| roots | pinyin, English |
| 貝攵 | bèi money, pü struck |
| synonyms | |
| 輔 | fû¹ : assist |
| 利 | lì : help |
I originally had 'ruin' for 'bài', but I wanted to use that for 'yäng¹ 殃', and think now it is too strong a word for 'bài'. The idea in all the lines is the same: interference messes things up, not utterly destroys them. So I decided to go with 'spoil' for 'bài', a lesser effect. But also there is in the etymology of the word the idea of hurting the value of something, and in the idea of 'defeat', another translation, is the accompanying 'spoils of war'. It is interesting that 'spoil' is used exclusively by the earlier translators.
29:07 and 64:13 are the same lines purposely repeated across chapters. Context could be argued, but there is no legitimate reason to translate them differently. Some translators present only minor variations, but some are ridiculously different. Only L1 and PI replicate the lines in their translations. Only W1, L1, L2, EC, DH, PI, and DL use a single word for all instances of 'bài'. CM holds the record with five words or phrases for 'bài'.
For Chapter 64, most translators swap lines 19 and 2o. This compacts the English to "people fail on the brink of success", but it loses the poetic impact of the original: "People work and work | and juuuust when they are about to win | They spoil it all!". This faithlessness of translation is in no way required by English. WO, PC, GR, JS, and DL retain the original structure.
| 29:07, 10 | 64:13(a), 16(b) | 64:20(a), 22(b) | |
| beaten | CMb | ||
| blow it | CMa | ||
| breaks | WW | ||
| collapse (-ing) | WW | ||
| damage | WW | ||
| defeated | FEb, CMa, GRb | GR | |
| defeated (will be) | VM | ||
| defeats his own purpose | FEa | ||
| destroy(-s) | JL, WO, RH | ||
| disappointed | CMb | ||
| fail(-s) | EC, AL, DC, DL | WC, C1a, EC, VM, RP, DCa, DL | PC, LYb, FE, C1, EC, RHb, VM, RP, DC, JS, AHb, DL |
| failure (leads to) | C1 | ||
| failure (free from) | C1b | ||
| failure (suffers no) | DCb | ||
| harm (does) | JL | ||
| harm(-s) | AW, WC, RP | AW | |
| mars | PC | PC | |
| mess things up | CM | ||
| ruin(-ed, -s, -ing) | L1, L2, FE, GR, DH, JS, AH, PI | L1, L2, RH, AL, GRa, DH, JSa, AH, PI | JL, L1, L2, RHa, AL, DH, AHa, PI |
| spoil(-ed, -s) | LY, W1 | WO, LY, W1 | WO, AW, LYa, W1 |
| [omits] | JSb | WC |