書影隨行

If you were going to sail round the world alone in a small boat， and could take only one of these things to amuse you， which would you choose： a big iced cake， a beautiful picture， a book， a pack of cards， a paintbox2） （and paper）， a pair of knitting needles and wool， a musical box， a mouth organ3） ...

It would be a hard choice. Myself， I wouldn't want the cake. I'd eat it too fast. Not the cards， they might blow away. Not the wool， in case it got wet. The mouth organ would be better than the musical box， for one could make up one's own tunes. I wouldn't take the picture， for I could look at the sea. Not the paintbox， because in the end I'd use up all the paper. So the last choice would be between the mouth organ and the book. And I'm pretty sure I'd choose the book.

One book！ I can hear someone say. But if you were sailing round the world， you'd have read it hundred times before the trip was over. You'd know it by heart4）.

And I'd answer， yes， I might read it a hundred times； yes， I might know it by heart. That wouldn't matter. You don't refuse to see your friend， or your mother， or your brother， because you have met them before. You don't leave home because you know what's there.

A book you love is like a friend. It is like home. You meet your friend a hundred times. On the hundred-and-first meeting you can still say， \"Well， I never realized you knew that！\" You go home every day； after ten years you can still say， \"I never noticed how beautiful the light is when it shines on that corner.\"

There is always something new to find in a book， however often you read it.

When you read a story you do something than no animal can， however well trained； only man can do it； you are stepping out of your mind into someone else's. You are listing5） to the thoughts of another person. While doing this， you are making your mind work. And making your own mind work is the most interesting thing there is to do.

So I'd sit in my boat and read that book over and over. First I'd think about the people in the story， why they acted the way they did. Then I might wonder why the author wrote that particular story. Then I might carry on the story in my mind， after the end. Then I'd go back and read all my favorite bits and wonder why I liked them best. Then I'd read all the rest and look for things that I hadn't noticed before. Then I'd list the things I learned from the book. Then I'd try to imagine what the writer was like， from the way he's written his story ...

It would be like having another person in the boat.

A book you love is a friend. It's a familiar place where you can go when you choose. It's something of your very own， for no two people read the same book in the same way.

If every single person in the world had a book， just one book （they'd have to be able to read it， of course）， we'd have a lot less trouble， I am sure.

如果你即將獨乘一葉小舟環游世界，而且只可攜帶下列物品中的一樣聊以消遣，你會選擇哪一樣呢？一塊大大的糖霜蛋糕、一幅美麗的圖畫、一本書、一副紙牌、一盒顏料（還有紙）、一副毛衣針和毛線、一個音樂盒、一把口琴……

這會是個艱難的選擇。就我自己來說，我不會選蛋糕，因為我會很快把它吃光。我不會選紙牌，因為它們可能會被吹走。我也不會選毛線，萬一它被打濕了呢？口琴比音樂盒好一些，因為你可以自己編曲。我也不會帶那幅畫，因為我可以看海。我也不要顏料盒，因為最終我會用完所有的紙。所以最后的選擇就在口琴和書之間了。我很肯定，我會選擇書。

就一本書！我能聽見有人說，但如果你去環游世界，那在旅行結束前你可能已經把這本書讀過100遍了，你都能爛熟于心了。

而我會回答：是的，我也許讀了100遍；是的，我也可能會爛熟于心。但這都沒關系。你不會因為以前見過你的朋友、媽媽或兄弟就拒絕再見他們。你不會因為知道家里有些什么就離家出走。

一本你喜歡的書就像一個朋友，就像家一樣。你和你的朋友見過100次面了，但在你們第101次見面時，你還是會說：“唔，我從沒意識到你還知道那個！”你每天回家，但十年后你依然會說：“我以前都沒注意到，當這盞燈照亮房間的那個角落時，它的光芒是那么美。”

在書中，你總能有新的發現，無論這本書你已讀過多少遍。

當你讀一個故事時，你所做的事是無論多么訓練有素的動物都無法做到的，只有人類才能做到。你漸漸從自己的思想中走出，走進了他人的思想。你在傾聽另一個人的思想。這么做的同時，你也在思考。而讓自己思考正是你可做的事情中最有意思的。

所以我會坐在小船中，一遍又一遍地讀那本書。一開始我會琢磨故事中的人物：他們為什么會那么做。然后我可能會考慮作者為什么寫那個特定情節。讀完之后，我可能會在腦子里續寫這個故事。接下來我會回過頭來重溫所有那些我最喜歡的片段，并琢磨為什么它們最令我喜愛。之后我會通讀余下的部分，并從中尋找之前沒有注意到的地方。接著我會把在書中學到的東西列出來。然后我會盡力根據作者的寫作方式想象他是一個什么樣的人……

這就好像船里還有另外一個人。

一本你喜歡的書是一個朋友，是一個你想去就能去的老地方。它是你的專屬品，因為沒有任何兩個人會對同一本書有一模一樣的解讀。

假如世界上每個人都有一本書，只有一本（當然，他們得有閱讀能力），我可以肯定，我們的煩惱就會少很多。

1.Joan Aiken： 瓊·艾肯（1924～2004），英國兒童文學作家，1999年因對兒童文學的貢獻獲得大英帝國勛章，曾獲《衛報》兒童小說獎和卡內基兒童文學獎等多項大獎，代表作有《楠塔基特島的夜行鳥》（Nightbirds on Nantucket）等。本文是她于1974年為國際兒童圖書節所作的獻辭，被收錄進國內小學語文課本中。

2.paintbox [?pe?ntb?ks] n. 顏料盒

3.mouth organ： 口琴

4.know sth. by heart： 把……牢記于心

5.list [l?st] vi. <古>聽