In the country one sees only Nature’s fair works, and one’s soul is not saddened by the cruel struggle for mere existence that goes on in the crowded city. Several times I have visited the narrow, dirty streets where the poor live, and I grow hot and indignant to think that good people should be content to live in fine houses and become strong and beautiful, while others arecondemned to live in hideous, sunless tenements and grow ugly, withered and cringing. The children who crowd these grimy alleys, half-clad and underfed, shrink away from your outstretched hand as if from a blow. Dear little creatures, they crouch in my heart and haunt me with aconstant 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 animmense 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 isimpossible not to think of all this when I return to the country after a year of work in town.

　　但是在乡间，你所看到的只有大自然的杰作。在拥挤不堪的城市中，你会为了起码的生存而展开残酷的竞争，而在这里，你郁郁寡欢的心境会荡然无存。我曾好几次参观过穷人聚居的狭窄、肮脏的街道。社会现实不问是非，那些居住在豪宅里的上等人当然会心满意足，他们是些强大而衣冠楚楚的人物;而那些贫民则在破败阴暗的公寓里苟且偷生。每每想到这些，我就难以抑制心中的激愤之情。小孩子们全都挤在这些污秽不堪的巷子里，他们衣不蔽体，食不果腹;在你向他们伸出双手时，他们怯懦地闪退一旁，如同被一阵风吹散。这些可爱的小生灵始终蜷伏在我的心头，把持久的痛苦加负在我的精神世界，挥之不去。穷街陋巷中也聚居着为数众多的男人和女人，他们全都因过度劳作而扭曲了身形。我已经触摸到了他们那僵硬、粗糙的双手，我也了解到了他们为生存而进行的无休止的抗争——当然，这只不过是一连串徒劳无益的混战而已。在奋斗和机遇之间，他们的生活似乎处于巨大的失衡状态。我们经常会说，阳光和空气是神赐予所有人的免费礼物，事实果真如此吗?在城市偏僻而阴暗的街巷中，阳光不见踪影，而空气也是污浊的。哦，(善良的)人啊，你们怎么能对你们的手足弟兄如此冷漠呢?当你们(祷告)说“感谢主赐予我们今日的饮食”，而你们的弟兄却一无所有!哦，假如人们真的能够远离城市，舍弃它的浮华、喧嚣和财富;假如人们能投入到森林和田野之中，过一种朴素而诚实的生活，那么，他们的子女一定会像高贵的林木一样茁壮成长，而他们的思想也会如路旁的花朵一样纯洁无瑕。在城市工作了一年之后，当我重返乡间的时候，我不可能不对我的所见所闻做出深入的思考。

　　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!

　　再次感受到脚下松软、湿润的土地是多么令人高兴的事啊。绿草茵茵的小路会把你领到蕨草繁茂的溪水边，在这里，我可以把我的手指浸泡在潺潺流水之中，或者，我也可以爬过一堵石墙进入草地，然后忘乎所以地翻滚跳跃!

　　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.

　　除了休闲散步，我最大的乐趣就是在我的双人自行车上“疾驰”。由此你可以真切地体会到风儿扑面和“铁马”行进的轻*。驾车疾驰不但带给我力量感和悬浮感的美妙享受，这项运动还令我的脉搏起舞，心儿歌唱。

　　Whenever it is possible, my dog accompanies me on a walk or ride or sail. I have had many dog friends—huge mastiffs, soft-eyed spaniels, wood-wise setters and honest, homely bull terriers. At present the lord of my affections is one of these bull terriers. He has a long pedigree, a crooked tail and the drollest "phiz" in dogdom. My dog friends seem to understand my limitations, and always keep close beside me when I am alone. I love their affectionate ways and the eloquentwag of their tails.

　　只要有可能，我的狗儿都会陪我一起散步、骑车或航行。我有很多狗儿朋友——体形硕大的獒犬，长着一对温柔大眼睛的西班牙长耳犬，顽皮聪明的塞特犬和忠诚、朴实的短毛犬。目前最为我钟爱的就是其中的一只短毛犬。他有着很纯正的血统，还长着一条弯曲的尾巴和一张狗世界中最滑稽可笑的“脸”。我的狗儿朋友们好像都明白我的行动不便，所以当我一个人的时候，他们总是时刻不离我的左右。我欣赏他们的友善忠诚，他们那不停摆动的尾巴也很招人喜爱。