I have thus far sketched the events of my life, but I have not shown how much I have depended on books not only for pleasure and for the wisdom they bring to all who read, but also for that knowledge which comes to others through their eyes and their ears. Indeed, books have meant so much more in my education than in that of others, that I shall go back to the time when I began to read.
至此，我已把自己的生平作了概述。但是，我还没有展示自己如何依赖书本的一面。我离不开书，不仅因为书给读书人带来快乐和智慧，而且因为别人可以通过视听获得知识，而我只能靠书本。确实，与别人相比，书在我的教育中意义更重大。因此，我要从我开始读书时说起。
I read my first connected story in May, 1887, when I was seven years old, and from that day to this I have devoured everything in the shape of a printed page that has come within the reach of my hungry finger tips. As I have said, I did not study regularly during the early years of my education; nor did I read according to rule.
我七岁时，第一次读连贯的故事，那是在1887年5月。从那一天起到现在，我如饥似渴地阅读印刷品，凡我渴望的指尖触及范围内的东西，我都不放过。正如我说过的那样，我在早期教育阶段没有进行过正规的学习，读书也没有计划。
At first I had only a few books in raised print –“readers” for beginners, a collection of stories for children, and a book about the earth called “Our World.” I think that was all; but I read them over and over, until the words were so worn and pressed I could scarcely make them out. Sometimes Miss Sullivan read to me, spelling into my hand little stories and poems that she knew I should understand; but I preferred reading myself to being read to, because I liked to read again and again the things that pleased me.
最初，我手头只有几本凸版书——几册启蒙读物、一本儿童故事集，还有一本有关地球的书《我们的世界》。我想这就是全部了。这些书我翻来覆去读了又读，直到凸版文字被磨损得几乎无法辨认。有时候，沙利文小姐把一些她认为我能听懂的小故事和诗歌拼写在我的手上，但我不愿别人把故事读给我，而更愿意自己读，因为我喜欢一遍又一遍地读我喜欢的那些故事。
It was during my first visit to Boston that I really began to read in good earnest. I was permitted to spend a part of each day in the Institution library, and to wander from bookcase to bookcase, and take down whatever book my fingers lighted upon. And read I did, whether I understood one word in ten or two words on a page. The words themselves fascinated me; but I took no conscious account of what I read. My mind must, however, have been very impressionable at that period, for it retained many words and whole sentences, to the meaning of which I had not the faintest clue; and afterward, when I began to talk and write, these words and sentences would flash out quite naturally, so that my friends wondered at the richness of my vocabulary. I must have read parts of many books (in those early days I think I never read any one book through) and a great deal of poetry in this uncomprehending way, until I discovered “Little Lord Fauntleroy,” which was the first book of any consequence I read understandingly.
我在第一次去波士顿时才真正开始认真读书。那时，我可以每天在图书馆里消磨一段时间。我从一个书架逛到另一个书架，手指碰到什么书就取下来读。我确实在读书，尽管在一页里我也许只认识一两个词，但令我着迷的是词语本身。不过，我并未有意识地思考过所读内容。当时我的大脑的可塑性应该特别强，因为即使这样，我仍记住了很多词和完整的句子。虽然对所记忆内容的含义一点都不明白，但后来，我开始学习说话和写字时，这些词句自然而然地脱口而出，以至于朋友们大为惊讶，我的词汇量竟会如此丰富。我一定读过许多书的部分内容（我想，早期我从未完整读完过一本书），并以这种不求甚解的方式读了大量诗歌。直到发现《小爵爷》这本书，我才算第一次把一本有重要意义的书读懂读完。
One day my teacher found me in a corner of the library poring over the pages of “The Scarlet Letter.” I was then about eight years old. I remember she asked me if I liked little Pearl, and explained some of the words that had puzzled me. Then she told me that she had a beautiful story about a little boy which she was sure I should like better than “The Scarlet Letter.” The name of the story was “Little Lord Fauntleroy,” and she promised to read it to me the following summer. But we did not begin the story until August; the first few weeks of my stay at the seashore were so full of discoveries and excitement that I forgot the very existence of books. Then my teacher went to visit some friends in Boston, leaving me for a short time.
