西西弗书店最近在推译林出版社旧版重出的《瓦尔登湖》，凑热闹也买了一本。

今天看了有些失望，里面配的图片大部分都是风景照，感觉更想看到人文历史的图片吧。想到以前游历时拍的照片，万幸还留着。

“I had three chairs in my house; one for solitude, two for friendship, three for society.”

“我的小屋里有三把椅子：独处用一把，朋友来用两把，需要交际则全派上用场。”《瓦尔登湖》，译林2020年9月版，译者：仲泽。

之前看书时就想，这小屋“宽十英尺，长十五英尺”，等于宽3米，长4.5米，是如何“曾有二十五或三十个灵魂并躯体同时在屋里”？实地看了复原的小木屋（原来的小木屋如今仅剩遗址），发现是真的小，几乎回旋不开的地步。

为什么人需要离群索居，又需要交际往来？或许生活在世间，就不能自外于人事物吧。但是当与众人对话的时候，自己的寂静之声就悄然隐没。是以人总是需要有个投身孤独的地方，在那里愉快地与自我的灵魂交谈。

“Arrived there, the little house they fill,
Ne looke for entertainment where none was；
Rest is their feast, and all things at their will：
The noblest mind the best contentment has.”

“去那里吧，那是他们栖身的小屋，
无需寻觅那儿没有的欢娱；
休息是他们的盛宴，万事依循他们的意志：
心灵崇高便得完满自足。”

（书中梭罗引用斯宾塞诗句。译文有点奇怪，自己改了点。）

《生与死》

我和谁都不争,
和谁争我都不屑；
我爱大自然,
其次就是艺术；
我双手烤着,
生命之火取暖；
火萎了,
我也准备走了.
——[英]兰德（杨绛 译）

I strove with none, for none was worth my strife,
Nature I loved, and next to Nature, Art;
I warmed both hands before the fire of life,
It sinks, and I am ready to depart.

It’s the same with the Christians (so called). They’re so busy condemning themselves and others, or preaching at people, or worse, still killing for Christ. None of them understanding, or trying in the least, to behave like a Christ. It seems to me that the only true Christians were (are?) the Gnostics, who believe in self-knowledge, i.e., becoming Christ themselves, reaching the Christ within. Christ, after all, is Greek for light. The Light is the Truth. All any of us are trying to do is precisely that: turn on the light. All the better to see you with, my dear. Christ, Buddha, Mohammed, Moses, Milarepa, and other great ones spent their time in fasting, praying, meditation, and left “maps” of the territory of “God” for all to see and follow in our own way.
— from Skywriting by Word of Mouth by John Lennon