e with a cordial and
affable air. Lavretsky noticed with pleasure that his relations with
Lisa were becoming more intimate; she had held out her hand to him
affectionately directly she came in. After dinner Lemm drew out of his
coat-tail pocket, into which he had continually been fumbling, a small
roll of music-paper and compressing his lips he laid it without speaking
on the pianoforte. It was a song composed by him the evening before, to
some old-fashioned German words, in which mention was made of the stars.
Lisa sat down at once to the piano and played at sight the song....
Alas! the music turned out to be complicated and painfully strained; it
was clear that the composer had striven to express something passionate
and deep, but nothing had come of it; the effort had remained an effort.
Lavretsky and Lisa both felt this, and Lemm understood it. Without
uttering a single word, he put his song back into his pocket, and in
reply to Lisa's proposal to play it again, he only shook his head and
said significantly: "Now--enough!" and shrinking into himself he turned
away.

Towards evening the whole party went out to fish. In the pond behind the
garden there were plenty of carp and groundlings. Marya Dmitrievna was
put in an arm-chair near the banks, in the shade, with a rug under her
feet and the best line was given to her. Anton as an old experienced
angler offered her his services. He zealously put on the worms, and
clapped his hand on them, spat on them and even threw in the line with a
graceful forward swing of his whole body. Marya Dmitrievna spoke of
him the same day to Fedor Ivanitch in the following phrase, in
boarding-school French: "Il n'y a plus maintenant de ces gens comme ca,
comme autrefois." Lemm with the two little girls went off further to the
dam of the pond; Lavretsky took up his position near Lisa. The fish were
continually biting, the carp were constantly flashing in the air with
golden and silvery sides as they were drawn in; the cries of pleasure of
the little girls were incessant, even Marya Dmitrievna uttered a
little feminine shriek on two occasions. The fewest fish were caught by
Lavretsky and Lisa; probably this was because they paid less attention
than the others to the angling, and allowed their floats to swim back
right up to the bank. The high reddish reeds rustled quietly around,
the still water shone quietly before them, and quietly too they talked
together. Lisa was standing on a small ra