We spent the next day in rowing about the Upper Saranac, exploring its beautiful bays and islands. We took as many trout3 in trolling occasionally, as we needed for dinner and supper. It became an established law among us, that we should kill no more game or fish than we needed for supplies, whatever their abundance or our temptation might be. It required some self-denial to observe this law, but we kept it with tolerable strictness. There were times when we had a large supply of both venison and fish, but there were seven men of us in all, and we could despose of a good deal of flesh and fish in the twenty-four hours. We had sent our boat with the luggage across the Indian carrying place, a path of a mile through the forest, to the Spectacle Ponds, three little lakes, from which a stream, known as Stony4 Brook5, rises. This stream is navigable for small boats like ours, five miles to the Rackett River. These lakes contain from a hundred to a hundred and fifty acres each. At the head of the Upper Pond is a beautiful cold spring, near which, upon crossing the carrying place, at evening, we found our tents pitched. We arrived here about sundown, somewhat wearied with our day's excursion, and with appetites fully6 equal to a plentiful7 supper which was soon in readiness for us.
"You are getting me into a bad habit, spoiling my morals in a physical sense," said Smith, addressing us as we sat after supper around our camp-fire; "I find myself taking to the pipe out here, in these old woods, with a relish8 I never have at home. It seems to agree with me here, and I expect by the time I get back to civilization, I shall be as great a smoker as the Doctor or Spalding. If I do, I shall have to pay for it by indigestion and hypochondria, things that you of the fat kine, know nothing about."
"Well," replied the Doctor, "You will only have to call on me as you did last month, and then send for Spalding to draw your will, as you did the next day, when you were as well as I am, excepting that kink in your head about your going to die."
"Why, the truth is," retorted Smith, "I had made up my mind, after twelve hours consideration, to take the medicine you left, and I appeal to H——here, if it was after that, anything more than a reasonable precaution to be prepared for any contingency9 that might happen. Your medicines, Doctor, and the testamentary disposition10 of a man's worldly effects, are very natural associations."
"Very well," said the Doctor; "you'll send for me again in a month after our return, and in that case, it may be, that the money you paid Spalding for drawing your will, will not have been thrown away. But in regard to the use of the pipe; I propose that we call upon Spalding, for a legal opinion, or an argument in its favor. It's his business to defend criminals, and I file an accusation against smoking generally, excepting, however, from the indictments12 the use of the pipe, as in some sort a necessity, on all such excursions as ours."
"I shall not undertake," said Spalding, "to enter into a labored13 defence of the use of tobacco in any form. I only move for a mitigation of punishment, and will state the circumstances upon which I base my appeal to the clemency14 of the court. The exception in the indictment11, enables me to avoid the plea of necessity, which I should have interposed, founded upon a huge forest meal, and the abundance as well as impertinence of the musquitoes of these woods."
"I called the other day upon a venerable friend and client, who is travelling the down hill of life quietly, and though with the present summer he will have accomplished15 his three score years and ten, his voice is as cheerful, and his heart as young, as they were decades ago, when his manhood was in the glory and strength of its prime. I found him sitting in his great arm-chair, smoking his accustomed pipe, reading the evening papers. He seemed to be so calm, and happy, as the smoke went wreathing up from his lips, that I could not for the moment refrain from envying the calmness and repose16 which were visible all around him. He has smoked his morning and evening pipe, in his quiet way, for nearly half a century. When engaged in the active business of life, struggling with its cares, and fighting its battles, he always took half an hour in the morning, and as long at evening, to smoke his pipe and read the news of the day. He scarcely ever, when at home, under any pressure of circumstances omitted these two half hours of repose, or as his excellent wife used to say, of 'fumigation17.' She passed to her rest years ago, leaving behind her the pleasant odor of a good name, a memory cherished by all who knew her.
