《瓦尔登湖·第七章·豆田·The Bean-Field》第9节
My income was (patrem familias vendacem, non emacem esse oportet), from Nine bushels and twelve quarts of beans sold,. $16.94 | Five " large potatoes,.................... 2.50 | Nine " small,............................. 2.25 | Grass,.......................................... 1.00 | Stalks,......................................... 0.75 | ———— | In all,................................... $23.44 | Leaving a pecuniary profit, | as I have elsewhere said, of.............. $8.71½. This is the result of my experience in raising beans. Plant the common small white bush bean about the first of June, in rows three feet by eighteen inches apart, being careful to select fresh round and unmixed seed. First look out for worms, and supply vacancies by planting anew. Then look out for woodchucks, if it is an exposed place, for they will nibble off the earliest tender leaves almost clean as they go; and again, when the young tendrils make their appearance, they have notice of it, and will shear them off with both buds and young pods, sitting erect like a squirrel. But above all harvest as early as possible, if you would escape frosts and have a fair and salable crop; you may save much loss by this means.
注释摘要
梭罗在这一节里拿出了他最像会计师的一面，用数字证明种豆可以是挣钱的。他先引了老加图的拉丁文格言——一家之主应该卖东西，不该买东西——然后把账目摊开：支出十四块七毛二分五，收入二十三块四毛四，净赚八块七毛一分五。这笔盈利他在别的章节也提到过，这里又算了一遍，语气里有一种温和的得意：不是炫耀，而是为了说明一个人的生计可以在极小的规模上自足。 但需要注意的是，他…