76 
WALDEN# 
capital it required, so little distraction from my wonted 
moods, I foolishly thought. While my acquaintances 
went unhesitatingly into trade or the professions, I con¬ 
templated this occupation as most like theirs; ranging 
the hills all summer to pick the berries which came in 
my way, and thereafter carelessly dispose of them; so, 
to keep the flocks of Admetus. I also dreamed that I 
might gather the wild herbs, or carry evergreens to such 
villagers as loved to be reminded of the woods, even to 
the city, by hay-cart loads. But I have since learned 
that trade curses every thing it handles; and though you 
trade in messages from heaven, the whole curse of trade 
attaches to the business. 
As I preferred some things to others, and especially 
valued my freedom, as I could fare hard and yet suc¬ 
ceed well, I did not wish to spend my time in earning 
rich carpets or other fine furniture, or delicate cookery, 
or a house in the Grecian or the Gothic style just yet. 
If there are any to whom it is no interruption to acquire 
these things, and who know how to use them when ac¬ 
quired, I relinquish to them the pursuit. Some are 
“ industrious,'” and appear to love labor for its own 
sake, or perhaps because it keeps them out of worse 
mischief; to such I have at present nothing to say. 
Those who would not know what to do with more lei¬ 
sure than they now enjoy, I might advise to work twice 
as hard as they do,—work till they pay for themselves, 
and get their free papers. For myself I found that the 
occupation of a day-laborer was the most independent 
of any, especially as it required only thirty or forty 
days in a year to support one. The laborer’s day ends 
with the going down of the sun, and he is then free to 
devote himself to his chosen pursuit, independent of his 
