logy, 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 can not 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.
注释：
夏丐尊（1886-1946）浙江上虞人，著名文学家、教育家、出版家。他的文学创作以散文为主，多随笔、杂感，内容积极，风格平淡朴素。此文于1933年11月发表在《中学生》杂志上。
(1)“我之于书”译为 Books and I ，比 I and Books 符合英语习惯，读音也较顺口。
(2)“我的生活费中至少十分之一二是消耗在书上的”译为books have eaten into at least 10-20 percent of my pocket，其中成语 to eat into 作“耗尽”或“花费”解，意同 to use up 或 to spend gradually；pocket 作“腰包”解。
(3)“我的房子里”译为 under my roof ,意同 in my house。
(4)“好像过不来瘾似的”中的“瘾”指“藏书癖”，故译为bibliomania，意即 desire or passion for collecting books。
(5)“藏书印”译为 ex-libris，为专用语。
(6)“往往立刻通读”译为 I often finish reading it at one sitting，其中at one sitting（亦作at a sitting）为成语，作“坐着一口气”或“一下子”解。
(7)“宫女”本可译为court ladies或palace maids，但原文实际上指的是“妃子”，故译为concubines。
(8)“故态复萌”译为slipping back into the same old rut，或relapsing into my old habit。
中年人的寂寞
夏丐尊
我已是一个中年的人。一到中年，就有许多不愉快的现象，眼睛昏花了，记忆
力减退了，头发开始秃脱(1)而且变白了，意兴，体力，什么都不如年青的时候，常不
禁会感觉到难以名言的(2)寂寞的情味。尤其觉得难堪的是知友的逐渐减少(3)和疏远，
缺乏交际上的温暖的慰藉。
不消说，相识的人数是随了年龄增加的，一个人年龄越大，走过的地方当过的
职务越多，相识的人理该越增加了。可是相识的人并不就是朋友。我们和许多人相识，
或是因了事务关系，或是因了偶然的机缘(4)——如在别人请客的时候同席吃过饭之↘本↘作↘品↘由↘↘網↘提↘供↘下↘載↘與↘在↘線↘閱↘讀↘
类。见面时点头或握手，有事时走访或通信，口头上彼此也“朋友”，笔头上有时或
称“仁兄”，诸如此类，其实只是一种社交上的客套，和“顿首”“百拜”同是仪式
的虚伪(5)。这种交际可以说是社交，和真正的友谊相差似乎很远。
真正的朋友，恐怕要算“总角之交”或“竹马之交”了(6)。在小学和中学的时代
容易结成真实的友谊，那时彼此尚不感到生活的压迫，入世未深，打算计较的念头也
少，朋友的结成全由于志趣相近或性情适合，差不多可以说是“无所为”的(7)，性质
比较纯粹。二十岁以后结成的友谊，大概已不免搀有各种各样的颜色分子在内；至于
三十岁四十岁以后的朋友中间，颜色分子愈多，友谊的真实成分也就不免因而愈少了。
这并不一定是“人心不古”(8)，实可以说是人生的悲剧。人到了成年以后，彼此都有
生活的重担须负，入世既深，顾忌的方面也自然加多起来，在交际上不许你不计较，
不许你不打算，结果彼此都“勾心斗角”(9)，像七巧板似地只选定了某一方面和对方
接合(10)。这样的接合当然是很不坚固的，尤其是现代这样什么都到了尖锐化的时代。
在我自己的交游中，最值得系念的老是一此少年时代以来的朋友。这些朋友本
来数目就不多，有些住在远地，连相会的机会也不可多得。他们有的年龄大过了我，
有的小我几岁，都江堰市是中年以上的人了，平日各人所走的方向不同。思想趣味境
遇也都不免互异，大家晤谈起来，也常会遇到说不出的隔膜的情形。如大家话旧，旧
事是彼此共喻的，而且大半都江堰市是少年时代的事，“旧游如梦”，把梦也似的过
去的少年时代重