Stardi's Library.
斯带地的图书室

I have been home with Stardi, who lives opposite the schoolhouse; and I really experienced a feeling of envy at the sight of his library. He is not at all rich, and he cannot buy many books; but he preserves his schoolbooks with great care, as well as those which his relatives give him; and he lays aside every soldo that is given to him, and spends it at the bookseller's. In this way he has collected a little library; and when his father perceived that he had this passion, he bought him a handsome bookcase of walnut wood, with a green curtain, and he has had most of his volumes bound for him in the colors that he likes. Thus when he draws a little cord, the green curtain runs aside, and three rows of books of every color become visible, all ranged in order, and shining, with gilt titles on their backs, --books of tales, of travels, and of poetry; and some illustrated ones. And he understands how to combine colors well: he places the white volumes next to the red ones, the yellow next the black, the blue beside the white, so that, viewed from a distance, they make a very fine appearance; and he amuses himself by varying the combinations. He has made himself a catalogue. He is like a librarian. He is always standing near his books, dusting them, turning over the leaves, examining the bindings: it is something to see the care with which he opens them, with his big, stubby hands, and blows between the pages: then they seem perfectly new again. I have worn out all of mine. It is a festival for him to polish off every new book that he buys, to put it in its place, and to pick it up again to take another look at it from all sides, and to brood over it as a treasure. He showed me nothing else for a whole hour. His eyes were troubling him, because he had read too much. At a certain time his father, who is large and thickset like himself, with a big head like his, entered the room, and gave him two or three taps on the nape of the neck, saying with that huge voice of his:--
斯带地的家在学校的前面。我到他家里去，一见到他的图书室，就羡慕起来了。斯带地不是富人，虽不能多买书，但他能保存书籍，无论是学校的教科书，无论是亲戚送他的，都好好地保存着。只要手里得到钱，都用以买书。他已收集了不少书，摆在华丽的栗木的书架里，外面用绿色的幕布遮着，据说这是父亲给他的。只要将那细线一拉，那绿色的幕布就牵拢在一方，露出三格书来。各种的书，排得很整齐，书脊上闪烁着金字的光。其中有故事、有旅行记、有诗集，还有书本。颜色配合得极好，远处望去很是美丽。譬如说，白的摆在红的旁边，黄的摆在黑的旁边，青的摆在白的旁边。斯带地还时常把这许多书的排列变换式样，以为快乐。他自己作了一个书目，俨然是一个图书馆馆长。在家时只管在那书箱旁边，或是拂拭尘埃，或是把书翻身，或是检查钉线。当他用粗大的手指把书翻开，在纸缝中吹气或是做着什么的时候，看了真是有趣。我们的书都不免有损伤，他所有的书却是簇新的。他得了新书，洗拭干净，插入书架里，不时又拿出来看，把书当做宝贝珍玩，这是他最大的快乐。我在他家里停了一点钟。过了一会儿，他那肥胖的父亲出来了，手拍着他儿子的背脊，用了和他儿子相像的粗声向我说道：