联合国教科文组织选择4月23日成为世界读书日的灵感来自于一个美丽的传说。实际上，这一天也是莎士比亚、塞万提斯和加西拉索·德·拉·维加等文学巨匠的辞世纪念日。在这个意义非凡的日子里，让我们共读那些经典名著的双语开场白，细细品读书籍带给我们的感悟吧。
World Book Day is celebrated by UNESCO on April 23, every year. Books are our best friends, guiders, and philosophers. April 23 is a symbolic date for world literature because on this date in 1616 that Cervantes, Shakespeare, and Inca Garcilaso de la Vega all died. Hence, the day was selected to pay tribute to the great literary figures.
In the preparation for World Book and Copyright Day, UNESCO encouraged people to challenge themselves, to explore new topics, formats, or genres out of their ordinary. “Our goal is to engage people in reading, and to have fun doing so! As a celebration of this year's World's Book and Copyright Day, UNESCO has created a 'Bookface' challenge," it said on its website.
每年4月23日，联合国教科文组织都会庆祝世界读书日。书是我们最好的朋友，导师和思想家。 4月23日在世界文学领域颇具纪念意义，因为世界文学巨匠莎士比亚、塞万提斯和加西拉索·德·拉·维加都是在1616年４月23日逝世的。因此，选择这一天为世界读书日是向这些伟大的文学泰斗致敬。
在筹备“世界图书和版权日”时，教科文组织鼓励人们挑战自己，探索新的阅读主题，形式或体裁。“我们的目标是让人们参与阅读，并从中获得乐趣！为了庆祝今年的世界图书和版权日，联合国教科文组织创造了“书本”挑战。”
World Book Day 2021: Theme
Each year, UNESCO and the international organizations representing the three major sectors of the book industry -- publishers, booksellers, and libraries -- select the World Book Capital for a one-year period, through its own initiatives, the impetus of the Day’s celebrations, effective April 23 each year.
As per UNESCO, the city of Tbilisi in Georgia was selected as the World Book Capital for 2021.
2021年世界图书日：主题
每年，教科文组织和国际组织都会代表图书业三个主要部门（出版商，书商和图书馆）选出当年的世界图书之都，以此来推动这一天的庆祝活动，每年的4月23日生效。
根据联合国教科文组织的数据，佐治亚州第比利斯市被选为2021年世界图书之都。
World Book Day 2021: History
In 1995, UNESCO decided to celebrate April 23 as World Book Day or World Book and Copyright Day, and since then, the date has prominence in the history of literature.
April 23 marks the death and birth anniversary of many other prominent authors, such as Maurice Druon, Haldor K.Laxness, Vladimir Nabokov, Josep Pla, and Manuel Mejía Vallejo. Therefore, it became obvious to UNESCO to choose April 23 to celebrate World Book Day worldwide.
2021年世界图书日：历史背景
1995年，联合国教科文组织决定将4月23日定为“世界图书日”或“世界图书与版权日”，从那时起，这一日期在文学史上就占有举足轻重的地位。
4月23日是莫里斯·德鲁恩，霍尔多·拉克斯尼斯，弗拉基米尔·纳博科夫，约瑟夫·普拉和曼努埃尔·梅亚·瓦列霍等许多其他著名作家的逝世纪念日。因此，联合国教科文组织毫无悬念地选择了4月23日在世界范围内庆祝这一节日。
World Book Day 2021: Celebration
Every year, numerous events are held on this day but this year, due to the widespread Covid-19 virus, most educational institutions are closed for the safety of their students, teachers, and staff.
People spending time at home can download a good book through the internet and read positive books and gain knowledge.
2021年世界图书日：庆祝活动
每年的世界读书日都会举行许多庆祝活动，但是今年，由于新冠病毒疫情，大多数教育机构都出于对学生，老师和员工的安全考虑被关闭。
人们花更多的时间在家里通过互联网下载一本好书，从书中获得正能量和知识。
双语版世界名著经典开场白
名著之所以是名著，是因为它无论经历怎样的风霜打磨依然散发思想和艺术的魅力。而不少文学名著中的第一句话、第一段话，往往是整部著作的神韵所在。它们或将人深深吸引，或令人陷入深思，使读者欲罢不能。
Jane Austen: Pride and Prejudice
简·奥斯丁《傲慢与偏见》
It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife.
但凡财运俱佳的单身汉，必然想娶妻成家，这是举世公认的道理。
★点评★
这是本书所描绘的大部分人物都秉持的观点，简•奥斯丁在开头用这样一句话引出了班内特夫妇的对话，刻画出人物性格，以衬托伊丽莎白的鲜明个性。
Albert Camus: The Stranger
阿尔贝•加缪《局外人》
Mother died today. Or maybe, yesterday; I can't be sure.
今天，妈妈死了。也许是昨天，我不知道。
★点评★
小说以这种不动声色而又蕴含内在力量的平静语调，为我们塑造了一个惊世骇俗的“荒谬的人”：对一切都漠然置之的主人公。
Charles Dickens: A Tale Of Two Cities
查尔斯•狄更斯《双城记》
It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair, we had everything before us, we had nothing before us, we were all going direct to Heaven, we were all going direct the other way.
