Notlongsince，astrollingIndianwenttosellbasketsatthehouseofawell-knownlawyerinmyneighborhood。“Doyouwishtobuyanybaskets？“heasked。“No，wedonotwantany，“wasthereply。“What！“exclaimedtheIndianashewentoutthegate，“doyoumeantostarveus？“Havingseenhisindustriouswhiteneighborssowelloff——thatthelawyerhadonlytoweavearguments，and，bysomemagic，wealthandstandingfollowed——hehadsaidtohimself:
Iwillgointobusiness；Iwillweavebaskets；itisathingwhichI
cando。Thinkingthatwhenhehadmadethebasketshewouldhavedonehispart，andthenitwouldbethewhiteman’stobuythem。Hehadnotdiscoveredthatitwasnecessaryforhimtomakeitworththeother’swhiletobuythem，oratleastmakehimthinkthatitwasso，ortomakesomethingelsewhichitwouldbeworthhiswhiletobuy。Itoohadwovenakindofbasketofadelicatetexture，butIhadnotmadeitworthanyone’swhiletobuythem。Yetnottheless，inmycase，didIthinkitworthmywhiletoweavethem，andinsteadofstudyinghowtomakeitworthmen’swhiletobuymybaskets，Istudiedratherhowtoavoidthenecessityofsellingthem。Thelifewhichmenpraiseandregardassuccessfulisbutonekind。Whyshouldweexaggerateanyonekindattheexpenseoftheothers？
Findingthatmyfellow-citizenswerenotlikelytooffermeanyroominthecourthouse，oranycuracyorlivinganywhereelse，butImustshiftformyself，Iturnedmyfacemoreexclusivelythanevertothewoods，whereIwasbetterknown。Ideterminedtogointobusinessatonce，andnotwaittoacquiretheusualcapital，usingsuchslendermeansasIhadalreadygot。MypurposeingoingtoWaldenPondwasnottolivecheaplynortolivedearlythere，buttotransactsomeprivatebusinesswiththefewestobstacles；tobehinderedfromaccomplishingwhichforwantofalittlecommonsense，alittleenterpriseandbusinesstalent，appearednotsosadasfoolish。
Ihavealwaysendeavoredtoacquirestrictbusinesshabits；theyareindispensabletoeveryman。IfyourtradeiswiththeCelestialEmpire，thensomesmallcountinghouseonthecoast，insomeSalemharbor，willbefixtureenough。Youwillexportsucharticlesasthecountryaffords，purelynativeproducts，muchiceandpinetimberandalittlegranite，alwaysinnativebottoms。Thesewillbegoodventures。Tooverseeallthedetailsyourselfinperson；tobeatoncepilotandcaptain，andownerandunderwriter；tobuyandsellandkeeptheaccounts；toreadeveryletterreceived，andwriteorreadeverylettersent；tosuperintendthedischargeofimportsnightandday；tobeuponmanypartsofthecoastalmostatthesametime——oftentherichestfreightwillbedischargeduponaJerseyshore；——tobeyourowntelegraph，unweariedlysweepingthehorizon，speakingallpassingvesselsboundcoastwise；tokeepupasteadydespatchofcommodities，forthesupplyofsuchadistantandexorbitantmarket；tokeepyourselfinformedofthestateofthemarkets，prospectsofwarandpeaceeverywhere，andanticipatethetendenciesoftradeandcivilization——takingadvantageoftheresultsofallexploringexpeditions，usingnewpassagesandallimprovementsinnavigation；——chartstobestudied，thepositionofreefsandnewlightsandbuoystobeascertained，andever，andever，thelogarithmictablestobecorrected，forbytheerrorofsomecalculatorthevesseloftensplitsuponarockthatshouldhavereachedafriendlypier——thereistheuntoldfateofLaProuse；——