I am lonely only when I am overtired, when I have worked too long without a break, when for the time being I feel empty and need filling up. And I am lonely sometimes when I come back home after a lecture trip, when I have seen a lot of people and talked a lot, and am full to the brim with experience that needs to be sorted out.

Then for a little while the house feels huge and empty, and I wonder where my self is hiding. It has to be recaptured slowly by watering the plants, perhaps, and looking again at each one as though it were a person, by feeding the two cats, by cooking a meal.

 

参考译文：
只有在我过度劳累的时候，在我长时间不间断地工作的时侯，在我感到内心空虚，需要充实的时候，我才会感到寂寞。有时，外出演讲回来，见了许多人,讲了许多话，心中满是纷乱的体验需要整理，偶而也会觉得孤独。

于是有那么一会儿，我会感到整个房子非常大，空荡荡的。不知此时的自我又藏匿于何处。这时，我会给花草浇浇水，挨个瞅瞅，仿佛它们是活生生的人一样，或是喂喂两只小猫，亲手做顿饭菜，这样自我就慢慢地重新找回。