登陆注册
5410500000014

第14章 Economy(14)

Though we are not so degenerate but that we might possibly live in a cave or a wigwam or wear skins to-day,it certainly is better to accept the advantages,though so dearly bought,which the invention and industry of mankind offer.In such a neighborhood as this,boards and shingles,lime and bricks,are cheaper and more easily obtained than suitable caves,or whole logs,or bark in sufficient quantities,or even well-tempered clay or flat stones.I speak understandingly on this subject,for I have made myself acquainted with it both theoretically and practically.With a little more wit we might use these materials so as to become richer than the richest now are,and make our civilization a blessing.The civilized man is a more experienced and wiser savage.But to make haste to my own experiment.

Near the end of March,1845,I borrowed an axe and went down to the woods by Walden Pond,nearest to where I intended to build my house,and began to cut down some tall,arrowy white pines,still in their youth,for timber.It is difficult to begin without borrowing,but perhaps it is the most generous course thus to permit your fellow-men to have an interest in your enterprise.The owner of the axe,as he released his hold on it,said that it was the apple of his eye;but I returned it sharper than I received it.It was a pleasant hillside where I worked,covered with pine woods,through which I looked out on the pond,and a small open field in the woods where pines and hickories were springing up.The ice in the pond was not yet dissolved,though there were some open spaces,and it was all dark-colored and saturated with water.There were some slight flurries of snow during the days that I worked there;but for the most part when I came out on to the railroad,on my way home,its yellow sand-heap stretched away gleaming in the hazy atmosphere,and the rails shone in the spring sun,and I heard the lark and pewee and other birds already come to commence another year with us.They were pleasant spring days,in which the winter of man's discontent was thawing as well as the earth,and the life that had lain torpid began to stretch itself.One day,when my axe had come off and I had cut a green hickory for a wedge,driving it with a stone,and had placed the whole to soak in a pond-hole in order to swell the wood,I saw a striped snake run into the water,and he lay on the bottom,apparently without inconvenience,as long as I stayed there,or more than a quarter of an hour;perhaps because he had not yet fairly come out of the torpid state.It appeared to me that for a like reason men remain in their present low and primitive condition;but if they should feel the influence of the spring of springs arousing them,they would of necessity rise to a higher and more ethereal life.I had previously seen the snakes in frosty mornings in my path with portions of their bodies still numb and inflexible,waiting for the sun to thaw them.On the 1st of April it rained and melted the ice,and in the early part of the day,which was very foggy,I heard a stray goose groping about over the pond and cackling as if lost,or like the spirit of the fog.

So I went on for some days cutting and hewing timber,and also studs and rafters,all with my narrow axe,not having many communicable or scholar-like thoughts singing to myself,-

Men say they know many things;

But lo!they have taken wings,-

The arts and sciences,

And a thousand appliances;

The wind that blows

Is all that any body knows.

I hewed the main timbers six inches square,most of the studs on two sides only,and the rafters and floor timbers on one side,leaving the rest of the bark on,so that they were just as straight and much stronger than sawed ones.Each stick was carefully mortised or tenoned by its stump,for I had borrowed other tools by this time.My days in the woods were not very long ones;yet I usually carried my dinner of bread and butter,and read the newspaper in which it was wrapped,at noon,sitting amid the green pine boughs which I had cut off,and to my bread was imparted some of their fragrance,for my hands were covered with a thick coat of pitch.Before I had done I was more the friend than the foe of the pine tree,though I had cut down some of them,having become better acquainted with it.Sometimes a rambler in the wood was attracted by the sound of my axe,and we chatted pleasantly over the chips which I had made.

同类推荐
  • 聆听花开的声音

    聆听花开的声音

    阅读《聆听花开的声音》,你可以感受到田野上的清风,可以找到心灵宁静的港湾,可以发现生活中被人们忽略的真理,从而拥有一颗宽广的心,走向成功……感受英语的魅力!体验英语的快乐!当鲜花盛开时,我们会沉醉在花海中,为它们的美丽、娇艳赞叹不已,但你可知道它们的真正动人之处,在于它从含苞待放走向盛开的那一刹那。聆听花开的声音,默默感受鲜花盛开过程中的美丽。
  • 英文爱藏:转个弯人生更开阔

    英文爱藏:转个弯人生更开阔

    学英语不再枯燥无味——吴文智编著的《转个弯人生更开阔》内文篇 目均取自国外最经典、最权威、最流行、最动人的篇章,中英双语,适于 诵读,提升阅读能力;学英语不再沉闷辛苦——优美的语言、深厚的情感 、地道的英文,让我们在阅读这些动人的绝美篇章时,不仅能够提升生活 质量,丰富人生内涵,更能够轻松提升英文领悟能力,体味英文之……
  • 在耶鲁听演讲

    在耶鲁听演讲

    耶鲁大学是美国历史上建立的第三所大学。迄今为止。耶鲁大学的毕业生中共有5位曾当选为美国总统。除了政界领袖,耶鲁大学也培养了众多在其他行业发光发热的名人,其中还包括奥斯卡影后梅丽尔·斯特里普。这个被莘莘学子所向往的教育殿堂也吸引了众多有声望的名人前去演讲,对这些社会未来的栋梁之才一吐肺腑之言。本书独家精选了18篇各界名流在耶鲁经典、励志的演讲。中英双语,让你体验双重震撼!
  • 神秘的农场主

