Let us consider for a moment what most of the trouble and anxiety which I have referred to is about， and how much it is necessary that we be troubled， or at least careful.  It would be some advantage to live a primitive and frontier life， though in the midst of an outward civilization， if only to learn what are the gross necessaries of life and what methods have been taken to obtain them； or even to look over the old day-books of the merchants， to see what it was that men most commonly bought at the stores， what they stored， that is， what are the grossest groceries.  For the improvements of ages have had but little influence on the essential laws of man's existence； as our skeletons， probably， are not to be distinguished from those of our ancestors.

　　By the words， necessary of life， I mean whatever， of all that man obtains by his own exertions， has been from the first， or from long use has become， so important to human life that few， if any，whether from savageness， or poverty， or philosophy， ever attempt to do without it.  To many creatures there is in this sense but one necessary of life， Food.  To the bison of the prairie it is a few inches of palatable grass， with water to drink； unless he seeks the Shelter of the forest or the mountain's shadow.  None of the brute creation requires more than Food and Shelter.  The necessaries of life for man in this climate may， accurately enough， be distributed under the several heads of Food， Shelter， Clothing， and Fuel； for not till we have secured these are we prepared to entertain the true problems of life with freedom and a prospect of success.  Man has invented， not only houses， but clothes and cooked food； and possibly from the accidental discovery of the warmth of fire， and the consequent use of it， at first a luxury， arose the present necessity to sit by it.  We observe cats and dogs acquiring the same second nature.  By proper Shelter and Clothing we legitimately retain our own internal heat； but with an excess of these， or of Fuel， that is，with an external heat greater than our own internal， may not cookery properly be said to begin？  Darwin， the naturalist， says of the inhabitants of Tierra del Fuego， that while his own party， who were well clothed and sitting close to a fire， were far from too warm，these naked savages， who were farther off， were observed， to his great surprise， "to be streaming with perspiration at undergoing such a roasting."  So， we are told， the New Hollander goes naked with impunity， while the European shivers in his clothes.  Is it impossible to combine the hardiness of these savages with the intellectualness of the civilized man？  According to Liebig， man's body is a stove， and food the fuel which keeps up the internal combustion in the lungs.  In cold weather we eat more， in warm less. The animal heat is the result of a slow combustion， and disease and death take place when this is too rapid； or for want of fuel， or from some defect in the draught， the fire goes out.  Of course the vital heat is not to be confounded with fire； but so much for analogy.  It appears， therefore， from the above list， that the expression， animal life， is nearly synonymous with the expression，animal heat； for while Food may be regarded as the Fuel which keeps up the fire within us ―― and Fuel serves only to prepare that Food or to increase the warmth of our bodies by addition from without ――Shelter and Clothing also serve only to retain the heat thus generated and absorbed.

　　The grand necessity， then， for our bodies， is to keep warm， to keep the vital heat in us.  What pains we accordingly take， not only with our Food， and Clothing， and Shelter， but with our beds， which are our night-clothes， robbing the nests and breasts of birds to prepare this shelter within a shelter， as the mole has its bed of grass and leaves at the end of its burrow！  The poor man is wont to complain that this is a cold world； and to cold， no less physical than social， we refer directly a great part of our ails.  The summer， in some climates， makes possible to man a sort of Elysian life.  Fuel， except to cook his Food， is then unnecessary； the sun is his fire， and many of the fruits are sufficiently cooked by its rays； while Food generally is more various， and more easily obtained， and Clothing and Shelter are wholly or half unnecessary. At the present day， and in this country， as I find by my own experience， a few implements， a knife， an axe， a spade， a wheelbarrow， etc.， and for the studious， lamplight， stationery， and access to a few books， rank next to necessaries， and can all be obtained at a trifling cost.  Yet some， not wise， go to the other side of the globe， to barbarous and unhealthy regions， and devote themselves to trade for ten or twenty years， in order that they may live ―― that is， keep comfortably warm ―― and die in New England at last.  The luxuriously rich are not simply kept comfortably warm，but unnaturally hot； as I implied before， they are cooked， of course a la mode.

