評論
打印
How should one read a book?
怎樣讀書？
It is simple enough to say that since books have classes—fiction, biography, poetry,
說來容易: 既然書有各種各樣—小說、傳記、詩歌
we should separate them and take from each what it is right that each should give us.
該把它們分門別類，并且各按其類來汲取每本書理應給予我們的內容。
Yet few people ask from books what books can give us.
然而，很少人讀書時想過書本能夠提供些什么的問題。
Most commonly we come to books with blurred and divided minds, asking of fiction that it shall be true,
最普通的現象是，我們拿起書本時頭腦不清醒，目標不一致，我們要求小說敘述真人實事,
of poetry that it shall be false,
要求詩歌表現虛假，
of biography that it shall be flattering, of history that it shall enforce our own prejudices.
要求傳記給人捧場，要求歷史證實我們自己的偏見。
If we could banish all such preconceptions when we read, that would be an admirable beginning.
如果我們能在打開書本之前先驅除掉這些先入為主的看法，那將是個值得慶幸的良好開端。
Do not dictate to your author; try to become him.
不要去指揮作者，要設身處地去替他設想，
Be his fellow-worker and accomplice.
當他的合作者或同謀犯。
If you hang back, and reserve and criticize at first, you are preventing yourself from getting the fullest possible value from what you read.
如果你一開始便采取退縮矜持、有所保留或指指點點的態度，那你就在為自己設置障礙，使自己不能充分地從所閱讀的書本中獲到益處。
But if you open your mind as widely as possible, then signs and hints of almost imperceptible fineness, from the twist and turn of the first sentences,
然而，如果你沒有先入之見，虛懷若谷，那么，打開書本，隱晦曲折的字里行間，
will bring you into the presence of a human being unlike any other.
難以察覺的細微跡象的暗示便會向你展示一個與眾不同的人。
Steep yourself in this, acquaint yourself with this, and soon you will find that your author is giving you,
深入進去，沉浸其中，熟諳這一切，你會很快發現，書的作者正在，
or attempting to give you, something far more definite.
或努力在給予你一些十分明確的東西。
The thirty-two chapters of a novel—if we consider how to read a novel first—are an attempt to make something as formed and controlled as a building:
一部小說——如果我們先考慮一下怎樣閱讀小說的話—要有32個章節，這道理實際上跟建造有形有狀的樓房完全一樣：
but words are more impalpable than bricks; reading is a longer and more complicated process than seeing.
只不文字不像磚塊看得見摸得著；閱讀比起觀看是一個更漫長更復雜的過程。
Perhaps the quickest way to understand the elements of what a novelist is doing is not to read, but to write; to make your own experiment with the dangers and difficulties of words.
也許，要懂得作者寫作過程中的細微末節，最簡便的辦法不是讀而是寫，親自動手對字句的艱難險阻進行試驗。
Recall, then, some event that has left a distinct impression on you — how at the corner of the street, perhaps, you passed two people talking.
回想一件曾經給你留下深刻印象的事情——也許在大街的拐角處有兩個人在聊天，你走過他們的身邊。
A tree shook; an electric light danced; the tone of the talk was comic, but also tragic; a whole vision, an entire conception, seemed contained in that moment.
一棵樹搖晃起來，一道電光飛舞而過，他們聊天的口氣頗有喜劇味道，但也帶悲劇色彩，那一瞬間似乎包含了一個完整的意象，一種完整的概念。
