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Commerce is unexpectedly confident and serene， alert，adventurous， and unwearied. It is very natural in its methods withal， far more so than many fantastic enterprises and sentimental experiments， and hence its singular success. I am refreshed and expanded when the freight train rattles past me， and I smell the stores which go dispensing their odors all the way from Long Wharf to Lake Champlain， reminding me of foreign parts， of coral reefs，and Indian oceans， and tropical climes， and the extent of the globe. I feel more like a citizen of the world at the sight of the palm-leaf which will cover so many flaxen New England heads the next summer， the Manilla hemp and cocoanut husks， the old junk， gunny bags， scrap iron， and rusty nails. This carload of torn sails is more legible and interesting now than if they should be wrought into paper and printed books. Who can write so graphically the history of the storms they have weathered as these rents have done？ They are proof-sheets which need no correction. Here goes lumber from the Maine woods， which did not go out to sea in the last freshet，risen four dollars on the thousand because of what did go out or was split up； pine， spruce， cedar ―― first， second， third， and fourth qualities， so lately all of one quality， to wave over the bear， and moose， and caribou. Next rolls Thomaston lime， a prime lot， which will get far among the hills before it gets slacked. These rags in bales， of all hues and qualities， the lowest condition to which cotton and linen descend， the final result of dress ―― of patterns which are now no longer cried up， unless it be in Milwaukee， as those splendid articles， English， French， or American prints，ginghams， muslins， etc.， gathered from all quarters both of fashion and poverty， going to become paper of one color or a few shades only， on which， forsooth， will be written tales of real life， high and low， and founded on fact！ This closed car smells of salt fish，the strong New England and commercial scent， reminding me of the Grand Banks and the fisheries. Who has not seen a salt fish，thoroughly cured for this world， so that nothing can spoil it， and putting， the perseverance of the saints to the blush？ with which you may sweep or pave the streets， and split your kindlings， and the teamster shelter himself and his lading against sun， wind， and rain behind it ―― and the trader， as a Concord trader once did， hang it up by his door for a sign when he commences business， until at last his oldest customer cannot tell surely whether it be animal，vegetable， or mineral， and yet it shall be as pure as a snowflake，and if it be put into a pot and boiled， will come out an excellent dun-fish for a Saturday's dinner. Next Spanish hides， with the tails still preserving their twist and the angle of elevation they had when the oxen that wore them were careering over the pampas of the Spanish Main ―― a type of all obstinacy， and evincing how almost hopeless and incurable are all constitutional vices. I confess，that practically speaking， when I have learned a man's real disposition， I have no hopes of changing it for the better or worse in this state of existence. As the Orientals say， "A cur's tail may be warmed， and pressed， and bound round with ligatures， and after a twelve years' labor bestowed upon it， still it will retain its natural form." The only effectual cure for such inveteracies as these tails exhibit is to make glue of them， which I believe is what is usually done with them， and then they will stay put and stick. Here is a hogshead of molasses or of brandy directed to John Smith，Cuttingsville， Vermont， some trader among the Green Mountains， who imports for the farmers near his clearing， and now perchance stands over his bulkhead and thinks of the last arrivals on the coast， how they may affect the price for him， telling his customers this moment， as he has told them twenty times before this morning， that he expects some by the next train of prime quality. It is advertised in the Cuttingsville Times.
While these things go up other things come down. Warned by the whizzing sound， I look up from my book and see some tall pine， hewn on far northern hills， which has winged its way over the Green Mountains and the Connecticut， shot like an arrow through the township within ten minutes， and scarce another eye beholds it；going "to be the mast Of some great ammiral."