有一天，我的老师发现我在图书馆的一个角落里专心读着《红字》[43]。那时我大约八岁。我记得，她问我喜不喜欢小珠儿，还给我解释了一些难懂的词语。接着，她对我说，她有一本讲述一个小男孩的故事书，保证比《红字》更有趣，我一定会喜欢。那本书名叫《小爵爷》，她答应夏天就读给我听。可是，我们到八月份才开始读这本书。在海边逗留的最初几个星期里，我沉浸在猎奇和兴奋之中，忘记了书的存在。接着，我的老师去波士顿探望友人，离开了我一段时间。【注：[43]19世纪美国浪漫主义作家霍桑（1804—1864）的代表作。】
When she returned almost the first thing we did was to begin the story of “Little Lord Fauntleroy.” I recall distinctly the time and place when we read the first chapters of the fascinating child’s story. It was a warm afternoon in August. We were sitting together in a hammock which swung from two solemn pines at a short distance from the house. We had hurried through the dish-washing after luncheon, in order that we might have as long an afternoon as possible for the story. As we hastened through the long grass toward the hammock, the grasshoppers swarmed about us and fastened themselves on our clothes, and I remember that my teacher insisted upon picking them all off before we sat down, which seemed to me an unnecessary waste of time. The hammock was covered with pine needles, for it had not been used while my teacher was away. The warm sun shone on the pine trees and drew out all their fragrance. The air was balmy, with a tang of the sea in it. Before we began the story Miss Sullivan explained to me the things that she knew I should not understand, and as we read on she explained the unfamiliar words. At first there were many words I did not know, and the reading was constantly interrupted; but as soon as I thoroughly comprehended the situation, I became too eagerly absorbed in the story to notice mere words, and I am afraid I listened impatiently to the explanations that Miss Sullivan felt to be necessary. When her fingers were too tired to spell another word, I had for the first time a keen sense of my deprivations. I took the book in my hands and tried to feel the letters with an intensity of longing that I can never forget.
老师返回后，我们做的第一件事就是开始读《小爵爷》。我还清楚地记得我们开始读这个迷人的儿童故事的时间和地点。那是八月一个温暖的下午，我俩坐在离家不远处两棵深绿色松树之间的吊床上。午餐过后，我们匆匆刷了盘子，这样，就可以尽可能利用整个下午时间来读故事。我们快步穿过深深的草丛奔向吊床时，蚱蜢成群乱飞，落在我们身上。我记得老师坚持要把蚱蜢都弄走再坐下，这对我来说似乎是浪费时间，毫无必要。吊床上面落满了松针，因为老师离开后一直没有人用过。温暖的阳光照在松树上，空气中散发着松针的温润清香，还夹杂着海的腥味。读故事之前，沙利文小姐向我解释了一些她认为我不明白的东西，还在阅读过程中给我讲生词。开始时，有很多单词我都不认识，阅读常常中断。但是，当我完全理解了故事情景后，我被故事深深迷住，急于知道情节发展，顾不上注意单词，对于沙利文小姐认为有必要解释的词语，我恐怕听得也不耐烦了。当她的手指因疲惫而拼不出词的时候，我第一次产生了一种强烈的被剥夺感。我把书抓在手里，怀着一种强烈的渴望试图去摸那些字母，这一幕我永远不会忘记。
From “Little Lord Fauntleroy” I date the beginning of my true interest in books. During the next two years I read many books at my home and on my visits to Boston. I cannot remember what they all were, or in what order I read them; but I know that among them were’Greek Heroes,” La Fontaine’s “Fables,” Hawthorne’s “Wonder Book,””Bible Stories,” Lamb’s “Tales from Shakespeare,” “A Child’s History of England” by Dickens, “The Arabian Nights,” “The Swiss Family Robinson,” “The Pilgrim’s Progress,” “Robinson Crusoe,” “Little Women,” and “Heidi,” a beautiful little story which I afterward read in German. I read them in the intervals between study and play with an ever-deepening sense of pleasure. I did not study nor analyze them — I did not know whether they were well written or not; I never thought about style or authorship. They laid their treasures at my feet, and I accepted them as we accept the sunshine and the love of our friends. I loved “Little Women” because it gave me a sense of kinship with girls and boys who could see and hear. Circumscribed as my life was in so many ways, I had to look between the covers of books for news of the world that lay outside my own.
我对书真正产生兴趣始于《小爵爷》。在其后两年间，我在家以及游览波士顿期间读了很多书。我不全记得读了哪些书，记不得读书的先后顺序，然而我记得其中有《希腊英雄传》[44]，拉封丹的《寓言》，霍桑的《奇书》，《圣经故事》，兰姆[45]的《莎士比亚故事集》，狄更斯的《英格兰历史儿童读本》，《天方夜谭》，《瑞士人罗宾逊一家》[46]，《天路历程》[47]，《鲁滨孙飘流记》[48]，《小妇人》[49]，还有《海蒂》[50]——这是个美丽的故事，我记得后来还读了德文版。这些书都是在边学边玩之间读完的，越读越有兴趣。我既没有研究也没有分析，不知道这些书写得好不好，从未想过风格和出处。这些书把“财宝”放在我的脚下，我欣然接受，如同接受阳光和朋友的情谊一样自然。我喜欢读《小妇人》，因为它让我感到自己与耳聪目明的孩子之间关系密切。我的生活受到种种限制，因此我不得不在书中寻找外部世界的信息。【注：[44]作者为查尔斯·金斯利（1819—1875），英国作家、牧师，另有作品《水孩子》等。[45]查尔斯·兰姆（1775—1834），英国散文家。[46]作者为约翰·戴维·维斯（1743—1818）。[47]作者为约翰·班扬（1628—1688），英国著名作家、布道家。[48]作者为丹尼尔·笛福（1660—1731），是英国第一部现实主义长篇小说。[49]作者为美国作家露意莎·梅·奥尔科特（1832—1888）。[50]瑞士著名儿童文学家约翰娜·斯比丽（1827—1901）的代表作。】
Afterward, at my eager request, Mr. Anagnos had this story embossed, and I read it again and again, until I almost knew it by heart; and all through my childhood “Little Lord Fauntleroy” was my sweet and gentle companion. I have given these details at the risk of being tedious, because they are in such vivid contrast with my vague, mutable and confused memories of earlier reading.
