《瓦尔登湖·第七章·豆田·The Bean-Field》第2节
I planted about two acres and a half of upland; and as it was only about fifteen years since the land was cleared, and I myself had got out two or three cords of stumps, I did not give it any manure; but in the course of the summer it appeared by the arrowheads which I turned up in hoeing, that an extinct nation had anciently dwelt here and planted corn and beans ere white men came to clear the land, and so, to some extent, had exhausted the soil for this very crop.
注释摘要
梭罗在这几行字里做了两件看似很简朴、但其实密度很高的事。他先解释自己为什么不给豆田施粪肥，又借锄头翻出的箭镞，把眼下这一小块高地直接接上更长远的印第安农业史。所谓“高地”（upland），在新英格兰地貌里指的是排水较好、不积水的坡地或台地，和低湿的草甸（meadow）相对，正是适合种玉米和豆子的旱地。他说这片地清出来不过十五年，他自己还挖出了两三“cord…