大学英语精读第三版（第一册）学习笔记（原文及全文翻译）——5B - Bookshoppers‘ Paradise（购书者的乐园）

Unit 5B - Bookshoppers' Paradise

Bookshoppers' Paradise

Time spent in a bookshop can be most enjoyable, whether you are a book-lover or merely there to buy a book as a present. You may even have entered the shop just to find shelter from a sudden shower. Whatever the reason, you can soon become totally unaware of your surroundings. The desire to pick up a book with an attractive dust-jacket is irresistible, although this method of selection ought not to be followed, as you might end up with a rather dull book. You soon become engrossed in some book or other, and usually it is only much later that you realize you have spent far too much time there and must dash off to keep some forgotten appointment — without buying a book, of course.

This opportunity to escape the realities of everyday life is, I think, the main attraction of a bookshop. There are not many places where it is possible to do this. A music shop is very much like a bookshop. You can wander round such places to your heart's content. If it is a good shop, no assistant will approach you with the inevitable greeting: "Can I help you, sir?" You needn't buy anything you don't want. In a bookshop an assistant should remain in the background until you have finished browsing. Then, and only then, are his services necessary. Of course, you may want to find out where a particular section is, but when he has led you there, the assistant should retire discreetly and look as if he is not interested in selling a single book.

You have to be careful not to be attracted by the variety of books in a bookshop. It is very easy to enter the shop looking for a book on, say, ancient coins and to come out carrying a copy of the latest best-selling novel and perhaps a book about brass-rubbing — something which had only vaguely interested you up till then. This volume on the subject, however, happened to be so well illustrated and the part of the text you read proved so interesting, that you just had to buy it. This sort of thing can be very dangerous. Apart from running up a huge account, you can waste a great deal of time wandering from section to section. Book-sellers must be both long-suffering and indulgent.

There is a story which well illustrates this. A medical student had to read a textbook which was far too expensive for him to buy. He couldn't obtain it from the library and the only copy he could find was in his bookshop. Every afternoon, therefore, he would go along to the shop and read a little of the book at a time. One day, however, he was dismayed to find the book missing from its usual place and was about to leave when he noticed the owner of the shop beckoning to him. Expecting to be told off he went towards him. To his surprise, the owner pointed to the book, which was tucked away in a corner. "I put it there in case anyone was tempted to buy it," he said, and left the delighted student to continue his reading.

参考译文——购书者的乐园

购书者的乐园

你是个爱钻书本的书蠹也罢，或者只是去那儿买本书当礼品的也罢，在书店里消磨一段时间，那可能是再惬意不过的了。说不定你钻进书店，不过是为了找个躲过阵雨的场所。不论你进书店是何原因，一旦进去之后，你很快就会忘掉了周围的一切。挑一本护封诱人的书籍，这种欲望很难抵挡，虽说不该按这种方法来选购书籍，因为到头来，你会发现你买的那本书的内容相当乏味。（在书店里，）你很快就很专心地看起某本书来了，而通常直到很久以后你才意识到你在那里消磨的时间太多了，必须赶紧离开去赴某个已忘记的约会——当然是一本书也没买。

这种逃避日常生活现实的机会，我想，乃是书店主要的吸引人之处。能为你提供这样机会的场所，并不很多。音乐制品商店和书店倒很相似。你可以在这种地方尽情逛悠。如果店里服务周全的话，不会有店员走过来，朝你说声那句免不了的客套话:“先生，我可以为你效劳吗?”如果你不想买，就什么也别买。在书店里，店员应该一直呆在不为人注意的地方，直到你已经浏览完以后才出来。这时候，而且只有这时候，他的服务才是需要的。当然啰，你也许想找到某个具体的图书陈列处，但是等他领你到了那儿，店员就该悄悄走开才是，似乎对能否卖掉一两本书并不感兴趣。

你必须小心，不要被书店里各种各样的书所吸引。很容易发生的事是，走进书店去找一本比如关于古钱币的书，结果出来时却买了一部最新的畅销小说，也许还有一本关于拓印的书——而你本来对其并不怎么感兴趣。然而，这卷专著里的插图偏偏又是那么精美，翻阅到的那部分论述恰恰又是那么有趣，于是你非把它买下不可。这种事儿可能是很危险的咧。除了积欠下一大笔钱款之外，你还从这一陈列专柜转悠到另一陈列专柜，浪费了不少时间。卖书人必须有耐心能长期忍受，而且还要待人宽容。

这儿有段故事，完全可以证明这一点。有个学医的学生需要用本教科书，但是因为书贵买不起。从图书馆他又没法借到，他唯一能找到的，就是他常去的那家书店里的那一本了。所以每天下午他都要上书店来，一次读上几个章节。然而有一天，他却失望地发现，那本书在他通常摆放的地方不见了。正当他要离开时，却注意到书店主在示意他过去。他向店主走去，心里揣测着要被人家责备一番了。使他惊奇的是，店主却指了指那本书，原来它被藏在了一个角落里。“是我放在那儿的，我怕有人会把这本书买了去，”说完了，就让那个喜出望外的大学生继续去啃他的教科书了。

Key Words:

approach       [ə'prəutʃ]

n. 接近; 途径，方法

v. 靠近，接近，动

merely    ['miəli]    

adv. 仅仅，只不过

unaware ['ʌnə'wɛə]      

adj. 没有发觉的，不知道的

engrossed     [in'ɡrəust]     

adj. 全神贯注的；专心致志的 v. 全神贯注（engross）

attractive [ə'træktiv]     

adj. 有吸引力的，引起注意的

wander   ['wɔndə] 

vi. 徘徊，漫步，闲逛，迷路，蜿蜒

inevitable       [in'evitəbl]     

adj. 不可避免的，必然(发生)的

shelter    ['ʃeltə]    

n. 庇护所，避难所，庇护

v. 庇护，保护，

particular       [pə'tikjulə]     

adj. 特殊的，特别的，特定的，挑剔的

dull  [dʌl]

adj. 呆滞的，迟钝的，无趣的，钝的，暗的

indulgent       [in'dʌldʒənt]  

adj. 纵容的，任性的，宽纵的

illustrated       ['iləstreitid]    

n. 有插画的报章杂志 adj. 有插图的 v. 阐明；

variety    [və'raiəti]

n. 多样，种类，杂耍

obtain     [əb'tein] 

vt. 获得，得到

参考资料：

大学英语精读(第三版) 第一册:Unit05B Bookshoppers' Paradise(1)_大学教材听力 - 可可英语