It is hard to provide and cook so simple and clean a diet as will not offend the imagination； but this， I think， is to be fed when we feed the body； they should both sit down at the same table. Yet perhaps this may be done.  The fruits eaten temperately need not make us ashamed of our appetites， nor interrupt the worthiest pursuits.  But put an extra condiment into your dish， and it will poison you.  It is not worth the while to live by rich cookery. Most men would feel shame if caught preparing with their own hands precisely such a dinner， whether of animal or vegetable food， as is every day prepared for them by others.  Yet till this is otherwise we are not civilized， and， if gentlemen and ladies， are not true men and women.  This certainly suggests what change is to be made.  It may be vain to ask why the imagination will not be reconciled to flesh and fat.  I am satisfied that it is not.  Is it not a reproach that man is a carnivorous animal？  True， he can and does live， in a great measure， by preying on other animals； but this is a miserable way ―― as any one who will go to snaring rabbits， or slaughtering lambs， may learn ―― and he will be regarded as a benefactor of his race who shall teach man to confine himself to a more innocent and wholesome diet.  Whatever my own practice may be， I have no doubt that it is a part of the destiny of the human race， in its gradual improvement， to leave off eating animals， as surely as the savage tribes have left off eating each other when they came in contact with the more civilized.

　　If one listens to the faintest but constant suggestions of his genius， which are certainly true， he sees not to what extremes， or even insanity， it may lead him； and yet that way， as he grows more resolute and faithful， his road lies.  The faintest assured objection which one healthy man feels will at length prevail over the arguments and customs of mankind.  No man ever followed his genius till it misled him.  Though the result were bodily weakness，yet perhaps no one can say that the consequences were to be regretted， for these were a life in conformity to higher principles. If the day and the night are such that you greet them with joy， and life emits a fragrance like flowers and sweet-scented herbs， is more elastic， more starry， more immortal ―― that is your success.  All nature is your congratulation， and you have cause momentarily to bless yourself.  The greatest gains and values are farthest from being appreciated.  We easily come to doubt if they exist.  We soon forget them.  They are the highest reality.  Perhaps the facts most astounding and most real are never communicated by man to man.  The true harvest of my daily life is somewhat as intangible and indescribable as the tints of morning or evening.  It is a little star-dust caught， a segment of the rainbow which I have clutched.

　　Yet， for my part， I was never unusually squeamish； I could sometimes eat a fried rat with a good relish， if it were necessary. I am glad to have drunk water so long， for the same reason that I prefer the natural sky to an opium-eater's heaven.  I would fain keep sober always； and there are infinite degrees of drunkenness.  I believe that water is the only drink for a wise man； wine is not so noble a liquor； and think of dashing the hopes of a morning with a cup of warm coffee， or of an evening with a dish of tea！  Ah， how low I fall when I am tempted by them！  Even music may be intoxicating.  Such apparently slight causes destroyed Greece and Rome， and will destroy England and America.  Of all ebriosity， who does not prefer to be intoxicated by the air he breathes？  I have found it to be the most serious objection to coarse labors long continued， that they compelled me to eat and drink coarsely also. But to tell the truth， I find myself at present somewhat less particular in these respects.  I carry less religion to the table，ask no blessing； not because I am wiser than I was， but， I am obliged to confess， because， however much it is to be regretted，with years I have grown more coarse and indifferent.  Perhaps these questions are entertained only in youth， as most believe of poetry. My practice is "nowhere，" my opinion is here.  Nevertheless I am far from regarding myself as one of those privileged ones to whom the Ved refers when it says， that "he who has true faith in the Omnipresent Supreme Being may eat all that exists，" that is， is not bound to inquire what is his food， or who prepares it； and even in their case it is to be observed， as a Hindoo commentator has remarked， that the Vedant limits this privilege to "the time of distress."

