Dear little creatures, they crouch in my heart and haunt me with a constant sense of pain. There are men and women, too, all gnarled and bent out of shape. I have felt their hard, rough hands and realized what an endless struggle their existence must be—no more than a series of scrimmages, thwarted attempts to do something. Their life seems an immense disparity between effort and opportunity. The sun and the air are God's free gifts to all we say, but are they so? In yonder city's dingy alleys the sun shines not, and the air is foul. Oh, man, how dost thou forget and obstruct thy brother man, and say, "Give us this day our daily bread," when he has none! Oh, would that men would leave the city, its splendour and its tumult and its gold, and return to wood and field and simple, honest living! Then would their children grow stately as noble trees, and their thoughts sweet and pure as wayside flowers. It is impossible not to think of all this when I return to the country after a year of work in town.
這些可愛的小生靈始終蜷伏在我的心頭,把持久的痛苦加負在我的精神世界,揮之不去。窮街陋巷中也聚居著為數眾多的男人和女人,他們全都因過度勞作而扭曲了身形。我已經觸摸到了他們那僵硬、粗糙的雙手,我也了解到了他們為生存而進行的無休止的抗爭——當然,這只不過是一連串徒勞無益的混戰而已。在奮斗和機遇之間,他們的生活似乎處于巨大的失衡狀態。我們經常會說,陽光和空氣是神賜予所有人的免費禮物,事實果真如此嗎?在城市偏僻而陰暗的街巷中,陽光不見蹤影,而空氣也是污濁的。哦,(善良的)人啊,你們怎么能對你們的手足弟兄如此冷漠呢?當你們(禱告)說“感謝主賜予我們今日的飲食”,而你們的弟兄卻一無所有!哦,假如人們真的能夠遠離城市,舍棄它的浮華、喧囂和財富;假如人們能投入到森林和田野之中,過一種樸素而誠實的生活,那么,他們的子女一定會像高貴的林木一樣茁壯成長,而他們的思想也會如路旁的花朵一樣純潔無瑕。在城市工作了一年之后,當我重返鄉間的時候,我不可能不對我的所見所聞做出深入的思考。
What a joy it is to feel the soft, springy earth under my feet once more, to follow grassy roads that lead to ferny brooks where I can bathe my fingers in a cataract of rippling notes, or to clamber over a stone wall into green fields that tumble and roll and climb in riotous gladness!
再次感受到腳下松軟、濕潤的土地是多么令人高興的事啊。綠草茵茵的小路會把你領到蕨草繁茂的溪水邊,在這里,我可以把我的手指浸泡在潺潺流水之中,或者,我也可以爬過一堵石墻進入草地,然后忘乎所以地翻滾跳躍!
Next to a leisurely walk I enjoy a "spin" on my tandem bicycle. It is splendid to feel the wind blowing in my face and the springy motion of my iron steed. The rapid rush through the air gives me a delicious sense of strength and buoyancy, and the exercise makes my pulses dance and my heart sing.
除了休閑散步,我最大的樂趣就是在我的雙人自行車上“疾馳”。由此你可以真切地體會到風兒撲面和“鐵馬”行進的輕快感。駕車疾馳不但帶給我力量感和懸浮感的美妙享受,這項運動還令我的脈搏起舞,心兒歌唱。