Companionship of Books

A man may usually be known by the books he reads as well as by the company he keeps;（Birds of a feather flock together）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. --- the author has contrast of books and friends.
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.
一本好书就像是一个最好的朋友。它一直不渝，过去这样，目前仍然这样，以后也永远不变。它是最有耐心、最让人愉快的伴侣。在大家穷愁潦倒、临危遭难的时候，它也不会抛弃大家，对大家一直一往情深。在大家年轻时，好书陶冶大家的性情，增长大家的常识；到大家年老时，它又给大家以安慰和勉励。
Men often discover their affinity to each other by the love they have each for a book --- just as two persons sometimes discover a friend by the admiration which both have for a third. There is an old proverb, “Love me, and 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. ---they can find their opinions from books, in reverse, the ideas of the author influence them too.
大家常常由于同爱一本书而结为知己，就像有时两个人由于敬慕同一个人而交为朋友一样。古谚说：“爱屋及乌”。但，“爱我及书”这句话却有更深的哲理。书是更为坚实而高尚的情谊纽带。大家可以通过一同喜好的作家交流思想感情，彼此息息相通。他们的思想一同在作者的著述里得到体现，而作者的思想反过来又化为他们的思想。
“Books,” said Hazlitt,“Wind into the heart; the poet's verse slides in the current of our blood. We read them when young, we remember them when old. We feel that it has happened to ourselves. They are to be very cheap and good. We breathe but the air of books.”
哈兹利特过去说过：“书潜移默化大家的内心，诗歌熏陶大家的风韵品性。少小所习，老大不忘，恍如身历其事。书本价廉物美，不啻大家呼吸的空气。”
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 . “They are never alone,” said Sir Philip Sidney, “that are accompanied by noble thoughts.”
好书常如最精美的宝器，珍藏着人的一生思想的精华。生活的境界，主要就是他思想的境界。所以，最好的书是金玉良言的宝库，若将它中的崇高思想铭记于心，就成为大家忠实的伴侣和永恒的慰籍。菲利普·悉尼爵士说得好：“有高尚思想作伴的人永不孤独。”
The good and true thought may in times of temptation be as an angel of mercy purifying and guarding the soul. It also enshrines the germs of action, for good words almost always inspire to good works.
当大家面临魅惑的时候，优美纯真的思想会像仁慈的天使一样，纯洁并守卫大家的灵魂。优美纯真的思想也蕴育着行动的胚芽，由于金玉良言几乎总会启发善行。
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 has been to sift out the bad products; for nothing in literature can long survive but what is really good.
书本具备不朽的本质，是人类勤奋努力的最为持久的产物。寺庙会倒坍，神像会朽烂，而书却经久长存。对于伟大的思想来讲，时间是无关要紧的。多少年代前第一次闪目前作者脑海里的伟大思想今天依旧清爽如故。他们当时的言论和思想刊于书页，现在依旧那样生动感人。时间唯一有哪些用途是淘汰不好的作品，由于只有真的的佳作才能经世长存。
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 them 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.
书本引导大家与最棒的人物为伍，使大家置身历代伟人巨匠之间，如闻其声，如观其行，如见其人。同他们情感交融，悲喜与共。他们的感受成为大家我们的感受，大家感觉有点象是在作者所描绘的生活舞台上跟他们一块粉墨亮相了。
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 one still listens. Hence we ever remain under the influence of the great men of old. The imperial intellects of the world are as much alive now as they were ages ago.
即便在人世间，伟大杰出的人物，也是永生不灭的，他们的精神载入书册，传之四海。书是大家到今天仍在聆听的智慧之声，永远充满着活力。所以，大家永远都是在受着历代伟人的影响。多少世纪以前的盖世英才，现在仍同当年一样，显示着强大的生命力。