瓦尔登湖:Conclusion
To the sick the doctors wisely recommend a change of air and scenery. Thank Heaven， here is not all the world. The buckeye does not grow in New England， and the mockingbird is rarely heard here. The wild goose is more of a cosmopolite than we； he breaks his fast in Canada， takes a luncheon in the Ohio， and plumes himself for the night in a southern bayou. Even the bison， to some extent， keeps pace with the seasons cropping the pastures of the Colorado only till a greener and sweeter grass awaits him by the Yellowstone. Yet we think that if rail fences are pulled down， and stone walls piled up on our farms， bounds are henceforth set to our lives and our fates decided. If you are chosen town clerk， forsooth， you cannot go to Tierra del Fuego this summer： but you may go to the land of infernal fire nevertheless. The universe is wider than our views of it.
Yet we should oftener look over the tafferel of our craft， like curious passengers， and not make the voyage like stupid sailors picking oakum. The other side of the globe is but the home of our correspondent. Our voyaging is only great-circle sailing， and the doctors prescribe for diseases of the skin merely. One hastens to southern Africa to chase the giraffe； but surely that is not the game he would be after. How long， pray， would a man hunt giraffes if he could？ Snipes and woodcocks also may afford rare sport； but I trust it would be nobler game to shoot one's self.――
"Direct your eye right inward， and you'll find A thousand regions in your mind Yet undiscovered. Travel them， and be Expert in home-cosmography."
What does Africa ―― what does the West stand for？ Is not our own interior white on the chart？ black though it may prove， like the coast， when discovered. Is it the source of the Nile， or the Niger，or the Mississippi， or a Northwest Passage around this continent，that we would find？ Are these the problems which most concern mankind？ Is Franklin the only man who is lost， that his wife should be so earnest to find him？ Does Mr. Grinnell know where he himself is？ Be rather the Mungo Park， the Lewis and Clark and Frobisher， of your own streams and oceans； explore your own higher latitudes ――with shiploads of preserved meats to support you， if they be necessary； and pile the empty cans sky-high for a sign. Were preserved meats invented to preserve meat merely？ Nay， be a Columbus to whole new continents and worlds within you， opening new channels， not of trade， but of thought. Every man is the lord of a realm beside which the earthly empire of the Czar is but a petty state， a hummock left by the ice. Yet some can be patriotic who have no self-respect， and sacrifice the greater to the less. They love the soil which makes their graves， but have no sympathy with the spirit which may still animate their clay. Patriotism is a maggot in their heads. What was the meaning of that South-Sea Exploring Expedition， with all its parade and expense， but an indirect recognition of the fact that there are continents and seas in the moral world to which every man is an isthmus or an inlet， yet unexplored by him， but that it is easier to sail many thousand miles through cold and storm and cannibals， in a government ship， with five hundred men and boys to assist one， than it is to explore the private sea， the Atlantic and Pacific Ocean of one's being alone.
"Erret， et extremos alter scrutetur Iberos. Plus habet hic vitae， plus habet ille viae."
Let them wander and scrutinize the outlandish Australians. I have more of God， they more of the road.
It is not worth the while to go round the world to count the cats in Zanzibar. Yet do this even till you can do better， and you may perhaps find some "Symmes' Hole" by which to get at the inside at last. England and France， Spain and Portugal， Gold Coast and Slave Coast， all front on this private sea； but no bark from them has ventured out of sight of land， though it is without doubt the direct way to India. If you would learn to speak all tongues and conform to the customs of all nations， if you would travel farther than all travellers， be naturalized in all climes， and cause the Sphinx to dash her head against a stone， even obey the precept of the old philosopher， and Explore thyself. Herein are demanded the eye and the nerve. Only the defeated and deserters go to the wars， cowards that run away and enlist. Start now on that farthest western way，which does not pause at the Mississippi or the Pacific， nor conduct toward a wornout China or Japan， but leads on direct， a tangent to this sphere， summer and winter， day and night， sun down， moon down，and at last earth down too.
