英譯現(xiàn)代散文●就像人每天必須吃飯一樣 ◎ 季羨林

就像人每天必須吃飯一樣

Libraries Are Indispensable Like Food

◎　季羨林

◎　Ji Xianlin

我們念書人都一樣，嗜書如命。我小學(xué)的時候，當(dāng)時學(xué)校還沒有圖書館。打念中學(xué)開始，一直到出國深造，我?guī)缀跻惶煲矝]離開過圖書館。如離開圖書館，將一事無成，這不是我一個人的意見，大凡搞學(xué)問的都有這種體會。

All intellectuals love books. The primary school where I studied didn't have a library. But, all the way from middle school to university abroad, I never let a day pass without consulting a library. I believe I would have achieved nothing without the help of libraries. I am not the one and only one holding such a view. Generally speaking, all men of learning would agree with me on this point.

我大學(xué)是在清華念的。清華圖書館，大家都知道，是相當(dāng)不錯的，我與它打了四年交道。后來，我出國到德國哥廷根大學(xué)留學(xué)，在歐洲待了十年多。哥廷根雖然是個小城，但圖書館的藏書卻極其豐富。我研究的是古代印度語言，應(yīng)該說這是一門偏僻的學(xué)問。在那十年中，我寫了不少文章，需要用大量資料，可哥廷根大學(xué)圖書館幾乎都能滿足我，借不到書的時候非常少。若借不到，他們會到別的地方去幫你借。

I obtained higher education at Tsinghua University, Beijing, where I had four-year dealings with its prestigious library. Later, I went abroad to study at Gottingen University, Germany, and stayed in Europe for altogether eleven years. Gottingen is a small town, but Gottingen University Library boasts a rich collection of books. I specialized in the ancient language of India, obviously a little-known branch of learning. During the eleven years, I wrote many articles thanks to the University Library providing me with whatever materials I needed. Seldom did they fail to supply my wants. Otherwise they would help me out by borrowing from other sources.

1946年，在落葉鋪滿長安街的深秋季節(jié)，我回到了北京，到北大工作。北大圖書館藏書甲全國大學(xué)。當(dāng)時圖書館領(lǐng)導(dǎo)對我格外開恩，在圖書館里給了我一間研究室，并允許我從書庫中提一部分必要的書，拿回我的研究室，供我隨時查用和研讀。我一有空閑，便潛入我的研究室，“躲進(jìn)小樓成一統(tǒng)”，潛心默讀，坐擁書城。在那個動蕩的歲月，能覓到一處可以安身立命的清靜世界且有書讀，簡直是太令人興奮了。

In the late autumn of 1946, when Chang'an Street in Beijing was strewn with fallen leaves, I returned to China to work at Peking University. Of all university libraries in China, Peking University Library has the largest collection of books. The curator was thoughtful enough to assign me a research room in the library building and allow me to equip it with necessary books for ready reference taken direct from the stack rooms. So I would withdraw at the first opportunity to my research room to enjoy the privacy of the small place and sit among my roomful of books reading avidly. How happy I was to have, in time of turmoil, this quiet haven plus books so that I could settle down and get on with my pursuit of learning!

我與北京圖書館有很深的歷史淵源。我回國時，當(dāng)時的北圖館長是袁同禮。那時，我受袁同禮的聘請，任務(wù)是把北圖有關(guān)梵文的藏書檢查一下，看看全不全，這個工作我做了。

I've long been connected with Beijing Public Library. At the time when I retuned from Europe, Mr. Yuan Tongli, then its curator, engaged me to check up its collection of books on Sanskrit and see if it was incomplete. I fulfilled the job accordingly.

