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09-the ponds-第2章

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or changeable silks and sword blades suggest; more cerulean than the

sky itself; alternating with the original dark green on the opposite

sides of the waves; which last appeared but muddy in comparison。  It

is a vitreous greenish blue; as I remember it; like those patches of

the winter sky seen through cloud vistas in the west before sundown。

Yet a single glass of its water held up to the light is as colorless

as an equal quantity of air。  It is well known that a large plate of

glass will have a green tint; owing; as the makers say; to its

〃body;〃 but a small piece of the same will be colorless。  How large

a body of Walden water would be required to reflect a green tint I

have never proved。  The water of our river is black or a very dark

brown to one looking directly down on it; and; like that of most

ponds; imparts to the body of one bathing in it a yellowish tinge;

but this water is of such crystalline purity that the body of the

bather appears of an alabaster whiteness; still more unnatural;

which; as the limbs are magnified and distorted withal; produces a

monstrous effect; making fit studies for a Michael Angelo。

    The water is so transparent that the bottom can easily be

discerned at the depth of twenty…five or thirty feet。  Paddling over

it; you may see; many feet beneath the surface; the schools of perch

and shiners; perhaps only an inch long; yet the former easily

distinguished by their transverse bars; and you think that they must

be ascetic fish that find a subsistence there。  Once; in the winter;

many years ago; when I had been cutting holes through the ice in

order to catch pickerel; as I stepped ashore I tossed my axe back on

to the ice; but; as if some evil genius had directed it; it slid

four or five rods directly into one of the holes; where the water

was twenty…five feet deep。  Out of curiosity; I lay down on the ice

and looked through the hole; until I saw the axe a little on one

side; standing on its head; with its helve erect and gently swaying

to and fro with the pulse of the pond; and there it might have stood

erect and swaying till in the course of time the handle rotted off;

if I had not disturbed it。  Making another hole directly over it

with an ice chisel which I had; and cutting down the longest birch

which I could find in the neighborhood with my knife; I made a

slip…noose; which I attached to its end; and; letting it down

carefully; passed it over the knob of the handle; and drew it by a

line along the birch; and so pulled the axe out again。

    The shore is composed of a belt of smooth rounded white stones

like paving…stones; excepting one or two short sand beaches; and is

so steep that in many places a single leap will carry you into water

over your head; and were it not for its remarkable transparency;

that would be the last to be seen of its bottom till it rose on the

opposite side。  Some think it is bottomless。  It is nowhere muddy;

and a casual observer would say that there were no weeds at all in

it; and of noticeable plants; except in the little meadows recently

overflowed; which do not properly belong to it; a closer scrutiny

does not detect a flag nor a bulrush; nor even a lily; yellow or

white; but only a few small heart…leaves and potamogetons; and

perhaps a water…target or two; all which however a bather might not

perceive; and these plants are clean and bright like the element

they grow in。  The stones extend a rod or two into the water; and

then the bottom is pure sand; except in the deepest parts; where

there is usually a little sediment; probably from the decay of the

leaves which have been wafted on to it so many successive falls; and

a bright green weed is brought up on anchors even in midwinter。

    We have one other pond just like this; White Pond; in Nine Acre

Corner; about two and a half miles westerly; but; though I am

acquainted with most of the ponds within a dozen miles of this

centre I do not know a third of this pure and well…like character。

Successive nations perchance have drank at; admired; and fathomed

it; and passed away; and still its water is green and pellucid as

ever。  Not an intermitting spring!  Perhaps on that spring morning

when Adam and Eve were driven out of Eden Walden Pond was already in

existence; and even then breaking up in a gentle spring rain

accompanied with mist and a southerly wind; and covered with myriads

of ducks and geese; which had not heard of the fall; when still such

pure lakes sufficed them。  Even then it had commenced to rise and

fall; and had clarified its waters and colored them of the hue they

now wear; and obtained a patent of Heaven to be the only Walden Pond

in the world and distiller of celestial dews。  Who knows in how many

unremembered nations' literatures this has been the Castalian

Fountain? or what nymphs presided over it in the Golden Age?  It is

a gem of the first water which Concord wears in her coronet。

    Yet perchance the first who came to this well have left some

trace of their footsteps。  I have been surprised to detect

encircling the pond; even where a thick wood has just been cut down

on the shore; a narrow shelf…like path in the steep hillside;

alternately rising and falling; approaching and receding from the

water's edge; as old probably as the race of man here; worn by the

feet of aboriginal hunters; and still from time to time unwittingly

trodden by the present occupants of the land。  This is particularly

distinct to one standing on the middle of the pond in winter; just

after a light snow has fallen; appearing as a clear undulating white

line; unobscured by weeds and twigs; and very obvious a quarter of a

mile off in many places where in summer it is hardly distinguishable

close at hand。  The snow reprints it; as it were; in clear white

type alto…relievo。  The ornamented grounds of villas which will one

day be built here may still preserve some trace of this。

    The pond rises and falls; but whether regularly or not; and

within what period; nobody knows; though; as usual; many pretend to

know。  It is commonly higher in the winter and lower in the summer;

though not corresponding to the general wet and dryness。  I can

remember when it was a foot or two lower; and also when it was at

least five feet higher; than when I lived by it。  There is a narrow

sand…bar running into it; with very deep water on one side; on which

I helped boil a kettle of chowder; some six rods from the main

shore; about the year 1824; which it has not been possible to do for

twenty…five years; and; on the other hand; my friends used to listen

with incredulity when I told them; that a few years later I was

accustomed to fish from a boat in a secluded cove in the woods;

fifteen rods from the only shore they knew; which place was long

since converted into a meadow。  But the pond has risen steadily for

two years; and now; in the summer of '52; is just five feet higher

than when I lived there; or as high as it was thirty years ago; and

fishing goes on again in the meadow。  This makes a difference of

level; at the outside; of six or seven feet; and yet the water shed

by the surrounding hills is insignificant in amount; and this

overflow must be referred to causes which affect the deep springs。

This same summer the pond has begun to fall again。  It is remarkable

that this fluctuation; whether periodical or not; appears thus to

require many years for its accomplishment。  I have observed one rise

and a part of two falls; and I expect that a dozen or fifteen years

hence the water will again be as low as I have ever known it。

Flint's Pond; a mile eastward; allowing for the disturbance

occasioned by its inlets and outlets; and the smaller intermediate

ponds also; sympathize with Walden; and recently attained their

greatest height at the same time with the latter。  The same is true;

as far as my observation goes; of White Pond。

    This rise and fall of Walden at long intervals serves this use

at le

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