瓦尔登湖：经济篇2

　　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 wood-lot！ 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 ploughed 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 any thing 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.

　　我看见青年人，我的市民同胞，他们的不幸是，生下地来就继承了田地、庐舍、谷仓、牛羊和农具；得到它们倒是容易，舍弃它们可困难了。他们不如诞生在空旷的牧场上，让狼来给他们喂奶，他们倒能够看清楚了，自己是在何等的环境辛勤劳动。谁使他们变成了土地的奴隶？为什么有人能够享受六十英亩田地的供养，而更多人却命定了，只能啄食尘土呢？为什么他们刚生下地，就得自掘坟墓？他们不能不过人的生活，不能不推动这一切，一个劲儿地做工，尽可能地把光景过得好些。我曾遇见过多少个可怜的、永生的灵魂啊，几乎被压死在生命的负担下面，他们无法呼吸，他们在生命道上爬动，推动他们前面的一个七十五英尺长，四十英尺宽的大谷仓，一个从未打扫过的奥吉亚斯的牛圈，还要推动上百英亩土地，锄地、芟草，还要放牧和护林！可是，另一些并没有继承产业的人，固然没有这种上代传下的、不必要的磨难，却也得为他们几立方英尺的血肉之躯，委屈地生活，拼性命地做工哪。

　　人可是在一个大错底下劳动的啊。人的健美的躯体，大半很快地被犁头耕了过去，化为泥土中的肥料。像一本经书里说的，一种似是而非的，通称“必然”的命运支配了人，他们所积累的财富，被飞蛾和锈霉再腐蚀掉，并且招来了箧的盗贼。这是一个愚蠢的生命，生前或者不明白，到临终，人们终会明白的，据说，杜卡利盎和彼尔在创造人类时，是拿石头扔到背后去。诗云：Inde genus durum sumus，experiensque laborum，Et doeumenta damus qua simus origine nati.后来，罗利也吟咏了两句响亮的诗：“从此人心坚硬，任劳任怨，证明我们的身体本是岩石。”

　　真是太盲目地遵守错误的神示了，把石头从头顶扔到背后去，也不看一看它们坠落到什么地方去。

　　大多数人，即使是在这个比较自由的国土上的人们，也仅仅因为无知和错误，满载着虚构的忧虑，忙不完的粗活，却不能采集生命的美果。操劳过度，使他们的手指粗笨了，颤抖得又大厉害，不适用于采集了。真的，劳动的人，一天又一天，找不到空闲来使得自己真正地完整无损；他无法保持人与人间最勇毅的关系；他的劳动，一到市场上，总是跌价。除了做一架机器之外，他没时间来做别的。他怎能记得他是无知的呢――他是全靠他的无知而活下来的――他不经常绞尽脑汁吗？在评说他们之前，我们先要兔费地使他穿暖、吃饱，并用我们的兴奋剂使他恢复健康。我们天性中最优美的品格，好比果实上的粉霜一样，是只能轻手轻脚，才得保全的。然而，人与人之间就是没有能如此温柔地相处。

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