瓦爾登湖:House-Warming

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　　In October I went a-graping to the river meadows， and loaded myself with clusters more precious for their beauty and fragrance than for food. There， too， I admired， though I did not gather， the cranberries， small waxen gems， pendants of the meadow grass， pearly and red， which the farmer plucks with an ugly rake， leaving the smooth meadow in a snarl， heedlessly measuring them by the bushel and the dollar only， and sells the spoils of the meads to Boston and New York； destined to be jammed， to satisfy the tastes of lovers of Nature there. So butchers rake the tongues of bison out of the prairie grass， regardless of the torn and drooping plant. The barberry's brilliant fruit was likewise food for my eyes merely； but I collected a small store of wild apples for coddling， which the proprietor and travellers had overlooked. When chestnuts were ripe I laid up half a bushel for winter. It was very exciting at that season to roam the then boundless chestnut woods of Lincoln ―― they now sleep their long sleep under the railroad ―― with a bag on my shoulder， and a stick to open burs with in my hand， for I did not always wait for the frost， amid the rustling of leaves and the loud reproofs of the red squirrels and the jays， whose half-consumed nuts I sometimes stole， for the burs which they had selected were sure to contain sound ones. Occasionally I climbed and shook the trees. They grew also behind my house， and one large tree， which almost overshadowed it， was， when in flower， a bouquet which scented the whole neighborhood， but the squirrels and the jays got most of its fruit； the last coming in flocks early in the morning and picking the nuts out of the burs before they fell， I relinquished these trees to them and visited the more distant woods composed wholly of chestnut. These nuts， as far as they went， were a good substitute for bread. Many other substitutes might， perhaps， be found. Digging one day for fishworms， I discovered the ground-nut （Apios tuberosa） on its string， the potato of the aborigines， a sort of fabulous fruit， which I had begun to doubt if I had ever dug and eaten in childhood， as I had told， and had not dreamed it. I had often since seen its crumpled red velvety blossom supported by the stems of other plants without knowing it to be the same. Cultivation has well-nigh exterminated it. It has a sweetish taste，much like that of a frost-bitten potato， and I found it better boiled than roasted. This tuber seemed like a faint promise of Nature to rear her own children and feed them simply here at some future period. In these days of fatted cattle and waving grain-fields this humble root， which was once the totem of an Indian tribe， is quite forgotten， or known only by its flowering vine； but let wild Nature reign here once more， and the tender and luxurious English grains will probably disappear before a myriad of foes， and without the care of man the crow may carry back even the last seed of corn to the great cornfield of the Indian's God in the southwest，whence he is said to have brought it； but the now almost exterminated ground-nut will perhaps revive and flourish in spite of frosts and wildness， prove itself indigenous， and resume its ancient importance and dignity as the diet of the hunter tribe. Some Indian Ceres or Minerva must have been the inventor and bestower of it； and when the reign of poetry commences here， its leaves and string of nuts may be represented on our works of art.

　　Already， by the first of September， I had seen two or three small maples turned scarlet across the pond， beneath where the white stems of three aspens diverged， at the point of a promontory， next the water. Ah， many a tale their color told！ And gradually from week to week the character of each tree came out， and it admired itself reflected in the smooth mirror of the lake. Each morning the manager of this gallery substituted some new picture， distinguished by more brilliant or harmonious coloring， for the old upon the walls. The wasps came by thousands to my lodge in October， as to winter quarters， and settled on my windows within and on the walls overhead， sometimes deterring visitors from entering. Each morning，when they were numbed with cold， I swept some of them out， but I did not trouble myself much to get rid of them； I even felt complimented by their regarding my house as a desirable shelter. They never molested me seriously， though they bedded with me； and they gradually disappeared， into what crevices I do not know， avoiding winter and unspeakable cold.

　　十月中，我到河岸草地采葡萄，滿教而歸，色澤芬芳，勝似美味。在那里，我也贊賞蔓越橘，那小小的蠟寶石垂懸在草葉上，光瑩而艷紅，我卻并不采集，農夫用耙耙集了它們，平滑的草地凌亂不堪，他們只是漫不經心地用蒲式耳和金元來計算，把草地上的劫獲出賣到波士頓和紐約；命定了制成果醬，以滿足那里的大自然愛好者的口味。同樣地，屠夫們在草地上到處耙野牛舌草，不顧那被撕傷了和枯萎了的植物。光耀的伏牛花果也只供我眼睛的欣賞：我只稍為采集了一些野蘋果，拿來煮了吃，這地方的地主和旅行家還沒有注意到這些東西呢。栗子熟了，我藏了半蒲式耳，預備過冬天。這樣的季節里，倘徜在林肯一帶無邊無際的栗樹林中，真是非常興奮的，――現在，這些栗樹卻長眠在鐵道之下了，――那時我肩上扛了一只布囊，手中提了一根棍棒來打開那些有芒刺的果子，因為我總是等不到霜降的，在枯葉颯颯聲和赤松鼠跟

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瓦爾登湖:House-Warming