1/8 LIBERTY AND A LIVING. 



Thoreau, with a capital of less than twenty-five 

 dollars, and a borrowed axe, walked into the 

 woods by Walden Pond, and began his experi- 

 ment. He built himself a dwelling, and returned 

 the axe, he says, sharper than when he borrowed 

 it ; he reclaimed a patch of ground where he 

 cultivated beans, peas, potatoes, and sweet- 

 corn ; he had his bread to bake, his farm to dig, 

 and for six weeks in the summer he worked as 

 surveyor or carpenter. For more than five 

 years this was all that he required to do for his /<-<, 

 support. For six weeks of occupation, a little 

 cooking and a little gentle hygienic gardening,^ 

 the man had as good as stolen his living. Or it 

 must rather be allowed that he had done far 

 better; for the thief himself was continually 

 and busily occupied. He says : " What old 

 people tell you you cannot do, you try and find 

 you can." And his conclusion is : "I am con- 

 vinced that to maintain one's self on this earth 

 is not a hardship but a pastime if we will live 

 simply and wisely ; the pursuits of simpler 

 nations are still the sports of the more arti- 

 ficial." When Thoreau had had enough of 

 Walden Pond, he showed the same simplicity 

 in giving it up as in beginning. He made no 



