As I drew a still fresher soil about the rows with my hoe， I disturbed the ashes of unchronicled nations who in primeval years lived under these heavens， and their small implements of war and hunting were brought to the light of this modern day.  They lay mingled with other natural stones， some of which bore the marks of having been burned by Indian fires， and some by the sun， and also bits of pottery and glass brought hither by the recent cultivators of the soil.  When my hoe tinkled against the stones， that music echoed to the woods and the sky， and was an accompaniment to my labor which yielded an instant and immeasurable crop.  It was no longer beans that I hoed， nor I that hoed beans； and I remembered with as much pity as pride， if I remembered at all， my acquaintances who had gone to the city to attend the oratorios.  The nighthawk circled overhead in the sunny afternoons ―― for I sometimes made a day of it ―― like a mote in the eye， or in heaven's eye， falling from time to time with a swoop and a sound as if the heavens were rent， torn at last to very rags and tatters， and yet a seamless cope remained； small imps that fill the air and lay their eggs on the ground on bare sand or rocks on the tops of hills， where few have found them； graceful and slender like ripples caught up from the pond， as leaves are raised by the wind to float in the heavens； such kindredship is in nature.  The hawk is aerial brother of the wave which he sails over and surveys， those his perfect air-inflated wings answering to the elemental unfledged pinions of the sea.  Or sometimes I watched a pair of hen-hawks circling high in the sky，alternately soaring and descending， approaching， and leaving one another， as if they were the embodiment of my own thoughts.  Or I was attracted by the passage of wild pigeons from this wood to that，with a slight quivering winnowing sound and carrier haste； or from under a rotten stump my hoe turned up a sluggish portentous and outlandish spotted salamander， a trace of Egypt and the Nile， yet our contemporary.  When I paused to lean on my hoe， these sounds and sights I heard and saw anywhere in the row， a part of the inexhaustible entertainment which the country offers.

　　On gala days the town fires its great guns， which echo like popguns to these woods， and some waifs of martial music occasionally penetrate thus far.  To me， away there in my bean-field at the other end of the town， the big guns sounded as if a puffball had burst；and when there was a military turnout of which I was ignorant， I have sometimes had a vague sense all the day of some sort of itching and disease in the horizon， as if some eruption would break out there soon， either scarlatina or canker-rash， until at length some more favorable puff of wind， making haste over the fields and up the Wayland road， brought me information of the "trainers."  It seemed by the distant hum as if somebody's bees had swarmed， and that the neighbors， according to Virgil's advice， by a faint tintinnabulum upon the most sonorous of their domestic utensils， were endeavoring to call them down into the hive again.  And when the sound died quite away， and the hum had ceased， and the most favorable breezes told no tale， I knew that they had got the last drone of them all safely into the Middlesex hive， and that now their minds were bent on the honey with which it was smeared.

　　I felt proud to know that the liberties of Massachusetts and of our fatherland were in such safe keeping； and as I turned to my hoeing again I was filled with an inexpressible confidence， and pursued my labor cheerfully with a calm trust in the future.

　　當我用鋤頭在犁溝邊翻出新土時，我把古代曾在這個天空下居住過的一個史籍沒有記載的民族所留下的灰燼翻起來了，他們作戰狩獵用的小武器也就暴露在近代的陽光下。

　　它們和另外一些天然石塊混在一起，有些石塊還留著給印第安人用火燒過的痕跡，有些給太陽曬過，還有一些陶器和玻璃，則大約是近代的耕種者的殘跡了。當我的鋤頭叮當地打在石頭上，音樂之聲傳到了樹林和天空中，我的勞役有了這樣的伴奏，立刻生產了無法計量的收獲。我所種的不是豆子，也不是我在種豆；當時我又憐憫又驕做地記起來了，如果我確實記起來的話，我記起了我一些相識的人特地到城里聽清唱劇去了。而在這艷陽天的下午，夜鷹在我頭頂的上空盤旋，――我有時整天地工作，――它好像是我眼睛里的一粒沙，或者說落在天空的眼睛里的一粒沙，它時而側翼下降，大叫一聲，天空便好像給劃破了，最后似裂成破布一樣，但蒼穹依然是一條細縫也沒有；空中飛著不少小小的精靈，在地上、黃沙或巖石上、山頂上下了許多蛋，很少有人看到過的；它們美麗而細長，像湖水卷起的漣漪，又像給鳳吹到空中的升騰的樹葉；在大自然里有的是這樣聲氣相投的因緣。鷹是波浪的空中兄弟，它在波浪之上飛行視察，在空中撲擊的完美的鷹翅，如在酬答海洋那元素的沒有羽毛的翅膀。有時我看著一對鷂鷹在高空中盤旋，一上一下，一近一遠，好像它們是我自己的思想的化身。或者我給一群野鴿子吸引住了，看它們從這一個樹林飛到那一個樹林，帶著一些兒嗡嗡的微顫的聲音，急遽地飛過；有時我的鋤頭從爛樹樁下挖出了一條蠑螈來，一副迂緩的奇怪的、丑陋的模樣，還是埃及和尼羅河的殘跡，卻又和我們同時代了。當我停下來，靠在我的鋤頭上，這些聲音和景象是我站在犁溝中任何一個地方都能聽到看到的，這是鄉間生活中具有無窮興會的一部分。

　　在節慶日，城里放了禮炮，傳到森林中來很像氣槍，有時飄來的一些軍樂聲也傳得這樣遠。我遠在城外的豆田之中，聽大炮的聲音好像塵菌在爆裂；如果軍隊出動了，而我又不知道是怎么回事，我就整天恍恍惚惚感到地平線似乎癢癢麻麻的，仿佛快要出疹子似的，也許是猩紅熱，也許是馬蹄癌，直到后來又有一些好風吹過大地，吹上魏蘭德大公路，把訓練者的消息帶給了我。遠遠有營營之聲，好像誰家的蜜蜂出窩了，因此鄰人們依照維吉爾的辦法，拿出了聲音最響的鍋壺之屬來輕輕敲擊，呼喚它們回蜂房去。

　　等到那聲音沒有了，營營之聲也住了，最柔和的微風也不講故事了，我知道人們已經把最后一只雄峰也安然趕回米德爾塞克斯的蜂房了，現在他們在考慮涂滿蜂房的蜂蜜了。

　　我感到驕做，知道馬薩諸塞州和我們的祖國的自由是這樣安全；當我回身再耕種的時候，我就充滿了不可言喻的自信，平靜地懷抱著對未來的希望，繼續我的勞動。

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