Companionship of Books

以書為伴

A man may usually be known by the books he reads as well as by the company he keeps; for there is a companionship of books as well as of men; and one should always live in the best company, whether it be of books or of men.

了解一個人，通常可以看他讀什么書，結交什么人.因為有人以人為伴，有人以書為伴。無論是書友還是朋友，生活中我們都應該和最佳最善者常相伴。

A good book may be among the best of friends. It is the same today that it always was, and it will never chance. It is the most patient and cheerful of companions. It does not turn its back upon us in times of adversity or distress. It always receives us with the same kindness, amusing and instructing us in youth, and comforting and consoling us in age.

好書可以是你最好的朋友。它始終不渝，過去如此，現在如此，將來也永不改變。它是最有耐心、最令人愉悅的伴侶。在我們遭受不幸，憂傷悲痛的時候，它不會拋棄我們。它總是一如既往地親切相待。我們年少時，好書給我們帶來歡笑和知識；我們年老時，好書又給我們以親撫和慰藉。

Men often discover their affinity to each other by the mutual love they have for a book just as two persons sometimes discover a friend by the admiration which both entertain for a third.There is an old proverb, "Love me, love my dog." But there is more wisdom in this: "Love me, love my book." The book is a truer and higher bond of union. Men can think, feel, and sympathize with each other through their favorite author. They live in him together, and he in them.

喜歡同一本書的人，常常發現彼此間習性也相近，就像有一時兩個人因為敬慕同一個人而成為朋友一樣。古時有句諺語：“愛屋及鳥。”其實，“愛我及書”這句活蘊涵更多的哲理。書是更為真誠而高尚的情誼紐帶。人們可以通過共同喜愛的作家溝通思想，交流感情，產生共鳴。他們和作家情感相通，作家和他們思想相融。

"Books," said Hazlitt, "wind into the heart; the poet's verse slides in the current of our blood. We read them when young, we remember them when old. We feel that it has happened to ourselves. They are to be very cheap and good. We breathe but the air of books."

哈茲利特曾經說過：“書潛移轉化人們的內心，詩歌熏陶人們的氣質品性。少小所習，老大不忘，恍如身歷其事。書籍價廉物美，不啻我們呼吸的空氣。”

A good book is often the best urn of a life enshrining the best that life could think out; for the world of a man's life is, for the most part, but the world of his thoughts. Thus the best books are treasuries of good words, the golden thoughts, which, remembered and cherished, become our constant companions and comforters. "They are never alone," said Sir Philip Sidney, "that are accompanied by noble thoughts." The good and true thought may in times of temptation be as an angel of mercy purifying and guarding the soul. It also enshrines the germs of action, for good words almost always inspire to good works.

好書常如最精美的寶器，珍藏著人生思想的精華，因為人生命的境界主要在于其思想的境界。因此，最好的書是金玉良言，是崇高思想的寶庫，這些良言和思想若銘記于心并多加珍視，就會成為我們忠實的伴侶和永恒的慰藉。菲利普·錫德尼爵士說得好:“有高尚思想做伴的人永不孤獨。”當我們面臨誘惑的時候，優美純真的思想會像仁慈的天使一樣，純潔并保衛我們的靈魂。優美純真的思想也孕育著行動的胚芽，因為金玉良言幾乎總會啟發善行。

Books possess an essence of immortality. They are by far the most lasting products of human effort. Temples and statues decay, but books survive. Time is of no account with great thoughts, which are as fresh today as when they first passed through their author's minds, ages ago. What was then said and thought still speaks to us as vividly as ever from the printed page. The only effect of time has been to sift out the bad products; for nothing in literature can long survive but what is really good.

書籍具有不朽的本質，是人類努力創造的最為持久的成果。寺廟會倒塌，神像會朽爛，而書卻經久長存。對于偉大思想來說，時間是無關緊要的。多年前初次閃現于作者腦海的偉大思想今天依然清新如故。他們昨日的言論和思想刊載于紙張之上，如今依然生動如初，向我們娓娓道來。時間唯一的作用是淘汰不好的作品，因為只有真正的佳作才能經世長存。

Books introduce us into the best society; they bring us into the presence of the greatest minds that have ever lived. We hear what they said and did; we see them as if they were really alive; we sympathize with them, enjoy with them, grieve with them; their experience becomes ours, and we feel as if we were in a measure actors with them in the scenes which they describe.

書籍介紹我們與最優秀的人為伍，使我們置身于歷代偉人巨匠之間，如聞其聲，如觀其行，如見其人，同他們情感交融，悲喜與共.感同身受。一定程度上，我們覺得自己仿佛在作者所描繪的舞臺上和他們一起粉墨登場。

The great and good do not die, even in this world. Embalmed in books, their spirits walk abroad. The book is a living voice. It is an intellect to which one still listens. Hence we ever remain under the influence of the great men of old. The imperial intellects of the world are as much alive now as they were ages ago.

即使在人世間，偉大杰出的人物也永生不朽。他們的精神被載人書冊，傳于四海。書是有生命力的聲音，是人類至今仍在聆聽的智慧之聲。所以，我們永遠都受歷代偉人的影響。多少世紀以前的蓋世英才，如今仍同當年一樣，顯示著強大的生命力。

課堂筆記：
1.此處的“as well as”相當于連詞"and"、連接兩個介詞短語。
2.虛擬語氣在由“whether”引導的讓步狀語從句中，從句謂語用動詞原形，表示“不論是……還是……”同時，"whether"一詞可以省去，而將“be”動詞放在主語前.此從句可以變為“be it of books or of men”.
3."the same as"和"the same that"都指“和…相同”的含義，但前者強調的是類型的相同，而后者強調的是事物本身的相同。此處指的是好書本身，故而用的是"the same that".
4.句中的兩個介詞“by"均表示方式，表“通過”之意。省略"that”的定語從句從句"they have for a book”用于修飾“love"。連詞“as”表示“正如……一樣”，后接從句，用于比較。關系代詞“which”引導的定語從句“which both entertain for a third”用于修飾“admiration"。
5."Love me, love my dog.”常被譯為“愛屋及烏”英語中有關“dog”的諺語很多，比如:a lucky dog(幸運兒);Every dog has his day.(人人皆有得意日。);It rains cats and dogs.(下傾盆大雨。);a cat-and-dog life(爭爭吵吵的日子)等等。
6.威廉·哈茲利特(William Hazlitt,1778-1830)，英國散文家、評論家、畫家.
7.這是由關系代詞which引導的非限制性定語從句，修飾先行詞treasuries，從句中的過去分詞結構“remembered and cherished(銘記于心并多加珍視)”用作狀語，表示條件.
8.菲利普·錫德尼爵士(Sir Philip Sidney,  1554- 1586 )，英國文藝復興時期的著名的散文家、政治家，有很高的藝術修養.科學知識豐富.
9.此處的but為介詞，表示“除……以外”的含義，what引導的從句作but的賓語。

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