世界名著“红蓝白”—白系列(瓦尔登湖)

apter 8
The Village
 fter hoeing，or perhaps reading and writing，in
 the  forenoon，  I  usually  bathed  again  in  the
 pond，SWimming across one ofits coves for a
stiht，and washed the dust of labor from my person，or
smoothed OUt the 1ast wrinkle which studV had made，
and for the anernoon was abs01utely free．Every day or
two I str011ed to the viilage to hear some of t'he gOSSip
which is incessantly going on there，ciFCalating either
from mouth to mouth,or from newspaper to newspaper
 and which，taken in homoeopathic doses，was really as re—
freshing in its way as the rustle of leaves and the peeping
 of froffs．As 1 walked in the WOOds to see the birds and
 souirrels，SO 1 walked in the viilage to see the men and
 bovs；instead of the wind among the pines I heard the
 carts rattle．In one direction from mV house l：here was a
 COlonv of muskrats in the rivet meadows;under the grove
 of elms and buttonwoods in the other horizon was a Vil—
lage of busy men,as curious to me as if they had been
 prairie—dogs，each sitting at the mouth of its burrow，or
 runn血g over to a neighbor's to gOSSip．1 went there fre-
cluentlV to observe their habits．The village appeared to
   
    me a great news room；and on one side，to suppOrt it，as
    once at Redding&Company’s on State Street，they kept
    nuts and raisins，or salt and meal and other groceries．

Some have SUCh a vast appetite for the former commodity,
that is，the news,and SUCh SOURd digestiVe orgars,that
they can sit forever in public avenues without stirring
and let it simmer and whisper through them 1ike the
Etesian winds，or as if inhaling ether,it only PrOducing
numbness and insensibility to pain—otherwise it WOUld
often be painfulto bear—without affecting the consciOUS—
ness．I hardly ever failed，when I rambled throu gh the Vil—
lage，to see a row of SUCh worthies,e让her sitting on a lad—
der sunning themselVes，with their bodies inclined for-
ward and their eyes glarcing along the 1ine this way and
that，from time to time,with a V01uptuOUS expression,or
else leaning against a bam with their hands in their pock-
ets,1ike caryatides,as if to proP it up．They，be血g com—
monly OUt of doors,heard whatever was in the wind．
These are the coarsest mills，in which aU goss中is first
 rudely digested or cracked up before it is emptied into
finer and more delicate hoppers wit儿n doors．I observed
that the Vitals of the viilage were the grocerY,the bar-
room,the post-office,and the bark；and，as a necessary
 part of the mac儿nerY,they kept a bell，a big gunI and a
fire-eRgine,at convenient places；and the houses were so
 arranged as to make the most of mankind，in lares and
fronting one another,so that every traveller had to run the
 gauntlet，and every man,woman,and child might get a
1ick at him．Of course,those who were stationed nearest
to the head of the line,where they conld most see and be
 seen,and have the first blOW at him，paid the highest
 prices for their places；and the few straggling inhabitants
in the outskirts，where long gaps血the line began to oc—
cur,and the traveUer COUld get over walls or tum aside in—
to cow-paths，and so escape，paid a Very slight grOURd or
 windOW tax．Signs were hung ont on aU sides to allure
him;some tO catch him by the appetite，as me tavern and

Victualling cellar；some by the fancy，as the dry goods
store and the jeweller's；and others by the hair or the feet
Or the skirts，as the barber，the shoemaker，Or the tailOr．
Besides，there was a still more terrible standing invitation
to call at every one of these house and company expect—
ed about these times．For the most part I escaped wonder—
fully from these dangers，either by proceeding at once
b01dly and withOUt deliberation to the goaL as is recom—
mended tO those who run the gauntlet，or by keeping my
thoughts on high things，1ike Orpheus，  who，  “loudly
singing the praises of the gods to his 1yre，drowned the
VOices of the Sirens，and kept OUt of danger．”Sometimes I
bolted SUddenly，and nobody COUld teⅡmy whereabouts，
fOr I did not stand much about gracefuLness,and never
hesitated at a gap in a fence．1 was even aCCUStomed to
make an irmption into some hoases，where 1 was weU
 entertained，and after 1eam血g the kernels and very last
 sieveful Of news—what had subsided，the prosPects of
 war and peace，and whether the world was 1ikelV tO hold
together mHCh longer—1 was let out through the rear
 avenues，and sO escaped to the woods again．
    It was very pleasant，when I stayed 1ate in town，tO
1aunch myself into the night,especiaUy if it was dark and
tempestuous，and set sail from some bright viilage parlOr
 or lecture room，with a bag of rye or Indian meal upon my
 shoulder，for my snug harbor in the woods，having made
 aU tight without and withdFawn under hatches with a
 merry crew ofthoughts，leaving only my OUter man at the
 helmi or even tying uP the helm when it was plain sailing．
I had many a genial thOUght by the cabin fire“as I sailed．”
1 was never cast away nor distressed in any weather，
thOugh I encountered some severe storms．It is darker in
the WOOds，even血common儿ghts，than most sappose．