- 能使敵人自至者利之也能使敵人不得至者害之也
- 故敵佚能勞之飽能飢之安能動之
- 出其所必趨趨其所不意
- 行千里而不勞者行於無人之地也
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.
In the first case, he will entice him with a bait; in the second, he will strike at some important point which the enemy will have to defend.
4. If the enemy is taking his ease, he can harass him;
This passage may be cited as evidence against Mei Yao-Ch‘ên’s interpretation of I. § 23.
if well supplied with food, he can starve him out;
飢 is probably an older form than 饑, the reading of the original text. Both are given in the 說文.
if quietly encamped, he can force him to move.
The subject to 能 is still 善戰者; but these clauses would read better as direct admonitions, and in the next sentence we find Sun Tzŭ dropping insensibly into the imperative.
5. Appear at points which the enemy must hasten to defend; march swiftly to places where you are not expected.
The original text, adopted by the T‘u Shu, has 出其所不趨; it has been altered to suit the context and the commentaries of Ts‘ao Kung and Ho Shih, who evidently read 必趨. The other reading would mean: “Appear at points to which the enemy cannot hasten;” but in this case there is something awkward in the use of 趨. Capt. Calthrop is wrong of course with “appearing where the enemy is not.”
6. An army may march great distances without distress, if it marches through country where the enemy is not.
We must beware of understanding 無人之地 as “uninhabited country.” Sun Tzŭ habitually uses 人 in the sense of 敵, e.g. supra, § 2.
