第68章 阅读及其影响
§1
第68章 阅读及其影响
§2
Chap. 68 - Reading and its Influence
§3
以适宜的读物作儿童的精神食粮——那敏锐易感，正在发育中的儿童的心志，渴求知识方面的满足。作父母的当不断地充实自己，俾以适宜的食粮满足其子女心志上的需要。正如身体一样，心志也需要从所领受的食粮中摄取力量。借着纯洁而日益强固的思想，心志便得以扩展而高雅；但一般卑劣的属世思想却会使它狭隘而贬质。[1]
§4
Feed the Childs Mind With Proper Food.--The susceptible, expanding mind of the child longs for knowledge. Parents should keep themselves well informed, that they may give the minds of their children proper food. Like the body, the mind derives its strength from the food it receives. It is broadened and elevated by pure, strengthening thoughts; but it is narrowed and debased by thoughts that are of the earth earthy. {AH 410.1}[1]
§5
作父母的啊，使你们儿女的心志充满着高尚的思想，或耽于恶习的念头，全都取决于你们自己。你们无法使他们活泼的心志保持一种真空的状态；也无法借着愠怒的面色而驱逐邪恶。唯有导入正当的原则，才能排除错误的思想。父母若不将真理的种子培植在儿女的心田之中，仇敌就必将稗子撒下。善良纯正的教训，乃是防止那足以败坏善行之不良交游的唯一良方。真理能护卫心灵，脱离那无时或已而必须对抗的试探。[2]
§6
Parents, you are the ones to decide whether the minds of your children shall be filled with ennobling thoughts or with vicious sentiments. You cannot keep their active minds unoccupied; neither can you frown away evil. Only by the inculcation of right principles can you exclude wrong thoughts. Unless parents plant the seeds of truth in the hearts of their children, the enemy will sow tares. Good, sound instruction is the only preventive of the evil communications that corrupt good manners. Truth will protect the soul from the endless temptations that must be encountered. {AH 410.2}[2]
§7
父母当控制阅读的习惯——许多青年都热衷于读书。他们把所能得到的任何书本都阅读。我要劝告这等孩子的父母们：应当控制他们的阅读欲望。勿容满载言情小说的书刊或报章放在你家中的书桌上。要预备一些能帮助青年建立品格，且具有优良内容——就是充满敬畏上帝以及有关基督的知识——之书籍来取代它们的地位。当鼓励你的儿女以有价值的知识来充实他们的心智，让凡是善良的事物占有其心灵，进而约束其能力，使那些卑劣的，败坏的思念无存留的余地。务要遏止那种阅读不能供给心智以佳美营养之读物的欲望。[3]
§8
Parents to Control Reading Habits.--Many youth are eager for books. They read anything that they can obtain. I appeal to the parents of such children to control their desire for reading. Do not permit upon your tables the magazines and newspapers in which are found love stories. Supply their place with books that will help the youth to put into their character-building the very best material--the love and fear of God, the knowledge of Christ. Encourage your children to store the mind with valuable knowledge, to let that which is good occupy the soul and control its powers, leaving no place for low, debasing thoughts. Restrict the desire for reading matter that does not furnish good food for the mind. {AH 410.3}[3]
§9
父母们当尽力将一切不能促进良善影响的事物摒诸家门之外。在这件事上，许多作父母的还得多多学习呢！我要向那般自以为有阅读故事杂志和小说之自由的人说：你们正在撒播着的种子，将来所有的收获是你们不愿收入仓内的。在这类读物之中是没有属灵的能力可汲取的。反之，却足以消灭对于圣道中纯净真理的爱慕之心。撒但以小说和故事杂志为媒介，力图使那原应殷勤研求上帝圣道的心志为虚幻而浅薄的思念所充塞。这样，他便夺去了千千万万人所当用以探究严肃的人生问题的时间，精力，和自省工夫。[4]
§10
Parents should endeavor to keep out of the home every influence that is not productive of good. In this matter some parents have much to learn. To those who feel free to read story magazines and novels I would say: You are sowing seed the harvest of which you will not care to garner. From such reading there is no spiritual strength to be gained. Rather it destroys love for the pure truth of the word. Through the agency of novels and story magazines, Satan is working to fill with unreal and trivial thoughts minds that should be diligently studying the word of God. Thus he is robbing thousands upon thousands of the time and energy and self-discipline demanded by the stern problems of life. {AH 411.1}[4]
