The Choice of Books　擇書(shū)之道

The Choice of Books

擇書(shū)之道

Sir John Lubbock

約翰·盧布克爵士

作者簡(jiǎn)介

約翰·盧布克爵士（Sir John Lubbock，1834—1913），英國(guó)銀行家、政治家、自然主義者。作為政治家，他促進(jìn)了公共假日（Bank Holiday）法案的頒布，同時(shí)對(duì)保護(hù)國(guó)家古跡作出了非凡貢獻(xiàn)；作為自然主義者，他在昆蟲(chóng)學(xué)和人類(lèi)學(xué)方面頗有研究，并撰寫(xiě)了大量科普讀物，如《史前時(shí)代》（Prehistoric Times）、《螞蟻、蜜蜂和黃蜂》（Ants, Bees, and Wasps）、《昆蟲(chóng)的起源和變形》（The Origin and Metamorphoses of Insects）等。

盧布克爵士在1889年出版了《生活的樂(lè)趣》（The Pleasures of Life）一書(shū)，書(shū)中有兩篇關(guān)于閱讀的文章，本文即其中一篇。盧布克爵士旁征博引，借名人名言談?wù)撟约旱膿駮?shū)之道。感興趣的讀者可查閱原書(shū)附錄中盧布克爵士所選的“百本好書(shū)”書(shū)單。

“All round the room my silent servants wait

My friends in every season, bright and dim,

Angels and Seraphim

Come down and murmur to me, sweet and low,

And spirits of the skies all come and go

Early and Late.”

And yet too often they wait in vain. One reason for this is, I think, that people are overwhelmed by the crowd of books offered to them.

In old days books were rare and dear. Now on the contrary, it may be said with greater truth than ever that

“Words are things, and a small drop of ink,

Falling like dew upon a thought, produces

That which makes thousands, perhaps millions, think.”

Our ancestors had a difficulty in procuring them. Our difficulty now is what to select. We must be careful what we read, and not, like the sailors of Ulysses, take bags of wind for sacks of treasure—not only lest we should even now fall into the error of the Greeks, and suppose that language and definitions can be instruments of investigation as well as of thought, but lest, as too often happens, we should waste time over trash. There are many books to which one may apply, in the sarcastic sense, the ambiguous remark said to have been made to an unfortunate author, “I will lose no time in reading your book.”

There are, indeed, books are books, and there are books which, as Lamb said, are not books at all. It is wonderful how much innocent happiness we thoughtlessly throw away. An Eastern proverb says that calamities sent by heaven may be avoided, but from those we bring on ourselves there is no escape.

Many, I believe, are deterred from attempting what are called stiff books for fear they should not understand them; but there are few who need complain of the narrowness of their minds, if only they would do their best with them.

In reading, however, it is most important to select subjects in which one is interested. I remember years ago consulting Mr. Darwin as to the selection of a course of study. He asked me what interested me most, and advised me to choose that subject. This, indeed, applies to the work of life generally.

I am sometimes disposed to think that the readers of the next generation will be, not our lawyers and doctors, shopkeepers and manufacturers, but the laborers and mechanics. Does not this seem natural? The former work mainly with their head; when their daily duties are over the brain is often exhausted, and of their leisure time much must be devoted to air and exercise. The laborer and mechanic, on the contrary, besides working often for much shorter hours, have in their work-time taken sufficient bodily exercise, and could therefore give any leisure they might have to reading and study. They have not done so as yet, it is true; but this has been for obvious reasons. Now, however, in the first place, they receive an excellent education in elementary schools, and in the second have more easy access to the best books.

Ruskin has observed that he does not wonder at what men suffer, but he often wonders at what they lose. We suffer much, no doubt, from the faults of others, but we lose much more by our own ignorance.

“If,”says Sir John Herschel, “I were to pray for a taste which should stand me instead under every variety of circumstances, and be a source of happiness and cheerfulness to me through life, and a shield against its ills, however things might go amiss and the world frown upon me, it would be a taste for reading. I speak of it of course only as a worldly advantage, and not in the slightest degree as superseding or derogating from the higher office and surer and stronger panoply of religious principles—but as a taste, and instrument, and a mode of pleasurable gratification. Give a man this taste, and the means of gratifying it, and you can hardly fail of making a happy man, unless, indeed, you put into his hands a most perverse selection of books.”

