書的抒情
柯靈 作
說到書，我很動感情。因為它給我帶來溫暖，我對它滿懷感激。
書是我的恩師。貧窮剝奪了我童年的幸福，把我關在學校大門的外面，是書本敞開它寬厚的胸脯，接納了我。給我以慷慨的哺育。沒有書，就沒有我的今天。——也許我早就委棄於溝壑。
書是我的良友。它給我一把金鑰匙，誘導我打開淺短的視界，愚昧的頭腦，鄙塞的心靈。從不吝惜對我的幫助。書是我青春期的戀人，中年的知己，暮年的伴侶。有了它，我就不再憂愁寂寞，不再怕熱情冷暖，世態炎涼。它使我成為精神視界的富翁。我真的是“不可一日無此君”。當我忙完了，累極了；當我憤怒時，苦惱時；我就想親近它，因為這是一種絕妙的安撫。
我真願意成為十足的“書迷”和“書痴”，可惜自己還有點不夠條件。
不知道誰是監獄的始作俑者。剝奪自由，誠然是人世間的刑法，但如果允許囚人有讀書的權利，那還不算是自由的徹底喪失。我對此有慘痛的經驗。
對書的焚燬和禁錮，是最大的愚蠢十足的野蠻，可怕的歷史倒退。
當然書本里也有敗類，那是瘟疫之神，死亡天使，當與世人共棄之。
作家把自己寫的書，送給親友，獻與讀者，是最大的愉快。如果他的書引起共鳴、得到讚美，那就是對他最好的酬謝。
在寧靜的環境、悠閒的心情中靜靜地讀書，是人生中最有味的享受。在“四人幫”覆亡的前夜，我曾經避開海洋般的冷漠與白眼，每天到龍華公園讀書，擁有自己獨立蒼茫的世界。這是我一個終生難忘的經歷。
書本是太陽、空氣、雨露。我不能設想，沒有書的世界是什麼樣的世界。
譯文一：
Ode to Books
By Ke Ling
Tr. Peter Jingcheng Xu （許景城）
（廣東外語外貿大學英文學院、英國威爾士班戈大學英語文學院）
Teemed with sentiments, to books, I always feel deeply grateful, for they have warmed my heart and soul.
Books are my teacher, respected. In my childhood, poverty deprived me of happiness and shut me out of school, while books, to embrace me, extended their generous arms, nurturing me with abundance. Without books, today I would not come a long way, and probably for long I would have been deserted in a gully.
Books are my friends, beneficial. On me, they’ve bestowed a golden key, with ungrudging helps, to open my shallow sight, my fatuous mind, and my closed heart. Books are my lover in my adolescence, my bosom friends in my middle age and my companion in my declining years. With them, never would I feel sad and lonely; nor would I fear warmness and coldness, and even the fickleness of the world. A rich man of spirit, they have made me! “How could I for a single second part with thee?” When I’m fatigued from work, or when I feel angry and upset, to seek perfect comfort, I would get myself close to them.
I really want to be a “bookworm” and “bookaholic”, but I regret I am not qualified for it.
I have no idea of who was the deplorable creator of a prison. The deprivation of freedom for sure is a criminal punishment in society, but, if criminals are allowed to read books, it doesn’t mean the total loss of their freedom, which can be concluded from my painful personal experience.
Burning and forbidding books, the most foolish and absolutely barbarous behaviours, would lead to a terrible retrogression in history.
Undoubtedly, there are scums and dregs of books regarded as the Plague and the Death, which should be discarded by all.
It is the greatest pleasure for writers to give their kith and kin, and readers the books written by them. If their books strike a chord and get praise, that will be the best reward for them.
It is the greatest enjoyment to read silently and leisurely in a tranquil environment. Before the fall of “the Gang of Four”, I used to read in Long Hua Park every day to escape from the ocean-like coldness and contempt, in pursuit of an independent and vast world. This is an unforgettable experience in my life.
Books are sunshine, air, rain and dew. I can’t image a world without books.
初譯於北林 2011-2-28
改譯於英倫 2018-7-5
終譯於廣外 2019-8-16
譯本二：
Eulogizing Books
By Ke Ling
Tr. Peiji Zhang (張培基)
（選自張培基，《英譯中國現代散文選（二）》，上海外語教育出版社，2007：251-252）
I always think of books with profound feeling, being deeply indebted to them, as I am, for the warmth they have brought me.
Books are my beloved teachers. In my childhood, when I was deprived of happiness and schooling by poverty, books took me to their large bosoms and nurtured me generously. It is to them that I owe what I am today. Without them, I would probably have ended up in abject misery long ago.
Books are my good friends. They have offered me a golden key to broadening my horizons and ridding myself of stupidity and ignorance. They spare no efforts to help me.
Books are my sweethearts in my youth, my bosom friends in my middle age, and my companions in my declining years. Accompanied by books, I never feel lonely, nor fear social snobbery or fickleness of the world. They have made a rich man of me in the inner world. I cannot do without them even for a single day. When I feel tired out after finishing my work, or when I am in a bad mood, I’ll try to get close to books for comfort — the best way for me to find spiritual consolation.
Oh, if only I were a confirmed bibliomaniac or bookworm! But unfortunately, I’m still not fully qualified for one yet!
I don’t know who was the despicable originator of the prison. Deprivation of freedom is the most savage punishment on earth for sure, but, as I’ve learned from my own personal bitter experience, if prisoners are permitted the right to read they should not be regarded as totally devoid of freedom.
Burning or banning books is the height of folly and barbarity, signifying a most horrible retrogression in history.
Of course there is also some rubbish among books to be avoided like the plague or Death by all.
It is the greatest pleasure for a writer to present to his friends gift copies of a book authored by himself or to have it offered to the reading public. And he will feel richly rewarded if his book arouses public interest and earns wide acclaim.
It is the greatest joy of life for one to spend his leisure time reading in quiet surrounding. On the eve of the fall of the “Gang of Four”, I used to go to Longhua Park every day for a reading session, seeking shelter from a sea of frosty looks and hostile stares in a world of my own. That will forever remain unforgettable experience of my life.
Books are sunlight and air, rain and dew. I can’t imagine what would become of the world without books.
