On Books
谈书
Chiang Yee
蒋彝
作者简介
蒋彝（Chiang Yee，1903—1977），字仲雅，又字重哑，画家、诗人、作家、书法家。
蒋彝年轻时正值国运衰败，他起先从政，以求变革，后痛心于政治腐败，远赴英美旅居40余年。其间，他以笔名“哑行者”撰写旅行笔记。“哑行者”一名取自他的字“重哑”，一方面表露他对国内黑暗政治的愤懑，一方面也暗示他身处中西文化之间的困境。蒋彝的游记诗文并重，书画交融，以中国视角诠释了西方文化。他被誉为“中国文化的国际使者”，其作品更是畅销国内外。
本文选自1938年出版的《伦敦画记》（The Silent Traveller in London），为“哑行者画记”系列中的一部。在这篇杂记中，作者精心描摹了伦敦的出版界与读书人，并不时穿插中国的风俗与典故，读来饶有趣味。
I have a great admiration for Londoners in the matter of books. In the streets I notice most of them walking about with books under their arms, and they even read them in the buses, trains, and tubes. I have visited many friends’ houses, both humble and well-to-do, and nearly everyone has a library of sorts. When I went to tea with a grocer friend of mine, whom I know well and who lives at the corner of my road, I saw a number of books there and he told me he wished he had more time to read. What an admirable thing that even a working-class man has that sort of outlook! It makes me think of my own country and wish everyone of my compatriots could learn to read and enjoy doing so. England has gathered the great fruits of “compulsory education”. I was told that when this new educational system was brought up for adoption, there was a great conflict of ideas and opinions, and now everybody is grateful for it. Of course all readers have a different degree of appreciation, but I admire in anyone the ability simply to enjoy reading for itself.
说到书，我对伦敦人深表钦佩。我发现路上大多数行人胳膊底下都夹着书，他们甚至在公交车、火车、地铁上读书。我去过许多朋友家，他们无论有钱没钱，家里几乎都有书房。我有个熟识的杂货商朋友，住在我家那条街的街角。我去他家喝茶的时候，在那里看见许多书。他告诉我，他希望自己能有更多时间读书。连工人阶级都有如此见识，真是令人钦佩！这让我想起我的祖国，真希望我的同胞都能学会阅读、爱上阅读。英国已经尝到了“义务教育”的甜头。有人告诉我，这个新的教育体系刚推行时曾引发极大争议，但如今人们都对它感激不已。当然，每个读者的鉴赏力不同，但我敬佩的是那种“享受阅读本身”的做法。
In a speech at the 148th anniversary dinner of the Royal Literary Fund, the Duke of Kent said: “I have always liked reading, and it is one of my chief regrets that our modern life does not give us more time for it. I often envy the gentleman of leisure of the eighteenth century who was able to build himself a magnificent room in which he could place his library and where he was able to sit in peace and enjoy it. He really could read and think carefully of what he was reading, knowing that he had ample time. Today we read the first and last sentences of each paragraph and talk about the book as though we had studied it profoundly...”
He made some criticisms of the production of books, but I only wish he could suggest a plan for having time to read in the way he said was so desirable. Everybody is always saying they love reading but that there is no time for it. I cannot help asking what has happened to people’s time. If other pleasures take the place of reading books, it means this kind of enjoyment will cease to exist. If modern life does not give time for enjoyment, what is the use of it? I quite agree with the duke in what he said, yet there must be time for reading I feel sure. The very title of “six-minute short story” in the Evening Standard only makes me feel more rushed and nervous, in keeping with London’s atmosphere. Why should it last six minutes only, not five or seven? Perhaps there is no other man stupid enough to ask this question!
