What is the literal translation of the first line of the Tao Te Ching? You see this:
道可道非常道
dào kě dào fēicháng dào 

Often translated as &quot;The Dao that can be told is not the eternal and unchanging Dao&quot;. What is the literal translation?
What's missing is, we have dào kě dào, a mirroring, which isn't present in English, and the NOT in english, where is that in the Chinese?
The Dao that can be told is not the eternal and unchanging Dao is already a literal translation.

道可道非常道


[The] Dao (道) [that] can (可) [be] told (道) [is] not (非) [the] eternal/unchanging (常) Dao (道)

A text that is written almost deliberately to be interpreted in multiple ways does not have a &quot;the literal translation&quot;.