§11
儿童需要适当的读物，以能供给快乐和消遣而不致败坏心志或令身体困乏的为宜。若教他们爱好虚构的故事和报章上刊载的小说，他们必视具有教育价值的书刊为可厌之物。大多数的儿童和青年都爱好读物；倘若不为他们选择，他们就必自行选择。他们随处都能找到那些含有败坏质素的读物，而且很快就会习染上对于这一类读物的偏嗜；但是若供给他们纯洁优良的读物，他们也必养成爱好这一类读物的口味。[5]
§12
Children need proper reading which will afford amusement and recreation and not demoralize the mind or weary the body. If they are taught to love romance and newspaper tales, instructive books and papers will become distasteful to them. Most children and young people will have reading matter; and if it is not selected for them, they will select it for themselves. They can find a ruinous quality of reading anywhere, and they soon learn to love it; but if pure and good reading is furnished them, they will cultivate a taste for that. {AH 411.2}[5]
§13
当锻炼并教育心智的高尚——心智的高尚必须受到非常谨慎的锻炼与教育。父母应当趁早向儿女们正在发展中的心智解明《圣经》，借此便可养成适宜的思想习惯。[6]
§14
Discipline and Educate Mental Tastes.--The mental tastes must be disciplined and educated with the greatest care. Parents must begin early to unfold the Scriptures to the expanding minds of their children, that proper habits of thought may be formed. {AH 411.3}[6]
§15
应不惜任何努力而确立良好的勤学习惯。倘若心意业已放纵，就当把它收回来。倘若才智和道德的鉴赏力已为过度刺激的小说所败坏，以至无心用功，就必须作一番争战，以克服这种恶习。看虚构的小说之爱好必须立刻予以制服。当厉行严格的规律，以维持心意不离正轨。[7]
§16
No effort should be spared to establish right habits of study. If the mind wanders, bring it back. If the intellectual and moral tastes have been perverted by over-wrought and exciting tales of fiction so that there is a disinclination to apply the mind, there is a battle to be fought to overcome this habit. A love for fictitious reading should be overcome at once. Rigid rules should be enforced to hold the mind in the proper channel. {AH 411.4}[7]
§17
避免染上看小说的嗜好——我们的儿女应该读些什么书呢？这乃是一个必须谨慎答复的严重问题。我在遵守安息日的人家中，看到充满着对儿童和青年绝无良好影响之连载小说的报刊，心中就觉得伤痛。我也曾注意那些如此养成爱看小说的嗜好之人。他们虽有机会得以听到真理，明白《圣经》信仰的缘由；然而当他们长大成人之后，竟全然缺乏真正的敬畏和实际的虔诚。[8]
§18
Avoid Cultivating Taste for Fiction.--What shall our children read? This is a serious question and one that demands a serious answer. It troubles me to see in Sabbathkeeping families periodicals and newspapers containing continued stories which leave no impressions for good on the minds of children and youth. I have watched those whose taste for fiction was thus cultivated. They have had the privilege of listening to the truth, of becoming acquainted with the reasons of our faith; but they have grown to maturer years destitute of true piety and practical godliness. {AH 412.1}[8]
§19
看小说的人正放纵着一种足以败坏灵性，并蒙蔽神圣篇章之优美的恶习。[9]
§20
The readers of fiction are indulging an evil that destroys spirituality, eclipsing the beauty of the sacred page. {AH 412.2}[9]
§21
有害书籍的流行——这世界正泛滥着最好付之一炬而不容其销行的书籍。青年们最好不要阅读那些专为牟利而刊行的投合时尚的书籍；因为其中含有撒但蛊惑的毒素。[10]
§22
Prevalence of Harmful Books.--The world is deluged with books that might better be consumed than circulated. Books on sensational topics, published and circulated as a money-making scheme, might better never be read by the youth. There is a satanic fascination in such books. . . . {AH 412.3}[10]
