农夫怀特

E.B.怀特的散文集，很厚实。为怀特为《哈泼氏》杂志写专栏文章的结集。怀特1938年搬去了缅因州，以分期付款方式买下一个农场，过起了农民生活，当然他也离不开写东西，这些文章从1938年7月写到1943年1月，所以书中有不少文章是跟乡村生活有关的。

我感兴趣的是怀特的务农生活。他的这一选择在我们，在怀特的不少朋友眼里，都是难以理解的。并不是怀特弄文发了小财，《纽约客》虽然稿费出名的高，但还不至于能让怀特一家能在缅因州安逸“养老”，而真正开始让他发了点文财的《精灵鼠小弟》直到1945年才问世。

为什么怀特选择了缅因州？这是因为如《再到湖上》第一段所述，怀特他爸爸在怀特小时候非常关心几个儿女的成长，又舍不得把他们送去夏令营，于是每年亲自带他们去缅因州那个所谓的“缅湖”边上待一个月。这样，幼小的怀特在心里就扎下热爱自然的根子，影响了他的写作，也形成了缅因情结。于是将近四十而立之时，怀特毅然在此购地，过上了幸福的农场主生活。

说是农场主，其实从他的文字中看，只是请了一个雇工，另外顶多就是利用自己的子女这样的无偿童工，怀特身体力行的时候还是居多，比较辛苦。既然是农场，那么还要看农产品出产指标，以怀特的1942-1943年生产计划为例，他要争取出产100磅羊毛，14只羊，4000打鸡蛋（4万8千枚！），10头猪，150磅鸡肉，9000磅牛奶，另外还有蔬菜、水果等。看来怀特搞的是多种经营，效果也非常好，但是想来也占用了不少时间，写文章反而成了“余事”了，无怪乎怀特一再赞美“业余写作”，不妨看作是他的夫子自道：“I think the best writing is often done by persons who are snatching the time from something else-from an occupation, or from a profession, or from a jail term”。

怀特当农夫的生活能给我们很多启示，有心人大可以收集材料写成一篇长文，我还是偷懒，就这样粗略一记吧。

抄书：

怀特的幽默之语：

Yesterday the biggest boy in town tried to enlist in the Navy, but the Navy wouldn't take him. They said he was too tall. He is six feet four and a half inch or about twice the height of a Japanese. Apparently the recruiting officer felt this would give America an Unfair advantage.

论及业余写作的一段：

I think the best writing is often done by persons who are snatching the time from something else-from an occupation, or from a profession, or from a jail term – something that is either burning them up, as religion, or love, or politics, or that is boring them to tears, as prison, or a brokerage house, or an advertising firm. A great violinist must begin fairly early in life to play the violin; but I think a literary artist has a better chance of producing something great if he spends the first forty years of his life doing something else - grinding a lens or surveying a wilderness.

在怀特眼里，一切都可爱，以奶牛为例：

P266 My cow turned out to be a very large one. The first time I led her out I felt the way I did the first I ever took a girl to the theatre-embarrassed but elated. In both instances the female walked with a firmer step than mine, seemed rather in charge of the affair, and excited me with her sweet scent.