二十年來(lái)，我的生活費(fèi)中至少十分之一二是消耗在書(shū)上的。我的房子里比較貴重的東西就是書(shū)。
In the
recent 20 years or so, one tenth to two tenths of my living cost
falls to books. In my house, books are comparatively the
valuables.
我一向沒(méi)有對(duì)于任何問(wèn)題作高深研究的野心，因之所以買的書(shū)范圍較廣，宗教、藝術(shù)、文學(xué)、社會(huì)、哲學(xué)、歷史、生物，各方面差不多都有一點(diǎn)。最多的是各國(guó)文學(xué)名著的譯本，與本國(guó)古來(lái)的詩(shī)文集，別的門類只是些概論等類的入門書(shū)而已。我不喜歡向別人或圖書(shū)館借書(shū)。借來(lái)的書(shū)，在我好像過(guò)不來(lái)癮似的，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(cè)新書(shū)，一冊(cè)一冊(cè)在加蓋藏書(shū)印記，我最感到快悅的是這時(shí)候。
I don’t have
the ambition of thorough study in any special fields at all, so the
content of books I buy are of a wide variety of ranges, they are
about religion, literature, society, history, biology, only to name
a few. The most of my book collection are the translated Chinese
versions of literature classics of different countries, as well as
collections of Chinese poems. Books of other categories are merely
introductions to the related theories in respective fields. I am
not into borrowing books from others, neither am I a fan of
libraries. Books borrowed, as to me, just couldn’t bring me the
enthusiasm to read, while the books I owned could only be
satisfying. This can be regarded as a desire of possession. After
buying new books, I find printing my own symbols on them the most
joyful moment for me.
書(shū)籍到了我的手里，我的習(xí)慣是先看序文，次看目錄。頁(yè)數(shù)不多的往往立刻通讀，篇幅大的，只把正文任擇一二章節(jié)略加翻閱，就插在書(shū)架上。除小說(shuō)外，我少有全體讀完的大部的書(shū)，只憑了購(gòu)入當(dāng)時(shí)的記憶，知道某冊(cè)書(shū)是何種性質(zhì)，其中大概有些什么可取的材料而已。什么書(shū)在什么時(shí)候再去讀再去翻，連我自己也無(wú)把握，完全要看一個(gè)時(shí)期一個(gè)時(shí)期的興趣。關(guān)于這事，我常自比為古時(shí)的皇帝，而把插在架上的書(shū)籍諸列屋而居的宮女。
When having
a new book, I used to read the preface firstly, then the table of
content. I only read the books with shorter content after that, and
as of the longer ones, just 1 or 2 chapters are carefully read
before put away on the shelf. I almost never finish a book, except
novels. Only thanks to the recollections of the content when I buy
them can I know what they are about, and what I can get from them
when I may need to read them. As for when I will read them, that’s
a question I can’t answer myself. The decision base on in what I am
interested at different times of my life. In this aspect, I often
see myself as an Emperor of the old times, who had a number of
concubines in the palace, just as I have a number of books on my
shelf.
我雖愛(ài)買書(shū)，而對(duì)于書(shū)卻不甚愛(ài)惜。讀書(shū)的時(shí)候，常在書(shū)上把我認(rèn)為要緊的處所標(biāo)出。線裝書(shū)竟用紅鉛筆劃粗粗的線。經(jīng)我看過(guò)的書(shū)，統(tǒng)體干凈的很少。據(jù)說(shuō)，任何愛(ài)吃糖果的人，只要叫他到糖果鋪中去做事，見(jiàn)了糖果就會(huì)生厭。自我入書(shū)店以后，對(duì)于書(shū)的貪念也已消除了不少了，可不免要故態(tài)復(fù)萌，想買這種，想買那種。這大概因?yàn)樘枪米烊コ?，擺存毫無(wú)意義，而書(shū)則可以買了不看，任其只管插在架上的緣故吧。
As much as I
love books, I never deal with them carefully. I used to make marks
where I regard important when reading. So the papers in many
string-attached books are often filled with my red bold remarks.
Books are hardly clean after me reading. Candy-lovers are said to
begin hate candies when they work in a candy shop. Since I found I
job in a bookstore, my enthusiasm about books are in much wane. But
sometimes due to crush I want to buy all kinds of books again. The
difference maybe lies in that to enjoy a candy you need to eat it,
and it makes no sense when you just buy candies can put them away
in store. However, with books, you can buy them without reading
them, and put them away high in a shelf.
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