后来，在我的恳求下，阿纳格诺斯先生把这本书制成了凸版。我读了一遍又一遍，几乎能够熟记于心。《小爵爷》伴我温馨甜蜜地度过整个童年时光。我不厌其烦地提及这些陈年细节，是因为它们与我困惑、多变而混乱的早期阅读形成了鲜明的对比。
Then, again, La Fontaine seldom, if ever, appeals to our highest moral sense. The highest chords he strikes are those of reason and self-love. Through all the fables runs the thought that man’s morality springs wholly from self-love, and that if that self-love is directed and restrained by reason, happiness must follow. Now, so far as I can judge, self-love is the root of all evil; but, of course, I may be wrong, for La Fontaine had greater opportunities of observing men than I am likely ever to have. I do not object so much to the cynical and satirical fables as to those in which momentous truths are taught by monkeys and foxes.
另外，拉封丹的作品很少能够激发高尚的道德情操。拉封丹最引人关注的地方是理智与利己，所有寓言都传播着这种思想：人类的道德感完全源于利己主义，假如由理性来驾驭和控制利己主义的话，那么幸福一定会到来。而据我判断，利己主义是一切罪恶之源。当然，我也许是错的，因为拉封丹比我有更多的观察人生的机会。我并不反对冷嘲热讽的寓言，只是不赞成通过猴子和狐狸之口来传授至理名言。
I did not care especially for “The Pilgrim’s Progress,” which I think I did not finish, or for the “Fables.” I read La Fontaine’s “Fables” first in an English translation, and enjoyed them only after a half-hearted fashion. Later I read the book again in French, and I found that, in spite of the vivid word-pictures, and the wonderful mastery of language, I liked it no better. I do not know why it is, but stories in which animals are made to talk and act like human beings have never appealed to me very strongly. The ludicrous caricatures of the animals occupy my mind to the exclusion of the moral.
我不怎么喜欢《天路历程》，我想这本书我并没有读完。《寓言》我也不怎么喜欢。我最初读拉封丹的《寓言》读的是英文版，心不在焉地往下读。后来，我又读了法文版《寓言》，我发现，无论书中文字多么生动，故事多么精彩，我还是不太喜欢。我说不出为什么会是这样，不过，书中像人一样说话、行动的动物却从来没有引起过我太大的兴趣。动物滑稽可笑的模仿给我留下深刻印象，使我注意不到其中的寓意。
But I love “The Jungle Book” and “Wild Animals I Have Known.”I feel a genuine interest in the animals themselves, because they are real animals and not caricatures of men. One sympathizes with their loves and hatreds, laughs over their comedies, and weeps over their tragedies. And if they point a moral, it is so subtle that we are not conscious of it.
不过，我喜欢《丛林故事》[51]和《我所知道的野生动物》[52]。我只对动物本身感兴趣，因为它们是真正的动物，而不是拟人的动物。人们会爱它们之所爱，恨它们之所恨，为它们的滑稽而大笑，为它们的悲剧而哭泣。如果其中有某种寓意，也难以捉摸，我们都意识不到。【注：[51]作者为拉迪亚德·吉卜林（1865—1936），英国小说家、诗人。[52]作者为欧内斯特·汤普森·西顿（1860—1946），加拿大著名野生动物画家、探险家。】
My mind opened naturally and joyously to a conception of antiquity. Greece, ancient Greece, exercised a mysterious fascination over me. In my fancy the pagan gods and goddesses still walked on earth and talked face to face with men, and in my heart I secretly built shrines to those I loved best. I knew and loved the whole tribe of nymphs and heroes and demigods — no, not quite all, for the cruelty and greed of Medea and Jason were too monstrous to be forgiven, and I used to wonder why the gods permitted them to do wrong and then punished them for their wickedness. And the mystery is still unsolved. I often wonder how God can dumbness keep while Sin creeps grinning through His house of Time.
