To the sick the doctors wisely recommend a change of air and scenery.  Thank Heaven， here is not all the world.  The buckeye does not grow in New England， and the mockingbird is rarely heard here. The wild goose is more of a cosmopolite than we； he breaks his fast in Canada， takes a luncheon in the Ohio， and plumes himself for the night in a southern bayou.  Even the bison， to some extent， keeps pace with the seasons cropping the pastures of the Colorado only till a greener and sweeter grass awaits him by the Yellowstone.  Yet we think that if rail fences are pulled down， and stone walls piled up on our farms， bounds are henceforth set to our lives and our fates decided.  If you are chosen town clerk， forsooth， you cannot go to Tierra del Fuego this summer： but you may go to the land of infernal fire nevertheless.  The universe is wider than our views of it.

　　Yet we should oftener look over the tafferel of our craft， like curious passengers， and not make the voyage like stupid sailors picking oakum.  The other side of the globe is but the home of our correspondent.  Our voyaging is only great-circle sailing， and the doctors prescribe for diseases of the skin merely.  One hastens to southern Africa to chase the giraffe； but surely that is not the game he would be after.  How long， pray， would a man hunt giraffes if he could？  Snipes and woodcocks also may afford rare sport； but I trust it would be nobler game to shoot one's self.――

　　"Direct your eye right inward， and you'll find A thousand regions in your mind Yet undiscovered.  Travel them， and be Expert in home-cosmography."

　　What does Africa ―― what does the West stand for？  Is not our own interior white on the chart？ black though it may prove， like the coast， when discovered.  Is it the source of the Nile， or the Niger，or the Mississippi， or a Northwest Passage around this continent，that we would find？  Are these the problems which most concern mankind？  Is Franklin the only man who is lost， that his wife should be so earnest to find him？  Does Mr. Grinnell know where he himself is？  Be rather the Mungo Park， the Lewis and Clark and Frobisher， of your own streams and oceans； explore your own higher latitudes ――with shiploads of preserved meats to support you， if they be necessary； and pile the empty cans sky-high for a sign.  Were preserved meats invented to preserve meat merely？  Nay， be a Columbus to whole new continents and worlds within you， opening new channels， not of trade， but of thought.  Every man is the lord of a realm beside which the earthly empire of the Czar is but a petty state， a hummock left by the ice.  Yet some can be patriotic who have no self-respect， and sacrifice the greater to the less.  They love the soil which makes their graves， but have no sympathy with the spirit which may still animate their clay.  Patriotism is a maggot in their heads.  What was the meaning of that South-Sea Exploring Expedition， with all its parade and expense， but an indirect recognition of the fact that there are continents and seas in the moral world to which every man is an isthmus or an inlet， yet unexplored by him， but that it is easier to sail many thousand miles through cold and storm and cannibals， in a government ship， with five hundred men and boys to assist one， than it is to explore the private sea， the Atlantic and Pacific Ocean of one's being alone.

　　"Erret， et extremos alter scrutetur Iberos. Plus habet hic vitae， plus habet ille viae."

　　Let them wander and scrutinize the outlandish Australians. I have more of God， they more of the road.

　　It is not worth the while to go round the world to count the cats in Zanzibar.  Yet do this even till you can do better， and you may perhaps find some "Symmes' Hole" by which to get at the inside at last.  England and France， Spain and Portugal， Gold Coast and Slave Coast， all front on this private sea； but no bark from them has ventured out of sight of land， though it is without doubt the direct way to India.  If you would learn to speak all tongues and conform to the customs of all nations， if you would travel farther than all travellers， be naturalized in all climes， and cause the Sphinx to dash her head against a stone， even obey the precept of the old philosopher， and Explore thyself.  Herein are demanded the eye and the nerve.  Only the defeated and deserters go to the wars， cowards that run away and enlist.  Start now on that farthest western way，which does not pause at the Mississippi or the Pacific， nor conduct toward a wornout China or Japan， but leads on direct， a tangent to this sphere， summer and winter， day and night， sun down， moon down，and at last earth down too.

　　生了病的話，醫(yī)生要明智地勸告你轉(zhuǎn)移個地方，換換空氣。謝天謝地，世界并不限于這里。七葉樹沒有在新英格蘭生長，這里也難得聽到模仿鳥。野鵝比起我們來更加國際化，它們在加拿大用早飯，在俄亥俄州吃中飯，夜間到南方的河灣上去修飾自己的羽毛。甚至野牛也相當(dāng)?shù)刈冯S著時令節(jié)氣，它在科羅拉多牧場上吃草，一直吃到黃石公園又有更綠更甜的草在等待它的時候。然而我們?nèi)藚s認為，如果拆掉欄桿或籬笆，在田園周圍砌上石墻的話，我們的生活可就有了界限，我們的命運方能安定。如果你被挑選為市鎮(zhèn)的辦事員，那你今夏就不能到火地島去旅行，但你很可能到地獄的火里去。宇宙比我們看到的還要來得大呵。

