Chapter XVI: The Pond in Winter
7 argumentative units
- 01A Window Under My Feet
In winter, he cuts a hole through the snow and ice to get water, opening a window to the quiet, light-pervaded parlor of the fishes.
- 02The Wisdom of the Fishermen
He observes the wild men who come to fish on the ice, whose natural lore is deeper than that of the naturalist, and admires the beauty of the pickerel.
- 03Sounding the Bottomless Pond
He sets out to survey the pond and recover its 'long lost bottom,' disproving the local legends of its bottomlessness by finding its greatest depth to be 102 feet.
- 04The Shape of the Bottom
He finds the pond's bottom to be surprisingly regular, not a 'horrid chasm,' and that its shape conforms perfectly to the surrounding shores and hills.
- 05The Law of Average
He discovers that the point of greatest depth lies at the intersection of the lines of greatest length and breadth, a law he applies to ethics and human character.
- 06The Ice-Cutters Arrive
He describes the arrival of a hundred Irish ice-cutters from Cambridge, who 'unroof the house of fishes' and stack the ice in a great heap.
- 07Drinking at My Well
He reflects on the beauty of the ice and how the inhabitants of Charleston, New Orleans, and Calcutta drink at his well, mingling Walden's water with the Ganges.