在皇家文学基金会第148届年度餐会上，肯特公爵1在演讲中说：“我一向热爱阅读，但现代生活没有给我们留下多少阅读时间，这一直令我深感遗憾。我常常羡慕18世纪悠闲的绅士们。他们能给自己建一个大书房，将藏书置于其中。他们可以静静坐在屋里，享受阅读的乐趣。他知道阅读时间充裕，自己可以细细品味、认真思考。如今，我们只读每段的第一句和最后一句话，然后就像研读完了整本书一样侃侃而谈……”
肯特公爵对书籍出版提出了一些批评，但我只希望他能提个建议，让我们有时间像他向往的那样阅读。每个人都说自己热爱阅读，却苦于没有时间。我不禁要问，大家的时间都跑到哪儿去了。如果其他娱乐取代了读书，那就意味着阅读之乐行将绝迹。如果现代生活使人无暇娱乐，那这种生活还有什么意义？我十分赞同公爵的说法，但我确信一定会有读书的时间。《旗帜晚报》的“6分钟短篇故事”这个标题让我觉得要赶上伦敦的节奏，真是又匆忙又紧张。为什么只有6分钟，而不是5或7分钟？或许没有别的人会提出这么愚蠢的问题！
London publishers produce thousands of books year after year. According to the daily papers, it seems to me that there are new books coming out every day or rather, say, every hour or even every six minutes. Although the publishers do not intend their books to be finished in six minutes, yet they would probably be quite glad for the readers to finish reading in that short time and then buy a new one.
The Duke of Kent is not the only one who has found that literature as an art is faced every year with the increasing danger of being swamped by Commercialism; even publishers themselves feel the same. A publisher friend of mine once told me that his firm had no wish to produce quantities of books at high speed but that the public forced this policy on them. Another said to me that part of the trouble arose from the fact that people nowadays wanted to buy books for presents, not for reading.
年复一年，伦敦出版商出版了成千上万本书。根据日报的说法，看上去每天都有新书出版，甚至每小时、每6分钟就有新书问世。尽管出版商并没有打算让读者用6分钟就读完他们的书，但如果读者用这么短的时间就读完旧书、去买新书，出版商或许会很开心。
文学这门艺术正日渐面临被商业化大潮淹没的危险。肯特公爵不是唯一意识到这个问题的人，出版商也有同感。一位出版商朋友曾经告诉我，他的公司并不想高速出版大量书籍，但公众迫使他们这么做。另一位出版商告诉我，这个问题的部分原因在于，如今人们买书不是用来读，而是用来送礼。
Ah, I understand now why they have a special “Christmas Sale”! I ask myself: “Isn’t it better from the commercial point of view to expect people to buy books for presents rather than for reading?” I understand more and more the conditions of publication in China at the present time. In the old days we very seldom dared to write a book and it was very difficult to get it published. In the first place, when we write we have to use a special kind of style which sinologists call the “Chinese written language” and which is different from the spoken language. The difference does not lie so much in the words themselves as in the style or construction of sentences. In this written style, we consider the shorter or more concise the sentence the better it is. It goes without saying that long practice is needed before one can express one’s ideas in book form. As the style is so concise, it takes many years of writing to compose even a thin book. Further, we get no royalty from books published and generally we publish them at our own expense. In the end, most of our ancient authors seldom saw their works published, because by the time they had something written ready for book form, they were generally too old to see it through the Press.
啊，我现在明白为什么他们要举办“圣诞大甩卖”特别活动了！我问自己：“从商业角度看，不是更该期待人们买书作为礼物而不是自己读吗？”我越来越理解当前中国的出版状况了。过去很少有人敢写书，出书更是难上加难。首先，中国作者必须用一种特殊的语言，即汉学家所谓的“文言文”进行写作，这种语言有别于口语。它们的文字大同小异，区别主要在于语言风格和句子结构。我们认为文言文的句子越简短、越精练越好。不用说，人们只有经过长期的练习，才能以书的形式阐述思想。由于文言文如此精练，即使写一本薄薄的书，也须花费多年时间。此外，中国没有图书版税一说。一般来说，我们要自费出书。最终，大多数中国古代作家无缘得见自己的作品出版。因为等书完稿，他们已经垂垂老矣，很难挨到出版的那一天。
Most old Chinese books are published by their authors’ descendants or disciples. Although the process of publication was so difficult in those days, yet we had countless books in print. For instance, the Chinese Encyclopedia contains 10,000 volumes. But recently our publishing world has come to be commercialized as in any other country. It seems to me personally that it has driven us into making a change in our style of writing. Now we write books in the same way as we talk—we write down as many words as we would speak. If written work is paid according to the number of words, the Chinese old style of writing would never be profitable. So this kind of change had to come!
