瓦爾登湖原文譯文（瓦爾登湖翻譯之）

2023-07-24 09:48:14 2

瓦爾登湖原文譯文?在我寫下文那時——確切地講，應該是文章的主體部分，獨自住在森林裡，跟最近的鄰居也有一英裡地的距離，我住的房子是我自己建造的，在麻薩諸塞州瓦爾登湖畔上，與大自然和諧相處，我靠自己的雙手維持生計，並在那裡住了兩年零兩個月目前，我又恢復了愜意無比的旅居生活，今天小編就來聊一聊關於瓦爾登湖原文譯文?接下來我們就一起去研究一下吧!

瓦爾登湖原文譯文

在我寫下文那時——確切地講，應該是文章的主體部分，獨自住在森林裡，跟最近的鄰居也有一英裡地的距離，我住的房子是我自己建造的，在麻薩諸塞州瓦爾登湖畔上，與大自然和諧相處，我靠自己的雙手維持生計，並在那裡住了兩年零兩個月。目前，我又恢復了愜意無比的旅居生活。

我不想讓讀者對我太過關注從而把我的生活搞得一團糟，鎮上的人不要對我的生活方式過多地問詢，這麼講可能有點不禮貌，在我看來，他們不是太過唐突，宏觀來看，大家都非常純樸非常禮貌。有人問我吃了什麼，是否覺得孤單；是否害怕等等；也有人好奇我把多少收入投入了慈善事業；我供養了多少大家庭中的孩子。因此，如果本書中有我沒回答到的問題，我請求那些對我沒有特別興趣的讀者朋友們原諒。在大部分書中，沒有用到「我」或「第一人稱」；本書有；本書的自我主義是與其他書最大的區別。我們通常不記得這一點，畢竟，總是以第一人稱在講述。如果那裡有我比較了解的人的話，我是不會談論太多自己的話題的。可惜，以我狹隘的人生經驗，我只能受限於這一主題。

此外，我以個人觀點建議每一個作家，無論好壞，都要純粹而真誠地寫一下自己的生活，不只是聽寫他人的生活；有人會寫生活在遠離親人的異國他鄉；倘若他虔誠地生活，那肯定跟我一樣生活在偏遠之地。或許這些文字更可能是寫給窮學生的。對其他讀者來講，他們會接受這個部分的。我相信沒有人填補這個縫隙，寫過這樣的書，因為這本書可能是為某人量身打造的。

我非常高興，讀這些文字的人，不管是中國人還是麻薩諸塞州桑威奇島上的人，或者是住在新英格蘭的人，也無論你貧富，無論你身份如何，背景怎樣，無論你在這個小鎮上，還是在小鎮之外，無論這個世界是什麼樣，不管它這幅糟糕的樣子是否為其必然，也不管是否它能得以改善。我的日子大部分時間過得極為和諧，在任何地方，商店，工作室，田間。我發現這裡的居民以各種不同的方式過著苦哈哈的日子，像是贖罪一樣。聽說，婆羅門教的教徒周身圍火朝著太陽仰面而坐，或頭朝下，腳朝上，倒掛在火上烘烤，或者扭動脖子凝視天堂，直到他們的身體無法恢復原狀，只能吃流質食物為止；或者用鎖鏈把腳銬在一棵樹上終其一生；或者像毛毛蟲一樣用身體丈量大帝國的廣度；或是單腳站在柱子頂端——而我日常所見景象與這些刻意而為之的苦事相比，有過之而無不及。赫拉克勒斯的12件難差都不足以與我的鄰居們所做的事情相比較；因為那只是12件，是有盼頭的；但是我從沒看到這些男人獵殺或捕獲過任何怪物，或是完成過一件苦差事。他們沒有伊奧勞斯這樣的朋友用燙熨鬥去燒九頭蛇怪海德拉長頭的根部，以防打坎掉一個頭，又會冒出兩個來。

我看到鎮上那些年輕男子的不幸來源於繼承的農場，房屋，畜棚，牛，以及農具；獲得這些東西要比丟掉容易得多。假如他們重新出生在空曠的牧場，由一隻狼給他們餵奶，或許他們可以更清楚地看到自己被喚往怎樣的田地裡勞動，是誰給他們劃分的土地？為何有人能享有60英畝土地的供養，他們只能吃土卻還要受到譴責？為什麼他們一出生就要自掘墳墓？人就應該過人的生活，跟好運氣撞個滿懷，盡己所能把日子過得好一點。我見過多少糟糕的靈魂近乎苦萎，在人生之路上負重蠕動，推動著它前面那75英尺長，40英尺寬的大穀倉，一個從未被清洗過的奧吉亞斯牛圈，和100英畝土地，耕種、鋤草、放牧、還要護林！縱然沒有財產繼承權的人落得一身輕鬆，沒有這些累贅，也得為了養活幾立方英尺的凡胎肉身，加足馬力憋屈度日啊。

人們只是在錯誤中勞作。矯健的身軀很快被梨頭耕過，化為泥土中的肥料。正如古書中所言，他們的命運極為相似，通常這稱之為一種必然性，他們被僱用，儲存財富，這些財富遭到飛蛾和鏽斑吞噬，並遭到小偷盜竊。這是一個愚蠢的生命，或許他們生前不明白，那麼到生命最後的日子終會明白的。據說希臘神話中，杜卡利翁和皮拉夫婦從頭頂向身後扔石頭創造了人類，有詩云：——從此，人類成為堅硬之物，任勞任怨，

證明我們的身體本是巖石

與羅利詠漢的詩句有異曲同工之妙——

「從此，我們柔軟而堅硬，歷盡千帆，

證明我們的身體如石般堅硬。」

對錯誤的神諭如此盲目遵從，從頭頂向後拋石頭，從來不看石頭所落何處。

大多數人，即使在這個相對自由的國度，單憑無知與錯誤，滿載著虛幻的憂慮，忙於沒完沒了的粗活，即便這樣，也從來摘取不到生命的碩果。他們的手指，由於過度勞苦，變得粗糙僵硬，抖動不止，對於摘取果實已經無能為力了。其實，辛勞的人們，日復一日，根本無暇顧及自己真正的完好性；他無法與人維繫最堅毅的關係，他的勞動一到市場就貶值。他沒有時間做別的，只是一臺不停運轉的機器。他怎能清楚地記得自己的無知呢——他完全仰仗無知而成長——誰會經常動腦子呢？在我們對他進行評價前，我們應該解決他們的溫飽問題，用我們的熱情滋養他們，那是我們的優良品質，正如果實表皮那層保護膜一樣，需要精心料理才能得以完好保存，可往往我們對人對己都沒有那麼溫和。

我們很清楚，許多人的生活很艱難，有時候，可以說是連呼吸都困難。我不懷疑本書的讀者中，有人連吃下肚的晚餐錢都付不了，或者付不起穿在身上的衣服和鞋子錢，再或者是早已一身襤褸，能讀到這幾頁文字還得借點或者偷點時間，從債主那裡偷取一小時。顯然，你們是過著多麼東躲西藏的糟糕生活，我的親身經歷讓我更加明白，生活上捉襟見肘，就要拼命工作，努力還債，身陷古老的泥沼中，拉丁文稱之為「aes alienum」，意為「別人的銅幣中」，為別人掙錢；在別人的銅幣的奴役下，活著，死去，歸於塵土；總是保證明天還，明天還，今天就死掉了，債務還未償清；不知用了多少法子，點頭哈腰低三下四說上一籮筐好話，請求體諒，總算沒有進監獄；撒謊，拍馬屁，投票，把自己萎縮到諂媚的小果殼裡，或者吹牛把自己吹到大氣裡，直到譁一下蒸發為無有，或許你說服你的鄰居讓你幫他做鞋子，或縫帽子，或做外套，或做輛車，或幫他代買食品；奔忙中你把自己熬出病了，你可能攢錢為了抗過患病的日子，你們把錢塞進舊箱子裡，或者藏在抹灰牆後，或者，更安全一點，放在銀行的磚房裡；無論存放在哪裡，無論藏了多少，或者無論少得有多可憐。

我有時候會詫異我們竟會如此愚不可及，我幾乎要說，居然實行罪惡滔天的，從外國引進的黑人奴隸制，有這麼多頭腦精明的奴隸主，奴役奴隸們達到南北通吃的地步。而且幾乎看不到一個南方的奴役監守人；有個北方的監守人簡直是糟透了；但是最糟糕的莫過於人去奴役自己。還談什麼人類的神聖與偉大！看看公路上的趕馬人，日夜兼程趕往市場的路上；在他的內心，有什麼神聖的思想在萌動呢？一個把餵馬和飲馬視為最高使命的人！與運輸利益相比，他的命運算什麼？還不是給一位繁忙的紳士趕車嗎？他有何神聖，有何不朽可言呢？看看他有多畏首畏尾，有多戰戰兢兢，既不能不朽也不神聖，而是自己思想的奴隸和囚犯，他所幹的行業就掙來這麼個名聲。公眾思想與個人思想相比，公眾思想就是個無能的暴君。一個人對自己的思考才能決定，或者準確地印證他的命運。即使在印度西部地區談論心靈與想像的自我解放——那裡何來一個帶來光明的威伯福斯呢？想想看，這片土地上的女人們編織著梳妝用的坐墊等死，一點都不關心自己的命運！仿佛蹉跎歲月與永恆無傷呢。

大多數人過著死滅槁木一般的生活。所謂的聽天由命，是一種得到證實的絕望。小到絕望的城市，大到絕望的國家。他們以水貂和麝鼠的勇毅來寬慰自己。被固化的思想和潛意識裡的絕望深埋於所謂的人類遊戲與娛樂之下。他們不玩兒，因為玩兒這種事情是下班之後做的事情，不過，不做絕望的事，才是智慧的一種表徵。

在我們用教理問答提出人生最好的結局是什麼，以及生命的真諦和意義是什麼時，人們似乎謹慎地選擇了生活的共通模式，因為在他們眼裡，沒有什麼能與之相比擬的。他們知道自己別無選擇，機警健康的人都知道太陽終古常新。摒棄偏見從來都不晚。無論多麼古老的思想和行為，沒有考證就不可相信。今天的每個人，要麼在重複中度日，要麼在沉默中生活，或許明天會成為一種虛幻，思想如煙般虛無飄渺，有人將其寄希望於能給他們的土地潑灑雨水的一片烏雲。老人們說你做不到的那些事，你發現你能做到。老人有老一套，新人有新一套。老人們根本不知道讓火苗得以為繼就要注入新的燃料；年輕人在鍋底加點幹木頭，像小鳥一樣在地球上盤旋，諺語稱之為「氣死老頭子」。這個時代也好不到哪裡去，老年人還沒達到指導年輕人的地步，因為他們收穫的並沒有失去的多。我們幾乎要懷疑，即使最聰明的人，是否已經收穫了地地道道的生命價值呢。實際上，老年人根本沒有什麼可給年輕人的重要忠告，他們自己的經驗尚且支離破碎，且他們的生活又是如此淪為慘痛的失敗，他們一定承認這一切是自己造成的；也許他們擁有某些信仰，這信仰與他們的經歷是相悖的，可惜，他們不同以往那麼年輕力壯了。我在這個星球上已經生活了約有30年了，還沒聽家裡的長輩講過一些有價值的甚至是嚴肅的建議。他們什麼都沒告訴過我，可能是講不出什麼中肯的建議吧，這是我還沒有充分體驗過的生活，老年人體驗過了，但卻於我無用。如果我得到了個人認為有價值的人生經驗，我一定會這樣想，這個嘛，前輩們可沒有講過。

一位農夫對我說，「你不能只靠蔬菜生活，因為蔬菜沒有骨頭所需的養分」；他虔誠地花時間奉上自己的骨骼，跟在靠吃草長骨頭的牛身後，邊走邊說，儘管田地凹凸不平，牛在前面拉著他和笨重的耕地犁一路前行。有些東西在某些圈子裡—譬如最無助的病人中——是必需品，在另外的圈子卻成了奢侈，再換成別的圈子，又成了聞所未聞的東西。

對一些人來說，人們賴以生存的所有土地，都已被他們的先輩走過了，高山、溪谷、等等所有這些東西都受到了先輩們的關懷和愛戴。約翰·伊夫林（1620-1706,英國作家和園藝家）曾說過，「睿智的所羅門規定樹木之間應有的距離；羅馬長官也曾規定，你多久可以光顧鄰國的土地撿拾那落下來的橡子，這麼做既不算非法入侵，又保證了應該屬於鄰國的份額。」希波克拉底（公元前460-公元前約377,希臘名醫，號稱醫藥之父）甚至留下了教我們如何剪指甲的方法；要剪得不長不短，與手指頭齊平，毋庸置疑，枯燥與乏味會僭越耗盡生命的多彩與快樂，這種事情可與亞當（《聖經》中上帝所造的第一人）的年齡相匹敵。但是人的能力從未被準確地測定過，我們也無法通過往事去判定人類能做什麼，因此被突破的事情少之又少。目前為止，無論你有多麼失敗，「不要懊惱，我的孩子，因為哪有人會叫你做你沒做過的事情呢？」

我們可能會用一千種法子淺償生活；譬如說，向地球灑下光輝，使我的豆子成熟的，和照耀著太陽系內所有星球的，是同一個太陽。如果我早明了這個道理，就能避免某些錯誤。可惜，我鋤地的時候這束光沒有照進我的思想。掛於穹頂之上的星鬥亦散發著點點星光！遍布世界各個角落的不同物種正在同一時刻想著同一件事情！自然及人生，如同我們的幾項章程一樣，變化無常。誰能妄言他人的生命有什麼樣的可能？還有什麼比瞬間洞悉彼此的眼神更偉大的奇蹟嗎？我們本應在一小時之內，就經歷這世上的所有時代；哦，時代的所有世界，其中包括歷史，詩歌，神話！——我不知道，品讀哪個人的經歷會有這些描述更驚人更廣闊呢。

凡是我的鄰居們認為還不錯的，大部分我卻覺得不怎麼樣，如果有什麼要我反思的，大概就是我做人的堂堂正正了吧。我這般賢德，會有什麼樣的促狹鬼得空絆我一絆呢？你也許會講最聰明的話，老人家—您活了七十歲，過得也算體面—可我卻聽到一個美妙的聲音，叫我遠遠地躲開這一切。一代人摒棄上一代人的精神，猶如拋棄擱淺了的船一樣。

我認為，我們堅定地相信要遠勝於我們相信。我們在別處真誠地給予付出時，可能常常忽略了對自我的關懷。大自然既能包容我們的長處，也能包容我們的弱點。持續的愁悶和壓力幾乎成了不治之症。我們天生就愛誇大工作的重要性；且說我們有多少沒有做的工作？或者說，倘若我們生病了怎麼辦？我們是多麼謹小慎微啊！如果可以繞開信仰，我們就決定不靠它生活；白天我們都繃得緊緊的，晚上我們違心地為自己祈禱，卻把自己交給命運。因此，我們徹徹底底的被迫求生存，一面敬畏我們的生命，一面又否認改變的可能性。我們說，只能這樣活著；然而，辦法如同一個圓的半徑那麼多。一切改變皆為需要思考的奇蹟；可是，這個奇蹟發生的可能性是那麼遙不可及。孔子說過，「知之為知之，不知為不知，是知也。」只要有一人把想像的事實當作自己理解的事實，我料想，所有的人最終都在那個基礎上建設自己的生活。

讓我們稍微想一下，我指出來的大部分煩惱和愁慮是什麼，我們為之愁煩的必要有多大，或者至少還得小心謹慎的必要有多大。儘管向外在文明邁進，如果僅僅是了解生活所需是什麼，用什麼方法來獲得這些東西；或者查閱有關商人的古書，看看那時候的人們在商店裡最常購買的東西是什麼，商店裡存什麼貨，毛利最大的食品雜貨是什麼的話，對於過一種原生態的遠古生活倒是大有裨益。時代在進步，人類生存的基本法則卻幾乎沒有多大影響，就像我們的骨骼，古今無不同。

我的理解是，所謂生活必需品，是人類通過自己努力而來的一切，換句話說，它從一開始起（或者經過長期使用的），真正對人類特別重要的卻很少，很多人，無論是出於野蠻、貧窮，還是哲學的原因，是不靠它生活的。不過，有一樣必需品必不可少，那就是食物。對於原野上的野牛而言，如果他找不到森林或山陰處的棲身之地，那他的必需品就是幾英寸高的嫩草和可以飲用的水。野獸需要的，不外乎就是食物和棲身之處。準確來講，在這種氣候下，人類的必需品分為這麼幾大類：食物，居所，衣服，和燃料；只有滿足這些基本需求，我們才有自由享受真正的人生，並追求成功。人類的發明創造，不僅限於房屋，還有衣服和熟食；也許是偶然發現火可以取暖，便加以利用它，起初，用火是一種奢侈，最終發展為現在唾手可得的必需品。我們發現，貓和狗也有第二天性。只要住得舒服，穿得恰當，無疑我們就會暖和；但是，如果我們住的地方太熱，穿得太厚，或者燃料加得太多，外部的熱量就大大超過了我們體內的熱量，那不等於烘烤人體嗎？自然科學家達爾文說，在他自己開派對時，火地島上那些穿得很厚實的土著居民坐得離火爐很近也不覺得熱，他驚訝地看到，在遠處的那些一絲不掛的野蠻人「在這樣的烘烤之下，身上卻淌著汗。」因此，我們被告知，赤身裸體的新荷蘭人若無其事地走來走去，歐洲人卻凍得在自己的衣服裡瑟瑟發抖。難道不能實現兼具野蠻人的結實和文明人的智慧嗎？據德國化學家李比希所言，人體是一個火爐，食物作為燃料，維持肺裡的消耗。天氣冷我們就吃得多，天氣暖我們就吃得少。動物的熱量消耗得很慢，如果熱量消耗得快，疾病和死亡就找上門了；或者換句話說，缺乏燃料，或通風有問題，火就會熄滅。當然，生命的熱量不可與火混為一談；不過大致類似。因此，從上述內容來看，動物的生命幾乎等同於動物的體溫；因為，可以把食物當作燃料來維持身體的熱量——而燃料會用來烹煮食物，或者以外部添加的方式來取暖——住所和衣服也是這樣產生和吸收熱能的。

因此，人體最大的需求就是要保暖，要保有維持生命的熱量。我們為此會相應地歷盡艱辛，不僅要有吃的、穿的、和住的，還要有床，床品是我們的睡衣，攫取鳥巢裡和鳥兒胸脯上的羽毛，在一個棲身地裡打造另一個棲身地，如同鼴鼠在自己的地洞盡頭做了一個茅草窩一樣！窮人成天抱怨這個世界的寒冷，然而肉體上的冷並不比社會冷，我們坦率地指出自身的很多弊病。夏天，有些氣候區，可以說是讓人類過上了神仙日子。除了烹煮食物，燃料沒有什麼使用的必要了；陽光普照大地，很多水果在它的照耀下熟透了；通常，食物的花樣越發多了，也容易得到，衣服和房子完全用不到或者部分用不到了。現如今，在這個國度，我看到勞動人民的一些工具：一把刀，一把斧子，一把鍬，一輛獨輪手推車等等，燈光，文具，和幾本書，這些歸於次要物品了，可是這些東西總共也花不了幾個錢 。曾有那麼一些人，真是不夠聰明，跑去地球的另一邊，到那些環境惡劣，又不衛生的地區，把自己投入到生意中，10或20年就過去了，他們可能為了謀生——把日子過得溫暖舒適——最終客死新英格蘭。富豪們獲得的，不足以用舒適溫暖來形容，而是熱得異常；正如我前文提到的，他們簡直是在烘烤中度日，當然，是時髦感地烘烤。

多數奢侈品以及所謂的舒適生活用品並非不可或缺，還極大地妨礙人類進步。就奢侈和舒適度而言，較之窮人，最睿智的人的生活則過得更為簡單樸素。中國、印度、波斯、和希臘的先哲們之思想不謀而合，外在，他們過得比誰都清貧；內裡，他們卻比誰都富有。我們對他們知之甚少。顯然，我們又知道不少。近代改革者與民族救星亦是如此。人唯有站在自甘清貧的位置，方能公正睿智地觀察人類生活。無論在農業，商業，文學還是藝術界，奢侈生活結出的果實仍是奢侈。時下很多哲學教授並非哲學家。只因教授曾一度過著令人羨慕的生活，教授便令人羨慕不已。要成為哲學家，不僅要有睿智的思想，甚至於建立一個學派，且熱愛智慧，以至於智慧地生活，過一種純粹、獨立、達觀和充滿希望的生活。哲學是解學人生問題，不僅僅在理論上，還要體現在實踐中。學者和思想家取得的巨大成功通常類似於侍者式的成功，不是王者式的，也非強者式的。他們只是遵從流俗，生活上做了一個轉變，實際上，同父輩們一般無二，更談不上成為促進人類偉大進步的先驅了。那人類為什麼退化了呢？什麼使得許多家族敗落呢？什麼是摧毀民族的奢侈本質？難道我們能保證自己的生活中沒有奢侈嗎？而哲學家超越了他的年齡，甚至是超越了他生命的外在形式。他的衣食住行不同於同時代的人。一個人既然做了哲學家，豈能沒有比別人更好的辦法來維持他生命的熱量呢？

一個人有了我講過的若干方式保暖時，他接下來需要什麼呢？當然不是要更多溫暖、更多更豐富的食物、更大更豪華的房子、更好更多的衣服、更多更持久更旺盛的火苗等等諸如此類的東西。他得到這些生活必需品時，就不會再要那些剩餘物品了，而是有了其他選擇；那就是，從卑微的苦力中解脫，開始度假，經歷生命中的奇遇。似乎這裡的泥土很適合種子生長，因為它的根奮力地往土裡鑽，它的芽玩強不屈地透到地面上來。人類把自己牢牢地紮根於土地，為什麼就不能同樣恰如其分地上升到天空中去呢？——因為，名貴植物的價值是由遠離地面、在空氣和陽光的恩賜下結出的果實來評定的，不可與低矮的蔬菜相提並論，那些蔬菜，即使是兩年生的品種，也只被栽培到把根紮好為止，為了長得好，頂上的枝頭通常會被剪掉，因此，到了花季，人們多半很難區分它們彼此了。

我沒有要給堅定果敢的人立什麼條條框框的意思，無論在天堂還是地獄，他們只在乎自己的事情，也許會建造比富豪們的還要闊氣的房子，花銷也大得驚人，並沒有因此而窮困潦倒，真不知道他們是怎樣過日子的——如果的確像人們夢想的那樣，有這樣的人，我也不會去建議他們一二，他們從現實境況中獲得鼓舞和靈感，對現狀愛得如膠似漆——且某種程度上，我認為自己也屬於這一類人；我不想對那些無論處於什麼境況都安於現狀的人說些什麼，反正人家知道自己的境況究竟如何——主要是對那些不滿足於現狀的人說，他們本可以改善自己的生活，但他們白白地把自己耗在了抱怨自己的命運不濟，時事艱難上。有些人苦兮兮地不知疲倦地抱怨一切事物，因為，他們——用他們自己的話說——應該這樣做。在我心目中，還有一種人表面看起來很富有，但實質上窮得很，他們積攢了一點廢銅爛鐵，卻不知道如何去運用，或者乾脆丟掉，就這樣不覺間給自己上了金鐐銬或者銀鐐銬。倘若我一說我過去是怎樣按自己的意願打發日子的，可能會讓對我的過去略有了解的讀者們欣喜不已；肯定會讓那些一無所知的人大吃一驚。我就略略談一談我特別喜歡的事情吧。不管天氣怎樣，我日日夜夜時時刻刻都在考慮改善眼下的境況，並在拐杖上刻下記號；站在過去和未來這兩個永恆的交匯點上，確切地說，正是現在這一時刻；我也是腳尖點著起跑線。請原諒，有些話比較晦澀，因為，較之大多數人，我的工作更為神秘，不是我存心要保密，之所以這樣，是因為這跟工作的性質有密切關係。我願意分享我知道的一切，永遠不會在我的大門上寫出「不準入內」幾個字。

很久以前，我丟了一隻獵狗，一隻棕色馬，和一隻斑鳩，而且我至今還在尋找它們的路上。我向許多遊客打聽它們的下落，講了呼喚它們的聲音。曾有一兩個人說他們聽到過狗吠聲和馬蹄聲，甚至還看見過消失在雲端的斑鳩，他們看起來很焦急地要找回它們，就好像是他們丟失了自己的東西似的。特別期望，哪怕不能看到日出的壯美，只看看清晨的樣子也好，如果可能，還可以欣賞大自然的本色！無論嚴寒酷暑，多少個清晨，鄰居還未曾起床忙活自己的營生，我已經在礦上了！無疑，鎮上的很多居民曾見我下班回家，有要趕在天黑前到達波士頓的農夫，也有忙著去砍柴的樵夫。說真的，我從沒在太陽升起的時刻助它一臂之力，但是，請不要懷疑，只要趕在日出之前到達礦場，這已經是無足輕重的事情了。

多少個秋冬，我都在鎮外度過，試圖聆聽風中的聲音，並把它傳遞出去！我為此幾乎投入了所有的資金，把氣力全用在了生意上，頂著風奔波勞碌。倘若有這樣那樣的有關黨派的風聲，那肯定會成為最新消息登在公報上。其他時間，我守候在峭壁或樹旁的天文觀測臺上，給新人發送電報；或者傍晚時分，站在小山丘上，等待幕色降臨，我可能會捕捉到些什麼，儘管我從來沒捕捉到過多少東西，且這本就不多的東西就像天賜的嗎哪一樣，會再次在陽光下消溶於無形。

很長一段時間，我在一家雜誌社當記者，雜誌的發行量不是很大，我的信息量卻很大，雜誌社的編輯從來不覺得我的稿子適於出版，這對於作家們來說是再稀鬆平常不過了，我的辛勤勞動換來的只有痛苦。然而，這種情形下，我的痛苦卻是它自身的回饋。

多年來，我自封為暴風雪和暴風雨預測員，且我忠於職守；我還兼任測量員，測查公路以外的森林小道和所有交叉道路是否暢通無阻，我還測查過四季通行的峽谷橋梁，道橋上公眾川流不息，足以證實它們具有很高的利用率。

我曾負責照看過鎮上還沒馴化的牲畜，它們常常逃離柵欄，這可讓一個盡忠職守的牧人吃盡了苦頭；我還得留意它們有沒有躲在農場的某個僻靜處或角落裡；儘管我不清楚約拿和所羅門有沒有在某塊田地裡幹活；這本不關我的事。我還負責給紅色的越橘、沙櫻、蕁麻樹、紅松、黑梣樹，白葡萄和黃色紫羅蘭澆水，要不然這些植物在乾旱季節會幹枯而死。

總之，我就這麼著在那幹了很長時間，我可以毫不誇張地說，我一直盡心盡力盡職盡責，直到後來事態越來越明顯，我的鄉鄰們根本不把我放在本鎮公職人員之列，也不給我掛個有合理津貼的閒職。我發誓，我的帳目絕對真實可靠，當然，從來沒有人去審計過，更遑論認可了，我的薪水依然微薄，事情就這麼著了。好在我心大，根本沒把這事兒擱在心上。

自那以後沒多久，一個四處漂泊的印第安人到我附近的一個知民律師家賣籃子。「你要買籃子嗎？」他問道，「不，我們不需要，」有人答道。「天哪！」印第安人一面往大門外走，一面叫道，「你的意思是要把我們餓死嗎？」他看見那些勤勞的白人鄰居們過得如此滋潤富有——律師只是編排一些話，像變魔術似的，財富和地位就跟著來了——印第安人自言自語道：我要做點生意；我要去編籃子；編這玩意兒我準行。他認為他編好籃子，就大功告成了，然後白人會買下他的籃子。他沒有察覺到對他來說很有必要的一件事，就是讓別人覺得值得購買，或者換句話說，至少讓人有這種值得買下籃子的想法，要不然就做點別的讓人真真覺得值得買下的東西。我也編過一種質地精美的籃子，但是我沒有做到讓任何白人覺得一看就想買的地步。可我一點兒也不覺得編籃子值得我去花時間，我不是琢磨怎樣讓人覺得值得購買我的籃子，而是研究幹嘛非要賣籃子。人們誇讚和認為成功的生活只是生活的其中一種罷了。我們為什麼要貶低另一種生活來誇大某一種生活呢？

