小说是满足一定需求的商品。人们需要购买白日梦，就像需要购买冰淇淋，阿司匹林或杜松子酒一样。他们甚至需要不时购买少量的知识分子猫咪才能使自己的想法变得活跃...
(A novel is a commodity that fulfills a certain need; people need to buy daydreams like they need to buy ice cream or aspirin or gin. They even need to buy a pinch of intellectual catnip now and then to liven up their thoughts...)