When we are not at war, our publishers turn out nearly as many books as yours. I should emphasize here that we now appreciate the new style of writing as much as the old ones and we think the former helps the latter in many ways. But strangely enough many sinologists do not attempt to read our new type of writing which is really easier for them, though we try to read modern English rather than Chaucer. Instead they like to stick to their privilege and remain distinct, priding themselves that they can read the “classical Chinese.” How wonderful it is! But what a wrong conception of Chinese literature must be given to the whole world!
大多数中国古代典籍都由作者的后人或学生出版。尽管过去印书极其困难，但出版的书仍浩如烟海。例如，《古今图书集成》[1]就包含10000卷书。但近来，中国出版界像其他国家一样走向了商业化。我个人认为，这迫使我们改变写作方式。如今，我们的书面语已近似口语，我们写的字和说的话一样多。如果写作是按字计酬，那么，中国过去的写作方式永远赚不了钱。因此，改变势在必行！
战争爆发前，我们出版的书几乎和你们[2]一样多。我这里想强调的是，我们如今已像接受过去的写作方式一样，接受了新的写作方式。我们还认为，白话文对文言文助益颇多。但奇怪的是，许多汉学家不愿意读相对简单的白话文。可我们读的也是现代英文，而非乔叟时期的古英文呀。他们宁可端着架子，保持与众不同，为自己能读懂“古汉语”而骄傲。这多了不起啊！可这么一来，世人对中国文学的误解该有多深啊！
“No young people in former days have had to face such a mass sex-appeal as is evident today in books, plays, music, and, above all, in the cinema,” says Dr. Drummond Shiels. I am specially interested that he mentioned books. Apart from Dr. Shiels’ feeling in the matter, I wonder whether the use of sex-appeal is a debatable point. As I came from a country where sex-appeal was very strictly prohibited in the past, I was first rebuked by my friends when I expressed surprise at its use here. They told me: “That is beauty, that is art, and that is the thing that people are interested in.” I could only nod my head without saying a word. But I want to tell Dr. Shiels that this kind of mass sex-appeal has gone to my country too. It travels everywhere as if it controls the whole world. If it has such power, why should it not be mentioned in books?
Besides, I have watched another interesting point about the London publishing world. Publishers seem to encourage authors strongly to write on the topical subjects as if they were journalists getting news for papers. And publishers, authors, and journalists seem to work together to cater for a public avid over current events. For instance, during the Italo-Abyssinian war, a vast number of books came out on Abyssinia as well as on Italy in about six months, and then on Spain, Austria, China, Japan, Germany and now Czechoslovakia, and Poland. It seems as though, if there were not so many aggressors, publishers, authors, and journalists might die from starvation! It’s an ill-wind that blows no one any good! And there are always plenty of incidents and crises cropping up throughout the world. Apparently publishers, authors, and journalists will never want for a living!
