《瓦尔登湖·第六章·访客·Visitors》第7节
He was a skilful chopper, and indulged in some flourishes and ornaments in his art. He cut his trees level and close to the ground, that the sprouts which came up afterward might be more vigorous and a sled might slide over the stumps; and instead of leaving a whole tree to support his corded wood, he would pare it away to a slender stake or splinter which you could break off with your hand at last. He interested me because he was so quiet and solitary and so happy withal; a well of good humor and contentment which overflowed at his eyes. His mirth was without alloy. Sometimes I saw him at his work in the woods, felling trees, and he would greet me with a laugh of inexpressible satisfaction, and a salutation in Canadian French, though he spoke English as well. When I approached him he would suspend his work, and with half-suppressed mirth lie along the trunk of a pine which he had felled, and, peeling off the inner bark, roll it up into a ball and chew it while he laughed and talked. Such an exuberance of animal spirits had he that he sometimes tumbled down and rolled on the ground with laughter at any thing which made him think and tickled him. Looking round upon the trees he would exclaim,—“By George! I can enjoy myself well enough here chopping; I want no better sport.” Sometimes, when at leisure, he amused himself all day in the woods with a pocket pistol, firing salutes to himself at regular intervals as he walked. In the winter he had a fire by which at noon he warmed his coffee in a kettle; and as he sat on a log to eat his dinner the chickadees would sometimes come round and alight on his arm and peck at the potato in his fingers; and he said that he “liked to have the little fellers about him.”
注释摘要
这段对加拿大伐木工的刻画，是《访客》一章中篇幅最长、笔触最绵密的人物素描。梭罗在此处放慢了节奏，从粗笔勾勒转入了细部工笔，而切入点偏偏是砍树这门最不文雅的手艺。他说这伐木工砍树时“好弄些花样和装饰”，这个说法本身就带着反讽的温柔——在一个最讲实用的行当里，竟有人为着高兴而做得比必须的更漂亮，这恰好是梭罗眼里自由劳动与雇佣苦役的分界线。 他贴近地面、切得平整…