§23
读小说是撒但用来毁灭生灵的工具之一。它造成一种虚伪的，不健康的刺激，煽起狂想，使心志陷于无用之境，不能从事任何属灵的活动。它使心灵断绝祈祷，不再爱慕属灵的事物。[11]
§24
The practice of story reading is one of the means employed by Satan to destroy souls. It produces a false, unhealthy excitement, fevers the imagination, unfits the mind for usefulness, and disqualifies it for any spiritual exercise. It weans the soul from prayer and from the love of spiritual things. {AH 412.4}[11]
§25
恋爱小说，轻浮刺激的故事，对于读者都含有同等程度的咒诅。作者或许也自称要倡导道德上的教训；或者他也可能在全部作品中织入若干宗教方面的情操，然而这些往往只为掩饰其内容的愚妄与空虚而已。[12]
§26
Works of romance, frivolous, exciting tales, are, in hardly less degree, a curse to the reader. The author may profess to teach a moral lesson; throughout his work he may interweave religious sentiments, but often these serve only to veil the folly and worthlessness beneath. {AH 413.1}[12]
§27
无神论的作者——我们另一个必须随时防范的危险之源，便是阅读那些无神论之作者的作品。这一类的作品乃是出于真理之敌的鼓动而写成的，而阅读的人没有一个能不使心灵遭受危害的。固然，有些受其感染的人最后仍能复原；但是凡与其恶影响有牵连的人，便是自投于撒但的境地，被他占尽优势了。他们既然招惹他的试探，就不免失去辨察的智慧和抗拒它们的能力了。不信与不忠必以蛊惑的，迷人的力量附着于心意之上。[13]
§28
Infidel Authors.--Another source of danger against which we should be constantly on guard is the reading of infidel authors. Such works are inspired by the enemy of truth, and no one can read them without imperiling the soul. It is true that some who are affected by them may finally recover; but all who tamper with their evil influence place themselves on Satans ground, and he makes the most of his advantage. As they invite his temptations, they have not wisdom to discern or strength to resist them. With a fascinating, bewitching power unbelief and infidelity fasten themselves upon the mind. {AH 413.2}[13]
§29
神怪荒诞的小说——幻想小说、神话和想象虚构的故事，如今在儿童及青年的教育上占了一片很大的地盘。这一类性质的书籍，学校竟采用为课本，而且在许多家庭中也都能找到它们。身为基督徒的父母们怎能容许他们的子女应用这种充满虚谎的书本呢？当儿童询及那些与父母的教训如此相背之故事的意义时，回答往往是：那些故事都不是真实的；但如此仍不能免除阅读它们所有的恶果。这些书中所表现的思想使儿童迷失了本性。它们灌输虚伪的生活观念，使之生发并养成空幻的欲望。[14]
§30
Myths and Fairy Tales.--In the education of children and youth fairy tales, myths, and fictitious stories are now given a large place. Books of this character are used in schools, and they are to be found in many homes. How can Christian parents permit their children to use books so filled with falsehood? When the children ask the meaning of stories so contrary to the teaching of their parents, the answer is that the stories are not true; but this does not do away with the evil results of their use. The ideas presented in these books mislead the children. They impart false views of life and beget and foster a desire for the unreal. . . . {AH 413.3}[14]
§31
千万不可将内容曲解真理的书籍放在儿童或青年的手中。但愿我们的儿童不致在教育过程中接受一种将来必显为罪恶之种子的思想。[15]
§32
Never should books containing a perversion of truth be placed in the hands of children or youth. Let not our children, in the very process of obtaining an education, receive ideas that will prove to be seeds of sin. {AH 413.4}[15]
§33
心智的活力如何被摧毁——心智均衡发展的人不多，因为作父母的都可悲地忽略了对儿女当尽的本份，不去鼓舞那柔弱的本性并压制那错误的特质。他们忘记了自己负有最严肃的责任，要注意每一个孩子发展的趋向，而且他们所有的本分乃要训练儿女培养正当的习惯与思想方式。[16]
§34
