【英中】Starting A New Book Is A Ris

Starting a new book is a risk, just like falling in love. You have to commit to it. You open the pages knowing a little bit about it maybe, from the back or from a blurb on the front. But who knows, right? Those bits and pieces aren’t always right.

翻开一本新书，犹如冒险，似坠入爱河。你得全身心投入。探险之前，你总会打探打探。于书，则看看封面上的简介或广告语。你以为会对此书有些微了解。你不知道，简介和广告语不总是恰而当的。

Sometimes people advertise themselves as one thing and then when you get deep into it you realize that they’re something completely different. Either there was some good marketing attached to a terrible book, or the story was only explained in a superficial way and once you reach the middle of the book, you realize there’s so much more to this book than anyone could have ever told you.

人有时把自己打造得全然不是自己，深入了解后，你才得看清。书也一样，翻到一半后，你才悔悟，原来这本书广告虽好，实则糟粕；而那本书乍看无甚出彩，其实陈酿，非浅尝所能品味也。

You start off slow. The story is beginning to unfold. You’re unsure. It’s a big commitment lugging this tome around. Maybe this book won’t be that great but you’ll feel guilty about putting it down. Maybe it’ll be so awful you’ll keep hate-reading or just set it down immediately and never pick it up again. Or maybe you’ll come back to it some night, drunk or lonely — needing something to fill the time, but it won’t be any better than it was when you first started reading it.

你缓缓翻开书来，故事随即展开。而你有些不安。阅读鸿篇巨著尤须精神。尚或许，这本书并非那么出彩，你却放不下，否则有愧；又或许，这本书实在糟透了，你要么咬牙切齿地读下去，要么赶紧扔到一旁，再不碰上一碰。某天夜里，你喝醉了，或者内心空寂亟待填补，看着那本厌弃的书，翻来看看，仍旧那么地糟。黑夜更黑了。

Maybe you’re worn out. You’ve read tons of books before. Some were just light weights on a Kindle or Nook, no big deal really. Others were Infinite Jest-style burdens, heavy on your back or in your purse. Weighing you down all the time. Maybe you’ve taken some time off from reading because the last few books you read just weren’t worth it. Do they even write new, great works of literature anymore? Maybe that time you fell in love with a book before will just never happen for you again. Maybe it’s a once in a lifetime feeling and you’re never gonna find it again.

也或许，你只是疲乏了，看了太多的书——有些很轻，捧着Kindle或Nook就可阅览，不费神时；有些则是无尽荒诞的负担，压着你的背，坠着你的包，绷着你的神经。你需要休息一段时间，因为你才读了几本不值得的书。你会想：他们还在写书吗？他们还写得出好故事吗？我猜测，你再不能坠入书之爱河了，一生仅有一次的机会，你已用完了。

Or something exciting could happen. Maybe this will become your new favorite book. That’s always a possibility right? That’s the beauty of risk. The reward could actually be worth it. You invest your time and your brain power in the words and what you get back is empathy and a new understanding and pure wonder.

仍有一些可能——并非渺茫，这本书成了你新的最爱。这是冒险之魅力所在。你投资了你的时间、你的精力，去琢磨字里行间的美。回报是值得的，你与书产生了共鸣，发现了一片新天地，十足惊叹。

How could someone possibly know you like this? Some stranger, some author, some character. It’s like they’re seeing inside your soul. This book existed inside some book store, on a shelf, maybe handled by other people and really it was just waiting for you pick it up and crack the spine. It was waiting to speak to you. To say, “You are not alone.”

他人怎会知道你喜欢这本书呢？某个陌生人、作者或书中的某个角色。他们似乎看透了你的心思。这书原本躺在某书店的架上，或许有人持着看过。而它却在等你，等你拾起来细细品尝，等着和你说：“你并不孤单”。

You just want more of the story. You want to keep reading, maybe everything this author’s ever written. You wish it would never end. The closer it gets to the smaller side of the pages, the slower you read, wanting to savor it all. This book is now one of your favorites forever. You will always wish you could go back to never having read it and pick it up fresh again, but also you know you’re better for having this close, inside you, covering your heart and mind.

你很快迷上了读书，想继续读下去，想读完作者的所有故事。你希望故事永不结束。书页越翻越薄，你也越读越慢，希望品味至丝毫。这本书，无疑，已是你的真爱了。你总希望回到最初，你还未读过它，然后读之如新了。你也知道：正因它亲切了你的心和灵，你才变得更加美好了。

Once you get in deep enough, you know you could never put this book down.

至相知那一刻，你已明白，你再不能放下它了。