文◎Joan Aiken 译◎张玲 绘◎马豆子

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 paintbox①paintbox ['pent'bɑks] n. 绘具箱；颜料盒；绘画箱(and paper), a pair of knitting②knitting 英 ['nɪtɪŋ] 美 ['nɪtɪŋ] n. 针织；编织物；[外科 ]骨愈合v. 编织；皱眉（knit的ing形式）needles and wool③wool 英 [wʊl] 美 [wʊl]n. 羊毛；毛线；绒线；毛织品；毛料衣物, a musical box, a mouth organ④mouth organ 口琴...

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 away⑤blow away 吹走；驱散；留下深刻印象. 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 up⑥use up 用完，耗尽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 that if you were sailing round the world⑦sail round the world 环游世界, you'd have read it hundred times before the trip was over.

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-andfi rst 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,

如果你即将独自乘坐一叶孤帆环游世界，而且只可携带下列物品中的一样聊以消遣，你会选择哪一样呢？一块大大的糖霜蛋糕、一幅美丽的图画、一本书、一副纸牌、一盒颜料（还有纸）、一副毛衣针和毛线、一个音乐盒、一把口琴……

这会是个艰难的选择。就我自己来说，我不会选蛋糕，因为我会很快吃光它。我不会选纸牌，因为它们可能会被吹走。我也不会选毛线，万一它被打湿了呢？口琴比音乐盒好一些，因为你可以自己编曲。我也不会带那幅画，因为我可以看海。也不要颜料盒，因为最终我会用完所有的纸。所以最后的选择就在口琴和书之间了。我很肯定，我会选择书。

就一本书！我能听见有人说，但如果你去环游世界，那在旅行结束前你可能已经把这本书读了100遍了。

但这都没关系。你不会因为以前见过你的朋友、妈妈或兄弟就拒绝再见他们。你不会因为知道家里有些什么就离家出走。

一本你喜欢的书就像一个朋友，就像家一样。你和你的朋友见过100次面了，但在你们第101次见面时，你还是会说：“唔，我从没意识到你还知道那个！”你每天回家，但十年后你依然会说：“我以前都没注意到，当这盏灯照亮房间的那个角落时，它的光芒是那么美。”

在书中，你总能有新的发现，无论这本书你已读过多少遍。

当你读一个故事时，你渐渐从自己的思想中走出，走进了他人的思想。你在倾听另一个人的思想。这么做的同时，你也在思考。而让自己思考正是你可做的事情中最有意思的。however often you read it.

When you read a story you are stepping out of your mind into someone else's. You are listening 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 particular⑧story. 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. I's something of your very own, for no two people read the same book in the same way.

所以我会坐在小船中，一遍又一遍地读那本书。一开始我会琢磨故事中的人物：他们为什么会那么做。然后我可能会考虑作者为什么写那个特定情节。而后我读完之后在脑子里续写这个故事。接下来我会回过头来重温所有那些我最喜欢的片段，并琢磨为什么它们最令我喜爱。之后我会通读余下的部分，并从中寻找之前没有注意到的地方。接着我会把在书中学到的东西列出来。然后我会尽力根据作者的写作方式想象他是一个什么样的人……

这就好像船里还有另外一个人。

一本你喜欢的书是一个朋友，是一个你想去就能去的老地方。它是你的专属品，因为没有人会对同一本书有一模一样的解读。