1月11日

青年人的閱讀
余秋雨 ( 1946~ )

閱讀的最大理由是想擺脫平庸。

平庸是一種被動而又功利的謀生態度。平庸者什麼
也不缺少，只是無感於外部世界的精彩，人類歷史的
厚重，終極道義的神聖，生命涵義的豐富。而他們失
去的這一切，光憑一個人有限的人生經歷是無法獲得
的。黃山谷說過:「人胸中久不用古今澆灌，則塵俗
生其間。照鏡覺面目可憎，對人亦語言無味。」這就
是平庸的寫照。

只有書籍，能把遼闊的空間和漫長的時間澆灌給
你，能把一切高貴生命早已飄散的信號傳遞給你， 能把無數的智慧和美好對比著愚昧和醜陋一起呈現給
你。區區五尺之軀，短短幾十年光陰，居然能馳騁古
今，經天緯地，這種奇蹟的產生，至少有一半要歸功
於閱讀。

──選自《余秋雨臺灣演講》

January 11th

Why Youths Should Read
Yu Qiuyu (1946 - )
English translation: Miao Guang

The biggest reason to why we read is to rid ourselves
of mediocrity. Mediocrity is an attitude that passively
seeks ways of survival. Mediocre people do not lack
anything; they are just nonchalant about the excitements
in this world, the length of human history, the sacredness
of ultimate justice, or the profound meaning of life. What
they are missing out on is something which no one, in their
limited life experiences, can ever gain. Huang Shangu
once said, “A mind without the enrichment of ancient and
present experiences will in the long run become vulgar.
One’s reflection in the mirror will look repulsive, and their
speech will sound tasteless in front of people.” This is the
face of mediocrity.

Only books can bring the expansiveness of space and
infiniteness of time in front of you; only books can direct
the already flying signals of the noble life towards you;
only books can present to you the profound wisdom in that
wonderful contrast against ignorance and hideousness. For
a five-foot tall being to be able to course through time and
extend beyond the spaces within just a few short decades,
such a miracle should be attributed mostly to the action of
reading.

── from Yu Qiuyu Taiwan Yanjiang (Yu Qiuyu's Lectures in Taiwan)