    神秘的农场主

    讲述了约翰叔叔带着三个心爱的侄女——帕齐、贝丝和露易丝到位于小乡村米尔维尔的一个新购置的小农场度假的故事。在农场中,露易丝偶然发现原农场主的死有些蹊跷,他的好友在他死后变得疯疯癫癫,而且他和好友的财产在他死后均离奇失踪。所有的谜团引起露易丝强烈的好奇,她遂与小姐妹们偷偷地展开了侦查。就在她们的案情进展缓慢的时候,农场主的儿子约瑟夫在离开故土三年后再度现身,他带着满身的伤偷偷地躲藏在农场的一间废弃的小木屋中,他究竟发生了什么事?
  • 玩遍欧美就这么Easy!用汉语拼音说畅行无阻的英语

    玩遍欧美就这么Easy!用汉语拼音说畅行无阻的英语

    本书分为11章,共72个话题。分别为:和英美人交流、在英美乘坐交通工具、在英美体验生活、在英美工作、在英美学习、在英美就餐、在英美购物、在英美就医、在英美住宿、在英美旅行、在英美恋爱。内容丰富,涉及日常生活中的方方面面,且对每一章的话题都进行了细分,方便学习者针对具体的场景自由学习。
热门推荐
  • 无门慧开禅师语录

    无门慧开禅师语录

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 我的奶爸人生

    我的奶爸人生

    这是一本让人开心发笑的书。这是一本温馨的书。这是一本关于一个快乐小孩的书。
  • 虐爱情恨

    虐爱情恨

    十年前,沈筱钥因为与杨锌一段荒唐的协议,被迫无奈与相恋多年的初恋男友沈雅枫不辞而别.十年后,因为乐乐保姆一职以不同的身份再次相遇,身为雅枫的妻子杨锌这次的重逢无疑是给了她自身的威胁.当年,青梅竹马的陈旭看到在生活中苦苦挣扎的心爱女人,杨锌,会是袖手旁观,还是横刀夺爱.面对沈筱钥,沈雅枫是就此放下那段嘎然而止的感情,还是选择从此纠缠不清.对于小朱恋爱式的穷追猛打,沈筱钥又会作出如何决择,当所有人的情感都陷入了‘死胡同‘却又因为乐乐的决定而改变了所有人的命运......
  • 夭折

    夭折

    一出生就被分开的孩子,往往会在再见到彼此时欣喜万分。但,有时候情况会不那么和谐。为了一笔可观的报酬,一个母亲决定生一个孩子卖给非法领养中介。然而,她生下了一对双胞胎。怀胎十月让她万分后悔自己当初的决定,但一切已覆水难收。老大因为身体的残疾,被卖到孤儿院,十八年间被无情地虐待,直至他杀人逃走;老二被领养后生活幸福,却在得知真相的那一刻彻底崩溃。两个孩子的生父不明真相,仍然堕落苟活;他们的母亲则被神秘的幕后黑手残忍地杀害。两个孩子的相遇最终演变成一场复仇,悲剧的背后又隐藏着多少不可言说的罪恶和无奈?
  • 吸血鬼男神丫头你别跑

    吸血鬼男神丫头你别跑

    讲的吸血鬼的恋爱故事,女主失忆了并且失踪八年,男女主相互偶遇却不知道,男女主一起经过了很多磨难,最终成正果。
  • 侵入你的梦

    侵入你的梦

    你做过梦吗?如果有东西可以进入你的梦境,噩梦来临了……
  • 倾颜归以

    倾颜归以

    “傻逼女人,谁让你帮我的”司宇以辰不屑一顾。“哦?这位同学,是条狗我也会出手相救的”,江倾颜冷冷的说。三年后,“怎么在哪都能看见你”,江倾颜很是无奈。“你家住在海边吗?管的这么宽。”司宇以辰反问。
  • 陆少重生之追妻日常

    陆少重生之追妻日常

    蓝若重生前是陆寒圈养的宠物,替他生儿育女,失去自由,只因他答应过她,会保住她父亲的公司,谁知道谋夺父亲公司,与继母狼狈为奸的人就是他。知道真相,她在逃离陆寒身边时,走投无路纵身跳崖扎入大海,宁死也不愿意回到他的身边。老天垂怜,竟然让她重生回到七年前,父亲与弟弟还在,一切都还来得及挽救。这一生,她本不想依赖他人,可是前世她恨极的男人,今生提前闯入她的世界,对她千依百顺,死缠烂打……(陆总的追妻心术)第一条:不要脸。第二条:不要脸第三条:还是不要脸(记者采访)记者:陆总,请你用一句话形容你结婚时的心情。陆寒:激动万分,欣喜若狂,喜极而泣,兴高采烈,兴奋不已……记者:(陆总,词语有点多了)请问你最爱的是谁?陆寒:我太太。记者:陆总,请问你最喜欢吃的是什么?陆寒:(一时嘴快)我太太记者:……(儿童不宜的画面)记者:陆总,如果你惹你太太生气了,你太太会怎么对你?陆寒:不会有那样的事情发生,我绝对不会惹我太太生气的,我非常遵守男士的三从四得。记者:……
  • 吞噬九天

    吞噬九天

    一枚蕴含战意本质的泥塑吊坠,一本可夺天命为己身的绝世功法,聚集万千气运于一身,看落魄少年白梓年为救其母,醒其父,走向那逆天修神之路。
  • 空之刃

    空之刃

    世界差点被毁灭,只留下无数古代的遗迹。雷云携着最强禁术,在怪物横行的城市中探索。不小心捡到一个精灵,又发现了几个宝物……这是一个冒险的大时代!