我的思想自然开放，对古代尤感兴趣。希腊，古希腊，对我来说既神秘又有魅力。在我的幻想中，异教徒的神依旧行走在世间，与人类面对面地交谈；在我的心里，我悄悄地为我至爱的亲人建造座座神殿。我通晓并喜爱所有部族的女神和英雄以及半神半人怪，不，还不能说所有的神，因为美狄亚和伊阿宋的残忍和贪婪过于恐怖，不可饶恕。我过去常常感到奇怪，为什么天神会允许他们行不义之事，而后又对其恶行进行惩罚。这个谜团至今尚未解开。我常常惊讶于神竟会如此地缄默无语当罪孽笑着爬过“光阴的殿堂”。
It was the Iliad that made Greece my paradise. I was familiar with the story of Troy before I read it in the original, and consequently I had little difficulty in making the Greek words surrender their treasures after I had passed the borderland of grammar. Great poetry, whether written in Greek or in English, needs no other interpreter than a responsive heart. Would that the host of those who make the great works of the poets odious by their analysis, impositions and laborious comments might learn this simple truth! It is not necessary that one should be able to define every word and give it its principal parts and its grammatical position in the sentence in order to understand and appreciate a fine poem. I know my learned professors have found greater riches in the Iliad than I shall ever find; but I am not avaricious. I am content that others should be wiser than I. But with all their wide and comprehensive knowledge, they cannot measure their enjoyment of that splendid epic, nor can I. When I read the finest passages of the Iliad, I am conscious of a soul-sense that lifts me above the narrow, cramping circumstances of my life. My physical limitations are forgotten — my world lies upward, the length and the breadth and the sweep of the heavens are mine!
正是《伊利亚特》把希腊变成了我的天堂。在读原著之前，我已熟悉特洛伊的故事。因此，我在学会语法后，几乎不费什么气力就成功迫使希腊词语交出了“财宝”。伟大的诗篇，无论用希腊语还是英语写就，需要的不是阐释者，而是敏感的心。难道不正是那群人通过其分析、强加的观点和晦涩的评论而令伟大的诗歌变得沉闷乏味吗？这些人真该明白这个简单道理！要理解和欣赏一首好诗，并不需要去定义每一个词，或解释它的主要词类以及句子的语法结构。我知道，那些博学的教授们从《伊利亚特》中发掘的财富要远胜于我，可我不是个贪婪的人。我甘愿接受别人比我更聪明的现实。然而，即使拥有渊博的知识，他们也无法说清对那部恢弘史诗的欣赏程度。我也说不出来。我读了《伊利亚特》中最精彩的篇章后，有灵魂升华的感觉。我从狭隘逼仄的生活环境中解脱出来，放浪于形骸之外，飘然上升到浩瀚无边的天上人间！
How easy it is to fly on paper wings! From “Greek Heroes” to the Iliad was no day’s journey, nor was it altogether pleasant. One could have traveled round the word many times while I trudged my weary way through the labyrinthine mazes of grammars and dictionaries, or fell into those dreadful pitfalls called examinations, set by schools and colleges for the confusion of those who seek after knowledge. I suppose this sort of Pilgrim’s Progress was justified by the end; but it seemed interminable to me, in spite of the pleasant surprises that met me now and then at a turn in the road.
在书卷之间展翅飞翔是多么轻松啊！从《希腊英雄传》到《伊利亚特》，并非一日之功，也不会全程快乐。当你已经游历世界很多次的时候，我还在语法和字典的迷宫中艰难前行，或者坠入大中小学为扰乱学子们而专门设置的可怕的考试陷阱之中不能自拔。我觉得这种“天路历程”结局合理，但是我感到过程过于冗长，尽管偶尔会也在天路转弯处遇到惊喜。
My admiration for the Aeneid is not so great, but it is none the less real. I read it as much as possible without the help of notes or dictionary, and I always like to translate the episodes that please me especially. The word-painting of Virgil is wonderful sometimes; but his gods and men move through the scenes of passion and strife and pity and love like the graceful figures in an Elizabethan mask, whereas in the Iliad they give three leaps and go on singing. Virgil is serene and lovely like a marble Apollo in the moonlight; Homer is a beautiful, animated youth in the full sunlight with the wind in his hair.
