I find it wholesome to be alone the greater part of the time. To be in company， even with the best， is soon wearisome and dissipating.  I love to be alone.  I never found the companion that was so companionable as solitude.  We are for the most part more lonely when we go abroad among men than when we stay in our chambers.  A man thinking or working is always alone， let him be where he will.  Solitude is not measured by the miles of space that intervene between a man and his fellows.  The really diligent student in one of the crowded hives of Cambridge College is as solitary as a dervish in the desert.  The farmer can work alone in the field or the woods all day， hoeing or chopping， and not feel lonesome， because he is employed； but when he comes home at night he cannot sit down in a room alone， at the mercy of his thoughts， but must be where he can "see the folks，" and recreate， and， as he thinks， remunerate himself for his day's solitude； and hence he wonders how the student can sit alone in the house all night and most of the day without ennui and "the blues"； but he does not realize that the student， though in the house， is still at work in his field， and chopping in his woods， as the farmer in his， and in turn seeks the same recreation and society that the latter does，though it may be a more condensed form of it.

　　Society is commonly too cheap.  We meet at very short intervals，not having had time to acquire any new value for each other.  We meet at meals three times a day， and give each other a new taste of that old musty cheese that we are.  We have had to agree on a certain set of rules， called etiquette and politeness， to make this frequent meeting tolerable and that we need not come to open war. We meet at the post-office， and at the sociable， and about the fireside every night； we live thick and are in each other's way， and stumble over one another， and I think that we thus lose some respect for one another.  Certainly less frequency would suffice for all important and hearty communications.  Consider the girls in a factory ―― never alone， hardly in their dreams.  It would be better if there were but one inhabitant to a square mile， as where I live. The value of a man is not in his skin， that we should touch him.

　　I have heard of a man lost in the woods and dying of famine and exhaustion at the foot of a tree， whose loneliness was relieved by the grotesque visions with which， owing to bodily weakness， his diseased imagination surrounded him， and which he believed to be real.  So also， owing to bodily and mental health and strength， we may be continually cheered by a like but more normal and natural society， and come to know that we are never alone.

　　I have a great deal of company in my house； especially in the morning， when nobody calls.  Let me suggest a few comparisons， that some one may convey an idea of my situation.  I am no more lonely than the loon in the pond that laughs so loud， or than Walden Pond itself.  What company has that lonely lake， I pray？  And yet it has not the blue devils， but the blue angels in it， in the azure tint of its waters.  The sun is alone， except in thick weather， when there sometimes appear to be two， but one is a mock sun.  God is alone ――but the devil， he is far from being alone； he sees a great deal of company； he is legion.  I am no more lonely than a single mullein or dandelion in a pasture， or a bean leaf， or sorrel， or a horse-fly，or a bumblebee.  I am no more lonely than the Mill Brook， or a weathercock， or the north star， or the south wind， or an April shower， or a January thaw， or the first spider in a new house.

　　I have occasional visits in the long winter evenings， when the snow falls fast and the wind howls in the wood， from an old settler and original proprietor， who is reported to have dug Walden Pond，and stoned it， and fringed it with pine woods； who tells me stories of old time and of new eternity； and between us we manage to pass a cheerful evening with social mirth and pleasant views of things，even without apples or cider ―― a most wise and humorous friend，whom I love much， who keeps himself more secret than ever did Goffe or Whalley； and though he is thought to be dead， none can show where he is buried.  An elderly dame， too， dwells in my neighborhood，invisible to most persons， in whose odorous herb garden I love to stroll sometimes， gathering simples and listening to her fables； for she has a genius of unequalled fertility， and her memory runs back farther than mythology， and she can tell me the original of every fable， and on what fact every one is founded， for the incidents occurred when she was young.  A ruddy and lusty old dame， who delights in all weathers and seasons， and is likely to outlive all her children yet.

