【答案解析】What is "Dao" means in Chinese? "Dao" is road. The earliest road was always by the river. Because the primitives had to drink or fetch water in the river on feet, as they didn"t have shoes to wear, their wet and bare feet stepping on muddy ground left a slippery trail looking like "刀" (a Chinese character meaning "knife"). Therefore, the primitive people called it "刀", which is known today as "Dao". "刀" and "Dao" are homophonic. "Dao" was written as "刀" in inscriptions on bones or tortoise shells of the Shang Dynasty. From ancient times to nowadays, humans have been walking on "刀". "Dao" also refers to pedestrians. Since road is made by pedestrians, when we see a road we would know that someone has been here. Road is the way to walk on. In this world there are broad and even roads, branch roads, main roads and side roads, as well as temporary roads and permanent roads. All roads are destined to have ups and downs which we have to walk along, always trying to find the shortest route. "Dao" also means destination. Every road has a beginning and an end. Walking along a road in a correct way will soon lead us to the destination. Actually there is only one road (pedestrian) in the world—the road to the tree self. [解析] 最早的路在水边，因为原始人每天都要去水边饮水或取水，那时人们都是光脚板，光脚板踩在沙泥地上，脚上又常带着水，所以很容易踩出一条光溜溜的像“刀”一样的东西，原始人就把脚下踩出来的痕迹叫作“刀”，也就是“道”。
这句话中其实就是介绍了路最早都在水边的原因，即原始人取水沾湿了脚，因而在地上留下一条痕迹，即为最早的“道路”。翻译时，要使用显性的逻辑连接词，让整个解释成为逻辑严谨的整体，译出描述的画面感。这里在处理“刀”的翻译时，由于原文强调的是这个字的字形，而非读音及意义，因此我们保留了中文“刀”，英译汉中我们也会见到保留某个英文单词的情况，翻译时，需要我们慎重思考，选择最恰当的处理方式。
The earliest road was always by the river. Because the primitives had to drink or fetch water in the river on feet, as they didn"t have shoes to wear, their wet and bare feet stepping on muddy ground left a slippery trail looking like "刀" (a Chinese character meaning "knife"). Therefore, the primitive people called it "刀", which is known today as "Dao".
地上的路有通衢，有歧路，有大路，有小路，有暂时的路，有永久的路。
这句话中的“通衢”是理解的难点，“通衢”出白汉代班昭的《东征赋》：“遵通衢之大道兮”，指的是四通八达的大道，因此译为broad and even roads(宽阔平稳的道路)。
In this world there are broad and even roads, branch roads, main roads and side roads, as well as temporary roads and permanent roads.
任何道都有起始与终结，按道(方法)走道(道路)的人将很快到达。
这句话包含了两层含义：路有起点和终点以及按照道走路将能到达目的地，因此翻译为两个句子；其次“walking along a road in a correct way”做主语时，需要使用谓语“will lead us to”，其中的lead to不能省略。
Every road has a beginning and an end. Walking along a road in a correct way will soon lead us to the destination.