How easy it is to fly on paper wings! From "Greek Heroes" to the Iliad was no day's journey, nor was it altogether pleasant. One could have traveled round the world many times while I trudged my weary way through the labyrinthine mazes of grammars and dictionaries, or fell into those dreadful pitfalls called examinations, set by schools and colleges for the confusion of those who seek after knowledge. I suppose this sort of Pilgrim's Progress was justified by the end; but it seemed interminable to me, in spite of the pleasant surprises that met me now and then at a turn in the road.
在书卷之间展翅飞翔是多么地惬意！从《希腊英雄传》到《伊利亚特》的旅程并非一朝一夕之功，它也不会带给你双倍的快乐。当我在语法和字典的迷宫中上下求索，或者坠入考试的怪圈之中，你可能已经游历世界很多次了；而考试——我认为这是大中小学为懵懂的学子们所设置的一道检验标准。我觉得《天路历程》的结局是比较合理的，尽管在“天路”的转弯处，我偶尔也会遇到惊喜，但是在我看来，这部作品似乎过于冗长乏味了。
I began to read the Bible long before I could understand it. Now it seems strange to me that there should have been a time when my spirit was deaf to its wondrous harmonies; but I remember well a rainy Sunday morning when, having nothing else to do, I begged my cousin to read me a story out of the Bible. Although she did not think I should understand, she began to spell into my hand the story of Joseph and his brothers. Somehow it failed to interest me. The unusual language and repetition made the story seem unreal and far away in the land of Canaan, and I fell asleep and wandered off to the land of Nod, before the brothers came with the coat of many colours unto the tent of Jacob and told their wicked lie! I cannot understand why the stories of the Greeks should have been so full of charm for me, and those of the Bible so devoid of interest, unless it was that I had made the acquaintance of several Greeks in Boston and been inspired by their enthusiasm for the stories of their country; whereas I had notmet a single Hebrew or Egyptian, and therefore concluded that they were nothing more than barbarians, and the stories about them were probably all made up, which hypothesis explained the repetitions and the queer names. Curiously enough, it never occurred to me to call Greek patronymics "queer."
我的灵魂竟然一度对天国的奇妙和弦无知无觉。我清楚地记得，在一个细雨霏霏的主日清晨，因为没有其他事可做，于是我央求表姐为我读一段《圣经》故事。虽然她认为我可能听不懂，但她还是把约瑟和他的兄弟们的故事拼写在我的手上。不知是什么原因，这个故事并没有引起我的兴趣。不同寻常的语言和重复的叙述手法令这个故事显得很不真实，似乎不是发生在“迦南地”。我昏昏欲睡，还没等到约瑟的兄弟们拿着彩衣到雅各的帐篷里编造谎言，我的心神就已经跑到了“瞌睡地”。我无法解释为什么那些古希腊神话会令我陶醉其中，而《圣经》故事则令我兴趣全无。我在波士顿求学期间曾结识了好几个希腊人，他们对其祖国历史传说的热爱确实令我感动。鉴于我并没有遇到过一个希伯来人或埃及人，因此我也不能妄下断言，说他们只不过是些野蛮人，或者说他们民族的故事可能都是编造的，我当然不能以这种假设来解释故事的无趣。不过说来也怪，我从来不觉得希腊神话无趣。
But how shall I speak of the glories I have since discovered in the Bible? For years I have read it with an ever-broadening sense of joy and inspiration; and I love it as I love no other book. Still there is much in the Bible against which every instinct of my being rebels, so much that I regret the necessity which has compelled me to read it through from beginning to end. I do not think that the knowledge which I have gained of its history and sources compensates me for the unpleasant details it has forced upon my attention. For my part, I wish, with Mr. Howells, that the literature of the past might be purged of all that is ugly and barbarous in it, although I should object as much as any one to having these great works weakened or falsified.
但我又该如何言说《圣经》中的智慧与荣耀呢？很多年来，我一直怀着莫大的喜悦和感动阅读《圣经》，我爱这本书胜过爱其他任何书；但是《圣经》中的很多地方都同我的本性相抵触。因此，我是带着愧疚的心情迫使自己把这本书从头到尾读完的。同它强加于我的种种不快相比，我并不认为我从书中获得的历史知识对我是一种补偿。就我本人而言，我希望能同豪厄尔斯先生一起，将古代文学中所有丑陋粗鄙的一面彻底肃清。当然，像任何人一样，我也十分反对把这些伟大的著作进行曲解或篡改。
There is something impressive, awful, in the simplicity and terrible directness of the book of Esther. Could there be anything more dramatic than the scene in which Esther stands before her wicked lord? She knows her life is in his hands; there is no one to protect her from his wrath. Yet, conquering her woman's fear, she approaches him, animated by the noblest patriotism, having but one thought: "If I perish, I perish; but if I live, my people shall live."
在极其率真而朴素的《以斯帖记》中，你会发现某种令人震撼的情节。还有什么比以斯帖面对邪恶的君王时更具戏剧性的场面呢？她知道她的生命就攥在王的手心里。没有人能保护她逃脱王的愤怒。然而，她还是克服了女人的恐惧心理，怀着视死如归的爱国主义情怀。她接近王，她的心里只有一个念头：“如果我毁灭，仅只毁灭我一人而已；但是如果我活着，我的族人就将活着。”