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This compact I have only just broken in my study of Shakespeare under Professor Kittredge. I know there are many things in Shakespeare, and in the world, that I do not understand; and I am glad to see veil after veil lift gradually, revealing new realms of thought and beauty.
直到接触了吉特莱芝教授开设的莎士比亚课，“协议”才被我打破。我知道，莎士比亚（戏剧）博大精深，而且，我并不了解世界范围内的莎剧研究。我很高兴看到一层层的面纱被人掀起，将一个崭新而美妙的思想王国展现在我们面前。
Next to poetry I love history. I have read every historical work that I have been able to lay my hands on, from a catalogue of dry facts and dryer dates to Green's impartial, picturesque "History of the English People"; from Freeman's "History of Europe" to Emerton's "Middle Ages." The first book that gave me any real sense of the value of history was Swinton's "World History," which I received on my thirteenth birthday. Though I believe it is no longer considered valid, yet I have kept it ever since as one of my treasures. From it I learned how the races of men spread from land to land and built great cities, how a few great rulers, earthly Titans, put everything under their feet, and with a decisive word opened the gates of happiness for millions and closed them upon millions more: how different nations pioneered in art and knowledge and broke ground for the mightier growths of coming ages; how civilization underwent as it were, the holocaust of a degenerate age, and rose again, like the Phoenix, among the nobler sons of the North; and how by liberty, tolerance and education the great and the wise have opened the way for the salvation of the whole world.
在我喜欢的书籍中，仅次于诗歌的就是历史。我把能用双手触摸到的每一本历史著作都读了个遍。从朴素的书页目录、记事年表到格林所著的客观公正、视角独特的《英国人民史》；从弗里曼的《欧洲历史》到艾默顿的《中世纪》。真正使我意识到历史价值的第一本书是斯温顿的《世界历史》，这本书是我十三岁时收到的生日礼物。虽然我已经不再认为这本书无懈可击，但是我仍然把它视做我（童年）的珍宝之一。正是通过这些历史书籍，我了解到了上古人类是如何分散到世界各地并建立起巨大的城市的；那些伟大的统治者，也就是人世间的“提坦”，是如何把万物置于自己的脚下，又是如何以一句决定性的话语为千百万人开启和关闭幸福之门的；不同种族的先驱们是如何在艺术和知识的领域开疆拓土，促进时代进步的；人类文明如何遭受社会堕落的浩劫，又是如何像凤凰涅槃一样重生的；人类又是如何通过自由、宽容的精神和聪明才智铺设拯救世界之路的。
