A man who has at length found something to do will not need to get a new suit to do it in； for him the old will do， that has lain dusty in the garret for an indeterminate period.  Old shoes will serve a hero longer than they have served his valet ―― if a hero ever has a valet ―― bare feet are older than shoes， and he can make them do.  Only they who go to soires and legislative balls must have new coats， coats to change as often as the man changes in them. But if my jacket and trousers， my hat and shoes， are fit to worship God in， they will do； will they not？  Who ever saw his old clothes―― his old coat， actually worn out， resolved into its primitive elements， so that it was not a deed of charity to bestow it on some poor boy， by him perchance to be bestowed on some poorer still， or shall we say richer， who could do with less？  I say， beware of all enterprises that require new clothes， and not rather a new wearer of clothes.  If there is not a new man， how can the new clothes be made to fit？  If you have any enterprise before you， try it in your old clothes.  All men want， not something to do with， but something to do， or rather something to be.  Perhaps we should never procure a new suit， however ragged or dirty the old， until we have so conducted， so enterprised or sailed in some way， that we feel like new men in the old， and that to retain it would be like keeping new wine in old bottles.  Our moulting season， like that of the fowls，must be a crisis in our lives.  The loon retires to solitary ponds to spend it.  Thus also the snake casts its slough， and the caterpillar its wormy coat， by an internal industry and expansion；for clothes are but our outmost cuticle and mortal coil.  Otherwise we shall be found sailing under false colors， and be inevitably cashiered at last by our own opinion， as well as that of mankind.

　　We don garment after garment， as if we grew like exogenous plants by addition without.  Our outside and often thin and fanciful clothes are our epidermis， or false skin， which partakes not of our life， and may be stripped off here and there without fatal injury；our thicker garments， constantly worn， are our cellular integument，or cortex； but our shirts are our liber， or true bark， which cannot be removed without girdling and so destroying the man.  I believe that all races at some seasons wear something equivalent to the shirt.  It is desirable that a man be clad so simply that he can lay his hands on himself in the dark， and that he live in all respects so compactly and preparedly that， if an enemy take the town， he can，like the old philosopher， walk out the gate empty-handed without anxiety.  While one thick garment is， for most purposes， as good as three thin ones， and cheap clothing can be obtained at prices really to suit customers； while a thick coat can be bought for five dollars， which will last as many years， thick pantaloons for two dollars， cowhide boots for a dollar and a half a pair， a summer hat for a quarter of a dollar， and a winter cap for sixty-two and a half cents， or a better be made at home at a nominal cost， where is he so poor that， clad in such a suit， of his own earning， there will not be found wise men to do him reverence？

　　When I ask for a garment of a particular form， my tailoress tells me gravely， "They do not make them so now，" not emphasizing the "They" at all， as if she quoted an authority as impersonal as the Fates， and I find it difficult to get made what I want， simply because she cannot believe that I mean what I say， that I am so rash.  When I hear this oracular sentence， I am for a moment absorbed in thought， emphasizing to myself each word separately that I may come at the meaning of it， that I may find out by what degree of consanguinity They are related to me， and what authority they may have in an affair which affects me so nearly； and， finally， I am inclined to answer her with equal mystery， and without any more emphasis of the "they" ―― "It is true， they did not make them so recently， but they do now."  Of what use this measuring of me if she does not measure my character， but only the breadth of my shoulders，as it were a peg to bang the coat on？  We worship not the Graces，nor the Parcae， but Fashion.  She spins and weaves and cuts with full authority.  The head monkey at Paris puts on a traveller's cap，and all the monkeys in America do the same.  I sometimes despair of getting anything quite simple and honest done in this world by the help of men.  They would have to be passed through a powerful press first， to squeeze their old notions out of them， so that they would not soon get upon their legs again； and then there would be some one in the company with a maggot in his head， hatched from an egg deposited there nobody knows when， for not even fire kills these things， and you would have lost your labor.  Nevertheless， we will not forget that some Egyptian wheat was handed down to us by a mummy.

