那么他們每年花在工作上的時間最多不會超1000個小時。
When a Kung bushman was asked once why his people hadn't taken to agriculture, he looked puzzled and said,
當土著人被問及為什么他們不種植農(nóng)作物時,他們會用不解的神情反問道:
"Why should we plant, when there're so many mongongo nuts in the world?"
“世界上有那么多的堅果,為什么我們還要種植?”
Or consider the life of a peasant in eighteen century Europe.
或者想想生活在18世紀的歐洲農(nóng)民,
Men and women in those days probably worked from dawn to noon 200 days a year, which works out to about 1,200 hours of work annually.
一年中的200多天里,農(nóng)夫和農(nóng)婦們或許都在田里干活,從日出到日落。這樣每年都會工作1 200多個小時。
During harvest or spring planting, the day might be longer; in the winter, much less.
在收獲和春季播種的季節(jié),每天工作的時間會更久。在冬天,工作量會減少。
In The Discovery of France, the historian Graham Robb writes that peasants life in the country like France,
在名叫《發(fā)現(xiàn)法蘭西》(The Discovery of France)的著作中,歷史學家格雷厄姆·羅伯寫道,
even well into the 19th century, was essentially brief episodes of work followed by long periods of idleness.
法國鄉(xiāng)下農(nóng)民的生活除了偶爾穿插一些工作外,有大把無聊的閑暇時間,尤其是進入19世紀以后,也是如此。
"Ninety-nine percent of human activity described in this and other accounts of French country life," he writes,"took place between late spring and early autumn."
“本書和另一份(關(guān)于法國鄉(xiāng)村生活)的報道描述了人們99%的社會活動。”他寫道,
In the Pyrenees and the Alps, entire villages would essentially hibernate from the time of the first snow in November until March or April.
“書中大部分記錄的都在比利牛斯和阿爾卑斯地區(qū),通常在早春或晚秋時節(jié)。”如11月的第一場雪開始到明年春天的3、4月份,
In more temperate regions of France, where temperatures in the winter really fell below freezing, the same pattern held. Robb continues:
整個村莊基本上都進入冬眠狀態(tài)。在法國其他氣候很溫和的地區(qū),盡管冬天的氣溫很少低于零度,但冬眠的情形同樣存在。羅伯繼續(xù)寫道:
The fields of Flanders were deserted for much of the year.
很長一段時期,佛蘭德斯地區(qū)都十分荒涼,
An official report on the Nievre in 1844 described the strange mutation of the Burgundian day-labor once the harvest was in and the vine stock had been burned:
1884年,一名官員在一份針對涅夫勒省的報告中,揭示了一種非常奇怪的現(xiàn)象,勃艮第地區(qū)的農(nóng)民在豐收的季節(jié)到來后就把葡萄樹根埋起:
"After making the necessary repairs to their tools, these vigorous men will now spend their days in bed,
“在修理一些常用的工具后,這些精力旺盛的人們就開始在床上度日,
packing their bodies tightly together in order to stay warm and eat less food.They weaken themselves deliberately."
為了取暖并減少進食,他們用被子把自己裹得嚴嚴實實。他們主動削弱自己的動力。”
Human hibernation was a physical and economical necessity.
人類的冬眠是基于身體與經(jīng)濟上的考慮,
Lowering the metabolic rate prevented hunger from exhausting supplies....People trudged and dawdled, even in summer....
避免身體上的消耗帶來的饑餓感,從而降低新陳代謝……人們每天混沌度日,甚至在夏天也是如此……
After the revolution, in Alsace and the Pas-de-Calais, officials complained that wine growers and independent farmers,
在工業(yè)革命之后,阿爾薩斯和加來地區(qū)的官員聲稱,釀酒的工人和農(nóng)夫,
instead of undertaking "some peaceful and sedentary industry" in the quieter season, "abandoned themselves to dumb idleness."
在進入冬季后就“不再工作”,“任由自己過著游手好閑的生活。”