【原】Henry David Thoreau (1817-1862)（July 12：美国历史上的今天）

内容提要：作家梭罗的一生简介及《瓦尔登湖》的写作背景。

Henry David Thoreau was a writer. He wrote about nature, and how all living things depend on other living things to survive存活. He also wrote about how people should be willing to stand up for支持 the things they believe in. 

Thoreau was born on July 12, 1817, in Concord, Massachusetts. He graduated from Harvard University. He began his writing with short articles and poems. Then he decided to write a book about nature. 

From 1845 to 1847, Thoreau lived in a little cabin (小屋）he built himself. It was on the edge of Walden Pond, a small lake outside of Concord. He lived almost like a hermit (隐士). He had few comforts物质享受 and saw few people. He wanted to know what it was like to live in the woods, totally dependent on nature. He wrote about this time in his book called Walden, or Life in the Woods. 

Thoreau had strong beliefs against slavery. He refused to pay a tax to the government of Massachusetts because it favored slavery. He even spent one night in jail and was freed only after a relative paid the tax for him. This made him angry. He wrote about his feelings in an essay called "Civil Disobedience 论公民的不服从." Its main idea was that people should not support laws they truly believed were wrong.

Thoreau's many books never brought him much fame or fortune财富 during his lifetime. It was not until years after his death in 1862 that people came to appreciate欣赏 his work. Now, his books are read and studied in schools everywhere.

本文内容选自上海外语教育出版社引进出版的《听读美国小故事》第7册（7月）。如需购买，可到当当、亚马逊、京东等网上书城去看看。