　　然而我們應(yīng)該更經(jīng)常地像好奇的旅行家一樣在船尾瀏覽周遭的風(fēng)景，不要一面旅行，一面卻像愚蠢的水手，只顧低頭撕麻絮。其實地球的另一面也不過是和我們通信的人家。

　　我們的旅行只是兜了一個大圈子，而醫(yī)生開方子，也只能醫(yī)治你的皮膚病。有人趕到南非洲去追逐長頸鹿，實在他應(yīng)該追逐的不是這種動物。你說一個人又有多久的時候追逐長頸鹿呢！獵鷸鳥捉土撥鼠也是罕有的游戲了，我認為槍擊你自己會是更崇高的一項運動。――“快把你的視線轉(zhuǎn)向內(nèi)心，你將發(fā)現(xiàn)你心中有一千處地區(qū)未曾發(fā)現(xiàn)。那末去旅行，成為家庭宇宙志的地理專家。”非洲是什么意思，――西方又代表什么呢？在我們的內(nèi)心的地圖上，可不是一塊空自嗎？一旦將它發(fā)現(xiàn)，它還不是像海岸一樣，是黑黑的嗎？是否要我們?nèi)グl(fā)現(xiàn)尼羅河的河源，或尼日爾河的，或密西西比河的源頭，或我們這大陸上的西北走廊呢？難道這些是跟人類最有關(guān)系的問題嗎？弗蘭克林爵士是否是這世上唯一失蹤了的北極探險家，因此他的太太必須這樣焦急地找尋他呢。格林奈爾先生是否知道他自己在什么地方？讓你自己成為考察自己的江河海洋的門戈。派克、劉易士、克拉克和弗羅比秀之流吧；去勘探你自己的更高緯度去吧，――必要的話，船上裝足了罐頭肉，以維持你的生命，你還可以把空罐頭堆得跟天空一樣高，作為標(biāo)志之用。發(fā)明罐頭肉難道僅僅是為了保藏肉類嗎？不，你得做一個哥倫布，尋找你自己內(nèi)心的新大陸和新世界，開辟海峽，并不是為了做生意，而是為了思想的流通。每個人都是自己領(lǐng)域中的主人，沙皇的帝國和這個領(lǐng)域一比較，只成了蕞爾小國，一個冰天雪地中的小疙瘩。

　　然而有的人就不知道尊重自己，卻奢談愛國，而為了少數(shù)人的緣故，要大多數(shù)人當(dāng)犧牲品。他們愛上他們將來要葬身的土地，卻不理睬使他們的軀體活潑起來的精神。愛國只是他們腦子里的空想。南海探險隊是什么意思呢？那樣的排場，那樣的耗費，間接他說，那只是承認了這樣一個事實：在精神生活的世界中，雖然有的是海洋和大陸，其中每一個人只不過是一個半島和一個島嶼，然而他不去探這個險；他卻坐在一只政府撥給他的大船中間，航行經(jīng)過兒千里的寒冷、風(fēng)暴和吃人生番之地，帶著五百名水手和仆人來服侍他；他覺得這比在內(nèi)心的海洋上探險，比在單獨一個人的大西洋和太平洋上探險，倒是容易得多呢。

　　“Erret，et extremos alter scrutetur lberos. Plus habet hic vitae，plus habet ille viae.”

　　“讓他們?nèi)テ慈タ疾飚惏畹陌拇罄麃喨耍覐纳系鄣玫降亩啵麄兊玫礁嗟穆贰！?/p>

　　周游全世界，跑到桑給巴爾去數(shù)老虎的多少，是不值得的。但沒有更好的事情做，這甚至還是值得做的事情，也許你能找到“薛美斯的洞”，從那里你最后可以進入到你內(nèi)心的深處。英國、法國、西班牙、葡萄牙、黃金海岸、奴隸海岸，都面對著內(nèi)心的海洋；可是從那里出發(fā)，都可以直航印度，卻沒有哪一條船敢開出港灣，遠航到茫茫不見大陸的內(nèi)心海洋上。盡管你學(xué)會了一切方言，習(xí)慣了一切風(fēng)俗，盡管你比一切旅行家旅行得更遠，適應(yīng)了一切的氣候和水土，連那斯芬克斯也給你氣死撞碎在石上了，你還是要聽從古代哲學(xué)家的一句話，“到你內(nèi)心去探險。”這才用得到眼睛和腦子。只有敗軍之將和逃兵才能走上這個戰(zhàn)場，只有懦夫和逃亡者才能在這里入伍。現(xiàn)在就開始探險吧，走上那最遠的西方之路，這樣的探險并不停止在密西西比，或太平洋，也不叫你到古老的中國或日本去，這個探險一往無前，好像經(jīng)過大地的一條切線，無論冬夏晝夜，日落月歿，都可以作靈魂的探險，一直探到最后地球消失之處。

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