说明：原文摘自毛姆《论读书》 ，译者：陈泽韬，蒋琪誉

The “you” I address is the adult whose avocations give him certain leisure and who would like to read the books which can without loss be left unread. I do not address the bookworm. He can find his own way. I wish to deal only with the masterpieces which the consensus of opinion for a long time has accepted as supreme. We are all supposed to have read them; it is a pity that so few of us have. But there are masterpieces which are acknowledged to be such by all the best critics and to which the historians of literature devote considerable space, yet which no ordinary person can now read with enjoyment. They are important to the students, but changing times and changing tastes have robbed them of their savour and it is hard to read them now without an effort of will. Let me give one instance: I have read George Eliot’s Adam Bede, but I cannot put my hand on my heart and say that was with pleasure. I read it from a sense of duty; I finished it with a sigh of relief.

译文一（蒋琪誉&陈泽韬译）

    吾之所谓“尔”者，为役于要职外尚有闲暇之成人也，且其乐于捧卷，遑论其卷有益否。吾之所谓“成人”，未囊括“书虫”之辈，因“书虫”自有其读书之道。吾欲言及数卷名篇佳作，因其历为世人公认之“大书”，吾辈当早已浸润其中，惜鲜有人能悟此道而用心汲其智慧。见有杰作，受肯定于诸名家，占席位于文学史，然未能有众者品之以怡情。时光流转，读书之口味变更，昔为杰作者似有美人迟暮、英雄末路之尴尬，失其古韵，非有志者不能卒读之。以例资之，吾尝阅乔治.艾略特之《亚当.比德》。然吾难以违心而欺言，读此书非为乐事，而乃感其责任号召。方才收卷，顿感释怀。

     译文二（陈泽韬 译）

    我所谓的“你”是指那些从事主要职业之外有闲暇的成年人，并且，他们愿意读一些即使不读也毫无损失的书。我所谓的成年人，并不包括那些“书虫”，因为他们有自己的一套方法。我想谈论的是一些名篇佳作，它们长久以来被公认为最伟大的作品，我们都应该是早已阅读过了的，然而遗憾的是，只有极少数的人真正的阅读过它们。但也有一些杰出作品，所有最优秀的评论家都予以定评，它们在文学史上也占有一席之地，然而今天大多数人都无法带着享受的心情阅读它们。时光流转，爱好变易，夺去了它们原有的一番风味，如今要是缺乏很强的意志，这些书实在难以下咽。举例来说，我曾读过乔治•艾略特的《亚当.比德》，但我却无法摸着良心说那是一件乐事，读它的时候是出于一种责任感，读完时才长长松了一口气。