How Mental Vigor Is Destroyed.--There are few well-balanced minds because parents are wickedly negligent of their duty to stimulate weak traits and repress wrong ones. They do not remember that they are under the most solemn obligation to watch the tendencies of each child, that it is their duty to train their children to right habits and right ways of thinking. {AH 414.1}[16]
§35
应当培养道德与心智上的能力。唯愿这些高贵的能力不因阅读过多，尤其是阅读小说，而致衰败。我认识一些人具有聪慧的脑力，却由于在阅读上不节制而趋于畸形，甚至有部分迟钝或麻木的现象了。[17]
§36
Cultivate the moral and intellectual powers. Let not these noble powers become enfeebled and perverted by much reading of even storybooks. I know of strong minds that have been unbalanced and partially benumbed, or paralyzed, by intemperance in reading. {AH 414.2}[17]
§37
刺激性的阅读造成不安分而多幻想的儿童——嗜读轻浮而具刺激性小说的人，会变成不能适应实际生活义务的人。他们仿佛住在一个虚幻的世界里。我曾观察那些阅读此类小说成癖的儿童。他们无论在家中或在外面都不安分，耽于梦想，除了最普通的话题之外，什么都不懂得谈述。宗教的思想和言论与他们的心意毫无关系。由于养成了阅读爱情小说的嗜好，精神上的口味便败坏了，以至心意若不饲以此类有毒的食物便不能满足。对于那些沉湎于这种读物中的人，我想不出比精神醉汉更适当的名字来称呼他们了。不节制阅读的习惯之于头脑，其结果正如饮食无度的习惯之于身体一样。[18]
§38
Exciting Reading Makes Restless, Dreamy Child.-- Readers of frivolous, exciting tales become unfitted for the duties of practical life. They live in an unreal world. I have watched children who have been allowed to make a practice of reading such stories. Whether at home or abroad, they were restless, dreamy, unable to converse except upon the most commonplace subjects. Religious thought and conversation was entirely foreign to their minds. With the cultivation of an appetite for sensational stories the mental taste is perverted, and the mind is not satisfied unless fed upon this unwholesome food. I can think of no more fitting name for those who indulge in such reading than mental inebriates. Intemperate habits of reading have an effect upon the brain similar to that which intemperate habits of eating and drinking have upon the body. {AH 414.3}[18]
§39
在未接受现代真理之前，有些人已经养成了读小说的习惯。一时参加教会，他们就竭力想克服这种习惯。把一些类似这等人已弃绝的读物放在他们面前，便如将致醉之物置于醉汉面前一样。他们常常屈服于眼前的试探之下，不久就必厌烦那纯正的读物。他们没有兴趣研究《圣经》。他们的道德力因而衰弱。罪恶也愈来愈显得不可憎了。不忠的表现逐渐增加，对于人生的实际职责也日益感到厌倦了。思想一经败坏，对于任何富有刺激性的读物就急不暇择了。这样一来。便为撒但敞开门路，听凭他将心灵完全控制于他的掌握之中了。[19]
§40
Before accepting the present truth, some had formed the habit of novel reading. Upon uniting with the church, they made an effort to overcome this habit. To place before this class reading similar to that which they have discarded is like offering intoxicants to the inebriate. Yielding to the temptation continually before them, they soon lose their relish for solid reading. They have no interest in Bible study. Their moral power becomes enfeebled. Sin appears less and less repulsive. There is manifest an increasing unfaithfulness, a growing distaste for lifes practical duties. As the mind becomes perverted, it is ready to grasp any reading of a stimulating character. Thus the way is open for Satan to bring the soul fully under his domination. {AH 414.4}[19]
§41
略读与急读削弱了集中思想的能力——现今汗牛充栋的印刷物继续不断地出版，所以人们无论老少都养成了一种略读与急读的习惯，以至脑筋失去了联想及用功思想的能力。况且现今的许多刊物和书籍，犹如埃及的青蛙一般遍满全地，其内容不仅平淡无奇，毫无价值，且多污秽不堪，低级下流的。它们的影响不但麻醉损害人的心，而且也败坏毁灭人的灵性。[20]
§42