　　要準備，并烹調這樣簡單、這樣清潔，而不至于觸犯了你的想象力的飲食是難辦的事；我想，身體固然需要營養，想象力同樣需要營養，二者應該同時得到滿足，這也許是可以做到的。有限度地吃些水果，不必因此而替胃囊感到羞恥，決不會阻礙我們最有價值的事業。但要是你在盤中再加上一點兒的作料，這就要毒害你了。靠珍羞美味來生活是不值得的。有許多人，要是給人看到在親手煮一頓美食，不論是葷的或素的，都難免羞形于色，其實每天都有人在替他煮這樣的美食。要是這種情形不改變，我們就無文明可言，即使是紳士淑女，也不是真正的男人女人。這方面當然已提供了應當怎樣改變的內容。不必問想象力為什么不喜好獸肉和脂肪。知道它不喜好就夠了。說人是一種食肉動物，不是一種責備嗎？是的，把別的動物當作犧牲品，在很大一個程度里，可以使他活下來，事實上的確也活下來了；可是，這是一個悲慘的方式，――任何捉過兔子，殺過羊羔的人都知道，――如果有人能教育人類只吃更無罪過、更有營養的食物，那他就是人類的恩人。不管我自己實踐的結果如何，我一點也不懷疑，這是人類命運的一部分，人類的發展必然會逐漸地進步到把吃肉的習慣淘汰為止，必然如此，就像野蠻人和較文明的人接觸多了之后，把人吃人的習慣淘汰掉一樣。

　　如果一個人聽從了他的天性的雖然最微弱，卻又最持久的建議――那建議當然是正確的――那他也不會知道這建議將要把他引導到什么極端去，甚至也會引導到瘋狂中去；可是當他變得更堅決更有信心時，前面就是他的一條正路。一個健康的人內心最微弱的肯定的反對，都能戰勝人間的種種雄辯和習俗。人們卻很少聽從自己的天性，偏偏在它帶他走入歧途時，卻又聽從起來。結果不免是肉體的衰退，然而也許沒有人會引以為憾。

　　因為這些生活是遵循了更高的規律的。如果你歡快地迎來了白天和黑夜，生活像鮮花和香草一樣芳香，而且更有彈性，更如繁星，更加不朽，――那就是你的成功。整個自然界都慶賀你，你暫時也有理由祝福你自己。最大的益處和價值往往都受不到人們的贊賞。

　　我們很容易懷疑它們是否存在。我們很快把它們忘記了。它們是最高的現實。也許那些最驚人、最真實的事實從沒有在人與人之間交流。我每天生命的最真實收獲，也仿佛朝霞暮靄那樣地不可捉摸，不可言傳。我得到的只是一點兒塵埃，我抓住的只是一段彩虹而已。

　　然而我這個人絕不苛求；一只油煎老鼠，如果非吃不可，我也可以津津有味地吃下去。我只喝白開水已有這么久了，其原因同我愛好大自然的天空遠勝過吸食鴉片煙的人的吞云吐霧一樣。我歡喜經常保持清醒，而陶醉的程度是無窮的。我相信一個聰明人的唯一飲料是白開水，酒并不是怎樣高貴的液體，試想一杯熱咖啡足以搗毀一個早晨的希望，一杯熱茶又可以把晚上的美夢破壞掉！啊，受到它們的誘惑之后，我曾經如何地墮落過！甚至音樂也可以使人醉倒。就是這一些微小的原因竟毀滅過希臘和羅馬，將來還要毀滅英國和美國。一切醉人的事物之中，誰不愿意因為呼吸了新鮮空氣而陶醉呢？我反對長時間的拼命做苦工的理由是它強迫我也拼命地吃和喝。可是說實話，在這些方面，近來我似乎也不那么挑剔了。我很少把宗教帶上食桌，我也不尋求祝福，這卻不是因為我更加聰明了，我不能不從實供認，而是因為，不管多么遺憾，我也一年年地更加粗俗了，更加冷漠了。也許這一些問題只有年輕人關心，就像他們關心詩歌一樣。“哪兒”

　　也看不見我的實踐，我的意見卻寫在這里了。然而，我并不覺得我是吠陀經典上說的那種特權階級，它說過：“于萬物主宰有大信心者，可以吃一切存在之事物，”這是說他可以不用問吃的是什么，是誰給他預備的，然而，就是在他們那種情形下，也有這一點不能不提起，正如一個印度的注釋家說過的，吠陀經典是把這一個特權限制在“患難時間”里的。

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