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There are three kinds of book owners. The first has all the standard sets and best-sellers - unread, untouched. (This individual owns wood pulp and ink, not books.) The second has a greatmany books - a few of them read through, most of them dipped into, but all of them as clean and shiny as the day they were bought. (This person would probably like to make books his own, but is restrained by a false respect for their physical appearance.) The third has a fewbooks or many - every one of them dog-eared and dilapidated, shaken and loosened by continual use, marked and scribbled in from front to back. (This man owns books.)
书籍拥有者可以分为三种。第一种人藏有全部标准的成套书和畅销书-既没有读过，也没有碰过（这位占有的只是纸浆和油墨，而不是书。）第二种人藏书很多-有几本从头至尾读过，大部分浅尝辄止，但全都跟新买时一样整洁光亮。（此君很可能想使书真的为其所有，但因错误地过分关注书籍的外观而裹足不前。）第三种人藏书或多或少-因不断使用，每本书都弄成书角卷起，破旧不堪，装订破损，书页松散，全书从扉页至末页画满了记号，涂满了字句。（此人是书的真正拥有者。）
Is it false respect, you may ask, to preserve intact a beautifully printed book, an elegantly bound edition? Of course not. I'd no more scribble all over a first edition of "Paradise Lost"than I'd give my baby a set of crayons and an original Rembrandt! I wouldn't mark up a painting or a statue. Its soul, so to speak, is inseparable from its body. And the beauty of arare edition or of a richly manufactured volume is like that of painting or a statue. If your respect for magnificent binding or printing gets in the way, buy yourself a cheap edition and pay your respects to the author.
你或许会问，将一本印刷精美、装帧雅致的书保存完好，难道也是不恰当的吗？当然不是。我决不会在一本初版的《失乐园》上乱涂乱写，就像我不会把一幅伦勃朗的原作连同一盒蜡笔交给我的婴孩任意涂抹一样！我决不会在一幅油画或一尊塑像上画记号。可以说，它们的灵魂与其躯体是不可分开的。一部珍本或一本装帧华美的书的美，同一幅油画或一尊塑像的美是一样的。如果你对华美的装帧或印刷的尊重妨碍你读书，那就买一种便宜的版本，将你的敬意献给作者。
