瓦尔登湖:Winter Animals

　　When the ponds were firmly frozen， they afforded not only new and shorter routes to many points， but new views from their surfaces of the familiar landscape around them.  When I crossed Flint's Pond，after it was covered with snow， though I had often paddled about and skated over it， it was so unexpectedly wide and so strange that I could think of nothing but Baffin's Bay.  The Lincoln hills rose up around me at the extremity of a snowy plain， in which I did not remember to have stood before； and the fishermen， at an indeterminable distance over the ice， moving slowly about with their wolfish dogs， passed for sealers， or Esquimaux， or in misty weather loomed like fabulous creatures， and I did not know whether they were giants or pygmies.  I took this course when I went to lecture in Lincoln in the evening， travelling in no road and passing no house between my own hut and the lecture room.  In Goose Pond， which lay in my way， a colony of muskrats dwelt， and raised their cabins high above the ice， though none could be seen abroad when I crossed it. Walden， being like the rest usually bare of snow， or with only shallow and interrupted drifts on it， was my yard where I could walk freely when the snow was nearly two feet deep on a level elsewhere and the villagers were confined to their streets.  There， far from the village street， and except at very long intervals， from the jingle of sleigh-bells， I slid and skated， as in a vast moose-yard well trodden， overhung by oak woods and solemn pines bent down with snow or bristling with icicles.

　　For sounds in winter nights， and often in winter days， I heard the forlorn but melodious note of a hooting owl indefinitely far；such a sound as the frozen earth would yield if struck with a suitable plectrum， the very lingua vernacula of Walden Wood， and quite familiar to me at last， though I never saw the bird while it was making it.  I seldom opened my door in a winter evening without hearing it； Hoo hoo hoo， hoorer， hoo， sounded sonorously， and the first three syllables accented somewhat like how der do； or sometimes hoo， hoo only.  One night in the beginning of winter，before the pond froze over， about nine o'clock， I was startled by the loud honking of a goose， and， stepping to the door， heard the sound of their wings like a tempest in the woods as they flew low over my house.  They passed over the pond toward Fair Haven，seemingly deterred from settling by my light， their commodore honking all the while with a regular beat.  Suddenly an unmistakable cat-owl from very near me， with the most harsh and tremendous voice I ever heard from any inhabitant of the woods， responded at regular intervals to the goose， as if determined to expose and disgrace this intruder from Hudson's Bay by exhibiting a greater compass and volume of voice in a native， and boo-hoo him out of Concord horizon. What do you mean by alarming the citadel at this time of night consecrated to me？  Do you think I am ever caught napping at such an hour， and that I have not got lungs and a larynx as well as yourself？  Boo-hoo， boo-hoo， boo-hoo！  It was one of the most thrilling discords I ever heard.  And yet， if you had a discriminating ear， there were in it the elements of a concord such as these plains never saw nor heard.

　　I also heard the whooping of the ice in the pond， my great bed-fellow in that part of Concord， as if it were restless in its bed and would fain turn over， were troubled with flatulency and had dreams； or I was waked by the cracking of the ground by the frost，as if some one had driven a team against my door， and in the morning would find a crack in the earth a quarter of a mile long and a third of an inch wide.

　　Sometimes I heard the foxes as they ranged over the snow-crust，in moonlight nights， in search of a partridge or other game， barking raggedly and demoniacally like forest dogs， as if laboring with some anxiety， or seeking expression， struggling for light and to be dogs outright and run freely in the streets； for if we take the ages into our account， may there not be a civilization going on among brutes as well as men？  They seemed to me to be rudimental， burrowing men，still standing on their defence， awaiting their transformation. Sometimes one came near to my window， attracted by my light， barked a vulpine curse at me， and then retreated.