Hasty, Superficial Reading Weakens Power of Concentration.--With the immense tide of printed matter constantly pouring from the press, old and young form the habit of reading hastily and superficially, and the mind loses its power of connected and vigorous thought. Furthermore, a large share of the periodicals and books that, like the frogs of Egypt, are overspreading the land are not merely commonplace, idle, and enervating, but unclean and degrading. Their effect is not merely to intoxicate and ruin the mind, but to corrupt and destroy the soul. {AH 415.1}[20]
§43
“我无力订阅真理的刊物”——有些自称是弟兄的人并不订阅《评论与通讯》，《时兆》、《青年导报》，或《健康月刊》，却订了一份或多份属世的期刊。儿女们对于此等书刊中所载虚构的故事与爱情小说深感兴趣，而这些都是他们父亲花钱订阅的，虽则他却宣称无力订阅我们出版的现代真理的书刊。[21]
§44
I Cannot Afford Our Church Papers.--There are those who profess to be brethren who do not take the Review, Signs, Instructor, or Good Health, but take one or more secular papers. Their children are deeply interested in reading the fictitious tales and love stories which are found in these papers, and which their father can afford to pay for, although claiming that he cannot afford to pay for our periodicals and publications on present truth. . . . {AH 415.2}[21]
§45
父母们应当卫护他们的儿女，教导他们培养纯洁的思想，并要远避报刊中对于痴恋的描述，如同远避患大麻疯的人一般。但愿你的桌子上和书房中所放置的，全是有关道德与宗教题旨的书刊，使你的儿女养成一种高尚的阅读趣味。[22]
§46
Parents should guard their children and teach them to cultivate a pure imagination and to shun, as they would a leper, the lovesick pen pictures presented in newspapers. Let publications upon moral and religious subjects be found on your tables and in your libraries, that your children may cultivate a taste for elevated reading. {AH 415.3}[22]
§47
写给青年人的有关阅读目的之信息——当我看到那从不良的读物而来的危害威胁着青年时，就忍不住要再进一步提示那赐给我的有关此一大恶的警告。[23]
§48
Messages to Youth on Objectives in Reading.--As I see the danger that threatens the youth from improper reading, I cannot forbear to present still further the warnings given me in regard to this great evil. {AH 416.1}[23]
§49
由于经手处理本质不良之读物，结果使工作者所受到的损害实在太少为人发觉了。他们所处理的读物吸引了他们的注意，唤起了他们的兴趣。一字一句都印入记忆之中。思想受了暗示。读者几乎不自觉地为作者的精神所影响，而心意与品格上便感受了邪恶。有些信心微小，自制力薄弱的人，更难排除这类文字所提示的思想。[24]
§50
The harm that results to the workers from handling matter of an objectionable character is too little realized. Their attention is arrested and their interest aroused by the subject matter with which they are dealing. Sentences are imprinted in the memory. Thoughts are suggested. Almost unconsciously the reader is influenced by the spirit of the writer, and mind and character receive an impress for evil. There are some who have little faith and little power of self-control, and it is difficult for them to banish the thoughts suggested by such literature. {AH 416.2}[24]
§51
唉，但愿青年们想一想：那些刺激性的小说对于心智所有的影响是何等的大啊！你能在读了那些书刊之后，还有兴趣打开《圣经》研读生命之道么？你不是觉得上帝的书索然无味么？言情小说的魅力既留在心中，就败坏了健全的志趣，使你无法将心思倾注于重要的，关乎你永恒福利的严肃真理之上。你将原应归于父母的时间用在这样无益的事上，就是犯了不孝之罪，而且你将原应献给上帝的时间如此浪用，也就是得罪他了。[25]
§52
