E-C:Menhavesolittlereflectedonthehigherfunctionsofliteratureastofinditaparadoxifoneshoulddescribeitasameanorsubordinatepurposeofbookstogiveinformation.Butthisisaparadoxonlyinthesensewhichmakesithonorabletobeparadoxical.Wheneverwetalkinordinarylanguageofseekinginformationorgainingknowledge,weunderstandthewordsasconnectedwithsomethingofabsolutenovelty.Butitisthegrandeurofalltruthwhichcanoccupyaveryhighplaceinhumanintereststhatitisneverabsolutelynoveltothemeanestofminds:itexistseternallybywayofgermorlatentprincipleinthelowestasinthehighest,needingtobedeveloped,butnevertobeplanted.Tobecapableoftransplantationistheimmediatecriterionofatruththatrangesonalowerscale,besidewhich,thereisararerthingthantruth–namely,power,ordeepsympathywithtruth.Whatistheeffect,forinstance,uponsociety,ofchildren?Bythepity,bythetenderness,andbythepeculiarmodesofadmiration,whichconnectthemselveswiththehelplessness,withtheinnocence,andwiththesimplicityofchildren,notonlyaretheprimalaffectionsstrengthenedandcontinuallyrenewed,butthequalitieswhicharedearestinthesightofheaven–thefrailty,forinstance,whichappealstoforbearance,theinnocencewhichsymbolizestheheavenly,thesimplicitywhichismostalienfromtheworldly–arekeptupinperpetualremembrance,andtheiridealsarecontinuallyrefreshed.Apurposeofthesamenatureisansweredbythehigherliterature,viz.theliteratureofpower.WhatdoyoulearnfromParadiseLost?Nothingatall.Whatdoyoulearnfromacookerybook?Somethingnew,somethingthatyoudidnotknowbefore,ineveryparagraph.Butwouldyouthereforeputthewretchedcookerybookonahigherlevelofestimationthanthedivinepoem?WhatyouowetoMiltonisnotanyknowledge,ofwhichamillionseparateitemsarestillbutamillionofadvancingstepsonthesameearthlylevel;whatyouoweispower–thatis,exerciseandexpansiontoyourownlatentcapacityofsympathywiththeinfinite,whereeverypulseandeachseparateinfluxisastepupwards,astepascendingasuponaJacob’sladderfromearthtomysteriousaltitudesabovetheearth.Allthestepsofknowledge,fromfirsttolast,carryyoufurtheronthesameplane,butcouldneverraiseyouonefootaboveyourancientlevelofearth;whereastheveryfirststepinpowerisaflight–isanascendingmovementintoanotherelementwhereearthisforgotten.人們很少對文學具有的更高層次的功能深入思索，以至于要是有人把提供信息說成是書籍的一種低劣的或次要的目的就覺得困惑不解，認為這話是一種悖論。但僅僅從使似乎矛盾的說法變得受人尊重這個意義上來說，這是一種似是而非的悖論。每當我們用一般語言談論尋求信息或獲取知識的時候，我們的理解總會與某種絕對新鮮的事物聯絡在一起。但所有真理能在人類所關懷的事務中占據崇高的地位，其偉大之處便在于：即便是對于最平庸的人來說，它也歷來不是絕對新鮮的東西。真理總是以萌芽狀態或潛伏規則的形式存在著，對崇高者如此，對卑微者亦如此，需要培育，但從不需要植入?？梢砸浦彩呛饬康图壵胬淼闹苯釉瓌t。