Some have been puzzled to tell how the shore became so regularly paved.  My townsmen have all heard the tradition ―― the oldest people tell me that they heard it in their youth ―― that anciently the Indians were holding a pow-wow upon a hill here， which rose as high into the heavens as the pond now sinks deep into the earth， and they used much profanity， as the story goes， though this vice is one of which the Indians were never guilty， and while they were thus engaged the hill shook and suddenly sank， and only one old squaw，named Walden， escaped， and from her the pond was named.  It has been conjectured that when the hill shook these stones rolled down its side and became the present shore.  It is very certain， at any rate，that once there was no pond here， and now there is one； and this Indian fable does not in any respect conflict with the account of that ancient settler whom I have mentioned， who remembers so well when he first came here with his divining-rod， saw a thin vapor rising from the sward， and the hazel pointed steadily downward， and he concluded to dig a well here.  As for the stones， many still think that they are hardly to be accounted for by the action of the waves on these hills； but I observe that the surrounding hills are remarkably full of the same kind of stones， so that they have been obliged to pile them up in walls on both sides of the railroad cut nearest the pond； and， moreover， there are most stones where the shore is most abrupt； so that， unfortunately， it is no longer a mystery to me.  I detect the paver.  If the name was not derived from that of some English locality ―― Saffron Walden， for instance―― one might suppose that it was called originally Walled-in Pond.

　　The pond was my well ready dug.  For four months in the year its water is as cold as it is pure at all times； and I think that it is then as good as any， if not the best， in the town.  In the winter，all water which is exposed to the air is colder than springs and wells which are protected from it.  The temperature of the pond water which had stood in the room where I sat from five o'clock in the afternoon till noon the next day， the sixth of March， 1846， the thermometer having been up to 65x or 70x some of the time， owing partly to the sun on the roof， was 42x， or one degree colder than the water of one of the coldest wells in the village just drawn. The temperature of the Boiling Spring the same day was 45x， or the warmest of any water tried， though it is the coldest that I know of in summer， when， beside， shallow and stagnant surface water is not mingled with it.  Moreover， in summer， Walden never becomes so warm as most water which is exposed to the sun， on account of its depth. In the warmest weather I usually placed a pailful in my cellar，where it became cool in the night， and remained so during the day；though I also resorted to a spring in the neighborhood.  It was as good when a week old as the day it was dipped， and had no taste of the pump.  Whoever camps for a week in summer by the shore of a pond， needs only bury a pail of water a few feet deep in the shade of his camp to be independent of the luxury of ice.

　　There have been caught in Walden pickerel， one weighing seven pounds ―― to say nothing of another which carried off a reel with great velocity， which the fisherman safely set down at eight pounds because he did not see him ―― perch and pouts， some of each weighing over two pounds， shiners， chivins or roach （Leuciscus pulchellus）， a very few breams， and a couple of eels， one weighing four pounds ―― I am thus particular because the weight of a fish is commonly its only title to fame， and these are the only eels I have heard of here； ――also， I have a faint recollection of a little fish some five inches long， with silvery sides and a greenish back， somewhat dace-like in its character， which I mention here chiefly to link my facts to fable.  Nevertheless， this pond is not very fertile in fish.  Its pickerel， though not abundant， are its chief boast.  I have seen at one time lying on the ice pickerel of at least three different kinds： a long and shallow one， steel-colored， most like those caught in the river； a bright golden kind， with greenish reflections and remarkably deep， which is the most common here； and another，golden-colored， and shaped like the last， but peppered on the sides with small dark brown or black spots， intermixed with a few faint blood-red ones， very much like a trout.  The specific name reticulatus would not apply to this； it should be guttatus rather. These are all very firm fish， and weigh more than their size promises.  The shiners， pouts， and perch also， and indeed all the fishes which inhabit this pond， are much cleaner， handsomer， and firmer-fleshed than those in the river and most other ponds， as the water is purer， and they can easily be distinguished from them. Probably many ichthyologists would make new varieties of some of them.  There are also a clean race of frogs and tortoises， and a few mussels in it； muskrats and minks leave their traces about it， and occasionally a travelling mud-turtle visits it.  Sometimes， when I pushed off my boat in the morning， I disturbed a great mud-turtle which had secreted himself under the boat in the night.  Ducks and geese frequent it in the spring and fall， the white-bellied swallows（Hirundo bicolor） skim over it， and the peetweets （Totanus macularius） "teeter" along its stony shores all summer.  I have sometimes disturbed a fish hawk sitting on a white pine over the water； but I doubt if it is ever profaned by the wind of a gull，like Fair Haven.  At most， it tolerates one annual loon.  These are all the animals of consequence which frequent it now.

