第72页 我之于书

之前看累了，有点昏昏欲睡。看到这篇的时候，有种凉风袭来的感觉。上网搜了一下，发现竟然还有英文版的。

书之于我
夏丏尊
 
    二十年来，我生活费中至少十分之一二是消耗在书上的。我的房子里比较贵重的东西就是书。
    我一向没有对于任何问题作高深研究的野心，因之所买的书范围较广，宗教，艺术，文学，社会，哲学，历史，生物，各方面差不多都有一点。最多的是各国文学名著的译本，与本国古来的诗文集，别的门类只是些概论等类的入门书而已。
    我不喜欢向别人或图书馆借书。借来的书，在我好像过不来瘾似的，必要是自己买的才满足。这也可谓是一种占有的欲望。买到了几册新书，一册一册地加盖藏书印记，我最感到快悦的是这时候。
    书籍到了我的手里，我的习惯是先看序文，次看目录。页数不多的往往立刻通读，篇幅大的，只把正文任择一二章节略加翻阅，就插在书架上。除小说外，我少有全体读完的大部的书，/只凭了购入当时的记忆，知道某册书是何种性质，其中大概有些什么可取的材料而已。什么书在什么时候再去读再去翻，连我自己也无把握，完全要看一个时期的兴趣。关于这事，我常自比为古时的皇帝，而把插在架上的书譬诸列屋而居的宫女。
    我虽爱买书，而对于书却不甚爱惜。读书的时候，常在书上把我所认为要紧的处所标出。线装书大概用笔加圈，洋装书竟用红铅笔划粗粗的线。经我看过的书，统体干净的很少。
    据说，任何爱吃糖果的人，只要叫他到糖果铺中去做事，见了糖果就会生厌。自我入书店以后，对于书的贪念也已消除了不少了，可是仍不免要故态复萌，想买这种，想买那种。这大概因为糖果要用嘴去吃，摆存毫无意义，而书则可以买了不看，任其只管插在架上的缘故吧。
Books and I
Xia Mianzun
    In the last 20 years, I've spent at least 10 percent to 20 percent of my income on buying books.What values most in my house is the books.
    I am always content with the superficial knowledge of all subjects, so the books I bought enbraces an extensive scale including religion,art,literature,sociology,philosophy,history and biology, almost touching every department of human endeavors. What accouts most in my collection is the Chinese translations of the world-famous literary works and Chinese classical essays and verses. And books of other subjects are just some primers.
    I'm not a fan of borrowing books from others or a library, for I can't feel satisfied with the borrowed. It is only the ones I bought by myself that can give me the real pleasure. This tendency can be called a sort of possessive instinct. When I bought several new books and set my seals onto them one by one, it is the most delightful moment for me.
    My habit of reading a book is to read the preface first and then the table of contents. As for the thin books, I usually read them through instantly, while for the thick ones, I merely skim any one or two chapters and then put them back on my bookshelves. I have hardly read over any thick books except the novels. However, by a rough memory picture formed when I bought a certain book, I can refer to it as soon as I need. When is the exact time to open a certain book is even out of my control, totally dependent on my whims at some time. I ususlly connect this usual practice to the ancient emperor of China: I can call out any book at will just as the emperor could summon any maid, living in adjoining rooms, as he wished.
    Although buying books is my love, I don't see the books as holy treasures. When reading a book, I always mark the places which are important to me. To be specific, for the thread-bound Chinese books, I usually mark the words by circling them; for the foreigen books, I even underline the words with red pencils. So, there is few books that I have finished reading maintaining clean and tidy.
    It is said that, for those who love eating candies, if they are sent to work in a candy shop, they would be fed up with candies at the sight of them. Likewise, since I began to work in the bookshop, my obsession with books have diminished a lot. But still, sometims I tend to slip into my old days and want to buy this or that book. Maybe it is because candy is for eating, not for collection, while the books can be bought for collection and we can just leave them on the bookshelf.