德拉蒙德•谢尔斯博士[3]说：“过去的年轻人不像今天这样，要面对书籍、戏剧、音乐，特别是电影中的大量性诱惑。”我最关心的是他提到了书。暂且不论谢尔斯博士的感觉如何，我不知道利用“性诱惑”是否存在争议。我来自一个过去严禁“性诱惑”的国家，因此对这里的性开放程度表示惊讶。我这么做，一开始就受到了朋友的指责。他们告诉我：“性是美，是艺术，是人们感兴趣的东西。”我只能一言不发地点点头。但我想告诉谢尔斯博士，大量的性诱惑也进入了我的祖国。它四处蔓延，仿佛控制了全世界。如果它有如此威力，为什么书里不应该提及？
此外，我还发现伦敦出版界另一个有趣的地方：出版商似乎都极力鼓励作者写热门话题，仿佛他们是为报纸搜罗新闻的记者。而且，出版商、作者和记者似乎串通一气，迎合读者对时事的渴望。例如，在意大利与阿比西尼亚交战期间，大约在6个月内就出版了一大批关于阿比西尼亚和意大利的书，接下来是西班牙、奥地利、中国、日本、德国，现在则是捷克斯洛伐克和波兰。看来，如果没有这么多侵略者，出版商、作家和记者可能都得饿死！这种不良之风对谁都没有好处！世界上总有许许多多的事故和危机。显然，出版商、作家和记者永远不愁生计！
Referring to the journalists, I would like to extend my admiration to all London papers. Truthfully speaking, I enjoy reading them all, for their depiction of various voices in the human world, as varied as human faces. I am especially grateful for the Sunday papers which give me something to do on dull London Sundays. “Almost everything in the newspapers,” says Mr. C. E. M. Joad, “is to some degree untrue by omission, exaggeration, distortion, and selection.” But I suppose not everyone reads papers and believes them entirely. And this is a fact which all editors know very well. It reminds me of an old Chinese saying on books: “If you believe entirely in books, you had better have no books at all.” The modern world gives a very sound proof of this.
There is also an ancient Chinese parable which tells:
“On his return after three years of studies abroad, a native of the Sung State (one of the Warring States) called his mother by her name. ‘After three years’ education,’ asked the latter, ‘why do you come home to address me by my name (contrary to the etiquette of our forefathers)?’‘The most virtuous, in my opinion,’ replied the son, ‘cannot excel Yao and Shun (two excellent emperors in our very ancient time). They are both called by their names. Again, I venerate heaven and earth above all, and these are both names. Now you are not any more virtuous than Yao and Shun, nor any greater than the universe. I think I am justified in addressing you in the way I did!’ ‘My dear son,’ retorted the mother, ‘do you think that you can practise to the very letter what you have been taught? I wish you would leave my name alone. For there are certain principles which, though mentioned in books, should not be acted upon. Hence you had better desist from pronouncing my name. ’”
说到记者，我想对伦敦的报纸表达钦佩之情。说真的，所有报纸我都喜欢读，因为它们反映了人类世界的种种声音，这些声音就像人脸一般各式各样。我特别感激周日的报纸，它们让我在伦敦百无聊赖的周日有事可做。乔德先生[4]说：“报上几乎每件事都经过某种程度的省略、夸张、扭曲和挑选。”但我猜想，不是每个人读完报都完全相信。所有编辑都深知这一事实。这让我想起了一句关于书的中国谚语：“尽信书不如无书。”现代世界有力地证明了这一点。
有一则中国寓言这样说：
宋人有学者，三年反而名其母。其母曰：“子学三年，反而名我者，何也？”其子曰：“吾所贤者，无过尧舜，尧舜名；吾所大者，无大天地，天地名。今母贤不过尧舜，母大不过天地，是以名母也。”其母曰：“子之于学者，将尽行之乎？愿子之有以易名母也；子之于学也，将有所不行乎？愿子之且以名母为后也。”[5]
This son certainly thought that he had studied books intelligently, and was paying high respect to his mother, but he did not foresee the attitude she would adopt. Oh, do books really help the conduct of human life or does their utility depend entirely upon the reader? Although people acquire much miscellaneous knowledge from books, I doubt whether many people really benefit from them. I can frankly say that I have not got much from Plato’s or Aristotle’s or Descartes’ sayings when I have tried to read them, because I cannot identify them with my environment.