我对《埃涅阿斯纪》[53]这部史诗并不十分仰慕，但它毕竟十分真实。阅读这部史诗时，我尽量不借助字典或注释，而且总是把自己特别喜欢的篇章翻译出来。维吉尔的描写有时十分精彩，但是，他笔下的诸神和凡人无不游走在激情、冲突、怜悯和情爱之间，如同戴上伊丽莎白时代面具的才子佳人，而在《伊利亚特》中，这些人则欢呼雀跃，纵情歌唱。维吉尔安详而可爱，如月光下的阿波罗雕像；而荷马则俊逸而活泼，是迎风而立的阳光少年。【注：[53]作者是古罗马诗人维吉尔（前70—前19）。】
I began to read the Bible long before I could understand it. Now it seems strange to me that there should have been a time when my spirit was deaf to its wondrous harmonies; but I remember well a rainy Sunday morning when, having nothing else to do, I begged my cousin to read me a story out of the Bible. Although she did not think I should understand, she began to spell into my hand the story of Joseph and his brothers. Somehow it failed to interest me. The unusual language and repetition made the story seem unreal and far away in the land of Canaan, and I fell asleep and wandered off to the land of Nod, before the brothers came with the coat of many colours unto the tent of Jacob and told their wicked lie! I cannot understand why the stories of the Greeks should have been so full of charm for me, and those of the Bible so devoid of interest, unless it was that I had made the acquaintance of several Greeks in Boston and been inspired by their enthusiasm for the stories of their country; whereas I had not met a single Hebrew or Egyptian, and therefore concluded that they were nothing more than barbarians, and the stories about them were probably all made up, which hypothesis explained the repetitions and the queer names. Curiously enough, it never occurred to me to call Greek patronymics “queer.”
我很早就开始读《圣经》，尽管当时并不懂。如今，对我来说似乎很奇怪的是，我的灵魂对《圣经》中奇妙的和谐竟然一度浑然不觉。不过，我清楚地记得一个细雨霏霏的主日清晨，由于没有别的事可做，我央求表姐为我读一段《圣经》故事。尽管她认为我会听不懂，但她还是把约瑟及其兄弟们的故事拼写在我的手上。不知是什么原因，这个故事没有引起我的兴趣。奇特的语言和不断的重复，使故事显得不真实、很遥远，远在“迦南地”。还没等到约瑟的兄弟们拿着五彩衣到雅各的帐篷里编造邪恶的谎言，我就已经睡着，迈进了“瞌睡地”。我无法理解，为什么希腊人的故事会令我如此陶醉，而《圣经》故事则使我兴致索然？也许是因为我在波士顿曾结识过几个希腊人，他们对其祖国的故事所表现的热情感染了我；而我没有遇到过任何希伯来人或埃及人，因此断言，他们只不过是些野蛮人，他们的故事可能都是编造的，难怪《圣经》中有那么多重复和奇怪的名字。说来也怪，我从来不觉得希腊名字“奇怪”。
There is something impressive, awful, in the simplicity and terrible directness of the book of Esther. Could there be anything more dramatic than the scene in which Esther stands before her wicked lord? She knows her life is in his hands; there is no one to protect her from his wrath. Yet, conquering her woman’s fear, she approaches him, animated by the noblest patriotism, having but one thought: “If I perish, I perish; but if I live, my people shall live.”
《以斯帖记》简洁明快，给人留下深刻印象。还有什么比以斯帖面对邪恶国王的场面更具戏剧性呢？她知道自己的命攥在国王手里，没有人在国王暴怒时能救她。然而，她克服了女人的恐惧心理，在高尚的爱国主义情怀的驱动下接近国王，心里只有一个念头：“若我毁灭，毁灭仅我一人；若我活着，活着一族人。”
But how shall I speak of the glories I have since discovered in the Bible? For years I have read it with an ever-broadening sense of joy and inspiration; and I love it as I love no other book. Still there is much in the Bible against which every instinct of my being rebels, so much that I regret the necessity which has compelled me to read it through from beginning to end. I do not think that the knowledge which I have gained of its history and sources compensates me for the unpleasant details it has forced upon my attention. For my part, I wish, with Mr. Howells, that the literature of the past might be purged of all that is ugly and barbarous in it, although I should object as much as any one to having these great works weakened or falsified.
然而，我该如何言说后来在《圣经》中发现的荣耀呢？多年来，我读《圣经》越读越兴奋，越读越感到有启发，我爱这本书胜过爱其他任何书。但是，《圣经》中有很多东西是我本能抵触的，我为必须强迫自己才能把此书从头到尾读完而感到愧疚。我认为，我从书中获得的历史知识并不足以补偿我被迫集中注意力而产生的种种不快。就我而言，我希望能同豪威尔斯先生一起，将过去文学中所有的丑陋粗鄙统统清除。当然我也与大家一样，反对曲解或篡改那些伟大的著作。
I do not remember a time since I have been capable of loving books that I have not loved Shakespeare. I cannot tell exactly when I began Lamb’s “Tales from Shakespeare”; but I know that I read them at first with a child’s understanding and a child’s wonder. “Macbeth” seems to have impressed me most. One reading was sufficient to stamp every detail of the story upon my memory forever. For a long time the ghosts and witches pursued me even into Dreamland. I could see, absolutely see, the dagger and Lady Macbeth’s little white hand — the dreadful stain was as real to me as to the grief-stricken queen.
