屋顶间的哲学家_梭维斯特-第15章
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everythingihadseenseemedtoaccusethecivilizationofwhichwearesoproud！ihadwanderedintoalittleby…street；withwhichiwasnotacquainted；andifoundmyselfsuddenlyinthemiddleofthosedreadfulabodeswherethepoorareborn；tolanguishanddie。ilookedatthosedecayingwalls；whichtimehascoveredwithafoulleprosy；thosewindows；fromwhichdirtyragshangouttodry；thosefetidgutters；whichcoilalongthefrontsofthehouseslikevenomousreptiles！
ifeltoppressedwithgrief；andhastenedon。
alittlefartheroniwasstoppedbythehearseofahospital；adeadman；naileddowninhisdealcoffin；wasgoingtohislastabode；withoutfuneralpomporceremony；andwithoutfollowers。therewasnothereeventhatlastfriendoftheoutcast鈥斺�攖hedog；whichapainterhasintroducedasthesoleattendantatthepaupersburial！hewhomtheywerepreparingtomittotheearthwasgoingtothetomb；ashehadlived；alone；doubtlessnoonewouldbeawareofhisend。inthisbattleofsociety；whatsignifiesasoldiertheless？
butwhat；then；isthishumansociety；ifoneofitsmemberscanthusdisappearlikealeafcarriedawaybythewind？
thehospitalwasnearabarrack；attheentranceofwhicholdmen；women；andchildrenwerequarrellingfortheremainsofthecoarsebreadwhichthesoldiershadgiventhemincharity！thus；beingslikeourselvesdailywaitindestitutiononourpassiontillwegivethemleavetolive！wholetroopsofoutcasts；inadditiontothetrialsimposedonallgodschildren；havetoendurethepangsofcold；hunger；andhumiliation。unhappyhumanmonwealth！wheremanisinaworseconditionthanthebeeinitshive；ortheantinitssubterraneancity！
ah！whatthenavailsourreason？whatistheuseofsomanyhighfaculties；ifweareneitherthewisernorthehappierforthem？whichofuswouldnotexchangehislifeoflaborandtroublewiththatofthebirdsoftheair；towhomthewholeworldisalifeofjoy？
howwelliunderstandtheplaintofmao；inthepopulartalesofthefoyerbretonwho；whendyingofhungerandthirst；says；ashelooksatthebullfinchesriflingthefruit…trees：
〃alas！thosebirdsarehappierthanchristians；theyhavenoneedofinns；orbutchers；orbakers；orgardeners。godsheavenbelongstothem；andearthspreadsacontinualfeastbeforethem！thetinyfliesaretheirgame；ripegrasstheircornfields；andhipsandhawstheirstoreoffruit。theyhavetherightoftakingeverywhere；withoutpayingoraskingleave：thusesitthatthelittlebirdsarehappy；andsingallthelivelongday！〃
butthelifeofmaninanaturalstateislikethatofthebirds；heequallyenjoysnature。〃theearthspreadsacontinualfeastbeforehim。〃
what；then；hashegainedbythatselfishandimperfectassociationwhichformsanation？woulditnotbebetterforeveryonetoturnagaintothefertilebosomofnature；andlivethereuponherbountyinpeaceandliberty？
august20th；fouroclocka。m鈥斺�攖hedawncastsaredglowonmybed…curtains；thebreezebringsinthefragranceofthegardensbelow。hereiamagainleaningonmyelbowsbythewindows；inhalingthefreshnessandgladnessofthisfirstwakeningoftheday。
myeyealwayspassesovertheroofsfilledwithflowers；warbling；andsunlight；withthesamepleasure；butto…dayitstopsattheendofabuttresswhichseparatesourhousefromthenext。
thestormshavestrippedthetopofitsplastercovering；anddustcarriedbythewindhascollectedinthecrevices；and；beingfixedtherebytherain；hasformedasortofaerialterrace；wheresomegreengrasshassprungup。amongitrisesastalkofwheat；whichto…dayissurmountedbyasicklyearthatdroopsitsyellowhead。
thispoorstraycropontheroofs；theharvestofwhichwillfalltotheneighboringsparrows；hascarriedmythoughtstotherichcropswhicharenowfallingbeneaththesickle；ithasrecalledtomethebeautifulwalksitookasachildthroughmynativeprovince；whenthethreshing…floorsatthefarmhousesresoundedfromeverypartwiththesoundofaflail；andwhenthecarts；loadedwithgoldensheaves；cameinbyalltheroads。
istillrememberthesongsofthemaidens；thecheerfulnessoftheoldmen；theopen…heartedmerrimentofthelaborers。therewas；atthattime；somethingintheirlooksbothofprideandfeeling。thelattercamefromthankfulnesstogod；theformerfromthesightoftheharvest；therewardoftheirlabor。theyfeltindistinctlythegrandeurandtheholinessoftheirpartinthegeneralworkoftheworld；theylookedwithprideupontheirmountainsofcorn…sheaves；andtheyseemedtosay；nexttogod；itiswewhofeedtheworld！
whatawonderfulorderthereisinallhumanlabor！
