者，敵不知其所攻。微乎微乎，至於無形；神乎神乎，至於無聲，故能為敵之司命。
進而不可禦者，沖其虛也；退而不可追者，速而不可及也。故我欲戰，敵雖高壘深溝，不得不與我戰者，攻其所必救也；我不欲戰，雖畫地而守之，敵不得與我戰者，乖其所之也。
故形人而我無形，則我專而敵分。我專為一，敵分為十，是以十攻其一也，則我眾而敵寡。能以眾擊寡者，則吾之所與戰者，約矣。吾所與戰之地不可知，不可知，則敵所備者多，敵所備者多，則吾之所與戰者寡矣。故備前則後寡，備後則前寡，備左則右寡，備右則左寡，無所不備，則無所不寡。寡者，備人者也；眾者，使人備己者也。
故知戰之地，知戰之日，則可千里而會戰；不知戰之地，不知戰之日，則左不能救右，右不能救左，前不能救後，後不能救前，而況遠者數十里，近者數里乎！以吾度之，越人之兵雖多，亦奚益於勝哉！故曰：勝可擅也，敵雖眾，可使無鬥。
故策之而知得失之計，作之而知動靜之理，形之而知死生之地，角之而知有餘不足之處。故形兵之極，至於無形。無形，則深間不能窺，智者不能謀。因形而措勝於眾，眾不能知。人皆知我所以勝之形，而莫知吾所以制勝之形。故其戰勝不復，而應形於無窮。
夫兵形象水，水之行，避高而趨下；兵之勝，避實而擊虛。水因地而制行，兵因敵而制勝。故兵無成勢，無恆形，能因敵變化而取勝者，謂之神。故五行無常勝，四時無常位，日有短長，月有死生。
假使再對比閱讀該篇之『英譯本』《 THE ART OF WAR 》
By LIONEL GILES, M.A. (1910)
VI. WEAK POINTS AND STRONG
1. Sun Tzu said: Whoever is first in the field and awaits the coming of the enemy, will be fresh for the fight; whoever is second in the field and has to hasten to battle will arrive exhausted.
2. Therefore the clever combatant imposes his will on the enemy, but does not allow the enemy’s will to be imposed on him.
3. By holding out advantages to him, he can cause the enemy to approach of his own accord; or, by inflicting damage, he can make it impossible for the enemy to draw near.
4. If the enemy is taking his ease, he can harass him; if well supplied with food, he can starve him out; if quietly encamped, he can force him to move.
5. Appear at points which the enemy must hasten to defend; march swiftly to places where you are not expected.
6. An army may march great distances without distress, if it marches through country where the enemy is not. 7. You can be sure of succeeding in your attacks if you only attack places which are undefended.You can ensure the safety of your defense if you only hold positions that cannot be attacked.
8. Hence that general is skillful in attack whose opponent does not know what to defend; and he is skillful in defense whose opponent does not know what to attack.
9. O divine art of subtlety and secrecy! Through you we learn to be invisible, through you inaudible; and hence we can hold the enemy’s fate in our hands.
10. You may advance and be absolutely irresistible, if you make for the enemy’s weak points; you may retire and be safe from pursuit if your movements are more rapid than those of the enemy.
11. If we wish to fight, the enemy can be forced to an engagement even though he be sheltered behind a high rampart and a deep ditch. All we need do is attack some other place that he will be obliged to relieve.
12. If we do not wish to fight, we can prevent the enemy from engaging us even though the lines of our encampment be merely traced out on the ground. All we need do is to throw something odd and unaccountable in his way.
13. By discovering the enemy’s dispositions and remaining invisible ourselves, we can keep our forces concentrated, while the enemy’s must be divided.
14. We can form a single united body, while the enemy must split up into fractions. Hence there will be a whole pitted against separate parts of a whole, which means that we shall be many to the enemy’s few.
15. And if we are able thus to attack an inferior force with a superior one, our opponents will be in dire straits.
16. The spot where we intend to fight must not be made known; for then the enemy will have to prepare against a possible attack at several different points; and his forces being thus distributed in many directions, the numbers we shall have to face at any given point will be proportionately few.
17. For should the enemy strengthen his van, he will weaken his rear; should he strengthen his rear, he will weaken his van; should he strengthen his left, he will weaken his right; should he strengthen his right, he will weaken his left. If he sends reinforcements everywhere, he will everywhere be weak.
18. Numerical weakness comes from having to prepare against possible attacks; numerical strength, from compelling our adversary to make these preparations against us.
19. Knowing the place and the time of the coming battle, we may concentrate from the greatest distances in order to fight.
20. But if neither time nor place be known, then the left wing will be impotent to succor the right, the right equally impotent to succor the left, the van unable to relieve the rear, or the rear to support the van. How much more so if the furthest portions of the army are anything under a hundred LI apart, and even the nearest are separated by several LI!
21. Though according to my estimate the soldiers of Yueh exceed our own in number, that shall advantage them nothing in the matter of victory. I say then that victory can be achieved.
