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在这本书里,我想写现代中国某一部分社会,某一类人物.写这类人,我没忘记他们是人类,只是人类,具有无毛两足动物的基本根性.角色当然是 虚构的,但是有考据癖的人当然不肯错过索隐的机会.
这本书整整写了两年,两年里忧世伤生,展想中止,由于杨绛女士不断的督促,替我挡了许多事,省出时间来,得以锱铢积累地写完.照例这本书该献给她,不过,近来觉得献书也像"致身于国" "还政于民"等等佳话.只是话言幻成的空花泡影,各说交付出去,其实只仿佛魔术家玩的飞刀放手而并没有脱手.随你怎样把作品献给人,作品总是自己的,大不了一本书还不值得这样精巧地不老实,因此罢了.
十五年[一九四九年]十二月十五

我试试看吧：The preface is in this book, I want to write the some some societies in modern China , a kind of personage . Writing to this kind of people, I have not forgotten they are the mankind, just the mankind , have no hair basic root of two foot animals. The role is certainly fictitious, but certainly the person who has the textual criticism addiction is unwilling to miss the chance to ask for latently . This book has been written for two years totally, anxiety is grown wounded generation in two years, the exhibition wants to discontinue , because Ms. Yang Jiang's constant supervising , block a lot of things for me , save the time of appearing, must use the ancient unit of weight, equal to 1/24 liang of the ancient unit of weight, equal to one fourth of a liang to write accumulating. The book as a rule should dedicate she to, but is it offer book too like is it is it wait a moment for the much-told tale to " hand state power back to the people " to " send to body on country " to think recently. Speech unreal become empty to spend visionary hope just, is it is it go out to pay to say each , seem magic flying knife that house play with go all out and not slip out of the hand only in fact. As how you dedicate the works to somebody, the works are always one's own, a book is not still worth being so precise at the worst