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孤独，是忧愁的伴侣，也是精神活动的密友。　　
　　
——纪伯伦【黎】

Solitude

I find it wholesome to be alone 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. We are for the most part more lonely when we go abroad among men than when we stay in our chambers. A man thinking or working is always alone, let him be where he will. 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 day’s solitude; and hence he wonders how the student can sit alone in the house all night and most of the day without ennui and :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.

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 other’s way, and stumble over one another, and 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. The value of a man is not in his skin, that we should touch him.

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 Walden Pond itself. 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. The sun is alone, except in thick weather, when there sometimes appear to be two, but one is a mock sun. god is alone---but the devil, he is far from being alone; he sees a great deal of company; he is legion. 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. I am no more lonely than the Millbrook, 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.

读完这篇哲理短文，你有什么感受呢？欢迎在下面的留言框内说出你的想法，也欢迎您给我们的栏目提出宝贵的意见和建议。

参考译文

独处

我发现人若大部分时间用于独处，将有益身心。与人为伴，即使是挚友，也很快会有厌烦或虚度光阴的感觉。我爱独处，我发现没有比独处更好的伴侣了。出国，身在熙攘人群中，要比退守陋室更让人寂寞。心有所想，身有所系的人总是孤身一人，不论他身处何地。独处与否也不是由人与人之间的距离来确定。在剑桥苦读的学子虽身处蜂巢般拥挤的教室，实际上却和沙漠中的苦行僧一样，是在独处。农人终日耕于田间，伐于山野，此时他虽孤单但并不寂寞，因他专心于工作；但待到他日暮而息，却未必能忍受形影相吊，空有思绪做伴的时光，他必到“可以看见大伙儿”的去处去找乐子，如他所认为的那样以补偿白日里的孤独；因此他无法理解学子如何能竟夜终日独坐而不心生厌倦或倍感凄凉；然而他没意识到，学子虽身在学堂，但心系劳作，但是耕于心田，伐于学林，这正和农人一样，学子在寻求的无非是和他一样的快乐与陪伴，只是形式更简洁罢了。

与人交往通常都因唾手可得而毫无价值，在频繁的相处中，我们无暇从彼此获取新价值。我们每日三餐相聚，反复让彼此重新审视的也是依旧故我，并无新奇之处。为此我们要循规蹈矩，称其为懂礼仪，讲礼貌，以便在这些频繁的接触中相安无事，无须论战而有辱斯文。我们相遇在邮局，邂逅在社交场所，围坐在夜晚的炉火旁，交情甚笃，彼此干扰着，纠缠着；实际上我认为这样我们都或多或少失去了对彼此的尊重。对于所有重要的倾心交流，相见不必过频。想想工厂里的女孩，她们虽从不落单，但也少有梦想。像这样方圆一英里仅一人居住，那情况会更好。人的价值非在肌肤相亲，而在心有灵犀。

我的房子里有很多伙伴，尤其在无人造访的清晨。我把自己和周围事物对比一下，你或许能窥见我生活的一斑。比起那湖中长笑的潜鸟，还有那湖，我并不比它们孤独多少。你看：这孤单的湖又何以为伴呢？

然而它那一湾天蓝的湖水里有的却是天使的纯净，而非魔鬼的忧郁。太阳是孤独的，虽然时而在阴郁的天气里会出现两个太阳，但其中之一为幻日；上帝是孤独的 – 魔鬼才从不孤单，他永远不乏伙伴，因从他都甚众。比起牧场上的一朵毛蕊花，一支蒲公英，一片豆叶，一束酢浆草，一只牛虻或大黄蜂来，我并不孤单多少；比想密尔溪，风标，北极星，南风，四月春雨，正月融雪，或者新房中的第一只蜘蛛，我也并不更加孤单。

词汇释义

1.wholesome adj. 有益健康的,合乎卫生的,健全的

例句：
In order to maintain physical well being, a person should eat wholesome food and get sufficient exercise.
为了维持身体健康，一个人应该吃有益健康的食品，并经常锻炼身体。

