If I should attempt to tell how I have desired to spend my life in years past， it would probably surprise those of my readers who are somewhat acquainted with its actual history； it would certainly astonish those who know nothing about it.  I will only hint at some of the enterprises which I have cherished.

　　In any weather， at any hour of the day or night， I have been anxious to improve the nick of time， and notch it on my stick too；to stand on the meeting of two eternities， the past and future，which is precisely the present moment； to toe that line.  You will pardon some obscurities， for there are more secrets in my trade than in most men's， and yet not voluntarily kept， but inseparable from its very nature.  I would gladly tell all that I know about it， and never paint "No Admittance" on my gate.

　　I long ago lost a hound， a bay horse， and a turtle dove， and am still on their trail.  Many are the travellers I have spoken concerning them， describing their tracks and what calls they answered to.  I have met one or two who had heard the hound， and the tramp of the horse， and even seen the dove disappear behind a cloud，and they seemed as anxious to recover them as if they had lost them themselves.

　　To anticipate， not the sunrise and the dawn merely， but， if possible， Nature herself！  How many mornings， summer and winter，before yet any neighbor was stirring about his business， have I been about mine！  No doubt， many of my townsmen have met me returning from this enterprise， farmers starting for Boston in the twilight，or woodchoppers going to their work.  It is true， I never assisted the sun materially in his rising， but， doubt not， it was of the last importance only to be present at it.

　　So many autumn， ay， and winter days， spent outside the town，trying to hear what was in the wind， to hear and carry it express！

　　I well-nigh sunk all my capital in it， and lost my own breath into the bargain， running in the face of it.  If it had concerned either of the political parties， depend upon it， it would have appeared in the Gazette with the earliest intelligence.  At other times watching from the observatory of some cliff or tree， to telegraph any new arrival； or waiting at evening on the hill-tops for the sky to fall，that I might catch something， though I never caught much， and that，manna-wise， would dissolve again in the sun.

　　如果說一說我曾希望如何度過往昔歲月中的生命，我會使許多熟悉我實際情況的讀者感到奇怪，更會使對我不熟悉的人大為驚訝。我只略述我心頭的幾件事就行了。

　　在任何氣候任何時辰，我都希望及時改善我當前的狀況，并要在手杖上刻下記號；過去和未來的交叉點正是現在，我就站在這個起點上。請原諒我說話晦澀。我那種職業比大多數人的有更多的秘密。不是我故意要保密，而是我這種職業有這種特點。我極愿把所知的全都說出來，在我的門口并沒有“不準入內，的招牌。

　　很久以前我丟失了一頭獵犬，一匹栗色馬和一只斑鳩，至今我還在追蹤它們。我對許多旅客描述它們的情況、蹤跡以及它們會響應怎樣的叫喚。我曾遇到過一二人，他們曾聽見獵犬吠聲，奔馬蹄音，甚至還看到斑鳩隱入云中。他們也急于追尋它們回來，像是他們自己遺失了它們。

　　不僅要觀日出和黎明，如果可能，還要瞻仰大自然本身！多少個冬夏黎明，還在任何鄰居為他們的事務奔波之前，我就出外干我的事了！許多市民無疑都曾見到我干完事口來，清晨趕到波士頓的農夫，或去干活的樵夫都遇到過我。真的，我雖沒有具體地助日出以一臂之力，可是不要懷疑，在日出之前出現是最重要的事了。

　　多少個秋天的，噯，還有冬天的日子，在城外度過，試聽著風聲，聽了把它傳布開來！我在里面幾乎投下全部資金，為這筆生意而迎著寒風，使我連氣都喘不過來了。如果風聲中有兩黨政治的信息，一定是一些黨的機關報上搶先發表了的。別些時候，守望在高崗或樹梢的觀察臺上，用電信宣布有任何新的客人到來，或守候在山巔黃昏中，等待夜幕降落，好讓我抓到一些東西，我抓到的從來就不多，這不多的卻好像是“天糧”一樣，那是會在太陽底下消溶的。

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