<P> Economy: In this first and longest chapter, Thoreau outlines his project: a two - year, two - month, and two - day stay at a cozy, "tightly shingled and plastered", English - style 10' × 15' cottage in the woods near Walden Pond . He does this, he says, to illustrate the spiritual benefits of a simplified lifestyle . He easily supplies the four necessities of life (food, shelter, clothing, and fuel) with the help of family and friends, particularly his mother, his best friend, and Mr. and Mrs. Ralph Waldo Emerson . The latter provided Thoreau with a work exchange ---he could build a small house and plant a garden if he cleared some land on the woodlot and did other chores while there . Thoreau meticulously records his expenditures and earnings, demonstrating his understanding of "economy", as he builds his house and buys and grows food . For a home and freedom, he spent a mere $28.12 1⁄2, in 1845 (about $867 in 2017 dollars). At the end of this chapter, Thoreau inserts a poem, "The Pretensions of Poverty", by seventeenth - century English poet Thomas Carew . The poem criticizes those who think that their poverty gives them unearned moral and intellectual superiority . Much attention is devoted to the skepticism and wonderment with which townspeople greeted both him and his project as he tries to protect his views from those of the townspeople who seem to view society as the only place to live . He recounts the reasons for his move to Walden Pond along with detailed steps back to the construction of his new home (methods, support, etc .). </P> <P> Where I Lived, and What I Lived For: Thoreau recollects thoughts of places he stayed at before selecting Walden Pond, and quotes Roman Philosopher Cato's advice "consider buying a farm very carefully before signing the papers ." His possibilities included a nearby Hollowell farm (where the "wife" unexpectedly decided she wanted to keep the farm). Thoreau takes to the woods dreaming of an existence free of obligations and full of leisure . He announces that he resides far from social relationships that mail represents (post office) and the majority of the chapter focuses on his thoughts while constructing and living in his new home at Walden . </P> <P> Reading: Thoreau discusses the benefits of classical literature, preferably in the original Greek or Latin, and bemoans the lack of sophistication in Concord evident in the popularity of unsophisticated literature . He also loved to read books by world travelers . He yearns for a time when each New England village supports "wise men" to educate and thereby ennoble the population . </P> <P> Sounds: Thoreau encourages the reader to be "forever on the alert" and "looking always at what is to be seen ." Although truth can be found in literature, it can equally be found in nature . In addition to self - development, an advantage of developing one's perceptiveness is its tendency to alleviate boredom . Rather than "look abroad for amusement, to society and the theatre", Thoreau's own life, including supposedly dull pastimes like housework, becomes a source of amusement that "never ceases to be novel ." Likewise, he obtains pleasure in the sounds that ring around his cabin: church bells ringing, carriages rattling and rumbling, cows lowing, whip - poor - wills singing, owls hooting, frogs croaking, and cockerels crowing . "All sound heard at the greatest possible distance," he contends "produces one and the same effect ." Likening the train's cloud of steam to a comet tail and its commotion to "the scream of a hawk", the train becomes homologous with nature and Thoreau praises its associated commerce for its enterprise, bravery, and cosmopolitanism, proclaiming: "I watch the passage of the morning cars with the same feeling that I do the rising of the sun ." </P>

Who wrote a famous story without a resolution