In the same way, I am sure that no Westerner can get very much from Confucius’s sayings (though many translations of his have been published), apart from the few who have especially studied Confucian ideas like those sinologists who are teaching this idea to many promising students. Confucius says: “If you know it, say you know it; if you don’t know, say you don’t know. That is really ‘you know’.” Now, how few people will say that they do not know everything Chinese if they have been learning it?
But anyway, to read books is always a great joy in life. Some people talk about the art of reading, but I do not worry about that. I only like to read for pleasure whenever I have time, and do not care what it is. I find everything written worth reading, from one point of view or another. While I am deep in a book I forget drinking, eating, and sleeping. My room in China was always untidy, with books all over the place, and my family were generally very cross with me about it.
这个儿子显然自认为饱读诗书，并且极为尊重母亲，但他没料到母亲的反应。哦，书真的有助于指导人类生活吗？还是说，书的用处完全取决于读者？尽管人们从书中获取了各种各样的知识，但我怀疑是否有很多人从中受益。我可以坦白地说，我曾尝试去读柏拉图、苏格拉底、笛卡儿的著作，但没有学到什么东西，因为书中所说和我所处的环境相去甚远。
同样，我相信，尽管市面上已经出版了很多《论语》译本，但除了极少数研究孔子思想的专家，例如那些向前途远大的学生传授孔子思想的汉学家，西方人从《论语》中学不到什么东西。子曰：“知之为知之，不知为不知，是知也。”现在，学过中文的人有几个会承认自己一知半解？
但无论如何，读书总是人生一大乐事。有些人讨论阅读的艺术，但我并不在乎。我只喜欢一有空就读书，不管所读为何，纯粹以此为乐。我认为，所有写下的文字都值得一读，各家观点都值得了解。每当沉浸书中，我便废寝忘食。我在中国的住所总是一片混乱，到处都是书，家人对我这点总是很生气。
Once I told them that I wanted to be buried in books when the servants came in and tried to carry all the books off my bed. Eventually they called me a “bookworm.” After they gave me this nickname, they stopped trying to reform my ways. I have not become any better in keeping my books orderly since I have been here. But the maid and I understand each other and both benefit, because she need not do much tidying and I am spared interference.
Once I gave the name “bookworm” to an English friend of mine, but she was annoyed by it. “One man’s meat may be another’s poison.” I myself am quite proud of it! I dare say I put on a very funny face or gesture while I am reading, for I often notice that Londoners who read books in trains or buses generally adopt involuntarily expressions totally different from their natural ones. When I see hollowed eyes and two deep thick lines from both sides of the nostrils down to the corners of the mouth I feel that I am looking at a very serious reader. Sometimes a short-sighted gentleman may turn his head repeatedly from left to right and read with the help of a small magnifying glass close to the book. This makes me think about my own movements again. When I read a Chinese book, I move my head up and down repeatedly and from right to left, because our book is printed from the right to the left of each page and vertically.
有一回，仆人走进我的房间，想把书从我床上搬下来。我告诉他们，我宁愿埋在书堆里。最后，他们都喊我“书虫”。给我取了这个绰号之后，他们就不再试着干涉我了。到英国之后，我也没把书摆得多整齐。但我和女仆达成了一个互利的共识：她不用经常整理，我则可享受清静。
我曾用“书虫”称呼一位英国朋友，却把她惹恼了。“一个人的佳肴可能是另一人的毒药。”我对这个绰号感到很自豪！我敢说，我读书时的表情和姿势一定很有趣，因为我发现在火车和公交车上读书的伦敦人经常在无意中做出与平时完全不同的表情。当看到一双空洞的眼睛和从鼻翼两侧延至嘴角的法令纹时，我就会觉得面前是一位极其严肃的读者。有时，近视的绅士会拿着小号放大镜凑近书页，从左到右摇头晃脑地读书。这又让我想起自己读书的动作。我读中文书的时候，脑袋从上到下、从右到左地晃动，因为中文书是从右至左竖版印刷的。
An American friend once said to me that Westerners were always complaining that the Chinese did things the wrong way round—from right to left, top to bottom in reading, for instance. “In the English newspaper,” she continued, “they only put the important news in the centre of the paper and you have to read both ways—right to left and left to right.” I think we should call editors the mediators between the West and the East!
