《瓦尔登湖·第九章·湖·The Ponds》第23节
This pond has rarely been profaned by a boat, for there is little in it to tempt a fisherman. Instead of the white lily, which requires mud, or the common sweet flag, the blue flag (Iris versicolor) grows thinly in the pure water, rising from the stony bottom all around the shore, where it is visited by humming birds in June; and the color both of its bluish blades and its flowers, and especially their reflections, are in singular harmony with the glaucous water. White Pond and Walden are great crystals on the surface of the earth, Lakes of Light. If they were permanently congealed, and small enough to be clutched, they would, perchance, be carried off by slaves, like precious stones, to adorn the heads of emperors; but being liquid, and ample, and secured to us and our successors forever, we disregard them, and run after the diamond of Kohinoor. They are too pure to have a market value; they contain no muck. How much more beautiful than our lives, how much more transparent than our characters, are they! We never learned meanness of them. How much fairer than the pool before the farmer’s door, in which his ducks swim! Hither the clean wild ducks come. Nature has no human inhabitant who appreciates her. The birds with their plumage and their notes are in harmony with the flowers, but what youth or maiden conspires with the wild luxuriant beauty of Nature? She flourishes most alone, far from the towns where they reside. Talk of heaven! ye disgrace earth.
注释摘要
梭罗在这一段里将目光从瓦尔登湖转向大约一英里半之外的白湖。他对白湖的第一句描述就定下一个宗教性的调子：极少有船来“亵渎”它，因为没有足够多的鱼来引诱渔夫。他用“亵渎”这个词并非偶然的修辞，而是延续了此前瓦尔登湖应如恒河水般神圣的讲法——在梭罗看来，某些水域本身就具有一种近乎圣礼般的纯净，人的功利活动是对它的冒犯。 紧接着他做了一层植物学的对比。白睡莲与普通…