　　The indescribable innocence and beneficence of Nature ―― of sun and wind and rain， of summer and winter ―― such health， such cheer，they afford forever！ and such sympathy have they ever with our race，that all Nature would be affected， and the sun's brightness fade，and the winds would sigh humanely， and the clouds rain tears， and the woods shed their leaves and put on mourning in midsummer， if any man should ever for a just cause grieve.  Shall I not have intelligence with the earth？  Am I not partly leaves and vegetable mould myself？

　　What is the pill which will keep us well， serene， contented？

　　Not my or thy great-grandfather's， but our great-grandmother Nature's universal， vegetable， botanic medicines， by which she has kept herself young always， outlived so many old Parrs in her day，and fed her health with their decaying fatness.  For my panacea，instead of one of those quack vials of a mixture dipped from Acheron and the Dead Sea， which come out of those long shallow black-schooner looking wagons which we sometimes see made to carry bottles， let me have a draught of undiluted morning air.  Morning air！  If men will not drink of this at the fountainhead of the day，why， then， we must even bottle up some and sell it in the shops， for the benefit of those who have lost their subscription ticket to morning time in this world.  But remember， it will not keep quite till noonday even in the coolest cellar， but drive out the stopples long ere that and follow westward the steps of Aurora.  I am no worshipper of Hygeia， who was the daughter of that old herb-doctor AEsculapius， and who is represented on monuments holding a serpent in one hand， and in the other a cup out of which the serpent sometimes drinks； but rather of Hebe， cup-bearer to Jupiter， who was the daughter of Juno and wild lettuce， and who had the power of restoring gods and men to the vigor of youth.  She was probably the only thoroughly sound-conditioned， healthy， and robust young lady that ever walked the globe， and wherever she came it was spring.

　　大部分時間內，我覺得寂寞是有益于健康的。有了伴兒，即使是最好的伴兒，不久也要厭倦，弄得很糟糕。我愛孤獨。我沒有碰到比寂寞更好的同伴了。到國外去廁身于人群之中，大概比獨處室內，格外寂寞。一個在思想著在工作著的人總是單獨的，讓他愛在哪兒就在哪兒吧，寂寞不能以一個人離開他的同伴的里數來計算。真正勤學的學生，在劍橋學院最擁擠的蜂房內，寂寞得像沙漠上的一個托缽僧一樣。農夫可以一整天，獨個兒地在田地上，在森林中工作，耕地或砍伐，卻不覺得寂寞，因為他有工作；可是到晚上，他回到家里，卻不能獨自在室內沉思，而必須到“看得見他那里的人”的地方去消遣一下，用他的想法，是用以補償他一天的寂寞；因此他很奇怪，為什么學生們能整日整夜坐在室內不覺得無聊與“憂郁”；可是他不明白雖然學生在室內，卻在他的田地上工作，在他的森林中采伐，像農夫在田地或森林中一樣，過后學生也要找消遣，也要社交，盡管那形式可能更加凝煉些。

　　社交往往廉價。相聚的時間之短促，來不及使彼此獲得任何新的有價值的東西。我們在每日三餐的時間里相見，大家重新嘗嘗我們這種陳腐乳酪的味道。我們都必須同意若干條規則，那就是所謂的禮節和禮貌，使得這種經常的聚首能相安無事，避免公開爭吵，以至面紅耳赤。我們相會于郵局，于社交場所，每晚在爐火邊；我們生活得太擁擠，互相干擾，彼此牽絆，因此我想，彼此已缺乏敬意了。當然，所有重要而熱忱的聚會，次數少一點也夠了。試想工廠中的女工，――永遠不能獨自生活，甚至做夢也難于孤獨。如果一英里只住一個人，像我這兒，那要好得多。人的價值并不在他的皮膚上，所以我們不必要去碰皮膚。

　　我曾聽說過，有人迷路在森林里，倒在一棵樹下，餓得慌，又累得要命，由于體力不濟，病態的想象力讓他看到了周圍有許多奇怪的幻象，他以為它們都是真的。同樣，在身體和靈魂都很健康有力的時候，我們可以不斷地從類似的，但更正常、更自然的社會得到鼓舞，從而發現我們是不寂寞的。

