Walden, and On The Duty Of Civil Disobedience — Page 14
It would be some advantage to live a primitive and frontier life, though in the midst of an outward civilization, if only to learn what are the gross necessaries of life and what methods have been taken to obtain them; or even to look over the old day-books of the merchants, to see what it was that men most commonly bought at the stores, what they stored, that is, what are the grossest groceries.
外見上の文明の只中にあっても、原始的で開拓者のような生活を送ることには、ある種の利点があるだろう――せめて、生活の基本的な必需品とは何か、またそれらを手に入れるためにどのような方法が取られてきたかを知るためだけにでも。あるいは、商人たちの古い台帳を繰って、人々が店で最もよく買ったのは何か、何を蓄えたか、つまり最も粗末な日用品とは何かを確かめるためだけにでも。
For the improvements of ages have had but little influence on the essential laws of man's existence; as our skeletons, probably, are not to be distinguished from those of our ancestors.
なぜなら、幾世代にもわたる進歩も、人間の存在の本質的な法則にはほとんど影響を与えてこなかったからだ。ちょうど私たちの骨格が、おそらく先祖のものと見分けがつかないように。
By the words, necessary of life, I mean whatever, of all that man obtains by his own exertions, has been from the first, or from long use has become, so important to human life that few, if any, whether from savageness, or poverty, or philosophy, ever attempt to do without it.
「生活の必需品」という言葉で私が意味するのは、人間が自らの努力によって得るものすべての中で、最初からあるいは長年の使用によって、人間の生活にとってきわめて重要となったために、野蛮であれ、貧困であれ、哲学的信念であれ、それなしで済まそうとする者がほとんどいない、そのようなものである。
To many creatures there is in this sense but one necessary of life, Food.
多くの生き物にとって、この意味での生活の必需品はただ一つ、食物である。
To the bison of the prairie it is a few inches of palatable grass, with water to drink; unless he seeks the Shelter of the forest or the mountain's shadow.
草原のバイソンにとっては、口に合う草が数インチと飲み水があれば足りる。もっとも、森の陰や山の影という住処を求めない限りにおいてだが。
None of the brute creation requires more than Food and Shelter.
動物の世界では、食物と住処以上のものを必要とする者はいない。
Vocabulary
- 外見上
- gaiken-jō — Apparently, on the surface, outwardly.
- の
- no — Possessive or nominalizing particle.
- 文明
- bunmei — Civilization, culture, enlightenment.
- 只中
- tadanaka — Right in the middle, midst of something.
- に
- ni — Particle indicating location, direction, or time.
- あって
- atte — Being in, existing within a situation.
- も
- mo — Particle meaning also, even, too.
- 原始的
- genshiteki — Primitive, primordial, basic and undeveloped.
- で
- de — Particle indicating means, place of action.
- 開拓者
- kaitakusha — Pioneer, settler, one who opens new territory.
- よう
- yō — Like, resembling, in the manner of.
- な
- na — Adjectival particle linking na-adjectives to nouns.
- 生活
- seikatsu — Daily life, living, lifestyle.
- を
- wo — Object-marking particle in Japanese sentences.
- 送る
- okuru — To lead a life, to send, to spend time.
- こと
- koto — Thing, matter, fact (nominalizer).
- は
- wa — Topic-marking particle in Japanese grammar.
- ある
- aru — To exist, to be (inanimate), to have.
- 種
- shu — Kind, sort, type, species.
- 利点
- riten — Advantage, merit, benefit, strong point.
- が
- ga — Subject-marking particle in Japanese grammar.
- だろう
- darō — Probably, I suppose, likely to be.
- せめて
- semete — At least, at the very least, minimally.
- 基本的
- kihonteki — Basic, fundamental, essential in nature.
- 必需品
- hitsujūhin — Necessities, essential goods, indispensable items.
- と
- to — Particle meaning and, with, or quotation marker.
- 何
- nani — What, something, anything.
- か
- ka — Question particle or some/any marker.
- また
- mata — Again, also, furthermore, moreover.
- それら
- sorera — Those things, those items (plural).
- 手に入れる
- te ni ireru — To obtain, to acquire, to get something.
- ため
- tame — For the purpose of, for the sake of.
- どの
- dono — Which, what kind of (before a noun).
- 方法
- hōhō — Method, way, means of doing something.
- 取られ
- torareta — Was taken, was adopted (passive form).
- 知る
- shiru — To know, to learn, to be aware of.
- だけ
- dake — Only, just, merely, no more than.
- あるいは
- arui wa — Or, alternatively, perhaps, on the other hand.
- 商人
- shōnin — Merchant, trader, businessman, shopkeeper.
- たち
- tachi — Plural suffix for people or animate beings.
- 古い
- furui — Old, aged, antiquated, not new.
- 台帳
- daichō — Ledger, register, account book, record book.
- 繰って
- kutte — Flipping through pages, turning over repeatedly.
