CHAPTER VII. 1845-1846 (ÆT. 27-29) 361

The Beginning of the Life at Walden—A House in the Catskills—The Vital Facts of Life—Relics of the Indians—Auxiliaries and Enemies of the Bean-Field—Therien, the Canadian Woodchopper—A Visit from Railroad Men—Life of Primitive Man—Wild Mice—The Written and the Spoken Language—The Interest and Importance of the Classics—The Fragrance of an Apple—The Race of Man—The Mansions of the Air—Echo—"The Crescent and the Cross"—Carnac—The Heroic Books—Screech Owls—Bullfrogs—Nature and Art—Childhood Memories of Walden Pond—Truth—John Field, a Shiftless Irishman, and his Family—A Hard and Emphatic Life—Language—Plastering the House—Primitive Houses—The Cost of a House—The Romans and Nature—Jehovah and Jupiter—Some Greek Myths—Difficulty of Getting a Living and Keeping out of Debt—The Fox as an Imperfect Man—Reading suggested by Hallam's History of Literature—The Necessaries of Life—A Dog Lost—Therien and the Chickadees—The Evening Robin—The Earth as a Garden—A Flock of Geese.