sound. The great burdock leaves, heated by the sun, discharged a strong
sourish odor, and the child felt it to be something that would never
change. But beyond the fence, from below in the village, the laughter
and cries of children reached him from time to time, the children who
had experiences.

Moritz started up. "Nonsense," he murmured, and he leaned forward and
began to shake Boris. "Here, don't sleep."

"What is it," asked Boris, "why this brutality?"

"Come and take a swim," said Moritz.

"Swim?" repeated Boris, opening his eyes and looking sharply and
reflectively at Moritz, as if trying to read something in him. "All
right, let's go swimming," he decided.

The lake was very blue, and full of hard, gently swaying lights.
Between the horse-willows and the club-reeds wild ducks floated
motionless, like shining metal objects.

"Pretty," said Boris; "to climb down into this bowl of color is
rather smart, sure enough."

"Oh," said Moritz ironically, "so you think the lake will be becoming
to you."

"Yes, it probably will," said Boris, beginning to undress. "I suppose
you swim very well?"

"Pretty well, and you?"

"I enjoy it very much," Boris informed him, "but it excites me; I
haven't the feeling that the water is friendly to me."

"That means in German that you swim poorly," Moritz dryly remarked.

Boris laughed: "Your German is particularly good."

The water was lukewarm. It's like burying yourself in warm milk,
thought Moritz, as he swam slowly into the flickering light. All
sadness, all "these imbecilities" were gone, only a strong, quiet
feeling of life warmed his limbs. He turned over on his back, wishing
to let himself be deliriously and lazily rocked by the water, like the
ducks. The dragon-flies lit on his breast, water-plants tickled his
flesh as with small wet fingers, over him flapped gulls with wings of
pale gray, and they looked down upon him and cried shrill notes at him,
which sounded like the laughter of the professor's two daughters.
"Billy, Billy," he murmured. Now he could say it without pain, it was
only the expression of deepest contentment. Then he thought of Boris,
and raised his head a little. The devil, was the fellow crazy, to swim
out so far. Boris's head popped up over yonder between the spangles of
sunlight like a dark speck, but it was not advancing; now it had
disappeared, now it was there again. With vigorous strokes Moritz began
to swim to the spot, and got there ju