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小说: 01-economy 字数: 每页4000字

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                              Economy



    When I wrote the following pages; or rather the bulk of them; I

lived alone; in the woods; a mile from any neighbor; in a house

which I had built myself; on the shore of Walden Pond; in Concord;

Massachusetts; and earned my living by the labor of my hands only。

I lived there two years and two months。  At present I am a sojourner

in civilized life again。

    I should not obtrude my affairs so much on the notice of my

readers if very particular inquiries had not been made by my

townsmen concerning my mode of life; which some would call

impertinent; though they do not appear to me at all impertinent;

but; considering the circumstances; very natural and pertinent。

Some have asked what I got to eat; if I did not feel lonesome; if I

was not afraid; and the like。  Others have been curious to learn

what portion of my income I devoted to charitable purposes; and

some; who have large families; how many poor children I maintained。

I will therefore ask those of my readers who feel no particular

interest in me to pardon me if I undertake to answer some of these

questions in this book。  In most books; the I; or first person; is

omitted; in this it will be retained; that; in respect to egotism;

is the main difference。  We commonly do not remember that it is;

after all; always the first person that is speaking。  I should not

talk so much about myself if there were anybody else whom I knew as

well。  Unfortunately; I am confined to this theme by the narrowness

of my experience。  Moreover; I; on my side; require of every writer;

first or last; a simple and sincere account of his own life; and not

merely what he has heard of other men's lives; some such account as

he would send to his kindred from a distant land; for if he has

lived sincerely; it must have been in a distant land to me。  Perhaps

these pages are more particularly addressed to poor students。  As

for the rest of my readers; they will accept such portions as apply

to them。  I trust that none will stretch the seams in putting on the

coat; for it may do good service to him whom it fits。

    I would fain say something; not so much concerning the Chinese

and Sandwich Islanders as you who read these pages; who are said to

live in New England; something about your condition; especially your

outward condition or circumstances in this world; in this town; what

it is; whether it is necessary that it be as bad as it is; whether

it cannot be improved as well as not。  I have travelled a good deal

in Concord; and everywhere; in shops; and offices; and fields; the

inhabitants have appeared to me to be doing penance in a thousand

remarkable ways。  What I have heard of Bramins sitting exposed to

four fires and looking in the face of the sun; or hanging suspended;

with their heads downward; over flames; or looking at the heavens

over their shoulders 〃until it becomes impossible for them to resume

their natural position; while from the twist of the neck nothing but

liquids can pass into the stomach〃; or dwelling; chained for life;

at the foot of a tree; or measuring with their bodies; like

caterpillars; the breadth of vast empires; or standing on one leg on

the tops of pillars  even these forms of conscious penance are

hardly more incredible and astonishing than the scenes which I daily

witness。  The twelve labors of Hercules were trifling in comparison

with those which my neighbors have undertaken; for they were only

twelve; and had an end; but I could never see that these men slew or

captured any monster or finished any labor。  They have no friend

Iolaus to burn with a hot iron the root of the hydra's head; but as

soon as one head is crushed; two spring up。

    I see young men; my townsmen; whose misfortune it is to have

inherited farms; houses; barns; cattle; and farming tools; for these

are more easily acquired than got rid of。  Better if they had been

born in the open pasture and suckled by a wolf; that they might have

seen with clearer eyes what field they were called to labor in。  Who

made them serfs of the soil?  Why should they eat their sixty acres;

when man is condemned to eat only his peck of dirt?  Why should they

begin digging their graves as soon as they are born?  They have got

to live a man's life; pushing all these things before them; and get

on as well as they can。  How many a poor immortal soul have I met

well…nigh crushed and smothered under its load; creeping down the

road of life; pushing before it a barn seventy…five feet by forty;

its Augean stables never cleansed; and one hundred acres of land;

tillage; mowing; pasture; and woodlot!  The portionless; who

struggle with no such unnecessary inherited encumbrances; find it

labor enough to subdue and cultivate a few cubic feet of flesh。

    But men labor under a mistake。  The better part of the man is

soon plowed into the soil for compost。  By a seeming fate; commonly

called necessity; they are employed; as it says in an old book;

laying up treasures which moth and rust will corrupt and thieves

break through and steal。  It is a fool's life; as they will find

when they get to the end of it; if not before。  It is said that

Deucalion and Pyrrha created men by throwing stones over their heads

behind them:



           Inde genus durum sumus; experiensque laborum;

           Et documenta damus qua simus origine nati。



Or; as Raleigh rhymes it in his sonorous way;



  〃From thence our kind hard…hearted is; enduring pain and care;

   Approving that our bodies of a stony nature are。〃



So much for a blind obedience to a blundering oracle; throwing the

stones over their heads behind them; and not seeing where they fell。

    Most men; even in this comparatively free country; through mere

ignorance and mistake; are so occupied with the factitious cares and

superfluously coarse labors of life that its finer fruits cannot be

plucked by them。  Their fingers; from excessive toil; are too clumsy

and tremble too much for that。  Actually; the laboring man has not

leisure for a true integrity day by day; he cannot afford to sustain

the manliest relations to men; his labor would be depreciated in the

market。  He has no time to be anything but a machine。  How can he

remember well his ignorance  which his growth requires  who has

so often to use his knowledge?  We should feed and clothe him

gratuitously sometimes; and recruit him with our cordials; before we

judge of him。  The finest qualities of our nature; like the bloom on

fruits; can be preserved only by the most delicate handling。  Yet we

do not treat ourselves nor one another thus tenderly。

    Some of you; we all know; are poor; find it hard to live; are

sometimes; as it were; gasping for breath。  I have no doubt that

some of you who read this book are unable to pay for all the dinners

which you have actually eaten; or for the coats and shoes which are

fast wearing or are already worn out; and have come to this page to

spend borrowed or stolen time; robbing your creditors of an hour。

It is very evident what mean and sneaking lives many of you live;

for my sight has been whetted by experience; always on the limits;

trying to get into business and trying to get out of debt; a very

ancient slough; called by the Latins aes alienum; another's brass;

for some of their coins were made of brass; still living; and dying;

and buried by this other's brass; always promising to pay; promising

to pay; tomorrow; and dying today; insolvent; seeking to curry

favor; to get custom; by how many modes; only not state…prison

offenses; lying; flattering; voting; contracting yourselves into a

nutshell of civility or dilating into an atmosphere of thin and

vaporous generosity; that you may persuade your neighbor to let you

make his shoes; or his hat; or his coat; or his carriage; or import

his groceries for him; making yourselves sick; that you may lay up

something against a sick day; something to be tucked awa

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