After a still winter night I awoke with the impression that some question had been put to me， which I had been endeavoring in vain to answer in my sleep， as what ―― how ―― when ―― where？  But there was dawning Nature， in whom all creatures live， looking in at my broad windows with serene and satisfied face， and no question on her lips. I awoke to an answered question， to Nature and daylight.  The snow lying deep on the earth dotted with young pines， and the very slope of the hill on which my house is placed， seemed to say， Forward！

　　Nature puts no question and answers none which we mortals ask.  She has long ago taken her resolution.  "O Prince， our eyes contemplate with admiration and transmit to the soul the wonderful and varied spectacle of this universe.  The night veils without doubt a part of this glorious creation； but day comes to reveal to us this great work， which extends from earth even into the plains of the ether."

　　Then to my morning work.  First I take an axe and pail and go in search of water， if that be not a dream.  After a cold and snowy night it needed a divining-rod to find it.  Every winter the liquid and trembling surface of the pond， which was so sensitive to every breath， and reflected every light and shadow， becomes solid to the depth of a foot or a foot and a half， so that it will support the heaviest teams， and perchance the snow covers it to an equal depth，and it is not to be distinguished from any level field.  Like the marmots in the surrounding hills， it closes its eyelids and becomes dormant for three months or more.  Standing on the snow-covered plain， as if in a pasture amid the hills， I cut my way first through a foot of snow， and then a foot of ice， and open a window under my feet， where， kneeling to drink， I look down into the quiet parlor of the fishes， pervaded by a softened light as through a window of ground glass， with its bright sanded floor the same as in summer；there a perennial waveless serenity reigns as in the amber twilight sky， corresponding to the cool and even temperament of the inhabitants.  Heaven is under our feet is well as over our heads.

　　Early in the morning， while all things are crisp with frost， men come with fishing-reels and slender lunch， and let down their fine lines through the snowy field to take pickerel and perch； wild men，who instinctively follow other fashions and trust other authorities than their townsmen， and by their goings and comings stitch towns together in parts where else they would be ripped.  They sit and eat their luncheon in stout fear-naughts on the dry oak leaves on the shore， as wise in natural lore as the citizen is in artificial. They never consulted with books， and know and can tell much less than they have done.  The things which they practice are said not yet to be known.  Here is one fishing for pickerel with grown perch for bait.  You look into his pail with wonder as into a summer pond，as if he kept summer locked up at home， or knew where she had retreated.  How， pray， did he get these in midwinter？  Oh， he got worms out of rotten logs since the ground froze， and so he caught them.  His life itself passes deeper in nature than the studies of the naturalist penetrate； himself a subject for the naturalist.  The latter raises the moss and bark gently with his knife in search of insects； the former lays open logs to their core with his axe， and moss and bark fly far and wide.  He gets his living by barking trees.  Such a man has some right to fish， and I love to see nature carried out in him.  The perch swallows the grub-worm， the pickerel swallows the perch， and the fisher-man swallows the pickerel； and so all the chinks in the scale of being are filled.

　　睡過了一個安靜的冬天的夜晚，而醒來時，印象中傷佛有什么問題在問我，而在睡眠之中，我曾企圖回答，卻又回答不了――什么――如何――何時――何處？可這是黎明中的大自然，其中生活著一切的生物，她從我的大窗戶里望進來，臉色澄清，心滿意足，她的嘴唇上并沒有問題。醒來便是大自然和天光，這便是問題的答案。雪深深地積在大地，年幼的松樹點點在上面，而我的木屋所在的小山坡似乎在說：“開步走！”大自然并不發問，發問的是我們人類，而它也不作回答。它早就有了決斷了。

　　“啊，王子，我們的眼睛察審而羨慕不置，這宇宙的奇妙而多變的景象便傳到了我們的靈魂中。無疑的，黑夜把這光榮的創造遮去了一部分；可是，白晝再來把這偉大作品啟示給我們，這偉大作品從地上伸展，直到太空中?！?/p>

　　于是我干我的黎明時的工作。第一，我拿了一把斧頭和桶子找水去，如果我不是在做夢。過了寒冷的、飄雪的一夜之后，要一根魔杖才有辦法找到水呢。水汪汪的微抖的湖水，對任何呼吸都異常地敏感，能反映每一道光和影，可是到了冬天，就凍結了一英尺，一英尺半，最笨重的牲畜它也承受得住，也許冰上還積了一英尺深的雪，使你分別不出它是湖還是平地。像周圍群山中的土撥鼠，它闔上眼睛，要睡三個月或三個月不止。

　　站在積雪的平原上，好像在群山中的牧場上，我先是穿過一英尺深的雪，然后又穿過一英尺厚的冰，在我的腳下開一個窗，就跪在那里喝水，又望入那安靜的魚的客廳，那兒充滿了一種柔和的光，仿佛是透過了一層磨砂玻璃照進去的似的，那細沙的底還跟夏天的時候一樣，在那里一個并無波濤而有悠久澄清之感的，像琥珀色一樣的黃昏正統治著，和那里的居民的冷靜與均衡氣質卻完全協調。天空在我腳下，正如它之又在我們頭上。

　　每天，很早的時候，一切都被嚴寒凍得松脆，人們帶了釣竿和簡單的午飯，穿過雪地來釣鮮魚和梭魚；這些野性未馴的人們，并不像他們城里的人，他們本能地采用另外的生活方式，相信另外的勢力，他們這樣來來去去，就把許多城市部分地縫合在一起了，否則的話，城市之間還是分裂的。他們穿著結實的粗呢大衣坐在湖岸上，在干燥的橡樹葉上吃他們的飯餐，他們在自然界的經驗方面，同城里人在虛偽做作方面一樣聰明。他們從來不研究書本，所知道和所能說的，比他們所做的少了許多。他們所做的事據說還沒有人知道。這里有一位，是用大鱸魚來釣梭魚的。你看看他的桶子，像看到了一個夏天的湖沼一樣，何等驚人啊，好像他把夏天鎖在他的家里了，或者是他知道夏天躲在什么地方。你說，在仲冬，他怎么能捉到這么多？啊，大地凍了冰，他從朽木之中找出了蟲子來，所以他能捕到這些魚。他的生活本身，就在大自然深處度過的，超過了自然科學家的鉆研深度；他自己就應該是自然科學家的一個研究專題。科學家輕輕地把苔蘚和樹皮，用刀子挑起，來尋找蟲子；而他卻用斧子劈到樹木中心，苔蘚和樹皮飛得老遠。

　　他是靠了剝樹皮為生的。這樣一個人就有了捕魚權了，我愛見大自然在他那里現身。鱸魚吃了螬蠐，梭魚吃了鱸魚，而漁夫吃了梭魚；生物等級的所有空位就是這樣填滿的。

　　當我在有霧的天氣里，繞著湖闊步時，有時我很有興味地看到了一些漁人所采取的原始的生活方式。也許他在冰上掘了許多距離湖岸相等的小窟窿，各自距離四五桿，把白楊枝橫在上面，用繩子縛住了椏枝，免得它被拉下水去，再在冰上面一英尺多的地方把松松的釣絲掛在白楊枝上，還縛了一張干燥的橡葉，這樣釣絲給拉下去的時候，就表明魚已上鉤了。這些白楊枝顯露在霧中，距離相等，你繞湖邊走了一半時，便可以看到。

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