發現我的鄉親們不可能給我在法院留一席之地了，也不會給個助理牧師職位，或者別的餬口生計做做，於是，我只好另謀出路，我要比往日更專注地把臉轉向森林，我對那裡的一花一木有很深的情感。我決定立馬做生意，不等籌措資金到位，就帶上我已經賺到的這點小錢奔向瓦爾登湖。我的初衷既不是為了在那過儉樸生活，也不是為了在那兒過奢侈日子，而是做點煩惱最小化的私人買賣；沒一點基本的業務常識和生意頭腦，一路上困難重重，即使一籌莫展，似乎也沒有太悲觀。

我一直竭力養成嚴謹的經商習慣；這些習慣對每個人都十分有必要。如果你跟中國人做交易，那麼在塞勒姆海灣建一些小房子，有這麼個固定地方就夠了。你可以出口這些本國產品，比方說純正的土特產，有冰啦，松木料啦，一點花崗巖啦，而且都是本國商船運輸。這些都會是不錯的經營項目。你要親自監督所有細節的地方；同時還要身兼數職，飛行員、船長、貨主、承保人；又買又賣，還要做帳目；閱讀收到的每一封信件，發出的信件都要自己寫，自己審閱；不分晝夜地監管進口商品御貨；幾乎在同一時間，你要在沿海各地方奔波勞碌——因為經常最大的貨運會送到新澤西岸上；自己收發電報，不知疲倦地發送到世界各地，跟所有駛往海岸線的貨船進行通訊；保持商品發貨量穩定，為遙遠的高價市場供貨；自己要了解供貨國家的市場行情，各地的戰爭與和平狀態，以及預計當地的交易趨勢和社會文明程度——利用考察的結果，使用新闢的航道和所有改進的航海技術；——研究航海圖，弄清楚暗樵、新的燈塔和航標的位置，一次又一次地校正對數表，因為一旦計算錯誤，本應駛向友好碼頭的貨船會走偏，在巖石上撞個粉身碎骨——法國航海家拉·彼魯茲（1741-1788）的未知命運（據說1788年他的船隻在澳大利亞的博特尼灣登陸後杳無音訊）就是一個例子；——要不斷精進科學知識，研究從迦太基的探險家漢諾和腓尼基人到當代所有偉大的發現者、航海家和商人們的一生；最後，時不時地清點一下船上的貨物，方能確定貨船該停靠在何方。交賦給一個人的勞動任務有計算利潤啦和損失啦，利息啦，毛重啦等等問題，一切都要計算精準，就像一個萬事通一樣。我想過，瓦爾登湖是個做生意的理想之地，不僅因為那裡有鐵路和採冰業；還有諸多有利因素，將其洩露恐怕不是個上上策；那裡是個不錯的港口，有很好的基礎。沒有涅瓦河那樣的沼澤地需要填埋；儘管你到處打樁加固。據說涅瓦河只要發大水，西風卷著冰塊和洪水能把聖彼德堡從地球表面給衝走。

流動資金還沒有到位，我卻先做起生意來了，搞事業沒點辦法怎麼能行呢，很難想像哪來的辦法。說起衣服，馬上涉及到了實際問題，也許我們置辦衣服時，受新奇事物和別人對其的看法所引領，其實並不在意它是否真正具有實用性。讓有工作的人提到衣服，首先，想到的是維持生命的溫度；其次，在大庭廣從之下遮蓋起自己一絲不掛的身子；然後他才可能判斷，不往衣櫃裡增添衣服的情況下，還需要完成多少必要和重要的工作。國王和女王為彰顯他們的威嚴，有專人給他們裁製衣服，但一套衣服只穿一次，所以體會不到穿上合身衣服的舒適感。他們最多好比高高掛起乾淨衣服的衣架罷了。而我們的衣服，日積月累，已然與我們融為了一體，而且服裝能凸顯穿衣人的個性，即使壞了也捨不得丟掉，如同捨不得丟掉我們的身體一樣，仿佛要給它療救一下似的，如此莊嚴肅穆，因此一再拖延。有人穿了打補丁的衣服，在我眼裡，他們並沒有低人一等；我敢肯定，為了趕時髦，或者至少要穿不打補丁的乾淨衣服，人們會更加焦慮，他們全然不管自己有沒有一顆健康的良心。如果衣服上的破洞沒有縫補，或許最壞的結果就是落個不拘小節的名聲吧。我有時候會用這種想法來測試熟人——誰會穿個打補丁的，或者膝蓋上多了兩條線縫的褲子呢？大部分人認為，倘若他們穿了那樣的衣服，他們的前程會被毀掉。對他們來講，拖一條傷腿蹣跚而行到鎮上也比穿一條破馬褲出去強。通常，如果一場事故發生在一位紳士的腿部，是可以康復如初的；但是同樣的事故發生在他的馬褲上，那就沒辦法了；他腦子裡想的，不是真正令人敬佩的東西，而是受人尊敬的東西。我們認識的人很少，認識的外套和馬褲卻不計其數。用你的衣服裝扮一個稻草人，而一旁的你毫無形象可言，有誰不會迅速對稻草人致敬呢？一天，經過麥田時，通過不遠處的樁子上掛的一頂帽子和一件外套，我才認出農場的主人。他只是比我上次見他時更黝黑了。我聽說有一隻狗守著它主人的衣服，只要有生人靠近放衣服的地兒，它就狂叫不止，但是讓它安靜也很容易，只要一個赤身裸體的小偷就可以了。有一個有趣的問題：如果扒去人類的衣服，那他們離他們的相對地位有多遠，這樣的情形下，你能在任何一群文明人中肯定地說出，誰是最受尊敬的階層嗎？奧地利女探險家艾達·蘿拉·法伊弗在她的探險生涯中，從東到西遊歷列國，差不多到了亞洲境內的俄羅斯時，她說外出見官員時，感覺非得換掉旅行裝不可，因為她「目前在一個文明的國度，那裡的人是以衣取人的。」甚至在你的新英格蘭小鎮，有誰發了意外之財，只在外表打扮上去體現，幾乎會受到全世界的尊敬。不過，受到如此尊敬的人，儘管人數眾多，但他們沒有宗教信仰，真需要派個傳教士給他們。再說，衣服是一針一線縫起來的，你會說那是一種沒有止盡的工作；至少，女人的衣服是永遠都做不完的。

一個終於找到工作的人，就不用穿新衣服了；對他而言，穿舊衣服便可以，即便那件衣服不知在小屋裡擱置了多久，灰塵滿滿。英雄腳上的舊鞋比他的僕從腳上的舊鞋還要久延歲月——如果一位英雄有過僕從的話——光腳丫的歷程比穿鞋子的歷程還久遠，反正英雄光腳丫走路也可以。只有參加社交晚宴和去議會大廳的人才需要穿新衣服，他們的衣服換了一套又一套，如同官場上換了一撥又一撥人似的。不過，如果我的夾克，褲子，帽子和鞋適合穿去禮拜上帝，那就這麼穿；不是嗎？有誰會注意到自己的舊衣服，舊外套其實已經磨壞了，變成了其最初的塊狀，因此也沒有送給某個窮小子的必要了，說不定那個窮小子還會轉送給比他更窮的人穿呢，或者是送給更富有的人，因為即使沒有這東西，他可以照樣過日子，我想，要引起注意的是需要新衣服的企業，而不是穿新衣服的人。如果沒有新人，怎能製做合身的新衣服呢？如果你在這樣的企業裡，不妨穿上舊衣服試試。人之所需，並非有事可做，而是要成大事，或者說，要做大人物。也許我們根本不應該置辦新衣服，我們穿的破舊一點髒一點，如此這般從心所欲，或做生意或揚帆遠航，直到那時我們方有新人穿舊衣之感，如同新酒盛入陳年老瓶一樣。我們的換衣季節，猶如家禽，必是人生中的轉角。潛水鳥隱到人跡罕至的湖裡過度去了。蛇蛻皮，毛毛蟲化繭成蝶，皆是如此這般奮力掙扎，向外擴展；因為衣服是我們的外包裝和塵世糾纏的煩惱罷了。要不然，就會發覺我們在虛假的船旗下航行，到頭來不可避免地被我們的思想和整個人類所厭棄。

我們的衣服穿了一件又一件，就好像我們長得如同外源性植物一樣，自是無須多言。通常，我們外面穿的那些花裡胡哨的薄衣是我們的表皮，或者稱其為假皮，而這種假皮與我們的生命無關緊要，即便剝在這裡那裡都不會有致命傷害；我們一直穿在身上的較厚一點的衣服是有細胞組織的皮膚，或者叫做皮層；不過，我們的襯衫卻是我們的韌皮，或稱之為真皮，只要不脫去這層真皮，人類就不會有任何煩惱和損傷。我認為，在某些季節，所有人都會穿上某種等同於襯衫的東西。一個穿著樸素的人，在黑暗中就不會迷失自己，他生活的方方面面都如此緊湊踏實，有備無患，倘使有敵人來攻城，他也能像個老哲人一樣，從容地走出大門，即使赤手空拳，也無任何懼怕。多數情形下，一件厚衣可抵得上三件薄衣了，消費者在自己真正能承受的價格範圍內買到便宜的衣服；買一件厚衣服需要花掉5美元，但是能穿好多年，一條厚馬褲2美元，一雙牛皮靴1.5美元，一頂夏涼帽兩角半，一頂冬帽六角二分半，或者花點小錢在家就能做出質地很好的帽子，一個窮人自己掙錢去置辦這樣一套行頭，何愁找不到向他表示敬意的聰明人呢？

我要定製一款別致的衣服，女裁縫聽了一本正經地對我說，「現在人家都不時興做這個啦，」這話裡頭根本不對「人家」加以強調，她仿佛引用了一個像命運三女神那樣毫無情面的權威似的，我發現很難得到我想要的款式了，只因為女裁縫不願相信我真的想要那個款式，好像是我隨便說說而已。在我聽到這個耐人尋味的句子時，那一刻，我陷入了沉思，提醒自己把每個詞都分開來解讀，可能會領悟到其中的含義吧，看看人家跟我有多大的血緣關係，跟我有多親近，在一件跟我如此密切相關的事情上人家有多大的權威；最後，我決定同樣神秘兮兮地回答她，絲毫不強調「人家」二字——「是的，前陣子人家不時興這個款了，但眼下人家又時興啦。」倘若她不量我的穿衣尺寸，只量我的肩寬，把我當作一個晾衣服的釘子，這樣的量法有何用處呢？我們既不膜拜為人間帶來各種美的美惠三女神，也不膜拜掌管人運命的珀爾茜三女神，只膜拜時尚女神。她紡線、編織、剪裁，具有百分百的權威。巴黎的猴王戴了一位遊客的帽子，然後全美國的猴子都會戴遊客的帽子。有時候，我很絕望，這世上一些十分單純而樸實的事情要靠他人的幫助才能完成。首先，人們經過一個強力壓榨機，把原有的老舊觀念擠出來，這樣他們的兩腿再也無法站立；人群中有人會想入非非，生出這些怪念頭，沒有人知曉是什麼時候從卵裡孵化出來的，即使用火攻都滅不掉，你還耗盡了體力。即便如此，我們會銘記將某種埃及小麥傳遞下來的一個木乃伊。

大體說來，讓本國或別國的服裝上升到藝術尊嚴的層面，我認為不妥。如今，人們將就著能有什麼就穿什麼。仿佛遭遇海難的水手，在海灘上撿到什麼穿什麼，過不了多久，就不分時間地點地嘲笑彼此的穿著不倫不類。

每一代人都嘲笑過去的時尚，虔誠地追逐新潮流。看到享利八世（1491-1547）或伊莉莎白一世（1533-1603）時期的服裝，我們會笑得前仰後合，仿佛穿上這衣服活像食人島上的島王與島後。

一個不穿衣服的人是可憐而荒唐的。唯以嚴肅的目光正視穿衣這件事，且在衣服裡誠實地度過一生，方能抑制嘲笑，並對人們所穿的衣服肅然起敬。

讓一個腹痛發作的小丑下臺，基於他的職業特徵，他也不得不以愉悅別人的方式離開。士兵被炮彈擊中時，他身上被炸爛的衣服堪比帝王的紫袍高貴。

如今的男女們都喜歡既純潔又有原始味道的新款式，那不知讓多少人搖起萬花筒，眯起眼睛打量，他們看能不能從中發現今天這一代人所需求的那種獨特的圖形。

生產商早已摸清這種品味僅僅是一隻之興。只是改變一點紋路、或多或少變換一下顏色，便形成了兩種不同的款式，一種款式會很快銷售一空，另一種卻在售貨柜上安然不動，儘管這種事情時有發生，可是過上一個季節，之前賣不動的款式又變成最時髦的款了。相對來說，文身不是所謂的惡習，可是文身不能僅用殘忍來形容了，因為刺花要進行到皮膚深處，而且不可更改。

我不相信，我們的工廠體系是人們有衣可穿的最佳模式。工作人員日復一日變得更像英國人了；這不足為奇，據我的所見所聞，他們的主要目的不是讓人們穿得舒服又體面，而是，毫無疑問，讓企業裡美金大大的有。從長遠來看，人們只擊中他們瞄準的東西，不過他們可能很快就倒下了，所以，他們把目標定得高一些為好。

至於居所，我不否認這是眼下的生活必需品，雖然在較之本國還要寒冷的國家裡，有的人沒房子照樣過日子。蘇格蘭旅行家塞繆爾·萊恩說過：「拉普蘭人身穿皮衣，頭和肩套在皮袋裡，每晚都睡在雪地裡…….冷到一定程度，即使套上任何羊毛衣物，暴露在風雪中也會讓一個生命消逝」

萊恩曾看到他們就這樣酣然入睡。他還曾說過，「他們並不比別人更耐寒。」不過，也許，人類在地球上還沒生活多久就發現有個房子十分便利，家庭生活也舒適很多，此話原意是指房子比家庭更重要；即使這些事情在那樣的氣候區非常少見，並具有偶然性，一提到房子，我們首先會想到冬天和雨季，但是一年中三分之二的時間，除了遮陽傘，用不到房子的。

在我們的氣候區，到了夏天，以前，幾乎只蓋一個被單就過夜。印第安公報當中，棚屋成為一天行程的象徵，樹皮上刻畫的一排棚屋，意味著大多數時候他們需要在帳篷裡度過。人生下來並非如此四肢強壯有力，所以他得尋思著縮小自己的世界，譬如說用牆板圍一個剛好容下他的空間。

人類早先是光著身子在戶外活動；不過，在溫暖宜人的天氣裡，自然是愉快的，但是在雨季和冬天的夜間，談什麼火辣辣的日頭，要不是人類及時用房屋把自己遮蓋起來，也許在萌芽狀態就給凍滅跡了。據說，寓言故事裡的亞當和夏娃穿衣服之前是用樹枝樹葉遮蔽身體的。人類想要一個家——一個溫暖舒適的地方，首先要身體的溫暖，然後才是情感的溫暖。

我們可以想像一下，在人類初期，一些有想法的人開始住進了巖洞。每個孩子都在重演這一歷程，某種程度上，他們喜歡呆在戶外，哪怕外面又潮溼又冷呢。孩子們玩造房子，騎木馬，都是出於本能吧。

有誰會不記得年少時找尋一座疊巖，或走近一個巖洞時的興趣呢？這是人類與生俱來的渴望，最原始的祖先把不尋常的方面遺留給了我們。我們把洞居改造成了有屋頂的房子，或棕櫚葉，或樹皮和大樹枝，或亞麻布，或草和麥稈，或屋板和屋瓦，或石頭和瓦片的屋頂。

最終，我們不知道住在戶外是種什麼樣的感覺，我們的家庭生活比想像的更美好，跟戶外生活大相逕庭。也許，假如未來無論白天還是黑夜，大部分時候，我們和天體之間沒有任何阻擋，假如詩人不在屋頂下吟詩作賦，或者聖人長期住在屋內，大概還不錯。鳥兒不會在洞內唱歌，鴿子也不會在鴿棚內珍愛它們的純潔。

然而，假如有人構建一所房子，那他就得學著像新英格蘭人那樣精明一點，免得後來會發現自己置身於一個濟貧院，一所走不出去的迷宮，一個博物館，一』個貧民所，一個監獄，或一個宏偉的墳墓中。首先想想，一所棲息處的絕對必要性是多麼渺小。

我曾見過這個鎮子裡的佩諾布斯科特的印第安人，住在薄薄的棉布帳篷裡，他們周圍的雪下到一英尺厚時，我料想，他們倒樂意雪下得再厚點，可以為他們擋擋寒風。為自由地實現特有的追求，我對何以讓生活步入正軌而困惑，這一點在過去可比現在更讓我懊惱，可惜呀，不知怎麼地，我現在已經麻木了，過去我常看見鐵道旁有個巨大的箱子，6英尺長，3英尺寬，夜裡工人們會把他們的工具鎖在裡面；要我說，每個生活艱難的人都可以花一美元買這麼個箱子，且，在上面鑽上幾個孔，讓空氣得以流通，至少，到了夜晚或雨天可以鑽進去，再者，把頂蓋鉤下來，這麼一來，他就有了自由，愛其所愛，放飛靈魂。

這個點子似乎並不很糟，不管怎樣，都不會是一個遭人白眼的選擇。你樂意多晚睡就多晚睡，想什麼時候起床就什麼時候起，從心所欲，乘一時之偶性，來一場說走就走的跨國之旅，綽雲而去，沒有任何房東或店老闆追著你要房租。很多人卻為了給一個更大更奢侈的箱子付租金被活活累死了，而在這樣的一個箱子裡不會被凍死。我絕沒有開玩笑的意思。經濟學是一門學問，儘管不受重視，但不能將其摒棄。

對於幾乎在戶外幹粗活的勞動者來講，一間舒適的房子幾乎完全取材於自然，由手工製造而成。丹尼爾·戈金曾是麻薩諸塞州的印第安殖民群體領導人，1674年，他寫道，「他們住過最好的房子是用樹皮遮蓋的，整潔、緊密、又保暖，在樹木汁液充沛的季節將樹皮剝下來，再用樹皮發綠的沉重樹幹壓成大薄片…有種相對遜色的材質是蓋一層用香蒲編成的草蓆，香蒲蓆也能一定程度上防風保暖，但是不如樹皮的好…我見過一些房子有60-100英尺長，30英尺寬…我經常借住在他們的棚屋裡，發現這些棚屋跟英國最好的房子一樣暖和。」丹尼爾·戈金還說，他們通常在屋內齊齊整整地鋪一層厚實的精美刺繡墊子，擺放著各種家具。最早以前，印第安人在抵擋冷風侵襲上曾先進了很多，他們在屋頂的洞上方掛了一塊可來回移動的墊子。這樣的一間小屋最多一到兩天便蓋好了，拆與建也就幾小時的事情；且家家都有這麼一座小棚屋，有的棚屋裡還有單間。

原始時期，每家都有一間稱得上最好的房子，對於那些要求不高的人足夠了；不過，我認為自己的以下言語十分靠譜，儘管天空中的鳥兒有巢居，狐狸有洞居，原始部落有棚屋，而現代的文明社會裡有房子的家庭未及一半。在大的鄉鎮或城市尤其文明，有房的人卻很少。

其餘的人要為遮身避體的外衣支付房租，寒來暑往，必不可少，那些錢足夠到鄉村買一座棚屋了，如今卻助長了他們的貧窮。我在此並沒有堅持說租房比不得買房好，不過，顯然原始人類之所以擁有自己的房子，是因為房子的造價低廉，而通常文明人租房子住是因為買不起房子。長期下去，他連房租都未必付得起。然而，有人答道，窮苦的文明人通過付房租從而有一個住的地方，這個地方較之原始棚屋簡直堪稱皇宮了。

一年的房租從25美元到100美元不等（這是鄉下的價格），寬敞的房子裡，乾淨的牆漆或壁紙，拉姆福德壁爐，抹灰襯牆，百葉窗，銅質水泵，彈簧鎖，寬大的地下室，以及許多別的東西，給人一種先進了幾世紀的優越感。不過，有人說享受這些玩意兒的通常是貧窮的文明人，沒有這些玩意兒的原始人卻有作為一個原始人的富有，怎麼會出現這樣的局面呢？

如果說文明讓人類生活真正得以改善的話——我認為，說得很是，雖然只有最聰明的人能夠提升他們的生活質量——那麼一定說明能在不增加太多造價的基礎上造出更好的房子來；依我看，所謂物價是以或短或長的歲月為代價交換而來的。

在這附近，一所普通的住宅成本大概是800美元，即使一個人不用擔負起養家餬口的重任，也需要勞動10-15年才可攢下這麼一大筆，——按一人一天賺一美元來算，如若有人賺得多些，別的人就賺得少了；——因此，一般來講，他花半輩子的歲月才能掙得一套獨立居所。

如果我們假設他租房子住的話，這只不過是個無奈之舉，在兩件難事上選擇其一而已。你說，原始人類有沒有智慧用他的棚屋交換一個滿屋之物耀眼爭光，使人頭懸目眩的皇宮呢？也許猜得到，我幾乎把所有的多餘房產變為現金儲存起來，以備未來不時之需，目前，個人考慮的重心在支付火葬費上，不過，也許一個人用不著去埋葬自己。

然而，這指出了文明人與原始人之間最大的區別；且為了維繫這個種族，使其臻於完美，他們給文明人的生活制定了一種制度，這無疑為我們的利益著想，無奈在這種制度下，個人生活很大程度上受到了損害。但是，我想說，獲得目前這種好處的犧牲有多麼大，且建議，我們或許可以這樣子生活，獲取好處的同時不用遭受任何不好。你們說窮人與你們同在，或者父親吃了酸葡萄會酸到孩子的牙齒，所言何意啊？

「主耶和華說，我指著我的永生起誓，你們在以色列不會有不再使用這句俗語的機會。」

「看吧，所有人皆屬於我；父親是，兒子亦是：犯罪的，則必亡。」

我想到我的鄰居們，康科德的農民，他們至少同其他階層的人一樣富有，我發現大部分人二十年，三十年，甚至四十年如一日地苦幹，有可能會成為農場的真正主人，農場通常是他們附帶抵押繼承來的，要麼就是靠借貸買來的——我們且把三分之一的苦力當作房子的成本費——但是，通常，他們還是買不起。

說真的，這個產權負擔有時候大大超過了農場的價值，因此農場本身就是一個極大的負擔，可是發現，仍舊有人會繼承它，繼而正如他所言，對它實在太熟悉了。我向評估官諮詢時，得知他們不能馬上脫口而出鎮上十幾個無任何負擔的農場主時，令我驚訝不已。如果你想了解這些農莊的歷史，諮詢他們抵押貸款的銀行就行了。

靠勞動來支付農場債務者寥寥，隨便哪個鄰居都能知道其姓甚名誰。我懷疑康科德是否能找出三個這樣的人。人們茶餘飯後談論的商人，佔比很大，甚至達到了97%，他們的失敗是註定的，農夫亦是如此。不過，至於商人，有人恰如其分地說，他們的大部分失敗並不真正是投資失利，只是因為煩事糾纏，未能履行承諾之失敗；也就是說道德破產。

但是，這就意味事情向無限糟糕的一面發展，且讓人想到，可能甚至連那3%的人也難以拯救自己的靈魂，不過，他們破產要比實實在在破產的人慘多了。破產與抵賴債務皆為一塊塊跳板，從這些跳板上騰躍、翻筋鬥過來的文明佔比不小，然而，原始人站的卻是沒有彈性的饑荒板塊。康科德每年都會舉辦農業展覽會，仿佛農業這臺機械的所有環節都運轉自如似的。

農民按固有的方式竭力解決生存問題，這方式卻比問題本身更令人費解。他把那點微薄的收入寄希望於群牛身上，運用純熟的技能，用一根細若髮絲的套索為自己設下陷阱，去捕捉舒適和獨立自主的生活，不料，只略略的一轉身，自己的一條腿卻陷入其中。這便是他貧窮的原故；且基於相似的原因，儘管我們周圍充斥著奢華，與原始人的上千種舒適相比，我們都窮得很。正如喬治·查普曼的詩文所言，

「這虛假的人類社會——

為了追尋塵世的偉大，

天堂裡的愜懷如空氣般縹緲。」

農民有了自己的房子，他不是變得更富有了，而是更貧窮了，房子束縛了他。我明白，希臘神話中的非難指責和嘲弄之神莫摩斯對智慧女神密涅瓦創造的房子提出強烈異議，「密涅瓦所造的房子無法自由移動，而移動房子可以避開不堪的鄰裡」；可能還會呼籲我們的房子不夠寬大，以致於身在其中不像是在房子裡，更像是在牢坑裡；要避開不堪的鄰居說明我們自己還需要修行。我了解，在這個鎮上至少有一兩個家庭，盼了近一代人想要賣掉郊外的房子，回歸農村，但是未能如願，只有亡靈才能獲此自由罷。

的確，多數人或買或租，最終有了一套家庭設施先進的現代化房屋。文明提升了我們的住房，但並不等於它提升了住在房子裡的人類。它創造了一座座王宮，但要創造貴族王孫和國王並非易事。且如果文明人的追求不比原始先民的追求更有價值，如果他花大半生只是忙忙的獲取所有生活必需品和舒適的享受， 那為什麼他非要有一所比原始棚屋更好的房子呢？

可是，窮困的少數人又該怎麼個活法呢？也許會發現，外部境遇高於原始先民的人與外部境遇在原始先民之下的人成等比例關係 。一個階層的奢華是靠另一個階層的貧窮支撐起來的。一邊是王宮，另一邊是貧民所和「沉默的窮人」。金字塔是無數以大蒜充飢的勞工為法老建造的墳墓，而他們自己故去後可能連個風光的喪禮都沒有。

修整王宮門楣的匠人夜晚就回到也許連原始棚屋都不如的小屋裡。有人認為往往顯示文明存在的一個國家裡，大多居民的生活條件不至於降到原始層面，這就錯了。我所說的是沒落的窮人，還不曾談到沒落的富人。要明白這一點，我無需遙望，只稍稍看一眼鐵路旁到處撒落的小屋，那是最不彰顯文明的了；我每天散步時看見人們擠在小屋裡，為了屋裡有點光亮，冬天也大敞著門，試想一下，沒有取暖的木堆，長期住在其內，朔風凜凜，侵肌裂骨，老少皆養成了蜷縮的習慣，苦不堪言，且他們的四肢和官能的正常生長都受到了抑制。

不妨把愛爾蘭人的身體條件與北美印第安人的，或南太平洋島民的，或任何沒有跟文明人接觸而未退化的其他原始先民的身體條件比比看。話說回來，我不懷疑原始先民的統治者跟文明人的統治者一樣聰明。

他們的狀況只證明，與文明並存的東西是何等不堪。我現在幾乎不需要提起南方各州的勞工，這個國家主要的出口商品都是他們生產的，而他們自己本身就是南方的主要的產品。不過，還是別扯遠了，談談那些中產階層吧。

大多數人似乎從來沒有想過何謂房子，實際上他們不需要把自己的生活搞得如此窘迫，只因為他們認為一定要有一所像鄰居那樣的房子，卻窮苦了一輩子。仿佛要穿上一件裁縫為他量身定製的外套一樣，或者，逐漸丟棄了棕櫚葉帽子或土撥鼠皮帽，而由於買不起一頂王冠就埋怨生活的艱難。