商業(yè)是出乎意料地自信的，莊重的，靈敏的，進(jìn)取的，而且不知疲勞的。它的一些方式都很自然，許多幻想的事業(yè)和感傷的試驗(yàn)都不能跟它相提并論，因此它有獨(dú)到的成功。一列貨車在我旁邊經(jīng)過之后，我感到清新，氣概非凡了，我聞到了一些商品的味道，從長(zhǎng)碼頭到卻姆潑蘭湖的一路上，商品都散發(fā)出味道來，使我聯(lián)想到了外國(guó)、珊瑚礁、印度洋、熱帶氣候和地球之大。我看到一些棕櫚葉，到明年夏天，有多少新英格蘭的亞麻色的頭發(fā)上都要戴上它的，我又看到馬尼拉的麻、椰子殼、舊繩索、黃麻袋、廢鐵和銹釘，這時(shí)候我更覺得自己是一個(gè)世界公民了。一車子的破帆，造成了紙，印成了書，讀起來一定是更易懂、更有趣。誰能夠像這些破帆這樣把它們經(jīng)歷驚風(fēng)駭浪的歷史，生動(dòng)地描繪下來呢？它們本身就是不需要校閱的校樣。經(jīng)過這里的是緬因森林中的木料，上次水漲時(shí)沒有扎排到海里去，因?yàn)檫\(yùn)出去或者鋸開的那些木料的關(guān)系，每一千根漲了四元，洋松啊，針樅啊，杉木啊，――頭等，二等，三等，四等，不久前還是同一個(gè)質(zhì)量的林木，搖曳在熊、麋鹿和馴鹿之上。其次隆隆地經(jīng)過了湯麥斯東石灰，頭等貨色，要運(yùn)到很遠(yuǎn)的山區(qū)去，才卸下來的。至于這一袋袋的破布，各種顏色，各種質(zhì)料，真是棉織品和細(xì)麻布的最悲慘的下場(chǎng)，衣服的最后結(jié)局，――再?zèng)]有人去稱贊它們的圖案了，除非是在密爾沃基市，這些光耀的衣服質(zhì)料，英國(guó)、法國(guó)、美國(guó)的印花布，方格布，薄紗等等，――卻是從富有的，貧賤的，各方面去搜集攏來的破布頭，將要變成一色的，或僅有不同深淺的紙張，說不定在紙張上會(huì)寫出一些真實(shí)生活的故事，上流社會(huì)下等社會(huì)的都有，都是根據(jù)事實(shí)寫的！這一輛緊閉的篷車散發(fā)出咸魚味，強(qiáng)烈的新英格蘭的商業(yè)味道，使我聯(lián)想到大河岸和漁業(yè)了。誰沒有見過一條咸魚呢？全部都是為我們這個(gè)世界而腌了的，再?zèng)]有什么東西能使它變壞了，它教一些堅(jiān)韌不拔的圣人都自慚不如哩。
有了咸魚，你可以掃街，你可以鋪街道，你可以劈開引火柴，躲在咸魚后面，驢馬隊(duì)的夫子和他的貨物也可以避太陽，避風(fēng)雨了，――正如一個(gè)康科德的商人實(shí)行過的，商人可以在新店開張時(shí)把咸魚掛在門上當(dāng)招牌，一直到最后老主顧都沒法說出它究竟是動(dòng)物呢，還是植物或礦物時(shí)，它還是白得像雪花，如果你把它放在鍋里燒開，依然還是一條美味的咸魚，可供星期六晚上的宴會(huì)。其次是西班牙的皮革，尾巴還那樣扭轉(zhuǎn)，還保留著當(dāng)它們?cè)谖靼嘌辣就恋牟菰霞柴Y時(shí)的仰角，――足見是很頑固的典型，證明性格上的一切缺點(diǎn)是如何地沒有希望而不可救藥啊。實(shí)在的，在我知道了人的本性之后，我承認(rèn)在目前的生存情況之下，我決不希望它能改好，或者變壞。東方人說，“一條狗尾巴可以燒，壓，用帶子綁，窮十二年之精力，它還是不改老樣子。”對(duì)于像這些尾巴一樣根深蒂固的本性，僅有一個(gè)辦法，就是把它們制成膠質(zhì)，我想通常就是拿它們來作這種用場(chǎng)的，它們才可以膠著一切。這里是一大桶糖蜜，也許是白蘭地，送到佛蒙特的克丁司維爾，給約翰。史密斯先生，青山地區(qū)的商人，他是為了他住處附近的農(nóng)民采辦進(jìn)口貨的，或許現(xiàn)在他靠在他的船的艙壁上，想著最近裝到海岸上來的一批貨色將會(huì)怎樣影響價(jià)格，同時(shí)告訴他的顧客，他希望下一次火車帶到頭等貨色，這話在這個(gè)早晨以前就說過二十遍了。這已經(jīng)在《克丁司維爾時(shí)報(bào)》上登過廣告。
這些貨物上來，另一些貨物下去。我聽見了那疾馳飛奔的聲音，從我的書上抬起頭來，看到了一些高大的洋松，那是從極北部的山上砍伐下來的，它插上翅膀飛過了青山和康涅狄格州，它箭一樣地十分鐘就穿過了城市，人家還沒有看到它，已經(jīng)“成為一只旗艦上面的一技桅桿。”
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