"A man builds his house in the same way as a bird builds its nest, and who knows if a man also built his house with both hands of ownership, and obtained food for himself and his family through a similar simple and honest process, would he not develop universally in it? the poetic talent, in the same way as the birds without exception all sing, when are they busy with such things? But alas, we behave like the cuckoo, which lays its eggs in a nest laid by another bird, and does not cheer up the wanderer with its agitated, tuneless voice. Why do we leave the joy of construction to the carpenter?
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Author
Henry David ThoreauAll Translations
All Translations
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A man builds his house in the same way as a bird builds its nest, and who knows if a man also built his house with both hands of ownership, and obtained food for himself and his family through a similar simple and honest process, would he not develop universally in it? the poetic talent, in the same way as the birds without exception all sing, when are they busy with such things? But alas, we behave like the cuckoo, which lays its eggs in a nest laid by another bird, and does not cheer up the wanderer with its agitated, tuneless voice. Why do we leave the joy of construction to the carpenter?
""Az ember olyasformán építi házát, mint madár a fészkét, és ki tudja, ha az ember is a tulajdon két kezével emelné lakóházát, s hasonló egyszerű, becsületes eljárással szerezné meg a táplálékot a maga és családja számára, vajon nem fejlődne-e ki benne egyetemesen a költői tehetség, ugyanúgy, ahogy a madarak kivétel nélkül mind énekelnek, midőn ilyesmivel foglalatoskodnak? De sajna, mi olyasformán viselkedünk, mint a kakukk, amely más madár által rakott fészekbe teszi tojásait, és izgága, dallamtalan hangjával nem deríti jókedvre a vándort. Miért engedjük át az ácsnak az építkezés örömét?"