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Read not to contradict and confute, nor to believe and take for granted,
读书不是为了反驳和驳倒对方，也不是为了盲信与想当然，
nor to find talk and discourse, but to weigh and consider. Some books are to be tasted, others to be swallowed,
也不要为了谈资与切议而着眼于权衡轻重和勘察事物。有些书可以浅尝辄止，有些书则要生吞活剥，
and some few to be chewed and digested; that is, some books are to be read only in parts;
需要认真咀嚼消化的则很少。也就是说，有些书只要读一部分就可以窥一斑豹；
others to be read, but not curiously; and some few to be read wholly, and with diligence and attention.
有些书读来不必过于细心；为数不多的几本书不但要全读，而且还要勤读，投入全部身心。
Some books also may be read by deputy, and extracts made of them by others;
有些书也可以请人代读，并且由其他人摘选纲要；
but that would be only in the less important arguments, and the meaner sort of books;
但是，这只适合于不那么重要的议论，以及无甚价值的书籍；
else distilled books are like common distilled waters, flashy things.
否则，提炼过的书如同蒸馏水，恬淡无味。
Reading making a full man, conference a ready man, and writing an exact man;
阅读使人充实，交谈令人才思敏捷，写作则可以使人准确地阐述自己的思想；
and, therefore, if a man write little, he had need have a great memory;
因此，倘若一个人懒于动笔，那么他就必须有惊人的记忆力；
if he confer little, he had need have a present wit;
假若他很少与人交流，就必须有现成的机智；
and if he read little, he had need have much cunning, to seem to know that he doth not.
如果很少读书，那么他就必须极尽狡猾，让别人看不出他所知甚少。
Histories make men wise; poets, witty; the mathematics, subtle;
读史使人明鉴；诗歌教人言辞曼妙；数学令人精细；
natural philosophy, deep; moral philosophy, grave; logic and rhetoric, able to contend.
博物使人深邃；伦理学使人静肃；逻辑与修辞使人在论辩中立于不败之地。
