Philological Notes on Chapter One of
                   The _Lao Tzu_

                 Peter A. Boodberg
              University of California

[This appeared in, I think, the journal _Man_, probably sometime
around 1968.  Unfortunately, I no longer have an exact reference.
Here most of the text is omitted, leaving only the conclusion.]

...

  The following translation of the entire text has little literary
merit.  It reflects, however, to the best of my ability, every
significant etymological and grammatical feature, including every
double entendre, that I have been able to discover in the original
in an endeavor to establish a solider philological foundation upon
which a firmer interpretation of the _incipit_ of Taoist philosophy
might be built.

   Lodehead lodehead-brooking : no forewonted lodehead;
   Namecall namecall-brooking : no forewonted namecall.
             Having-naught namecalling : Heaven-Earth's fetation,
             Having-aught namecalling : Myriad Mottlings' mother.
   Affirmably,
   Forewont
   Have-naught
   Desired--for to descry in view _the_ minikin subliminaria;
   Forewont
   Have-aught
   Desired--for to descry in view _the_ circuit-luminaria;
             There pairing ones at-one
             Egressing,
             Diverse namecall :
             At-one--bespeak such : Darkling,
             Adarkling such, again adarkling
             The thronging subliminaria's gate.

----------------------------------------------------------------------

[A better source ref, from Barry Howarth's _Bibliography of Taoism in
European Languages_, available on the net, is:

  Boodberg, Peter A.  Philological notes on Chapter One of the Lao
  Tzu.  Harvard Journal of Asiatic Studies, 20, 3/4 (1957), pp.
  598-618.

See: http://www.cnu.edu/~patrick/taoism/other-sources/taoism-western-biblio.txt
]

<J.Dalton@ed.ac.uk>