《红楼梦》问世二百年以来,通过汉文原文和各种译文读过此书的人,不知有多少亿!这么多的读者哪一个是先看批评家的文章,然而再让批评家牵着鼻子走,按图索骥地去读原作呢?我看是绝无仅有的。一切文学作品,特别是象《红楼梦》这样伟大的作品,内容异常地丰富,涉及到的社会层面异常地多,简直象是一个宝山，一座迷宫。而读者群就更加复杂，他们来读《红楼梦》，会各就自己的特点，欣赏该书中的某一个方面，受到鼓舞，受到启发，引起了喜爱;也可能受到打击，引起了憎恶。总之是千差万别。

Ever since the publication of A Dream of Red Mansions some 200 years ago, hundreds of millions of people have read its Chinese original or its translations in various languages. Of these innumerable people, how many have read the novel by starting with a perusal of the critics' articles and allowing themselves to be led by the nose by the critics as to how to read the novel? Next to none. All literary works, especially a monumental one like A Dream of Red Mansions, are extremely rich in content and involve diverse social strata-to such an extent that they virtually resemble a mountain of treasure or a labyrinth. And the readers are even more complicated, differing from each other in family background. They will each appreciate a certain aspect of the novel according to their own individuality. They may feel inspired and enlightened, and hence love it, or they may feel hurt, and hence loathe it. In short, the reactions vary.

来源：爱思英语 日期：2014年3月31日

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