造一所比我們住的房子更方便也更奢華的房子也不無可能，可那樣的房子大家都承認買不起。難道我們就要一直設法獲得更多這些身外之物，對擁有的少而不滿足嗎？

難道體面的居民要這般嘔心歷血地用準則和事例教導年輕人在老死前一定要多多奮鬥富餘的亮皮鞋，雨傘，和專供接待虛無賓客的大廳嗎？為什麼我們的家具不能像阿拉伯人或印第安人的那樣簡簡單單呢？我每每想到民族救星，我們將其奉為來自天堂的神明，帶來了上天賜予人類的禮物，內心卻看不到任何在德行和智慧上有助於他上司的隨從。

目前，我們的房子裡塞滿了家具，髒亂不堪，一位稱職的主婦會把大部分東西清到垃圾道裡，早上的活兒不可撂下不做，早上的活兒啊！在奧羅拉的晨光裡，門農（奧羅拉之子）的琴音裡，這世人早晨應該做什麼來著？我辦公桌上有三塊石灰巖，但是我很害怕每日家為它們去除灰塵，我腦海中的家具仍尚未除塵，噁心的我一氣之下把它們從窗戶上扔出去了。那麼，我怎樣才能有一所帶家具的房子呢？我寧願坐在戶外，因為青草上沒有灰塵，除非有人在那裡翻了土。

貪圖奢侈，揮霍無度，正是驕奢淫逸之徒開創了時尚，民眾會不知疲倦地跟風。某位下榻在所謂高檔酒店的遊客很快會印證這一點，因為酒店老闆會把他當作亞述巴尼拔（亞述末代國王，在他統治時期，亞述的疆土和軍國主義達到了崩潰前的巔峰），且如果他任由自己奢華無度，他的陽光之氣包管很快就消失殆盡。

我想，我們在火車車箱裡，錢花在奢侈上總比花在安全和便利上的多，結果讓安全和便利缺席的車箱，幾乎等同於一個現代化休息廳了，沙發，褥榻，遮陽簾，還有百十來樣富有東方意趣的物件，我們將這些物件隨身攜帶到西方來，其是，這些玩意兒是原為裙釵女子和六宮粉黛發明的，喬納森知道他們的名字一定會羞死的。我寧願坐在一顆南瓜上，整個南瓜都是我的領地，也不願跟人擠在一塊絲絨軟榻上。

我寧願駕一輛牛車，奔走在坦途上，享受自由流暢的空氣，也不願在觀光車裡一路聞著濁氣飛向高空。

遠古時期的人類生活非常簡單，又赤身裸體，很能說明這個好處，至少，這種簡單與樸素讓他成為大自然中的匆匆過客。吃飽睡好後，精神抖擻，再次思忖自己的自然之旅。走到哪裡哪裡就是他的家，棲於天地間，或穿過山谷，或越過平原，或攀上山頂。但是，你看！人類變成了他們工具的工具。餓了就自己摘野果吃的人變成了農夫；站在樹下避風雨的人變成了管家。

我們現在不再露營過夜了，在地球上定居下來，把天堂給忘了。我們信奉基督，只是把它作為改良農業的方法而已。我們為這個世界建造了家宅，緊接著就挖掘墳墓。最精美的藝術品表達的是，人類為擺脫上述枷鎖做出的努力，但是，我們的藝術效果只是讓這種低級的精神狀態變得舒適，卻忘記了還有更高級的精神狀態。在這個村子裡實際上沒有好藝術品的容身之地，就算有什麼藝術品流傳下來，我們的生活、房子、街道，也沒辦法給它配置一個適合的底座。

既沒有掛起畫作的釘子，也沒有放置英雄或聖人半身像的架子。我一想到房子是如何建造的，錢款已付清還是未付清，他們的自身經濟是如何管理和維繫的，我就詫異，客人在賞玩壁爐上那些花裡胡哨的東西時，地板別一不留神譁啦一下塌下去，讓他墜入地下室，重重地摔到某塊堅硬而忠實的地基上去。

我無法忽視，所謂富有精緻的生活是一件越級攀升的事情，我欣賞不了點綴這種生活的精緻藝術品，我已全面集中在人們向精緻生活的跳躍上；因為我記得，以人類的肌肉所能達到的最高跳躍記錄，還是流浪的阿拉伯人保持的，據說他們從平地上能跳到離地25英尺之高。沒有人為支撐，人類一定會從那個高度再次回落到地面上的。

我不禁首先要問問粗俗的業主，誰給的你勇氣？你在失敗的97%中，還是成功的3%中呢？請回答我這些問題，那麼，也許我會瞅瞅你那些花裡忽哨的小物件，然後發現它們只不過是些裝飾品罷了。把馬車置於馬前，既不美觀又無用處。在我們用漂亮的物件裝飾房子前，牆壁勢必會被剝掉一層皮，我們的生命也勢必被剝掉一層皮，還有美麗的家政和美好的生活為基礎：現在，審美情趣大都在既無房子又無管家的戶外培養的。

愛德華·詹森在其《神奇的造化》一書中談到了這個小鎮的早期居民，作者跟他們是同時代人，他告訴我們「他們自己在山腳下的土裡挖個窯洞作為最初的避風港，然後把土堆到木材上，地上生個火堆，煙霧嫋嫋升騰，直抵洞頂。」他們還未曾為自己建造「房子」，愛德華·詹森說，「上帝保佑，土地為他們帶來了充飢的麵包，」，第一年的穀物收成慘澹，「他們不得不把麵包切得薄之又薄，方可度過一個漫長的季節。」

1650年，新尼德蘭州部長用荷蘭文為那些希望佔用土地的人寫的文件中特別提到，「新尼德蘭，特別是新英格蘭人，他們起初無法如願建造農舍，就在地下挖出一個方形的坑，類似於地窯，6-7英尺深，長和寬皆以他們中意為準，四周立一圈木板，襯上樹皮或別的什麼東西，以防止泥土從縫隙中滲進來；地面鋪上木板，用護壁板搭在上方作為天花板，架起一個圓木屋頂，頂上再蓋一層樹皮或綠草皮，這樣他們全家便可在這些乾爽溫暖的房子裡住上2年，3年，甚至4年，裡面還根據人口數量做出一些小單間，這可以理解。」

殖民地初創時期，新英格蘭的權貴們最早的房子也是這樣的，其中有兩個原由：其一，為了避免把時間浪費在建造房子上導致下一季度糧食短缺；第二，為了不讓他們從農場大批買來的窮苦勞力們灰心喪氣。三四年的光景，國家的農業逐漸發達，他們花數千元為自己建造了漂亮的房子。

我們先祖住在地下室，至少說明他們是謹小慎微的，似乎他們的原則是首先要滿足更為緊迫的需求。但是現在更緊迫的需求滿足了嗎？我一想到要購置一套奢華住宅就膽怯，因為，這麼說吧，國家還不曾適應人類文化，我們仍然被迫把我們的精神糧食切得薄之又薄，其薄比起我們的祖先切他們的口糧有過之而無不及。

甚至在最原始時期，也不是把所有建築裝飾置之不顧，而是要把與我們的生活息息相關的房子首先要打理得漂亮一些，猶如甲殼類水生動物的殼居一樣，適當為宜，不要讓它承載太多。但是，哎！我去過一兩個房子，自然知道它們裡面布置成了什麼樣。

儘管我們今天沒有退步到住山洞、住棚屋、穿獸皮的這種地步，但是接受人類的發明創造和工業，儘管代價昂貴，當然也是再好不過了。在類似我們這樣的街區，板材、木瓦、石灰、和磚塊都比適宜的山洞、整原木、大量的樹皮、甚至是調和的黏土或平整的石頭這些東西還要便宜好找。我能把這個話題講得如此透徹明白，是因為無論從理論上還是實踐上我都太了解它了。略動一動腦筋，我們就可以對這些材料加以利用，變得比現在最富有的人還富有，使我們的文明成為一種福祉。文明人不過是更有見識更聰明的原始人罷了，不過，我還是趕緊去做自己的實驗吧。

大約在1845年3月底，我借到了一把斧頭在瓦爾登湖畔坎下一些樹木，那裡距我打算造房子的地方最近，一開始砍倒了一些高大挺拔，但樹齡不大的雪松做木材。開了頭就很難不向人家借這借那的，不過，也許，能讓你的同胞們對你的造房計劃產生一點點興趣也不失為一種最大的慷慨之舉吧。

斧頭的主人把斧頭遞給我時說這可是他的寶貝疙瘩哩；殊不知，我還回去的時候比借的時候鋒利多了。我砍樹的地方是一個景色宜人的山坡，遍布都是松木，透過松林，朝瓦爾登湖，和樹林裡的一塊小小的空地望去，松松和山核桃樹密密立立。

湖上的冰還未完全化掉，雖然有些地方化開了，不過是些黑黢黢的水洞。我砍樹那段日子裡略落了一點雪；但是我經過鐵道回家途中的大部分地方還是在朦朧的大氣中微微發光的黃沙包，鐵道也在春光的照耀下閃閃發亮，我聽到雲雀、京燕以及其他鳥兒唱起了歡快的歌兒，跟我們一起迎接新的一年。

大好的春日裡，人類對寒冬的不滿已經同大地一起消融，蟄伏的生命也開始了自我舒展。一天，我的斧頭從柄上掉下來了，於是我砍了一段碧綠的山核桃樹枝做了一個楔子，用石頭把它釘進去，又把整把斧子浸在瓦爾登湖的水裡，以使木楔子膨脹，看到一條花蛇竄到水中並伏到了湖底，很顯然毫無不適感，竟跟我在那兒呆的時間一樣久，大概有1刻多鐘；也許因為他還沒有從蟄伏狀態完全復甦吧。

在我看來，正是緣於這樣的原因，人類目前仍在低級原始狀態停步不前；不過，如果他們能受到春之活力的影響，奮發圖強，他們的生活一定會上升到更高級更優雅的層面。我之前在乍暖還寒的清晨看到小徑上那些蛇的身體還處於似醒未醒之間，等待陽光來溫暖它們。4月1日那天下了雨，雨水融化了冰霜，早些時候還起了大霧，我聽到一隻離群的鴿子在瓦爾登湖上一面盤旋，一面啼叫，似乎是迷路了，活像迷霧精靈似的。

因此，我連續幾天砍樹，劈材，削立柱、椽子，全靠了我這把小斧頭，沒有多少值得傳播或學者式的思想，只是獨自哼唱，——

人類說自己才學淵博；

但是，你瞧！他們插上了翅膀——

藝術啦，科學啦，

以及上千種電器啦；

其實，只有吹過的一陣風

才是他們知道的全部。

我把主要用的木材劈成6英寸見方，大部分立柱只劈兩邊，椽子和地板木料只劈一面，剩下的地方保留樹皮，因此，這種木料跟鋸的一樣平直，卻比鋸的更結實。那些殘根剩段也別有洞天，我小心地在每根棍上做了榫卯，因為這次我還借了別的工具。我在森林裡呆的時間不是很長；我以前常常帶著我的晚餐——黃油麵包——當午餐，到森林裡讀讀包裹黃油麵包的報紙，中午就坐在我曾砍斷的大松枝上吃黃油麵包，我的麵包裡還透著些許松香味，因為我手上塗了厚厚一層松脂。在我完工前，與其說我是松樹的敵人，倒不如說是朋友，儘管我砍倒一些樹，卻對它越發熟悉了。有時候，我的斧頭髮出的聲響會引來一位森林漫步者，於是我們就在我曾砍下的那些碎木屑上愉快地聊聊天。

四月中旬，我雖不緊不慢地幹活，卻完成了大半，房子起了框架，終於立起來了。為了弄到板材，我早已買下了愛爾蘭人詹姆斯·科林斯在菲奇伯格鐵路旁的小棚屋。據說他的棚屋真真是不錯，可以說是罕有的。我打電話說要去看棚屋時，他不在家。

我在外面轉了轉，起初並沒有被屋內的人發現，因為窗戶又深又高。這座棚屋小小的，屋頂破敗不堪，別的沒什麼好看的，周圍的垃圾有5英尺那麼高，肥堆似的。屋頂算是最完好的了，雖然嚴重變形且被日光曬老化易碎了。沒有門檻，不過門板下給母雞留了一條進出的通道。科林斯太太走到門口，邀請我到屋裡瞧瞧。

我一進屋倒先把母雞給趕進去了。裡面伸手不見五指，地板髒得不像樣，涼嗖嗖，溼乎乎的，住在裡面很容易生病，連這一塊那一塊的板材大概也經不起挪動了。

她點亮一盞燈讓我看看屋頂和牆面，還有延伸到床底下的地板，並提醒我小心踩到地窯裡，地窯是兩英尺深的土洞。用她自己的話說，「頂是好的，四周一切都是好的，窗戶也是好的」——原來那兩個方框框也只有夜貓從那兒出出進進。

屋裡有一個火爐、一支床、一個坐的地方、一個在那個房子裡出生的嬰兒、一把絲質的太陽傘、一面鑲金邊兒的鏡子、小橡樹上固定著一臺新式咖啡機，籠共就這些。價格很快就談妥了，因為詹姆斯這時也回來了。當晚我付給他4美元25分，他將於次日凌晨5點搬出，不得再賣與他人；6點鐘棚屋產權歸我。

他叫我最好早點搬過去，估計有人就地租和燃料上會提出某些模糊不清又蠻不講理的要求。他向我保證這是唯一的麻煩。6點鐘我在路上碰到了他們一家。那一大堆東西便是他們的全部家當了——床、咖啡機、鏡子、母雞——除了貓；貓跑進森林成了一隻野貓，且，我後來聽聞，她掉入了捕捉土撥鼠的陷阱，所以，最終成了一隻死貓。

當天早上，我拆了這個小木屋，拔掉釘子，一小車一小車地運到了瓦爾登湖邊上，把木板鋪到那兒的草地上，放太陽底下，往白曬曬並且讓變形的恢復恢復。我開在林蔭道上時，一隻早起的烏鶇衝我亂叫了一兩聲。

一名年輕的派屈克居心叵測地對我說，我的鄰居西利——愛爾蘭人——在運輸期間把尚好一點的、筆直的、能用的小釘、U形釘、和長釘揣到他自己兜裡了，我回去接班時，心內滿是春日情懷，毫不在意地望著那堆廢墟似的東西；西利也站在那兒，說：「沒什麼可幹的活啦。」他同大夥無異，一副事不關己的樣子，讓這件看似微不足道的小事猶如特洛伊城諸神大撤離似的。

我把地窖挖在了一座小山的南坡下，一隻土撥鼠曾在這兒挖過洞，我鏟掉漆樹和黑梅樹的根，一直挖到幾乎尋不到植物痕跡的一處優質沙土上，地窖6英尺見方，7英尺深，再冷的冬天也不怕把土豆凍壞了。因窖壁挖成了傾斜的，所以沒有砌石頭；陽光怎麼也曬不到裡面去，沙土也始終不會變。這個活花了2小時。我對這種破土挖洞的活分外開心，因為幾乎在所有的緯度上，人類只要動工挖洞，便是為了尋求這種衡溫。在大城市裡最豪華的房子底下仍有地窖存在，一如從前，在裡面存儲一些塊根植物，很久以後，等到上層建築不存在了，留下這地底的凹陷處供後人評論吧。所謂房子，只不過是通往地窖的玄關罷了。

最後，到了5月初，在一些熟人的幫助下，我的房子起了框架，機緣巧合，還因此提升了鄰裡關係。沒有人建他們自己的房子時比我更榮幸了。我相信，註定某一天，他們會出力建造起許多高樓大廈。

7月4日，我開始住進了自己的房子，那時候木板安裝和屋頂竣工不久，因為木板的楔邊都是精心製作的，所以房雨效果很好，不過，在鑲嵌木板前，我在屋子的一端壘了一個煙囪，所用石頭有兩車之多，全是我從瓦爾登湖抱上山的。

秋季，我鋤完地，就建好了煙囪，還沒必要生火取暖前，一大早，我在屋外的地上露天做飯，這種模式，我還是認為，從某些方面來講，它比平常的方式要更便利更愜意一些。要是麵包還沒烤好，下起了暴風雨，我就在火上方固定了幾塊木板遮擋一下，自己坐在木板下看著我的長棍麵包，意趣無窮，時間就這樣愉快過去了。

那些天，我手上的活很多，就忙裡偷閒稍讀一讀廢報紙，或鋪地上，或放架子上，或充當桌布，頗有一番意趣，實際上，其樂趣與讀《伊利亞特》無不同。

還是頗值得花時間建造一所房子的，甚至用心程度要更勝於我，譬如說，從人的天性來考慮人的基本需求，一扇門，一扇窗，一個地窯，一間閣樓。也許我們找到比滿足暫時性的需求更好的理由之前，不再建什麼上層建築了。

人類給自己建造房子跟鳥兒給自己築巢一樣合情合理。誰人知道如果人類靠自己的雙手建造了自己的房屋，簡單樸實地養活一家人，那麼富有詩情畫意的才能就會得到普遍發展，好比鳥兒普遍都能投入地唱歌一樣呢？

可是，哎！我們如那八哥和布穀鳥一般，他們把蛋下到了其他鳥築起的巢裡，啁啾著自我陶醉，其聲難聽極了，很不討人喜。難道我們永遠把建造房子的快樂讓給木匠師傅嗎？在多數人類經驗中，建築等同於什麼呢？我做過的很多行業中，從未見過一個人從事一份像給自己建造房子這樣如些簡單而自然工作。我們皆屬於社會。

不只有裁縫會縫製衣服；牧師，商人，和農夫同樣可以做嘛。這種分工到哪裡才是個頭啊？分工最終能達到什麼目的呢？誠然，別人也可幫我動動腦子嘛；不過，如果他動腦筋思考是為了不讓我自己動腦筋，那就不可取了。

說真的，這個國家的所謂建築師，至少我聽說過一位建築師有這樣一種思想，讓建築裝飾成為一種真理的核心，一種必要性，因此才能稱之為美，仿佛這是上帝給予他的啟示。或許他個人看來，一切都美輪美奐，不過，這只比平常的半吊子藝術好了那麼一點點。

感性的人對建築進行改造，也是動動飛簷，不從根基改造。只是斟酌如何讓建築裝飾囊括真理的核心，其實，每顆糖豆裡可能都有一顆杏仁或葛縷子籽——儘管我堅持不加糖的杏仁最有益健康——居民，即住在裡頭的人，何不真正打造打造房子的裡裡外外，至於裝飾品，讓它們隨喜隨喜就好了嘛。有頭腦的人認為，裝飾品只是表面的東西，純屬皮毛罷了——猶如烏龜的斑紋外殼，或貝類的珍珠母光澤，難不成老百匯居民的紐約三一教堂還要立那樣一個規定嗎？但是，人類跟他房子的建築風格沒有關係，好比烏龜跟龜殼的花紋毫無關係一樣；軍人也不至於無聊到在他的軍旗上色彩鮮明地寫下自己的驍勇。

敵人一眼就可以看穿，考驗一到，他可能會嚇得面色慘白。依我看，這個男人好像從飛簷上俯下身子，怯怯地對那些粗俗的居民咕唧他那半真不假的理論，其實人家知道的比他還多。我目前見過的建築之美，我知道，是由內部逐漸向外部延伸的；迎合了居住者的需求和性格，居住者才是獨一無二的建築師——源於無知無覺的真實和崇高，不曾在意外表怎樣，若還有什麼附加的美註定會產生的話，那麼此前必定有過一種類似的無知無覺的生命之美。

這個國家最具吸引力的房子，正如油漆匠所知，通常是窮人住的最本色、最簡陋的木屋和農舍；這些小屋的外殼，即外表，沒有什麼特別之處，是居民的生活讓它們別具特色；同樣有趣的，還有居民在市郊建的箱式木屋，他的生活如想像中那般簡單愜意，他的房子在風格上幾乎沒有追求一丁點兒外觀效果。

大部分建築裝飾都是中空的，九月份的一場颶風一股腦就給吹掉了，就像吹掉借來的羽毛一樣，於建築表面絲毫無傷。對於地窯裡既沒有橄欖，也沒有美酒的人來講，就算不懂建築風格也無所謂。

如果在文學作品裡同樣追求裝飾風格，《聖經》的締造者，如同我們教堂的設計師一樣，把許多的時間花在它們的門楣上，那結果會怎樣？純文學，建築藝術和它們的教授因此而誕生，一個人切實關心的是，怎樣把幾根木條子斜置於他的頭上方或他的腳下方，和在他的箱式房刷什麼顏色。

他斜置木條，給房子上色，略能說明有其實際意義；不過，居民的靈魂正離他們而去，那就無異於自己打造了一副棺材——即墳墓建築——而「木匠」的另一個名字叫「棺材匠」。

有人說，對生活絕望或了無興趣之時，不妨在你腳下抓起一把泥土，用它把你的房子刷成土黃色。他會想到那是他最終的小小歸宿嗎？還是拋擲一枚硬幣來定奪吧。他一定有大量的閒暇吧！你為什麼要抓起一把泥土？最好把你的房子刷成你膚色那樣的；讓它變成慘白吧，否則它會為你感到臉紅的。提升村舍建築風格的決心多強烈啊！等你把建築裝飾為我準備妥當了，我一定採用。

冬天還沒到，我就建好了煙囪，並在房子兩邊鋪了木瓦，防雨效果甚好，木瓦是從原木上砍下的最好的木片，不太齊整，樹汁又多，於是，我用刨子把它們的邊緣刨平了。

這樣，我就有一所嚴絲密合的抹灰房子了，10英尺寬，15英尺長，8英尺高的角柱，一間閣樓，一間儲藏室，每面牆上都有一個大窗戶，兩個活動天窗，房子一端有一個入戶門，門對面還有一個磚砌的壁爐。

以下是我房子所用材料的確切花銷，我用的這些材料都是尋常價，但是，不算人工，因為所有的活都是我自己幹的；且我列得很詳細，因為很少人能夠給出他們建房子花銷的準確數字，如果有，能分開列出不同材料的價格的人還是少之又少：——

Boards...............................................$8.03⅟2, mostly shanty boards.

木板…………………………………….8.035美元，大多用的是舊棚屋木板

Refuse shingles for roof sides………………4.00

屋頂兩側用的舊木瓦………………………….4美元

Laths…………………………………………….1.25

板條………………………………………………1.25美元

Two second-hand windows with glass……..2.43

兩扇帶玻璃的二手窗戶……………………….2.43美元

One thousand old brick………………………4.00

1000塊舊磚頭…………………………………4美元

Two casks of lime................................2.40 That was high.

2桶石灰………………………………….2.4美元，買貴了

Hair..................................................0.31 More than I needed.

毛髮…………………………………..0.31美元,買多了

Mantle-tree iron……………………………..0.15

壁爐架鐵料…………………………………..0.15美元

Nails…………………………………………….3.90

釘子……………………………………………..3.9美元

Hinges and screws…………………………….0.14

合頁和螺絲……………………………………..0.14美元

Latch………………………………………….0.10

門閂……………………………………………0.1美元

Chalk……………………………………………0.01

粉筆……………………………………………..0.01美元

Transportation.......................................1.40 I carried a good part

——on my back.

運輸費…………………………………….1.4美元，大部分自己背過去的

In all………………………………………..$28.12⅟2

合計………………………………………..28.125美元

這些是所有的材料，不包括木材，石頭，和沙子，那些是我按照政府公地上造房定居者應享受的極力領取的。我還用建房子剩下的木料在房子旁邊做了個小柴房。

我打算建造一座房子，比康科德主街道上的任何房子都要富麗堂皇，不僅要比現在這所更讓我喜歡，造價還不要超過這個。從而我發現，學生花比每年支付的住宿費貴不了多少的錢就可以得到一所可以一輩子住下去的房子。

仿佛我言過其實似的，我的理由是，我在誇讚人類，並非誇讚我自己；我的缺點和前後矛盾並不會影響我禪述的真實性。儘管我有那麼多空話和虛偽之處——但是我發現小麥很難跟糠皮分開，不過，我跟別人一樣為此感到非常抱歉——可是在這方面，我還要挺直腰杆，自由地呼吸。這對身心來說是莫大的寬慰；我堅信自己不會賠身下氣地做魔鬼的代理人。

我會儘量為真理講一句好話。在劍橋學院，一位學生的住宿費是每天30美元，他們的宿舍面積也就比我的房子稍微大一點，儘管建築公司有其優勢，一個屋簷下並排建了32間房，裡面的人有諸多不便，還要忍受鄰居發出的噪音，而且還有可能住到四樓去。

我不禁想到，如果在這些方面我們有更多真知灼見，不僅可以減少教育需求，因為，人類已經獲得的教育夠多了，而且接受教育要交的費用也多半會消失。

學生在劍橋或其他學校擁有的這些便利，學生或其他人付出巨大的生命代價，他們這兩方面管理得當，這種代價會少10倍。最花錢的這些東西卻從來不是學生最想要的。比如說，在學期費用帳單上，學費是最重要的一項，而跟最有教養的同輩人一道研習，會得到最有價值的教育，還不產生任何費用。

通常，創辦一所學院的方式是靠一美元一美分一點點集資來的，然後，極端盲目地遵守勞動分工的原則——未曾慎重地遵循過這種原則，招來一個承包商，承包商卻把它當作一項投機項目，然後，他僱用一些英國人和其他技術人員果真開始打地基了，據說，到學校上學的學生為了接受教育把自己安置在學校；因為這些疏忽，一代又一代人不得不掏錢繳學費。

我認為，為了學生或那些渴望通過上學能夠獲益的人，自己動手打地基要比以上這種做法好得多。學生有條不紊地躲避一些必要的人類勞動，獲取了他們渴望的閒暇和休息，這閒暇既不光彩又沒益處，獨有得閒方可結出碩果的經歷誆騙了他自己。「但是，」有人說，「你不是說學生要靠雙手代替大腦工作嗎？」我真真沒這個意思，不過，我的意思是，某些事情，學生們不妨多想一想；我意思是他們不該遊戲人生，或只是研究人生，在這場昂貴的遊戲中，社會是鼓勵他們的，定要從始至終要非常認真地體驗生活。年輕人不趕快投入生活實踐，怎能更好地學會生活呢？

我認為，這麼做可讓他們的思維就像做數學題一樣得到訓煉。譬如說，如果我希望一個男孩去學習有關藝術或科學的知識，我就不走尋常路，因為那只不過把他送到了鄰近某位教授的地兒去，在那兒什麼都教，什麼都練，唯獨生活藝術不教不練；——看世界要透過望遠鏡或顯微鏡來看，卻從不用他的肉眼看；去研究化學，卻不曉得他的麵包是怎麼做成的，或研究力學，卻不懂得力從何而來；發現了抵達海王星的數顆新衛星，卻沒察覺他眼裡的塵埃，或者說沒有發現他自己是一顆什麼漂泊不定的衛星；或在端詳一滴醋裡的怪物時，被遊蕩在他周圍的怪物吞噬掉。

男孩要為自己制一把大折刀，自己挖礦，自己冶煉，大量閱讀相關書籍——或者男孩去教育機構上冶金學的課程，與此同時，收到他父親獎勵的羅傑斯牌大折刀，到月底時哪種方式進步最大呢？哪種得到的大折刀最可能切到他的手指呢？…讓我吃驚的是，我離開曾學習航海的學院，反而對航海更了解了！為什麼，如果我到港口乘船而下，就對航海更了解了。甚至是貧無立錐之地的學生都學過政治經濟學，他們只被教過了，而等同於哲學的生活經濟學，老實說，不是我們的大學所能教授的。結果是，學生在閱讀亞當·斯密、李嘉圖和薩伊的政治經濟學時，不免會讓他父親負債纍纍。

隨著有了我們的很多大學，所以有了一百項「現代化先進設施」；從而它們成了一種假象；先進並不代表總是正面的。那傢伙很早就對這些設施入了股，又進行若干的後期投資，所以會不斷地索取複利，至死方休。我們的發明華而不實，只能分散我們做正經事的精力，加重心靈的重量。

