寫作這件事兒

In any weather, at any hour of the day or night, I have been anxious to improve the nick of time, and notch it on my stick too; to stand on the meeting of two eternities, the past and future, which is precisely the present moment; to toe that line. You will pardon some obscurities, for there are more secrets in my trade than in most men's, and yet not voluntarily kept, but inseparable from its very nature. I would gladly tell all that I know about it, and never paint "No Admittance" on my gate.

I long ago lost a hound, a bay horse, and a turtle dove, and am still on their trail. Many are the travellers I have spoken concerning them, describing their tracks and what calls they answered to. I have met one or two who had heard the hound, and the tramp of the horse, and even seen the dove disappear behind a cloud, and they seemed as anxious to recover them as if they had lost them themselves.

這兩段文字是本書最神秘難暸的部份。我的理解如下：

梭羅珍惜活著的每一刻，不會像我一樣，偶爾還關心一下政治、時事，滑滑臉書。（I have been anxious to improve the nick of time, and notch it on my stick too;…）若是有什麼感觸，他就會記下來，並照著做（to toe that line）。寫作這個行業，你不能寫得太露骨，所以說作家這一行的本性和秘密分不開。文字便是這樣。你以為讓雨水飄進來，就夠清楚，讀者就應該知道下雨了，但大部份的人並不知道。難道要寫得更清楚明白嗎？你把雨棚收起，讀者就要罵你，為什麼下雨天還把雨棚收了。

其他的部份，見《Walden 2.0》。