英文欣赏：Companionship of Books 以书为伴
编者按：
大师们的作品在我们心灵扎根，诗人们的佳句在我们血管中运行。我们年轻时读了书，年老了又把它们记起。
—-赫兹利特
Companionship of Books
A man may usually be known by the books he reads as well as by the company he keeps; for there is a companionship of books as well as of men; and one should always live in the best company, whether it be of books or of men.
A good book may be among the best of friends. It is the same today that it always was, and it will never change. It is the most patient and cheerful of companions. It does not turn its back upon us in times of adversity or distress. It always receives us with the same kindness; amusing and instructing us in youth, and comforting and consoling us in age.
Men often discover their affinity to each other by the mutual love they have for a book just as two persons sometimes discover a friend by the admiration which both entertain for a third. There is an old proverb, ‘Love me, love my dog.” But there is more wisdom in this:” Love me, love my book.” The book is a truer and higher bond of union. Men can think, feel, and sympathize with each other through their favorite author. They live in him together, and he in them.
A good book is often the best urn of a life enshrining the best that life could think out; for the world of a man’s life is, for the most part, but the world of his thoughts. Thus the best books are treasuries of good words, the golden thoughts, which, remembered and cherished, become our constant companions and comforters.
Books possess an essence of immortality. They are by far the most lasting products of human effort. Temples and statues decay, but books survive. Time is of no account with great thoughts, which are as fresh today as when they first passed through their author’s minds, ages ago. What was then said and thought still speaks to us as vividly as ever from the printed page. The only effect of time have been to sift out the bad products; for nothing in literature can long survive e but what is really good.
Books introduce us into the best society; they bring us into the presence of the greatest minds that have ever lived. We hear what they said and did; we see the as if they were really alive; we sympathize with them, enjoy with them, grieve with them; their experience becomes ours, and we feel as if we were in a measure actors with them in the scenes which they describe.
The great and good do not die, even in this world. Embalmed in books, their spirits walk abroad. The book is a living voice. It is an intellect to which on still listens.
读完这篇哲理短文，你有什么感受呢？欢迎在下面的留言框内说出你的想法，也欢迎您给我们的栏目提出宝贵的意见和建议。
以书为伴
通常看一个读些什么书就可知道他的为人，就像看他同什么人交往就可知道他的为人一样，因为有人以人为伴，也有人以书为伴。无论是书友还是朋友，我们都应该以最好的为伴。
好书就像是你最好的朋友。它始终不渝，过去如此，现在如此，将来也永远不变。它是最有耐心，最令人愉悦的伴侣。在我们穷愁潦倒，临危遭难时，它也不会抛弃我们，对我们总是一如既往地亲切。在我们年轻时，好书陶冶我们的性情，增长我们的知识；到我们年老时，它又给我们以慰藉和勉励。
人们常常因为喜欢同一本书而结为知已，就像有时两个人因为敬慕同一个人而成为朋友一样。有句古谚说道：“爱屋及屋。”其实“爱我及书”这句话蕴涵更多的哲理。书是更为真诚而高尚的情谊纽带。人们可以通过共同喜爱的作家沟通思想，交流感情，彼此息息相通，并与自己喜欢的作家思想相通，情感相融。
好书常如最精美的宝器，珍藏着人生的思想的精华，因为人生的境界主要就在于其思想的境界。因此，最好的书是金玉良言和崇高思想的宝库，这些良言和思想若铭记于心并多加珍视，就会成为我们忠实的伴侣和永恒的慰藉。
书籍具有不朽的本质，是为人类努力创造的最为持久的成果。寺庙会倒坍，神像会朽烂，而书却经久长存。对于伟大的思想来说，时间是无关紧要的。多年前初次闪现于作者脑海的伟大思想今日依然清新如故。时间惟一的作用是淘汰不好的作品，因为只有真正的佳作才能经世长存。
书籍介绍我们与最优秀的人为伍，使我们置身于历代伟人巨匠之间，如闻其声，如观其行，如见其人，同他们情感交融，悲喜与共，感同身受。我们觉得自己仿佛在作者所描绘的舞台上和他们一起粉墨登场。
即使在人世间，伟大杰出的人物也永生不来。他们的精神被载入书册，传于四海。书是人生至今仍在聆听的智慧之声，永远充满着活力。
读完这篇哲理短文，你有什么感受呢？欢迎在下面的留言框内说出你的想法，也欢迎您给我们的栏目提出宝贵的意见和建议。
1.companionship n. 交谊,友谊,陪伴
例句：
An animal kept for amusement or companionship.
宠物用于娱乐消遣或陪伴的动物
2.adversity n. 不幸,灾难
例句：
The fire is the test of gold; adversity of strong men.
【谚】烈火炼真金，逆境炼壮士。
3.affinity n. 密切关系,吸引力
例句：
There is an affinity between Chinese and Japanese character.
汉字与日文之间有密切关系。
4.urn n.(有座脚的)瓮, 缸, 坛
例句：
Do you know the purpose of this urn?
你知道这个瓮的用途吗？
5.enshrine vt.把…置于殿内祀奉; 把…安置在龛内，秘[珍]藏，铭记
例句：
The constitution enshrines the basic rights of all citizens.
宪法中神圣地记载著全体公民的基本权利.
6.Embalm 铭记,使弥香气
例句：
The Egyptians used to embalm the bodies of their dead kings.
埃及人以前用药物保存国王的尸体。
1.Men often discover their affinity to each other by the mutual love they have for a book just as two persons sometimes discover a friend by the admiration which both entertain for a third.
【参考译文】人们常常因为喜欢同一本书而结为知已，就像有时两个人因为敬慕同一个人而成为朋友一样。
【结构解析】句子的结构是“Men discover their affinity just as two persons discover a friend”，“entertain”这里的意思是“喜欢、仰慕”，“a third”意思是“ a third person”。
2.A good book is often the best urn of a life enshrining the best that life could think out; for the world of a man’s life is, for the most part, but the world of his thoughts.
【参考译文】好书常如最精美的宝器，珍藏着人生的思想的精华，因为人生的境界主要就在于其思想的境界。
【结构解析】“but”在句中不表示转折或否定，而是起加强语气的作用。
3.Books introduce us into the best society; they bring us into the presence of the greatest minds that have ever lived.
【参考译文】书籍介绍我们与最优秀的人为伍，使我们置身于历代伟人巨匠之间。
【结构解析】“presence”意思是“接近、存在、在…面前”，例如：in the presence of… 面临着, 在…面前
4.and we feel as if we were in a measure actors with them in the scenes which they describe.
【参考译文】我们觉得自己仿佛在作者所描绘的舞台上和他们一起粉墨登场。
【结构解析】“in a measure”的意思是“一部分”。
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