　　一個人，到后來，找到工作做了，其實并不要他穿上新衣服去上工的；舊衣服就行了，就是那些很久地放在閣樓中，積起了灰塵的fH衣服。一個英雄穿IR鞋子的時間倒要比他的跟班穿它們的時間長――如果說，英雄也有限班的活――至于赤腳的歷史比穿鞋子更悠久了，而英雄是可以赤腳的。只有那些赴夜宴，到立法院去的人必須穿上新衣服，他們換了一件又一件，正如那些地方換了一批又一批人。可是，如果把我的短上衣和褲子穿上身，帽子戴上鞋子穿上，便可以禮拜上帝的話，那未有這些也就夠了，不是嗎？

　　誰曾注意到他的破衣服――真的已經穿得破敝不堪了，變成了當初的原料，就是送給一個乞兒也算不得行善了，說不定那乞兒還要拿它轉送給一個比他更貧苦的人，那人倒可以說是最富有的，因為最后還是他什么都不要還可以過活的呢。我說你得提防那些必須穿新衣服的事業，盡可不提防那些穿新衣服的人。如果沒有新的人，新衣服怎么能做得合他的身？如果你有什么事業要做，穿上舊衣服試試看。人之所需，并不是要做些事，而是要有所為，或是說，需有所是。也許我們是永遠不必添置新衣服的，不論舊衣服已如何破敝和骯臟，除非我們已經這般地生活了，或經營了，或者說，已向著什么而航行了，在我們這古老的軀殼里已有著新的生機了，那時若還是依然故我，便有舊瓶裝新酒之感了。我們的換羽毛的季節，就像飛禽的，必然是生命之中一個大的轉折點。潛鳥退到僻靜的池塘邊去脫毛。蛇蛻皮的情形也是如此，同樣的是蛹蟲的出繭。都是內心里孜孜擴展著的結果；衣服不過是我們的最表面的角質，或者說，塵世之煩惱而已。要不然我們將發現我們在偽裝底下行進，到頭來必不可兔地將披人類及我們自己的意見所唾棄。

　　我們穿上一件衣服又一件，好像我們是外生植物一樣，靠外加物來生長的。穿在我們最外面的，常常是很薄很花巧的衣服，那只是我們的表皮，或者說，假皮膚，并不是我們的生命的一部分，這里那里剝下來也并不是致命傷；我們經常穿著的、較厚的衣服，是我們的細胞壁，或者說，皮層；我們的襯衣可是我們的韌皮，或者說，真正的樹皮，剝下來的話，不能不連皮帶肉，傷及身體的。我相信所有的物種，在某些季節里都穿著有類似襯衣的東西。一個人若能穿得這樣簡單，以至在黑暗中都能摸到自己，而且他在各方面都能生活得周密，有備而無恐，那未，即使敵人占領了城市，他也能像古代哲學家一樣，空手徒步出城，不用擔什么心思。一件厚衣服的用處，大體上可跟三件薄的衣服相同，便宜的衣服可以用真正適合顧客財力的價格買到，一件厚厚的上衣五元就可以買到了，它可以穿上好幾年，厚厚的長褲兩元錢，牛皮靴一元半，夏天的帽子不過一元的四分之一，冬天的帽子六毛兩分半，或許還可以花上一筆極少的錢，自己在家里制一頂更好的帽子，那穿上了這樣的一套自己辛勤勞動賺來的衣服，哪里還是貧窮，難道會沒有聰明人來向他表示敬意嗎？

　　當我定做一件特別式樣的衣服時，女裁縫鄭重其事地告訴我，“現在他們不時行這個式樣了，”說話中一點沒有強調“他們”兩字，好像她說的是跟命運之神一樣的某種非人的權威，我就很難于得到我自己所需要的式樣了，因為她不相信我是當真他說話的，她覺得我太粗莽了。而我，一聽到這神示似的文句，就有一會兒沉思，把每一個字都給我自己單個地強調了一下，好讓我明白它的意思，好讓我找出他們和我有怎么樣的血緣關系，在一件與我如此密切有關的事上，他們有什么權威；最后，我決定用同樣神秘的方式來答復她，所以也不把“他們”兩字強調。――“真的，近來他們并不時行這個式樣，可是現在他們又時行這個了。”她量了我的身材，但沒有量我的性格，只量了我肩寬，好像我是一個掛衣服的釘子，這樣量法有什么用處？我們并不崇拜嫻雅三女神，也不崇拜帕爾茜。我們崇拜時髦。她紡織，剪裁，全權處理。巴黎的猴王戴上了一頂旅行帽，全美國的猴子學了樣。有時我很失望，這個世界上，可有什么十分簡單而老實的事是通過人們的幫助而能辦成功的？必須先把人們透過一個強有力的壓榨機，把他們的舊觀念壓榨出來，使他們不再能夠馬上用兩條腿直立，到那時你看人群中，有的人腦子里是長蛆蟲的，是從不知什么時候起就

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