瓦尔登湖：经济篇9

　　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？

　　有很长一段时间，我是一家报纸的记者，报纸销路不广，而编辑从来不觉得我写的一大堆东西是可用的，所以，作家们都有同感，我忍受了很大苦痛，换来的只是我的劳动。然而在这件事上，苦痛又是它自身的报酬。

　　很多年来，我委任我自己为暴风雪与暴风雨的督察员，我忠心称职；又兼测量员，虽不测量公路，却测量森林小径和捷径，并保它们畅通，我还测量了一年四季都能通行的岩石桥梁，自有大众的足踵走来，证实它们的便利。

　　我也曾守护过城区的野兽，使忠于职守的牧人要跳过篱笆，遇到过许多的困难；我对于人迹罕到的田庄的角隅也特别注意：却不大知道约那斯或所罗门今天在哪一块田地上工作；因为这已不是我份内的事了。我给红色的越橘，沙地上的樱桃树和荨麻，红松和黑愕，白葡萄藤和黄色的紫罗兰花都浇过水，否则在天气干燥的季节中，它们可能会枯萎的。

　　简单他说，我这样子干了很久（我一点不夸耀），我忠心耿耿地管理我的这些事，直到后来越来越明白了，市民们是不愿意把我包括在公职人员的名单之内，也不愿意给我一笔小小的薪俸，让我有个挂名职务的。我记的账，我可以赌咒是很仔细的，真是从未被查对过，也不用说核准了，更不用说付款，结清账目了，好在我的心思也不放在这上西。

　　不久以前，一个闲步的印第安人到我的邻舍一位著名律师家中兜卖篮子。“你们要买篮子吗？”他说。口答是“不，我们不要”。“什么！”印第安人出门叫道，“你们想要饿死我们吗？”看到他的勤劳的白种人邻居，生活得如此富裕――因为律师只要把辩论之词编织起来，就像有魔术似的，富裕和地位都跟着来了――因而这印第安人曾自言自语：我也要做生意了；我编织篮子；这件事是我能做的。他以为编织好篮子就完成了他的一份，轮下来就应该是自种人向他购买了。他却不知道，他必须使人感到购买他的篮于是值得的，至少得使别人相信，购买这一只篮于是值得的，要不然他应该制造别一些值得叫人购买的东西。我也曾编织了一种精巧的篮子，我并没有编造得使人感到值得购买它。在我这方页，我一点不觉得我犯不着编织它们，非但没有去研究如何编织得使人们觉得更加值得购买，我倒是研究了如何可以避免这买卖的勾当。人们赞美而认为成功的生活，只不过是生活中的这么一种。为什么我们要夸耀这一种而贬低别一种生活呢？

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