　　我在我的房屋中有許多伴侶；特別在早上還沒有人來訪問我的時候。讓我來舉幾個比喻，或能傳達出我的某些狀況。我并不比湖中高聲大笑的潛水鳥更孤獨，我并不比瓦爾登湖更寂寞。我倒要問問這孤獨的湖有誰作伴？然而在它的蔚藍的水波上，卻有著不是藍色的魔鬼，而是藍色的天使呢。太陽是寂寞的，除非烏云滿天，有時候就好像有兩個太陽，但那一個是假的。上帝是孤獨的，――可是魔鬼就絕不孤獨；他看到許多伙伴；他是要結成幫的。我并不比一朵毛蕊花或牧場上的一朵蒲公英寂寞，我不比一張豆葉，一枝酢醬草，或一只馬蠅，或一只大黃蜂更孤獨。我不比密爾溪，或一只風信雞，或北極星，或南風更寂寞，我不比四月的雨或正月的溶雪，或新屋中的第一只蜘蛛更孤獨。

　　在冬天的長夜里，雪狂飄，風在森林中號叫的時候，一個老年的移民，原先的主人，不時來拜訪我，據說瓦爾登湖還是他挖了出來，鋪了石子，沿湖種了松樹的；他告訴我舊時的和新近的永恒的故事；我們倆這樣過了一個愉快的夜晚，充滿了交際的喜悅，交換了對事物的愜意的意見，雖然沒有蘋果或蘋果酒，――這個最聰明而幽默的朋友啊，我真喜歡他，他比谷菲或華萊知道更多的秘密；雖然人家說他已經死了，卻沒有人指出過他的墳墓在哪里。還有一個老太太，也住在我的附近，大部分人根本看不見她，我卻有時候很高興到她的芳香的百草園中去散步，采集藥草，又傾聽她的寓言；因為她有無比豐富的創造力，她的記憶一直追溯到神話以前的時代，她可以把每一個寓言的起源告訴我，哪一個寓言是根據了哪一個事實而來的，因為這些事都發生在她年輕的時候。一個紅潤的、精壯的老太太，不論什么天氣什么季節她都興致勃勃，看樣子要比她的孩子活得還長久。

　　太陽，風雨，夏天，冬天，――大自然的不可描寫的純潔和恩惠，他們永遠提供這么多的康健，這么多的歡樂！對我們人類這樣地同情，如果有人為了正當的原因悲痛，那大自然也會受到感動，太陽黯淡了，風像活人一樣悲嘆，云端里落下淚雨，樹木到仲夏脫下葉子，披上喪服。難道我不該與土地息息相通嗎？我自己不也是一部分綠葉與青菜的泥上嗎？

　　是什么藥使我們健全、寧靜、滿足的呢？不是你我的曾祖父的，而是我們的大自然曾祖母的，全宇宙的蔬菜和植物的補品，她自己也靠它而永遠年輕，活得比湯麥斯。派爾還更長久，用他們的衰敗的脂肪更增添了她的康健。不是那種江湖醫生配方的用冥河水和死海海水混合的藥水，裝在有時我們看到過裝瓶子用的那種淺長形黑色船狀車子上的藥瓶子里，那不是我的萬靈妙藥：還是讓我來喝一口純凈的黎明空氣。黎明的空氣啊！

　　如果人們不愿意在每日之源喝這泉水，那未，啊，我們必須把它們裝在瓶子內；放在店里，賣給世上那些失去黎明預訂券的人們。可是記著，它能冷藏在地窖下，一直保持到正午，但要在那以前很久就打開瓶塞，跟隨曙光的腳步西行。我并不崇拜那司健康之女神，她是愛斯庫拉彼斯這古老的草藥醫師的女兒，在紀念碑上，她一手拿了一條蛇，另一只手拿了一個杯子，而蛇時常喝杯中的水；我寧可崇拜朱庇特的執杯者希勃，這青春的女神，為諸神司酒行觴，她是朱諾和野生萵苣的女兒，能使神仙和人返老還童。她也許是地球上出現過的最健康、最強壯、身體最好的少女，無論她到哪里，那里便成了春天。

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