《瓦尔登湖·第一章·经济篇·Economy》第34节
In this course which our ancestors took there was a show of prudence at least, as if their principle were to satisfy the more pressing wants first. But are the more pressing wants satisfied now? When I think of acquiring for myself one of our luxurious dwellings, I am deterred, for, so to speak, the country is not yet adapted to human culture, and we are still forced to cut our spiritual bread far thinner than our forefathers did their wheaten. Not that all architectural ornament is to be neglected even in the rudest periods; but let our houses first be lined with beauty, where they come in contact with our lives, like the tenement of the shellfish, and not overlaid with it. But, alas! I have been inside one or two of them, and know what they are lined with. Though we are not so degenerate but that we might possibly live in a cave or a wigwam or wear skins today, it certainly is better to accept the advantages, though so dearly bought, which the invention and industry of mankind offer. In such a neighborhood as this, boards and shingles, lime and bricks, are cheaper and more easily obtained than suitable caves, or whole logs, or bark in sufficient quantities, or even well-tempered clay or flat stones. I speak understandingly on this subject, for I have made myself acquainted with it both theoretically and practically. With a little more wit we might use these materials so as to become richer than the richest now are, and make our civilization a blessing. The civilized man is a more experienced and wiser savage. But to make haste to my own experiment.
注释摘要
梭罗在前面引述了新英格兰早期殖民者挖地窖当房子的做法，然后笔锋一转，设问我们现在是否已经真正满足了那些最迫切的需求。他要做的不是全盘否定文明的进步，而是追问进步的方向与代价。在他看来，那些所谓的"奢华住所"，在精神层面反而让人的处境更局促了——"精神的面包"这个比喻很关键。他的先辈因为物质匮乏而不得不把小麦面包切得极薄，而十九世纪新英格兰人虽然面包够厚，精…