儒琴英语文学词汇咀嚼《瓦尔登湖》(Walden )一书的用词。《瓦尔登湖》是美国超验主义作家亨利·戴维·梭罗的著作。本文是对自然环境中简单生活的反思。这部作品部分是个人独立宣言、社会实验、精神探索之旅、讽刺，在某种程度上是一本自力更生的手册。
英语文学词汇 Literature Terms
选词 1
fain [fān]
形容词和副词 pleased or willing under the circumstances.； with pleasure; gladly.
乐意地，愿意地；宁愿
同义词： with pleasure · happily · cheerfully · willingly · readily · eagerly · freely · without hesitation · without reluctance · with good grace · ungrudgingly · lief
选词 2
penance
[ˈpenəns] NOUN
voluntary self-punishment inflicted as an outward expression of repentance for having done wrong.
悔过，悔罪；补赎; 歉意; 苦行；苦差事；自愿的自我惩罚，作为对自己所做错事的忏悔的外在表现。
同义词: atonement · expiation · self-punishment · self-mortification · self-abasement ·
a Christian sacrament in which a member of the Church confesses sins to a priest and is given absolution.In the Roman Catholic Church often called sacrament of reconciliation or Confession.
选词 3
Brahmins 婆罗门教徒; 祭司
[ˈbrɑːmɪnz] Noun
Brahmin are a varna in Hinduism， a member of the highest Hindu caste, that of the priesthood.They specialised as priests, teachers and protectors of sacred learning across generations.
婆罗门是印度四姓中最高级种姓、祭司和学者的阶级（其他三种依次为刹帝利、犬舍、首陀罗）），他们世世代代以祭司、教师和神圣知识的保护者为专业。
选词 4
caterpillar
noun [ C ] /ˈkæt̬.ɚ.pɪl.ɚ/
a small, long animal with many legs that feeds on the leaves of plants, and develops into a butterfly or moth; the larva of a butterfly or moth, having a segmented wormlike body with three pairs of true legs and several pairs of leglike appendages. Caterpillars may be hairy, have warning coloration, or be colored to resemble their surroundings.
毛虫，蠋（蝴蝶或飞蛾的幼虫）
选词 5
Hercules 赫拉克勒斯（古希腊神话中的大力神）又译： 海格力斯
[ˈhərkyəˌlēz] or Heracles (Hercules and Heracles are the same fictional character)
a mythical Greek hero renowned for his great strength and especially for performing 12 labors imposed on him by Hera
希腊神话中的英雄，宙斯之子赫拉克勒斯因其强大的力量而闻名，尤指能完成赫拉强加给他的12项任务。
选词 6
trifling
ADJECTIVE /ˈtraɪflɪŋ/ unimportant or trivial.
微不足道的，不重要的
同义词：trivial · unimportant · insignificant · inconsequential · petty · minor
选词 7
Iolaus 伊奥劳斯
Iolaus, ancient Greek hero, the nephew, charioteer, and assistant of Heracles. He was the son of Iphicles, himself mortal half brother of Heracles by the same mother, Alcmene. Iolaus aided Heracles in his second Labour, the slaying of the Hydra and its ally the crab.
在希腊神话中，Iolaus是希腊神话中的底比斯英雄, 伊克力斯和Automedusa之子,赫拉克勒斯的姪子和爱人。赫拉克勒斯是在他的侄儿伊奥劳斯的帮助下完成杀死“九头蛇”海德拉的任务。
选词 8
Hydra 海德拉 （希腊神话中的九头蛇)
a many-headed serpent or monster in Greek mythology that was slain by Hercules and each head of which when cut off was replaced by two others
在希腊传说中也被称为勒尼的九头蛇，一个巨大的水蛇一样的怪物，有九个头。其中一颗头要是被斩断，立刻又会生出两颗头来。赫拉克勒斯运用他的智慧，成功地击败了巨大水蛇海德拉。
英语原文
I would fain say something, not so much concerning the Chinese and Sandwich Islanders as you who read these pages, who are said to live in New England; something about your condition, especially your outward condition or circumstances in this world, in this town, what it is, whether it is necessary that it be as bad as it is, whether it cannot be improved as well as not. I have travelled a good deal in Concord; and everywhere, in shops, and offices, and fields, the inhabitants have appeared to me to be doing penance in a thousand remarkable ways. What I have heard of Brahmins sitting exposed to four fires and looking in the face of the sun; or hanging suspended, with their heads downward, over flames; or looking at the heavens over their shoulders “until it becomes impossible for them to resume their natural position, while from the twist of the neck nothing but liquids can pass into the stomach”; or dwelling, chained for life, at the foot of a tree; or measuring with their bodies, like caterpillars, the breadth of vast empires; or standing on one leg on the tops of pillars— even these forms of conscious penance are hardly more incredible and astonishing than the scenes which I daily witness. The twelve labors of Hercules were trifling in comparison with those which my neighbors have undertaken; for they were only twelve, and had an end; but I could never see that these men slew or captured any monster or finished any labor. They have no friend Iolaus to burn with a hot iron the root of the hydra’ s head, but as soon as one head is crushed, two spring up.
中文翻译（李继宏）
我想要说的话跟中国人和三明治 群岛的岛民没有太大的关系，而 跟 阅读这些文字的你，跟住在 新 英格兰 地区的你有 很大 的 关系； 我要 谈论 的 是你的处境， 你在这个世界上、 在这 座 城 镇里 的 境况 和 遭遇，以及 这种 境遇的本质，它 何以会如此糟糕， 是否 能够 得到 改善。 我走访了康 科 德 的 许多 地方； 在所到之处， 无论是 商店、 办公楼 还是 田地， 我 发现 这里 的 居民 都好像正在赎罪 似的， 做着 各种 费心劳力 的 苦役。我曾经听说婆罗门教徒会坐在 四个火堆中间， 抬头仰望着太阳； 或者把自己吊起来，头下脚上， 经受烈焰的炙烤； 或者 扭头凝视天空，“ 直到 他们 再也 恢复了自然的姿势， 而且由于脖子是扭曲的， 只有液体能够流进他们的胃”； 或者终生戴着锁链，生活在某棵树木下； 或者像毛毛虫那样，用他们的身体去丈量广袤的国土； 或者单足站立在 木柱 之上 —— 但 即使这些有意为之的苦行， 也不比我日常所见的场景 更为令人难以置信和震惊。 赫 拉克勒斯的十二大苦役 和我的邻居 所从事的苦役 比起 来 简直 微不足道； 因为 它们 只有 十二 件， 毕竟有结束的时候； 但我从不曾看见这些人杀死或捕获任何怪兽， 或者完成过任何劳役。他们没有伊奥劳斯这样朋友来用火红铁块去烙海德拉的脖子， 每当 砍掉一个头， 有两个新的头生出来。