🔊 Meanwhile my beans, the length of whose rows, added together, was seven miles already planted, were impatient to be hoed, for the earliest had grown considerably before the latest were in the ground; indeed they were not easily to be put off. What was the meaning of this so steady and self-respecting, this small Herculean labor, I knew not. I came to love my rows, my beans, though so many more than I wanted. They attached me to the earth, and so I got strength like Antaeus. But why should I raise them? Only Heaven knows. This was my curious labor all summer - to make this portion of the earth's surface, which had yielded only cinquefoil, blackberries, johnswort, and the like, before, sweet wild fruits and pleasant flowers, produce instead this pulse. What shall I learn of beans or beans of me? I cherish them, I hoe them, early and late I have an eye to them; and this is my day's work. It is a fine broad leaf to look on. My auxiliaries are the dews and rains which water this dry soil, and what fertility is in the soil itself, which for the most part is lean and effete. My enemies are worms, cool days, and most of all woodchucks. The last have nibbled for me a quarter of an acre clean. But what right had I to oust johnswort and the rest, and break up their ancient herb garden? Soon, however, the remaining beans will be too tough for them, and go forward to meet new foes.

与此同时,我的豆子,那些行垄的长度加起来已有七英里之遥,早已种下,正急切地等待锄草,因为最早的豆苗在最后一垄入土前已长得相当高了；确实,它们不容拖延。这种如此稳健而自尊的、这小小的赫拉克勒斯般的劳作,其意义何在,我不得而知。我渐渐爱上了我的行垄,我的豆子,尽管数量远超所需。它们将我系于大地,于是我获得了安泰俄斯般的力量。但我为何要种植它们呢？唯有天知。这是我整个夏季的奇特劳作--让这片土地的表层,从前只出产五叶草、黑莓、圣约翰草之类,甜美的野果和悦目的花卉,转而生产这种豆类。我能从豆子身上学到什么,或豆子能从我身上学到什么？我珍爱它们,我为它们锄草,早晚我都留意着它们；这便是我的日常工作。那宽阔的叶子赏心悦目。我的助手是露水和雨水,它们滋润着这干燥的土壤,以及土壤本身所蕴含的肥力,尽管大部分土地贫瘠而衰竭。我的敌人是蠕虫、凉日,尤其是土拨鼠。后者为我啃光了四分之一英亩的土地。但我有何权利驱逐圣约翰草及其他植物,破坏它们古老的草药园呢？不过,很快剩余的豆子就会变得过于坚韧,它们将继续前行,迎接新的敌人。

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impatient /ɪmˈpeɪʃənt/

adj. 不耐烦的,焦急的➕

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Herculean /ˌhɜːkjʊˈliːən/

adj. 艰巨的,费力的（源自希腊神话的大力神赫拉克勒斯）➕

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Antaeus /ænˈtiːəs/

n. 安泰俄斯（希腊神话中的巨人,大地之子,只要接触地面就能获得力量）➕

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cinquefoil /ˈsɪŋkfɔɪl/

n. 委陵菜（一种植物）➕

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johnswort /ˈdʒɒnzwɜːt/

n. 金丝桃（一种药用植物）➕

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pulse /pʌls/

n. 豆类植物（总称）➕

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cherish /ˈtʃerɪʃ/

v. 珍爱,珍视➕

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auxiliaries /ɔːɡˈzɪliəriz/

n. (pl.). 辅助者,辅助物➕

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effete /ɪˈfiːt/

adj. 衰弱的,失去活力的；贫瘠的➕

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woodchucks /ˈwʊd.tʃʌks/

n. (pl.). 土拨鼠➕

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nibbled /ˈnɪbəld/

v. (past tense). 一点一点地咬,啃➕

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oust /aʊst/

v. 驱逐,罢黜➕

🔊 When I was four years old, as I well remember, I was brought from Boston to this my native town, through these very woods and this field, to the pond. It is one of the oldest scenes stamped on my memory. And now to-night my flute has waked the echoes over that very water. The pines still stand here older than I; or, if some have fallen, I have cooked my supper with their stumps, and a new growth is rising all around, preparing another aspect for new infant eyes. Almost the same johnswort springs from the same perennial root in this pasture, and even I have at length helped to clothe that fabulous landscape of my infant dreams, and one of the results of my presence and influence is seen in these bean leaves, corn blades, and potato vines.

我四岁时,记得清清楚楚,从波士顿被带到这个我的故乡,穿过这些树林和这片田野,来到池塘边。这是我记忆中最古老的景象之一。而今夜,我的笛声已在那片水面上唤起了回声。松树依旧矗立于此,年岁比我更长；或者,有些倒下了,我用它们的树桩煮过晚餐,而新生的树木正四处崛起,为新的婴孩之眼预备另一番景象。几乎同样的圣约翰草从这牧场上同一处多年生的根茎中萌发,甚至我终究也帮着为那童年梦幻中的奇景披上了绿装,而我的存在与影响的结果之一,便见于这些豆叶、玉米叶片和马铃薯藤蔓之中。

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perennial /pəˈreniəl/

adj. 多年生的；长期的,持续的➕

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fabulous /ˈfæbjələs/

adj. 神话般的；极好的➕

🔊 I planted about two acres and a half of upland, and as it was only about fifteen years since the land was cleared, and I myself had got out two or three cords of stumps, I did not give it any manure; but in the course of the summer it appeared by the arrowheads which I turned up in hoeing, that an extinct nation had anciently dwelt here and planted corn and beans ere white men came to clear the land, and so, to some extent, had exhausted the soil for this very crop.

我种植了约两英亩半的高地,由于土地开垦仅约十五年,而且我自己已清理出两三考德的树桩,我没有施任何肥料；但在夏季劳作中,我锄地时翻出的箭头表明,一个已消亡的民族曾古老地居住于此,在白人前来开垦土地之前就种植玉米和豆子,因此,在某种程度上,已为这种作物耗尽了土壤的肥力。

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upland /ˈʌplənd/

n. 高地,山地➕

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cords /kɔːdz/

n. (pl.). 考得（木材堆的体积单位,约3.62立方米）➕

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arrowheads /ˈærəʊhedz/

n. (pl.). 箭头,镞➕

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extinct /ɪkˈstɪŋkt/

adj. 灭绝的；绝迹的➕

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anciently /ˈeɪnʃəntli/

adv. 在古代,古老地➕

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ere /eə(r)/

prep./conj. (archaic). 在…之前（古语）➕

🔊 Before yet any woodchuck or squirrel had run across the road, under the cloud of night, while the dew was on the grass, and the morning star still shone, I heard the sound of a solitary bird, the pewee, beginning his day's work, and so I knew that the sun was about to rise. All the early part of the day I worked among my beans, and in the afternoon I bathed in the pond, or went a-fishing, or gathered berries, or did other outdoor work, as the weather and my mood permitted. Thus I lived on the shore of a small pond, in the midst of a young wood, and had the sky for a roof, and the trees for walls.

在土拨鼠或松鼠还未跑过道路之前,夜色笼罩下,草上沾着露珠,晨星依旧闪烁,我听到一只孤鸟--鹟鸟--开始它一天的工作,于是我知道太阳即将升起。整个清晨我都在豆田间劳作,下午则在池塘中沐浴,或去钓鱼,或采浆果,或做其他户外工作,视天气和心情而定。我就这样生活在一个小池塘的岸边,置身于一片年轻的树林之中,以天空为屋顶,以树木为墙壁。

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solitary /ˈsɒlətri/

adj. 单独的,独自的；孤僻的➕

Chapter seven: The Bean-Field (第七章:豆田)

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