问题是钱锺书的英语到底什么水平？,简单的描述是从小就听说钱钟书英语多神多神，今天看到几篇钱的文章，觉得他的英语句子过于简单，行文也不顺畅，妥妥地看出是非母语。不知我的观点是否正确？<br>Author's Preface<br>In this book I intended to write about a certain segment of society and a certain kind of people in modern China. In writing about these people， I did not forget they are human beings， still human beings with the basic nature of hairless， two-legged animals. The characters are of course fictitious， so those with a fondness for history need not trouble themselves trying to trace them out.<br>The writing of this book took two years altogether. It was a time of great grief and disruption， during which I thought several times of giving up. Thanks to Madame Yang Chiang， who continuously urged me on while holding other matters at bay， I was able through the accumulation of many small moments to find the time to finish it. This book should be dedicated to her. But lately it seems to me that dedicating a book is like the fine rhetoric about offering one's life to one's country， or handing the reins of the government back to the people. This is but the vain and empty juggling of language. Despite all the talk about handing it over， the book remains like the<br>flying knife of the magician - released without ever leaving the hand. And when he dedicates his work in whatever manner he chooses， the work is still the author's own. Since my book is a mere trifle， it does not call for such ingenious disingenuousness. I therefore have not bothered myself about the dedication.<br>Ch'ien Chung-Shu<br>December 15， 1946<br>有兴趣的可以多搜索几篇来看。<br>----以下是钱的信件--------<br>第一封信 <br><br>My Dear Shu-Wu（1），May 14 <br><br>Your letter gives me a joyful surprise（2）. Your English is astonishingly good. This is not“flannel”nor“butter”（3）but my sincere opinion my hand upon my heart. The idea found from your version of Chairmans statement is， to say the least， quite unjust（4）. Perhaps your hand is recovering some of its old cunning momentarily lost through long lack of practice（5）. At any rate， it would be a pity-nay， a sin， a crime（6）-to let your7 English get rusty amp become finally unserviceable. <br><br>Yours in haste <br><br>By a slip of pen， you wrote“allocation”instead of“Collocation”.This is a mere peccadillo. Dont let meticulousness about such trifles cramp your style. <br>第二封信 <br><br>My Dear Lin1May <br><br>Excuse this belated reply to your very kind May Day greetings2. Its almost literally“a day after the fair”. What with fixing the mosquito net， queuing for sweets at the co-op store， fetching amp distributing letters， amp the thousand and one odds and ends which eat away ones time， the red letter day was over before I know where I was3. Well4， here go my best wishes in which my wife joins. Your letter makes me ashamed. I feel guilty like a swindler who has won your“gratitude”without doing anything to earn it. Your characteristic generosity has led you to overestimate the aids to study I gave. Yes， vocabulary is important. Pedagogues used to distinguish a pupils active or 5 writing amp speaking vocabulary. As you know， the latter is far more extensive than the former. How to turn the supinely passive into the nimbly activethats the big problem6. However， enough of shop talk. Tomorrow to the battle amp more power to your elbow7 <br><br>Yours Sincerely， <br>第三封信<br>My Dear Lin1， <br><br>I am deeply grateful， but I have smiting of conscience2. As you know， I have my own ration of sugar， amp I must not deprive you of yours3. As to the dim sum， a healthy young man has more need of them to stay his hunger4 between the meals--much more that and old man does. So I am returning them with heartfelt thanks--accompanied with a little token of esteem5. The latest No. of Broadsheet is worth glancing at.6 <br><br>Your thankfully,正文为Burris Ewell连他赖以为证的老外朋友的名字都打错了Arnstein 打成Arstein ，我说怎么这么奇怪的名字，搜也搜不到.