Many people believe that yellowing and wetness are the greatest enemy of stamps. In fact, stamps are afraid of not only wetness, but also light and dirty things. People protect their stamps in several different ways.

 To protect stamps,we should never touch the stamps with our hands.This avoids moving dirty things onto them. Stamp tweezers (镊子) should be used in all conditions.

 Stamps are printed things. The colour will slowly disappear if the stamps are put in the light for a long time. So we should not put stamps in the light for long. Direct sunlight must be avoided as well.

 Wetness is an important  problem for stamps. Some  collectors  will put stamps  in separate plastic (塑料) bags. However, it is possible that some stamps have taken in some water from the air before they are put into the plastic bags.Stamps yellow easily and rapidly after they take in wet air.To protect the stamps, some people also put the stamps into a special room which has a machine to  keep the air cool and dry. However, not many people can afford that.

 To keep stamps, stamp collectors usually put them under plastic covers. It is a common and simple way. This helps because the plastic cover keeps the stamps off the wet air. It also stops the fingersfrom touching te stamps.

 Some  collectors  prefer  to  store  stamps  inside  a  plastic  box  with  desiccants  (干燥剂).However, we should take care not to let the stamps. touch the desiccants. On top of that, don't  take your stamps out on a wet day.

    子曰：“饭疏食，饮水，曲肱而枕之，乐亦在其中矣。不义而富且贵，于我如浮云。”（《论语》）

    庄子钓于濮水，楚王使大夫二人往请，曰：“愿以境内累矣！”庄子持竿不顾，曰：“吾闻楚有神龟，死已三千岁矣，王以巾笥^①而藏之庙堂之上。此龟者，宁其死为留骨而贵乎？宁其生而曳尾于涂中乎？”二大夫曰：“宁生而曳尾涂中。”庄子曰：“往矣！吾将曳尾于涂中。”（《庄子》）

【注解】①巾：覆盖用的丝麻织品。这里名词用作动词，用锦缎包裹。笥：一种盛放物品的竹器。名词用作动词，用竹匣装。