It is one thing to own a library; it is quite another to use it wisely. I have often been astonished how little care people devote to the selection of what they read. Books, we know, are almost innumerable; our hours for reading are, alas! very few. And yet many people read almost by hazard. They will take any book they chance to find in a room at a friend's house; they will buy a novel at a railway-stall if it has an attractive title; indeed, I believe in some cases even the binding affects their choice. The selection is, no doubt, far from easy. I have often wished someone would recommend a list of a hundred good books. If we had such lists drawn up by a few good guides they would be most useful. I have indeed sometimes heard it said that in reading every one must choose for himself, but this reminds me of the recommendation not to go into the water till you can swim.

In the absence of such lists I have picked out the books most frequently mentioned with approval by those who have referred directly or indirectly to the pleasure of reading, and have ventured to include some which, though less frequently mentioned, are especial favorites of my own. Everyone who looks at the list will wish to suggest other books, as indeed I should myself, but in that case the number would soon run up.

I have abstained, for obvious reasons, from mentioning works by living authors, though from many of them—Tennyson, Ruskin, and others—I have myself derived the keenest enjoyment; and I have omitted works on science, with one or two exceptions, because the subject is so progressive.

I feel that the attempt is over bold, and I must beg for indulgence, while hoping for criticism; indeed one object which I have had in view is to stimulate others more competent far than I am to give us the advantage of their opinions.

Moreover, I must repeat that I suggest these works rather as those which, as far as I have seen, have been most frequently recommended, than as suggestions of my own, though I have slipped in a few of my own special favorites.

In any such selection much weight should, I think, be attached to the general verdict of mankind. There is a “struggle for existence”and a “survival of the fittest”among books, as well as among animals and plants. As Alonzo of Aragon said, “Age is a recommendation in four things—old wood to burn, old wine to drink, old friends to trust, and old books to read.”Still, this can not be accepted without important qualifications. The most recent books of history and science contain or ought to contain, the most accurate information and the most trustworthy conclusions. Moreover, while the books of other races and times have an interest from their very distance, it must be admitted that many will still more enjoy, and feel more at home with, those of our own century and people.

“屋中隨處可見(jiàn)靜候召喚的仆從，

一年四季，白晝黑夜，

天使，我忠實(shí)的友人

降落凡間，在我耳畔甜蜜呢喃，

天堂的精靈來(lái)回往復(fù)，

由晨至暮?！?

但仆從往往空等。我認(rèn)為有個(gè)理由是，主人迷失在了浩瀚的書(shū)海之中。

過(guò)去書(shū)籍稀有而昂貴，現(xiàn)在的情況恰恰相反。下列話語(yǔ)從未如此真實(shí)：

“文字是重要的東西，一小滴墨水，

如露水般滴落于思緒之中，

能使千萬(wàn)人思索?！?

我們的祖先獲取書(shū)籍不容易，我們?nèi)缃衩媾R的難題則是選書(shū)。我們必須精心挑選所讀之書(shū)，不可像尤利西斯的水手那樣，將成袋的空氣當(dāng)作滿(mǎn)載的珍寶1 ——我們不僅要以希臘人的失誤為前車(chē)之鑒，將語(yǔ)言和定義當(dāng)作調(diào)查和思考的工具，更要避免將時(shí)間浪費(fèi)在糟粕上（此事常有發(fā)生）。有人曾將一句一語(yǔ)雙關(guān)的評(píng)論贈(zèng)與某位糟糕的作家：“讀你的書(shū)，我可不會(huì)浪費(fèi)時(shí)間。”2這句頗有諷刺意味的評(píng)論也適用于許多書(shū)。

確實(shí)，有些書(shū)稱(chēng)得上是書(shū)，但如蘭姆3所言，有些書(shū)根本不配稱(chēng)為書(shū)。想想我們?cè)患偎妓鞯胤艞壛硕嗌偌兇獾臉?lè)趣，真是不可思議。東方諺語(yǔ)有云：“天作孽，猶可違；自作孽，不可活。”