它們是對不先進的方面做出了改進的工具，這方面早已實現而且很容易實現；就像通往波士頓或紐約的鐵路一樣。我們急急忙忙地創造一條從緬因州到德克薩斯州的磁性電報線路；可是，緬因州和德克薩思州之間可能沒什麼重要的事情要傳達。這種尷尬境地就像把一名老實男子介紹給一位高貴的聾子女士，待他出現後，把她的號角狀助聽器的一端放進他手裡，他卻無話可說。似乎主要目的是快速把話說完，而不是去理智地說話一樣。

我們渴望在大西洋挖海底隧道，短短幾周，讓舊世界近乎成了新世界；但是，也許，漂洋過海傳入美國人耳朵裡的第一消息是阿德萊德公主患了百日咳。畢竟，人類騎著每分鐘跑了一英裡的馬，也沒帶來多麼重要的信息；他不是一名布道者，他也沒有改變吃蝗蟲和野蜂蜜的習性。我懷疑，飛童是否曾帶到磨坊一粒種子去。

有人跟我說，「你不攢錢這點讓我很納悶；你愛旅行；你可以今天就乘車去趟菲奇伯格，看看鄉下的樣子。」不過，我可沒那麼傻。我聽說速度最快的旅客都是行動派。我跟我的朋友說，我們試試看誰第一到那兒。距離是三十英裡；費用是90美分。這幾乎是一天的薪水。

我記得，在這條路上幹活的工人一天只掙60美分。那好，我現在就出發，步行去，天黑前到達；我一個星期以來，我一直以那個速度出行。與此同時，你可以把路費掙出來，明天的某個時刻就到了，也可能是今天晚上也到了，如果你足夠幸運，能及時找到一份工作。你會在那裡工作大半天，這期間你不在去菲奇伯格的路上。所以說，如果鐵路四通八達，我認為我應該一直在你前頭；至於看農村和體驗鄉村生活，我得跟你完全絕交了。

這是通用法則，不曾有人超越，至於鐵路，我們會說它長遠而遼闊。讓鐵路環繞世界，服務於全人類，等同於將這個星球的表面整個剷平了。人類尚不明確是否要堅持這種合股經營的方式，用鐵鍬一直挖下去，要不了多久，便能分文不花的乘火車到達任何地方；儘管人群波濤似的湧進車站，乘務員大喊：「全部上車！」只見煙霧四起，蒸氣嫋嫋升騰，你會發現乘車者寥若星辰，其餘人等皆被火車碾壓過去了——可能會稱之為「一起悲慘事故。」

無疑，掙到車費的人最終可以乘車，就是如果他們活得夠久，不過，到那時，他們可能遊興索然了。為了在耄耋之年享受一份令人置疑的自由，把生命的最美時光耗在了賺錢中，這讓我想起早期去印度賺錢的英國人，他可能返回英國過上富有詩意的生活。他本應該馬上建造閣樓去。「什麼！」在這片土地上，住在棚屋裡的百萬愛爾蘭人吼道，「難道我們修建這條鐵路不是一樁好事嗎？」是的，我答道，相對來說，還是不錯的，要不然你可能會更糟糕；但是，把你當作我自己的兄弟，我希望，比起在這裡挖土，你能更好的利用你的時間。

在我的房子完工前，希望通過一些誠實而愉快的方式，賺上10到20美金，應付我的額外花銷，我在房子附近耕種了約2英畝半鬆軟的沙土地，主要種了豆子，也有一小部分地種了土豆，玉米，豌豆和大頭菜。所有地加起來，通共有11英畝，大部分栽種了松樹和山核桃樹，上個季度，每英畝收入8美元又8分錢。一位農夫說，「這塊地沒啥用處，只好養一群吱哇亂叫的松鼠了。」

我在地裡什麼肥料都沒有上，因為我不是這塊地的主人，只是一名合法的定居者，也不打算再栽種這麼多了，也沒有一下子把地鋤完。我耕地耕出好幾根樹樁來，這給我提供了好長時間的燃料，留下幾小圈未墾之地，所以，一入夏，一眼就能看出，那裡的豆苗長勢更加繁盛。

我屋後那些枯樹——大部分賣不掉的木頭，和瓦爾登湖上的浮木，使我的燃料富富有餘。我不得已僱用了一組牲畜和一個人幫忙耕地，雖然還是我自己手扶梨。我的農場在第一季度就在農具、種子、農活等等，支出14.72美元。玉米種子是人送的。這實在不值一提，除非你種的東西過於多了。除了一些豌豆和甜玉米之外，我還收穫了20蒲式耳豆子，和18蒲式耳土豆。黃玉米和大頭菜種得太晚了，沒什麼收成。我農場總共收入23.44美元。

Deducting the outgoes.....................14.72

——扣除支出費用……………………14.72美元

There are left……………………………..$8.71

還剩………………………………………..8.71美元

除了消耗掉的以外，那時我手頭上估計還有價值4.5美元的產品——我點錢足以彌補我沒有種植的那一點兒菜蔬了。通盤考慮，我認識到人類靈魂和眼下的重要性，儘管我的實驗佔據了短暫的時光，不，甚至在一定程度上，正是因為時間短暫這一特點，我相信，我那一年的收成要比康科德的任何農夫的都要好。

次年，我依然出乎其類，拔乎其萃，因為我用鍬剷平了所有我需要的土地，約有1/3英畝，且這兩年我吸取到一些經驗，至少沒有被滿倉滿有關農牧業的名著所嚇倒，其中包括亞瑟·楊的著作，如果有人住在這裡過簡樸的生活，只吃他自己種的玉米，吃多少種多少，不去交換不甚多的更奢侈更昂貴的東西，他需要耕種的土地只需要幾竿就可以了，鍬挖代替牛耕，時不時地選塊新地代替給種過的土地施肥，這會更省錢，一切必要的農活，只需要在夏季抽空幹幾小時就幹完了；如此，他就不會像現在這樣跟一頭耕牛、或一所房子、或一頭奶牛、亦或一頭豬身拴在一起了。

我想公正地談談這個話題，且作為一個對目前經濟與社會籌措的成功與失敗不感興趣的人。我比康科德任何農夫更獨立，因為我沒有把自己跟房子，或者農場捆綁在一起，而是從心所欲的生活，所謂從心所謂，就是隨時都在變化。除了已經比他們過得更殷實之外，如果我的房子被燒了或莊稼歉收了，我還可以跟先時一樣過得很好。

說真的，這樣一個無量智慧的民族，前不見古人，後不見來者，就算有，是不是盡如人意，我不敢保證。不過，我從沒馴養過一匹馬或一頭牛，讓它為我幹任何它能幹的活，只因為我害怕自己成了一個馬夫或一個牛倌；這麼做的話，是否社會就成了得勝者，我們能肯定一個人的所得不是另一個人的失去嗎？馬倌跟他的主人同樣有理由感到滿意嗎？誠然，沒有牛馬的幫助，某些公有工作就完不成，還讓人類跟牛和馬共享這份殊榮；在那種情形下，難道我們就可以得出結論，人類就不能做出更有價值的工作嗎？

人類在牛馬的幫助下，開始從事的不只是毫無必要或者毫無藝術性的工作，還有奢侈而無用的工作，少數人就不免會跟牛群全部交換工作，或者，換句話說，成為最健壯者的奴僕。這樣，人類的內心不僅為動物操勞，不過，具有象徵意義的是，他的身體也在為動物勞作。雖然，我們有許許多多結實的磚房或石頭房，但是，農夫的繁榮景象仍取決於穀倉是否蓋過了房子。據說這座小鎮這一帶有最大的牛圈和馬廄，且毫不遜色於公共建築物；但是這個縣裡幾乎沒有供自由禮拜或自由演講的禮堂。

但是，國家為什麼不通過他們的抽象思維的力量，而要靠建築來紀念他們自己呢？一部《福音之歌》比東方各國的所有廢墟更加令人稱頌！艾菲兒鐵塔和宮殿是君主的奢侈。一個樸素而獨立的頭腦不會把腦筋動在任何競價上。天才不是哪個皇帝的僕人，也不是貴重的銀子、金子、或大理石，只一小撮人另當別論。

請問，開鑿那麼多石頭，圖什麼？我在奧卡迪亞沒見過有人對石頭敲敲打打。很多國家幾近瘋狂，他們靠留下石雕的數量來實現永垂不朽的雄心。如果付出同樣的辛苦來打磨刨光他們的氣質會怎樣？一個正確的思想要比一個高聳入月的紀念碑更值得流傳。我更喜歡看到石頭留在原地不動。底比斯的壯麗是庸俗的壯麗。

較之一個對生活的真實目標漸行漸遠的百門底比斯城，劃分老實人的田地界線的一竿的石牆要更合情合理。粗暴野蠻的信仰和文明建起了宏偉的殿堂；但是，你可能稱之為基督教的卻什麼都沒有修建。一個國家敲打的大多數石雕僅僅輪為它的墳墓，它把自己給活埋了。就金字塔而言，本身倒沒什麼好詫異的，事實上，可以看到那麼多人，低到了塵埃裡，不惜消耗自己的生命，去建造一個墳墓，埋葬某些野心勃勃的傻瓜。倒不如淹死在尼羅河裡，然後他的屍體給狗吃了，還顯得更聰明些，也更有氣概些。我或許還會為他們或他找些藉口，可惜我沒這閒工夫。

至於建造者的信仰和藝術愛好，放眼整個世界，也是一樣的，無論建築物是埃及城堡還是美國銀行。造價總是大大超越了實用價值。主要動機是虛榮心，對大蒜、麵包、和奶油的熱愛才出力相助。巴爾科姆是一位前程似錦的年輕建築設計師，對維特魯威追隨倍至，他用堅硬的鉛筆和尺子設計的圖紙，交給了多布森父子採石公司。歷時30個世紀時，向下看吧，人類開始仰望它了。

至於你的高塔和紀念碑，這座小鎮曾一度出現一群瘋狂的傢伙，他們要挖到中國去，他挖了那麼遠，正如他所說，他聽到了中國的鍋裡和水壺裡的的咕嘟聲；但是，我認為我不會迷失方向去羨慕他挖的洞。很多人關注著東西方的紀念碑——要了解是誰建造了它們。而我呢，還是樂意知道當時誰不肯建造它們——是誰不屑於這種區區小事。不過，還是繼續做我的數據統計吧。

當時，我在村裡幹過的行當有手指頭那麼多，有測量，木工活及其他不同類型的日工活，掙到13.34美元。8個月的火食費，也就是說，從頭一年的7月4日至次年的3月1日，這其間做了這些估算，即使我在那裡住了兩年多——不算我種植的土豆，一點嫩玉米和一些豌豆，也不算最後我手頭上存貨的價值——有

Rice…………………………$1.73

大米…………………………1.73美元

Molasses...........................1.73 Cheapest form of the Saccharine.

糖蜜…………………………1.73美元最便宜的一種糖精

Rye meal……………………..1.04

黑麥粉……………………………1.04美元

Indian meal......................0.99 Cheaper than rye.

印第安粉………………….0.99美元比黑麥便宜

Pork…………………………..0.22

豬肉…………………………..0.22美元

All experiments which failed：

全部買來的東西：

Flour...............................0.88 Costs more than Indian meal,

both money and trouble.

麵粉………………………0.88美元,比印第安粉貴，費錢又費力

Sugar…………………………0.80

糖……………………………0.8美元

Lard………………………..0.65

豬油………………………..0.65美元

Apples………………………..0.25

蘋果………………………..0.25美元

Dried apple………………….0.22

蘋果乾………………………..0.22美元

Sweet potatoes………………0.10

紅薯……………………………0.1美元

One pumpkin………………..0.06

一個南瓜…………………….0.06美元

One watermelon…………….0.02

一個西瓜………………………0.02美元

Salt…………………………..0.03

鹽……………………………0.03美元

是的，我總共吃掉8.74美元，都在這兒；不過，我不應該沒羞沒臊地公布我的罪過，如果我不知道大多數讀者跟我一樣有罪過，且他們的行為公布出來，恐怕未必比我的好吧。次年，有時候我會去抓很多魚當晚餐。有一次，我甚至還宰殺了一隻糟蹋過我豆田的旱獺——它正在輪迴轉生，正如一名韃靼人提議——吃掉它，部分原因是為了嘗試；但是，即使它有股麝香味兒，但它確實給了我短暫的愉悅，我明白，長久享用這種美味是不可取的，哪怕你請村裡的屠夫把你的旱獺做成一道佳餚也不行。

同時期內的衣服和一些額外花銷，儘管少，但是從這個條目裡也能推算出來，總共8.4美元

Oil and some household utensils……..2.00

油和一些家用器皿………………………2美元

因此，所有的支出，除了洗衣費和和縫補費，因為大部分活是外面找人代勞的，且他們的帳單還不曾收到——這些是全部支出了，再說，在世界上的這方土地，一切生活方式都免不了這筆必要開支——有

House………………………………….$28.12

房子…………………………………….28.12美元

Farm one year………………………….14.72

全年農場的花銷……………………………14.72美元

Food eight months…………………….8.74

8個月的火食費………………………….8.74美元

Clothing, etc., eight months………..8.40

八個月的衣服等花銷…………………8.4美元

Oil, etc., eight months...................2.00

——

八個月的油等花銷…………………2美元

In all…………………………………$61.99

合計………………………………….61.99美元

不過，這些統計數字微不足道，且，似乎沒什麼意義，不過，正因為有了一定的完整性，也就有了一定的價值。但凡開銷過的，我都入帳了。從上述估算來看，似乎我一周光火食費就有27分錢。此後近兩年來，我吃的無外乎就是不放酵母粉的黑麥粉和印第安粉，土豆，大米，少鹽豬肉，糖蜜，和鹽。我這種喜歡印度哲學的人，把大米作為主食，再合適不過了。要應付某些雞蛋裡挑骨頭的人提出的異議，我也不妨申明一下，如果我偶爾出去下個館子，正如我過去常在外頭用餐那樣，我相信以後有外出用餐的機會，這會經常打亂我的家務開支計劃。但是外出用餐，我說過，是常有的事，像這樣的一份比較申明，一點也不受影響。

經過兩年的實踐我知道，即使在這個緯度上，一個人要獲取必要的食物，一點都不費勁，真是令人難以置信；人可以像動物一樣享用簡單的飲食，還能獲得健康和力量。我烹調了一道特別滿意的晚餐，從多方面來說都是滿意的，我只是從玉米地裡摘來一碟馬齒莧（拉丁文學名叫Portulaca oleracea），煮熟，放了鹽。我之所以用拉丁語給它取學名，是因為太好吃了。在和平時期，在尋常的中午，有煮熟的甜玉米享之不盡，還有鹽可以加，請問一個睿智的人還有什麼渴求的呢？

即使我略略變換一下口味，也是為了滿足口腹之慾而已，不是為了健康考慮。人類曾處於忍飢挨餓的境地，不是因為必需品的匱乏，而是因為缺乏奢侈品；我認識一位賢惠女子，她認為自己的兒子之所以失去了生命，只是因為他拒絕喝飲用水。

讀者朋友會察覺到，我是從經濟視角來探討這個話題的，而不是從飲食視角探討，他也不會冒險去嘗試我這種節制生活，除非他有一個存貨很多的大餐櫃。

我起初做麵包只用印第安粉和鹽，烘焙地道的鋤頭點心，我把它們放到一塊木瓦上或者造房子鋸下的木材一端，再移到戶外的火堆上烘烤；不過，常常烤糊，還有一股松木味兒。我還試過用麵粉做；但是，最後發現黑麥粉跟印第安粉混合起來最方便也最滿意。天冷的時候，連續烘焙幾根長棍麵包，像一個埃及人小心翼翼地孵化小雞一樣，照看，翻面兒，真真意趣無窮也。

它們是我烘烤熟的真正的穀物果實，我感覺，它們像其他甜美的果實似的，有一種香味，我把這種果實包在布裡，儘可能地把這種香氣保存得久一些。

我研究了古代至關重要的麵包製作工藝，參考相關的權威著作，一直追溯到原始時期，最早發明的麵包是不發酵的，當時，人類的飲食首次從食用堅果和生肉的野蠻狀態，變得溫和而精緻了，隨著我的研究進程逐漸推進，據說，由於麵團的偶然變酸，從而學會了發酵方法，此後，經過種種發酵方法，直到我做出「香甜美味誘人的麵包」為止，也就是主食麵包。

有人認為發酵菌是麵包的靈魂，酵母菌遍布麵包裡的每一個細胞組織，像女灶神維斯太的聖火一樣被虔誠地保存下來——我估計，幾瓶珍貴的酵母最初還是五月花號帶來的，為美國解決了問題，它的影響力依然在不斷上升、膨脹、蔓延，在美國大地上的面浪裡翻滾著——這酵母引子是我定期從村裡虔誠領來的，直到後來，我在某個早晨忘記了使用規則，用開水燙死了我的酵母菌，通過這次意外，我發現竟然不是非用酵母不可——因為我的發現不是胡編亂造的，而是經過分析發酵過程得來的——且我很高興從那以後我用不到它了，儘管大部分家庭主婦很認真地向我保證，不放酵母的麵包就不會是安全有益健康的麵包，老人們預言說我很快會失去生命力的。

我還發現酵母不是一種必要成分，而且不用酵母一年以後，我還在這片土地上活得好好的；我很高興擺脫掉兜裡不揣一瓶酵母這樣一樁瑣事了，有時候瓶子爆開，酵母粉都漏掉了，搞得我好不尷尬。兜裡不揣酵母，感覺更輕鬆更體面了。

人類這種動物比其他任何動物更能適應一切氣候與環境.我既不在我的麵包裡放蘇打粉，也不放其他酸性物質和鹼面。

看來我是根據公元前2世紀時期的馬庫斯·波修斯·卡託的配方做麵包。「Panem depsticium sic facito.Manus mortariumque bene lavato. Farinam in mortarium indito, aquae paulatim addito, subigitoque pulchre. Ubi bene subegeris, defingito, coquitoque sub testu.」這段拉丁文，理解為，——「做揉面麵包是這樣的，把你的手和槽形容器洗乾淨」

把麵粉倒入槽內，慢慢加水，把它徹底揉透。把面揉好之後，捏成形，蓋上蓋子就可以烘焙了，「也就是放在烘焙鍋裡。沒有一個字提到發酵的。不過，我不經常用這種麵包。有一次，我囊中無錢，一個多月沒有見到麵包。」

這片土地上的每個新英格蘭人都不靠遠方那搖擺不定的市場，就很容易種植做麵包的黑麥或印第安玉米。我們與簡單和獨立還相距甚遠，在康科德，商店裡罕有售賣新鮮香甜的麵粉，而且粗加工的玉米糝和穀物幾乎沒有人食用了。

通常，農夫把自己種的糧食餵了牛和豬，卻在商店掏大價錢買到不太好的麵粉。我明白自己能夠很容易地種植一兩蒲式耳黑麥或印第安玉米，因為前者會種在最貧脊的土地上，後者也不需要最好的土地，用手磨就能磨成粉，沒有大米和豬肉，照樣過日子；如果我一定要吃些濃縮糖的話，通過試驗我發現，我能用南瓜或甜菜做出質量上乘的蜜糖來，我知道自己只需要栽幾棵槭樹就更容易弄出糖了，這些槭樹還在生長，我就用不同的替代品來取代我上面提到的那些東西。「因為」，正如先祖們唱到，——

「我們可以用南瓜、歐洲蘿蔔和核桃樹葉釀成美酒來滋潤我們的嘴唇」

這樣，就我的食物而言，我可以避免一切交易和物物交換了，而且已經有一所房子可住，只要保持有衣可穿，有燃料可用就行了。我目前穿的馬褲是在一農戶家織的——感謝上蒼，人類還有這麼多美德；因為我認為從農夫降到工人如同從人類降到農夫一樣偉大而讓人難忘；——且在這個村莊，初來乍到，燃料真是能坑死人的事兒。至於土地呢，如果不允許我繼續依法佔用，我就用我耕種的土地的出讓的價格購買一英畝——也就是8美元零8分錢。但是，事實上，我認為，由於我佔用了它，反而提高了土地的價值。

有一部分人不相信，有時候問我這樣那樣的問題，比方說，是不是我認為自己光吃蔬菜就可以活下去；這問到了事情的根源上——因為根源是信念——我習慣了這樣回答，我靠木板上的釘子，照樣能活下去。如果他們連這都不明白，那不管我說多少，他們還是不明白。對我來說，我很高興聽到有人嘗試這種實驗；一位年輕男子嘗試了兩星期的艱苦生活，用牙齒啃帶穗的生玉米吃。 松鼠群同樣試過，而且成功了。人類對這些實驗頗有興趣，儘管幾個行動不便的，或者在磨坊裡有三分之一產權的老婦人，對此試驗可能會驚恐萬狀。

有一部分家具是自己親手做的——剩下的那部分家具也沒花什麼錢，所以我沒有記帳——包括一張床，一張餐桌，一個辦公桌，三把椅子，直徑為3英寸的圓鏡，一把火鉗和一副壁爐柴架，一個水壺，一個平底鍋，一個煎鍋，一把長柄勺，一個臉盆，兩幅刀釵，三個盤子，一個杯子，一把小勺，一個油壺，一個蜜糖罐，一個漆過的檯燈。沒有人窮到需要坐在南瓜上。那就成了瞎混日子了。在村裡的閣樓上，有很多我特別喜歡的椅子是可以帶走的。

家具！謝天謝地，我可以坐，也可以站，不用家具公司的幫忙。看著他的家具—一堆不值錢的空箱子——裝進駛向村裡卡車，青天白日之下，眾目睽睽之下，除了哲學家，誰不會羞愧得無地自容呢？那是斯波爾丁家具吧。

光靠觀察這麼一車家具，我分辨不出這是屬於所謂的富人的，還是屬於一個窮人的；家具的主人總是看起來窮苦不堪。當然，這些東西你擁有的越多你就越窮。每車看起來好像有十幾個棚屋裡的東西；如果一個棚屋窮困不堪，那這一車豈不是窮了十幾倍。請問，為啥我們搬家要扔掉我們的家具，最後從這個地方到另一個地方新購置家具，然後讓這些家具白白被燒毀呢？

就像如果把所有這些圈套都扣到一個人的腰帶上，然後他經過我們撒下繩索而不拽著繩索的荒野——拽著他的圈套，他就動彈不得。他是一隻僥倖的狐狸，只是把尾巴留在了陷阱裡。麝鼠會咬斷它的第三條腿來逃掉。人類失去他的靈活性就不足為怪了。他多久去一次鬼門關！「先生，恕我冒昧，你說的鬼門關是什麼意思？」

如果你是一位先知，無論何時，你見到一個人就會看到他擁有的一切，哦，他後面還有好多他假裝不是自己的東西，即使櫥櫃房用具和一切零碎物件，不值什麼，他都要留著，捨不得燒掉，似乎他要拉著這個套艱難前行。

一個人穿過節孔或大門的時候，他那拉家具的雪橇卻穿不過去，我認為，這個人就走在了鬼門關。我聽說有些蕭灑、看起來結實的人，貌似自由，應有盡有，樣樣具備，說他的「家具」要不要上保險時，我不覺同情起來。「不過，我會對我的家具做什麼呢？」

——還有，我那美麗的蝴蝶被粘在了蜘蛛網上。即使那些看起來很長時間沒有任何家具的人，如果你打聽一下更多細節，你會發現，某人的馬廄裡還存放著一些家具呢。我把如今的英國視作一位老紳士，帶一大堆行李出行，都是長期持家過日子積攢下來的勞什子，他沒勇氣燒掉；大箱子，小箱子，手提箱，還有大大小小的包裹。

至少要把前三樣扔掉吧。抬這些東西的力量超過了一位帶著床行走的健康人，我肯定建議病人要把他的床放下再跑。我見過一位移民扛著一大捆行李搖搖晃晃走著，行李裡面包含了他的全部家當——看起來就像他脖子上長了一個大瘤子——我同情他，不是因為那是他的全部家當，而是因為他帶著全部家當行走。

如果我一定要拖著我的圈套，我會保重身體，帶點輕便的，不要夾到我的要害部位。不過，也許從不把手伸向圈套，才是最明智的。

順便說一下，我發現我不用花窗簾錢，因為，我沒有窺探者，無需去遮擋什麼，除了太陽和月亮——而且我樂意讓它們看進來。月亮既不會讓牛奶變味，也不會汙染我的肉，太陽既不會傷到我的家具，也不會讓我的地毯褪色；如果他有時候一位太過熱情的朋友，躲到大自然提供的帘子後面去，要比往家用開支上添一筆費用經濟多了。一次，一位女士送給我一塊墊子，但是，我屋內沒有鋪墊子的地方，也沒有時間屋裡屋外地打掃它。只好謝絕了，我還是喜歡在門前的草地上擦自己的鞋底。把抑制煩惱的開始才是最好的。

沒過多久，我出席了輔祭的財產拍賣會，因為他這一生沒有白活：——「人死後，他們的罪惡還在。」

跟往常一樣，大部分東西從他父親在世時便開始積攢的不值錢的東西。其中還有一條乾巴的絛蟲。現在，在他的閣樓裡和其他滿是灰塵的旮旯裡躺了半個世紀之後，這些東西沒被燒掉；取代火堆，或純粹毀壞的，是一場拍賣會，換句話說，是讓它們增值。鄰居位渴望收集來觀賞它們，一股腦全買下了，小心翼翼地運到他們自家的閣樓裡和落了塵土的旮旯裡，靜靜地躺在那裡，直到清算他們的財產時，它們再開啟新一輪的搬家模式。而人終歸於塵土。

也許，我們不妨有效地效仿一下原始民族的習慣，因為他們每年無論如何都要舉行拋卻苦難的活動；無論他們有沒有付諸實際，但他們對事態都有自己的看法。

如果我們慶祝類似的「街頭表演活動」或「第一批果實成熟盛宴」，像巴特拉姆描述穆克拉斯族印第安人的風俗那樣，豈不是好事？「一個小鎮在街頭慶祝的時候，」巴特拉姆說，「大家早給自己準備好了新衣服，還有新的炒鍋、平底鍋、其他家用器具和家具，他們把自己穿破的衣服和其他破爛收在一起，清理了自己的房子，院子，和整個小鎮的汙垢，還有剩餘的糧食和其他舊物，都堆一了一起，一把火燒了個真乾淨。然後他們服藥齋戒三日，小鎮上沒有一點菸火。齋戒期間，他們清心寡欲。大赦令宣布；所有的罪犯都可以回到他們的小鎮。」

「到了第四日早上，在祭司摩擦著幹木頭，在公共廣場上點燃新的火種，小鎮上的家家戶戶都從這裡取得了新燃的、純淨的火苗。」

然後，他們用新鮮穀物和新鮮水果設宴，一連三天載歌載舞，「接下來的四天，周邊小鎮上的朋友用類似的方式淨化，並穿戴齊備了來拜訪他們，大家一起共慶節日。」

墨西哥人每隔五十二年也舉行相似的淨化活動，他們相信，每五十二年結束，就該棄絕一次世俗。

我幾乎沒聽說過比這更虔誠的聖事了，像字典中定義的那樣，「內在的心靈美的外在可見體現，」除此之外，我不懷疑他們當初這樣做是上天的直接啟示，儘管《聖經》上沒有相關記錄。

五年多光景，我完全靠自己的雙手勞動養活自己，我發現，一年工作六個星期，我就能滿足所有生活上的花銷。整個冬天，以及夏天的大部分時光，我可以自由自在地學習。我不遺餘力地去辦學，發現，我 的收支相抵，確切地講，是入不敷出。因為我不得不穿正裝去教學，信不信由你，相應地，同時也浪費了我的時間。

