ECONOMY. 
When I wrote tlie following pages, or rather the 
bulk of them, I lived alone, in the woods, a mile from 
any neighbor, in a house which I had built myself, on 
the shore of Walden Pond, in Concord, Massachusetts, 
and earned my living by the labor of my hands only. 
I lived there two years and two months. At present I 
am a sojourner in civilized life again. 
I should not obtrude my affairs so much on the 
notice of my readers if very particular inquiries had 
not been made by my townsmen concerning my mode 
of life, which some would call impertinent, though they 
do not appear to me at all impertinent, but, considering 
the circumstances, very natural and pertinent. Some 
have asked what I got to eat; if I did not feel lone¬ 
some ; if I was not afraid; and the like. Others have 
been curious to learn what portion of my income I 
devoted to charitable purposes; and some, who have 
large families, how many poor children I maintained. 
I will therefore ask those of my readers who feel no 
particular interest in me to pardon me if I undertake 
to answer some of these questions in this book. In 
( 5 ) 