这是最好的时代，这是最坏的时代；这是智慧的时代，这是愚蠢的时代；这是信仰的时期，这是怀疑的时期；这是光明的季节，这是黑暗的季节；这是希望之春，这是失望之冬；人们面前有着各样事物，人们面前一无所有；人们正在直登天堂，人们正在直下地狱。
★点评★
狄更斯的这部小说，奏响了法国大革命时期的一首悲歌。那个复杂的年代，信仰与怀疑混杂，光明与黑暗交织，希望与失望并行。这段“开头语”形象地描述了一个无比复杂的时代。
Ernest Hemingway: The Old Man And The Sea
海明威《老人与海》
He was an old man who fished alone in a skiff in the Gulf Stream and he had gone eighty-four days now without taking a fish.
他是个独自在湾流中一条小船上钓鱼的老人，至今已去了八十四天，一条鱼也没逮住。
★点评★
这部备受赞誉的小说，一开头便如大海中的冰山，三分在外，七分在内，强烈地吸引着读者读下去。而这种“冰山效应”，也成为海明威作品风格的写照。
Vladimir Nabokov: Lolita
弗拉基米尔•纳博科夫《洛丽塔》
Lolita, light of my life, fire of my loins. My sin, my soul. Lo-lee-ta: the tip of the tongue taking a trip of three steps down the palate to tap, at three, on the teeth. Lo. Lee. Ta.
洛丽塔，我生命之光，我欲念之火。我的罪恶，我的灵魂。洛——丽——塔：舌尖向上，分三步，从上颚往下轻轻落在牙齿上。洛。丽。塔。
★点评★
通篇几乎只由[t], [l], [s] 3个音开头的单词组成，而[t], [l] 两个音是唇齿相碰的情况下，最外向性的音节，而这种头韵（Alliteration）的运用，是英文中最典雅的写作方式之一。这也是最能在读音中体现“欲望”的音节，加上长短句错落，很有节奏感。在结尾特意强调了Lo. Lee. Ta.是为了让读者自发去读这一段，然后感受这种欲望感。
Leo Tolstoy: Anna Karenina
列夫•托尔斯特《安娜•卡列尼娜》
All happy families are alike; each unhappy family is unhappy in its own way.
幸福的家庭都是相似的,不幸的家庭各有各的不幸。
★点评★
这部缠绵悱恻又荡气回肠的作品，开头却如此简洁，真犹如：千言万语化作一声叹息。
Charlotte Bronte: Jane Eyre
夏洛蒂•勃朗特《简•爱》
There was no possibility of taking a walk that day. We had been wandering, indeed, in the leafless shrubbery an hour in the morning; but since dinner (Mrs. Reed, when there was no company, dined early) the cold winter wind had brought with it clouds so sombre, and a rain so penetrating, that further out-door exercise was now out of the question.
那天，出去散步是不可能了。其实，早上我们还在光秃秃的灌木林中溜达了一个小时，但从午饭时起(无客造访时，里德太太很早就用午饭)便刮起了冬日凛冽的寒风，随后阴云密布，大雨滂沱，室外的活动也就只能作罢了。
★点评★
《简·爱》是一部带有自传色彩的长篇小说，它阐述了这样一个主题：人的价值=尊严+爱。小说开头所展现给我们的场景便如女主人公的性格和遭遇：纯净如水中蕴含着矛盾和激情。
Marcel Proust: In Search of Lost Time
普鲁斯特《追忆似水年华》
For a long time I used to go to bed early. Sometimes, when I had put out my candle, my eyes would close so quickly that I had not even time to say "I'm going to sleep." And half an hour later the thought that it was time to go to sleep would awaken me.
在很长一段时期里，我都是早早就躺下了。有时候，蜡烛才灭，我的眼皮儿随即合上，都来不及咕哝一句“我要睡着了”。半小时之后，我才想到应该睡觉。这一想，我反倒清醒过来。
★点评★
这部影响深远的意识流小说，开篇便与众不同。主人翁在蒙胧与清醒的交错之间，千思百绪集于心头，水到渠成地引出下文。
Garcia Marquez: One Hundred Years of Solitude
马尔克斯《百年孤独》
Many years later, as he faced the firing squad, Colonel Aureliano Buendía was to remember that distant afternoon when his father took him to discover ice. At that time Macondo was a village of twenty adobe houses, built on the bank of a river of clear water that ran along a bed of polished stones, which were white and enormous, like prehistoric eggs.
很多年以后，奥雷连诺上校站在行刑队面前，准会想起父亲带他去参观冰块的那个遥远的下午。当时，马孔多是个20户人家的村庄，一座座土房都盖在河岸上，河水清澈，沿着遍布石头的河床流去，河里的石头光滑、洁白，活像史前的巨蛋。
★点评★
这部“再现拉丁美洲历史社会图景的鸿篇巨著”，一开篇便将读者拉入一个颇具魔幻色彩的境地。“遍布石头的河床像史前的巨蛋”，引人入胜，令人遐想。