As birds," answered John, pointing to some silver pheasants on the
opposite side of the stream.

John, who knew how to help himself better than the birds, plucked a
large leaf from a tree, and, making a funnel out of it, filled it with
water and gave it to Kasya.

They both drank, then Kasya gathered some forget-me-nots, and John
with his knife made a flute from the willow bark, on which, when he
had finished, he began to play the air which the shepherds play in the
eventide on the meadows. The soft notes floated away with ineffable
tenderness in this secluded spot. Shortly he removed the flute and
listened intently as if to catch an echo returning from the aspen
trees, and it seemed that the clear stream, the dark aspen trees, and
the birds hidden in the canes listened to these notes with him.

All became silent, but shortly, as if in answer--as if a
challenge--came the first faint note of the nightingale, followed by a
stronger trill. The nightingale wanted to sing--it challenged the
flute.

Now he began to sing. All nature was listening to this divine singer.
The lilies lifted their heads above the water; the forget-me-nots
pressed closer together; the canes ceased to rustle; no bird dared to
peep except an unwise and absent-minded cuckoo, who with her silent
wing alighted near by on a dry bough, lifted her head, widely opened
her beak, and foolishly called aloud:

"Cuckoo! cuckoo!"

Afterward it seemed as if she was ashamed of her outbreak, and she
quietly subsided.

Vainly Kasya, who stood on the edge of the stream with the
forget-me-nots in her hand, turned to the side from whence came the
voice of the cuckoo and queried:

"Cuckoo, blue-gray cuckoo, how long shall I live?"

The cuckoo answered not.

"Cuckoo, shall I be rich?"

The cuckoo was silent.

Then John: "Cuckoo, gray cuckoo, how soon will I wed?"

The cuckoo replied not.

"She cares not to answer us," said John; "let us return to the
forest."

On returning they found the large stone by which they had placed the
basket and bunches of herbs. Kasya, seating herself beside it, began
to weave garlands, and John helped her. Burek lay near them, stretched
his hairy forepaws, lolled out his tongue and breathed heavily from
fatigue, looking carefully around to see if he could not spy some
living thing to chase and enjoy his own noise. But everything in the
woods was quiet. The sun was traveling toward the west, and through
the leaves and the n