2021年8月27日《古大叔小木屋》(78)直播实况 私人录制
时间 晚9:00——10:00
文本
Walden [ˈwɔldən] (Issue78)
5. Solitude(4)
[5] Some of my pleasantest hours were during the long rain-storms in the spring or fall, which confined me to the house for the afternoon as well as the forenoon, soothed by their ceaseless roar and pelting; when an early twilight ushered in a long evening in which many thoughts had time to take root and unfold themselves. In those driving northeast rains which tried the village houses so, when the maids stood ready with mop and pail in front entries to keep the deluge[ˈdeljuːdʒ] out, I sat behind my door in my little house, which was all entry, and thoroughly enjoyed its protection. In one heavy thunder-shower the lightning struck a large pitch pine across the pond, making a very conspicuous and perfectly regular spiral groove from top to bottom, an inch英寸 or more deep, and four or five inches wide, as you would groove a walking-stick. I passed it again the other day, and was struck with awe on looking up and beholding that mark, now more distinct than ever, where a terrific and resistless bolt came down out of the harmless sky eight years ago. //Men frequently say to me, "I should think you would feel lonesome[ˈləʊnsəm] down there, and want to be nearer to folks, rainy and snowy days and nights especially." I am tempted to reply to such - This whole earth which we inhabit is but a point in space. How far apart, think you, dwell the two most distant inhabitants of yonder star, the breadth[bredθ] of whose disk cannot be appreciated by our instruments? Why should I feel lonely? is not our planet in the Milky Way? This which you put/ seems to me not to be the most important question. What sort of space is that which separates a man from his fellows and makes him solitary? I have found that no exertion of the legs can bring two minds much nearer to one another. What do we want most to dwell near to? Not to many men surely, the depot['depəʊ], the post-office, the bar-room, the meeting-house, the school-house, the grocery, Beacon Hill, or the Five Points, where men most congregate[ˈkɒŋɡrɪˌɡeɪt], but to the perennial source of our life, whence in all our experience we have found that to issue, as the willow stands near the water and sends out its roots in that direction. This will vary with different natures, but this is the place where a wise man will dig his cellar.... I one evening overtook one of my townsmen, who has accumulated what is called "a handsome property" - though I never got a fair view of it - on the Walden road, driving a pair of cattle to market, who inquired of me how I could bring my mind to give up so many of the comforts of life. I answered that I was very sure I liked it passably well; I was not joking. And so I went home to my bed, and left him to pick his way through the darkness and the mud to Brighton - or Bright-town - which place he would reach some time in the morning.
我最愉快的日子就是在春天或秋天长长的暴风雨里,那都是正午前后被限制在屋子,被它那不停的狂吼和拍击所安慰的时候;当较早的夕照孕育一个漫长的夜晚,在其中很多的思想有的是时间生根和把自身伸展。/那些向东北方驱驰的雨,也这样扫过村庄的屋子;当女仆们手拿拖把和水桶在前廊等候/去把暴雨赶出,我坐在我小屋的门后,那就是我整个过道,而且是彻底在享受它的保护。//在一个倾盆雷雨天,一道闪电击中了湖对岸/一株高大的油松,从头到脚留下一道特别明显的,相当规则的盘旋沟槽,深有一英寸多,宽到四、五英寸,就像你抠走了去做一条手杖。另一天我打它身旁再次经过,一抬头看那痕迹,被眼前的一幕惊呆了,现在比以往更加明显了,那里有一道可怕的无法抗拒的闪电八年前来自无辜的天空。//人们经常对我说:“我觉得你在那里会感到孤单,想住的离人们近点,特别是下雨落雪的日子。”我就禁不住想这样回答——我们居住的这整个地球都只是宇宙的一个点。你认为那边那星星上居住的两个最远的居民离得有多远,它圆盘的阔度我们的仪器都观赏不到?我为什么要感到孤独?我们的行星不在银河系吗?你所提出的/对我仿佛不是最重要的问题。什么样的空间在阻隔着一个人和他的邻人/并让他孤寂?我已经发现没有哪两条腿的迈动能让两颗心靠得更近。住得近我们最想要什么?好多人不能肯定,仓库、邮局、酒吧、会议厅、校舍、杂货店、灯塔山或五点区 ,人们在那里聚集,一旦以所有的经验我们发现这成问题,好多人就不能肯定那里一定是我们生命长久的源泉,就如同水边的柳树都冲着水的方向扎根一样。由于天性的差异这将有所变化,但这就是一个聪明人该挖他地窖的地方……一天晚上,我赶上一个我镇上的人,他已经积攒了所谓“一笔可观的财富”——虽然我对这点一直不敢苟同——在瓦尔登湖的路上,驱赶着一对儿牛去市场。他问我怎么能下得了决心放弃这么多生活的享乐。我回答我肯定我乐意让它就那么过去;不是开玩笑。于是我回家上床,任由他在黑暗和泥泞里赶路去他的布里奇顿——或光明镇——那地方/会在早上的某个时候/赶到。