張培基英譯中國現代散文選 之《我之于書》

我之于書 
   ——夏丐尊 
   二十年來，我的生活費中至少十分之一二是消耗在書上的(2)。我的房子里(3)比較貴重的東西就是書。 
   我一向沒有對于任何問題作高深研究的野心，因之所以買的書范圍較廣，宗教、藝術、文學、社會、哲學、歷史、生物，各方面差不多都有一點。最多的是各國文學名著的譯本，與本國古來的詩文集，別的門類只是些概論等類的入門書而已。 
   我不喜歡向別人或圖書館借書。借來的書，在我好像過不來癮似的(4)，必要是自己買的才滿足。這也可謂是一種占有的欲望。買到了幾冊新書，一冊一冊在加蓋藏書印(5)記，我最感到快悅的是這時候。 
   書籍到了我的手里，我的習慣是先看序文，次看目錄。頁數不多的往往立刻通讀(6)，篇幅大的，只把正文任擇一二章節略加翻閱，就插在書架上。除小說外，我少有全體讀完的大部的書，只憑了購入當時的記憶，知道某冊書是何種性質，  其中大概有些什么可取的材料而已。什么書在什么時候再去讀再去翻，連我自己也無把握，完全要看一個時期一個時期的興趣。關于這事，我常自比為古時的皇帝，而把插在架上的書籍諸列屋而居的宮女(7)。 
   我雖愛買書，而對于書卻不甚愛惜。讀書的時候， 常在書上把我認為要緊的處所標出。線裝書竟用紅鉛筆劃粗粗的線。經我看過的書，統計統體干凈的很少。 
   據說，任何愛吃糖果的人，只要叫他到糖果鋪中去做事，見了糖果就會生厭。自我入書店以后，對于書的貪念也已消除了不少了，可不免要故態復萌(8)，想買這種，想買那種。這大概因為糖果要用嘴去吃，擺存毫無意義，而書則可以買了不看，任其只管插在架上的緣故吧。

注釋： 
夏丐尊（1886-1946）浙江上虞人，著名文學家、教育家、出版家。他的文學創作以散文為主，多隨筆、雜感，內容積極，風格平淡樸素。此文于1933年11月發表在《中學生》雜志上。 
(1)“我之于書”譯為 Books and I ，比 I and Books 符合英語習慣，讀音也較順口。 
(2)“我的生活費中至少十分之一二是消耗在書上的”譯為books have eaten into at least 10-20 percent of my pocket，其中成語 to eat into 作“耗盡”或“花費”解，意同 to use up 或 to spend gradually；pocket 作“腰包”解。 
(3)“我的房子里”譯為 under my roof ,意同 in my house。 
(4)“好像過不來癮似的”中的“癮”指“藏書癖”，故譯為bibliomania，意即 desire or passion for collecting books。 
(5)“藏書印”譯為 ex-libris，為專用語。 
(6)“往往立刻通讀”譯為 I often finish reading it at one sitting，其中at one sitting（亦作at a sitting）為成語，作“坐著一口氣”或“一下子”解。 
(7)“宮女”本可譯為court ladies或palace maids，但原文實際上指的是“妃子”，故譯為concubines。 
(8)“故態復萌”譯為slipping back into the same old rut，或relapsing into my old habit。

Books and I 
         ——Xia Mianzun 
    For twenty years past, books have eaten into at least 10-20 percent of my pocket. Now the only things of some value under my roof, if any, are my books. 
    Since I have never entertained ambition for making a profound study of any subject, the books I have acquired cover almost everything--religion, art, literature, sociology, philosophy, history, biology, etc. Most of them are Chinese translations of literary works by famous foreign writers and anthologies of Chinese poetry and prose through the ages. The rest, often called an outline or introduction, are merely on rudiments of various subjects. 
    I never care to borrow books from other people or a library. It seems that books bought can better satisfy my bibliomania than books borrowed. You may also attribute this to some sort of desire for personal possession. Whenever I have some new acquisitions, it always gives me great pleasure and satisfaction to stamp my ex-libris on them one by one. 
    As soon as a new book comes to hand, I always read the preface first and then the table of contents. If it happens to be a thin one, I often finish reading it at one sitting. Otherwise, I often browse through one or two chapters or sections before putting it onto my bookshelf. I seldom read a thick book from cover to cover unless it is a novel. By dint of the first impression it made on me at the time of buying, I have a rough idea of what a book is about and what useful materials in it are available to me. But I have little idea which book is to be read or looked over again at what time. It is completely subject to the whims of the moment. This often prompts me to liken myself and the books on my shelves respectively to an ancient emperor and his concubines housed separately in a row of adjoining rooms. 
    Much as I love books, I take little care of them. In doing my reading, I often mark out what I regard as important in a book. If it is a thread-bound Chinese book, I use a writing brush to draw small circles as markings. Otherwise, I use a red pencil to draw heavy underlines. Consequently, the books I have read are rarely clean. 
    It is said that those who have a great liking for candies will sicken to see them when later they happen to work in a candy store. Likewise, ever since I began to work in a bookstore, my obsession with books has been very much on the decline. Nevertheless, I still cannot help slipping back into the same old rut, eager to buy this and that book. This is probably because candies are to be eaten with the mouth and not worth keeping as knick-knacks while books can be bought without being read and just left on a shelf.