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—fromSesameaureII）

JohnRuskin

[1]Butperhapsyouwillsaythatitisbecausethelivialkofthingsthatarepassing，andareofimmediateioyou，thatyoudesiretohearthem.Nay;thatotbeso，forthelivihemselvestellyouaboutpassingmattersmuchbetteriingsthanintheircarelesstalk.YetIadmitthatthismotivedoesinfluenceyou，sofarasyoupreferthoserapidaingstoslowandenduringwritings—books，properlysocalled.Forallbooksaredivisibleintotwoclasses，thebooksofthehour，andthebooksofalltime.Markthisdistin—itisnotoneofqualityonly.Itishebadbookthatdoesnotlast，andthegoododoes.Itisadistinofspecies.Therearegoodbooksforthehoodonesforalltime;badbooksforthehour，andbadonesforalltime.Imustdefiwokindsbefofarther.

[2]Thegoodbookofthehour，then，—Idohebadones，—issimplytheusefulorpleasanttalkofsomepersonwhomyouototherwiseversewith，printedforyou.Veryusefuloften，tellingyouwhatyouoknow;verypleasantoften，asasensiblefriealkwouldbe.Thesebrightatsood-humoredandwittydissofquestioheticstintheformofnovel;firmfag，bytherealageheeventsofpassinghistory;—allthesebooksofthehour，multiplyingamoionbeeneral，areapeculiarpossessioage:weoughttobeehankfulforthem，airelyashamedofourselvesifwemakenogooduseofthem.Butwemaketheworstpossibleuseifweallowthemtousurptheplaceoftruebooks:for，strictlyspeakibooksatall，butmerelylettersorneersingoodprint.Ourfrieermaybedelightful，oro-day:whetherworthkeepingornot，istobesidered.Theneermaybeentirelyproperatbreakfasttime，butassuredlyitisnforallday.So，thoughboundupihelivesyousopleasantanatoftheinns，androads，ayearatsuchaplace，orwhichtellsyouthatamusingstivesyoutherealcesofsudsuts，howevervaluableforoalreferebe，intherealseheword，a“book”

atall，nor，intherealseobe“read”

.

[3]Abookisessentiallynotatalkingthing，butawrittenthing;awithaviewofmereuni，butofpermahebookoftalkisprintedosauthorotspeaktothousaonce;ifhecould，hewould—thevolumeismeremultipliofhisvoinottalktoyourfriendinIndia;ifyoucould，youwould;youwriteiismereceofvoice.Butabookiswritten，nottomultiplythevoicemerely，nottocarryitmerely，buttoperpetuateit.Theauthorhassomethingtosaywhichheperceivestobetrueanduseful，orhelpfullybeautiful.Sofarasheknows，saidit;sofarasheknows，nooneelsesayit.Heisboundtosayit，dmelodiouslyifhemay;clearlyatallevents.Inthesumofhislifehefindsthistobethething，roupofthings，maohim;—this，thepieceoftrueknowledge，ht，whichhisshareofsuhhaspermittedhimtoseize.Hewouldfaidraveitonrock，ifhecould;saying，“Thisisthebestofme;fortherest，Iate，anddrank，a，loved，andhated，likeanother;mylifeor，andisnot;butthisIsawahis，ifanythihyourmemory.”

Thatishis“writing;”

itis，inhissmallhumanhateverdegreeoftrueinspirationisinhim，hisins，orscripture.Thatisa“Book”

.

[4]Perhapsyouthinknobookswereeversowritten?

[5]But，again，Iaskyou，doyouatallbelieveiy，oratallinkindness，ordoyouthinkthereisneverayorbenevolenwisepeople?Noneofus，Ihope，aresounhappyastothieverbitofawiseman’sworkisholyalydobitishisbookorhispieceofart.Itismixedalwayswithevilfragments—ill-do，affectedwork.Butifyhtly，youwilleasilydiscoverthetruebits，ahebook.

[6]Nowbooksofthiskieniheirgreatestmereaders，greatstatesmehiheseareallatyourdlifeisshort.Youhaveheardasmuchbefore;yethaveyoumeasuredahisshortlifeanditspossibilities?Doyouknow，ifyoureadthis，thatyouotreadthat—thatwhatyouloseto-dayyouotgainto-morrow?Willyougoandgossipwithyourhousemaid，oryourstable-boy，whenyoumaytalkwithqueensandkings;orflatteryourselfthatitiswithanyworthyessofyourownclaimstorespect，thatyoujostlewiththehungryandoncrowdforentreehere，ahere，whehiseternalcourtisopentoyou，withitssociety，wideastheworld，multitudinousasitsdays，thedthemighty，ofeverypladtime?Intothatyoumayenteralways;inthatyoumaytakefellowshipandrankagtoyourwish;fromthat，o，youeverbeoutcastbutbyyourownfault;byyouraristopanionshipthere，yourowocracywillbeassuredlytested，aiveswithwhichyoustrivetotakehighplathesocietyoftheliving，measured，astoallthetruthaareiheplaceyoudesiretotakeinthispanyoftheDead.

AfterYouRead

KnowledgeFocus

1.Pairwork:Discussthefollowiionswithyourpartner.

1）Doyouagreewiththesayingthatwhenthelivialkofthingsthatarepassing，theyareofimmediateioyou?Whyorwhynot?

2）Whatareysaboutthemotivesthatinflueudetowardbooksmehetext?

3）HowdidJohnRuskihebooksintotwotypes?

4）Whydidtheauthorsay“wemaketheworstpossibleuseifweallowthebooksofthehourtousurptheplaceoftruebooks”

?

5）Doyouagreethat“abookisessentiallynotatalkingthing”

?Whyorwhynot?

6）Summarizethefeaturesandsighebooksofthehour”

.

7）Summarizethefeaturesandsighebooksofalltime”

.

8）Whichtypeofbooksisclosertotheesseofbooksasawhtotheauthor?Whatarethereasons?

2.Solowork:Decidewhetherthefollowirue（T）orfalse（F）agtotheknowledgeyoulearellwhy.

____1）Thelivihemselvestellyouaboutpassingmattersmuchbetterihaings.

____2）Onlygoodbooksaredivisibleagtothecriteriaoftheauthor.

____3）Thegoodbookofthehourissimplytheusefulorpleasanttalktosomepersonwhomyouversewith.

____4）weoughttobethankfulforandmakegooduseofthebooksofthehour，andthatisen.

____5）Strictlyspeaking，thebooksofthehourarenotbooksatall，butmerelylettersorneersingoodprint.

____6）Abookisessentiallynotatalkingthing，butawrittenthing.