"Men denounce the use of tobacco, and I do not quarrel with them for doing so. Say that it is a vile18 and a filthy19 habit; be it so, I will not now stop to deny it. Say that it is bad for the constitution, ruinous to the health; be it so. I will not gainsay20 it. Still I never see an old man, seated in his great arm chair, with his grandchildren playing around him, smoking his pipe and enjoying its, to him, pleasant perfume, its soothing21 influences, without regarding that same pipe as an institution which I would hardly be willing to banish22 entirely23 from the world.
"There is a good deal of philosophy, too, in a pipe, if one will but take the trouble to study it; great subjects for moralizing, much food for reflection; and all this outside of the physical enjoyment24, the soothing influences of a quiet pipe, when the day is drawing to a close, and its cares require some gentle force to banish them away. It does not weaken the power of thought, nor stultify25 the brain. It quiets the nerves, makes a man look in charity upon the world, and to judge with a chastened lenity the shortcomings of his neighbors. It reconciles him to his lot, and sends him to his pillow, or about his labors26, with a calm deliberate cheerfulness, very desirable to those who come under the law that requires people to earn their bread by the sweat of their brow.
"I said there is a good deal of philosophy in a pipe, and I repeat it. Who can see the smoke go wreathing and curling upward from his lips in all sorts of fantastic shapes, spreading out thinner and thinner, till it fades away and is lost among the invisible things of the air, without saying to himself, 'Such are the visions of youth; such the hopes, the grand schemes of life, looming27 up in beautiful distinctness before the mind's eye, growing fainter and fainter as life wears away, and then disappearing forever. Such are the things of this life, beautiful as they appear, unsubstantial shadows all.' And then, as the fire consumes the weed, exhausting itself upon the substance which feeds it, burning lower and lower, till it goes out for lack of aliment, who will not be reminded of life itself? the animated28 form, the body instinct with vitality29, changing and changing as time sweeps along, till the spirit that gave it vigor30 and comeliness31, and power and beauty, is called away, and it becomes at last mere32 dust and ashes. And then again, when the pipe itself falls from the teeth, or the table, or the mantel, or the shelf—as fall it surely will, sooner or later—and is broken, and the fragments are thrown out of the window, or swept out at the door, who can fail to see in this, the type of life's closing scene? the body broken by disease and death, carried away and hidden in the earth, to remain among the useless rubbish of the past, to be seen no more forever? Yes, yes! there is a great deal of philosophy in a pipe, if people will take pains to study it.
"I have a pleasant time of it once or twice a year with an old gentleman, living away in the country; one whom memory calls up from the dim and shadowy twilight33 of my earliest recollections, as a tall stalwart man, already the head of a family with little children around him. Those who were then little children have grown up to be men and women, and have drifted away upon the currents of life, themselves fathers and mothers, with grey hairs gathering34 upon their heads. I visit this venerable philosopher in his hearty35 and green old age, every summer. I see him now, in my mind's eye, sitting under the spreading branches of the trees planted by himself half a century ago, which cast their shadows upon the pleasant lawn in front of his dwelling—discussing politics, morals, history, religion, philosophy—recounting anecdotes36 of the early settlement of the county of which he was a pioneer; and I see how calmly and deliberately37 he smokes, while he calls up old memories from the shadowy past, discoursing38 wisely of the present, or speaking prophetically of the future. I saw him last in July of the past year, and he seemed to have changed in nothing. He had not grown older in outward seeming. His heart was as warm and genial39 as it was long, long ago; and cheerfulness, calm and chastened, marked as it had for years the conversation of a man who felt that his mission in life was accomplished. 'Why,' said he, addressing me, as a new thought seemed to strike him, 'why, your head is growing grey! I never noticed it before. It is almost as white as mine. Well, well!' he continued, as he tapped the thumb nail of his left hand with the inverted40 bowl of his pipe, knocking the ashes from it as he spoke41, 'well, well! it won't be long until we will have smoked our last pipe. Mine, at least, will soon be broken. But what of that? Seventy-eight years is a long time to live in this world. I have had my share of life and of the good pertaining42 to it, and shall have no right to complain when my pipe is broken and its ashes scattered43.' Such was the philosophy of an almost Octogenarian smoker."