whilethehusbandmanfurrowshisland；andpreparesforeveryonehisdailybread；thetownartizan；faraway；weavesthestuffinwhichheistobeclothed；theminerseeksundergroundtheironforhisplow；thesoldierdefendshimagainsttheinvader；thejudgetakescarethatthelawprotectshisfields；thetax…ptrolleradjustshisprivateinterestswiththoseofthepublic；themerchantoccupieshimselfinexchanginghisproductswiththoseofdistantcountries；themenofscienceandofartaddeverydayafewhorsestothisidealteam；whichdrawsalongthematerialworld；assteamimpelsthegigantictrainsofourironroads！thusallunitetogether；allhelponeanother；thetoilofeachonebenefitshimselfandalltheworld；theworkhasbeenapportionedamongthedifferentmembersofthewholeofsocietybyatacitagreement。if；inthisapportionment；errorsaremitted；ifcertainindividualshavenotbeenemployedaccordingtotheircapacities；thosedefectsofdetaildiminishinthesublimeconceptionofthewhole。
thepoorestmanincludedinthisassociationhashisplace；hiswork；hisreasonforbeingthere；eachissomethinginthewhole。
thereisnothinglikethisformaninthestateofnature。ashedependsonlyuponhimself；itisnecessarythathebesufficientforeverything。
allcreationishisproperty；buthefindsinitasmanyhindrancesashelps。hemustsurmounttheseobstacleswiththesinglestrengththatgodhasgivenhim；hecannotreckononanyotheraidthanchanceandopportunity。noonereaps；manufactures；fights；orthinksforhim；heisnothingtoanyone。heisaunitmultipliedbythecipherofhisownsinglepowers；whilethecivilizedmanisaunitmultipliedbythewholeofsociety。
but；notwithstandingthis；theotherday；disgustedbythesightofsomevicesindetail；icursedthelatter；andalmostenviedthelifeofthesavage。
oneoftheinfirmitiesofournatureisalwaystomistakefeelingforevidence；andtojudgeoftheseasonbyacloudorarayofsunshine。
wasthemisery；thesightofwhichmademeregretasavagelife；reallytheeffectofcivilization？mustweaccusesocietyofhavingcreatedtheseevils；oracknowledge；onthecontrary；thatithasalleviatedthem？couldthewomenandchildren；whowerereceivingthecoarsebreadfromthesoldier；hopeinthedesertformorehelporpity？thatdeadman；whoseforsakenstateideplored；hadhenotfound；bythecaresofahospital；acoffinandthehumblegravewherehewasabouttorest？
alone；andfarfrommen；hewouldhavediedlikethewildbeastinhisden；andwouldnowbeservingasfoodforvultures！thesebenefitsofhumansocietyareshared；then；bythemostdestitute。whoevereatsthebreadthatanotherhasreapedandkneaded；isunderanobligationtohisbrother；andcannotsayheoweshimnothinginreturn。thepoorestofushasreceivedfromsocietymuchmorethanhisownsinglestrengthwouldhavepermittedhimtowrestfromnature。
butcannotsocietygiveusmore？whodoubtsit？errorshavebeenmittedinthisdistributionoftasksandworkers。timewilldiminishthenumberofthem；withnewlightsabetterdivisionwillarise；theelementsofsocietygoontowardperfection；likeeverythingelse。thedifficultyistoknowhowtoadaptourselvestotheslowstepoftime；whoseprogresscanneverbeforcedonwithoutdanger。
august14th；sixoclocka。m鈥斺�攎ygarretwindowrisesupontherooflikeamassivewatch…tower。thecornersarecoveredbylargesheetsoflead；whichrunintothetiles；thesuccessiveactionofcoldandheathasmadethemrise；andsoacrevicehasbeenformedinanangleontherightside。thereasparrowhasbuilthernest。
ihavefollowedtheprogressofthisaerialhabitationfromthefirstday。ihaveseenthebirdsuccessivelybringthestraw；moss；andwooldesignedfortheconstructionofherabode；andihaveadmiredtheperseveringskillsheexpendedinthisdifficultwork。atfirst；mynewneighborspentherdaysinflutteringoverthepoplarinthegarden；andinchirpingalongthegutters；afineladyslifeseemedtheonlyonetosuither。thenallofasudden；thenecessityofpreparingashelterforherbroodtransformedouridlerintoaworker；shenolongergaveherselfeitherrestorrelaxation。isawheralwayseitherflying；fetching；orcarrying；neitherrainnorsunstoppedher。astrikingexampleofthepowerofnecessity！weareindebtedtoitnotonlyformostofourtalents；butformanyofourvirtues！
isitnotnecessitythathasgiventhepeopleoflessfavoredclimatesthatconstantactivitywhichhasplacedthemsoquicklyattheheadofnations？astheyaredeprivedofmostofthegiftsofnature；theyhavesuppliedthembytheirindustry；necessityhassharpenedtheirunderstanding；enduranceawakenedtheirforesight。whileelsewhereman；warmedbyaneverbrilliantsun；andloadedwiththebountiesoftheearth；wasremainingpoor；ignorant；andnake
