i have lived a thousand years summary chapter by chapter

He wonders why men persist in living 'meanly, like ants' when life can be a joyful celebration. Having provided an example of how his life became fresh and vitally alive, the narrator turns to his readers and asks why they continue to live as drably as they do. He found each one to be 'a cheerful invitation to make my life of equal simplicity, and I may say innocence, with Nature herself.' As he bathed in the pond, he was both physically and spiritually invigorated he realized that he was truly awakening to not only the day, but to life itself. The narrator especially enjoyed his mornings at Walden. He was so content, so totally happy while enjoying the ripeness of summer and the songs of various birds that he came to see his new residence as no longer a simple hut but as a 'new and unprofaned part of the universe.' To some, it might have seemed a poor excuse for a house, but to the inspired narrator it had a divine character.

He relates the spiritual ecstasy that came to him immediately after moving to Walden. There he found himself free from the trivialities of village life, free from the economic rat race, and free to be inspired by nature.

He declared his own independence from society and mortgages on July 4, 1845, by moving into his pond-side hut. The Hollowell place did, however, offer a special advantage that the narrator desired: 'its complete retirement, being about two miles from the village, half a mile from the nearest neighbour, and separated from the highway.' He desired solitude, but not the Hollowell mortgage, so he created a suitable substitute - a primitive, inexpensive 'farm' on the shore of Walden. Besides, he reasoned, why did he need to own a farm? All that is of real value to the individual in living on a farm - close, personal contact with the spiritually invigorating influences of nature - can be had for nothing. But he followed his own advice, as expressed in 'Economy,' and avoided purchasing a farm because it would inevitably tie him down financially and complicate his life. He considered many sites and even exercised his Yankee shrewdness by haggling over the price with several farmers. The narrator tells us that for many years he thought of buying a farm in the Concord countryside.

I have lived a thousand years summary chapter by chapter