I think that I love society as much as most， and am ready enough to fasten myself like a bloodsucker for the time to any full-blooded man that comes in my way.  I am naturally no hermit， but might possibly sit out the sturdiest frequenter of the bar-room， if my business called me thither.

　　I had three chairs in my house； one for solitude， two for friendship， three for society.  When visitors came in larger and unexpected numbers there was but the third chair for them all， but they generally economized the room by standing up.  It is surprising how many great men and women a small house will contain.  I have had twenty-five or thirty souls， with their bodies， at once under my roof， and yet we often parted without being aware that we had come very near to one another.  Many of our houses， both public and private， with their almost innumerable apartments， their huge halls and their cellars for the storage of wines and other munitions of peace， appear to be extravagantly large for their inhabitants.  They are so vast and magnificent that the latter seem to be only vermin which infest them.  I am surprised when the herald blows his summons before some Tremont or Astor or Middlesex House， to see come creeping out over the piazza for all inhabitants a ridiculous mouse，which soon again slinks into some hole in the pavement.

　　One inconvenience I sometimes experienced in so small a house，the difficulty of getting to a sufficient distance from my guest when we began to utter the big thoughts in big words.  You want room for your thoughts to get into sailing trim and run a course or two before they make their port.  The bullet of your thought must have overcome its lateral and ricochet motion and fallen into its last and steady course before it reaches the ear of the hearer， else it may plow out again through the side of his head.  Also， our sentences wanted room to unfold and form their columns in the interval.  Individuals， like nations， must have suitable broad and natural boundaries， even a considerable neutral ground， between them.  I have found it a singular luxury to talk across the pond to a companion on the opposite side.  In my house we were so near that we could not begin to hear ―― we could not speak low enough to be heard； as when you throw two stones into calm water so near that they break each other's undulations.  If we are merely loquacious and loud talkers， then we can afford to stand very near together，cheek by jowl， and feel each other's breath； but if we speak reservedly and thoughtfully， we want to be farther apart， that all animal heat and moisture may have a chance to evaporate.  If we would enjoy the most intimate society with that in each of us which is without， or above， being spoken to， we must not only be silent，but commonly so far apart bodily that we cannot possibly hear each other's voice in any case.  Referred to this standard， speech is for the convenience of those who are hard of hearing； but there are many fine things which we cannot say if we have to shout.  As the conversation began to assume a loftier and grander tone， we gradually shoved our chairs farther apart till they touched the wall in opposite corners， and then commonly there was not room enough.

　　我想，我也跟大多數人一樣喜愛交際，任何血氣旺盛的人來時，我一定像吸血的水蛭似的，緊緊吸住他不放。我本性就非隱士，要有什么事情讓我進一個酒吧間去，在那里坐得最長久的人也未必坐得過我。

　　我的屋子里有三張椅子，寂寞時用一張，交朋友用兩張，社交用三張。訪客要是來了一大堆，多得出乎意料，也還是只有三張椅子給他們支配，他們一般都很節省地方，只是站著。奇怪的是一個小房間里竟可容納這么多的男人和女人。有一天，在我的屋脊底下，來了二十五至三十個靈魂，外加上他們這許多個身體；然而，我們分手的時候似乎不覺得我們曾經彼此十分接近過。我們有很多幢房屋，無論公共的，私人的，簡直有數不清的房間，有巨大的廳堂，還有貯藏酒液和其他和平時代的軍需品的地窖，我總覺得對住在里面的人說來，它們大而無當。它們太大，又太華麗，住在里面的人仿佛是敗壞它們的一些寄生蟲。有時我大吃一驚，當那些大旅館如托萊蒙，阿斯托爾或米德爾塞克斯的司閽，通報客來，卻看到一只可笑的小老鼠，爬過游廊，立刻又在鋪道上的一個小窟窿里不見了。

　　我也曾感到我的這樣小的房間不大方便，當客人和我用深奧字眼談著大問題的時候，我就難于和客人保持一個適當的距離了。你的思想也得有足夠的空間，好讓它準備好可以開航，打兩個轉身，到達港岸。你的思想的子彈必須抑制了它的橫跳和跳飛的動作之后，筆直前進，才能到達聽者的耳內，要不然它一猾就從他的腦袋的一邊穿過去了。還有，在這中間我們的語句也要有足夠的地盤來展開它自己，排成隊形。個人，正像國土一樣，必須有適度的、寬闊而自然的疆界，甚至在疆界之間，要有一個相當的中立地帶。

　　我發現我跟一個住在湖那邊的朋友隔湖談天，簡直是一種了不得的奢侈。在我的屋子里，我們太接近，以致一開始聽不清話――我們沒法說得更輕，好使大家都聽清；好比你扔兩塊石子到靜水中去，太近了的話，它們要破壞彼此的漣漪的。如果我們僅僅是蝶蝶不休、大聲說話的人，那未，我們站得很近，緊緊挨著，彼此能相噓以氣的，這不要緊；可是如果我們說話很有含蓄，富于思想，我們就得隔開一點，以便我們的動物性的熱度和濕度有機會散發掉。如果我們中間，每一個都有一些不可以言傳，只可以意會的話語，若要最親呢地享受我們的交流，我們光是沉默一下還不夠，還得兩個身體距離得遠一點，要在任何情況下都幾乎聽不見彼此的聲音才行。根據這個標準，大聲說話只是為了聾子的方便；可是有很多美妙的事物，我們要是非大喊大叫不可，那就無法言傳了。談話之中當調子更崇高，更莊重時，我們就得漸漸地把椅子往后拖，越拖越后，直到我們碰到了兩個角落上的墻壁，通常就要覺得房間不夠大了。

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