瓦尔登湖:House-Warming

　　In October I went a-graping to the river meadows， and loaded myself with clusters more precious for their beauty and fragrance than for food.  There， too， I admired， though I did not gather， the cranberries， small waxen gems， pendants of the meadow grass， pearly and red， which the farmer plucks with an ugly rake， leaving the smooth meadow in a snarl， heedlessly measuring them by the bushel and the dollar only， and sells the spoils of the meads to Boston and New York； destined to be jammed， to satisfy the tastes of lovers of Nature there.  So butchers rake the tongues of bison out of the prairie grass， regardless of the torn and drooping plant.  The barberry's brilliant fruit was likewise food for my eyes merely； but I collected a small store of wild apples for coddling， which the proprietor and travellers had overlooked.  When chestnuts were ripe I laid up half a bushel for winter.  It was very exciting at that season to roam the then boundless chestnut woods of Lincoln ―― they now sleep their long sleep under the railroad ―― with a bag on my shoulder， and a stick to open burs with in my hand， for I did not always wait for the frost， amid the rustling of leaves and the loud reproofs of the red squirrels and the jays， whose half-consumed nuts I sometimes stole， for the burs which they had selected were sure to contain sound ones.  Occasionally I climbed and shook the trees. They grew also behind my house， and one large tree， which almost overshadowed it， was， when in flower， a bouquet which scented the whole neighborhood， but the squirrels and the jays got most of its fruit； the last coming in flocks early in the morning and picking the nuts out of the burs before they fell， I relinquished these trees to them and visited the more distant woods composed wholly of chestnut.  These nuts， as far as they went， were a good substitute for bread.  Many other substitutes might， perhaps， be found. Digging one day for fishworms， I discovered the ground-nut （Apios tuberosa） on its string， the potato of the aborigines， a sort of fabulous fruit， which I had begun to doubt if I had ever dug and eaten in childhood， as I had told， and had not dreamed it.  I had often since seen its crumpled red velvety blossom supported by the stems of other plants without knowing it to be the same. Cultivation has well-nigh exterminated it.  It has a sweetish taste，much like that of a frost-bitten potato， and I found it better boiled than roasted.  This tuber seemed like a faint promise of Nature to rear her own children and feed them simply here at some future period.  In these days of fatted cattle and waving grain-fields this humble root， which was once the totem of an Indian tribe， is quite forgotten， or known only by its flowering vine； but let wild Nature reign here once more， and the tender and luxurious English grains will probably disappear before a myriad of foes， and without the care of man the crow may carry back even the last seed of corn to the great cornfield of the Indian's God in the southwest，whence he is said to have brought it； but the now almost exterminated ground-nut will perhaps revive and flourish in spite of frosts and wildness， prove itself indigenous， and resume its ancient importance and dignity as the diet of the hunter tribe.  Some Indian Ceres or Minerva must have been the inventor and bestower of it； and when the reign of poetry commences here， its leaves and string of nuts may be represented on our works of art.

　　Already， by the first of September， I had seen two or three small maples turned scarlet across the pond， beneath where the white stems of three aspens diverged， at the point of a promontory， next the water.  Ah， many a tale their color told！  And gradually from week to week the character of each tree came out， and it admired itself reflected in the smooth mirror of the lake.  Each morning the manager of this gallery substituted some new picture， distinguished by more brilliant or harmonious coloring， for the old upon the walls. The wasps came by thousands to my lodge in October， as to winter quarters， and settled on my windows within and on the walls overhead， sometimes deterring visitors from entering.  Each morning，when they were numbed with cold， I swept some of them out， but I did not trouble myself much to get rid of them； I even felt complimented by their regarding my house as a desirable shelter.  They never molested me seriously， though they bedded with me； and they gradually disappeared， into what crevices I do not know， avoiding winter and unspeakable cold.

