英语名篇诵读 怎样读一本好书

How to Read a Good Book

怎样读一本好书

John Ruskin(约翰·罗斯金)

First, by a true desire to be taught by them, and to enter into their thoughts. To enter into

theirs, observe; not to find your own expressed by them. If the person who wrote the book is not

wiser than you, you need not read it; if he be, he will think differently from you in many respects.

Very ready we are to say of a book, “How good this is — that's exactly what I think!” But the

right feeling is, “How strange that is! I never thought of that before, and yet I see it is true; or if I

do not now, I hope I shall, some day.” But whether thus submissively or not, at least be sure

that you go to the author to get at his meaning, not to find yours. Judge it afterwards if you think

yourself qualified¹ to do so; but ascertain² it first. And be sure, also, if the author is worth

anything, that you will not get at his meaning all at once;  — nay³ , that at his whole meaning

you will not for a long time arrive in any wise . Not that he does not say what he means, and in

strong words too; but he cannot say it all; and what is more strange, will not, but in a hidden way

and in parables⁴ , in order that he may be sure you want it. I cannot quite see the reason of this,

nor analyse that cruel reticence⁵ in the breasts of wise men which makes them always hide their

deeper thought. They do not give it you by way of help, but of reward; and will make themselves

sure that you deserve⁶ it before they allow you to reach it. But it is the same way with the physical

type of wisdom, gold. There seems, to you and me, no reason why the electric forces of the earth

should not carry whatever there is of gold within it at once to the mountain tops, so that kings and

people might know that all the gold they could get was there; and without any trouble of digging,

or anxiety, or chance, or waste of time, cut it away, and coin as much as they needed. But

Nature does not manage it so. She puts it in little fissures⁷ in the earth, nobody knows

where: you may dig long and find none; you must dig painfully to find any.

首先，要怀着真诚的愿望向作者学习，融入他们的思想中。要融入他们的思想，细心

观察，而不是找出他们表达的和你一样的思想观念。如果书的作者不比你睿智，就不必读

他的书；如果他比你睿智，他会在许多方面和你的想法不同。

我们老这样说一本书：“写得多好呀——正是我所想的！”但是正确的感受是：“多奇怪

呀！我以前从没想到过，但我明白这是真知灼见；要是我现在不明白的话，我希望自己有

一天会明白。”但不论是否如此恭顺，至少一定要走近作者，去理解他的意思，而不是找你

的想法。读后进行分析判断，如果你认为自己够格的话；但首先要弄清作者的意思。还要

知道，如果作者有点真东西的话，你不可能一下子把他的意思全部弄懂；——不，对于他

的全部见解，你无论如何要等很长时间才能懂得。并不是因为他言不及义，没有说清楚；

而是因为他不能全部说出；更离奇的是，他不愿全部说出，而是说得含蓄，用寓言去说，

意在他能肯定你需要它。我不大能明白其中的缘由，也分析不了这些睿智的人胸中无情的

缄默，总是使他们把自己更深刻的思想藏而不露。他们不是以帮助的方式把思想显露在你

面前，而是以奖赏的方式；他们要使自己确信你配得到他们的思想，才允许你接触到。而

这种情况与智慧的物质形态黄金类似。在你我看来，似乎毫无道理，地球的电磁力为什么

不把富含黄金的东西统统搬到山顶上去，这样国王们和芸芸众生就会知道他们能弄到手的

黄金都在那里，不用辛辛苦苦去挖掘，不用忧心、碰运气，也不用浪费时间，一挖就走，

想造多少金币就造多少金币。但是大自然不是这么安排的。她把黄金放在地球的隙缝里，

无人知晓在何处：你可能长时间地挖呀挖而一无所获；你必须不辞辛劳地挖才能找到一点

点。

1 qualified   

adj.合格的，有资格的，胜任的，有限制的

参考例句：

• He is qualified as a complete man of letters.他有资格当真正的文学家。
• We must note that we still lack qualified specialists.我们必须看到我们还缺乏有资质的专家。

2 ascertain   

vt.发现，确定，查明，弄清

参考例句：

• It's difficult to ascertain the coal deposits.煤储量很难探明。
• We must ascertain the responsibility in light of different situtations.我们必须根据不同情况判定责任。

3 nay   

adv.不；n.反对票，投反对票者

参考例句：

• He was grateful for and proud of his son's remarkable,nay,unique performance.他为儿子出色的，不，应该是独一无二的表演心怀感激和骄傲。
• Long essays,nay,whole books have been written on this.许多长篇大论的文章，不，应该说是整部整部的书都是关于这件事的。

4 parables   

n.（圣经中的）寓言故事( parable的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Jesus taught in parables. 耶酥以比喻讲道。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• In the New Testament are the parables and miracles. 《新约》则由寓言利奇闻趣事构成。 来自辞典例句

5 reticence   

n.沉默，含蓄

参考例句：

• He breaks out of his normal reticence and tells me the whole story.他打破了平时一贯沈默寡言的习惯，把事情原原本本都告诉了我。
• He always displays a certain reticence in discussing personal matters.他在谈论个人问题时总显得有些保留。

6 deserve   

vt.应受，值得；vi. 应受报答，值得受赏

参考例句：

• You really deserve a good beating,you naughty boy.你这个调皮孩子真该打。
• I do not deserve all the praises bestowed upon me.我不配得到这些赞扬。

7 fissures   

n.狭长裂缝或裂隙( fissure的名词复数 )；裂伤；分歧；分裂v.裂开( fissure的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• Rising molten rock flows out on the ocean floor and caps the fissures, trapping the water. 上升熔岩流到海底并堵住了裂隙，结果把海水封在里面。 来自辞典例句
• The French have held two colloquia and an international symposium on rock fissures. 法国已经开了两次岩石裂缝方面的报告会和一个国际会议。 来自辞典例句