儘管我辦學教書不是為了我的同事好，只為餬口罷了，這次辦學以失敗告終了。我試過做生意，但是我發現起碼要在那個領域裡幹十年時間，那了那時，我可能在走向魔鬼的路上。實際上，那時候，我恐怕正在做所謂的大生意。以前我到處看我要幹什麼去謀生，遵從新朋友的意願，我腦海中要想一些悲慘的經歷，已經讓我傷透了腦盤，我經常認真地想過去採摘黑漿果算了；我肯定能做，掙點小錢也夠花了——因為我最拿手的本領是需求很少——只需要一丁點錢，我傻傻地認為，對我素常的心情基本沒有影響。

我的熟人們毫不猶豫去經商的，要麼去上班的，我深信這個職業最像他們的職業；整個夏天，在山脈一帶採摘路上碰到的漿果，後來又粗心大意地丟掉了；那麼，就餵了阿德墨託斯的羊群吧。我也夢想著採集野生草藥，或者用拉乾草的卡車給熱愛森林的村民帶去常青樹，甚至運到城市裡去。不過，從那以後，我才明白，貿意對它負責的每件事情都下了詛咒；即使你經營天堂裡福音，也逃不掉貿易的全部詛咒。

有些事情我就特別喜歡，特別珍惜我的自由，我付出辛苦並能取得成功，我不希望把時間花在賺取華麗地氈或其他優質家具上，或是精美的烹飪術上，或修建一所古希臘或歌特式風格的房子。如果有人唾手可得這些東西，且到手後他知道如何使用它們，我就讓他們追求好了。有的人真「勤勞，」似乎是為了勞動而熱愛勞動，或者，也許因為勞動讓他們避開了更糟的傷害；既如此，我現在也沒什麼好說的了。

那些人不知道要比他們現在享受的閒暇還要多的閒暇做什麼，我建議他們雙倍地努力工作——工作到他們能買得起他們自己為止，然後獲取自由身。我通過親身經歷發現日工比任何職業都要獨立，尤其因為一年只需要工作30-40天就能養活一個人。勞動者的一天隨著日落而結束，那麼他就有他的勞動選擇自由和獨立性；但是他的僱主日積月累地投機，年復一年，都沒有喘息的機會。

簡言之，我相信信仰和經驗，如果我們只是活得簡單聰明，在這個星球上堅持自己不是吃苦，而是消遣；因為民族越樸素，娛樂就越不真實。一個人沒有必要要靠額頭上的汗水生存，除非他比我更容易出汗。

我熟悉一名年輕男子，繼承了幾畝良田，他跟我說，如果他有辦法的話，他覺得他應該像我這樣生活。不管出於什麼原因，我並不願意有人採用我的生活模式；因為，在他還沒有學會我的生活方式以前，我可能又摸索出了另外一種生活方式，我希望世界上儘可能有各種與眾不同的人；但願每一個人都能夠認真地找到或追求他自己的生活方式，而不是他父親或他母親，或者他鄰居那樣的生活方式。

年輕人可以搞建築、務農、或航海，只要讓他能夠一往無前，他告訴我說他樂意做就完了。從微觀角度看，我們只是聰明而已，正如水手或逃犯那樣仰望星空罷了；不過這已經足夠為我們的生活做嚮導了。我們可能無法在一定的時間到達我們的港口，但是我們在自己的節奏裡一直向前。

毋庸置疑，即便這樣，對一個人實用，對一千個人就更實用了，如同一所大房子不一定就比一所小房子貴，由於是只有一個屋頂，一個地窖，以及用一面牆隔開的幾間公寓。不過，就我自己而言，我更喜歡獨立的居所。此外，自己建立一所房子要比說服另一人共享一面牆的好處要來得容易些；且你住公寓，由於共享牆體，所以會更省錢，必定是薄薄的一面牆，萬一另一邊住的是個糟糕的鄰居，連他那邊的牆體都不去修繕的。

達成最佳合作的通常極極有限而且是表面上的；略微真實的合作仿佛不存在似的，是一種安安靜靜的和諧。如果一個人有信仰，無論走哪兒他都會跟有相同的信仰的人合作；如果他沒有信仰，無論他跟誰作伴，他會繼續跟世界上的其他人一樣生活著。合作好好賴賴，就是我們要共同生活。

我聽聞有兩青年男子近期決定一起去環球世界，其中一人囊中羞澀，一路上在桅杆前，在耕梨後辛辛苦苦賺取旅行費，另一位卻在兜兜裡揣著一張支票。不難發現，他們的合作長久不了，因為其中一人的經濟壓根就難以維繫。在他們的旅途中遇到第一個利益危機時就得散夥。綜上所述，正如我前面提到過的，如今，一個人就可以來一場說走就走的旅行；如果要與另一個結伴而行，就需要等另一人準備好才可以啟程，這距他們動身可能需要很長時間。我的一些老鄉認為這種行為太自私了。我承認，迄今為止，我僅對慈善事業盡了一點微薄之力。基於一種社會責任感，我做過一些貢獻，當然其中也有樂善好施的成分。有人使出渾身解數說服我幫幫鎮上的窮困家庭；如果我無所事事的話——撒旦會給閒人找事情做——我會試著讓自己忙於慈善之類的事情。可是，每當我一頭扎進這方面工作的時候，我就幫助一部分窮人在各方面過得像我自己一樣舒適，把幫助他們過上幸福的生活當成一種責任，還硬著頭皮給他們提出了脫貧建議，他們卻義無反顧的選擇窮下去。我們鎮上的男男女女已在想方設法為自己的同胞們謀福祉，我相信，至少使人不去做缺乏人情味的事情。做慈善，你得有像做別的事情那樣的頭腦。做慈善，也是一種高尚的職業。另外，說句公道話，可能聽起來很奇怪，我確信這種事不合我的脾性。也許我不該摒棄這種特殊的使命，社會需要我去拯救宇宙，使其免於毀滅；我堅信，在某個美麗的地方，至今有一種神奇的力量在護它周全。我肯定不會阻擋任何人發揮他的天賦；於是有人全身心地投入我不願意去做的事情，我會說，即使世人將其稱之為幹壞事，他們很可能會這樣說，你也要咬咬牙堅持下去。

我沒有說自己的論據很奇特的意思；無疑，許多讀者朋友們也會做出類似辯白。在做某件事情的時候——我的鄰居們要說這是做好事，我不會加入——我會毫不猶豫地說自己是一名出色的僱工；到底出色在哪裡，那是我僱主的事情。我做的有多好，按對這個好字的通常理解，那不是我的分內之事，而且並非刻意而為之。人們幾乎都這樣說，從此時此地的你開始，不以變得更有價值做好事，而以心存善念做好事。如果我以這種口吻說教的話，倒不如說，做個好人吧。好比太陽升起，用自己的火光照亮了球球或一顆六等星星後，就應該停下來一樣。像羅賓古德非洛那樣，爬在每個小屋的窗外偷窺，讓人精神錯亂，肉也腐壞了，讓黑暗清晰可見，他那讓人愉快的溫暖和善心並沒有日益增長，直到他變如此光芒萬丈，沒有人能看清他的臉，接下來，也就是說與此同時，在自己的軌道上，繞著地球做好事，或者更確切地說，如同更加真實的哲學發現的那樣，地球繞著太陽轉，從而得到恩澤。法厄同通過惠澤世人，希望證明自己的天神出生，就駕著太陽的四馬金車出遊，但是有一天，車偏離了軌道，天堂下面的幾個街區的房子燒著了，就連地球的表面也燒焦了，燒乾了每個泉眼，造就了撒哈拉大沙漠，最後，朱庇特一聲劈靂把他劈死在地，太陽為他的死悲痛不已，整整一年沒有發光。

善良變了味，那真是奇臭無比。如同人的腐屍，神的腐屍一般。如果我確切地知道有人專程來我們做好事的話，那我得逃命去了，就像躲避非洲沙漠上乾熱的風一樣，也就是西蒙風，颳得你滿嘴，滿鼻，滿耳朵都是土，直到把你悶死為止，就怕他對我做好事——它的病毒會同我的血液摻在一起。不——要是真這樣的話，我寧願遭受災難，那樣來得更自然一些。要是我餓了，有人過來餵我，或是我冷，他過來溫暖我，或者我掉入溝渠，他把我拉上來，對我來說，他算不上一個好人。我可以給你找來一條紐芬蘭狗，能做的不比那少。廣義上來講，慈善並不是去關愛同胞。以霍華德的善舉來說，他無疑是一個大善人，一個令人尊敬的人，他的善良也得到到了回報；比較而言，在我們最值得幫助的時候，如果他們的慈善沒落實到我們最好的土地上面，即使有一百個霍華德又有什麼用？我從沒聽說過有哪個慈善會議提出給我或者像我這樣的人做點好事。

耶穌會會士被印第安人嚇怕了，那些被綁在樁子上的印第安人，竟向行刑者提出了一些新的折磨方式。他們遭受肉體的折磨，卻並不屈服，有時候他們對傳教士給予的安慰也無動於衷；你們應該奉行的法則是，在他們行刑時，少在他們耳邊說些規勸之類的話就行，至於他們是怎麼被折磨死的，他們卻毫不在乎，反倒還有點喜歡自己的敵人，對後者的惡行幾乎全部給寬恕了。

要確保你給窮人的幫助，是他們最需要的，儘管窮人遠遠地落在你的後面是真實存在的。如果你給錢，那你得跟他們一起花掉，不要只把錢丟給他們就完事。有時候，我們會犯一些奇奇怪怪的錯誤。窮人通常沒那麼餓，也沒那麼冷，他們只是髒一些，穿得破一些，舉止粗俗一些，這多半是因為他的品味，並不單單是他的命運。如果你給他錢，他也許會買更多的破爛衣服。我一般會可憐那些粗笨的愛爾蘭勞工，他們在湖上鑿取冰塊，幹活把衣服磨破了，而我穿得相對乾淨，時髦一些，卻凍得瑟瑟發抖，一個侵肌裂骨的大冷天，一個落水的人來我家取暖，我看到他脫掉三條褲子，兩雙襪子，才露出皮膚，儘管他們的穿著又髒又破，沒錯，他還是拒絕了我送的衣服，他已經有很多富餘的衣服了。他需要幫助的只是這次落水事件。於是，我開始可憐我自己，我發現送我一件法蘭絨T恤要比送他一家現成的服裝店更加功德無量。有上千人在砍掉罪惡的枝叉，只有一人把罪惡的根砍掉了，也許他就是窮人身上花的時間和金錢最多的人，通過他的生活方式產生的苦難也最多，儘管他設法挽求，但徒勞無功。道貌岸然的奴隸主拿出奴隸們創造的十分之一的收益，給奴隸們購買一個星期天的自由。有人通過僱用窮人去廚房幹活，以顯示他們對窮人的善良。他們親自幹活豈不是更有慈悲心嗎？你炫耀說拿出自己收入的十分之一做了慈善；也許你應該拿出收入的十分之九去行善，善始善終嘛。即使這樣，社會收回來的也只有財富的十分之一。這應該歸咎於財富佔有者的慷慨大方，還是公正的法官的粗心大意？

做慈善幾乎是唯一讓人類大加讚揚的美德。不，這個評價太高了；是因為我們的自私，才會對它有過高的評價。

那是陽光明媚的一天，一個健壯的窮人在康科德向我誇讚鎮上的一位市民，因為，他說，他對窮人很友好；這個窮人也就是他自己。對人友好的叔叔阿姨們要比真正的神父聖母們更受人尊敬。有一次，我聽到一神父在講述英國，他又聰明又有學識，他先是列舉了科學界，文學界，以及政治界的知名人士，有莎士比亞、培根、克倫威爾、彌爾頓以及牛頓等人。又講了基督教的英雄們，仿佛那是他的職業，他把他們（基督教的英雄們）捧到了天上，使他們成為偉人中的偉人。其中有佩恩、霍華德和弗萊夫人。人們一定認為他在胡扯。最後那三位不是最優秀的英國人；只不過，也許吧，是他心目中的最佳慈善人而已。

做慈善得到的讚揚，我不會做出任何貶損，只求把公平公正給予那些用生命和勞動為人類造福的人。我主要看重的不是一個人的正直和善心，那不過是他的枝枝葉葉罷了。我們把枯萎的綠植拿來做成藥茶，給病人服下，但效果甚微，江湖醫生大都是這麼用的。我想要的是一個人能開花結果；香味從他那裡瓢到我這裡來一些，在我們的交流中瀰漫著成熟的香氣。他的善心肯定不是一星半點，也不是臨時起意，而是持久的豐餘。這是一種下意識行為，沒花他一分錢。而慈善掩蓋了萬惡。慈善家們那一文不值的悲憫經常圍繞著人類，營造一種氣氛，也就是所謂的同情心。我們該傳達的是我們的勇氣，不是絕望，傳達我們的健康和安逸，不是疾病，還要當心別讓疾病通過感染四處蔓延。從哪個南方平原上傳來的豪哭？我們要給哪個緯度上的異教徒送去光明？哪個縱慾無度而殘暴的人需要我們去救贖？如果人得了病，他就不能履行自己的職責，如果他腸胃不舒服——那他就值得同情——他就要著手改造——這個世界。作為宇宙的一個縮影，他發現——一個真正的發現——是他發現的——這個世界一直在吃青蘋果；在他眼裡，說實在的，地球本身就是一顆巨大的青蘋果，想想都覺得嚇人，人類的孩子在蘋果還沒有成熟就去啃，這太冒險了；大型慈善機構很快就尋到了愛斯基摩人和巴塔哥尼亞人，還體察了人口密集的印度和中國村莊；這樣，通過幾年的慈善活動，與此同時，有權勢的人利用他達到了他們自己的目的，無疑，他治癒了自己的消化不良反應，地球的一側臉頰或雙頰泛著淡淡的紅潤，似乎它要開始成熟了，生活的粗鄙也消失不見，甚至還透著點甜，生活變得生機勃勃。我想不出有比我犯的錯誤更大的錯誤。我從沒認識過，以後也不會認識，比我自己更壞的人了。

我相信，讓改革者如此這般悲傷的，不是他對身處苦難的同胞們表示同情，而是，儘管他是上帝最神聖的兒子，他自己心裡不安。把這一切糾正過來吧，讓春天來到他身邊吧，讓他的床榻迎接黎明吧，他會毫無歉意地拋棄他慷慨的同伴們。我不反對咀嚼菸葉的原因是，我從不嚼菸草；嚼菸草的人終究會為自己的行為付出代價；儘管我嚼過的東西也不少，這不影響我去反對。如果你不慎踏入慈善行業，別讓你的左手知道你的右手在幹什麼，因為不值得知道。救起落水的人就系好鞋帶，該幹嘛幹嘛。

跟聖徒交流的時候，我們的舉止被摧毀了。我們的讚美詩中迴蕩著褻瀆上帝和永遠容忍他的悅耳之聲。有人會說，哪怕是先知和救世主，也只是撫慰人們的恐懼，不會證實他的希望。哪裡也沒有記載對生命的饋贈表示滿意，對上帝的讚頌有絲毫難忘之情。一切健康與成功對我有好處，無論多麼遙不可及；一切疾病和失敗讓我悲傷，讓我難過，它或許很同情我，或者我同情它，那麼，如果我們真的採用印第安式的，順應自然的，有吸引力的，或者合乎人性的手段重振人類，那麼，我們首先要像大自然一樣簡單美好，額頭上的滿天烏雲全都散去，在我們的毛孔裡注入一點活力。不要做窮人的監督者，要努力成為世界上最崇高的人。

我在設拉子謝赫·薩迪的著作《薔薇園》裡讀過這樣一句話「有人問一個聰明人：上帝創造了那麼最好的果樹，單把不結果實的柏樹稱為自由樹，這其中有什麼奧妙嗎？他回答道：每種果樹都只在特定的季節才會茂盛、開花結果，過了它的季節，便會幹枯凋零；只有柏樹不為四季所限，四季常青，所以叫自由。

——短暫的一切不要貪求；

哈裡發的光榮已成虛無，

巴格達城外的江水萬古長流！

你應像棗樹那樣慷慨大度；

即使你一無所有，

也應像柏樹一樣無拘無束。」

附加詩篇

貧窮的託詞，

可憐兮兮的窮鬼，你實在太放肆，

竟要求在蒼穹底下有一席之地，

你的破棚屋或者木桶，

培養一些懶惰的的，或者迂腐的德行

在免費的陽光下，在清涼的泉水邊

嚼野菜啃根須，你的右手

從思想上扯去人類的熱情

美德之花在熱情中燦然開放，

你貶損了大自然，又讓感官麻木不仁，

像蛇髮女妖那樣，將活人僵化。

我們不需要這個沉悶的社會

你務必要克制，

我們也不需要不自然的愚蠢

不懂何謂快樂，何謂悲傷；也不懂你的無奈

假意讚美被動的堅持

置於積極頭上。這卑微的一家人，

把他們的位置固定在平庸之輩，

成為你奴性的思想；但是我們推崇

這種美德，承認節制

勇敢慷慨的行為，莊嚴宏偉，

縱覽一切的審慎，無邊無際的

寬宏大度，還有那種英雄的美德，

自古以來沒有留下一個名稱，

只有一些典型，比如赫拉克勒斯，

阿喀琉斯，忒修斯。回到你可憎的陋室；

你看到了文明的新天地時，

仔細研究會知道最有價值的是什麼。

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 away in an old chest, or in a stocking behind the plastering, or, more safely, in the brick bank; no matter where, no matter how much or how little.

I sometimes wonder that we can be so frivolous, I may almost say, as to attend to the gross but somewhat foreign form of servitude called Negro Slavery, there are so many keen and subtle masters that enslave both North and South. It is hard to have a Southern overseer; it is worse to have a Northern one; but worst of all when you are the slave-driver of yourself. Talk of a divinity in man! Look at the teamster on the highway, wending to market by day or night; does any divinity stir within him? His highest duty to fodder and water his horses! What is his destiny to him compared with the shipping interests? Does not he drive for Squire Make-a-stir? How godlike, how immortal, is he? See how he cowers and sneaks, how vaguely all the day he fears, not being immortal nor divine, but the slave and prisoner of his own opinion of himself, a fame won by his own deeds. Public opinion is a weak tyrant compared with our own private opinion. What a man thinks of himself, that it is which determines, or rather indicates, his fate. Self-emancipation even in the West Indian provinces of the fancy and imagination -- what Wilberforce is there to bring that about? Think, also, of the ladies of the land weaving toilet cushions against the last day, not to betray too green an interest in their fates! As if you could kill time without injuring eternity.

The mass of men lead lives of quiet desperation. What is called resignation is confirmed desperation. From the desperate city you go into the desperate country, and have to console yourself with the bravery of minks and muskrats. A stereotyped but unconscious despair is concealed even under what are called the games and amusements of mankind. There is no play in them, for this comes after work. But it is a characteristic of wisdom not to do desperate things.

When we consider what, to use the words of the catechism, is the chief end of man, and what are the true necessaries and means of life, it appears as if men had deliberately chosen the common mode of living because they preferred it to any other. Yet they honestly think there is no choice left. But alert and healthy natures remember that the sun rose clear. It is never too late to give up our prejudices. No way of thinking or doing, however ancient, can be trusted without proof. What everybody echoes or in silence passes by as true to-day may turn out to be falsehood to-morrow, mere smoke of opinion, which some had trusted for a cloud that would sprinkle fertilizing rain on their fields. What old people say you cannot do, you try and find that you can. Old deeds for old people, and new deeds for new. Old people did not know enough once, perchance, to fetch fresh fuel to keep the fire a-going; new people put a little dry wood under a pot, and are whirled round the globe with the speed of birds, in a way to kill old people, as the phrase is. Age is no better, hardly so well, qualified for an instructor as youth, for it has not profited so much as it has lost. One may almost doubt if the wisest man has learned anything of absolute value by living. Practically, the old have no very important advice to give the young, their own experience has been so partial, and their lives have been such miserable failures, for private reasons, as they must believe; and it may be that they have some faith left which belies that experience, and they are only less young than they were. I have lived some thirty years on this planet, and I have yet to hear the first syllable of valuable or even earnest advice from my seniors. They have told me nothing, and probably cannot tell me anything to the purpose. Here is life, an experiment to a great extent untried by me; but it does not avail me that they have tried it. If I have any experience which I think valuable, I am sure to reflect that this my Mentors said nothing about.

One farmer says to me, "You cannot live on vegetable food solely, for it furnishes nothing to make bones with"; and so he religiously devotes a part of his day to supplying his system with the raw material of bones; walking all the while he talks behind his oxen, which, with vegetable-made bones, jerk him and his lumbering plow along in spite of every obstacle. Some things are really necessaries of life in some circles, the most helpless and diseased, which in others are luxuries merely, and in others still are entirely unknown.

The whole ground of human life seems to some to have been gone over by their predecessors, both the heights and the valleys, and all things to have been cared for. According to Evelyn, "the wise Solomon prescribed ordinances for the very distances of trees; and the Roman praetors have decided how often you may go into your neighbor's land to gather the acorns which fall on it without trespass, and what share belongs to that neighbor." Hippocrates has even left directions how we should cut our nails; that is, even with the ends of the fingers, neither shorter nor longer. Undoubtedly the very tedium and ennui which presume to have exhausted the variety and the joys of life are as old as Adam. But man's capacities have never been measured; nor are we to judge of what he can do by any precedents, so little has been tried. Whatever have been thy failures hitherto, "be not afflicted, my child, for who shall assign to thee what thou hast left undone?"

We might try our lives by a thousand simple tests; as, for instance, that the same sun which ripens my beans illumines at once a system of earths like ours. If I had remembered this it would have prevented some mistakes. This was not the light in which I hoed them. The stars are the apexes of what wonderful triangles! What distant and different beings in the various mansions of the universe are contemplating the same one at the same moment! Nature and human life are as various as our several constitutions. Who shall say what prospect life offers to another? Could a greater miracle take place than for us to look through each other's eyes for an instant? We should live in all the ages of the world in an hour; ay, in all the worlds of the ages. History, Poetry, Mythology! -- I know of no reading of another's experience so startling and informing as this would be.

The greater part of what my neighbors call good I believe in my soul to be bad, and if I repent of anything, it is very likely to be my good behavior. What demon possessed me that I behaved so well? You may say the wisest thing you can, old man -- you who have lived seventy years, not without honor of a kind -- I hear an irresistible voice which invites me away from all that. One generation abandons the enterprises of another like stranded vessels.

I think that we may safely trust a good deal more than we do. We may waive just so much care of ourselves as we honestly bestow elsewhere. Nature is as well adapted to our weakness as to our strength. The incessant anxiety and strain of some is a well-nigh incurable form of disease. We are made to exaggerate the importance of what work we do; and yet how much is not done by us! or, what if we had been taken sick? How vigilant we are! determined not to live by faith if we can avoid it; all the day long on the alert, at night we unwillingly say our prayers and commit ourselves to uncertainties. So thoroughly and sincerely are we compelled to live, reverencing our life, and denying the possibility of change. This is the only way, we say; but there are as many ways as there can be drawn radii from one centre. All change is a miracle to contemplate; but it is a miracle which is taking place every instant. Confucius said, "To know that we know what we know, and that we do not know what we do not know, that is true knowledge." When one man has reduced a fact of the imagination to be a fact to his understanding, I foresee that all men at length establish their lives on that basis.

Let us consider for a moment what most of the trouble and anxiety which I have referred to is about, and how much it is necessary that we be troubled, or at least careful. It would be some advantage to live a primitive and frontier life, though in the midst of an outward civilization, if only to learn what are the gross necessaries of life and what methods have been taken to obtain them; or even to look over the old day-books of the merchants, to see what it was that men most commonly bought at the stores, what they stored, that is, what are the grossest groceries. For the improvements of ages have had but little influence on the essential laws of man's existence; as our skeletons, probably, are not to be distinguished from those of our ancestors.

By the words, necessary of life, I mean whatever, of all that man obtains by his own exertions, has been from the first, or from long use has become, so important to human life that few, if any, whether from savageness, or poverty, or philosophy, ever attempt to do without it. To many creatures there is in this sense but one necessary of life, Food. To the bison of the prairie it is a few inches of palatable grass, with water to drink; unless he seeks the Shelter of the forest or the mountain's shadow. None of the brute creation requires more than Food and Shelter. The necessaries of life for man in this climate may, accurately enough, be distributed under the several heads of Food, Shelter, Clothing, and Fuel; for not till we have secured these are we prepared to entertain the true problems of life with freedom and a prospect of success. Man has invented, not only houses, but clothes and cooked food; and possibly from the accidental discovery of the warmth of fire, and the consequent use of it, at first a luxury, arose the present necessity to sit by it. We observe cats and dogs acquiring the same second nature. By proper Shelter and Clothing we legitimately retain our own internal heat; but with an excess of these, or of Fuel, that is, with an external heat greater than our own internal, may not cookery properly be said to begin? Darwin, the naturalist, says of the inhabitants of Tierra del Fuego, that while his own party, who were well clothed and sitting close to a fire, were far from too warm, these naked savages, who were farther off, were observed, to his great surprise, "to be streaming with perspiration at undergoing such a roasting." So, we are told, the New Hollander goes naked with impunity, while the European shivers in his clothes. Is it impossible to combine the hardiness of these savages with the intellectualness of the civilized man? According to Liebig, man's body is a stove, and food the fuel which keeps up the internal combustion in the lungs. In cold weather we eat more, in warm less. The animal heat is the result of a slow combustion, and disease and death take place when this is too rapid; or for want of fuel, or from some defect in the draught, the fire goes out. Of course the vital heat is not to be confounded with fire; but so much for analogy. It appears, therefore, from the above list, that the expression, animal life, is nearly synonymous with the expression, animal heat; for while Food may be regarded as the Fuel which keeps up the fire within us -- and Fuel serves only to prepare that Food or to increase the warmth of our bodies by addition from without -- Shelter and Clothing also serve only to retain the heat thus generated and absorbed.

The grand necessity, then, for our bodies, is to keep warm, to keep the vital heat in us. What pains we accordingly take, not only with our Food, and Clothing, and Shelter, but with our beds, which are our night-clothes, robbing the nests and breasts of birds to prepare this shelter within a shelter, as the mole has its bed of grass and leaves at the end of its burrow! The poor man is wont to complain that this is a cold world; and to cold, no less physical than social, we refer directly a great part of our ails. The summer, in some climates, makes possible to man a sort of Elysian life. Fuel, except to cook his Food, is then unnecessary; the sun is his fire, and many of the fruits are sufficiently cooked by its rays; while Food generally is more various, and more easily obtained, and Clothing and Shelter are wholly or half unnecessary. At the present day, and in this country, as I find by my own experience, a few implements, a knife, an axe, a spade, a wheelbarrow, etc., and for the studious, lamplight, stationery, and access to a few books, rank next to necessaries, and can all be obtained at a trifling cost. Yet some, not wise, go to the other side of the globe, to barbarous and unhealthy regions, and devote themselves to trade for ten or twenty years, in order that they may live -- that is, keep comfortably warm -- and die in New England at last. The luxuriously rich are not simply kept comfortably warm, but unnaturally hot; as I implied before, they are cooked, of course a la mode.

Most of the luxuries, and many of the so-called comforts of life, are not only not indispensable, but positive hindrances to the elevation of mankind. With respect to luxuries and comforts, the wisest have ever lived a more simple and meagre life than the poor. The ancient philosophers, Chinese, Hindoo, Persian, and Greek, were a class than which none has been poorer in outward riches, none so rich in inward. We know not much about them. It is remarkable that we know so much of them as we do. The same is true of the more modern reformers and benefactors of their race. None can be an impartial or wise observer of human life but from the vantage ground of what we should call voluntary poverty. Of a life of luxury the fruit is luxury, whether in agriculture, or commerce, or literature, or art. There are nowadays professors of philosophy, but not philosophers. Yet it is admirable to profess because it was once admirable to live. To be a philosopher is not merely to have subtle thoughts, nor even to found a school, but so to love wisdom as to live according to its dictates, a life of simplicity, independence, magnanimity, and trust. It is to solve some of the problems of life, not only theoretically, but practically. The success of great scholars and thinkers is commonly a courtier-like success, not kingly, not manly. They make shift to live merely by conformity, practically as their fathers did, and are in no sense the progenitors of a noble race of men. But why do men degenerate ever? What makes families run out? What is the nature of the luxury which enervates and destroys nations? Are we sure that there is none of it in our own lives? The philosopher is in advance of his age even in the outward form of his life. He is not fed, sheltered, clothed, warmed, like his contemporaries. How can a man be a philosopher and not maintain his vital heat by better methods than other men?

