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第4章

01-economy-第4章

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may now send its shoot upward also with confidence。  Why has man

rooted himself thus firmly in the earth; but that he may rise in the

same proportion into the heavens above?  for the nobler plants are

valued for the fruit they bear at last in the air and light; far


from the ground; and are not treated like the humbler esculents;

which; though they may be biennials; are cultivated only till they

have perfected their root; and often cut down at top for this

purpose; so that most would not know them in their flowering season。

    I do not mean to prescribe rules to strong and valiant natures;

who will mind their own affairs whether in heaven or hell; and

perchance build more magnificently and spend more lavishly than the

richest; without ever impoverishing themselves; not knowing how they

live  if; indeed; there are any such; as has been dreamed; nor to

those who find their encouragement and inspiration in precisely the

present condition of things; and cherish it with the fondness and

enthusiasm of lovers  and; to some extent; I reckon myself in this

number; I do not speak to those who are well employed; in whatever

circumstances; and they know whether they are well employed or not;

 but mainly to the mass of men who are discontented; and idly

complaining of the hardness of their lot or of the times; when they

might improve them。  There are some who complain most energetically

and inconsolably of any; because they are; as they say; doing their

duty。  I also have in my mind that seemingly wealthy; but most

terribly impoverished class of all; who have accumulated dross; but

know not how to use it; or get rid of it; and thus have forged their

own golden or silver fetters。

    If I should attempt to tell how I have desired to spend my life

in years past; it would probably surprise those of my readers who

are somewhat acquainted with its actual history; it would certainly

astonish those who know nothing about it。  I will only hint at some

of the enterprises which I have cherished。

    In any weather; at any hour of the day or night; I have been

anxious to improve the nick of time; and notch it on my stick too;

to stand on the meeting of two eternities; the past and future;

which is precisely the present moment; to toe that line。  You will

pardon some obscurities; for there are more secrets in my trade than

in most men's; and yet not voluntarily kept; but inseparable from

its very nature。  I would gladly tell all that I know about it; and

never paint 〃No Admittance〃 on my gate。

    I long ago lost a hound; a bay horse; and a turtle dove; and am

still on their trail。  Many are the travellers I have spoken

concerning them; describing their tracks and what calls they

answered to。  I have met one or two who had heard the hound; and the

tramp of the horse; and even seen the dove disappear behind a cloud;

and they seemed as anxious to recover them as if they had lost them

themselves。

    To anticipate; not the sunrise and the dawn merely; but; if

possible; Nature herself!  How many mornings; summer and winter;

before yet any neighbor was stirring about his business; have I been

about mine!  No doubt; many of my townsmen have met me returning

from this enterprise; farmers starting for Boston in the twilight;

or woodchoppers going to their work。  It is true; I never assisted

the sun materially in his rising; but; doubt not; it was of the last

importance only to be present at it。

    So many autumn; ay; and winter days; spent outside the town;

trying to hear what was in the wind; to hear and carry it express!

I well…nigh sunk all my capital in it; and lost my own breath into

the bargain; running in the face of it。  If it had concerned either

of the political parties; depend upon it; it would have appeared in

the Gazette with the earliest intelligence。  At other times watching

from the observatory of some cliff or tree; to telegraph any new

arrival; or waiting at evening on the hill…tops for the sky to fall;

that I might catch something; though I never caught much; and that;

manna…wise; would dissolve again in the sun。

    For a long time I was reporter to a journal; of no very wide

circulation; whose editor has never yet seen fit to print the bulk

of my contributions; and; as is too common with writers; I got only

my labor for my pains。  However; in this case my pains were their

own reward。

    For many years I was self…appointed inspector of snow…storms and

rain…storms; and did my duty faithfully; surveyor; if not of

highways; then of forest paths and all across…lot routes; keeping

them open; and ravines bridged and passable at all seasons; where

the public heel had testified to their utility。

    I have looked after the wild stock of the town; which give a

faithful herdsman a good deal of trouble by leaping fences; and I

have had an eye to the unfrequented nooks and corners of the farm;

though I did not always know whether Jonas or Solomon worked in a

particular field to…day; that was none of my business。  I have

watered the red huckleberry; the sand cherry and the nettle…tree;

the red pine and the black ash; the white grape and the yellow

violet; which might have withered else in dry seasons。

    In short; I went on thus for a long time (I may say it without

boasting); faithfully minding my business; till it became more and

more evident that my townsmen would not after all admit me into the

list of town officers; nor make my place a sinecure with a moderate

allowance。  My accounts; which I can swear to have kept faithfully;

I have; indeed; never got audited; still less accepted; still less

paid and settled。  However; I have not set my heart on that。

    Not long since; a strolling Indian went to sell baskets at the

house of a well…known lawyer in my neighborhood。  〃Do you wish to

buy any baskets?〃 he asked。  〃No; we do not want any;〃 was the

reply。  〃What!〃 exclaimed the Indian as he went out the gate; 〃do

you mean to starve us?〃  Having seen his industrious white neighbors

so well off  that the lawyer had only to weave arguments; and; by

some magic; wealth and standing followed  he had said to himself:

I will go into business; I will weave baskets; it is a thing which I

can do。  Thinking that when he had made the baskets he would have

done his part; and then it would be the white man's to buy them。  He

had not discovered that it was necessary for him to make it worth

the other's while to buy them; or at least make him think that it

was so; or to make something else which it would be worth his while

to buy。  I too had woven a kind of basket of a delicate texture; but

I had not made it worth any one's while to buy them。  Yet not the

less; in my case; did I think it worth my while to weave them; and

instead of studying how to make it worth men's while to buy my

baskets; I studied rather how to avoid the necessity of selling

them。  The life which men praise and regard as successful is but one

kind。  Why should we exaggerate any one kind at the expense of the

others?

    Finding that my fellow…citizens were not likely to offer me any

room in the court house; or any curacy or living anywhere else; but

I must shift for myself; I turned my face more exclusively than ever

to the woods; where I was better known。  I determined to go into

business at once; and not wait to acquire the usual capital; using

such slender means as I had already got。  My purpose in going to

Walden Pond was not to live cheaply nor to live dearly there; but to

transact some private business with the fewest obstacles; to be

hindered from accomplishing which for want of a little common sense;

a little enterprise and business talent; appeared not so sad as

foolish。

    I have always endeavored to acquire strict business habits; they

are indispensable to every man。  If your trade is with the Celestial

Empire; then some small counting house on the coast; in some Salem

harbor; will be fixture enough。  You will export such

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