I very seldom read in public, because I am afraid to find no space for my book. But I am very fond of reading in the British Museum for a time. When I get tired, after I have stretched my legs I look all round me at the other readers. Sometimes I can distinguish no heads in the row behind me, because they are all hidden in books. And sometimes I can only see a number of small reddish balls of flesh arranged in a row in front of me, because only the tops of the readers’ bald heads are in sight. I wish I could be there more often to make sketches.
一位美国朋友曾和我说过，西方人总是抱怨中国人用错误的方法做事——例如读书时从右到左，从上到下。她接着说：“英文报纸只把重要新闻放在中间，所以你得从两边读——从右到左，从左到右。”我想，编辑可谓东西文化的中介人！
我极少在公共场所阅读，因为担心没地方放书。但我一度很喜欢在大英博物馆读书。当我读累了，就伸伸腿脚，看看周围的读者。有时，我看不到背后那排读者的脑袋，因为全被书挡住了。有时，我只能看见前面一排淡红的小肉球，因为前排读者只露出了光秃秃的头顶。我希望自己能更经常地去那儿画素描。
Another joy is to collect books. In China, nearly every family keeps some books in the house, as a sign of culture. Recently it has become a fashion for young Chinese not only to collect Chinese books, but also Western ones. In a modern house in China one will generally find Western and Chinese books mixed on the shelves. I do not know whether the owners have time to read all in their collection, but such a combination is certainly a sign of being not only a cultured person but actually one who knows a foreign language. If anyone of my fellow countrymen has the opportunity to go abroad, he generally brings quantities of books home in the language of the country where he has been. We in England are no exception. Not all of us may know London very well, but we certainly know where the book-shops are, especially second-hand book-shops.
Foyles’s and the shops around Charing Cross Road and, above all, the Caledonian Market are places where the Chinese are often to be seen. Sometimes the fee we pay for transporting them is more than we pay for the books themselves. I knew a friend who bought a large number of books at the market for about five shillings, so many that he had to hire a taxi to carry them home!
藏书是另一乐事。在中国，几乎每家每户都有些藏书，作为有文化的象征。最近中国年轻人不仅收藏中文典籍，还流行收藏西方作品。中国现代的住宅里，书架上往往既有中文书也有西文书。我不知道主人是否有时间读完所有藏书，但中西并陈的藏书不仅展示了主人有文化，还说明了主人懂外语。我的同胞只要有机会出国，一般就会带回大量当地语言写成的书。我们这些来英国的也不例外。并非我们所有人都熟悉伦敦，但我们肯定知道书店在哪，尤其是二手书店。
弗伊尔斯书店[6]和查令十字街[7]附近的书店，特别是喀里多尼亚市场，都是经常能看见中国人的地方。有时，我们买书的钱还赶不上运费贵。我认识一位朋友，他在市场用大约5先令买了一大堆书，书实在太多，他只好打车把书运回家！
From my own experience I can say many Chinese ships carry case after case of English books to China every year. I think only Carter Paterson’s Company can tell how many they have packed and transported up till now!
Hannen Swaffer has written a passage in the Daily Herald under the title “Ye Olde Bookes.” He says: “When the Antiquarian Booksellers’ Association which has members in all the world’s important cities, met for its annual dinner at the Café Monico, last night, it was grumbling, business has fallen off, good copies of rare books are hard to find. The best specimens all went to America in the boom...” I hope the Second-hand Booksellers’ Association, if any exists, would not grumble so much that the bad specimens all went to China in the boom! After all, simply to collect books is a great joy, and there is no need to buy the most expensive editions.
