大学英语第六单元《How to Mark a Book》

"Don't ever mark in a book!" Thousands of teachers, librarians and parents have so advised. But Mortimer Adler disagrees. He thinks so long as you own the book and needn't preserve its physical appearance, marking it properly will grant you the ownership of the book in the true sense of the word and make it a part of yourself.

“不要在书上做记号！”无数教师、图书管理员和家长都曾这样建议。但是莫蒂默·艾德勒并不同意。他认为只要你拥有这本书而且不需要保护它的外观，做记号将会让你真正意义上拥有这本书并且使它成为你的一部分。

How to Mark a Book

Mortimer J. Adler You know you have to read "between the lines" to get the most out of anything. I want to persuade you to do something equally important in the course of your reading. I want to persuade you to "write between the lines." Unless you do, you are not likely to do the most efficient kind of reading.

怎样在书上做记号莫蒂默·J·艾德勒

你知道读书要“深入字里行间”，以求最充分的理解。我劝你在读书过程中做一件同样重要的事情。我想劝你“在字里行间写字”。不这样做，你的读书就不可能是最有效的。

You shouldn't mark up a book which isn't yours. Librarians (or your friends) who lend you books expect you to keep them clean, and you should. If you decide that I am right about the usefulness of marking

books, you will have to buy them.

你不应该在不是你自己的书上做记号。借给你书的图书管理员(或你的朋友) 希望你保持书的整洁，再说你也应该这样做。如果你认为我说的在书上做记号颇有益处这番话是对的话，你就得自己买书。

There are two ways in which one can own a book. The first is the property right you establish by paying for it, just as you pay for clothes and furniture. But this act of purchase is only the prelude to possession. Full ownership comes only when you have made it a part of yourself, and the best way to make yourself a part of it is by writing in it. An illustration may make the point clear. You buy a beefsteak and transfer it from the butcher's icebox to your own. But you do not own the beefsteak in the most important sense until you consume it and get it into your bloodstream. I am arguing that books, too, must be absorbed in your bloodstream to do you any good.

一个人拥有书的方法有两种，第一种是花钱取得财产所有权，就像你花钱买衣服和家具一样。但花钱买书只是占有它的前奏。只有在你将它化为你自己的一部分之后，你才完全占有了它。而把你自己变为书的一部分的最好方法就是在书中写字。打个比方也许可以把这一点说清楚。你买下一块牛排，把它从肉铺的冰箱里转移到你的冰箱中。但从最重要的意义上来说，你还没有占有它，除非你吃下它并将它吸收进你的血液之中。我的论点是，书的营养也只有在被吸收进你的血

液中时，才能对你有所裨益。

There are three kinds of book owners. The first has all the standard sets and best-sellers — unread, untouched. (This individual owns wood pulp and ink, not books.) The second has a great many books — a few of them read through, most of them dipped into, but all of them as clean and shiny as the day they were bought. (This person would probably like to make books his own, but is restrained by a false respect for their physical appearance.) The third has a few books or many — every one of them dog —eared and dilapidated, shaken and loosened by continual use, marked and scribbled in from front to back. (This man owns books.) 书籍拥有者可以分为三种。第一种人藏有全部标准的成套书和畅销书—既没有读过，也没有碰过。(这位占有的只是纸浆和油墨，而不是书。) 第二种人藏书很多—有几本从头至尾读过，大部分浅尝辄止，但全都跟新买时一样整洁光亮。（此君很可能想使书真的为其所有，但因错误地过分关注书籍的外观而裹足不前。）第三种人藏书或多或少—因不断使用，每本书都弄成书角卷起，破旧不堪，装订破损，书页松散，全书从扉页至末页画满了记号，涂满了字句。（此人是书的真正拥有者。）

Is it false respect, you may ask, to preserve intact a beautifully printed book, an elegantly bound edition? Of course not. I'd no more scribble all over a first edition of "Paradise Lost" than I'd give my baby a set of crayon and an original Rembrandt! I wouldn't mark up a painting