我想，許多人對(duì)所謂“艱深晦澀的著作”望而卻步，是因?yàn)楹ε吕斫獠涣?；但只要愿意全身心投入閱讀，沒(méi)有幾個(gè)人需要因自己思想狹隘而自怨自艾。

然而，閱讀時(shí)選擇自己感興趣的主題至關(guān)重要。我記得自己多年前曾問(wèn)達(dá)爾文先生該如何選擇研究的課題。他問(wèn)我對(duì)什么最感興趣，建議我就選擇那個(gè)主題。確實(shí)，這種方法也普遍適用于日常生活。

我有時(shí)會(huì)想，或許下一代的讀者不是律師、醫(yī)生、店主、制造商，而是勞工和技師。這難道不是很自然嗎？前者工作主要依靠腦力，勞作一日后大腦往往已疲憊不堪，大部分閑暇時(shí)光自然要花在戶(hù)外活動(dòng)和體育鍛煉上。勞工和技師則恰恰相反。他們不但通常工作時(shí)間短得多，而且在工作時(shí)間已經(jīng)充分鍛煉了身體，閑暇時(shí)光則可用于閱讀和研究。沒(méi)錯(cuò)，他們現(xiàn)在還沒(méi)有這么做；但這是出于顯而易見(jiàn)的原因。不過(guò)，如今他們已經(jīng)具備了兩點(diǎn)條件：首先，他們都接受了良好的初級(jí)教育；其次，他們比過(guò)去更容易獲得最優(yōu)秀的書(shū)籍。

羅斯金4評(píng)論道，他并不為人們?cè)馐艿目嚯y感到驚訝，卻常常驚訝于人們失去的東西。毫無(wú)疑問(wèn)，我們因?yàn)閯e人的過(guò)錯(cuò)受了不少苦，而我們因?yàn)樽约旱臒o(wú)知失去的東西要多得多。

約翰·赫歇爾爵士5說(shuō)過(guò)：“如果我要祈求擁有這樣一種愛(ài)好——無(wú)論當(dāng)下情況如何，無(wú)論世事多么坎坷，它都能給我?guī)?lái)歡樂(lè)，幫我抵御苦難——我希望這種愛(ài)好是閱讀。當(dāng)然，我說(shuō)的是俗世的益處，我無(wú)意用其取代或貶損更高的權(quán)威和不容置疑的宗教信條。閱讀是一種愛(ài)好、一件工具、一種愉悅滿(mǎn)足的方式。如果讓一個(gè)人擁有這種愛(ài)好和書(shū)籍，除非你提供的書(shū)過(guò)于邪惡墮落，否則他很難不感到幸福?！?

擁有書(shū)房是一回事，善用書(shū)房則是另一回事。人們選擇自己要讀的書(shū)時(shí)如此漫不經(jīng)心，這常常令我震驚。我們知道，書(shū)籍?dāng)?shù)不勝數(shù)，而我們的閱讀時(shí)間卻少之又少。然而，許多人讀書(shū)幾乎是在碰運(yùn)氣。他們會(huì)在朋友家里隨手拿起一本書(shū)，會(huì)在火車(chē)站的書(shū)攤上買(mǎi)一本名字抓人眼球的小說(shuō)。是的，我相信有些情況下，連書(shū)籍裝幀都會(huì)影響他們的選擇。選書(shū)無(wú)疑并不簡(jiǎn)單。我常常希望有人為我推薦一張“百本好書(shū)”書(shū)單。如果有一些優(yōu)秀的導(dǎo)師開(kāi)列這類(lèi)書(shū)單，那必定對(duì)讀者大有裨益。我有時(shí)也聽(tīng)人說(shuō)，每個(gè)人都應(yīng)該自己選書(shū)。但這讓我想起了一句建議——學(xué)會(huì)游泳前，千萬(wàn)別下水。