- 人々
- hitobito — People, folks, various persons.
- 店
- mise — Shop, store, establishment selling goods.
- 最も
- mottomo — Most, most of all, extremely.
- よく
- yoku — Often, well, frequently, skillfully.
- 買って
- katte — Having bought, purchasing something.
- 蓄え
- takuwae — Savings, stockpile, stored supply of goods.
- つまり
- tsumari — That is to say, in other words, namely.
- 粗末
- somatsu — Crude, coarse, shabby, treating carelessly.
- 日用品
- nichiyōhin — Daily necessities, everyday household goods.
- 確かめる
- tashikameru — To confirm, to verify, to make sure.
- なぜなら
- nazenara — Because, the reason being, for the reason that.
- 幾
- iku — Several, how many, some number of.
- 世代
- sedai — Generation, an era of people born together.
- わたる
- wataru — To span, to extend over, to cover a range.
- 進歩
- shinpo — Progress, advancement, improvement, development.
- 人間
- ningen — Human being, person, mankind.
- 存在
- sonzai — Existence, being, presence, entity.
- 本質的
- honshitsuteki — Essential, intrinsic, fundamental in nature.
- 法則
- hōsoku — Law, rule, principle governing phenomena.
- ほとんど
- hotondo — Almost, nearly, mostly, hardly at all.
- 影響
- eikyō — Influence, effect, impact on something.
- 与え
- atae — To give, to grant, to exert influence.
- なかった
- nakatta — Did not exist, was not, there was none.
- から
- kara — Because, from, since (reason or origin).
- だ
- da — Copula meaning is, are, to be (plain form).
- ちょうど
- chōdo — Exactly, just, precisely at that point.
- 私
- watashi — I, me, first-person singular pronoun.
- 骨格
- kokkaku — Skeleton, bone structure, framework of body.
- おそらく
- osoraku — Probably, perhaps, most likely, presumably.
- 先祖
- senzo — Ancestor, forefather, one's predecessors.
- もの
- mono — Thing, object, person, matter (nominalizer).
- 見分け
- miwake — Distinguishing, telling apart, discerning differences.
- つかない
- tsukanai — Cannot distinguish, unable to tell apart.
- 言葉
- kotoba — Word, language, expression, speech.
- 意味する
- imi suru — To mean, to signify, to denote something.
- 自ら
- mizukara — Oneself, personally, by one's own effort.
- 努力
- doryoku — Effort, hard work, endeavor, exertion.
- よって
- yotte — By means of, due to, therefore, accordingly.
- 得る
- eru — To obtain, to gain, to acquire something.
- すべて
- subete — All, everything, entirely, the whole.
- 中
- naka — Inside, among, within, middle.
- 最初
- saisho — First, beginning, the very start.
- 長年
- naganen — Many years, long years, over many years.
- 使用
- shiyō — Use, usage, application of something.
- とって
- totte — For, in terms of, from the perspective of.
- きわめて
- kiwamete — Extremely, exceedingly, highly, very much.
- 重要
- jūyō — Important, significant, crucial, vital.
- なった
- natta — Became, turned into, came to be.
- 野蛮
- yaban — Savage, barbaric, uncivilized, primitive behavior.
- 貧困
- hinkon — Poverty, destitution, extreme lack of resources.
- 哲学的
- tetsugakuteki — Philosophical, relating to philosophy and thought.
- 信念
- shinnen — Belief, conviction, strong personal faith.
- なしに
- nashi ni — Without, lacking, in the absence of.
- 済まそう
- sumaso — To make do without, to manage without something.
- 者
- mono — Person, one who does something, individual.
- 生き物
- ikimono — Living creature, living being, organism.
- ただ
- tada — Only, merely, just, simply.
- 一つ
- hitotsu — One, one item, a single thing.
- 食物
- shokumotsu — Food, nourishment, something edible.
- 草原
- sōgen — Grassland, prairie, meadow, open grassy field.
- 口に合う
- kuchi ni au — To suit one's taste, to be palatable.
- 草
- kusa — Grass, weed, plant, herb.
- 飲み水
- nomimizu — Drinking water, potable water for consumption.
- 足りる
- tariru — To be sufficient, to be enough, to suffice.
- もっとも
- mottomo — However, though, that said, most reasonable.
- 森
- mori — Forest, woods, grove of trees.
- 陰
- kage — Shade, shadow, hidden side, shelter.
- 山
- yama — Mountain, hill, large natural elevation.
- 影
- kage — Shadow, silhouette, reflected image.
- 住処
- sumika — Dwelling, home, place where one lives.
- 求め
- motome — Seeking, searching for, demanding something.
- 限り
- kagiri — As long as, to the extent of, limit.
- 動物
- dōbutsu — Animal, creature, beast, non-human living being.
- 世界
- sekai — World, realm, universe, global community.
- 以上
- ijō — More than, beyond, above, no more to add.
- 必要
- hitsuyō — Necessary, needed, required, essential.
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