"I move for a suspension of sentence," said Smith, "Spalding's defence of the weed, induces me to withdraw the indictment against it, leaving punishment only for the excessive use of it."
The motion was carried unanimously, and by way of confirming the decision, we all refilled our pipes and smoked till the stars looked down in their brightness from the fathomless44 depths of the sky.
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1
accusation
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| n.控告，指责，谴责 | |
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smoker
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| n.吸烟者，吸烟车厢，吸烟室 | |
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trout
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| n.鳟鱼；鲑鱼(属) | |
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stony
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| adj.石头的，多石头的，冷酷的，无情的 | |
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brook
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| n.小河，溪；v.忍受，容让 | |
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fully
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| adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地 | |
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plentiful
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| adj.富裕的，丰富的 | |
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relish
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| n.滋味，享受，爱好，调味品；vt.加调味料，享受，品味；vi.有滋味 | |
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contingency
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| n.意外事件，可能性 | |
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disposition
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| n.性情，性格；意向，倾向；排列，部署 | |
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indictment
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| n.起诉；诉状 | |
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indictments
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| n.（制度、社会等的）衰败迹象( indictment的名词复数 )；刑事起诉书；公诉书；控告 | |
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13
labored
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| adj.吃力的，谨慎的v.努力争取(for)( labor的过去式和过去分词 )；苦干；详细分析；（指引擎）缓慢而困难地运转 | |
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14
clemency
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| n.温和，仁慈，宽厚 | |
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accomplished
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| adj.有才艺的；有造诣的；达到了的 | |
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repose
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| v.(使)休息；n.安息 | |
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fumigation
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| n.烟熏，熏蒸；忿恨 | |
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18
vile
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| adj.卑鄙的，可耻的，邪恶的；坏透的 | |
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filthy
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| adj.卑劣的；恶劣的，肮脏的 | |
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gainsay
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| v.否认，反驳 | |
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soothing
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| adj.慰藉的；使人宽心的；镇静的 | |
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banish
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| vt.放逐，驱逐；消除，排除 | |
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entirely
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| ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地 | |
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enjoyment
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| n.乐趣；享有；享用 | |
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stultify
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| v.愚弄；使呆滞 | |
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labors
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| v.努力争取(for)( labor的第三人称单数 )；苦干；详细分析；（指引擎）缓慢而困难地运转 | |
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looming
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| n.上现蜃景（光通过低层大气发生异常折射形成的一种海市蜃楼）v.隐约出现，阴森地逼近( loom的现在分词 )；隐约出现，阴森地逼近 | |
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animated
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| adj.生气勃勃的，活跃的，愉快的 | |
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vitality
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| n.活力，生命力，效力 | |
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vigor
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| n.活力，精力，元气 | |
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comeliness
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| n. 清秀, 美丽, 合宜 | |
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mere
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| adj.纯粹的；仅仅，只不过 | |
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twilight
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| n.暮光，黄昏；暮年，晚期，衰落时期 | |
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gathering
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| n.集会，聚会，聚集 | |
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hearty
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| adj.热情友好的；衷心的；尽情的，纵情的 | |
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anecdotes
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| n.掌故，趣闻，轶事( anecdote的名词复数 ) | |
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deliberately
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| adv.审慎地；蓄意地；故意地 | |
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discoursing
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| 演说（discourse的现在分词形式） | |
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genial
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| adj.亲切的，和蔼的，愉快的，脾气好的 | |
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40
inverted
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| adj.反向的，倒转的v.使倒置，使反转( invert的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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41
spoke
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| n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说 | |
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42
pertaining
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| 与…有关系的，附属…的，为…固有的(to) | |
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43
scattered
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| adj.分散的，稀疏的；散步的；疏疏落落的 | |
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44
fathomless
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| a.深不可测的 | |
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