Mr. Swaffer has also written Kleptomaniac. “In Charing Cross Road,” he says, “London’s book-selling centre, Sam Joseph tells me, dealers have regular clients who turn up every day at one, read the books in the boxes outside, and at two o’clock, before going back to work, turn down the corner of a page to mark it for the next day! They still tell the story of the old gentleman with plenty of money and a passion for stealing rare copies. Every three weeks or so, he would do the rounds of the dealers’ shops, ‘lifting’ a book here and there. They knew him, of course, and kept a check on the copies that disappeared. Regularly they sent the bill in to his secretary, who promptly paid. This suited everyone concerned, until somebody found out that one or two of the less honest dealers were sending in bills for books that he hadn’t stolen, as well as for those he had. He’s dead now. ”
从个人经验出发，我可以说，每年都有不少中国船一箱又一箱地从英国往中国运书。我想，只有卡特•佩特森公司[8]说得清他们至今一共装运过多少箱书！
汉尼•斯韦福[9]在《每日先驱报》上写过一篇题为《谈古书》的文章。他说：“会员遍布世界各大城市的古董书商联合会昨晚在莫尼卡咖啡馆举行年度餐会。大家满腹牢骚，抱怨生意一落千丈，珍本很难找到。最好的样本都跑到珍本书业兴盛的美国去了……”如果存在二手书商协会的话，我希望他们不会抱怨糟糕的样本都跑到二手书业兴盛的中国去了！毕竟，藏书本身已是一大乐事，没有必要买最贵的版本。
斯韦福先生还写过《盗窃癖》。他说：“萨姆•约瑟夫告诉我，在查令十字街这个伦敦图书销售中心，书商都有些常客。他们每天中午1点出现，读店外箱子里的书，在2点回去上班前把书折个角，以便第二天接着读！他们至今仍在谈论某位老绅士的故事。这位老绅士家财万贯，却酷爱偷窃珍本书。每隔两三周，他就去各个书店转一圈，左‘抽’一本右‘取’一本。当然，书商都认识他，都会记下丢的书，定期寄账单给他秘书，而秘书总是及时付款。这种安排让大家相安无事，直到有人发现，一两个不太诚实的书商把未遭窃的书也列入了账单。这位老爷子如今已不在人世了。”
It seems to me that the dealers are very kind to provide books for people to read without any payment. I have been one of their clients too sometimes, though not a regular one. I visit Zwemmer’s most of all. It is funny to have this passion for stealing books. We have many people with that complaint in China, but we do not call them “thieves.” We generally speak of them as “people who take books away at their own convenience.”
I have never heard of their being dunned by the owners, though it is annoying to have a book taken away by others. It is also true that people often borrow books and never want to return them. A friend of mine told me that Sir Walter Scott used to put a small card on the shelves of his library bearing words somewhat as follows: “Here should stand such-and-such books which have been borrowed by so-and-so on a certain day but not returned yet.” Sometimes he would invite the friends to come and have a good look round his library without mentioning anything. I do not know whether it is true or not, but I doubt whether such a device would have much effect. In China we have considerable difficulties in refusing to lend books to others. How can we solve this problem? Better leave it to psychologists and lawyers.
