t rays.

We have never yet been for a whole day's outing together; everything is
new in my new pleasure. I look at Rose beside me. I had wanted her to
put on her peasant clothes; and I find her beautiful in her scanty garb
in the cool morning air.

We follow the long hog's-back that commands a view of the whole country
round. Here and there, tiny villages float like islands of green amid
the wide plains. A row of poplars lines the way on either side. Their
yellow leaves quiver and rustle in the breeze. The rooks stand out
harshly against the white road. And the mist, which is beginning to lift
in places, reveals a deep-blue sky.

The keen air that enters my throat and makes my mouth cold as ice tells
me of the smile that flickers over my face; and my pleasure is
heightened by the sight of my happiness. A woman sees herself anew in
everything that she beholds; life is her perpetual looking-glass. In our
memory, the flowers in a hat often mingle with those along the road; and
sometimes the muslin of a dress enfolds the recollection of our gravest
emotions.

O femininity, sublime and ridiculous, wise and foolish! Never shall I
weary of surprising its movements and variations deep down in my being!
How it fascinates me in all its shades and forms! I let it play with my
destiny as much from reason as from love, for we know that nothing can
subdue it. I worship it in myself, I worship it in all of us! It may
exhaust us in the performance of superhuman tasks, it may let us merely
dally with the delight of being beautiful, it may chain us to our bodies
or deliver us from their tyranny, it may adorn life or give it, enrich
it or kill it: always and everywhere it arouses my eager interest. Ever
unexpected and changeful, it floats in front of our woman's souls like a
gracious veil that draws, unites and yet separates....

The even motion of the trap lulls my dreams and we drive on, in the
midst of the plains, the fields and the woods. We pass through a dense
flock of sheep. The warm round backs, the gentle, anxious faces push and
hustle, while the thousand slender legs mingle and raise clouds of dust
along the roadside. The timid voices bleat through space; and a pungent
scent fills our nostrils. We are now going down into the valley. The
village appears, among the trees: a cluster of red and grey roofs;
little narrow gardens; white clothes hung out and fluttering in the
sunlight. Beyond are broad meadows dotted with peaceful