stood out distinctly, their forms clearly defined.
From the height of heaven the eye of the great Creator embraced the
whole earth; in the fields the grain bowed to Him with a golden wave,
rustled the heavy heads of the wheat, and the delicate tasseled oats
trembled like a cluster of tiny bells. In the air, filled with
brightness here and there, floated the spring thread of the spider's
web, blue from the azure of the sky and golden from the sun, as if a
veritable thread from the loom of the Mother of God.

In the vales between the fields of the waving grain stood dark-green
meadows; here and there were crystal springs, around whose edges the
grass was greener still; the whole meadows were sprinkled with yellow
buttercups and dandelions which struck the eye with a profusion of
golden brightness. In the wet places there thrived cypress trees,
which had an air of coldness and moisture.

In the woods among the pine trees there were now both heat and
silence. It seemed as if a dreamy stillness enveloped the whole world.
Not a breath of wind stirred; the trees, grain, and grass were
motionless. The leaves hung on the trees as if rocked to sleep; the
birds had ceased their noises, and the moment of rest had come. But
this rest seemed to come from an ineffable sweetness, and all nature
seemed to meditate. Only the great expanse of heaven seemed to smile,
and somewhere, high in the unknowable depths of its blue, the great
and beneficent God was glad with the gladness of the fields, the
woods, the meadows, and the waters.

Kasya and John were still busy in the woods collecting herbs, laughing
gleefully and speaking to each other joyfully. Man is as artless as a
bird; he will sing when he can, for this is his nature. John now began
to sing a simple and touching song.

As Kasya and John sang in unison the last refrain of the song ended
mournfully, and as if in accompaniment the echo repeated it in the
dark depths of the woods; the pines gave resonance as the words ran
between their trunks and died away in the far distance like a sigh,
less distinct, light, ethereal; then silence.

Later Kasya sang a more cheerful song, beginning with the words:

"I shall become a ring of gold now."

This is a good song. A willful young girl quarrels with her lover and
enumerates the means she intends to use to escape from him. But it is
useless. When she says that she will be a golden ring and will roll
away on the road, he says that he