《瓦尔登湖·第一章·经济篇·Economy》第54节
There is a certain class of unbelievers who sometimes ask me such questions as, if I think that I can live on vegetable food alone; and to strike at the root of the matter at once,—for the root is faith,—I am accustomed to answer such, that I can live on board nails. If they cannot understand that, they cannot understand much that I have to say. For my part, I am glad to hear of experiments of this kind being tried; as that a young man tried for a fortnight to live on hard, raw corn on the ear, using his teeth for all mortar. The squirrel tribe tried the same and succeeded. The human race is interested in these experiments, though a few old women who are incapacitated for them, or who own their thirds in mills, may be alarmed.
注释摘要
在这段话里，梭罗面对的是一类他称之为“不信者”的人，他们拿最具体的生存问题来挑战他——如果你主张活得简单，那你光吃蔬菜能活吗？这类提问的潜台词是：你那个自给自足的实验必定有物质条件上的致命缺陷。梭罗没有顺着对方的逻辑去列举营养学证据，他把回答直接抬到了另一个层面：我能靠木板钉子活着。这话当然不是字面上的饮食配方，而是说，决定一个人能否活下去的、能用什么东西…