享受孤獨

I find it wholesome to be alone for the greater part of the time. To be in company， even with the best， is soon wearisome and dissipating. I love to be alone. I never found the companion that was so companionable as solitude. Solitude is not measured by the miles of space that intervene between a man and his fellows. The really diligent student in one of the crowded hives of Cambridge College is as solitary as a dervish in the desert. The farmer can work alone in the field or the woods all day， hoeing or chopping， and not feel lonesome， because he is employed； but when he comes home at night he cannot sit down in a room alone， at the mercy of his thoughts， but must be where he can： see the folks and recreate， and， as he thinks， remunerate himself for his days solitude； and hence he wonders how the student can sit alone in the house all night and most of the day without ennui or the blues； but he does not realize that the student， though in the house， is still at work in his field， and chopping in his woods， as the farmer in his， and in turn seeks the same recreation and society that the latter does， though it may be a more condensed form of it.

我發現人若將大部分時間用于獨處，有益身心。與人為伴，即便是摯友，也很快會有厭煩或虛度光陰的感覺。我愛獨處，我發現獨處是最好的伴侶。獨處與否不是由人與人之間的距離來確定。在劍橋大學苦讀的學子雖身處蜂巢般擁擠的教室，實際上卻和沙漠中的苦行僧一樣，是在獨處。農人終日耕于田間，伐于山野，此時他雖孤身一人但并不孤獨，因他專心于工作；但待到日暮而息時，他卻未必能忍受形影相吊，僅有思緒做伴的時光，他必到“可以看見大伙兒”的地方去找樂子，如他所認為的那樣，以補償白日里的孤獨；因此他無法理解學子如何能晝夜獨坐而不心生厭倦或倍感凄涼；然而他沒意識到，學子雖身在學堂，但仍舊心系勞作，耕于心田，伐于學林，這正和農人一樣，學子在尋求的無非是和他一樣的快樂與陪伴，只是形式更簡潔罷了。

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. I am no more lonely than the loon in the pond that laughs so loud， or than the lake. What company has that lonely lake， I pray？

我的房子里有很多伙伴，尤其是在無人造訪的清晨。我把自己和周圍事物對比一下，你或許能窺見我生活的一斑。比起那湖中高聲長鳴的潛鳥，還有那湖，我并不比它們孤獨。我想著這孤單的湖又何以為伴呢？

Society is commonly too cheap. 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. 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. We meet at the post-office， and at the sociable， and about the fireside every night； we live thick and are in each others way， and stumble over one another， but I think that we thus lose some respect for one another. Certainly less frequency would suffice for all important and hearty communications. Consider the girls in a factory—never alone， hardly in their dreams. It would be better if there were but one inhabitant to a square mile， as where I live.

與人交往通常都因唾手可得而毫無價值。在頻繁的交往中，我們無暇從彼此獲取新的價值。我們每日三餐都相聚，展現給彼此的也是依舊如故的自己，并無新奇之處。為了在這些頻繁的接觸中相安無事，無須論戰而有辱斯文，我們要循規蹈矩，這被稱為懂禮儀，講禮貌。我們相遇在郵局，邂逅在社交場所，每晚圍坐在爐火旁。……