　　湖岸怎么會鋪砌得這樣整齊，有人百思不得其解，鄉鎮上的人都聽到過傳說，最年老的人告訴我說，他們是在青年時代聽來的――在古時候，正當印第安人在一個小山上舉行狂歡慶典，小山忽然高高升到天上，就像湖現在這樣深深降人地下，據說他們做了許多不敬神的行為，其實印第安人從沒有犯過這種罪，正當他們這樣褻讀神明的時候，山岳震撼，大地突然間沉下去，只留下了一個印第安女子，名叫瓦爾登，她逃掉了性命，從此這湖沿用了她的名字。據揣想是在山岳震撼時，這些圓石滾了下來，鋪成了現在的湖岸。無論如何，這一點可以確定，以前這里沒有湖，現在卻有了一個；這一個印第安神話跟我前面說起過的那一位古代的居民是毫無抵觸的，他清清楚楚地記得他初來時，帶來一根魔杖，他看到草地上升起了一種稀薄的霧氣，那根榛木杖就一直指向下面，直到后來他決定挖一口井。至于那些石子呢，很多人認為它們不可能起固于山的波動；據我觀察，四周的山上有很多這樣的石子，因此人們不能不在鐵路經過的最靠近那湖的地方在兩邊筑起墻垣；而且湖岸愈是陡削的地方，石子愈是多；所以，不幸的是，這對于我不再有什么神秘了。我猜出了鋪砌的人來了。如果這個湖名不是由當地一個叫薩福隆。瓦爾登的英國人的名字化出來的后，――那末，我想瓦爾登湖原來的名字可能是圍而得湖。

　　湖對于我，是一口挖好的現成的井。一年有四個月水是冰冷的，正如它一年四季的水是純凈的；我想，這時候它就算不是鄉鎮上最好的水，至少比得上任何地方的水。在冬天里，暴露在空氣中的水，總比那些保暖的泉水和井水來得更冷。從下午五點直到第二天，一八四六年三月六日正午，在我靜坐的房間內，寒暑表溫度時而是華氏六十五度，時而是七十度，一部分是因為太陽曾照在我的屋脊上，而從湖中汲取的水，放在這房子里，溫度只四十二度，比起村中最冷的一口井里當場汲取的井水還低了一度。同一天內，沸泉溫度是四十五度，那是經我測量的各種水中最最溫暖的了，雖然到了夏天，它又是最最寒冷的水，那是指浮在上面的淺淺一層停滯的水并沒有混雜在內。在夏天里，瓦爾登湖因為很深，所以也不同于一般暴露在陽光底下的水。它沒有它們那么熱。在最熱的氣候里，我時常汲一桶水，放在地窖里面。它夜間一冷卻下來，就整天都冷，有時我也到附近一個泉水里去汲水。過了一個星期，水還像汲出來的當天一樣好，并且沒有抽水機的味道。誰要在夏天，到湖邊去露營，只要在營帳的陰處，把一桶水埋下幾英尺深，他就可以不用奢侈的藏冰了。

　　在瓦爾登湖中，捉到過梭魚，有一條重七磅，且不去說那另外的一條，用非常的速度把一卷釣絲拉走了，漁夫因為沒有看到它，估計它穩穩當當有八磅的重量，此外，還捉到過鱸魚，鳘魚，有些重兩磅，還有銀魚，鳊魚（學名Leueiscus Pulchellus），極少量的鯉魚，兩條鰻魚，有一條有四磅重，――我對于魚的重量寫得這樣詳細，因為它們的價值一般是根據重量來決定的，至于鰻魚，除了這兩條我就沒有聽說過另外的，――此外，我還隱約記得一條五英寸長的小魚，兩側是銀色的，背脊卻呈青色，性質上近于鰷魚，我提起這條魚，主要是為了把事實和寓言連接起來。總之是，這個湖里，魚并不多。梭魚也不很多，但它夸耀的是梭魚。有一次我躺臥在冰上面，至少看到了三種不同的梭魚，一種扁而長的，鋼灰色，像一般從河里捉起來的一樣；一種是金晃晃的，有綠色的閃光，在很深的深水中；最后一種金色的，形態跟上一種相近，但身體兩側有棕黑色或黑色斑點，中間還夾著一些淡淡的血紅色斑點，很像鮭魚。但學名reticulatus（網形）用不上，被稱為guttatus （斑斕）才對。這些都是很結實的魚，重量比外貌上看來要重得多。銀魚、鳘魚，還有鱸魚，所有在這個湖中的水族，確實都比一般的河流和多數的別的湖沼中的魚類，來得更清潔，更漂亮，更結實，因為這里的湖水更純潔，你可以很容易地把它們區別出來。也許有許多魚學家可以用它們來培育出一些新品種。

　　此外還有清潔的青蛙和烏龜，少數的淡菜；麝香鼠和貂鼠也留下過它們的足跡；偶爾還有從爛泥中鉆出來旅行經過的甲魚。有一次，當我在黎明中把我的船推離湖岸時，有一只夜里躲在船底下的大甲魚給我驚攏得不安了。春秋兩季，鴨和天鵝常來，白肚皮的燕子（學名Hirundo bicolor）在水波上掠過，還有些身有斑點的田鳧（學名Totanus mac ularius）整個夏天搖搖擺擺地走在石頭湖岸上。我有時還驚起了湖水上面、坐在白松枝頭的一只魚鷹；我卻不知道有沒有海鷗飛到這里來過，像它們曾飛到過美港去那樣。至多每年還有一次潛水鳥要來。常到這里來的飛禽，已全部包羅在內了。

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