在我看来，书商让人们免费读书，真是非常大方。我过去有时也蹭书看，但不经常那么做。我去得最多的是兹温默尔书店。爱偷书是件有趣的事。我们中国也有那种窃书贼，但我们不叫他们“窃贼”。我们提到他们时，一般会说“顺手牵书的人”。
尽管别人把书顺手拿走挺烦人，但我从未听说主人追究责任。人们经常借书不还，这也是事实。有位朋友告诉我，沃尔特•司各特爵士[10]曾在书架上放了一张小卡片，上面写着“这里本应放着某书，但某人某天借走它后，至今没有归还”。有时，他会邀请朋友来书房好好转一圈，但什么也不说。我不知道此事是真是假，但我怀疑这样做没什么效果。我们中国人一向难以拒绝别人借书。我们怎么解决这个问题？还是留给心理医生和律师费心吧。
There is a special custom in China I should describe here. We generally have scorching sunshine most of the time from July until the end of September. On the seventh day of the seventh month of every year every family airs their belongings, chiefly clothes and books, in order to keep them undamaged by insects. Girls are busy carrying out clothes, and boys books, for airing in the hot sun in our courtyards. When I was young I was always ordered to do this job. While I was airing them, I generally took some interesting books to read at the corner of a corridor, in order to amuse myself. It usually took several days for me to finish the job.
It is said that there was a well-known scholar called Hao Lung, who lay down with the upper part of his body naked and his face to the sky, under the hot sunshine on that particular day. Then a friend of his dropped in to his courtyard and asked him the reason for this conduct. He answered that he was airing his books which were kept in his belly. This perhaps needs an explanation. In China, we read books and afterwards generally try to learn them by heart. A good scholar is said to be able to remember most of them from memory. So this one was very proud of himself remembering all that he studied, and was sarcastic at the expense of those who only aired real books. As soon as I was able to understand this story, I felt ashamed of my old job. I have not yet heard of anyone airing books in London!
在此我要说说中国的一个特殊习俗。从七月到九月底，大部分时候我们那里的阳光都很烈。每年七月初七，家家户户都会晾晒物品（主要是衣服和书）以防虫害。女孩忙于搬衣服，男孩忙于搬书，搬到院中烈日下曝晒。我小时候，大人总叫我做这事。我在晾晒物品时，往往会拿几本有趣的书到走廊角落里读，以此自寻开心。我通常要花好几天来做这件事。
从前有个名叫郝隆的学者。他在七月初七这天赤裸上身，仰面朝天躺在烈日下。有个朋友走进他家院子，问他为什么要这样做。他回答，我在晒我腹中的书。这里或许得解释一下。中国人读书一般要背诵，据说优秀的学者能记住大多数读过的书。所以郝隆是为自己博闻强识而骄傲，嘲讽那些只晒真书的人。我理解了这个故事以后，立刻对自己过去做的事感到汗颜。我可没听说过伦敦有人晒书！
[1]《古今图书集成》，原名《古今图书汇编》，是现存规模最大、资料最丰富的类书。
[2]此处指英国。
[3]德拉蒙德.谢尔斯博士（Dr. Drummond Shiels，1881—1953），英国工党议员。
[4]西里尔.埃德温.米钦森.乔德（Cyril Edwin Mitchinson Joad，1891—1953），英国哲学家、电台播音员，因主持BBC电台的战时节目而声名大噪。
[5] 典出《战国策.魏策三》。译文：宋国有个求学的人，（求学）三年后回到家，直呼母亲的名字。母亲说：“你学习了三年，（现在）回家却直呼我的名字，是为什么？”儿子说：“我认为圣贤没有超过尧、舜的，尧、舜是名字；我认为事物没有大过天地的，天、地也是名字。母亲你贤不过尧、舜，大不过天地，所以我直呼母亲的名字。”母亲说：“你学到的东西会完全照做吗？希望你改掉直呼母亲的名字这一条。你学到的东西，有不准备照做的吗？希望你把直呼母亲名字列为（不照做的）首选。”
[6] 弗伊尔斯书店，伦敦规模最大、最著名的独立书店之一。
[7] 查令十字街，伦敦著名的书店街。
[8] 卡特.佩特森公司，英国一家货运公司。
[9] 汉尼.斯韦福（Hannen Swaffer，1879—1962），英国记者、戏剧评论家、著名撰稿人。
[10] 沃尔特.司各特（Sir Walter Scott，1771—1832），英国著名历史小说家和诗人。
