《瓦尔登湖·第九章·湖·The Ponds》第18节
I have said that Walden has no visible inlet nor outlet, but it is on the one hand distantly and indirectly related to Flint’s Pond, which is more elevated, by a chain of small ponds coming from that quarter, and on the other directly and manifestly to Concord River, which is lower, by a similar chain of ponds through which in some other geological period it may have flowed, and by a little digging, which God forbid, it can be made to flow thither again. If by living thus reserved and austere, like a hermit in the woods, so long, it has acquired such wonderful purity, who would not regret that the comparatively impure waters of Flint’s Pond should be mingled with it, or itself should ever go to waste its sweetness in the ocean wave?
注释摘要
梭罗在这一段里做了一件看似矛盾的事：他刚刚说完瓦尔登湖没有看得见的进水口与出水口，现在却主动承认它其实通过一连串小池塘，与更高处的弗林特湖和更低处的康科德河暗中相连。这是他在本章行将收束时，从孤立的湖转向湖区整体的一个过渡。他的承认带着水文学上的诚实，也带著明显的偏爱：地理上的连通是事实，但他马上用"稍微挖掘一下就行——愿上帝不许"来锁住这个事实，不让它变…