32 INDOOE STUDIES 



But tkey did not know that the third line was, — 



These are the folks that worry the man 

 That lives in the house that I built. 



I did not fear the hen-harriers, for I kept no 

 chickens, but I feared the men-harriers rather." 



What sweet and serious humor in that passage in 

 "Walden" wherein he protests that he was not 

 lonely in his hermitage : — 



"I have occasional visits in the long winter even- 

 ings, when the snow falls fast and the wind howls 

 in the wood, from an old settler and original pro- 

 prietor, who is reported to have dug Walden Pond 

 and stoned it, and fringed it with pine-woods; who 

 tells me stories of old time and of new eternity; 

 and between us we manage to pass a cheerful even- 

 ing with social mirth and pleasant views of things, 

 even without apples or cider, — a most wise and 

 humorous friend, whom I love much, who keeps 

 himself more secret than ever did Goffe or Whal- 

 ley; and though he is thought to be dead, none 

 can show where he is buried. An elderly dame, 

 too, dwells in my neighborhood, invisible to most 

 persons, in whose odorous herb-garden I love to 

 stroll sometimes, gathering simples and listening to 

 her fables; for she has a genius of unequaled fertil- 

 ity, and her memory runs back farther than my- 

 thology, and she can tell me the original of every 

 fable, and on what fact every one is founded, for 

 the incidents occurred when she was young. A 

 ruddy and lusty old dame, who delights in all 

 weathers and seasons, and is likely to outlive all 

 her children yet." 



