我是喜欢翻译的。有时候,当我写完了一篇所谓“研究”论文,我总是感到:与其论述一个外国作家,不如把他的作品翻译一点过来,也许对读者更有用。但是自己的实践却不多。大体上可分两类。一类是中译英。我在建国后参加过毛选英译工作。当时成立了一个委员会,由清华留美老校友徐永煐同志主持,委员中有各方面的专家,研究哲学、文学、经济、教育、社会学的都有,我的两位老师也在内,一位是清华时期的金岳霖先生,一位是西南联大时期的钱钟书先生。我对他们向来佩服,这一次能够同室开会,同桌吃饭,听他们谈学论文,心里非常高兴。当时我刚三十出头,从英国回来不久,很想为新中国多做点事,能参加 I like to translate. Sometimes, when I wrote a so-called “research” essay, I always felt that it may be more useful to readers than to discuss a foreign writer by translating his work a little more. However, their own practice is not much. Generally divided into two categories. One is in Chinese to English. After the founding of the PRC, I participated in the work of translating Mao Selections into English. At that time, a committee was set up which was chaired by Xu Xuanyong, an old alumnus of Tsinghua University. There are experts in various fields who study philosophy, literature, economics, education and sociology. My two teachers are also included. One is Mr. Jin Yuelin from Tsinghua University and Mr. Qian Zhongshu from the Southwest Associated University. I admired them all the time. This time, I was able to meet in the same room, eat at the same table, and listen to their dissertation. At that time, I was in my early thirties and came back from England soon, I really wanted to do more work for the new China.