So I went on for some days cutting and hewing timber， and also studs and rafters， all with my narrow axe， not having many communicable or scholar-like thoughts， singing to myself， ――

　　Men say they know many things；But lo！ they have taken wings ――The arts and sciences，And a thousand appliances；The wind that blows Is all that any body knows.

　　I hewed the main timbers six inches square， most of the studs on two sides only， and the rafters and floor timbers on one side，leaving the rest of the bark on， so that they were just as straight and much stronger than sawed ones.  Each stick was carefully mortised or tenoned by its stump， for I had borrowed other tools by this time.  My days in the woods were not very long ones； yet I usually carried my dinner of bread and butter， and read the newspaper in which it was wrapped， at noon， sitting amid the green pine boughs which I had cut off， and to my bread was imparted some of their fragrance， for my hands were covered with a thick coat of pitch.  Before I had done I was more the friend than the foe of the pine tree， though I had cut down some of them， having become better acquainted with it.  Sometimes a rambler in the wood was attracted by the sound of my axe， and we chatted pleasantly over the chips which I had made.

　　By the middle of April， for I made no haste in my work， but rather made the most of it， my house was framed and ready for the raising.  I had already bought the shanty of James Collins， an Irishman who worked on the Fitchburg Railroad， for boards.  James Collins' shanty was considered an uncommonly fine one.  When I called to see it he was not at home.  I walked about the outside， at first unobserved from within， the window was so deep and high.  It was of small dimensions， with a peaked cottage roof， and not much else to be seen， the dirt being raised five feet all around as if it were a compost heap.  The roof was the soundest part， though a good deal warped and made brittle by the sun.  Doorsill there was none，but a perennial passage for the hens under the door board.  Mrs. C. came to the door and asked me to view it from the inside.  The hens were driven in by my approach.  It was dark， and had a dirt floor for the most part， dank， clammy， and aguish， only here a board and there a board which would not bear removal.  She lighted a lamp to show me the inside of the roof and the walls， and also that the board floor extended under the bed， warning me not to step into the cellar， a sort of dust hole two feet deep.  In her own words， they were "good boards overhead， good boards all around， and a good window" ―― of two whole squares originally， only the cat had passed out that way lately.  There was a stove， a bed， and a place to sit，an infant in the house where it was born， a silk parasol，gilt-framed looking-glass， and a patent new coffee-mill nailed to an oak sapling， all told.  The bargain was soon concluded， for James had in the meanwhile returned.  I to pay four dollars and twenty-five cents tonight， he to vacate at five tomorrow morning，selling to nobody else meanwhile： I to take possession at six.  It were well， he said， to be there early， and anticipate certain indistinct but wholly unjust claims on the score of ground rent and fuel.  This he assured me was the only encumbrance.  At six I passed him and his family on the road.  One large bundle held their all ――bed， coffee-mill， looking-glass， hens ―― all but the cat； she took to the woods and became a wild cat， and， as I learned afterward，trod in a trap set for woodchucks， and so became a dead cat at last.

　　我便這樣一連幾天，用那狹小的斧頭，伐木丁丁，砍削木料、門柱和椽木，并沒有什么可以奉告的思想，也沒有什么學究式的思維，只是自己歌唱，――人們說他們懂得不少；瞧啊，他們生了翅膀，――百藝啊，還有科學，還有千般技巧；其實只有吹拂的風才是他們全部的知覺。

　　我把主要的木材砍成六英寸見方，大部分的間柱只砍兩邊，椽木和地板是只砍一邊，其余幾邊留下樹皮，所以它們和鋸子鋸出來的相比，是同樣地挺直，而且更加結實。每一根木料都挖了榫眼，在頂上劈出了榫頭，這時我又借到一些工具。在林中過的白晝往往很短；然而，我常常帶去我的牛油面包當午餐，在正午時還讀讀包扎它們的新聞報紙，坐在我砍伐下來的青松枝上，它們的芳香染到面包上，因為我手上有一層厚厚的樹脂。

　　在我結束以前，松樹成了我的密友，雖然我砍伐了幾枝，卻依然沒有和它們結冤，反而和它們越來越親了。有時候，林中的閑游者給斧聲吸引了過來，我們就愉快地面對著碎木片瞎談。

　　我的工作干得一點不緊張，只是盡力去做而已，到四月中旬，我的屋架已經完工，可以立起來了。我已經向詹姆斯?？铝钏?，一個在菲茨堡鐵路上工作的愛爾蘭人，買下他的棚屋來使用他的木板。詹姆斯。柯令斯的棚屋被認為是不平凡的好建筑。

　　我找他去的時候，他不在家。我在外面走動，起先沒有給里面注意到，那窗子根深而且很高。屋很小，有一個三角形的屋頂，別的沒有什么可看的，四周積有五英尺高的垃圾，像肥料堆。屋頂是最完整的一部分，雖然給太陽曬得彎彎曲曲，而且很脆。沒有門框，門板下有一道終年群雞亂飛的通道。柯夫人來到門口，邀我到室內去看看貨色。

　　我一走近，母雞也給我趕了進去。屋子里光線暗淡，大部分的地板很臟，潮濕，發粘，搖動，只有這里一條，那里一條，是不能搬，一搬就裂的木板。她點亮了一盞燈，給我看屋頂的里邊和墻，以及一直伸到床底下去的地板，卻勸告我不要踏人地窖中去，那不過是兩英尺深的垃圾坑。用她自己的話來說，“頭頂上，四周圍，都是好木板，還有一扇好窗戶，”――原來是兩個方框，最近只有貓在那里出進。那里有一只火爐，一張床，一個坐坐的地方，一個出生在那里的嬰孩，一把絲質的遮陽傘，還有鍍金的鏡子一面，以及一只全新的咖啡磨，釘牢在一塊幼橡木上，這就是全部了。我們的交易當下就談妥，因為那時候，詹姆斯也回來啦。當天晚上，我得付四元兩角五分，他得在明天早晨五點搬家，可不能再把什么東西賣給別人了；六點鐘，我可以去占有那棚屋。他說，趕早來最好，趁別人還來不及在地租和燃料上，提出某種數目不定，但是完全不公道的要求。

　　他告訴我這是唯一的額外開支。到了六點鐘，我在路上碰到他和他的一家。一個大包裹，全部家產都在內，――床，咖啡磨，鏡子，母雞，――只除了貓；它奔入樹林，成為野貓，后來我又知道它觸上了一只捕捉土撥鼠的機關，終于成了一只死貓。

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