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I did not care especially for "The Pilgrim's Progress," which I think I did not finish, or for the "Fables." I read La Fontaine's "Fables" first in an English translation, and enjoyed them only after a half-hearted fashion. Later I read the book again in French, and I found that, in spite of the vivid word-pictures, and the wonderful mastery of language, I liked it no better. I do not know why it is, but stories in which animals are made to talk and act like human beings have never appealed to me very strongly. The ludicrous caricatures of the animals occupy my mind to the exclusion of the moral.
我尤其不喜欢《天路历程》，我想我都没有读完这本书。《寓言》我也不喜欢，我最初读的拉封丹的《寓言》是英文版本，当时我只是感觉这本书还说得过去。后来我又读了法文版本，于是我发现，无论书中的文字是多么生动，故事是多么精彩，我还是不太喜欢。我不知道为什么会有这种感觉，不过书中的那些像人类一样会说话的动物从来就没有引起过我太大的兴趣。不妨说，给我留下印象的不过是一些滑稽可笑的动物，而并不是其中的道德说教。
Then, again, La Fontaine seldom, if ever, appeals to our highest moral sense. The highest chords he strikes are those of reason and self-love. Through all the fables runs the thought that man's morality springs wholly from self-love, and that if that self-love is directed and restrained by reason, happiness must follow. Now, so far as I can judge, self-love is the root of all evil; but, of course, I may be wrong, for La Fontaine had greater opportunities of observing men than I am likely ever to have. I do not object so much to the cynical and satirical fables as to those in which momentous truths are taught by monkeys and foxes.
接着说拉封丹。如果说他的作品带给了我们更高的道德感，我认为这种说法是言过其实的。事实上，其作品中最值得回味的地方就是故事的发生动机和其中蕴涵的自恋主张，所有的寓言无不传达出这样一种思想——人类的道德感完全来自于自恋，假如自恋的动机被压制，那么幸福一定会到来。而我本人的看法是，自恋是一切罪恶的根源。当然，我的判断也许是错的，毕竟，同我相比，拉封丹有着更加丰富的观察人生的经验。此外，我并不太反对寓言所具有的讽刺效果，尤其是通过猴子和狐狸的口传授做人的至理名言。
But I love "The Jungle Book" and "Wild Animals I Have Known." I feel a genuine interest in the animals themselves, because they are real animals and not caricatures of men. One sympathizes with their loves and hatreds, laughs over their comedies, and weeps over their tragedies.
比较而言，我更喜欢读《丛林故事》和《我所知道的野生动物》这类书。我对动物确实有着浓厚的兴趣，因为它们是真正的动物而非被拟人化的笑料。当然，人们更愿意把自己的喜悦、憎恨和笑声贡献给喜剧，而把哭泣留给悲剧。
