独处的艺术

前言：古今中外圣贤哲人的经历告诉我们：如何独处 - 往往看出人的修为和精神品位，下面这篇短文是梭罗对独处时光的感受与分享。

泛泛之交的应酬往往很廉价 - Society is commonly too cheap。

流于形式的频繁相聚 - 相互无法带来任何新价值。甚至每日三餐围坐一起 - 只是共享一些陈词滥调。We meet at very short intervals, not having had time to acquire any new value for each other. We meet at meals three times a day, and give each other a new taste of that old musty cheese that we are.

因此，必须制定一套规则 - 礼仪和礼貌，以保证人可以忍受 - 人世间持续不断的毫无生机的 - 聚会，而不至于发生冲突。We have had to agree on a certain set of rules, called etiquette and politeness, to make this frequent meeting tolerable and that we need not come to open war.

无论在邮局、各种社交场合、还是围炉夜话；有时相处太近，反而磕磕碰碰，失去了相互应有的尊重。We meet at the post-office, and at the sociable, and about the fireside every night; we live thick and are in each other's way, and stumble over one another, and I think that we thus lose some respect for one another.

显然，重要和衷心的交流 - 并不需要如此高频率的交往。一英里以内只有一个居民，正如我住的地方一样，也许更好。Certainly less frequency would suffice for all important and hearty communications. It would be better if there were but one inhabitant to a square mile, as where I live.

人真正的价值 - 绝不在他的表面，有必要近距离接触 - 才能感受到他的价值吗？The value of a man is not in his skin, that we should touch him.

听说 - 有人在树林迷了路，又饿又累，倒在树下快要咽气了。极度虚弱让他产生各种幻觉，并信以为真，他的孤独感反而随之消失了。I have heard of a man lost in the woods and dying of famine and exhaustion at the foot of a tree, whose loneliness was relieved by the grotesque visions with which, owing to bodily weakness, his diseased imagination surrounded him, and which he believed to be real.

同样，身心健康有力的人，持续地被一个相似的场景包围 - 在正常、自然的社会环境中，逐步认识到自己从来没有独处过。So also, owing to bodily and mental health and strength, we may be continually cheered by a like but more normal and natural society, and come to know that we are never alone。

我屋子里有好多伴儿；特别是早晨 - 还没有人探访的时候。请允许我给几个案例 - 好让您对我的独处时光有个概念 - I have a great deal of company in my house; especially in the morning, when nobody calls. Let me suggest a few comparisons, that some one may convey an idea of my situation。

我像 - 湖中开怀大笑的水鸟，和瓦尔登湖本身 - 远离孤独，丝毫不感到寂寞 - I am no more lonely than the loon in the pond that laughs so loud, or than Walden Pond itself。

你会问 - 那“孤独“的瓦尔登湖 - 有谁做伴？水天一色的景致 - 让无数游客心醉神迷，难道不是瓦尔登湖常伴身边的蔚蓝色天使吗？- What company has that lonely lake, I pray? And yet it has not the blue devils, but the blue angels in it, in the azure tint of its waters。

太阳总是独处 - 除非天上乌云密布。有时候，看上去好像有两个太阳，不过有一个肯定是假的。The sun is alone, except in thick weather, when there sometimes appear to be two, but one is a mock sun.

上帝是独处的， 但是，魔鬼 - 却从来都不独处，他有许许多多伙伴，确切讲，他有一个军团 - God is alone—but the devil, he is far from being alone; he sees a great deal of company; he is legion.

我像 - 牧场上飞舞的蒲公英、田头随风摇曳的豆叶、空中自弹自唱的大黄蜂 - 从不顾影自怜，更没有感到孤单 - I am no more lonely than a single mullein or dandelion in a pasture, or a bean leaf, or sorrel, or a horse-fly, or a bumblebee.

我独处，然而 - 春看百花秋赏月, 夏沐凉风冬听雪 - 人世间处处是惊喜、时时有感动 - I am no more lonely than the Mill Brook, or a weathercock, or the north star, or the south wind, or an April shower, or a January thaw, or the first spider in a new house.

后记：古往今来，精神丰富的人跨越时空与世界交流 - 海内存知己, 天涯若比邻 - 多少年都不算长，多少里都不算远 - 独处，但不孤独。