　　十月中，我到河岸草地采葡萄，满教而归，色泽芬芳，胜似美味。在那里，我也赞赏蔓越橘，那小小的蜡宝石垂悬在草叶上，光莹而艳红，我却并不采集，农夫用耙耙集了它们，平滑的草地凌乱不堪，他们只是漫不经心地用蒲式耳和金元来计算，把草地上的劫获出卖到波士顿和纽约；命定了制成果酱，以满足那里的大自然爱好者的口味。同样地，屠夫们在草地上到处耙野牛舌草，不顾那被撕伤了和枯萎了的植物。光耀的伏牛花果也只供我眼睛的欣赏：我只稍为采集了一些野苹果，拿来煮了吃，这地方的地主和旅行家还没有注意到这些东西呢。栗子熟了，我藏了半蒲式耳，预备过冬天。这样的季节里，倘徜在林肯一带无边无际的栗树林中，真是非常兴奋的，――现在，这些栗树却长眠在铁道之下了，――那时我肩上扛了一只布囊，手中提了一根棍棒来打开那些有芒刺的果子，因为我总是等不到霜降的，在枯叶飒飒声和赤松鼠跟鸟聒噪责怪声中漫游，有时我还偷窃它们已经吃了一部分的坚果，因为它们所选中的有芒刺的果子中间，一定有一些是较好的。偶尔我爬上树，去震摇栗树，我屋后也长有栗树，有一棵大得几乎荫蔽了我的房屋。开花时，它是一个巨大的花束，四邻都馨郁，但它的果实大部分却给松鼠和樱鸟吃掉；鸟一清早就成群地飞来，在栗子落下来之前先把它从果皮中拣出来。

　　这些树我让给了它们，自去找全部都是栗树的较远处的森林。这一种果实，我看，可以作为面包的良好的代用品。也许还可以找到别的许多种代用品吧。有一天我挖地找鱼饵，发现了成串的野豆（Apios tuberosa），是少数民族的土豆，一种奇怪的食物，我不禁奇怪起来，究竟我有没有像他们告诉过我的，在童年时代挖过，吃过它们，何以我又不再梦见它们了。我常常看到它们的皱的、红天鹅绒似的花朵，给别些植物的梗子支撑着，却不知道便是它们。耕耘差不多消灭了它们。它有甜味，像霜后的土豆，我觉得煮熟了吃比烘来吃更好。这种块茎似乎是大自然的一个默诺，将来会有一天它就要在这里简单地抚养自己的孩子，就用这些来喂养它们。目前崇尚养肥的耕牛，麦浪翻滚的田地，在这种时代里，卑微的野豆便被人遗忘了，顶多只有它开花的藤蔓还能看到，却曾经有一度它还是印第安部落的图腾呢；其实只要让狂野的大自然重新在这里统治，那些温柔而奢侈的英国谷物说不定就会在无数仇敌面前消失，而且不要人的援助，乌鸦会把最后的一颗玉米的种子再送往西南方，到印第安之神的大玉米田野上去，据说以前它就是从那儿把种子带过来的，那时候，野豆这现已几乎灭了种的果实也许要再生，并且繁殖了，不怕那霜雪和蛮荒，证明它自己是土生土长的，而且还要恢复古代作为游猎人民的一种主要食品时的那种重要地位和尊严了。必定是印第安的谷物女神或智慧女神发明了它，以后赐予人类的，当诗歌的统治在这里开始时，它的叶子和成串的坚果将在我们的艺术作品上得到表现。

　　九月一日，我就看到三两株小枫树的树叶已经红了，隔湖，就在三株岔开的白杨之下，在一个湖角上，靠近着水。啊！它们的颜色诉说着如许的故事。慢慢地，一个又一个星期，每株树的性格都显露了，它欣赏着照鉴在湖的明镜中的自己的倒影。每个早晨，这一画廊的经理先生取下墙上的旧画，换上一些新的画幅，新画更鲜艳或者色彩更和谐，非常出色。

　　十月中，黄蜂飞到我的住所来，数以千计，好像来过冬的，住在我的窗户里边我头顶上方的墙上，有时还把访客挡了驾呢。每天早晨都冻僵几只，我就把它们扫到外边，但我不愿意麻烦自己去赶走它们。它们肯惠临寒舍避冬，我还引以为荣哩。虽然它们跟我一起睡，从来不严重地触犯我；逐渐地，它们也消失了，我却不知道它们躲到什么隙缝中间，避去那冬天和不可言喻的寒冷。

更多 英文美文、英语美文、英文短文、英语短文，请继续关注 英语作文大全