When a man is warmed by the several modes which I have described, what does he want next? Surely not more warmth of the same kind, as more and richer food, larger and more splendid houses, finer and more abundant clothing, more numerous, incessant, and hotter fires, and the like. When he has obtained those things which are necessary to life, there is another alternative than to obtain the superfluities; and that is, to adventure on life now, his vacation from humbler toil having commenced. The soil, it appears, is suited to the seed, for it has sent its radicle downward, and it 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 articles as the country affords, purely native products, much ice and pine timber and a little granite, always in native bottoms. These will be good ventures. To oversee all the details yourself in person; to be at once pilot and captain, and owner and underwriter; to buy and sell and keep the accounts; to read every letter received, and write or read every letter sent; to superintend the discharge of imports night and day; to be upon many parts of the coast almost at the same time -- often the richest freight will be discharged upon a Jersey shore; -- to be your own telegraph, unweariedly sweeping the horizon, speaking all passing vessels bound coastwise; to keep up a steady despatch of commodities, for the supply of such a distant and exorbitant market; to keep yourself informed of the state of the markets, prospects of war and peace everywhere, and anticipate the tendencies of trade and civilization -- taking advantage of the results of all exploring expeditions, using new passages and all improvements in navigation; -- charts to be studied, the position of reefs and new lights and buoys to be ascertained, and ever, and ever, the logarithmic tables to be corrected, for by the error of some calculator the vessel often splits upon a rock that should have reached a friendly pier -- there is the untold fate of La Prouse; -- universal science to be kept pace with, studying the lives of all great discoverers and navigators, great adventurers and merchants, from Hanno and the Phoenicians down to our day; in fine, account of stock to be taken from time to time, to know how you stand. It is a labor to task the faculties of a man -- such problems of profit and loss, of interest, of tare and tret, and gauging of all kinds in it, as demand a universal knowledge.

I have thought that Walden Pond would be a good place for business, not solely on account of the railroad and the ice trade; it offers advantages which it may not be good policy to divulge; it is a good port and a good foundation. No Neva marshes to be filled; though you must everywhere build on piles of your own driving. It is said that a flood-tide, with a westerly wind, and ice in the Neva, would sweep St. Petersburg from the face of the earth.

As this business was to be entered into without the usual capital, it may not be easy to conjecture where those means, that will still be indispensable to every such undertaking, were to be obtained. As for Clothing, to come at once to the practical part of the question, perhaps we are led oftener by the love of novelty and a regard for the opinions of men, in procuring it, than by a true utility. Let him who has work to do recollect that the object of clothing is, first, to retain the vital heat, and secondly, in this state of society, to cover nakedness, and he may judge how much of any necessary or important work may be accomplished without adding to his wardrobe. Kings and queens who wear a suit but once, though made by some tailor or dressmaker to their majesties, cannot know the comfort of wearing a suit that fits. They are no better than wooden horses to hang the clean clothes on. Every day our garments become more assimilated to ourselves, receiving the impress of the wearer's character, until we hesitate to lay them aside without such delay and medical appliances and some such solemnity even as our bodies. No man ever stood the lower in my estimation for having a patch in his clothes; yet I am sure that there is greater anxiety, commonly, to have fashionable, or at least clean and unpatched clothes, than to have a sound conscience. But even if the rent is not mended, perhaps the worst vice betrayed is improvidence. I sometimes try my acquaintances by such tests as this -- Who could wear a patch, or two extra seams only, over the knee? Most behave as if they believed that their prospects for life would be ruined if they should do it. It would be easier for them to hobble to town with a broken leg than with a broken pantaloon. Often if an accident happens to a gentleman's legs, they can be mended; but if a similar accident happens to the legs of his pantaloons, there is no help for it; for he considers, not what is truly respectable, but what is respected. We know but few men, a great many coats and breeches. Dress a scarecrow in your last shift, you standing shiftless by, who would not soonest salute the scarecrow? Passing a cornfield the other day, close by a hat and coat on a stake, I recognized the owner of the farm. He was only a little more weather-beaten than when I saw him last. I have heard of a dog that barked at every stranger who approached his master's premises with clothes on, but was easily quieted by a naked thief. It is an interesting question how far men would retain their relative rank if they were divested of their clothes. Could you, in such a case, tell surely of any company of civilized men which belonged to the most respected class? When Madam Pfeiffer, in her adventurous travels round the world, from east to west, had got so near home as Asiatic Russia, she says that she felt the necessity of wearing other than a travelling dress, when she went to meet the authorities, for she "was now in a civilized country, where ... people are judged of by their clothes." Even in our democratic New England towns the accidental possession of wealth, and its manifestation in dress and equipage alone, obtain for the possessor almost universal respect. But they yield such respect, numerous as they are, are so far heathen, and need to have a missionary sent to them. Beside, clothes introduced sewing, a kind of work which you may call endless; a woman's dress, at least, is never done.

A man who has at length found something to do will not need to get a new suit to do it in; for him the old will do, that has lain dusty in the garret for an indeterminate period. Old shoes will serve a hero longer than they have served his valet -- if a hero ever has a valet -- bare feet are older than shoes, and he can make them do. Only they who go to soires and legislative balls must have new coats, coats to change as often as the man changes in them. But if my jacket and trousers, my hat and shoes, are fit to worship God in, they will do; will they not? Who ever saw his old clothes -- his old coat, actually worn out, resolved into its primitive elements, so that it was not a deed of charity to bestow it on some poor boy, by him perchance to be bestowed on some poorer still, or shall we say richer, who could do with less? I say, beware of all enterprises that require new clothes, and not rather a new wearer of clothes. If there is not a new man, how can the new clothes be made to fit? If you have any enterprise before you, try it in your old clothes. All men want, not something to do with, but something to do, or rather something to be. Perhaps we should never procure a new suit, however ragged or dirty the old, until we have so conducted, so enterprised or sailed in some way, that we feel like new men in the old, and that to retain it would be like keeping new wine in old bottles. Our moulting season, like that of the fowls, must be a crisis in our lives. The loon retires to solitary ponds to spend it. Thus also the snake casts its slough, and the caterpillar its wormy coat, by an internal industry and expansion; for clothes are but our outmost cuticle and mortal coil. Otherwise we shall be found sailing under false colors, and be inevitably cashiered at last by our own opinion, as well as that of mankind.

We don garment after garment, as if we grew like exogenous plants by addition without. Our outside and often thin and fanciful clothes are our epidermis, or false skin, which partakes not of our life, and may be stripped off here and there without fatal injury; our thicker garments, constantly worn, are our cellular integument, or cortex; but our shirts are our liber, or true bark, which cannot be removed without girdling and so destroying the man. I believe that all races at some seasons wear something equivalent to the shirt. It is desirable that a man be clad so simply that he can lay his hands on himself in the dark, and that he live in all respects so compactly and preparedly that, if an enemy take the town, he can, like the old philosopher, walk out the gate empty-handed without anxiety. While one thick garment is, for most purposes, as good as three thin ones, and cheap clothing can be obtained at prices really to suit customers; while a thick coat can be bought for five dollars, which will last as many years, thick pantaloons for two dollars, cowhide boots for a dollar and a half a pair, a summer hat for a quarter of a dollar, and a winter cap for sixty-two and a half cents, or a better be made at home at a nominal cost, where is he so poor that, clad in such a suit, of his own earning, there will not be found wise men to do him reverence?

When I ask for a garment of a particular form, my tailoress tells me gravely, "They do not make them so now," not emphasizing the "They" at all, as if she quoted an authority as impersonal as the Fates, and I find it difficult to get made what I want, simply because she cannot believe that I mean what I say, that I am so rash. When I hear this oracular sentence, I am for a moment absorbed in thought, emphasizing to myself each word separately that I may come at the meaning of it, that I may find out by what degree of consanguinity They are related to me, and what authority they may have in an affair which affects me so nearly; and, finally, I am inclined to answer her with equal mystery, and without any more emphasis of the "they" -- "It is true, they did not make them so recently, but they do now." Of what use this measuring of me if she does not measure my character, but only the breadth of my shoulders, as it were a peg to bang the coat on? We worship not the Graces, nor the Parcae, but Fashion. She spins and weaves and cuts with full authority. The head monkey at Paris puts on a traveller's cap, and all the monkeys in America do the same. I sometimes despair of getting anything quite simple and honest done in this world by the help of men. They would have to be passed through a powerful press first, to squeeze their old notions out of them, so that they would not soon get upon their legs again; and then there would be some one in the company with a maggot in his head, hatched from an egg deposited there nobody knows when, for not even fire kills these things, and you would have lost your labor. Nevertheless, we will not forget that some Egyptian wheat was handed down to us by a mummy.

On the whole, I think that it cannot be maintained that dressing has in this or any country risen to the dignity of an art. At present men make shift to wear what they can get. Like shipwrecked sailors, they put on what they can find on the beach, and at a little distance, whether of space or time, laugh at each other's masquerade. Every generation laughs at the old fashions, but follows religiously the new. We are amused at beholding the costume of Henry VIII, or Queen Elizabeth, as much as if it was that of the King and Queen of the Cannibal Islands. All costume off a man is pitiful or grotesque. It is only the serious eye peering from and the sincere life passed within it which restrain laughter and consecrate the costume of any people. Let Harlequin be taken with a fit of the colic and his trappings will have to serve that mood too. When the soldier is hit by a cannonball, rags are as becoming as purple.

The childish and savage taste of men and women for new patterns keeps how many shaking and squinting through kaleidoscopes that they may discover the particular figure which this generation requires today. The manufacturers have learned that this taste is merely whimsical. Of two patterns which differ only by a few threads more or less of a particular color, the one will be sold readily, the other lie on the shelf, though it frequently happens that after the lapse of a season the latter becomes the most fashionable. Comparatively, tattooing is not the hideous custom which it is called. It is not barbarous merely because the printing is skin-deep and unalterable.

I cannot believe that our factory system is the best mode by which men may get clothing. The condition of the operatives is becoming every day more like that of the English; and it cannot be wondered at, since, as far as I have heard or observed, the principal object is, not that mankind may be well and honestly clad, but, unquestionably, that corporations may be enriched. In the long run men hit only what they aim at. Therefore, though they should fail immediately, they had better aim at something high.

As for a Shelter, I will not deny that this is now a necessary of life, though there are instances of men having done without it for long periods in colder countries than this. Samuel Laing says that "the Laplander in his skin dress, and in a skin bag which he puts over his head and shoulders, will sleep night after night on the snow ... in a degree of cold which would extinguish the life of one exposed to it in any woollen clothing." He had seen them asleep thus. Yet he adds, "They are not hardier than other people." But, probably, man did not live long on the earth without discovering the convenience which there is in a house, the domestic comforts, which phrase may have originally signified the satisfactions of the house more than of the family; though these must be extremely partial and occasional in those climates where the house is associated in our thoughts with winter or the rainy season chiefly, and two thirds of the year, except for a parasol, is unnecessary. In our climate, in the summer, it was formerly almost solely a covering at night. In the Indian gazettes a wigwam was the symbol of a day's march, and a row of them cut or painted on the bark of a tree signified that so many times they had camped. Man was not made so large limbed and robust but that he must seek to narrow his world and wall in a space such as fitted him. He was at first bare and out of doors; but though this was pleasant enough in serene and warm weather, by daylight, the rainy season and the winter, to say nothing of the torrid sun, would perhaps have nipped his race in the bud if he had not made haste to clothe himself with the shelter of a house. Adam and Eve, according to the fable, wore the bower before other clothes. Man wanted a home, a place of warmth, or comfort, first of warmth, then the warmth of the affections.

We may imagine a time when, in the infancy of the human race, some enterprising mortal crept into a hollow in a rock for shelter. Every child begins the world again, to some extent, and loves to stay outdoors, even in wet and cold. It plays house, as well as horse, having an instinct for it. Who does not remember the interest with which, when young, he looked at shelving rocks, or any approach to a cave? It was the natural yearning of that portion, any portion of our most primitive ancestor which still survived in us. From the cave we have advanced to roofs of palm leaves, of bark and boughs, of linen woven and stretched, of grass and straw, of boards and shingles, of stones and tiles. At last, we know not what it is to live in the open air, and our lives are domestic in more senses than we think. From the hearth the field is a great distance. It would be well, perhaps, if we were to spend more of our days and nights without any obstruction between us and the celestial bodies, if the poet did not speak so much from under a roof, or the saint dwell there so long. Birds do not sing in caves, nor do doves cherish their innocence in dovecots.

However, if one designs to construct a dwelling-house, it behooves him to exercise a little Yankee shrewdness, lest after all he find himself in a workhouse, a labyrinth without a clue, a museum, an almshouse, a prison, or a splendid mausoleum instead. Consider first how slight a shelter is absolutely necessary. I have seen Penobscot Indians, in this town, living in tents of thin cotton cloth, while the snow was nearly a foot deep around them, and I thought that they would be glad to have it deeper to keep out the wind. Formerly, when how to get my living honestly, with freedom left for my proper pursuits, was a question which vexed me even more than it does now, for unfortunately I am become somewhat callous, I used to see a large box by the railroad, six feet long by three wide, in which the laborers locked up their tools at night; and it suggested to me that every man who was hard pushed might get such a one for a dollar, and, having bored a few auger holes in it, to admit the air at least, get into it when it rained and at night, and hook down the lid, and so have freedom in his love, and in his soul be free. This did not appear the worst, nor by any means a despicable alternative. You could sit up as late as you pleased, and, whenever you got up, go abroad without any landlord or house-lord dogging you for rent. Many a man is harassed to death to pay the rent of a larger and more luxurious box who would not have frozen to death in such a box as this. I am far from jesting. Economy is a subject which admits of being treated with levity, but it cannot so be disposed of. A comfortable house for a rude and hardy race, that lived mostly out of doors, was once made here almost entirely of such materials as Nature furnished ready to their hands. Gookin, who was superintendent of the Indians subject to the Massachusetts Colony, writing in 1674, says, "The best of their houses are covered very neatly, tight and warm, with barks of trees, slipped from their bodies at those seasons when the sap is up, and made into great flakes, with pressure of weighty timber, when they are green.... The meaner sort are covered with mats which they make of a kind of bulrush, and are also indifferently tight and warm, but not so good as the former.... Some I have seen, sixty or a hundred feet long and thirty feet broad.... I have often lodged in their wigwams, and found them as warm as the best English houses." He adds that they were commonly carpeted and lined within with well-wrought embroidered mats, and were furnished with various utensils. The Indians had advanced so far as to regulate the effect of the wind by a mat suspended over the hole in the roof and moved by a string. Such a lodge was in the first instance constructed in a day or two at most, and taken down and put up in a few hours; and every family owned one, or its apartment in one.

In the savage state every family owns a shelter as good as the best, and sufficient for its coarser and simpler wants; but I think that I speak within bounds when I say that, though the birds of the air have their nests, and the foxes their holes, and the savages their wigwams, in modern civilized society not more than one half the families own a shelter. In the large towns and cities, where civilization especially prevails, the number of those who own a shelter is a very small fraction of the whole. The rest pay an annual tax for this outside garment of all, become indispensable summer and winter, which would buy a village of Indian wigwams, but now helps to keep them poor as long as they live. I do not mean to insist here on the disadvantage of hiring compared with owning, but it is evident that the savage owns his shelter because it costs so little, while the civilized man hires his commonly because he cannot afford to own it; nor can he, in the long run, any better afford to hire. But, answers one, by merely paying this tax, the poor civilized man secures an abode which is a palace compared with the savage's. An annual rent of from twenty-five to a hundred dollars (these are the country rates) entitles him to the benefit of the improvements of centuries, spacious apartments, clean paint and paper, Rumford fire-place, back plastering, Venetian blinds, copper pump, spring lock, a commodious cellar, and many other things. But how happens it that he who is said to enjoy these things is so commonly a poor civilized man, while the savage, who has them not, is rich as a savage? If it is asserted that civilization is a real advance in the condition of man -- and I think that it is, though only the wise improve their advantages -- it must be shown that it has produced better dwellings without making them more costly; and the cost of a thing is the amount of what I will call life which is required to be exchanged for it, immediately or in the long run. An average house in this neighborhood costs perhaps eight hundred dollars, and to lay up this sum will take from ten to fifteen years of the laborer's life, even if he is not encumbered with a family -- estimating the pecuniary value of every man's labor at one dollar a day, for if some receive more, others receive less; -- so that he must have spent more than half his life commonly before his wigwam will be earned. If we suppose him to pay a rent instead, this is but a doubtful choice of evils. Would the savage have been wise to exchange his wigwam for a palace on these terms?

It may be guessed that I reduce almost the whole advantage of holding this superfluous property as a fund in store against the future, so far as the individual is concerned, mainly to the defraying of funeral expenses. But perhaps a man is not required to bury himself. Nevertheless this points to an important distinction between the civilized man and the savage; and, no doubt, they have designs on us for our benefit, in making the life of a civilized people an institution, in which the life of the individual is to a great extent absorbed, in order to preserve and perfect that of the race. But I wish to show at what a sacrifice this advantage is at present obtained, and to suggest that we may possibly so live as to secure all the advantage without suffering any of the disadvantage. What mean ye by saying that the poor ye have always with you, or that the fathers have eaten sour grapes, and the children's teeth are set on edge?

"As I live, saith the Lord God, ye shall not have occasion any more to use this proverb in Israel.

"Behold all souls are mine; as the soul of the father, so also the soul of the son is mine: the soul that sinneth, it shall die."

When I consider my neighbors, the farmers of Concord, who are at least as well off as the other classes, I find that for the most part they have been toiling twenty, thirty, or forty years, that they may become the real owners of their farms, which commonly they have inherited with encumbrances, or else bought with hired money -- and we may regard one third of that toil as the cost of their houses -- but commonly they have not paid for them yet. It is true, the encumbrances sometimes outweigh the value of the farm, so that the farm itself becomes one great encumbrance, and still a man is found to inherit it, being well acquainted with it, as he says. On applying to the assessors, I am surprised to learn that they cannot at once name a dozen in the town who own their farms free and clear. If you would know the history of these homesteads, inquire at the bank where they are mortgaged. The man who has actually paid for his farm with labor on it is so rare that every neighbor can point to him. I doubt if there are three such men in Concord. What has been said of the merchants, that a very large majority, even ninety-seven in a hundred, are sure to fail, is equally true of the farmers. With regard to the merchants, however, one of them says pertinently that a great part of their failures are not genuine pecuniary failures, but merely failures to fulfil their engagements, because it is inconvenient; that is, it is the moral character that breaks down. But this puts an infinitely worse face on the matter, and suggests, beside, that probably not even the other three succeed in saving their souls, but are perchance bankrupt in a worse sense than they who fail honestly. Bankruptcy and repudiation are the springboards from which much of our civilization vaults and turns its somersets, but the savage stands on the unelastic plank of famine. Yet the Middlesex Cattle Show goes off here with eclat annually, as if all the joints of the agricultural machine were suent.

The farmer is endeavoring to solve the problem of a livelihood by a formula more complicated than the problem itself. To get his shoestrings he speculates in herds of cattle. With consummate skill he has set his trap with a hair spring to catch comfort and independence, and then, as he turned away, got his own leg into it. This is the reason he is poor; and for a similar reason we are all poor in respect to a thousand savage comforts, though surrounded by luxuries. As Chapman sings,

"The false society of men --

-- for earthly greatness

All heavenly comforts rarefies to air."

And when the farmer has got his house, he may not be the richer but the poorer for it, and it be the house that has got him. As I understand it, that was a valid objection urged by Momus against the house which Minerva made, that she "had not made it movable, by which means a bad neighborhood might be avoided"; and it may still be urged, for our houses are such unwieldy property that we are often imprisoned rather than housed in them; and the bad neighborhood to be avoided is our own scurvy selves. I know one or two families, at least, in this town, who, for nearly a generation, have been wishing to sell their houses in the outskirts and move into the village, but have not been able to accomplish it, and only death will set them free.

Granted that the majority are able at last either to own or hire the modern house with all its improvements. While civilization has been improving our houses, it has not equally improved the men who are to inhabit them. It has created palaces, but it was not so easy to create noblemen and kings. And if the civilized man's pursuits are no worthier than the savage's, if he is employed the greater part of his life in obtaining gross necessaries and comforts merely, why should he have a better dwelling than the former?

But how do the poor minority fare? Perhaps it will be found that just in proportion as some have been placed in outward circumstances above the savage, others have been degraded below him. The luxury of one class is counterbalanced by the indigence of another. On the one side is the palace, on the other are the almshouse and "silent poor." The myriads who built the pyramids to be the tombs of the Pharaohs were fed on garlic, and it may be were not decently buried themselves. The mason who finishes the cornice of the palace returns at night perchance to a hut not so good as a wigwam. It is a mistake to suppose that, in a country where the usual evidences of civilization exist, the condition of a very large body of the inhabitants may not be as degraded as that of savages. I refer to the degraded poor, not now to the degraded rich. To know this I should not need to look farther than to the shanties which everywhere border our railroads, that last improvement in civilization; where I see in my daily walks human beings living in sties, and all winter with an open door, for the sake of light, without any visible, often imaginable, wood-pile, and the forms of both old and young are permanently contracted by the long habit of shrinking from cold and misery, and the development of all their limbs and faculties is checked. It certainly is fair to look at that class by whose labor the works which distinguish this generation are accomplished. Such too, to a greater or less extent, is the condition of the operatives of every denomination in England, which is the great workhouse of the world. Or I could refer you to Ireland, which is marked as one of the white or enlightened spots on the map. Contrast the physical condition of the Irish with that of the North American Indian, or the South Sea Islander, or any other savage race before it was degraded by contact with the civilized man. Yet I have no doubt that that people's rulers are as wise as the average of civilized rulers. Their condition only proves what squalidness may consist with civilization. I hardly need refer now to the laborers in our Southern States who produce the staple exports of this country, and are themselves a staple production of the South. But to confine myself to those who are said to be in moderate circumstances.

Most men appear never to have considered what a house is, and are actually though needlessly poor all their lives because they think that they must have such a one as their neighbors have. As if one were to wear any sort of coat which the tailor might cut out for him, or, gradually leaving off palm-leaf hat or cap of woodchuck skin, complain of hard times because he could not afford to buy him a crown! It is possible to invent a house still more convenient and luxurious than we have, which yet all would admit that man could not afford to pay for. Shall we always study to obtain more of these things, and not sometimes to be content with less? Shall the respectable citizen thus gravely teach, by precept and example, the necessity of the young man's providing a certain number of superfluous glow-shoes, and umbrellas, and empty guest chambers for empty guests, before he dies? Why should not our furniture be as simple as the Arab's or the Indian's? When I think of the benefactors of the race, whom we have apotheosized as messengers from heaven, bearers of divine gifts to man, I do not see in my mind any retinue at their heels, any carload of fashionable furniture. Or what if I were to allow -- would it not be a singular allowance? -- that our furniture should be more complex than the Arab's, in proportion as we are morally and intellectually his superiors! At present our houses are cluttered and defiled with it, and a good housewife would sweep out the greater part into the dust hole, and not leave her morning's work undone. Morning work! By the blushes of Aurora and the music of Memnon, what should be man's morning work in this world? I had three pieces of limestone on my desk, but I was terrified to find that they required to be dusted daily, when the furniture of my mind was all undusted still, and threw them out the window in disgust. How, then, could I have a furnished house? I would rather sit in the open air, for no dust gathers on the grass, unless where man has broken ground.

It is the luxurious and dissipated who set the fashions which the herd so diligently follow. The traveller who stops at the best houses, so called, soon discovers this, for the publicans presume him to be a Sardanapalus, and if he resigned himself to their tender mercies he would soon be completely emasculated. I think that in the railroad car we are inclined to spend more on luxury than on safety and convenience, and it threatens without attaining these to become no better than a modern drawing-room, with its divans, and ottomans, and sun-shades, and a hundred other oriental things, which we are taking west with us, invented for the ladies of the harem and the effeminate natives of the Celestial Empire, which Jonathan should be ashamed to know the names of. I would rather sit on a pumpkin and have it all to myself than be crowded on a velvet cushion. I would rather ride on earth in an ox cart, with a free circulation, than go to heaven in the fancy car of an excursion train and breathe a malaria all the way.

The very simplicity and nakedness of man's life in the primitive ages imply this advantage, at least, that they left him still but a sojourner in nature. When he was refreshed with food and sleep, he contemplated his journey again. He dwelt, as it were, in a tent in this world, and was either threading the valleys, or crossing the plains, or climbing the mountain-tops. But lo! men have become the tools of their tools. The man who independently plucked the fruits when he was hungry is become a farmer; and he who stood under a tree for shelter, a housekeeper. We now no longer camp as for a night, but have settled down on earth and forgotten heaven. We have adopted Christianity merely as an improved method of agri-culture. We have built for this world a family mansion, and for the next a family tomb. The best works of art are the expression of man's struggle to free himself from this condition, but the effect of our art is merely to make this low state comfortable and that higher state to be forgotten. There is actually no place in this village for a work of fine art, if any had come down to us, to stand, for our lives, our houses and streets, furnish no proper pedestal for it. There is not a nail to hang a picture on, nor a shelf to receive the bust of a hero or a saint. When I consider how our houses are built and paid for, or not paid for, and their internal economy managed and sustained, I wonder that the floor does not give way under the visitor while he is admiring the gewgaws upon the mantelpiece, and let him through into the cellar, to some solid and honest though earthy foundation. I cannot but perceive that this so-called rich and refined life is a thing jumped at, and I do not get on in the enjoyment of the fine arts which adorn it, my attention being wholly occupied with the jump; for I remember that the greatest genuine leap, due to human muscles alone, on record, is that of certain wandering Arabs, who are said to have cleared twenty-five feet on level ground. Without factitious support, man is sure to come to earth again beyond that distance. The first question which I am tempted to put to the proprietor of such great impropriety is, Who bolsters you? Are you one of the ninety-seven who fail, or the three who succeed? Answer me these questions, and then perhaps I may look at your bawbles and find them ornamental. The cart before the horse is neither beautiful nor useful. Before we can adorn our houses with beautiful objects the walls must be stripped, and our lives must be stripped, and beautiful housekeeping and beautiful living be laid for a foundation: now, a taste for the beautiful is most cultivated out of doors, where there is no house and no housekeeper.

Old Johnson, in his "Wonder-Working Providence," speaking of the first settlers of this town, with whom he was contemporary, tells us that "they burrow themselves in the earth for their first shelter under some hillside, and, casting the soil aloft upon timber, they make a smoky fire against the earth, at the highest side." They did not "provide them houses," says he, "till the earth, by the Lord's blessing, brought forth bread to feed them," and the first year's crop was so light that "they were forced to cut their bread very thin for a long season." The secretary of the Province of New Netherland, writing in Dutch, in 1650, for the information of those who wished to take up land there, states more particularly that "those in New Netherland, and especially in New England, who have no means to build farmhouses at first according to their wishes, dig a square pit in the ground, cellar fashion, six or seven feet deep, as long and as broad as they think proper, case the earth inside with wood all round the wall, and line the wood with the bark of trees or something else to prevent the caving in of the earth; floor this cellar with plank, and wainscot it overhead for a ceiling, raise a roof of spars clear up, and cover the spars with bark or green sods, so that they can live dry and warm in these houses with their entire families for two, three, and four years, it being understood that partitions are run through those cellars which are adapted to the size of the family. The wealthy and principal men in New England, in the beginning of the colonies, commenced their first dwelling-houses in this fashion for two reasons: firstly, in order not to waste time in building, and not to want food the next season; secondly, in order not to discourage poor laboring people whom they brought over in numbers from Fatherland. In the course of three or four years, when the country became adapted to agriculture, they built themselves handsome houses, spending on them several thousands."

