But this small village, germ of something more, why did it fail while Concord keeps its ground? Were there no natural advantages, -- no water privileges, forsooth? Ay, the deep Walden Pond and cool Brister's Spring, -- privilege to drink long and healthy draughts at these, all unimproved by these men but to dilute their glass. They were universally a thirsty race. Might not the basket, stable-broom, mat-making, corn- parching, linen-spinning, and pottery business have thrived here, making the wilderness to blossom like the rose, and a numerous posterity have inherited the land of their fathers? The sterile soil would at least have been proof against a lowland degeneracy. Alas! how little does the memory of these human inhabitants enhance the beauty of the landscape! Again, perhaps, Nature will try, with me for a first settler, and my house raised last spring to be the oldest in the hamlet.
I am not aware that any man has ever built on the spot which I occupy. Deliver me from a city built on the site of a more ancient city, whose materials are ruins, whose gardens cemeteries. The soil is blanched and accursed there, and before that becomes necessary the earth itself will be destroyed. With such reminiscences I repeopled the woods and lulled myself asleep.
（徐迟译）可是这一个小村落，应该是可以发展的一个幼芽，为什么康科德还在老地方，它却失败了呢？难道没有天时地利，——譬如说，水利不好吗？啊，瓦尔登之深，勃立斯特泉水之冷，——何等丰富，喝了何等有益于健康，可是除了用来把他们的酒冲淡之外，这些人丝毫没有加以利用。他们都只是些口渴的家伙。为什么编篮子，做马棚扫帚，编席子，晒干包谷，织细麻布，制陶器，这些营生在这儿不能发展，使荒原像玫瑰花一样开放，为什么又没有子子孙孙来继承他们祖先的土地呢？硗薄的土地至少是抵挡得住低地的退化的。可叹啊！这些人类居民的回忆对风景的美竟无贡献！也许，大自然又要拿我来试试，叫我做第一个移民，让我去年春天建立的屋子成为这个村子的最古老的建筑。
我不知道在我占用的土地上，以前有什么人建筑过房屋。不要让我住在一个建筑于古城之上的城市中，它以废墟为材料，以墓地为园林。那里的土地已经惊惶失色，已经受到诅咒，而在这些成为事实之前，大地本身恐怕也要毁灭了。有这样的回忆在心头，我重新把这些人安置在森林中，以此催我自己入眠。

1. But this small village, germ of something more, why did it fail while Concord keeps its ground? 这个村庄不止是村庄，还是某种东西的菌种，但是为什么康科德坚守其阵地而它却没能（活下来）？
2. Were there no natural advantages, -- no water privileges, forsooth?是真的没有自然优势——没有水的特别优遇吗？
3. Ay, the deep Walden Pond and cool Brister's Spring, -- privilege to drink long and healthy draughts at these, all unimproved by these men but to dilute their glass.徐译“啊，瓦尔登之深，勃立斯特泉水之冷，——何等丰富，喝了何等有益于健康，可是除了用来把他们的酒冲淡之外，这些人丝毫没有加以利用。”若能译出privilege，可以与上句privilege关联呼应。“呜呼，瓦尔登深湖和布里斯特凉泉——在这些地方大口畅饮健康之水的特权，都没有被这些人利用，他们只是用来稀释酒。
4. They were universally a thirsty race.他们都是渴望的一族。thirsty译“口渴”与前面的湖、泉相应，但是，我疑心它不只是口渴，可能还有欲望大、不厌足的意思。
5. Might not … have thrived here, making the wilderness to blossom like the rose, and a numerous posterity have inherited the land of their fathers?“这些营生不能在此地兴盛吗？”与“为什么不能在此地兴盛？”不一样，前者不确定，后者确定不。
6. Again, perhaps, Nature will try, with me for a first settler, and my house raised last spring to be the oldest in the hamlet也许，大自然以我为第一个定居者，以我去年春天建的房子为这一带最古老的房屋，再来一次尝试。
7. With such reminiscences I repeopled the woods and lulled myself asleep.徐译“我重新把这些人安置在森林中”，应该不是“怎么安置这些人”，而是让森林重新有人生活。