August 12, 1841

1841年8月12日

After leaving the book at Mr. Emerson's, I returned through the woods, and entering Sleepy Hollow, I perceived a lady reclining near the path which bends along its verge. It was Margaret herself. She had been there the whole afternoon, meditating or reading; for she had a book in her hand, with some strange title, which I did not understand and have forgotten. She said that nobody had broken her solitude, and was just giving utterance to a theory that no inhabitant of Concord ever visited Sleep Hollow, when we saw a whole group of people entering the sacred precincts. Most of them followed a path which led them remote from us; but an old man passed near us, and smiled to see Margaret lying on the ground, and me sitting by her side. He made some remark about the beauty of the afternoon, and withdrew himself into the shadow of the wood. Then we talked about Autumn-and about the pleasures of getting lost in the woods-and about the crows, whose voices Margaret had heard-and about the experiences of early childhood. whose influence remains upon the character after the recollection of them has passes away-and about the sight of mountains from a distance, and the view from their summits-and about other matters of high and low philosophy. In the midst of our talk, we heard footsteps above us, on the high bank; and while the intruder was still hidden among the trees, he called to Margaret, of whom he had gotten a glimpse. Then he emerged from the green shade; and, behold, it was Mr. Emerson, who, in spite of his clerical consecration, had found no better way of spending the Sabbath than to ramble among the woods. He appeared to have had a pleasant time; for he said that there were Muses in the woods today, and whispers to be heard in the breezes. It being now nearly six o'clock, we separated, Mr. Emerson and Margaret towards his home, and I towards mine, where my little wife was very busy getting tea.

把书放到爱默生先生家后，我穿过树林往回走。走进睡谷，我发现一位女士斜躺在顺着山沿崎岖蜿蜒的小路旁。那是玛格丽特。她已经待在那里整整一下午了，或在沉思或在阅读。因为她手边有本书，书名有此怪异，我不明白，也就忘记了。她说没有人打断她的独处，正当她高谈阔论说康科德的居民没人进过睡谷时，我们看见一大群人走进了这个神圣的区域。大部分人走了一条使他们远离我们的小道，但是一位老人从我们身旁经过，当他看到玛格丽特躺在地上，我坐在她身边的时候，脸上泛起了微笑。他说了几句午后景色优美之类的活，便消失在树荫里。之后我们谈起了秋天，谈到林间迷路的乐趣，谈到乌鸦，因为玛格丽特听到了它们的叫声，谈到幼年的经历，即使那些儿时的记忆已经消逝，但它对人性格的影响还持续着。我们谈远处的群山和从山顶俯瞰的景象，谈有关高限、低限哲学的问题。在我们交谈的时候，我们听到了上面的脚步声，声音从高处的斜坡上传来。当这位不速之客还藏没在树丛之中时，他喊了玛格丽特的名字，因为他瞥见了她的身影。之后他从绿色的树荫下走出来，是爱默生先生。尽管他身担圣职，但他觉得过休息日的最好的办法莫过于在林中漫步。他看起来度过了一段快乐的时光，因为他说今天树林里有缪斯，微风中能够听到她们的窃窃私语，现在几乎6点了，我们分手道别，爱默生先生和玛格丽特到他家去，我回我家，家里的小妻子正忙着沏茶呢。

Last evening there was the most beautiful moonlight that ever hallowed this earthly world; and when I went to bathe in the river, which was as calm as death, it seemed like plunging down into the sky. But I would rather be on earth than even in the seventh heaven, just now.

昨天晚上的月色最美，使整个尘世变得圣洁起来。当我去河中洗澡时，河水死一般的沉寂，我仿佛跳入了空中。但是现在我却宁愿留在尘世，也不愿进到那七重天。