2.dissipate vt. 使...消散(浪费)

例句：
The sun dissipated the mist.
太阳驱散了雾。

3.hive n. 蜂房,蜂箱

例句：
hive and beekeeping equipment
蜂箱和蜂具

4.dervish n. 回教的托钵僧

例句：
He also received a Whirling Dervish hat from the mayor of Konya on a visit to Turkey in November.
他去年11月访问土耳其时，康亚市市长送给他一顶“僧侣帽”。

5.hoeing 挖掘

例句：
That morning we worked from seven to eleven in the fields hoeing corn.
这天早上，我们在玉米地锄草，从7点干到11点。

6.at the mercy of adv.受...支配

例句：
The picnic was at the mercy of the weather.
去不去野餐要由天气决定。

7.remunerate v. 给与报酬,赔偿,酬劳

例句：
remunerate a person for his trouble
给某人的辛苦以报酬

8.ennui n. 怠倦,无聊

例句：
Since losing his job, he has often experienced a profound sense of ennui.
他自从失业以来, 常觉百无聊赖.

9.condensed 密集的; 稠合的;浓缩

例句：
This long story can be condensed.
这篇长故事可以压缩。

10.at short intervals adv.常常

例句：
Buses leave at short intervals.
公共汽车不时地开出。

11.etiquette n. 礼仪,礼节,成规

例句：
Let us avoid the etiquette.
让我们免除礼节。

12.fireside n. 炉边,家庭,一家团圆 adj. 在火炉边的

例句：
He sat by the fireside drinking coffee.
他坐在炉边喝着咖啡。

13.azure n. 天蓝色,碧空 adj. 蔚蓝的

例句：
His eyes are azure.
他的眼睛是天蓝色的。

14.tint n. 色彩;浅色;痕迹

例句：
I like to look at the tints of pink in the sky at dawn.
我喜欢看黎明时天空中浓淡不同的粉色。

15.mock sun n. [气]幻日,假日

例句：
The special phenomenon, according to scientists, is a solar halo, or "mock sun", which results from the refraction of ice crystal particles contained in clouds.
对这种奇怪的现象，科学家解释说，这是由于云层中极小的小水珠的反射而引起的，那个虚幻的太阳是日晕。

16.legion n. 军团,军队,众多的人

例句：
The filmstar has a legion of admires.
那个影星有一大群崇拜者。

17.dandelion n. 蒲公英

例句：
We regard dandelion as an emblem of hope.
我们把蒲公英看作希望的象征。

18.sorrel a. 栗色的 n. 栗色, 栗色动物, 三岁雄鹿, 酸模, 酢浆草

例句：
Upon a biological level, Sorrel assists with cellular communication.
在一个生物性水平上，酢浆草协助了细胞通讯。

19.bumblebee n. 大黄蜂

例句：
A bumblebee stung me on the cheek.
一只大黄蜂在我脸上螫了一下。

20.weathercock n. 风向标

例句：
He looked up at the weathercock.
他抬起头看风向标。

难句讲解

1.I find it wholesome to be alone the greater part of the time. To be in company, even with the best, is soon wearisome and dissipating.

【参考译文】我发现人若大部分时间用于独处，将有益身心。与人为伴，即使是挚友，也很快会有厌烦或虚度光阴的感觉。

【结构解析】“I find it wholesome to be alone the greater part of the time”句中“be alone”后省略了“in”，"in company"意思是“有人陪伴、与人为伴”，“even with the best”后省略了“friend”。

2. 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.

【参考译文】我们相遇在邮局，邂逅在社交场所，围坐在夜晚的炉火旁，交情甚笃，彼此干扰着，纠缠着；实际上我认为这样我们都或多或少失去了对彼此的尊重。

【结构解析】“about the fireside”中的about意思是“在...附近，周围”，thick 在这里作副词，意思是“厚,浓,密”，如：Offers of help are coming in thick and fast.
四面八方立即伸出援助之手。