瓦尔登湖:Higher Laws
As I came home through the woods with my string of fish，trailing my pole， it being now quite dark， I caught a glimpse of a woodchuck stealing across my path， and felt a strange thrill of savage delight， and was strongly tempted to seize and devour him raw； not that I was hungry then， except for that wildness which he represented. Once or twice， however， while I lived at the pond， I found myself ranging the woods， like a half-starved hound， with a strange abandonment， seeking some kind of venison which I might devour， and no morsel could have been too savage for me. The wildest scenes had become unaccountably familiar. I found in myself， and still find， an instinct toward a higher， or， as it is named， spiritual life， as do most men， and another toward a primitive rank and savage one， and I reverence them both. I love the wild not less than the good. The wildness and adventure that are in fishing still recommended it to me. I like sometimes to take rank hold on life and spend my day more as the animals do. Perhaps I have owed to this employment and to hunting， when quite young， my closest acquaintance with Nature. They early introduce us to and detain us in scenery with which otherwise， at that age， we should have little acquaintance. Fishermen， hunters， woodchoppers， and others， spending their lives in the fields and woods， in a peculiar sense a part of Nature themselves， are often in a more favorable mood for observing her， in the intervals of their pursuits， than philosophers or poets even， who approach her with expectation. She is not afraid to exhibit herself to them. The traveller on the prairie is naturally a hunter， on the head waters of the Missouri and Columbia a trapper， and at the Falls of St. Mary a fisherman. He who is only a traveller learns things at second-hand and by the halves， and is poor authority. We are most interested when science reports what those men already know practically or instinctively，for that alone is a true humanity， or account of human experience. They mistake who assert that the Yankee has few amusements，because he has not so many public holidays， and men and boys do not play so many games as they do in England， for here the more primitive but solitary amusements of hunting， fishing， and the like have not yet given place to the former. Almost every New England boy among my contemporaries shouldered a fowling-piece between the ages of ten and fourteen； and his hunting and fishing grounds were not limited， like the preserves of an English nobleman， but were more boundless even than those of a savage. No wonder， then， that he did not oftener stay to play on the common. But already a change is taking place， owing， not to an increased humanity， but to an increased scarcity of game， for perhaps the hunter is the greatest friend of the animals hunted， not excepting the Humane Society.
Moreover， when at the pond， I wished sometimes to add fish to my fare for variety. I have actually fished from the same kind of necessity that the first fishers did. Whatever humanity I might conjure up against it was all factitious， and concerned my philosophy more than my feelings. I speak of fishing only now， for I had long felt differently about fowling， and sold my gun before I went to the woods. Not that I am less humane than others， but I did not perceive that my feelings were much affected. I did not pity the fishes nor the worms. This was habit. As for fowling， during the last years that I carried a gun my excuse was that I was studying ornithology， and sought only new or rare birds. But I confess that I am now inclined to think that there is a finer way of studying ornithology than this. It requires so much closer attention to the habits of the birds， that， if for that reason only，I have been willing to omit the gun. Yet notwithstanding the objection on the score of humanity， I am compelled to doubt if equally valuable sports are ever substituted for these； and when some of my friends have asked me anxiously about their boys， whether they should let them hunt， I have answered， yes ―― remembering that it was one of the best parts of my education ―― make them hunters，though sportsmen only at first， if possible， mighty hunters at last，so that they shall not find game large enough for them in this or any vegetable wilderness ―― hunters as well as fishers of men. Thus far I am of the opinion of Chaucer's nun， who
"yave not of the text a pulled hen That saith that hunters ben not holy men."
There is a period in the history of the individual， as of the race，when the hunters are the "best men，" as the Algonquins called them. We cannot but pity the boy who has never fired a gun； he is no more humane， while his education has been sadly neglected. This was my answer with respect to those youths who were bent on this pursuit，trusting that they would soon outgrow it. No humane being， past the thoughtless age of boyhood， will wantonly murder any creature which holds its life by the same tenure that he does. The hare in its extremity cries like a child. I warn you， mothers， that my sympathies do not always make the usual philanthropic distinctions.