生了病的话，医生要明智地劝告你转移个地方，换换空气。谢天谢地，世界并不限于这里。七叶树没有在新英格兰生长，这里也难得听到模仿鸟。野鹅比起我们来更加国际化，它们在加拿大用早饭，在俄亥俄州吃中饭，夜间到南方的河湾上去修饰自己的羽毛。甚至野牛也相当地追随着时令节气，它在科罗拉多牧场上吃草，一直吃到黄石公园又有更绿更甜的草在等待它的时候。然而我们人却认为，如果拆掉栏杆或篱笆，在田园周围砌上石墙的话，我们的生活可就有了界限，我们的命运方能安定。如果你被挑选为市镇的办事员，那你今夏就不能到火地岛去旅行，但你很可能到地狱的火里去。宇宙比我们看到的还要来得大呵。
然而我们应该更经常地像好奇的旅行家一样在船尾浏览周遭的风景，不要一面旅行，一面却像愚蠢的水手，只顾低头撕麻絮。其实地球的另一面也不过是和我们通信的人家。
我们的旅行只是兜了一个大圈子，而医生开方子，也只能医治你的皮肤病。有人赶到南非洲去追逐长颈鹿，实在他应该追逐的不是这种动物。你说一个人又有多久的时候追逐长颈鹿呢！猎鹬鸟捉土拨鼠也是罕有的游戏了，我认为枪击你自己会是更崇高的一项运动。――“快把你的视线转向内心，你将发现你心中有一千处地区未曾发现。那末去旅行，成为家庭宇宙志的地理专家。”非洲是什么意思，――西方又代表什么呢？在我们的内心的地图上，可不是一块空自吗？一旦将它发现，它还不是像海岸一样，是黑黑的吗？是否要我们去发现尼罗河的河源，或尼日尔河的，或密西西比河的源头，或我们这大陆上的西北走廊呢？难道这些是跟人类最有关系的问题吗？弗兰克林爵士是否是这世上唯一失踪了的北极探险家，因此他的太太必须这样焦急地找寻他呢。格林奈尔先生是否知道他自己在什么地方？让你自己成为考察自己的江河海洋的门戈。派克、刘易士、克拉克和弗罗比秀之流吧；去勘探你自己的更高纬度去吧，――必要的话，船上装足了罐头肉，以维持你的生命，你还可以把空罐头堆得跟天空一样高，作为标志之用。发明罐头肉难道仅仅是为了保藏肉类吗？不，你得做一个哥伦布，寻找你自己内心的新大陆和新世界，开辟海峡，并不是为了做生意，而是为了思想的流通。每个人都是自己领域中的主人，沙皇的帝国和这个领域一比较，只成了蕞尔小国，一个冰天雪地中的小疙瘩。
然而有的人就不知道尊重自己，却奢谈爱国，而为了少数人的缘故，要大多数人当牺牲品。他们爱上他们将来要葬身的土地，却不理睬使他们的躯体活泼起来的精神。爱国只是他们脑子里的空想。南海探险队是什么意思呢？那样的排场，那样的耗费，间接他说，那只是承认了这样一个事实：在精神生活的世界中，虽然有的是海洋和大陆，其中每一个人只不过是一个半岛和一个岛屿，然而他不去探这个险；他却坐在一只政府拨给他的大船中间，航行经过儿千里的寒冷、风暴和吃人生番之地，带着五百名水手和仆人来服侍他；他觉得这比在内心的海洋上探险，比在单独一个人的大西洋和太平洋上探险，倒是容易得多呢。
“Erret，et extremos alter scrutetur lberos. Plus habet hic vitae，plus habet ille viae.”
“让他们去漂泊去考察异邦的澳大利亚人，我从上帝得到的多，他们得到更多的路。”
周游全世界，跑到桑给巴尔去数老虎的多少，是不值得的。但没有更好的事情做，这甚至还是值得做的事情，也许你能找到“薛美斯的洞”，从那里你最后可以进入到你内心的深处。英国、法国、西班牙、葡萄牙、黄金海岸、奴隶海岸，都面对着内心的海洋；可是从那里出发，都可以直航印度，却没有哪一条船敢开出港湾，远航到茫茫不见大陆的内心海洋上。尽管你学会了一切方言，习惯了一切风俗，尽管你比一切旅行家旅行得更远，适应了一切的气候和水土，连那斯芬克斯也给你气死撞碎在石上了，你还是要听从古代哲学家的一句话，“到你内心去探险。”这才用得到眼睛和脑子。只有败军之将和逃兵才能走上这个战场，只有懦夫和逃亡者才能在这里入伍。现在就开始探险吧，走上那最远的西方之路，这样的探险并不停止在密西西比，或太平洋，也不叫你到古老的中国或日本去，这个探险一往无前，好像经过大地的一条切线，无论冬夏昼夜，日落月殁，都可以作灵魂的探险，一直探到最后地球消失之处。
瓦尔登湖:Spring7本文地址：http://www.dioenglish.com/writing/essay/48366.html
