回信,固然可畏,不回信,也絕非什么樂事。書架上經常疊著百多封未回之信,“債齡”或長或短,長的甚至在一年以上,那樣的壓力,也絕非一個普通的罪徒所能負擔的。一疊未回的信,就像一群不散的陰魂,在我罪深孽重的心底憧憧作祟。理論上說來,這些信當然是要回的。我可以坦然向天發誓,在我清醒的時刻,我絕未存心不回人信。問題出在技術上。給我一整個夏夜的空閑,我該先回一年半前的那封信呢,還是7個月前的這封?
Replying to letters is horrible, whereas not replying is by no means a matter of bliss. Normally a hundred or so letters are stacked on my bookshelf, with diverse maturity of debt, the longest being over a year. That kind of pressure is more than an ordinary sinner can bear. A stack of. unanswered letters batters on me like a group of haunting ghosts and plays havoc with my smitten conscience. In principle, the letters are there for replying to. I can swear in all honesty that I have never consciously determined not to answer letters.