diff --git a/space/space.h b/space/space.h
index 3dae1dd..b18a21d 100755
--- a/space/space.h
+++ b/space/space.h
@@ -313,12 +313,8 @@ public:
 	template<class Stream>
 	void SerializeTableMulti(Stream & out, bool use_indents, int level) const;
 
-	template<class Stream>
-	static void PrintValue(Stream & out, const std::wstring & str, bool use_quote = true);
-
-	// for other uses
-	template<class Stream>
-	static void PrintValue(Stream & out, const std::string & str, bool use_quote = true);
+	template<class Stream, class StringType>
+	static void PrintValue(Stream & out, const StringType & str, bool use_quote = true);
 
 	template<class Stream>
 	static void PrintKey(Stream & out, const std::wstring & str);
@@ -361,61 +357,28 @@ void Space::PrintLevel(Stream & out, bool use_indents, int level)
 
 
 
-template<class Stream>
-void Space::PrintValue(Stream & out, const std::wstring & str, bool use_quote)
+
+template<class Stream, class StringType>
+void Space::PrintValue(Stream & out, const StringType & str, bool use_quote)
 {
 	if( use_quote )
 		out << '\"';
 
 	for(size_t i=0 ; i<str.size() ; ++i)
 	{
-		if( str[i] == '\\' )
-			out << L"\\\\";
-		else
-		if( str[i] == '"' )
-			out << L"\\\"";
-		else
-		if( str[i] == '\r' )
-			out << L"\\r";
-		else
-		if( str[i] == '\n' )
-			out << L"\\n";
-		else
-		if( str[i] == 0 )
-			out << L"\\0";
-		else
-			out << str[i];
-	}
-
-	if( use_quote )
-		out << '\"';
-}
-
-
-template<class Stream>
-void Space::PrintValue(Stream & out, const std::string & str, bool use_quote)
-{
-	if( use_quote )
-		out << '\"';
-
-	for(size_t i=0 ; i<str.size() ; ++i)
-	{
-		if( str[i] == '\\' )
-			out << "\\\\";
-		else
-		if( str[i] == '"' )
-			out << "\\\"";
-		else
-		if( str[i] == '\r' )
-			out << "\\r";
-		else
-		if( str[i] == '\n' )
-			out << "\\n";
-		else
-		if( str[i] == 0 )
-			out << "\\0";
-		else
+		switch(str[i])
+		{
+		case 0:		out << '\\';	out << '0';		break;
+		case '\r':	out << '\\';	out << 'r';		break;
+		case '\n':	out << '\\';	out << 'n';		break;
+		case '\\':	out << '\\';	out << '\\';	break;
+		case '"':	out << '\\';	out << '\"';	break;
+		case '(':	out << '\\';	out << '(';		break;
+		case ')':	out << '\\';	out << ')';		break;
+		case '=':	out << '\\';	out << '=';		break;
+		default:
 			out << str[i];
+		}
 	}
 
 	if( use_quote )
diff --git a/space/spaceparser.cpp b/space/spaceparser.cpp
index c5798a0..0a7155b 100755
--- a/space/spaceparser.cpp
+++ b/space/spaceparser.cpp
@@ -410,11 +410,15 @@ void SpaceParser::ReadTokenSingle(bool white_delimit, bool new_line_delimit, int
 			SkipLine();
 
 		if( lastc == -1								||
-			lastc == list_end						||
-			(delimit1 != -1   && lastc == delimit1)	||
-			(delimit2 != -1   && lastc == delimit2)	||
 			(white_delimit    && IsWhite(lastc))	||
-			(new_line_delimit && lastc == '\n') )
+			(!char_was_escaped &&
+			(
+				lastc == list_end						||
+				(new_line_delimit && lastc == '\n')		||
+				(delimit1 != -1   && lastc == delimit1)	||
+				(delimit2 != -1   && lastc == delimit2)
+			) ) )
+
 		{
 			break;
 		}
@@ -662,11 +666,10 @@ int SpaceParser::ReadChar()
 		switch(lastc)
 		{
 		case '0':	lastc = 0;		break;
-		case 'n':	lastc = '\n';	break;
-		case '\\':	lastc = '\\';	break;
-		case 'r':	lastc = '\r';	break;
 		case 't':	lastc = '\t';	break;
-		case '"':	lastc = '"';	break;
+		case 'r':	lastc = '\r';	break;
+		case 'n':	lastc = '\n';	break;
+		// in other cases we return the last character
 		}
 	}