瓦尔登湖：经济篇27
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.
读者当然明白，这问题我是从经济学的观点，不是从美食的观点来处理的，他不会大胆地把我这种节食来作试验，除非他是一个脂肪太多的人。
起先我用纯粹的印第安玉米粉和盐来焙制面包，纯粹的褥糕，我在露天的火上烤它们，放在一片薄木片上，或者放在建筑房屋时从木料上锯下来的木头上；可是时常熏得有松树味儿。我也试过面粉；可是最后发现了黑麦和印第安玉米粉的合制最方便，最可口。在冷天，这样连续地烘这些小面包是很有趣的事，过细地翻身，像埃及人孵小鸡一样。我烤熟的，正是我的真正的米粮的果实，在我的嗅觉中，它们有如其他的鲜美的果实一样，有一种芳香，我用布把它们包起，尽量要保持这种芳香，越长久越好。我研读了不可缺少的制造面包的古代艺术，向那些权威人物讨教，一直回溯到原始时代，不发酵的面包的第一个发明，那时从吃野果子，啖生肉，人类第一次进步到了吃这一种食物的文雅优美的程度，我慢慢地又在我的读物中，探索到面团突然间发酸，据信就这样，发酵的技术被学到了，然后经过了各种的发酵作用，直到我读到“良好的，甘美的，有益健康的面包”，这生命的支持者。有人认为发酵剂是西包的灵魂，是充填细胞组织的精神，像圣灶上的火焰，被虔诚地保留下来，――我想，一定有很珍贵的几瓶是最初由“五月花”带来，为美国担当了这任务的，而它的影响还在这片土地上升腾，膨胀，伸展，似食粮的波涛，――这酵母我也从村中正规地忠诚地端来了，直到有一天早晨，我却忘记了规则，用滚水烫了我的酵母；这件意外事使我发现甚至酵母也可以避免的，……
我发现这个不是用综合的，而是用了分析的方式――-从此我快快活活地取消了它，虽然大多数的家庭主妇曾经热忱地劝告我，没有发酵粉，安全而有益健康的面包是不可能的，年老的人还说我的体力会很快就衰退的。然而，我发现这并不是必需的原料，没有发酵我也过了一年，我还是生活在活人的土地上；我高兴的是我总算用不到在袋子里带一只小瓶子了，有时砰的一声瓶子破碎，里面的东西都倒掉了，弄得我很不愉快，不用这东西更干脆，更高尚了。人这种动物，比起别的动物来，更能够适应各种气候和各种环境。
我也没有在面包里放什么盐，苏打，或别的酸素，或碱。看来我是依照了基督诞生前两个世纪的马尔库斯。鲍尔修斯。卡托的方子做面包的。“Panem depstieium sic facit o.Manus mortariumque bene lavato.Farinam in mortarium indito，aquae paulat im addito，subigitoque pulchre，Ubi bene subegeris，defillgito，coquitoquesu b testu，”③他的这段话我这样理解：――“这样来做手揉的面包。洗净你的手和长槽。
把粗粉放进长槽，慢慢加水，揉得透彻。等你揉好了，使成形，而后盖上盖于烘烤，“
――这是说在一只烤面包的炉中。一个字也没有提到发酵。可是我还不能常常用这一类的生命的支持者。有一个时期，囊空如洗，我有一个月之久，都没有看到过面包。
每一个新英格兰人都可以很容易地在这块适宜种黑麦和印第安玉米的土地上，生产出他自己所需要的面包原料，而不依靠那远方的变动剧烈的市场。然而我们过得既不朴素，又没有独立性，在康科德，店里已经很难买到又新鲜又甜的玉米粉了，玉米片和更粗糙的玉米简直已没有人吃。农夫们把自己生产的一大部分谷物喂了牛和猪，另外花了更大的代价到铺予里去买了未必更有益健康的面粉回来。我看到我可以很容易地生产我的一两蒲式耳的黑麦和印第安玉米粉，前者在最贫瘠的地上也能生长，后者也用不着最好土地，就可以用手把它们磨碎，没有米没有猪肉就能够过日子：如果我一定要有一些糖精，我发现从南瓜或甜菜根里还可以做出一种很好的糖浆来，只要我加上糖械就可以更容易地做出糖来；如果当时这一些还正在生长着，我也可以用许多代用品，代替已经提到过的几种东西。“因为，”我们的祖先就曾歌唱，――“我们可以用南瓜，胡桃木和防风来做成美酒，来甜蜜我们的嘴唇。”
最后，说到盐，杂货中之最杂者，找盐本可以成为一个到海边去的合适机会，或者，如果完全不用它，那倒也许还可以少喝一点开水呢。我不知道印第安人有没有为了得到食盐，而劳费过心
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