自从我爱好读书以来，我记不得什么时候厌倦过莎士比亚。我说不清楚是什么时候开始读兰姆的《莎士比亚故事集》，但我知道，最初读莎士比亚是出于孩童的好奇心，基于孩童的理解力。《麦克白》似乎给我印象最深，读一次就足以让我永远记住其中每一处故事情节。有很长一段时间，幽灵和女巫甚至追逐至我的梦乡。我看见，真真切切地看见，匕首和麦克白夫人娇小而苍白的手。那可怕的血迹真实地呈现在我面前，就像极度悲伤的王后亲眼所见。
The Bible gives me a deep, comforting sense that “things seen are temporal, and things unseen are eternal.”
《圣经》带给我一种深深的慰藉：“眼见一切皆过眼云烟，未现之物实乃永恒。”
The story of Ruth, too — how Oriental it is! Yet how different is the life of these simple country folks from that of the Persian capital! Ruth is so loyal and gentle-hearted, we cannot help loving her, as she stands with the reapers amid the waving corn. Her beautiful, unselfish spirit shines out like a bright star in the night of a dark and cruel age. Love like Ruth’s, love which can rise above conflicting creeds and deep-seated racial prejudices, is hard to find in all the world.
《路得记》也是这样，多么富有东方情调啊！然而，这些淳朴的乡下人的生活与波斯首都的生活是多么迥然不同啊！路得忠贞不贰、宽厚善良，当她和收割者们一同站在起伏的玉米地里时，我们不禁对她产生喜爱之情。美丽而无私的路得，如同黑暗痛苦岁月中一颗闪亮的明星。路得的爱，在全世界都很难找，因为这种爱超越了相互冲突的宗教教义和根深蒂固的种族偏见。
I must have made the acquaintance of Shylock and Satan about the same time, for the two characters were long associated in my mind. I remember that I was sorry for them. I felt vaguely that they could not be good even if they wished to, because no one seemed willing to help them or to give them a fair chance. Even now I cannot find it in my heart to condemn them utterly. There are moments when I feel that the Shylocks, the Judases, and even the Devil, are broken spokes in the great wheel of good which shall in due time be made whole.
我一定是在同一时期认识夏洛克 [54]和撒旦的，因为在我的意识里，这两个人物总是联系在一起。我记得我还曾可怜过他们。我朦胧感觉到，即使他们愿意，他们也不可能成为好人，因为似乎没有人肯帮他们，没人给他们一个公平的机会。甚至现在，我也无法在心底里无条件地谴责他们。曾经有些时候，我觉得夏洛克、犹大，甚至魔鬼都是良善大轮上折断的辐条，总会适时修复如初。【注：[54]莎士比亚喜剧《威尼斯商人》中的主要人物之一，世界文学作品中四大吝啬鬼之一。】
I read “King Lear” soon after “Macbeth,” and I shall never forget the feeling of horror when I came to the scene in which Gloster’s eyes are put out. Anger seized me, my fingers refused to move, I sat rigid for one long moment, the blood throbbing in my temples, and all the hatred that a child can feel concentrated in my heart.
读完《麦克白》后不久，我读了《李尔王》。读到格罗斯特双眼被挖出的场景时我所感到的恐惧，我永远也不会忘记。愤怒攫住了我，我的手指无法移动。我僵直地坐了良久，太阳穴突突直跳，一个孩子所能感受到的所有仇恨都集中到了我的心里。
It seems strange that my first reading of Shakespeare should have left me so many unpleasant memories. The bright, gentle, fanciful plays — the ones I like best now — appear not to have impressed me at first, perhaps because they reflected the habitual sunshine and gaiety of a child’s life. But “there is nothing more capricious than the memory of a child: what it will hold, and what it will lose.”
说来奇怪，我第一次读莎士比亚作品竟会留下那么多令人不快的记忆。欢快、优雅、充满想象的戏剧——我现在最喜欢的——最初没有给我留下什么印象，或许是因为它们只是反映了孩子生活中通常有的欢乐而已。但是“没有什么能比小孩的记忆更反复无常：什么该记住，什么该忘记”。
Next to poetry I love history. I have read every historical work that I have been able to lay my hands on, from a catalogue of dry facts and dryer dates to Green’s impartial, picturesque “History of the English People”; from Freeman’s “History of Europe” to Emerton’s “Middle Ages.” The first book that gave me any real sense of the value of history was Swinton’s “World History,” which I received on my thirteenth birthday. Though I believe it is no longer considered valid, yet I have kept it ever since as one of my treasures. From it I learned how the races of men spread from land to land and built great cities, how a few great rulers, earthly Titans, put everything under their feet, and with a decisive word opened the gates of happiness for millions and closed them upon millions more: how different nations pioneered in art and knowledge and broke ground for the mightier growths of coming ages; how civilization underwent as it were, the holocaust of a degenerate age, and rose again, like the Phoenix, among the nobler sons of the North; and how by liberty, tolerance and education the great and the wise have opened the way for the salvation of the whole world.