除此之外，尚有一種比真理更稀罕的東西，那就是力量，或者說是對真理的深切認同。舉例來說，孩子對于社會有什么用呢？孩童的無助、無辜和單純喚起憐憫、疼愛和特殊的贊賞，不僅使人類與生俱來的情感得到強化和不停升華，并且就連那些在上帝看來也是最寶貴的品質—例如，喚起人們寬容之心的柔弱，象征圣潔的無辜，以及與世俗格格不入的單純等等—也得到了永久的銘記，而對這些品質的憧憬也歷久彌新。更高層次的文學，即力量文學，所實現的正式與此相似的目的。你從《失樂園》這部史詩中能學到什么知識呢？什么也沒學到。你從一本烹飪書中能學到什么呢？從每一段落里你都能學到一點新東西—你此前從不懂得的東西。但你會因此對這本微局限性道的烹飪書作出比那部神圣詩作更高的評價嗎？你要歸功于彌爾頓的不是你學到了什么知識，一百萬條零零碎散的知識也不過是在塵世間向前邁了一百萬步。你要感謝他的是他給了你力量—讓你鍛煉并拓展了與無限世界產生共鳴的潛力。在無限世界中，每一次脈動，每一次心跳，均是向上邁出的一步，如同踏著雅各夢中見到的天梯，從人間邁向遠離地面的神秘高處。獲取知識的腳步，自始至終只能讓你在同一種平面上漸行漸遠，但無法令你向上離開這個古老的人間。然而獲取力量的第一步就是一種飛躍—一種上升到另一種境界的飛躍，在那種崇高的境界里渾然忘卻了塵世的存在。C-E盡管古人把書說成“浩如煙?！保瑫氖澜鐓s真正的“天涯若比鄰”，這話絕不是唯心的比擬。世界再大也沒有阻隔。佛說“三千大千世界”，可算大極了。書的境界呢，“目前界”還加上“過去界”，也帶上“未來界”，實在是包羅萬象，貫穿三界。而我們卻可以足不出戶，在這里隨意閱歷，隨時拜師討教。誰說讀書人目光短淺，不通人情，不關懷世事呢！這里可得到豐富的經歷，可認識各時各地、多種多樣的人。常常在書里“串門兒”，至少可以脫去幾分愚昧，多長幾種心眼兒吧？可惜我們“串門”時“隱”而猶存的“身”，畢竟只是凡胎俗骨。我們沒有如來佛的慧眼，把人世間幾千年積累的智慧一覽無余，只好時時刻刻記住莊子“生也有涯而知也無涯”的名言。我們只是朝生暮死的蟲豸（還不是孫大圣毫毛變成的蟲兒），鉆入書中世界，這邊爬爬，那邊停停，有時碰到心儀的人，聽到愜意的話，或者對心上懸掛的問題偶有所得，就好比開了心竅，樂以忘言。這個“樂”和追求“享有”該不是一回事吧？Thoughancientpeoplecomparedbookstoavastocean,yettheworldofbooksaboutdistantpeopleandthingscanbeactuallydeemedascloseasanext-doorneighbor,whichdefinitelyisnotanidealisticmetaphoricalassertion.Nomatterhowvasttheworldofbooksmaybe,thereexistnobarriersatall.Buddhistsregardthisworldofoursas“oneBuddha-world,”whichisextremelyvast.Buttheworldofbooksissovastthatitextendsacrossthreeworlds,namely“thepastworld,thepresentworldandthefutureworld,”encompassingeverything,acrosswhoseborderswecangobackandforthwithgreatease.Withoutsteppingoutoftheroom,wecanreadandexperienceallthatwecaretoandlearnfromgreatmastersandaskthemforadvicewheneverwewishto.Whoclaimsthatbook-loversareshort-sighted,ignorantofhumanfeelings,andindifferenttoworldaffairs?Hereintheworldofbookswecanacquireabundantexperienceandbecomeacquaintedwithvariouskindsofpeoplefromdifferentagesandplaces.Byfrequentlyvisitingthisworld,atleastwecanridourselvesofsomeignoranceandgainacertaindegreeofwisdom.Whatapityitisthatourphysicalbodies,“invisible”aswevisittheworldofbooks,areafterallconfinedtothismundaneworld.AswearenotendowedwithBuddha’sdiscerningeyes,which,ataglance,takeinallthehumanwisdomaccumulatedovermillenniums,wehavetocomfortourselvesbyalwaysbearinginmindZhuangZi’sfamoussayingthat“Humanlife-spanisfinitewhileknowledgeisinfinite.”Beingmerelyinsects(surelynotinsectsMonkeyKingturnedintobychanginghissofthairs),whoselifelastsonlyashorttime,wecrawlourwayintotheworldofbooks,pausinghitherandthither.Wheneverweaccident