In this course which our ancestors took there was a show of prudence at least, as if their principle were to satisfy the more pressing wants first. But are the more pressing wants satisfied now? When I think of acquiring for myself one of our luxurious dwellings, I am deterred, for, so to speak, the country is not yet adapted to human culture, and we are still forced to cut our spiritual bread far thinner than our forefathers did their wheaten. Not that all architectural ornament is to be neglected even in the rudest periods; but let our houses first be lined with beauty, where they come in contact with our lives, like the tenement of the shellfish, and not overlaid with it. But, alas! I have been inside one or two of them, and know what they are lined with.

Though we are not so degenerate but that we might possibly live in a cave or a wigwam or wear skins today, it certainly is better to accept the advantages, though so dearly bought, which the invention and industry of mankind offer. In such a neighborhood as this, boards and shingles, lime and bricks, are cheaper and more easily obtained than suitable caves, or whole logs, or bark in sufficient quantities, or even well-tempered clay or flat stones. I speak understandingly on this subject, for I have made myself acquainted with it both theoretically and practically. With a little more wit we might use these materials so as to become richer than the richest now are, and make our civilization a blessing. The civilized man is a more experienced and wiser savage. But to make haste to my own experiment.

Near the end of March, 1845, I borrowed an axe and went down to the woods by Walden Pond, nearest to where I intended to build my house, and began to cut down some tall, arrowy white pines, still in their youth, for timber. It is difficult to begin without borrowing, but perhaps it is the most generous course thus to permit your fellow-men to have an interest in your enterprise. The owner of the axe, as he released his hold on it, said that it was the apple of his eye; but I returned it sharper than I received it. It was a pleasant hillside where I worked, covered with pine woods, through which I looked out on the pond, and a small open field in the woods where pines and hickories were springing up. The ice in the pond was not yet dissolved, though there were some open spaces, and it was all dark-colored and saturated with water. There were some slight flurries of snow during the days that I worked there; but for the most part when I came out on to the railroad, on my way home, its yellow sand heap stretched away gleaming in the hazy atmosphere, and the rails shone in the spring sun, and I heard the lark and pewee and other birds already come to commence another year with us. They were pleasant spring days, in which the winter of man's discontent was thawing as well as the earth, and the life that had lain torpid began to stretch itself. One day, when my axe had come off and I had cut a green hickory for a wedge, driving it with a stone, and had placed the whole to soak in a pond-hole in order to swell the wood, I saw a striped snake run into the water, and he lay on the bottom, apparently without inconvenience, as long as I stayed there, or more than a quarter of an hour; perhaps because he had not yet fairly come out of the torpid state. It appeared to me that for a like reason men remain in their present low and primitive condition; but if they should feel the influence of the spring of springs arousing them, they would of necessity rise to a higher and more ethereal life. I had previously seen the snakes in frosty mornings in my path with portions of their bodies still numb and inflexible, waiting for the sun to thaw them. On the 1st of April it rained and melted the ice, and in the early part of the day, which was very foggy, I heard a stray goose groping about over the pond and cackling as if lost, or like the spirit of the fog.

So I went on for some days cutting and hewing timber, and also studs and rafters, all with my narrow axe, not having many communicable or scholar-like thoughts, singing to myself, --

Men say they know many things;

But lo! they have taken wings --

The arts and sciences,

And a thousand appliances;

The wind that blows

Is all that any body knows.

I hewed the main timbers six inches square, most of the studs on two sides only, and the rafters and floor timbers on one side, leaving the rest of the bark on, so that they were just as straight and much stronger than sawed ones. Each stick was carefully mortised or tenoned by its stump, for I had borrowed other tools by this time. My days in the woods were not very long ones; yet I usually carried my dinner of bread and butter, and read the newspaper in which it was wrapped, at noon, sitting amid the green pine boughs which I had cut off, and to my bread was imparted some of their fragrance, for my hands were covered with a thick coat of pitch. Before I had done I was more the friend than the foe of the pine tree, though I had cut down some of them, having become better acquainted with it. Sometimes a rambler in the wood was attracted by the sound of my axe, and we chatted pleasantly over the chips which I had made.

By the middle of April, for I made no haste in my work, but rather made the most of it, my house was framed and ready for the raising. I had already bought the shanty of James Collins, an Irishman who worked on the Fitchburg Railroad, for boards. James Collins' shanty was considered an uncommonly fine one. When I called to see it he was not at home. I walked about the outside, at first unobserved from within, the window was so deep and high. It was of small dimensions, with a peaked cottage roof, and not much else to be seen, the dirt being raised five feet all around as if it were a compost heap. The roof was the soundest part, though a good deal warped and made brittle by the sun. Doorsill there was none, but a perennial passage for the hens under the door board. Mrs. C. came to the door and asked me to view it from the inside. The hens were driven in by my approach. It was dark, and had a dirt floor for the most part, dank, clammy, and aguish, only here a board and there a board which would not bear removal. She lighted a lamp to show me the inside of the roof and the walls, and also that the board floor extended under the bed, warning me not to step into the cellar, a sort of dust hole two feet deep. In her own words, they were "good boards overhead, good boards all around, and a good window" -- of two whole squares originally, only the cat had passed out that way lately. There was a stove, a bed, and a place to sit, an infant in the house where it was born, a silk parasol, gilt-framed looking-glass, and a patent new coffee-mill nailed to an oak sapling, all told. The bargain was soon concluded, for James had in the meanwhile returned. I to pay four dollars and twenty-five cents tonight, he to vacate at five tomorrow morning, selling to nobody else meanwhile: I to take possession at six. It were well, he said, to be there early, and anticipate certain indistinct but wholly unjust claims on the score of ground rent and fuel. This he assured me was the only encumbrance. At six I passed him and his family on the road. One large bundle held their all -- bed, coffee-mill, looking-glass, hens -- all but the cat; she took to the woods and became a wild cat, and, as I learned afterward, trod in a trap set for woodchucks, and so became a dead cat at last.

I took down this dwelling the same morning, drawing the nails, and removed it to the pond-side by small cartloads, spreading the boards on the grass there to bleach and warp back again in the sun. One early thrush gave me a note or two as I drove along the woodland path. I was informed treacherously by a young Patrick that neighbor Seeley, an Irishman, in the intervals of the carting, transferred the still tolerable, straight, and drivable nails, staples, and spikes to his pocket, and then stood when I came back to pass the time of day, and look freshly up, unconcerned, with spring thoughts, at the devastation; there being a dearth of work, as he said. He was there to represent spectatordom, and help make this seemingly insignificant event one with the removal of the gods of Troy.

I dug my cellar in the side of a hill sloping to the south, where a woodchuck had formerly dug his burrow, down through sumach and blackberry roots, and the lowest stain of vegetation, six feet square by seven deep, to a fine sand where potatoes would not freeze in any winter. The sides were left shelving, and not stoned; but the sun having never shone on them, the sand still keeps its place. It was but two hours' work. I took particular pleasure in this breaking of ground, for in almost all latitudes men dig into the earth for an equable temperature. Under the most splendid house in the city is still to be found the cellar where they store their roots as of old, and long after the superstructure has disappeared posterity remark its dent in the earth. The house is still but a sort of porch at the entrance of a burrow.

At length, in the beginning of May, with the help of some of my acquaintances, rather to improve so good an occasion for neighborliness than from any necessity, I set up the frame of my house. No man was ever more honored in the character of his raisers than I. They are destined, I trust, to assist at the raising of loftier structures one day. I began to occupy my house on the 4th of July, as soon as it was boarded and roofed, for the boards were carefully feather-edged and lapped, so that it was perfectly impervious to rain, but before boarding I laid the foundation of a chimney at one end, bringing two cartloads of stones up the hill from the pond in my arms. I built the chimney after my hoeing in the fall, before a fire became necessary for warmth, doing my cooking in the meanwhile out of doors on the ground, early in the morning: which mode I still think is in some respects more convenient and agreeable than the usual one. When it stormed before my bread was baked, I fixed a few boards over the fire, and sat under them to watch my loaf, and passed some pleasant hours in that way. In those days, when my hands were much employed, I read but little, but the least scraps of paper which lay on the ground, my holder, or tablecloth, afforded me as much entertainment, in fact answered the same purpose as the Iliad.

It would be worth the while to build still more deliberately than I did, considering, for instance, what foundation a door, a window, a cellar, a garret, have in the nature of man, and perchance never raising any superstructure until we found a better reason for it than our temporal necessities even. There is some of the same fitness in a man's building his own house that there is in a bird's building its own nest. Who knows but if men constructed their dwellings with their own hands, and provided food for themselves and families simply and honestly enough, the poetic faculty would be universally developed, as birds universally sing when they are so engaged? But alas! we do like cowbirds and cuckoos, which lay their eggs in nests which other birds have built, and cheer no traveller with their chattering and unmusical notes. Shall we forever resign the pleasure of construction to the carpenter? What does architecture amount to in the experience of the mass of men? I never in all my walks came across a man engaged in so simple and natural an occupation as building his house. We belong to the community. It is not the tailor alone who is the ninth part of a man; it is as much the preacher, and the merchant, and the farmer. Where is this division of labor to end? and what object does it finally serve? No doubt another may also think for me; but it is not therefore desirable that he should do so to the exclusion of my thinking for myself.

True, there are architects so called in this country, and I have heard of one at least possessed with the idea of making architectural ornaments have a core of truth, a necessity, and hence a beauty, as if it were a revelation to him. All very well perhaps from his point of view, but only a little better than the common dilettantism. A sentimental reformer in architecture, he began at the cornice, not at the foundation. It was only how to put a core of truth within the ornaments, that every sugarplum, in fact, might have an almond or caraway seed in it -- though I hold that almonds are most wholesome without the sugar -- and not how the inhabitant, the indweller, might build truly within and without, and let the ornaments take care of themselves. What reasonable man ever supposed that ornaments were something outward and in the skin merely -- that the tortoise got his spotted shell, or the shell-fish its mother-o'-pearl tints, by such a contract as the inhabitants of Broadway their Trinity Church? But a man has no more to do with the style of architecture of his house than a tortoise with that of its shell: nor need the soldier be so idle as to try to paint the precise color of his virtue on his standard. The enemy will find it out. He may turn pale when the trial comes. This man seemed to me to lean over the cornice, and timidly whisper his half truth to the rude occupants who really knew it better than he. What of architectural beauty I now see, I know has gradually grown from within outward, out of the necessities and character of the indweller, who is the only builder -- out of some unconscious truthfulness, and nobleness, without ever a thought for the appearance and whatever additional beauty of this kind is destined to be produced will be preceded by a like unconscious beauty of life. The most interesting dwellings in this country, as the painter knows, are the most unpretending, humble log huts and cottages of the poor commonly; it is the life of the inhabitants whose shells they are, and not any peculiarity in their surfaces merely, which makes them picturesque; and equally interesting will be the citizen's suburban box, when his life shall be as simple and as agreeable to the imagination, and there is as little straining after effect in the style of his dwelling. A great proportion of architectural ornaments are literally hollow, and a September gale would strip them off, like borrowed plumes, without injury to the substantials. They can do without architecture who have no olives nor wines in the cellar. What if an equal ado were made about the ornaments of style in literature, and the architects of our bibles spent as much time about their cornices as the architects of our churches do? So are made the belles-lettres and the beaux-arts and their professors. Much it concerns a man, forsooth, how a few sticks are slanted over him or under him, and what colors are daubed upon his box. It would signify somewhat, if, in any earnest sense, he slanted them and daubed it; but the spirit having departed out of the tenant, it is of a piece with constructing his own coffin -- the architecture of the grave -- and "carpenter" is but another name for "coffin-maker." One man says, in his despair or indifference to life, take up a handful of the earth at your feet, and paint your house that color. Is he thinking of his last and narrow house? Toss up a copper for it as well. What an abundance of leisure be must have! Why do you take up a handful of dirt? Better paint your house your own complexion; let it turn pale or blush for you. An enterprise to improve the style of cottage architecture! When you have got my ornaments ready, I will wear them.

Before winter I built a chimney, and shingled the sides of my house, which were already impervious to rain, with imperfect and sappy shingles made of the first slice of the log, whose edges I was obliged to straighten with a plane.

I have thus a tight shingled and plastered house, ten feet wide by fifteen long, and eight-feet posts, with a garret and a closet, a large window on each side, two trap doors, one door at the end, and a brick fireplace opposite. The exact cost of my house, paying the usual price for such materials as I used, but not counting the work, all of which was done by myself, was as follows; and I give the details because very few are able to tell exactly what their houses cost, and fewer still, if any, the separate cost of the various materials which compose them:--

Boards .......................... $ 8.03 , mostly shanty boards.

Refuse shingles for roof sides ... 4.00

Laths ............................ 1.25

Two second-hand windows

with glass .................... 2.43

One thousand old brick ........... 4.00

Two casks of lime ................ 2.40 That was high.

Hair ............................. 0.31 More than I needed.

Mantle-tree iron ................. 0.15

Nails ............................ 3.90

Hinges and screws ................ 0.14

Latch ............................ 0.10

Chalk ............................ 0.01

Transportation ................... 1.40 I carried a good part

------- on my back.

In all ...................... $28.12

These are all the materials, excepting the timber, stones, and sand, which I claimed by squatter's right. I have also a small woodshed adjoining, made chiefly of the stuff which was left after building the house.

I intend to build me a house which will surpass any on the main street in Concord in grandeur and luxury, as soon as it pleases me as much and will cost me no more than my present one.

I thus found that the student who wishes for a shelter can obtain one for a lifetime at an expense not greater than the rent which he now pays annually. If I seem to boast more than is becoming, my excuse is that I brag for humanity rather than for myself; and my shortcomings and inconsistencies do not affect the truth of my statement. Notwithstanding much cant and hypocrisy -- chaff which I find it difficult to separate from my wheat, but for which I am as sorry as any man -- I will breathe freely and stretch myself in this respect, it is such a relief to both the moral and physical system; and I am resolved that I will not through humility become the devil's attorney. I will endeavor to speak a good word for the truth. At Cambridge College the mere rent of a student's room, which is only a little larger than my own, is thirty dollars each year, though the corporation had the advantage of building thirty-two side by side and under one roof, and the occupant suffers the inconvenience of many and noisy neighbors, and perhaps a residence in the fourth story. I cannot but think that if we had more true wisdom in these respects, not only less education would be needed, because, forsooth, more would already have been acquired, but the pecuniary expense of getting an education would in a great measure vanish. Those conveniences which the student requires at Cambridge or elsewhere cost him or somebody else ten times as great a sacrifice of life as they would with proper management on both sides. Those things for which the most money is demanded are never the things which the student most wants. Tuition, for instance, is an important item in the term bill, while for the far more valuable education which he gets by associating with the most cultivated of his contemporaries no charge is made. The mode of founding a college is, commonly, to get up a subscription of dollars and cents, and then, following blindly the principles of a division of labor to its extreme -- a principle which should never be followed but with circumspection -- to call in a contractor who makes this a subject of speculation, and he employs Irishmen or other operatives actually to lay the foundations, while the students that are to be are said to be fitting themselves for it; and for these oversights successive generations have to pay. I think that it would be better than this, for the students, or those who desire to be benefited by it, even to lay the foundation themselves. The student who secures his coveted leisure and retirement by systematically shirking any labor necessary to man obtains but an ignoble and unprofitable leisure, defrauding himself of the experience which alone can make leisure fruitful. "But," says one, "you do not mean that the students should go to work with their hands instead of their heads?" I do not mean that exactly, but I mean something which he might think a good deal like that; I mean that they should not play life, or study it merely, while the community supports them at this expensive game, but earnestly live it from beginning to end. How could youths better learn to live than by at once trying the experiment of living? Methinks this would exercise their minds as much as mathematics. If I wished a boy to know something about the arts and sciences, for instance, I would not pursue the common course, which is merely to send him into the neighborhood of some professor, where anything is professed and practised but the art of life; -- to survey the world through a telescope or a microscope, and never with his natural eye; to study chemistry, and not learn how his bread is made, or mechanics, and not learn how it is earned; to discover new satellites to Neptune, and not detect the motes in his eyes, or to what vagabond he is a satellite himself; or to be devoured by the monsters that swarm all around him, while contemplating the monsters in a drop of vinegar. Which would have advanced the most at the end of a month -- the boy who had made his own jackknife from the ore which he had dug and smelted, reading as much as would be necessary for this -- or the boy who had attended the lectures on metallurgy at the Institute in the meanwhile, and had received a Rodgers' penknife from his father? Which would be most likely to cut his fingers?... To my astonishment I was informed on leaving college that I had studied navigation! -- why, if I had taken one turn down the harbor I should have known more about it. Even the poor student studies and is taught only political economy, while that economy of living which is synonymous with philosophy is not even sincerely professed in our colleges. The consequence is, that while he is reading Adam Smith, Ricardo, and Say, he runs his father in debt irretrievably.

As with our colleges, so with a hundred "modern improvements"; there is an illusion about them; there is not always a positive advance. The devil goes on exacting compound interest to the last for his early share and numerous succeeding investments in them. Our inventions are wont to be pretty toys, which distract our attention from serious things. They are but improved means to an unimproved end, an end which it was already but too easy to arrive at; as railroads lead to Boston or New York. We are in great haste to construct a magnetic telegraph from Maine to Texas; but Maine and Texas, it may be, have nothing important to communicate. Either is in such a predicament as the man who was earnest to be introduced to a distinguished deaf woman, but when he was presented, and one end of her ear trumpet was put into his hand, had nothing to say. As if the main object were to talk fast and not to talk sensibly. We are eager to tunnel under the Atlantic and bring the Old World some weeks nearer to the New; but perchance the first news that will leak through into the broad, flapping American ear will be that the Princess Adelaide has the whooping cough. After all, the man whose horse trots a mile in a minute does not carry the most important messages; he is not an evangelist, nor does he come round eating locusts and wild honey. I doubt if Flying Childers ever carried a peck of corn to mill.

One says to me, "I wonder that you do not lay up money; you love to travel; you might take the cars and go to Fitchburg today and see the country." But I am wiser than that. I have learned that the swiftest traveller is he that goes afoot. I say to my friend, Suppose we try who will get there first. The distance is thirty miles; the fare ninety cents. That is almost a day's wages. I remember when wages were sixty cents a day for laborers on this very road. Well, I start now on foot, and get there before night; I have travelled at that rate by the week together. You will in the meanwhile have earned your fare, and arrive there some time tomorrow, or possibly this evening, if you are lucky enough to get a job in season. Instead of going to Fitchburg, you will be working here the greater part of the day. And so, if the railroad reached round the world, I think that I should keep ahead of you; and as for seeing the country and getting experience of that kind, I should have to cut your acquaintance altogether.

Such is the universal law, which no man can ever outwit, and with regard to the railroad even we may say it is as broad as it is long. To make a railroad round the world available to all mankind is equivalent to grading the whole surface of the planet. Men have an indistinct notion that if they keep up this activity of joint stocks and spades long enough all will at length ride somewhere, in next to no time, and for nothing; but though a crowd rushes to the depot, and the conductor shouts "All aboard!" when the smoke is blown away and the vapor condensed, it will be perceived that a few are riding, but the rest are run over -- and it will be called, and will be, "A melancholy accident." No doubt they can ride at last who shall have earned their fare, that is, if they survive so long, but they will probably have lost their elasticity and desire to travel by that time. This spending of the best part of one's life earning money in order to enjoy a questionable liberty during the least valuable part of it reminds me of the Englishman who went to India to make a fortune first, in order that he might return to England and live the life of a poet. He should have gone up garret at once. "What!" exclaim a million Irishmen starting up from all the shanties in the land, "is not this railroad which we have built a good thing?" Yes, I answer, comparatively good, that is, you might have done worse; but I wish, as you are brothers of mine, that you could have spent your time better than digging in this dirt.

Before I finished my house, wishing to earn ten or twelve dollars by some honest and agreeable method, in order to meet my unusual expenses, I planted about two acres and a half of light and sandy soil near it chiefly with beans, but also a small part with potatoes, corn, peas, and turnips. The whole lot contains eleven acres, mostly growing up to pines and hickories, and was sold the preceding season for eight dollars and eight cents an acre. One farmer said that it was "good for nothing but to raise cheeping squirrels on." I put no manure whatever on this land, not being the owner, but merely a squatter, and not expecting to cultivate so much again, and I did not quite hoe it all once. I got out several cords of stumps in plowing, which supplied me with fuel for a long time, and left small circles of virgin mould, easily distinguishable through the summer by the greater luxuriance of the beans there. The dead and for the most part unmerchantable wood behind my house, and the driftwood from the pond, have supplied the remainder of my fuel. I was obliged to hire a team and a man for the plowing, though I held the plow myself. My farm outgoes for the first season were, for implements, seed, work, etc., $14.72 . The seed corn was given me. This never costs anything to speak of, unless you plant more than enough. I got twelve bushels of beans, and eighteen bushels of potatoes, beside some peas and sweet corn. The yellow corn and turnips were too late to come to anything. My whole income from the farm was

$ 23.44

Deducting the outgoes ............ 14.72

-------

There are left .................. $ 8.71

beside produce consumed and on hand at the time this estimate was made of the value of $4.50 -- the amount on hand much more than balancing a little grass which I did not raise. All things considered, that is, considering the importance of a man's soul and of today, notwithstanding the short time occupied by my experiment, nay, partly even because of its transient character, I believe that that was doing better than any farmer in Concord did that year.

The next year I did better still, for I spaded up all the land which I required, about a third of an acre, and I learned from the experience of both years, not being in the least awed by many celebrated works on husbandry, Arthur Young among the rest, that if one would live simply and eat only the crop which he raised, and raise no more than he ate, and not exchange it for an insufficient quantity of more luxurious and expensive things, he would need to cultivate only a few rods of ground, and that it would be cheaper to spade up that than to use oxen to plow it, and to select a fresh spot from time to time than to manure the old, and he could do all his necessary farm work as it were with his left hand at odd hours in the summer; and thus he would not be tied to an ox, or horse, or cow, or pig, as at present. I desire to speak impartially on this point, and as one not interested in the success or failure of the present economical and social arrangements. I was more independent than any farmer in Concord, for I was not anchored to a house or farm, but could follow the bent of my genius, which is a very crooked one, every moment. Beside being better off than they already, if my house had been burned or my crops had failed, I should have been nearly as well off as before.

I am wont to think that men are not so much the keepers of herds as herds are the keepers of men, the former are so much the freer. Men and oxen exchange work; but if we consider necessary work only, the oxen will be seen to have greatly the advantage, their farm is so much the larger. Man does some of his part of the exchange work in his six weeks of haying, and it is no boy's play. Certainly no nation that lived simply in all respects, that is, no nation of philosophers, would commit so great a blunder as to use the labor of animals. True, there never was and is not likely soon to be a nation of philosophers, nor am I certain it is desirable that there should be. However, I should never have broken a horse or bull and taken him to board for any work he might do for me, for fear I should become a horseman or a herdsman merely; and if society seems to be the gainer by so doing, are we certain that what is one man's gain is not another's loss, and that the stable-boy has equal cause with his master to be satisfied? Granted that some public works would not have been constructed without this aid, and let man share the glory of such with the ox and horse; does it follow that he could not have accomplished works yet more worthy of himself in that case? When men begin to do, not merely unnecessary or artistic, but luxurious and idle work, with their assistance, it is inevitable that a few do all the exchange work with the oxen, or, in other words, become the slaves of the strongest. Man thus not only works for the animal within him, but, for a symbol of this, he works for the animal without him. Though we have many substantial houses of brick or stone, the prosperity of the farmer is still measured by the degree to which the barn overshadows the house. This town is said to have the largest houses for oxen, cows, and horses hereabouts, and it is not behindhand in its public buildings; but there are very few halls for free worship or free speech in this county. It should not be by their architecture, but why not even by their power of abstract thought, that nations should seek to commemorate themselves? How much more admirable the Bhagvat-Geeta than all the ruins of the East! Towers and temples are the luxury of princes. A simple and independent mind does not toil at the bidding of any prince. Genius is not a retainer to any emperor, nor is its material silver, or gold, or marble, except to a trifling extent. To what end, pray, is so much stone hammered? In Arcadia, when I was there, I did not see any hammering stone. Nations are possessed with an insane ambition to perpetuate the memory of themselves by the amount of hammered stone they leave. What if equal pains were taken to smooth and polish their manners? One piece of good sense would be more memorable than a monument as high as the moon. I love better to see stones in place. The grandeur of Thebes was a vulgar grandeur. More sensible is a rod of stone wall that bounds an honest man's field than a hundred-gated Thebes that has wandered farther from the true end of life. The religion and civilization which are barbaric and heathenish build splendid temples; but what you might call Christianity does not. Most of the stone a nation hammers goes toward its tomb only. It buries itself alive. As for the Pyramids, there is nothing to wonder at in them so much as the fact that so many men could be found degraded enough to spend their lives constructing a tomb for some ambitious booby, whom it would have been wiser and manlier to have drowned in the Nile, and then given his body to the dogs. I might possibly invent some excuse for them and him, but I have no time for it. As for the religion and love of art of the builders, it is much the same all the world over, whether the building be an Egyptian temple or the United States Bank. It costs more than it comes to. The mainspring is vanity, assisted by the love of garlic and bread and butter. Mr. Balcom, a promising young architect, designs it on the back of his Vitruvius, with hard pencil and ruler, and the job is let out to Dobson & Sons, stonecutters. When the thirty centuries begin to look down on it, mankind begin to look up at it. As for your high towers and monuments, there was a crazy fellow once in this town who undertook to dig through to China, and he got so far that, as he said, he heard the Chinese pots and kettles rattle; but I think that I shall not go out of my way to admire the hole which he made. Many are concerned about the monuments of the West and the East -- to know who built them. For my part, I should like to know who in those days did not build them -- who were above such trifling. But to proceed with my statistics.

By surveying, carpentry, and day-labor of various other kinds in the village in the meanwhile, for I have as many trades as fingers, I had earned $13.34. The expense of food for eight months, namely, from July 4th to March 1st, the time when these estimates were made, though I lived there more than two years -- not counting potatoes, a little green corn, and some peas, which I had raised, nor considering the value of what was on hand at the last date -- was

Rice .................... $ 1.73 1/2

Molasses ................. 1.73 Cheapest form of the

saccharine.

Rye meal ................. 1.04 3/4

Indian meal .............. 0.99 3/4 Cheaper than rye.

Pork ..................... 0.22

All experiments which failed:

Flour .................... 0.88 Costs more than Indian meal,

both money and trouble.

Sugar .................... 0.80

Lard ..................... 0.65

Apples ................... 0.25

Dried apple .............. 0.22

Sweet potatoes ........... 0.10

One pumpkin .............. 0.06

One watermelon ........... 0.02

Salt ..................... 0.03

Yes, I did eat $8.74, all told; but I should not thus unblushingly publish my guilt, if I did not know that most of my readers were equally guilty with myself, and that their deeds would look no better in print. The next year I sometimes caught a mess of fish for my dinner, and once I went so far as to slaughter a woodchuck which ravaged my bean-field -- effect his transmigration, as a Tartar would say -- and devour him, partly for experiment's sake; but though it afforded me a momentary enjoyment, notwithstanding a musky flavor, I saw that the longest use would not make that a good practice, however it might seem to have your woodchucks ready dressed by the village butcher.

