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闲情偶记（Pleasant Diversions） 李渔（Li Yu） 妇人读书习字，所难只在入门。入门之后，其聪明必过于男子，以男子念纷，而妇人心一故也。导之入门，贵在情窦未开之际，开则志念稍分，不似从前之专一。然买姬置妾，多在三五、二八之年，娶而不御，使作蒙童求我者，宁有几人？如必俟情窦未开，是终身无可授之人矣。惟在循循善诱，勿阻其机，“扑作教刑”一语，非为女徒而设也。 Females find reading and writing difficult only at the point of entry. Once they have got their foot in the door, they are quicker to learn than males, because males lack concentration, while females pay undivided attention. It is best to show them across the threshold before they are initiated into sex, because once they are so initiated, their firmness of purpose suffers somewhat, and they are not as single-minded as before. The trouble is, concubines are installed at the age of fifteen or sixteen, usually, and how many of us can treat them as apprentices seeking instruction from us, instead of taking them to bed? We would never have a student all our lives if we had to wait for a virgin. The only thing is to lead them on gently and patiently, taking care not to blunt their initiative – the use of the stick as a teaching aid, as recommended in our Book of History, does not apply to female students. 先令识字，字识而后教之以书。识字不贵多，每日仅可数字，取其笔画最少，眼前易见者训之。由易而难，由少而多，日积月累，则一年半载以后，不令读书而自解寻章觅句矣。乘其爱看之时，急觅传奇之有情节、小说之无破绽者，听其翻阅，则书非书也，不怒不威而引人登堂入室之明师也。其故维何？以传奇、小说所载之言，尽是常谈俗语，妇人阅之，若逢故物。譬如一句之中，共有十字，此女已识者七，未识者三，顺口念去，自然不差。是因已识之七字，可悟未识之三字，则此三字也者，非我教之，传奇、小说教之也。由此而机锋相触，自能曲喻旁通。再得男子善为开导，使之由浅而深，则共枕论文，较之登坛讲艺，其为时雨之化，难易奚止十倍哉？ | 