22. Though the enemy be stronger in numbers, we may prevent him from fighting. Scheme so as to discover his plans and the likelihood of their success.
23. Rouse him, and learn the principle of his activity or inactivity. Force him to reveal himself, so as to find out his vulnerable spots.
24. Carefully compare the opposing army with your own, so that you may know where strength is superabundant and where it is deficient.
25. In making tactical dispositions, the highest pitch you can attain is to conceal them; conceal your dispositions, and you will be safe from the prying of the subtlest spies, from the machinations of the wisest brains. 26. How victory may be produced for them out of the enemy’s own tactics–that is what the multitude cannot comprehend.
27. All men can see the tactics whereby I conquer, but what none can see is the strategy out of which victory is evolved.
28. Do not repeat the tactics which have gained you one victory, but let your methods be regulated by the infinite variety of circumstances.
29. Military tactics are like unto water; for water in its natural course runs away from high places and hastens downwards.
30. So in war, the way is to avoid what is strong and to strike at what is weak.
31. Water shapes its course according to the nature of the ground over which it flows; the soldier works out his victory in relation to the foe whom he is facing.
32. Therefore, just as water retains no constant shape, so in warfare there are no constant conditions.
33. He who can modify his tactics in relation to his opponent and thereby succeed in winning, may be called a heaven-born captain.
34. The five elements (water, fire, wood, metal, earth) are not always equally predominant; the four seasons make way for each other in turn. There are short days and long; the moon has its periods of waning and waxing.
試問『虛‧實』之『意』與『 WEAK POINTS AND STRONG 』之『義』相同嗎？假使我們用本網路『漢英字典』來查《虛》《實》兩字，得到的是『虛‧ empty 』和『實‧fact 』，那麼能說那個『翻譯』就錯了嗎？？『字詞網絡』 WordNet 讓我們更清楚的知道『文化的差異』常落在『語意』之『親疏遠近』的『網絡』不同。這也就是在《 Noobs 辨義》一文中，作者所指出的︰
網際網路 Internet 興起以來，各類『中英新語詞』紛紛出籠，這些新造詞雅俗難辨有時意義晦澀，常常一個字的說法褒貶不一。也許要了解一個字的意思，最好先參考『專業字典』，當然能知道它的語源、出處更好，以免造成不必要的誤解。之所以如此開場是因為 noobs 一字的網路上的中文翻譯及用法常常有著貶意── 比如︰菜鳥、小白、嫩咖…，當然也有一些譯為新手的。…
歸結的說，newbie 特指計算運算、網際網路上的初學者，也許看情況可以譯為『…新手』，noob 或可譯為『軟體新手』。
……
希望讀者知道『翻譯』之求『信‧雅‧達』實在是很難的啊！若不得已而捨之…，總得存其『信』的吧！！否則還能說是『原著』之『意思』的嘛？？就像考察『 WISH or HOPE 』之使用情況︰
【 wish 】
Inclination is the mildest of these terms; it is a quiet, or even a vague or unconscious, tendency. Even when we speak of a strong or decided inclination we do not express the intensity of desire. Desire has a wide range, from the highest objects to the lowest; desire is for an object near at hand, or near in thought, and viewed as attainable; a wish may be for what is remote or uncertain, or even for what is recognized as impossible. Craving is stronger than hankering; hankering may be the result of a fitful and capricious appetite; craving may be the imperious and reasonable demand of the whole nature. Longing is a reaching out with deep and persistent demand for that which is viewed as now distant but at some time attainable; as, the captive’s longing for release. Coveting ordinarily denotes wrong desire for that which is another’s. Compare APPETITE.
See synonyms for ANTIPATHY.
Synonyms:
appetency, appetite, aspiration, concupiscence, coveting, craving, desire, hankering, inclination, longing, proclivity, propensity
Preposition:
The desire of fame; a desire for excellence.
【 hope 】
To anticipate may be either to take before in fact or to take before in thought; in the former sense it is allied with prevent; in the latter, with the synonyms above given. This is coming to be the prevalent and favorite use. We expect that which we have good reason to believe will happen; as, a boy expects to grow to manhood. We hope for that which we much desire and somewhat expect. We apprehend what we both expect and fear. Anticipate is commonly used now, like foretaste, of that which we expect both with confidence and pleasure. In this use it is a stronger word than hope, where often “the wish is father to the thought.” I hope for a visit from my friend, tho I have no word from him; I expect it when he writes that he is coming; and as the time draws near I anticipate it with pleasure. Compare ABIDE; PREVENT.
Synonyms:
anticipate, apprehend, expect, forecast, foretaste, look forward to
Antonyms:
despair of, distrust, doubt, doubt, dread, fear, recall, recollect, remember
也許譯作
千萬別『 WISH 』作夢，總會有『 HOPE 』希望。
或者翻成
不要太『 WISH 』冀盼，還是可『 HOPE 』期待。
下面兩張圖出於《中文詞彙網路》 ， Chinese Wordnet 據聞來自 LOPE『Lab of Ontologies, language Processing and E-humanities』
或許值得探究一番。