当我提着一串鱼，拖着钓竿穿过树林回家的时候，天色已经完全黑了下来，我瞥见一只土拨鼠偷偷地横穿过我的小径，就感到了一阵奇怪的野性喜悦的颤抖，我被强烈地引诱了，只想把它抓住，活活吞下肚去，倒不是因为我那时肚子饿了，而只是因为它所代表的是野性。我在湖上生活的时候，有过一两次发现自己在林中奔跑，像一条半饥饿的猎犬，以奇怪的恣肆的心情，想要觅取一些可以吞食的兽肉，任何兽肉我都能吞下去。
最狂野的一些景象都莫名其妙地变得熟悉了。我在我内心发现，而且还继续发现，我有一种追求更高的生活，或者说探索精神生活的本能，对此许多人也都有过同感，但我另外还有一种追求原始的行列和野性生活的本能，这两者我都很尊敬。我之爱野性，不下于我之爱善良。钓鱼有一种野性和冒险性，这使我喜欢钓鱼。有时候我愿意粗野地生活，更像野兽似的度过我的岁月。也许正因为我在年纪非常轻的时候就钓过鱼打过猎，所以我和大自然有亲密的往还。渔猎很早就把我们介绍给野外风景，将我们安置在那里，不然的话，在那样的年龄，是无法熟悉野外风景的。渔夫，猎户，樵夫等人，终身在原野山林中度过，就一个特殊意义来说，他们已是大自然的一部分，他们在工作的间歇里比诗人和哲学家都更适宜于观察大自然，因为后者总是带着一定的目的前去观察的。大自然不怕向他们展览她自己。旅行家在草原上自然而然地成了猎手，在密苏里和哥伦比亚上游却成了捕兽者，而在圣玛丽大瀑布那儿，就成了渔夫。但仅仅是一个旅行家的那种人得到的只是第二手的不完备的知识，是一个可怜的权威。我们最发生兴趣的是，当科学论文给我们报告，已经通过实践或者出于本能而发现了一些什么，只有这样的报告才真正属于人类，或者说记录了人类的经验。
有些人说北方佬很少娱乐，因为他们公定假日既少，男人和小孩玩的游戏又没有像英国的那样多。这话错了，因为在我们这里，更原始、更寂寞的渔猎之类的消遣还没有让位给那些游戏呢。几乎每一个跟我同时代的新英格兰儿童，在十岁到十四岁中间都掮过猎枪，而他的渔猎之地也不像英国贵族那样地划定了界限，甚至还比野蛮人的都广大得多。所以，他不常到公共场所游戏是不足为奇的。现在的情形却已经在起着变化，并不是因为人口增加，而是因为猎物渐渐减少，也许猎者反而成了被猎的禽兽的好朋友，保护动物协会也不例外。
况且，我在湖边时，有时捕鱼，只是想换换我的口味。我确实像第一个捕鱼人一样，是由于需要的缘故才捕鱼的。尽管我以人道的名义反对捕鱼，那全是假话，其属于我的哲学的范畴，更甚于我的感情的范畴。这里我只说到捕鱼，因为很久以来，我对于打鸟有不同的看法，还在我到林中来之前，已卖掉了我的猎枪。倒不是因为我为人比别人残忍，而是因为我一点感觉不到我有什么恻隐之心。我既不可怜鱼，也不可怜饵虫。这已成了习惯。至于打鸟，在我那背猎枪的最后几年里，我的借口是我在研究飞鸟学，我找的只是罕见或新奇之鸟。可是我承认，现在我有比这更好的一种研究飞鸟学的方式了。
你得这样严密仔细地观察飞鸟的习惯啊，就凭这样一个理由，已经可以让我取消猎枪了。
然而，不管人们怎样根据人道来反对，我还是不得不怀疑，是否有同样有价值的娱乐，来代替打猎的；当一些朋友们不安地探问我的意见，应不应该让孩子们去打猎，我总是回答，应该，――因为我想起这是我所受教育中最好的一部分，――让他们成为猎者吧，虽然起先他们只是运动员，最后，如果可能的话，他们才成为好猎手，这样他们将来就会晓得，在这里或任何地方的莽原里并没有足够的鸟兽，来供给他们打猎的了。迄今为止，我还是同意乔臾写的那个尼姑的意见，她说：“没有听到老母鸡说过猎者并不是圣洁的人。”在个人的和种族的历史中还都曾经有过一个时期，那时猎者被称颂为“最好的人”，而阿尔贡金族的印第安人就曾这样称呼过他们。我们不能不替一个没有放过一枪的孩子可怜，可怜他的教育被忽视，他不再是有人情的了。对那些沉湎在打猎上面的少年，我也说过这样的活，我相信他们将来是会超越过这个阶段的。
还没有一个人在无思无虑地过完了他的童年之后，还会随便杀死任何生物，因为生物跟他一样有生存的权利。兔子到了末路，呼喊得真像一个小孩。我警告你们，母亲们，我的同情并不总是作出通常的那种爱人类的区别的。
英语 文学 散文本文地址：http://www.dioenglish.com/writing/essay/48324.html
