英语名篇诵读 真正的书

A Genuine Book

真正的书

John Ruskin(约翰·罗斯金)

A book is essentially¹ not a talked thing, but a written thing; and written, not with the view of

mere² communication, but of permanence . The book of talk is printed only because its author

cannot speak to thousands of people at once; if he could, he would — the volume is mere

multiplication³ of his voice. You cannot talk to your friend in India; if you could, you would;

you write instead: that is mere conveyance⁴ of voice. But a book is written, not to multiply the

voice merely, not to carry it merely, but to perpetuate⁵ it. The author has something to say

which he perceives to be true and useful, or helpfully beautiful. So far as he knows, no one has yet

said it; so far as he knows, no one else can say it. He is bound to say it, clearly and melodiously⁶

if he may; clearly at all events. In the sum of his life he finds this to be the thing, or group of

things, manifest to him;  — this the piece of true knowledge, or sight, which his share of

sunshine and earth has permitted him to seize. He would fain set it down for ever; engrave⁷ it

on rock, if he could; saying, “This is the best of me; for the rest, I ate, and drank, and slept, loved,

and hated, like another; my life was as the vapour, and is not; but this I saw and knew: this, if

anything of mine, is worth your memory.” That is his “writing”; it is, in his small human way, and

with whatever degree of true inspiration is in him, his inscription⁸ , or scripture⁹ . That is a

“Book”.

书本质上不是谈话的资料汇编，而是用心写成的作品；而作为书写的成品，其目的不

仅仅是为了交际，而是为了使之亘古长存。谈话性质的书付印成册，只是因为其作者不能

同时向千万人讲话；如果能够，他会那么做的——那卷资料只是为了扩音而已。你不能同

远在印度的朋友交谈；如果可以，你会那么做的；所以你就写信：那只是传递你的声音罢

了。但是写成一本书，不只是为了扩音，不只是为了传递声音，而是为了让声音永存。作

者发现某种东西真实而有用，优美而有益，觉得有话要说。他所知道的，尚无人道出；他

所知道的，他人亦无法道出。他决心说出来，说得清楚，尽可能说得优美，但无论如何要

说得清楚。作者终其一生，发现某个东西，或一些东西，对他显而易见——点滴真知或见

识，为他的人生所领悟。他因此乐意将此写下来，如有可能，把它铭刻在岩石上，说：“这

是我最好的东西，至于余下的，我同别人一样，就是吃吃喝喝，睡睡觉，爱恨情仇；我的

人生曾如雾霭，很快就消失不再，但现在不同了；这就是我的所见所知：如果我有什么东

西值得你记住的话，就是这个。”这就是他的“著作”，以其微不足道的人生，凭其或多或少

的真实灵感，写就的他的铭文或经书。这才是真正的“书”。

1 essentially   

adv.本质上，实质上，基本上

参考例句：

• Really great men are essentially modest.真正的伟人大都很谦虚。
• She is an essentially selfish person.她本质上是个自私自利的人。

2 mere   

adj.纯粹的；仅仅，只不过

参考例句：

• That is a mere repetition of what you said before.那不过是重复了你以前讲的话。
• It's a mere waste of time waiting any longer.再等下去纯粹是浪费时间。

3 multiplication   

n.增加，增多，倍增；增殖，繁殖；乘法

参考例句：

• Our teacher used to drum our multiplication tables into us.我们老师过去老是让我们反覆背诵乘法表。
• The multiplication of numbers has made our club building too small.会员的增加使得我们的俱乐部拥挤不堪。

4 conveyance   

n.(不动产等的)转让，让与；转让证书；传送；运送；表达；（正）运输工具

参考例句：

• Bicycles have become the most popular conveyance for Chinese people.自行车已成为中国人最流行的代步工具。
• Its another,older,usage is a synonym for conveyance.它的另一个更古老的习惯用法是作为财产转让的同义词使用。

5 perpetuate   

v.使永存，使永记不忘

参考例句：

• This monument was built to perpetuate the memory of the national hero.这个纪念碑建造的意义在于纪念民族英雄永垂不朽。
• We must perpetuate the system.我们必须将此制度永久保持。

6 melodiously   

参考例句：

7 engrave   

vt.（在...上）雕刻，使铭记，使牢记

参考例句：

• It is difficult to engrave in marble.在大理石上雕刻是困难的。
• The jeweller will engrave the inside of the ring with her name.珠宝匠将在戒指的内表面上刻上她的名字。

8 inscription   

n.（尤指石块上的）刻印文字，铭文，碑文

参考例句：

• The inscription has worn away and can no longer be read.铭文已磨损，无法辨认了。
• He chiselled an inscription on the marble.他在大理石上刻碑文。

9 scripture   

n.经文，圣书，手稿；Scripture:(常用复数)《圣经》，《圣经》中的一段

参考例句：

• The scripture states that God did not want us to be alone.圣经指出上帝并不是想让我们独身一人生活。
• They invoked Hindu scripture to justify their position.他们援引印度教的经文为他们的立场辩护。