远在文字出现之前，歌谣跟口头流传的神话就已大量产生。中国的文学正是开始于此。不过，歌谣本是人们在生活中随兴而发的东西，上古时代也没有保存和记载它们的方式，因此也就很快湮灭，不留痕迹。如今，我们只能从一些古书中推断它们的存在。古书中记载了一些年代非常久远的歌谣，但是大多出于后人的伪托，能够断定出处的歌谣要到《诗经》里才能看见。从这点来看，古代神话对中国文学的影响更为显着。

　　【翻译词汇】

　　歌谣 ballad

　　随兴而发 improvise

　　痕迹 trace

　　推断 deduce

　　年代非常久远的 time-honored

　　伪托 derivative

　　《诗经》 The Book of Songs

　　【精彩译文】Long before the emergence of the written word, ballads and myths, passed around by word of mouth, were widely popular. Chinese literature finds its origins in these traditions. However, ballads were what people improvised out of daily life, and due to lack of means to record and preserve them in ancient times, they quickly disappeared without leaving much of a trace. Today, we can only deduce their existence from ancient books, which recorded some time-honored ballads, though most of these are believed to be derivatives of later generations. Ballads in The Book of Songs are the earliest writings that can be dated. From this point of view, ancient mythology has had a greater influence on Chinese literature.