e the cock stood up
proudly among them. Every moment he selected one of them, and walked
round her with a slight cluck of amorous invitation. The hen got up in a
careless way as she received his attentions, and only supported herself
on her legs and spread out her wings; then she shook her feathers to
shake out the dust, and stretched herself out on the dung-hill again,
while he crowed, in sign of triumph, and the cocks in all the
neighboring farmyards replied to him, as if they were uttering amorous
challenges from farm to farm.

The girl looked at them without thinking, and then she raised her eyes
and was almost dazzled at the sight of the apple-trees in blossom, which
looked almost like powdered heads. But just then, a colt, full of life
and friskiness, galloped past her. Twice he jumped over the ditches, and
then stopped suddenly, as if surprised at being alone.

She also felt inclined to run; she felt inclined to move and to stretch
her limbs, and to repose in the warm, breathless air. She took a few
undecided steps, and closed her eyes, for she was seized with a feeling
of animal comfort; and then she went to look for the eggs in the hen
loft. There were thirteen of them, which she took in and put into the
store-room; but the smell from the kitchen incommoded her again, and
she went out to sit on the grass for a time.

The farmyard, which was surrounded by trees, seemed to be asleep. The
tall grass, among which the tall yellow dandelions rose up like streaks
of yellow light, was of a vivid green, fresh spring green. The
apple-trees threw their shade all round them, and the thatched houses,
on which the blue and yellow iris flowers with their swordlike leaves
grew, smoked as if the moisture of the stables and barns were coming
through the straw.

The girl went to the shed where the carts and traps were kept. Close to
it, in a ditch, there was a large patch of violets, whose scent was
perceptible all round, while beyond it, the open country could be seen
where the corn was growing, with clumps of trees in the distance, and
groups of laborers here and there, who looked as small as dolls, and
white horses like toys, who were pulling a child's cart, driven by a man
as tall as one's finger.

She took up a bundle of straw, and threw it into the ditch and sat down
upon it; then, not feeling comfortable, she undid it, spread it out and
lay down upon it at full length, on her back, with both arms under her
head, and