介绍:
Walden [ˈwɔldən] (Issue 196)
16. The Pond in Winter(4)
[6] As I was desirous[dɪ'zaɪərəs] to recover the long lost bottom of Walden Pond, I surveyed[ˈsɜːveɪ] it carefully, before the ice broke up, early in '46, with compass and chain and sounding line. There have been many stories told about the bottom, or rather no bottom, of this pond, which certainly had no foundation for themselves. It is remarkable how long men will believe in the bottomlessness of a pond without taking the trouble to sound it. I have visited two such Bottomless Ponds in one walk in this neighborhood. Many have believed that Walden reached quite through to the other side of the globe. Some who have lain flat on the ice for a long time, looking down through the illusive[ɪˈluːsɪv] medium, perchance with watery eyes into the bargain, and driven to hasty conclusions by the fear of catching cold in their breasts[brests], have seen vast holes "into which a load of hay might be driven[ˈdrɪvn]," if there were anybody to drive it, the undoubted source of the Styx and entrance[ˈentrəns] to the Infernal Regions from these parts. Others have gone down from the village with a "fifty-six" and a wagon load of inch rope, but yet have failed to find any bottom; for while the "fifty-six" was resting by the way, they were paying out the rope in the vain attempt to fathom their truly immeasurable capacity for marvellousness. But I can assure my readers that Walden has a reasonably tight bottom at a not unreasonable, though at an unusual, depth. I fathomed it easily with a cod-line and a stone weighing about a pound and a half, and could tell accurately[ˈækjʊrətlɪ] when the stone left the bottom, by having to pull so much harder before the water got underneath to help me. The greatest depth was exactly one hundred and two feet; to which may be added the five feet which it has risen since, making one hundred and seven. This is a remarkable depth for so small an area; yet not an inch of it can be spared by the imagination. What if all ponds were shallow? Would it not react on the minds of men? I am thankful that this pond was made deep and pure for a symbol. While men believe in the infinite some ponds will be thought to be bottomless.
由于我渴望复原瓦尔登湖长久失去的湖底，于是早在1846年冰还没有破碎之前，我就测量得特别仔细，用的是罗盘、测链和测量绳。关于这湖的湖底或它的无底有许多故事，那些故事本身就没有底子。人们有多长时间也不去测一测，就相信一个湖没有底子这一点到值得注意。在一次散步时，我曾经造访过附近两个这样无底子的湖。好多人都认为瓦尔登湖完全穿越了地球到另一边去了。一些人平卧在冰面好长时间，通过那层虚幻俯瞰了半天，可能为这买卖看得眼睛都流水了，由于害怕胸脯着凉就妄下结论，说看到了巨大的洞穴[xué] “往里头都能驾进一辆干草车去，”如果有人愿意驾驭，毫无疑问这些部分是冥河的策源地也是驶入地狱的入口。另一些人自镇子而下带着“五十***途休息的时候，他们也正在白白支付那绳索妄图测量他们真正无法估量能力的奇妙。但我可以向我的读者保证瓦尔登湖有个相当合理封闭的底子，虽然是在异乎寻常的深度。我很容易就用一根钓鳕鱼绳和一块重约一磅半的石头测了出来，可以精确告知什么时候石头离开湖的底部，通过要拉起得更加费劲点，在水钻到下部帮助我之前。最大深度准确为一百零二英尺；再加上从那以来五英尺涨水的高度，那就是一百零七英尺。在这么小一个面积就是一个很惹人注目的深度了；而且没有一英寸不激发想象力。即便所有的湖都浅呢？它就不在人们的心中产生影响吗？我非常感恩这湖被造得如此深纯成为了一个象征。当人们相信无限，某些湖就被认为是无底。
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