瓦爾登湖：經濟篇9

　　For a long time I was reporter to a journal， of no very wide circulation， whose editor has never yet seen fit to print the bulk of my contributions， and， as is too common with writers， I got only my labor for my pains.  However， in this case my pains were their own reward.

　　For many years I was self-appointed inspector of snow-storms and rain-storms， and did my duty faithfully； surveyor， if not of highways， then of forest paths and all across-lot routes， keeping them open， and ravines bridged and passable at all seasons， where the public heel had testified to their utility.

　　I have looked after the wild stock of the town， which give a faithful herdsman a good deal of trouble by leaping fences； and I have had an eye to the unfrequented nooks and corners of the farm；though I did not always know whether Jonas or Solomon worked in a particular field to-day； that was none of my business.  I have watered the red huckleberry， the sand cherry and the nettle-tree，the red pine and the black ash， the white grape and the yellow violet， which might have withered else in dry seasons.

　　In short， I went on thus for a long time （I may say it without boasting）， faithfully minding my business， till it became more and more evident that my townsmen would not after all admit me into the list of town officers， nor make my place a sinecure with a moderate allowance.  My accounts， which I can swear to have kept faithfully，I have， indeed， never got audited， still less accepted， still less paid and settled.  However， I have not set my heart on that.

　　Not long since， a strolling Indian went to sell baskets at the house of a well-known lawyer in my neighborhood.  "Do you wish to buy any baskets？" he asked.  "No， we do not want any，" was the reply.  "What！" exclaimed the Indian as he went out the gate， "do you mean to starve us？"  Having seen his industrious white neighbors so well off ―― that the lawyer had only to weave arguments， and， by some magic， wealth and standing followed ―― he had said to himself：I will go into business； I will weave baskets； it is a thing which I can do.  Thinking that when he had made the baskets he would have done his part， and then it would be the white man's to buy them.  He had not discovered that it was necessary for him to make it worth the other's while to buy them， or at least make him think that it was so， or to make something else which it would be worth his while to buy.  I too had woven a kind of basket of a delicate texture， but I had not made it worth any one's while to buy them.  Yet not the less， in my case， did I think it worth my while to weave them， and instead of studying how to make it worth men's while to buy my baskets， I studied rather how to avoid the necessity of selling them.  The life which men praise and regard as successful is but one kind.  Why should we exaggerate any one kind at the expense of the others？

　　有很長一段時間，我是一家報紙的記者，報紙銷路不廣，而編輯從來不覺得我寫的一大堆東西是可用的，所以，作家們都有同感，我忍受了很大苦痛，換來的只是我的勞動。然而在這件事上，苦痛又是它自身的報酬。

　　很多年來，我委任我自己為暴風雪與暴風雨的督察員，我忠心稱職；又兼測量員，雖不測量公路，卻測量森林小徑和捷徑，并保它們暢通，我還測量了一年四季都能通行的巖石橋梁，自有大眾的足踵走來，證實它們的便利。

　　我也曾守護過城區的野獸，使忠于職守的牧人要跳過籬笆，遇到過許多的困難；我對于人跡罕到的田莊的角隅也特別注意：卻不大知道約那斯或所羅門今天在哪一塊田地上工作；因為這已不是我份內的事了。我給紅色的越橘，沙地上的櫻桃樹和蕁麻，紅松和黑愕，白葡萄藤和黃色的紫羅蘭花都澆過水，否則在天氣干燥的季節中，它們可能會枯萎的。

　　簡單他說，我這樣子干了很久（我一點不夸耀），我忠心耿耿地管理我的這些事，直到后來越來越明白了，市民們是不愿意把我包括在公職人員的名單之內，也不愿意給我一筆小小的薪俸，讓我有個掛名職務的。我記的賬，我可以賭咒是很仔細的，真是從未被查對過，也不用說核準了，更不用說付款，結清賬目了，好在我的心思也不放在這上西。

　　不久以前，一個閑步的印第安人到我的鄰舍一位著名律師家中兜賣籃子。“你們要買籃子嗎？”他說?？诖鹗恰安?，我們不要”。“什么！”印第安人出門叫道，“你們想要餓死我們嗎？”看到他的勤勞的白種人鄰居，生活得如此富裕――因為律師只要把辯論之詞編織起來，就像有魔術似的，富裕和地位都跟著來了――因而這印第安人曾自言自語：我也要做生意了；我編織籃子；這件事是我能做的。他以為編織好籃子就完成了他的一份，輪下來就應該是自種人向他購買了。他卻不知道，他必須使人感到購買他的籃于是值得的，至少得使別人相信，購買這一只籃于是值得的，要不然他應該制造別一些值得叫人購買的東西。我也曾編織了一種精巧的籃子，我并沒有編造得使人感到值得購買它。在我這方頁，我一點不覺得我犯不著編織它們，非但沒有去研究如何編織得使人們覺得更加值得購買，我倒是研究了如何可以避免這買賣的勾當。人們贊美而認為成功的生活，只不過是生活中的這么一種。為什么我們要夸耀這一種而貶低別一種生活呢？

更多 英文美文、英語美文、英文短文、英語短文，請繼續關注 英語作文大全