解放后，王重民先生代北圖館長。鄭振鐸是文化部文物局局長。鄭先生是我的老師，在清華我曾聽過他的課。鄭先生很有魄力，我當(dāng)時曾向他建議，若要在中國建立東方學(xué)，僅靠當(dāng)時圖書館的一點(diǎn)點(diǎn)藏書是遠(yuǎn)遠(yuǎn)不夠的，解決的辦法是“腰纏千萬貫，騎鶴下歐洲”。據(jù)說，日本明治維新后，很重視文化事業(yè)，特意派人到歐洲、美國等地，專找舊書店，不管什么書，也不管當(dāng)時有沒有用，文理法工等什么都買，就這樣，日本搜羅了大量的典籍。單就東方學(xué)來講，日本圖書館的藏書比我們強(qiáng)多了。鄭先生雖有雄才大略，但囿于當(dāng)時客觀條件，最終也沒干成。當(dāng)然，現(xiàn)在北圖的藏書，有些方面還是相當(dāng)不錯的，像善本就堪稱世界第一。但專從東方學(xué)而言，北圖的藏書還不如我多。

On the founding of the People's Republic of China, Mr. Wang Chongmin became deputy curator of Beijing Public Library. And, Mr. Zheng Zhenduo, one of my former teachers at Tsinghua University, was Director of the State Bureau for the Preservation of Cultural and Historical Relics. He was a man with great drive, so I offered him the following suggestion:“Our libraries have too few books on orientalism to initiate its study in China. The only way out is to buy books from Europe. They say the Japanese paid great attention to cultural undertakings after the Meiji Restoration. They sent people to Europe and America to visit exclusively second-hand bookstores to buy books on any subjects, useful or not, ranging from liberal arts, science, law to engineering. Consequently, they collected a huge number of ancient books and records. In the matter of orientalism, Japan has now a far greater library collection than China.”But, talented and far-sighted as he was, Mr. Zheng was nevertheless incapable of bringing the matter to fruition due to the constraint of objective conditions. Of course, Beijing Public Library has merits of its own too. For instance, it is world-famous for its unique collection of rare books. But, as far as orientalism is concerned, its collection is even smaller than mine.

圖書館是人類知識的寶庫，是普及科學(xué)文化知識、傳播信息的重要基地。不僅搞科研的人離不開它，一般的老百姓也離不開。隨著社會的發(fā)展，人們對圖書館的需求會越來越大。我一生直到今天，可以說是極少離開過圖書館，就如人每天必須吃飯一樣，經(jīng)常而必須。第62屆國際圖聯(lián)大會能夠在中國開是件好事，我們應(yīng)抓住這一契機(jī)，大力發(fā)展圖書館事業(yè)。北圖的藏書量是世界第五、亞洲第一，若以我國的國際地位及北圖的地位而論，大會也許早就該在中國開了。

Libraries are the treasure-house of knowledge, the important base for popularizing science and culture and transmitting information. They are indispensable to all common people as well as scientific researchers. Alongside the social development, people's need for the library is getting bigger and bigger. I personally have seldom been separated from the library all my life. It is as essential to me as my regular daily meals. It's good that the 62nd World Conference on Library Science will be held in China. We should seize the good opportunity to develop with great strides our library undertakings. The richness of collection in the Beijing Public Library ranks 5th in the world and 1st in Asia. Considering its good standing as well as the international prestige of this country, China should have been a venue for the said Conference earlier.

近兩年，受商潮的沖擊，不少人忽視了自己形而上的精神世界的滋養(yǎng)與豐富，而一味地鉆進(jìn)了孔方兄的網(wǎng)絡(luò)里難以抽身。這種現(xiàn)象在學(xué)術(shù)界也有。如果說我國學(xué)術(shù)界后繼乏人，那是太絕對了，但確實(shí)走了好多人，北大也有。不過，仍有一部分人，不為外面的高工資所動，孜孜以求，皓首窮經(jīng)，進(jìn)出于圖書館，他們才是我國未來的希望與脊梁。只是，這類人并不多，這是頗令人擔(dān)憂的。

In recent years, due to the impact of commercialism, many have gone in for money-making and ignore the development and enrichment of their spiritual world. The same is true of the academic circles, including Peking University, where many have dropped their occupation to go in for business. But, some, however, rather than succumb to the temptation of high pay in business, stick to their academic work. They study hard and frequent libraries though they are getting on in years. They are the hope and backbone of our nation. But, to our great disturbance, they are in the minority!

《就像人每天必須吃飯一樣》是我國著名教授、學(xué)者、散文家、翻譯家季羨林(1911—2009)寫于1996年的一篇散文。