Oh, that the young would reflect upon the influence which exciting stories have upon the mind! Can you, after such reading, open the word of God and read the words of life with interest? Do you not find the book of God uninteresting? The charm of that love story is upon the mind, destroying its healthy tone and making it impossible for you to fix your mind upon the important, solemn truths which concern your eternal interest. You sin against your parents in devoting to such a poor purpose the time which belongs to them, and you sin against God in thus using the time which should be spent in devotion to Him. {AH 416.3}[25]
§53
孩子们，我有一项信息要传给你们。你们现今正在决定自己将来的命运，而你们所建造的品格却是属于将来会使你被摒于上帝乐园之外的那一种。耶稣，这世界的救赎主，见到家庭中的孩子们不爱上帝，不敬重上帝的圣言，却沉湎于小说的嗜好中，他该是多么的伤心啊！你在这事上所耗用的时间打消了你想在家务上尽力的心愿；这样便使你不配作一家之首，而且若长此以往，更会使你愈来愈深地陷于撒但的网罗之中。你所读的某些书本，固然也包含一些优良的原则，可是你只是为了其中的故事而读它。你若愿从所读的书本中撷取那些可以帮助你建造品格的教训，那么你还可以获得些益处。但是当你一卷在手，一页又一页的翻过去时，你可曾问问自己：我读书的目的是什么？我是在寻求实际的知识么？你若用草木禾秸作基础，当然无法建立正当的品格。[26]
§54
Children, I have a message for you. You are now deciding your future destiny, and your character building is of that kind which will exclude you from the Paradise of God. . . . How sad it is for Jesus, the worlds Redeemer, to look upon a family where the children have no love for God, no respect for the word of God, but are all absorbed in reading storybooks. The time occupied in this way robs you of a desire to become effective in household duties; it disqualifies you to stand at the head of a family, and if continued it will entangle you more and more closely in Satans snare. . . . Some of the books you read contain excellent principles, but you read only to get the story. If you would gather from the books you read that which would help you in the formation of your character, your reading would do you some good. But as you take up your books and peruse page after page of them, do you ask yourself, What is my object in reading? Am I seeking to gain substantial knowledge? You cannot build a right character by bringing to the foundation wood, hay, and stubble. {AH 416.4}[26]
§55
将《圣经》真理的种子撒入心中——一块未经耕种的土地，和一个未经锻炼的心志，两者之间有着极其明显的相似之处。仇敌在儿童和青年的心中撒下了稗子，若非作父母的保持警觉，加意维护，这些稗子就必发芽生长，结出恶果来。耕植心田需要不息地加以照顾，并要将宝贵的《圣经》真理之种子撒入其中。应该教导儿童拒绝那些无益的刺激的小说，去阅读那些能增加知识并诱导人心对《圣经》故事，历史，与理论发生兴趣的书籍。这样的读物启明了神圣的书卷，唤起研读的愿望，不仅毫无危害，更是大有助益的。[27]
§56
Sow in the Mind Seeds of Bible Truth.--Between an uncultivated field and an untrained mind there is a striking similarity. In the minds of children and youth the enemy sows tares, and unless parents keep watchful guard, these will spring up to bear their evil fruit. Unceasing care is needed in cultivating the soil of the mind and sowing it with the precious seed of Bible truth. Children should be taught to reject trashy, exciting tales and to turn to sensible reading, which will lead the mind to take an interest in Bible story, history, and argument. Reading that will throw light upon the Sacred Volume and quicken the desire to study it is not dangerous, but beneficial. {AH 417.1}[27]
§57
青年若不喜欢研读上帝的圣言，便无法获得心志上的健全旨趣和正当的宗教原理。这本圣书包含最有兴趣的历史，指示靠赖基督而得救之道，并且也是领他们达到更崇高更佳美之人生境界的向导。[28]
§58
It is impossible for the youth to possess a healthy tone of mind and correct religious principles unless they enjoy the perusal of the word of God. This book contains the most interesting history, points out the way of salvation through Christ, and is their guide to a higher and better life. {AH 417.2}[28]