我喜欢历史仅次于诗歌。我把能搞到手的每一本历史著作都读了个遍：从枯燥的大事记和更枯燥的年表到格林 [55]客观公正、独特生动的《英国人民简史》，从弗里曼 [56]的《欧洲史》到埃梅尔东 [57]的《中世纪》。第一本使我真正意识到历史价值的作品是斯温顿 [58]的《世界史》，那是我十三岁时收到的生日礼物。尽管我已不再认为该书证据充分，但是我一直把它视作我的珍宝之一。我从中了解到：人类各种族如何分散到世界各地并建立起大城市；那些伟大的统治者（即人间“泰坦”）如何把万物置于脚下，又如何以一句决定性话语为千百万人开启幸福之门，为更多人关闭幸福之门；不同种族如何在艺术和知识领域开拓疆土，为后来时代的更大发展奠定基础；人类文明如何遭受堕落时代的浩劫，又如何像凤凰涅槃一样死而重生；伟人与智者又是如何通过自由、宽容和教育来为拯救全世界开辟道路。【注：[55]约翰·理查德·格林（1837—1883），英国历史学家。[56]爱德华·弗里曼（1823—1892），英国历史学家。[57]伊弗雷姆·埃梅尔东（1851—1935），美国教育家、学者、历史学家。[58]威廉·斯温顿（1833—1892），美国学者。】
I have since read Shakespeare’s plays many times and know parts of them by heart, but I cannot tell which of them I like best. My delight in them is as varied as my moods. The little songs and the sonnets have a meaning for me as fresh and wonderful as the dramas. But, with all my love for Shakespeare, it is often weary work to read all the meanings into his lines which critics and commentators have given them. I used to try to remember their interpretations, but they discouraged and vexed me; so I made a secret compact with myself not to try any more. This compact I have only just broken in my study of Shakespeare under Professor Kittredge. I know there are many things in Shakespeare, and in the world, that I do not understand; and I am glad to see veil after veil lift gradually, revealing new realms of thought and beauty.
后来，我多次阅读莎士比亚戏剧，对其中部分场景了然于心，但却说不出最喜欢哪一部。我对它们的喜爱如同我的情绪一样，变化不定。短诗和十四行诗对我来说与戏剧一样，清新脱俗，奇妙无比。然而，虽然我酷爱莎士比亚，但是，学习评论家和注释者对每一行诗所作的阐释确实令人厌烦。我曾试图记住别人的诠释，但那些评论往往令我失望，让我气恼不已。所以，我悄悄同自己签了份“协议”——不再看那些评论。直到跟着基特里奇教授学习莎士比亚，这份“协议”才被撕毁。我知道，在莎士比亚作品里，以及现实世界中，有许多东西我还不理解。我很高兴地看到面纱被一层层逐渐掀起，显现出思想和美的新境界。
All things transitory
万物皆短暂，
In my college reading I have become somewhat familiar with French and German literature. The German puts strength before beauty, and truth before convention, both in life and in literature. There is a vehement, sledge-hammer vigour about everything that he does. When he speaks, it is not to impress others, but because his heart would burst if he did not find an outlet for the thoughts that burn in his soul.
通过大学阅读，我熟悉了法语和德语文学。德国人强调力量，不讲究美，追求真理，不在乎传统，无论生活还是文学莫不如此。他们做什么事都热情奔放，活力四射。他们说话并不是要影响别人，而是因为内心深处思想在沸腾，如果找不到出口，心就会爆裂。
But as symbols are sent.
唯象征而已。
Then, too, there is in German literature a fine reserve which I like; but its chief glory is the recognition I find in it of the redeeming potency of woman’s self-sacrificing love. This thought pervades all German literature and is mystically expressed in Goethe’s “Faust”:
德国文学的矜持克制，我很喜欢。不过，德国文学最为宝贵的，还在于赞颂女性自我牺牲的爱的伟大力量。这种思想在德国文学中随处可见，在歌德的《浮士德》中就有神秘的流露：
Earth’s insufficiency
尘世间缺憾，
The Woman Soul leads us upward and on!
女性之灵魂，引领着我们，向上向前！
The indescribable
无可名状者，
Here it is done.
在此已完结。
Here grows to event.
尽成为圆满。
Of all the French writers that I have read, I like Moliere and Racine best. There are fine things in Balzac and passages in Merimee which strike one like a keen blast of sea air. Alfred de Musset is impossible! I admire Victor Hugo — I appreciate his genius, his brilliancy, his romanticism; though he is not one of my literary passions. But Hugo and Goethe and Schiller and all great poets of all great nations are interpreters of eternal things, and my spirit reverently follows them into the regions where Beauty and Truth and Goodness are one.