既然沒(méi)有這種書(shū)單，我就自己寫(xiě)一份。我關(guān)注那些直接或間接提及閱讀樂(lè)趣的人，挑選出他們最常提及和夸贊的書(shū)；我還大膽囊括了一些他們較少提及，但特別對(duì)我胃口的書(shū)。每個(gè)看見(jiàn)這份書(shū)單的人都會(huì)想推薦其他書(shū)——我就是這樣——但如此一來(lái)，書(shū)目中書(shū)的數(shù)量便會(huì)激增。

雖然不少在世的作者——如丁尼生6、羅斯金等人——曾帶給我許多樂(lè)趣，但出于顯而易見(jiàn)的原因，我在書(shū)單里沒(méi)有提及他們的作品。我也略過(guò)了科學(xué)著作，僅有一兩本例外，因?yàn)榭茖W(xué)的發(fā)展實(shí)在迅速。

我覺(jué)得自己的嘗試實(shí)在魯莽，希望得到讀者的寬容和指正。實(shí)際上，我寫(xiě)這份書(shū)單的目的是拋磚引玉，激勵(lì)那些才能遠(yuǎn)勝于我的人發(fā)表見(jiàn)解。

此外，我必須重申，書(shū)單里的大部分作品都曾受到眾人推薦，并非出于我的個(gè)人喜好。不過(guò)我還是添了幾本自己特別喜歡的書(shū)。

我想，作任何抉擇時(shí)，考慮人類(lèi)普遍的判斷標(biāo)準(zhǔn)都是很重要的。“物競(jìng)天擇，適者生存”法則適用于動(dòng)植物，也適用于書(shū)。正如阿拉貢的阿隆索所說(shuō)：“在四件事上，光陰留痕最值得稱(chēng)道——老柴最好燒，陳酒最耐品，舊友最可靠，老書(shū)最宜讀?！钡@種說(shuō)法也須加以限定。最新出版的歷史和科學(xué)書(shū)籍，理應(yīng)包含最準(zhǔn)確的信息、最可信的結(jié)論。必須承認(rèn)的是，盡管關(guān)于其他種族、其他時(shí)代的作品會(huì)因距離而產(chǎn)生美感，但關(guān)于吾國(guó)吾民的書(shū)籍卻更能帶來(lái)閱讀享受，讓人讀來(lái)更加舒服自在。

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1．此典出自荷馬史詩(shī)《奧德賽》。奧德修斯（即羅馬神話中的尤利西斯）一行人逃到風(fēng)神島，風(fēng)神送給他們一個(gè)口袋，可以把所有逆風(fēng)都裝進(jìn)去，以使他們一帆風(fēng)順地回家。船快行駛到家時(shí)，眾水手以為口袋里面裝的是金銀財(cái)寶，便趁奧德修斯睡覺(jué)時(shí)打開(kāi)口袋，結(jié)果被風(fēng)吹回了風(fēng)神島。

2．原文一語(yǔ)雙關(guān)，既可理解為“我會(huì)抓緊時(shí)間去讀你的書(shū)”，也可理解為“我不會(huì)浪費(fèi)時(shí)間去讀你的書(shū)”。此處明顯取后者之意。

3．查爾斯·蘭姆（Charles Lamb，1775—1834），英國(guó)著名散文家，以散文集《伊利亞隨筆》和《伊利亞續(xù)筆》聞名于世。

4．約翰·羅斯金（John Ruskin，1819—1900），英國(guó)政論家、藝術(shù)批評(píng)家。他推崇中世紀(jì)藝術(shù)，強(qiáng)調(diào)審美教育。

5．約翰·赫歇爾爵士（Sir John Herschel，1792—1871），英國(guó)數(shù)學(xué)家、天文學(xué)家。他曾為土星的7顆衛(wèi)星和天王星的4顆衛(wèi)星命名。

6．阿爾弗雷德·丁尼生（Alfred Tennyson，1809—1892），英國(guó)維多利亞時(shí)代桂冠詩(shī)人。他的詩(shī)歌辭藻華麗，音韻鏗鏘，追求音樂(lè)性。他的代表作有《悼念》《國(guó)王敘事詩(shī)》等。