Section Four The Relation Between Literature and Life
文学是人生的反映，人生是文学的根底。是人生造就了文学，而文学又回过来服务于人生。文学与人生的关系正如人与自己影子的关系。文学是人生的精髓，或更确切地说，文学是人生的表现，表现包含着材料的选择和艺术的加工。
Literature is the reflection of human life while human life is the root of literature. It is human life thatmakes up literature， whereas literature serves human life in return. Literature stands related to human life asman stands to man’s own shadow. Literature is the essence of Life， or to be more exact， literature is the re-presentation of life. Re-presentation includes selection of material and artistic improvement.
一切种类的文学艺术的源泉究竟是从何而来的呢？作为观念形态的文艺作品，都是一定的社会生活在人类头脑中的反映的产物。人民生活中本来存在着文学艺术原料的矿藏，这是自然形态的东西，是粗糙的东西，但也是最生动、最丰富、最基本的东西；从这点上说，它们使一切文学艺术相形见绌，它们是一切文学艺术取之不尽、用之不竭的唯一源泉。
In the last analysis， what is the source of all literature and art？ Works of literature and art， as ideologicalforms， are products of the reflection in the human brain of the life of a given society. The life of the peopleis always a mine of the raw materials for literature and art， materials in their natural form， materials that arecrude， but most vital， rich and fundamental； they make all literature and art seem pallid by comparison； theyprovide literature and art with an inexhaustible source， their only source.
人类的社会生活虽是文学艺术的唯一源泉，虽是较之后者有不可比拟的生动丰富的内容，但是人们还是不满足于前者而要求后者。这是为什么呢？因为虽然两者都是美，但是文艺作品中反映出来的生活却可以而且应该比普通的实际生活更高，更强烈，更有集中性，更典型，更理想，因此就更带普遍性。
Although man’s social life is the only source of literature and art and is incomparably livelier and richerin content， people are not satisfied with life alone and demand literature and art as well. Why？ Because， whileboth are beautiful， life as reflected in works of literature and art can and ought to be on a higher plane， moreintense， more concentrated， more typical， nearer the ideal， and therefore more universal than actual everydaylife.
一般而言，一部文学作品，就其来源与应用方面愈普遍愈广泛，则该文学作品的价值愈大，其影响愈佳。
Generally speaking， the more universal or general a literary work is， both in its sources and in itsapplication， the greater is the value of that literary work and the better is its influence.
最佳文学作品含有人生最大量的、最有意义的、最有兴趣的部分（或种类），得到最完善的艺术处理，因此能给人以一个真与美的强烈、动人的印象，使读者既受教益、启迪，又得到乐趣。
The best literary work， then， contains the greatest amount of the most significant and interesting part(or kind) of life， and that has been treated by the most perfect art， giving thereby a powerful and fascinatingimpression of truth and beauty， making the readers edified (instructed) and amused at the same time.