Emerson says, "Now and then a man exquisitely made can live alone, and must; but coop up most men and you undo them." Solitude tries a man in a way society does not; it throws him upon his own resources, and if these resources be meager, if the ground he occupies in and of himself be poor and narrow, he will have a sorry time of it.
爱默生说“有时候，一个至精之人能够也必须独孤地生活，但是孤独禁锢了多数人而却得不到解脱”，有别于社会，孤独用另一种方式试探一个人。它让人诉诸于自身的资源，如果人的这些资源寥寥，如果他所拥有或掌控的范围狭小匮乏，孤独将会带给他悲伤的时光。
Hence we readily attribute some extra virtue to those persons who voluntarily embrace solitude, who live alone in the country or in the woods, or in the mountains, and find life sweet. We know they cannot live without converse, without society of some sort, and we credit them with the power of invoking it from themselves, or else of finding more companionship with dumb things than ordinary mortals.
因此，那些自愿拥抱孤独的人，他们或独居于乡村，或隐迹于树林山涧而甘之如饴，我们乐意把他们归之于某些高风亮节。我们知道没有交谈，没有某种社交他们就无法生存，但我们相信
他们激发自己内心的力量或者相信他们在静寂之物上比在世俗凡人中能寻求更多的伴随。
In any case they give evidence of resources which all do not possess. If not "exquisitely made," hermits generally have a fine streak in them, which preserves them in solitude.
无论如何他们印证了一些不是所有人都具备的才智。如果不是人中精品，隐士们通常也趋于杰出，使得他们持之孤独。
If a man wants to get away from himself or from a guilty conscience he does not retreat into the country, he flees to the town. If he is empty, the town will fill him; if he is idle, the town will amuse him; if he is vain, here is a field for his vanity; if he is ambitious, here are dupes waiting to be played upon; but if he is an honest man, here he will have a struggle to preserve his integrity.
如果一个人想要摆脱自己、摆脱负罪感，他不归隐山村，他会逃向城市。如果他空虚，城市来充实他；如果他无聊，城市可愉悦他；如果他爱慕虚荣，城市有名利场；如果他野心勃勃，城市有待以被耍的傻瓜；但是如果他秉性诚实，这里他将为洁身自好而抗争。
The rapid growth of cities in our time has its dark side. Every man who has a demon to flee from, a vice to indulge, an itching for notoriety to allay, money to squander, or a dream of sudden wealth to cherish, flees to the city, and, as most persons have one or the other of these things, the city outstrips the country.在我们的时代，城市的快速增长有其阴暗的一面。每一个要逃避恶魔的人，沉溺堕落的人，渴望减轻恶名的人，挥霍金钱的人，做一夜暴富发财梦的人，都会趋之若鹜于城市。因为绝大多数人都有着一个或几个上述的情况，城市的发展超过了农村。
It is thought that the more a man is civilized, the more his tastes are refined, the more he will crave city life and the more benefit he will get from it. But this may be questioned. It is not, as a rule, a refined taste that takes men to cities, but a craving for a vain superficial elegance, the pride of dress, of equipage, of fashion, of fast living, and the shams and follies of the world. The more simple and refined taste loves the seriousness and sobriety of the country.
通常认为一个人越文明，一个人的品味越优雅，他就越渴求城市生活，越能从中受益。但是
这受到质疑。一般来说，把人们带到城市的不是优雅的品味，而是虚荣肤浅的附庸风雅，是爱慕穿衣打扮、时髦快活的虚荣，是世间的虚假荒唐。更简单更优雅的品味者酷爱乡村的严谨和清醒。
People find country life dull because they are empty and frivolous; having only themselves on their hands, they can extract no entertainment from such a subject. How can a man profitably commune with himself if the self is small and frivolous and unworthy? He will not go to his own garden for fruit if there be only thorns there.
resources翻译人们觉得乡村生活平淡无味那是因为他们空虚轻浮，因为他们除己身之外别无长物，因为他们不能从乡村生活自娱自乐。如果一个人自身渺小肤浅、一文不值，他又如何从与自己交谈中相得益彰？一个人自己的花园里只有荆棘，他就不会前往。
The finest spirits are not gregarious; they do not love a crowd. Crows and wolves go in flocks and packs, but the eagle and the lion are solitary in their habits.
最高尚的灵魂不会居，他们不爱热闹。乌鸦与豺狼成结队，老鹰狮子离索居。
Solitude is not for the young; the young have no thoughts or experience, but only unsatisfied desires; it is for the middle-aged and the old, for a man when he has ripened and wants time to mellow his thoughts. A man who retires into solitude must have a capital of thought and experience to live upon, or his soul will perish of want.
孤独不属于年轻人，他们没有思想和阅历，只有不满足的欲望。孤独属于中年人和老人的，属于那些已经成熟并希望时间能醇厚他的思想的人。一个遁世孤独的人必须有思想和阅历的资本赖以生存，否则他的灵魂空虚而死亡。
This capital must be reinvested in the things about him, or it will not suffice. Either as a farmer or as a student and lover of nature, or as both, can he live as it were ，on the interest of his stored-up wisdom.
这种资本需要重新在人的身上进行注资，否则就会捉襟见肘。农夫也好，热爱自然的学生也好，或者两者兼之的人，都依赖于他类似于智慧存款的利息存活。
"There are things that never show themselves till you are alone," said an old recluse in Mex
ico to an American traveler who had claimed the hospitality of his hut; "but if you once make up your mind that there is no harm in them, you find out that they are pretty good company."
“有些事情直到你一个人独处时才会显现，”一个墨西哥的老隐士对一个称赞他小屋里的好客的美国旅行者说，“但是如果你一旦认定他们没有什么害处，就会发现他们是非常好的伙伴。”
The old recluse knew what he was saying. Things do show themselves when one is alone; they emerge on all sides; they come in troops from all points of the compass, and one is only master of the situation when he can make good company of them. How your misdeeds find you out! The still small voice of conscience, which you could not hear amid the roar of the town, makes itself heard now; all the past beleaguers you, -- whether with an army of angels or of demons, depends upon what your past has been.