Two Ways of Reading
Sha Yan
We may as well mark out the difference between two ways of reading expressed in synonyms which can be used interchangeably in Chinese. Here I』d like to interpret one as mechanical reading and the other as intelligent reading. In a like manner we can distinguish touring with traveling. The former is preferred to the latter so far as today’s fashion goes. In terms of education, it is mechanical reading rather than intelligent reading that is prevailing.
何妨把念書和讀書來一個新意義劃分，就像區別旅遊和旅行那樣。時人流行旅遊，淡泊旅行。教育這回事，當今興的也是念書，不是讀書。
School life can be likened to a battle in which all the participants are equipped with bags of schemes to achieve good results in examinations. As soon as the session is over, they throw into oblivion all that they』ve mechanically memorized before theyknow what grades they are given. This mental state shows clearly that books are meant to be recited, no more no less. Themoment their purpose is served, they are done away with. Nobody bothers to pay any attention to their contents, let alone digest them. It follows naturally that reading this way won’t lead toanywhere near Paradise even if one has finished a great amount of books. Numerous evidences are there for the asking. Don’t you see how joyful those girls are when they celebrate the end of examinations by throwing away their books? It is the strongest proof that reading is done merely by rote. Also the popular saying: 「A novice chants scriptures – he moves his mouth without troubling his mind.」 Nothing else illustrates the point more satisfactorily.
到學校生活，像打一場仗，參與者身上裝的，是各種掠奪分數的錦囊。考關一過，不管分數到手與否，一律把生吞活剝的知識忘掉。這種心態，書，真是用來念書的，念過便算數，不必消化，更不必用心。依此類推，書念得多，不一定成仙得佛，要例證滿街都是。會考結束那天，小女孩那幫人歡呼：可以把書丟掉啦！是典型的念書力證。把這種現象歸於念書旗下，可撿來「小和尚念經，有口沒心」一句撐腰，解釋比較圓滿。依此類推，書念得多，不一定成仙得佛，要例證滿街都是。會考結束那天，小女孩那幫人歡呼：可以把書丟掉啦！是典型的念書力證。把這種現象歸於念書旗下，可撿來「小和尚念經，有口沒心」一句撐腰，解釋比較圓滿。
On the other hand, intelligent reading never aims at examination results. It requires devotion – one has to devote time and energies to extensive reading from which to draw useful materials. Then proceed from comparison and analysis to assimilation. Reading this way is prompted by interest and done in earnestness. There may be stopovers on the way, but certainly no end.
投入心思，廣為涉獵，類此歸納、消化分析書中材料，不以分數為終極，才具備「讀書」的起碼要求。讀書以興趣出發，以誠意相許，讀書只有歇腳小站，沒有終點。
It is a long-distance travel, an endless process of opening up vistas for the mind; while mechanical reading is but a short tour along the narrow path of worldliness with one’s view never beyond one’s nose. The former enlivens one like life-giving spring rain and breeze, resulting in a well-cultivated mind to last as long as he lives; the latter makes one muddle along, engages him in a battle of examinations to fight for diplomas, and end up in fruitlessness.
讀書是長途旅行，是開拓心靈的漫長陶冶過程；念書是短程旅遊，是滿足文憑欲望的虛幻紙筆戰爭。讀書是春風化雨，修得一身氣質，終身受用；念書是糊塗度日，走一段世俗小路，荒涼而乏善可陳。
There are too many people in the world engaged in mechanical reading, only a few read intelligently. That’s because the latter demands two requisites – interest and stamina – for it to travel far and wide.
天底下念書的人多，讀書者少。因為讀書需要跋涉，講求興趣與耐力，缺一不可。