　　讓我們思考一下，我前面所說的大多數(shù)人的憂慮和煩惱又是些什么，其中有多少是必須憂慮的，至少是值得小心對待的呢？雖然生活在外表的文明中，我們?nèi)裟苓^一過原始性的、新開辟的墾區(qū)生活還是有益處的，即使僅僅為了明白生活必需品大致是些什么，及如何才能得到這些必需品，甚至翻一翻商店里的古老的流水賬，看看商店里經(jīng)常出售些什么，又存積哪些貨物，就是看看最雜的雜貨究竟是一些什么也好。時代雖在演進，對人類生存的基本原則卻還沒有發(fā)生多少影響：好比我們的骨骼，跟我們的祖先的骨骼，大約是區(qū)別不出來的。

　　所謂生活必需品，在我的意思中，是指一切人用了自己的精力收獲得來的那種物品：或是它開始就顯得很重要，或是由于長久的習(xí)慣，因此對于人生具有了這樣的重要性，即使有人嘗試著不要它，其人數(shù)也是很少的，他們或者是由于野蠻，或是出于窮困，或者只是為了一種哲學(xué)的緣故，才這么做的。對于許多人，具有這樣的意義的生活必需品只有一種，即食物。原野上的牛只需要幾英寸長的可咀嚼的青草和一些冷水；除非加上了它們要尋求的森林或山蔭的遮蔽。野獸的生存都只需要食物和蔭蔽之處。但人類，在天時中，其生活之必需品可分為：食物、住宅、衣服和燃料；除非獲有這些，我們是無法自由地面對真正的人生問題的，更無法展望成就了。人不僅發(fā)明了屋子，還發(fā)明了衣服，煮熟了食物；可能是偶然發(fā)現(xiàn)了火焰的熱度，后來利用了它，起先它還是奢侈品哩，而到目前，烤火取暖也是必需品了。我們看到貓狗也同樣地獲得了這個第二天性。住得合適，穿得合適，就能合理地保持體內(nèi)的熱度，若住得和穿得太熱的話，或烤火烤得太熱時，外邊的熱度高于體內(nèi)的熱度，豈不是說在烘烤人肉了嗎？自然科學(xué)家達爾文說起火地島的居民，當(dāng)他自己一伙人穿著衣服還烤火，尚且不覺得熱，那時裸體的野蠻人站得很遠，卻使人看到了大為吃驚，他們“被火焰烘烤得竟然汗流浹背了”。同樣，據(jù)說新荷蘭人赤裸身體而泰然自若地跑來跑去，歐洲人穿了衣服還顫抖呢。這些野蠻人的堅強和文明人的睿智難道不能夠相提并論嗎？按照李比希的說法，人體是一只爐子，食物是保持肺部內(nèi)燃的燃料。冷天我們吃得多，熱天少。動物的體溫是緩慢內(nèi)燃的結(jié)果，而疾病和死亡則是在內(nèi)燃得太旺盛的時候發(fā)生的；或者因為燃料沒有了，或者因為通風(fēng)裝置出了毛病，火焰便會熄滅。自然，我們不能把生命的體溫與火焰混為一談，我們的譬喻就到此為止。所以，從上面的陳述來看，動物的生命這一個詞語可以跟動物的體溫作為同義語用：食物，被作為內(nèi)燃的燃料，――煮熟食物的也是燃料，煮熟的食物自外吞入體內(nèi)，也是為增加我們體內(nèi)熱量的，――此外，住所和衣服，也是為了保持這樣地產(chǎn)生和吸收的熱量的。

　　所以，對人體而言，最大的必需品是取暖，保持我們的養(yǎng)身的熱量。我們是何等地辛苦，不但為了食物、衣著、住所，還為了我們的床鋪――那些夜晚的衣服而辛苦著，從飛鳥巢里和飛鳥的胸脯上，我們掠奪羽毛，做成住所中的住所，就像鼴鼠住在地窟盡頭草葉的床中一樣！可憐人常常叫苦，說這是一個冰冷的世界；身體上的病同社會上的病一樣，我們大都歸罪于寒冷。在若干地區(qū)，夏天給人以樂園似的生活。在那里除了煮飯的燃料之外，別的燃料都不需要；太陽是他的火焰，太陽的光線煮熟了果實；大體說來，食物的種類既多，而且又容易到手，衣服和住宅是完全用不到的，或者說有一半是用不到的。在目前時代，在我們國內(nèi)，根據(jù)我自己的經(jīng)驗，我覺得只要有少數(shù)工具就足夠生活了，一把刀，一柄斧頭，一把鏟子，一輛手推車，如此而已，對于勤學(xué)的人，還要燈火和文具，再加上兒本書，這些已是次要的必需品，只要少數(shù)費用就能購得。然而有些人就太不聰明，跑到另一個半球上，跑到蠻荒的、不衛(wèi)生的區(qū)域里，做了十年二十年生意，為了使他們活著，――就是說，為了使他們能舒適而溫暖――，最后回到新英格蘭來，還是死了。奢侈的人不單舒適了溫暖了，而且熱得不自然；我已經(jīng)在前面說過，他們是被烘烤的，自然是很時髦地被

更多 英文美文、英語美文、英文短文、英語短文，請繼續(xù)關(guān)注 英語作文大全