在我读过的法国作家中，我最喜爱莫里哀和拉辛。巴尔扎克[59]的精美思想和梅里美[60]的段落，如一阵强劲的海风，令人精神为之一振。阿尔弗雷德·德缪塞令人难以忍受！我推崇维克多·雨果[61]。我欣赏他的才华、他的睿智、他的浪漫主义精神，尽管我并不喜欢他的作品。不过，雨果、歌德和席勒，以及所有伟大民族中的伟大诗人，都是永恒价值的阐释者。我的心灵会虔诚地追随他们进入真善美的世界。【注：[59]1799—1850，法国19世纪伟大的批判现实主义作家。代表作有《人间喜剧》等。[60]1803—1870，法国现实主义作家。代表作有《卡门》、《塔芒戈》等。[61]1802—1885，法国浪漫主义作家。代表作有《巴黎圣母院》、《悲惨世界》等。】
I am afraid I have written too much about my book-friends, and yet I have mentioned only the authors I love most; and from this fact one might easily suppose that my circle of friends was very limited and undemocratic, which would be a very wrong impression. I like many writers for many reasons — Carlyle for his ruggedness and scorn of shams; Wordsworth, who teaches the oneness of man and nature; I find an exquisite pleasure in the oddities and surprises of Hood, in Herrick’s quaintness and the palpable scent of lily and rose in his verses; I like Whittier for his enthusiasms and moral rectitude. I knew him, and the gentle remembrance of our friendship doubles the pleasure I have in reading his poems. I love Mark Twain — who does not? The gods, too, loved him and put into his heart all manner of wisdom; then, fearing lest he should become a pessimist, they spanned his mind with a rainbow of love and faith. I like Scott for his freshness, dash and large honesty. I love all writers whose minds, like Lowell’s, bubble up in the sunshine of optimism — fountains of joy and good will, with occasionally a splash of anger and here and there a healing spray of sympathy and pity.
关于我的书本朋友们，恐怕我已经说得太多。然而我只提到了一些我最喜爱的作家。由此，你也许会轻易地认为我的朋友圈非常有限，我非常武断，这其实是一种完全错误的印象。我喜爱很多作家，原因多种多样。我喜欢卡莱尔[62]是因为他的粗犷和对虚伪的讽刺；喜欢华兹华斯[63]是因为他提倡人与自然和谐共处；喜欢胡德[64]是因为他那精灵古怪的诗作给人以巨大的快乐；喜欢赫里克[65]是因为他的诗篇散发出如同百合和玫瑰般奇特的芬芳；喜欢惠蒂尔[66]是因为他的宗教热忱和道德良知。我认识他，对友谊的美好回忆，使我在读其诗歌时感受到了双倍的快乐。我喜欢马克·吐温[67]——又有谁不喜欢他呢？诸神也喜欢他，并将各种智慧赐予他，接着，恐其变成悲观主义者，又在其头脑中架起一道爱与信念的彩虹。我喜欢司各特[68]，因为他的清新率真以及他的极度诚实。我热爱所有思想在乐观主义的阳光下奔腾的作家，比如洛威尔[69]，他们的思想是快乐和善意的源泉，有时也溅射愤怒，有时又喷洒疗伤的同情和怜悯。【注：[62]托马斯·卡莱尔（1795—1881），苏格兰散文家、历史学家。著有《法国革命》、《过去与现在》等。[63]威廉·华兹华斯（1770—1850），英国浪漫主义诗人，“湖畔诗人”的代表人物。[64]托马斯·胡德（1799—1845），英国著名诗人。[65]罗伯特·赫里克（1591—1674），英国“骑士派”诗人之一，以田园抒情诗和爱情诗著称。[66]约翰·惠蒂尔（1807—1892），新英格兰文艺复兴时期的重要诗人之一。[67]1835—1910，美国小说家。代表作有《百万英镑》、《汤姆·索亚历险记》等。[68]瓦尔特·司各特（1771—1832），英国历史小说家与诗人。著有《艾凡赫》等。[69]罗伯特·洛威尔（1917—1977），美国诗人。】
In a word, literature is my Utopia. Here I am not disfranchised. No barrier of the senses shuts me out from the sweet, gracious discourse of my book-friends. They talk to me without embarrassment or awkwardness. The things I have learned and the things I have been taught seem of ridiculously little importance compared with their “large loves and heavenly charities.”
总而言之，文学是我的乌托邦。在这里，我享有一切权利。没有任何感官障碍能阻挡我与书友进行美妙而高雅的交流。他们与我交谈，毫无尴尬与棘手之感。与他们“博大的爱与超凡的仁慈”相比，我自学到和别人教我的那丁点知识是多么微不足道。
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