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