　　等到湖水冻成结实的冰，不但跑到许多地点去都有了新的道路、更短的捷径，而且还可以站在冰上看那些熟悉的风景。当我经过积雪以后的灵特湖的时候，虽然我在上面划过桨，溜过冰，它却出入意料地变得大了，而且很奇怪，它使我老是想着巴芬湾。

　　在我周围，林肯的群山矗立在一个茫茫雪原的四极，我以前仿佛并未到过这个平原；在冰上看不清楚的远处，渔夫带了他们的狼犬慢慢地移动，好像是猎海狗的人或爱斯基摩人那样，或者在雾蒙蒙的天气里，如同传说中的生物隐隐约约地出现，我不知道他们究竟是人还是儒。晚间，我到林肯去听演讲总是走这一条路的，所以没有走任何一条介乎我的木屋与讲演室之间的道路，也不经过任何一座屋子。途中经过鹅湖，那里是麝鼠居处之地，它们的住宅矗立在冰上，但我经过时没有看到过一只麝鼠在外。瓦尔登湖，像另外几个湖一样，常常是不积雪的，至多积了一层薄薄的雪，不久也便给吹散了，它便是我的庭院，我可以在那里自由地散步，此外的地方这时候积雪却总有将近两英尺深，村中居民都给封锁在他们的街道里。远离着村中的街道，很难得听到雪车上的铃声，我时常闪闪跌跌地走着，或滑着，溜着，好像在一个踏平了的鹿苑中，上面挂着橡木和庄严的松树，不是给积雪压得弯倒，便是倒挂着许多的冰柱。

　　在冬天夜里，白天也往往是这样，我听到的声音是从很远的地方传来的绝望而旋律优美的枭嗥，这仿佛是用合适的拨子弹拨时，这冰冻的大地发出来的声音，正是瓦尔登森林的1inguavernacula，后来我很熟悉它了，虽然从没有看到过那只枭在歌唱时的样子。

　　冬夜，我推开了门，很少不听到它的“胡，胡，胡雷，胡”的叫声，响亮极了，尤其头上三个音似乎是“你好”的发音；有时它也只简单地“胡，胡”地叫。有一个初冬的晚上，湖水还没有全冻，大约九点钟左右，一只飞鹅的大声鸣叫吓了我一跳，我走到门口，又听到它们的翅膀，像林中一个风暴，它们低低地飞过了我的屋子。它们经过了湖，飞向美港，好像怕我的灯光，它们的指挥官用规律化的节奏叫个不停。突然间，我不会弄错的，是一只猫头鹰，跟我近极了，发出了最沙哑而发抖的声音，“在森林中是从来听不到的，它在每隔一定间歇回答那飞鹅的鸣叫，好像它要侮辱那些来自赫德森湾的闯入者，它发出了音量更大、音域更宽的地方土话的声音来，”胡，胡“地要把它们逐出康科德的领空。在这样的只属于我的夜晚中，你要惊动整个堡垒，为的是什么呢？你以为在夜里这个时候，我在睡觉，你以为我没有你那样的肺和喉音吗？”波-胡，波-胡，波-胡！“我从来没有听见过这样叫人发抖的不协和音。然而，如果你有一个审音的耳朵，其中却又有一种和谐的因素，在这一带原野上可以说是从没有看见过，也从没有听到过的。

　　我还听到湖上的冰块的咳嗽声，湖是在康科德这个地方和我同床共寝的那个大家伙，好像他在床上不耐烦，要想翻一个身，有一些肠胃气胀，而且做了恶梦；有时我听到严寒把地面冻裂的声音，犹如有人赶了一队驴马撞到我的门上来，到了早晨我就发现了一道裂痕，阔三分之一英寸，长四分之一英里。

　　有时我听到狐狸爬过积雪，在月夜，寻觅鹧鸪或其他的飞禽，像森林中的恶犬一样，刺耳地恶鬼似地吠叫，好像它有点心焦如焚，又好像它要表达一些什么，要挣扎着寻求光明，要变成狗，自由地在街上奔跑；因为如果我们把年代估计在内，难道禽兽不是跟人类一样，也存在着一种文明吗？我觉得它们像原始人，穴居的人，时时警戒着，等待着它们的变形。有时候，一只狐狸被我的灯光吸引住，走近了我的窗于，吠叫似地向我发出一声狐狸的诅咒，然后急速退走。

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