Clothing and some incidental expenses within the same dates, though little can be inferred from this item, amounted to

$ 8.40-3/4

Oil and some household utensils ........ 2.00

So that all the pecuniary outgoes, excepting for washing and mending, which for the most part were done out of the house, and their bills have not yet been received -- and these are all and more than all the ways by which money necessarily goes out in this part of the world -- were

House ................................. $ 28.12

Farm one year ........................... 14.72

Food eight months ....................... 8.74

Clothing, etc., eight months ............ 8.40-3/4

Oil, etc., eight months ................. 2.00

-----------

In all ............................ $ 61.99-3/4

I address myself now to those of my readers who have a living to get. And to meet this I have for farm produce sold

$ 23.44

Earned by day-labor .................... 13.34

-------

In all ............................ $ 36.78,

which subtracted from the sum of the outgoes leaves a balance of $25.21 3/4 on the one side -- this being very nearly the means with which I started, and the measure of expenses to be incurred -- and on the other, beside the leisure and independence and health thus secured, a comfortable house for me as long as I choose to occupy it.

These statistics, however accidental and therefore uninstructive they may appear, as they have a certain completeness, have a certain value also. Nothing was given me of which I have not rendered some account. It appears from the above estimate, that my food alone cost me in money about twenty-seven cents a week. It was, for nearly two years after this, rye and Indian meal without yeast, potatoes, rice, a very little salt pork, molasses, and salt; and my drink, water. It was fit that I should live on rice, mainly, who love so well the philosophy of India. To meet the objections of some inveterate cavillers, I may as well state, that if I dined out occasionally, as I always had done, and I trust shall have opportunities to do again, it was frequently to the detriment of my domestic arrangements. But the dining out, being, as I have stated, a constant element, does not in the least affect a comparative statement like this.

I learned from my two years' experience that it would cost incredibly little trouble to obtain one's necessary food, even in this latitude; that a man may use as simple a diet as the animals, and yet retain health and strength. I have made a satisfactory dinner, satisfactory on several accounts, simply off a dish of purslane (Portulaca oleracea) which I gathered in my cornfield, boiled and salted. I give the Latin on account of the savoriness of the trivial name. And pray what more can a reasonable man desire, in peaceful times, in ordinary noons, than a sufficient number of ears of green sweet corn boiled, with the addition of salt? Even the little variety which I used was a yielding to the demands of appetite, and not of health. Yet men have come to such a pass that they frequently starve, not for want of necessaries, but for want of luxuries; and I know a good woman who thinks that her son lost his life because he took to drinking water only.

The reader will perceive that I am treating the subject rather from an economic than a dietetic point of view, and he will not venture to put my abstemiousness to the test unless he has a well-stocked larder.

Bread I at first made of pure Indian meal and salt, genuine hoe-cakes, which I baked before my fire out of doors on a shingle or the end of a stick of timber sawed off in building my house; but it was wont to get smoked and to have a piny flavor, I tried flour also; but have at last found a mixture of rye and Indian meal most convenient and agreeable. In cold weather it was no little amusement to bake several small loaves of this in succession, tending and turning them as carefully as an Egyptian his hatching eggs. They were a real cereal fruit which I ripened, and they had to my senses a fragrance like that of other noble fruits, which I kept in as long as possible by wrapping them in cloths. I made a study of the ancient and indispensable art of bread-making, consulting such authorities as offered, going back to the primitive days and first invention of the unleavened kind, when from the wildness of nuts and meats men first reached the mildness and refinement of this diet, and travelling gradually down in my studies through that accidental souring of the dough which, it is supposed, taught the leavening process, and through the various fermentations thereafter, till I came to "good, sweet, wholesome bread," the staff of life. Leaven, which some deem the soul of bread, the spiritus which fills its cellular tissue, which is religiously preserved like the vestal fire -- some precious bottleful, I suppose, first brought over in the Mayflower, did the business for America, and its influence is still rising, swelling, spreading, in cerealian billows over the land -- this seed I regularly and faithfully procured from the village, till at length one morning I forgot the rules, and scalded my yeast; by which accident I discovered that even this was not indispensable -- for my discoveries were not by the synthetic but analytic process -- and I have gladly omitted it since, though most housewives earnestly assured me that safe and wholesome bread without yeast might not be, and elderly people prophesied a speedy decay of the vital forces. Yet I find it not to be an essential ingredient, and after going without it for a year am still in the land of the living; and I am glad to escape the trivialness of carrying a bottleful in my pocket, which would sometimes pop and discharge its contents to my discomfiture. It is simpler and more respectable to omit it. Man is an animal who more than any other can adapt himself to all climates and circumstances. Neither did I put any sal-soda, or other acid or alkali, into my bread. It would seem that I made it according to the recipe which Marcus Porcius Cato gave about two centuries before Christ. "Panem depsticium sic facito. Manus mortariumque bene lavato. Farinam in mortarium indito, aquae paulatim addito, subigitoque pulchre. Ubi bene subegeris, defingito, coquitoque sub testu." Which I take to mean, -- "Make kneaded bread thus. Wash your hands and trough well. Put the meal into the trough, add water gradually, and knead it thoroughly. When you have kneaded it well, mould it, and bake it under a cover," that is, in a baking kettle. Not a word about leaven. But I did not always use this staff of life. At one time, owing to the emptiness of my purse, I saw none of it for more than a month.

Every New Englander might easily raise all his own breadstuffs in this land of rye and Indian corn, and not depend on distant and fluctuating markets for them. Yet so far are we from simplicity and independence that, in Concord, fresh and sweet meal is rarely sold in the shops, and hominy and corn in a still coarser form are hardly used by any. For the most part the farmer gives to his cattle and hogs the grain of his own producing, and buys flour, which is at least no more wholesome, at a greater cost, at the store. I saw that I could easily raise my bushel or two of rye and Indian corn, for the former will grow on the poorest land, and the latter does not require the best, and grind them in a hand-mill, and so do without rice and pork; and if I must have some concentrated sweet, I found by experiment that I could make a very good molasses either of pumpkins or beets, and I knew that I needed only to set out a few maples to obtain it more easily still, and while these were growing I could use various substitutes beside those which I have named. "For," as the Forefathers sang,--

"we can make liquor to sweeten our lips

Of pumpkins and parsnips and walnut-tree chips."

Finally, as for salt, that grossest of groceries, to obtain this might be a fit occasion for a visit to the seashore, or, if I did without it altogether, I should probably drink the less water. I do not learn that the Indians ever troubled themselves to go after it.

Thus I could avoid all trade and barter, so far as my food was concerned, and having a shelter already, it would only remain to get clothing and fuel. The pantaloons which I now wear were woven in a farmer's family -- thank Heaven there is so much virtue still in man; for I think the fall from the farmer to the operative as great and memorable as that from the man to the farmer; -- and in a new country, fuel is an encumbrance. As for a habitat, if I were not permitted still to squat, I might purchase one acre at the same price for which the land I cultivated was sold -- namely, eight dollars and eight cents. But as it was, I considered that I enhanced the value of the land by squatting on it.

There is a certain class of unbelievers who sometimes ask me such questions as, if I think that I can live on vegetable food alone; and to strike at the root of the matter at once -- for the root is faith -- I am accustomed to answer such, that I can live on board nails. If they cannot understand that, they cannot understand much that I have to say. For my part, I am glad to bear of experiments of this kind being tried; as that a young man tried for a fortnight to live on hard, raw corn on the ear, using his teeth for all mortar. The squirrel tribe tried the same and succeeded. The human race is interested in these experiments, though a few old women who are incapacitated for them, or who own their thirds in mills, may be alarmed.

My furniture, part of which I made myself -- and the rest cost me nothing of which I have not rendered an account -- consisted of a bed, a table, a desk, three chairs, a looking-glass three inches in diameter, a pair of tongs and andirons, a kettle, a skillet, and a frying-pan, a dipper, a wash-bowl, two knives and forks, three plates, one cup, one spoon, a jug for oil, a jug for molasses, and a japanned lamp. None is so poor that he need sit on a pumpkin. That is shiftlessness. There is a plenty of such chairs as I like best in the village garrets to be had for taking them away. Furniture! Thank God, I can sit and I can stand without the aid of a furniture warehouse. What man but a philosopher would not be ashamed to see his furniture packed in a cart and going up country exposed to the light of heaven and the eyes of men, a beggarly account of empty boxes? That is Spaulding's furniture. I could never tell from inspecting such a load whether it belonged to a so-called rich man or a poor one; the owner always seemed poverty-stricken. Indeed, the more you have of such things the poorer you are. Each load looks as if it contained the contents of a dozen shanties; and if one shanty is poor, this is a dozen times as poor. Pray, for what do we move ever but to get rid of our furniture, our exuvioe: at last to go from this world to another newly furnished, and leave this to be burned? It is the same as if all these traps were buckled to a man's belt, and he could not move over the rough country where our lines are cast without dragging them -- dragging his trap. He was a lucky fox that left his tail in the trap. The muskrat will gnaw his third leg off to be free. No wonder man has lost his elasticity. How often he is at a dead set! "Sir, if I may be so bold, what do you mean by a dead set?" If you are a seer, whenever you meet a man you will see all that he owns, ay, and much that he pretends to disown, behind him, even to his kitchen furniture and all the trumpery which he saves and will not burn, and he will appear to be harnessed to it and making what headway he can. I think that the man is at a dead set who has got through a knot-hole or gateway where his sledge load of furniture cannot follow him. I cannot but feel compassion when I hear some trig, compact-looking man, seemingly free, all girded and ready, speak of his "furniture," as whether it is insured or not. "But what shall I do with my furniture?" -- My gay butterfly is entangled in a spider's web then. Even those who seem for a long while not to have any, if you inquire more narrowly you will find have some stored in somebody's barn. I look upon England today as an old gentleman who is travelling with a great deal of baggage, trumpery which has accumulated from long housekeeping, which he has not the courage to burn; great trunk, little trunk, bandbox, and bundle. Throw away the first three at least. It would surpass the powers of a well man nowadays to take up his bed and walk, and I should certainly advise a sick one to lay down his bed and run. When I have met an immigrant tottering under a bundle which contained his all -- looking like an enormous wen which had grown out of the nape of his neck -- I have pitied him, not because that was his all, but because he had all that to carry. If I have got to drag my trap, I will take care that it be a light one and do not nip me in a vital part. But perchance it would be wisest never to put one's paw into it.

I would observe, by the way, that it costs me nothing for curtains, for I have no gazers to shut out but the sun and moon, and I am willing that they should look in. The moon will not sour milk nor taint meat of mine, nor will the sun injure my furniture or fade my carpet; and if he is sometimes too warm a friend, I find it still better economy to retreat behind some curtain which nature has provided, than to add a single item to the details of housekeeping. A lady once offered me a mat, but as I had no room to spare within the house, nor time to spare within or without to shake it, I declined it, preferring to wipe my feet on the sod before my door. It is best to avoid the beginnings of evil.

Not long since I was present at the auction of a deacon's effects, for his life had not been ineffectual:--

"The evil that men do lives after them."

As usual, a great proportion was trumpery which had begun to accumulate in his father's day. Among the rest was a dried tapeworm. And now, after lying half a century in his garret and other dust holes, these things were not burned; instead of a bonfire, or purifying destruction of them, there was an auction, or increasing of them. The neighbors eagerly collected to view them, bought them all, and carefully transported them to their garrets and dust holes, to lie there till their estates are settled, when they will start again. When a man dies he kicks the dust.

The customs of some savage nations might, perchance, be profitably imitated by us, for they at least go through the semblance of casting their slough annually; they have the idea of the thing, whether they have the reality or not. Would it not be well if we were to celebrate such a "busk," or "feast of first fruits," as Bartram describes to have been the custom of the Mucclasse Indians? "When a town celebrates the busk," says he, "having previously provided themselves with new clothes, new pots, pans, and other household utensils and furniture, they collect all their worn out clothes and other despicable things, sweep and cleanse their houses, squares, and the whole town of their filth, which with all the remaining grain and other old provisions they cast together into one common heap, and consume it with fire. After having taken medicine, and fasted for three days, all the fire in the town is extinguished. During this fast they abstain from the gratification of every appetite and passion whatever. A general amnesty is proclaimed; all malefactors may return to their town."

"On the fourth morning, the high priest, by rubbing dry wood together, produces new fire in the public square, from whence every habitation in the town is supplied with the new and pure flame."

They then feast on the new corn and fruits, and dance and sing for three days, "and the four following days they receive visits and rejoice with their friends from neighboring towns who have in like manner purified and prepared themselves."

The Mexicans also practised a similar purification at the end of every fifty-two years, in the belief that it was time for the world to come to an end.

I have scarcely heard of a truer sacrament, that is, as the dictionary defines it, "outward and visible sign of an inward and spiritual grace," than this, and I have no doubt that they were originally inspired directly from Heaven to do thus, though they have no Biblical record of the revelation.

For more than five years I maintained myself thus solely by the labor of my hands, and I found that, by working about six weeks in a year, I could meet all the expenses of living. The whole of my winters, as well as most of my summers, I had free and clear for study. I have thoroughly tried school-keeping, and found that my expenses were in proportion, or rather out of proportion, to my income, for I was obliged to dress and train, not to say think and believe, accordingly, and I lost my time into the bargain. As I did not teach for the good of my fellow-men, but simply for a livelihood, this was a failure. I have tried trade but I found that it would take ten years to get under way in that, and that then I should probably be on my way to the devil. I was actually afraid that I might by that time be doing what is called a good business. When formerly I was looking about to see what I could do for a living, some sad experience in conforming to the wishes of friends being fresh in my mind to tax my ingenuity, I thought often and seriously of picking huckleberries; that surely I could do, and its small profits might suffice -- for my greatest skill has been to want but little -- so little capital it required, so little distraction from my wonted moods, I foolishly thought. While my acquaintances went unhesitatingly into trade or the professions, I contemplated this occupation as most like theirs; ranging the hills all summer to pick the berries which came in my way, and thereafter carelessly dispose of them; so, to keep the flocks of Admetus. I also dreamed that I might gather the wild herbs, or carry evergreens to such villagers as loved to be reminded of the woods, even to the city, by hay-cart loads. But I have since learned that trade curses everything it handles; and though you trade in messages from heaven, the whole curse of trade attaches to the business.

As I preferred some things to others, and especially valued my freedom, as I could fare hard and yet succeed well, I did not wish to spend my time in earning rich carpets or other fine furniture, or delicate cookery, or a house in the Grecian or the Gothic style just yet. If there are any to whom it is no interruption to acquire these things, and who know how to use them when acquired, I relinquish to them the pursuit. Some are "industrious," and appear to love labor for its own sake, or perhaps because it keeps them out of worse mischief; to such I have at present nothing to say. Those who would not know what to do with more leisure than they now enjoy, I might advise to work twice as hard as they do -- work till they pay for themselves, and get their free papers. For myself I found that the occupation of a day-laborer was the most independent of any, especially as it required only thirty or forty days in a year to support one. The laborer's day ends with the going down of the sun, and he is then free to devote himself to his chosen pursuit, independent of his labor; but his employer, who speculates from month to month, has no respite from one end of the year to the other.

In short, I am convinced, both by faith and experience, that to maintain one's self on this earth is not a hardship but a pastime, if we will live simply and wisely; as the pursuits of the simpler nations are still the sports of the more artificial. It is not necessary that a man should earn his living by the sweat of his brow, unless he sweats easier than I do.

One young man of my acquaintance, who has inherited some acres, told me that he thought he should live as I did, if he had the means. I would not have any one adopt my mode of living on any account; for, beside that before he has fairly learned it I may have found out another for myself, I desire that there may be as many different persons in the world as possible; but I would have each one be very careful to find out and pursue his own way, and not his father's or his mother's or his neighbor's instead. The youth may build or plant or sail, only let him not be hindered from doing that which he tells me he would like to do. It is by a mathematical point only that we are wise, as the sailor or the fugitive slave keeps the polestar in his eye; but that is sufficient guidance for all our life. We may not arrive at our port within a calculable period, but we would preserve the true course.

Undoubtedly, in this case, what is true for one is truer still for a thousand, as a large house is not proportionally more expensive than a small one, since one roof may cover, one cellar underlie, and one wall separate several apartments. But for my part, I preferred the solitary dwelling. Moreover, it will commonly be cheaper to build the whole yourself than to convince another of the advantage of the common wall; and when you have done this, the common partition, to be much cheaper, must be a thin one, and that other may prove a bad neighbor, and also not keep his side in repair. The only co-operation which is commonly possible is exceedingly partial and superficial; and what little true co-operation there is, is as if it were not, being a harmony inaudible to men. If a man has faith, he will co-operate with equal faith everywhere; if he has not faith, he will continue to live like the rest of the world, whatever company he is joined to. To co-operate in the highest as well as the lowest sense, means to get our living together. I heard it proposed lately that two young men should travel together over the world, the one without money, earning his means as he went, before the mast and behind the plow, the other carrying a bill of exchange in his pocket. It was easy to see that they could not long be companions or co-operate, since one would not operate at all. They would part at the first interesting crisis in their adventures. Above all, as I have implied, the man who goes alone can start today; but he who travels with another must wait till that other is ready, and it may be a long time before they get off.

But all this is very selfish, I have heard some of my townsmen say. I confess that I have hitherto indulged very little in philanthropic enterprises. I have made some sacrifices to a sense of duty, and among others have sacrificed this pleasure also. There are those who have used all their arts to persuade me to undertake the support of some poor family in the town; and if I had nothing to do -- for the devil finds employment for the idle -- I might try my hand at some such pastime as that. However, when I have thought to indulge myself in this respect, and lay their Heaven under an obligation by maintaining certain poor persons in all respects as comfortably as I maintain myself, and have even ventured so far as to make them the offer, they have one and all unhesitatingly preferred to remain poor. While my townsmen and women are devoted in so many ways to the good of their fellows, I trust that one at least may be spared to other and less humane pursuits. You must have a genius for charity as well as for anything else. As for Doing-good, that is one of the professions which are full. Moreover, I have tried it fairly, and, strange as it may seem, am satisfied that it does not agree with my constitution. Probably I should not consciously and deliberately forsake my particular calling to do the good which society demands of me, to save the universe from annihilation; and I believe that a like but infinitely greater steadfastness elsewhere is all that now preserves it. But I would not stand between any man and his genius; and to him who does this work, which I decline, with his whole heart and soul and life, I would say, Persevere, even if the world call it doing evil, as it is most likely they will.

I am far from supposing that my case is a peculiar one; no doubt many of my readers would make a similar defence. At doing something -- I will not engage that my neighbors shall pronounce it good -- I do not hesitate to say that I should be a capital fellow to hire; but what that is, it is for my employer to find out. What good I do, in the common sense of that word, must be aside from my main path, and for the most part wholly unintended. Men say, practically, Begin where you are and such as you are, without aiming mainly to become of more worth, and with kindness aforethought go about doing good. If I were to preach at all in this strain, I should say rather, Set about being good. As if the sun should stop when he had kindled his fires up to the splendor of a moon or a star of the sixth magnitude, and go about like a Robin Goodfellow, peeping in at every cottage window, inspiring lunatics, and tainting meats, and making darkness visible, instead of steadily increasing his genial heat and beneficence till he is of such brightness that no mortal can look him in the face, and then, and in the meanwhile too, going about the world in his own orbit, doing it good, or rather, as a truer philosophy has discovered, the world going about him getting good. When Phaeton, wishing to prove his heavenly birth by his beneficence, had the sun's chariot but one day, and drove out of the beaten track, he burned several blocks of houses in the lower streets of heaven, and scorched the surface of the earth, and dried up every spring, and made the great desert of Sahara, till at length Jupiter hurled him headlong to the earth with a thunderbolt, and the sun, through grief at his death, did not shine for a year.

There is no odor so bad as that which arises from goodness tainted. It is human, it is divine, carrion. If I knew for a certainty that a man was coming to my house with the conscious design of doing me good, I should run for my life, as from that dry and parching wind of the African deserts called the simoom, which fills the mouth and nose and ears and eyes with dust till you are suffocated, for fear that I should get some of his good done to me -- some of its virus mingled with my blood. No -- in this case I would rather suffer evil the natural way. A man is not a good man to me because he will feed me if I should be starving, or warm me if I should be freezing, or pull me out of a ditch if I should ever fall into one. I can find you a Newfoundland dog that will do as much. Philanthropy is not love for one's fellow-man in the broadest sense. Howard was no doubt an exceedingly kind and worthy man in his way, and has his reward; but, comparatively speaking, what are a hundred Howards to us, if their philanthropy do not help us in our best estate, when we are most worthy to be helped? I never heard of a philanthropic meeting in which it was sincerely proposed to do any good to me, or the like of me.

The Jesuits were quite balked by those Indians who, being burned at the stake, suggested new modes of torture to their tormentors. Being superior to physical suffering, it sometimes chanced that they were superior to any consolation which the missionaries could offer; and the law to do as you would be done by fell with less persuasiveness on the ears of those who, for their part, did not care how they were done by, who loved their enemies after a new fashion, and came very near freely forgiving them all they did.

Be sure that you give the poor the aid they most need, though it be your example which leaves them far behind. If you give money, spend yourself with it, and do not merely abandon it to them. We make curious mistakes sometimes. Often the poor man is not so cold and hungry as he is dirty and ragged and gross. It is partly his taste, and not merely his misfortune. If you give him money, he will perhaps buy more rags with it. I was wont to pity the clumsy Irish laborers who cut ice on the pond, in such mean and ragged clothes, while I shivered in my more tidy and somewhat more fashionable garments, till, one bitter cold day, one who had slipped into the water came to my house to warm him, and I saw him strip off three pairs of pants and two pairs of stockings ere he got down to the skin, though they were dirty and ragged enough, it is true, and that he could afford to refuse the extra garments which I offered him, he had so many intra ones. This ducking was the very thing he needed. Then I began to pity myself, and I saw that it would be a greater charity to bestow on me a flannel shirt than a whole slop-shop on him. There are a thousand hacking at the branches of evil to one who is striking at the root, and it may be that he who bestows the largest amount of time and money on the needy is doing the most by his mode of life to produce that misery which he strives in vain to relieve. It is the pious slave-breeder devoting the proceeds of every tenth slave to buy a Sunday's liberty for the rest. Some show their kindness to the poor by employing them in their kitchens. Would they not be kinder if they employed themselves there? You boast of spending a tenth part of your income in charity; maybe you should spend the nine tenths so, and done with it. Society recovers only a tenth part of the property then. Is this owing to the generosity of him in whose possession it is found, or to the remissness of the officers of justice?

Philanthropy is almost the only virtue which is sufficiently appreciated by mankind. Nay, it is greatly overrated; and it is our selfishness which overrates it. A robust poor man, one sunny day here in Concord, praised a fellow-townsman to me, because, as he said, he was kind to the poor; meaning himself. The kind uncles and aunts of the race are more esteemed than its true spiritual fathers and mothers. I once heard a reverend lecturer on England, a man of learning and intelligence, after enumerating her scientific, literary, and political worthies, Shakespeare, Bacon, Cromwell, Milton, Newton, and others, speak next of her Christian heroes, whom, as if his profession required it of him, he elevated to a place far above all the rest, as the greatest of the great. They were Penn, Howard, and Mrs. Fry. Every one must feel the falsehood and cant of this. The last were not England's best men and women; only, perhaps, her best philanthropists.

I would not subtract anything from the praise that is due to philanthropy, but merely demand justice for all who by their lives and works are a blessing to mankind. I do not value chiefly a man's uprightness and benevolence, which are, as it were, his stem and leaves. Those plants of whose greenness withered we make herb tea for the sick serve but a humble use, and are most employed by quacks. I want the flower and fruit of a man; that some fragrance be wafted over from him to me, and some ripeness flavor our intercourse. His goodness must not be a partial and transitory act, but a constant superfluity, which costs him nothing and of which he is unconscious. This is a charity that hides a multitude of sins. The philanthropist too often surrounds mankind with the remembrance of his own castoff griefs as an atmosphere, and calls it sympathy. We should impart our courage, and not our despair, our health and ease, and not our disease, and take care that this does not spread by contagion. From what southern plains comes up the voice of wailing? Under what latitudes reside the heathen to whom we would send light? Who is that intemperate and brutal man whom we would redeem? If anything ail a man, so that he does not perform his functions, if he have a pain in his bowels even -- for that is the seat of sympathy -- he forthwith sets about reforming -- the world. Being a microcosm himself, he discovers -- and it is a true discovery, and he is the man to make it -- that the world has been eating green apples; to his eyes, in fact, the globe itself is a great green apple, which there is danger awful to think of that the children of men will nibble before it is ripe; and straightway his drastic philanthropy seeks out the Esquimau and the Patagonian, and embraces the populous Indian and Chinese villages; and thus, by a few years of philanthropic activity, the powers in the meanwhile using him for their own ends, no doubt, he cures himself of his dyspepsia, the globe acquires a faint blush on one or both of its cheeks, as if it were beginning to be ripe, and life loses its crudity and is once more sweet and wholesome to live. I never dreamed of any enormity greater than I have committed. I never knew, and never shall know, a worse man than myself.

I believe that what so saddens the reformer is not his sympathy with his fellows in distress, but, though he be the holiest son of God, is his private ail. Let this be righted, let the spring come to him, the morning rise over his couch, and he will forsake his generous companions without apology. My excuse for not lecturing against the use of tobacco is, that I never chewed it, that is a penalty which reformed tobacco-chewers have to pay; though there are things enough I have chewed which I could lecture against. If you should ever be betrayed into any of these philanthropies, do not let your left hand know what your right hand does, for it is not worth knowing. Rescue the drowning and tie your shoestrings. Take your time, and set about some free labor.

Our manners have been corrupted by communication with the saints. Our hymn-books resound with a melodious cursing of God and enduring Him forever. One would say that even the prophets and redeemers had rather consoled the fears than confirmed the hopes of man. There is nowhere recorded a simple and irrepressible satisfaction with the gift of life, any memorable praise of God. All health and success does me good, however far off and withdrawn it may appear; all disease and failure helps to make me sad and does me evil, however much sympathy it may have with me or I with it. If, then, we would indeed restore mankind by truly Indian, botanic, magnetic, or natural means, let us first be as simple and well as Nature ourselves, dispel the clouds which hang over our own brows, and take up a little life into our pores. Do not stay to be an overseer of the poor, but endeavor to become one of the worthies of the world.

I read in the Gulistan, or Flower Garden, of Sheik Sadi of Shiraz, that "they asked a wise man, saying: Of the many celebrated trees which the Most High God has created lofty and umbrageous, they call none azad, or free, excepting the cypress, which bears no fruit; what mystery is there in this? He replied, Each has its appropriate produce, and appointed season, during the continuance of which it is fresh and blooming, and during their absence dry and withered; to neither of which states is the cypress exposed, being always flourishing; and of this nature are the azads, or religious independents. -- Fix not thy heart on that which is transitory; for the Dijlah, or Tigris, will continue to flow through Bagdad after the race of caliphs is extinct: if thy hand has plenty, be liberal as the date tree; but if it affords nothing to give away, be an azad, or free man, like the cypress."

COMPLEMENTAL VERSES

The Pretensions of Poverty

Thou dost presume too much, poor needy wretch,

To claim a station in the firmament

Because thy humble cottage, or thy tub,

Nurses some lazy or pedantic virtue

In the cheap sunshine or by shady springs,

With roots and pot-herbs; where thy right hand,

Tearing those humane passions from the mind,

Upon whose stocks fair blooming virtues flourish,

Degradeth nature, and benumbeth sense,

And, Gorgon-like, turns active men to stone.

We not require the dull society

Of your necessitated temperance,

Or that unnatural stupidity

That knows nor joy nor sorrow; nor your forced

Falsely exalted passive fortitude

Above the active. This low abject brood,

That fix their seats in mediocrity,

Become your servile minds; but we advance

Such virtues only as admit excess,

Brave, bounteous acts, regal magnificence,

All-seeing prudence, magnanimity

That knows no bound, and that heroic virtue

For which antiquity hath left no name,

But patterns only, such as Hercules,

Achilles, Theseus. Back to thy loath'd cell;

And when thou seest the new enlightened sphere,

Study to know but what those worthies were.