h they
looked like a chrysalis made of straw, but the young shoots had
appeared on the fruit-trees, and the spurge-laurel made a fine show
with its peach-coloured blossoms. Perambulators painted white and
sky-blue were being driven up and down the street, the baby inside was
already peeping out from behind the curtains, and little feet tripped
along by the side. Nurses and children came out of all the doors, the
boys with hoops, the girls with their balls in a knitted net. Giggling
young girls went off to tennis, and big boys from the third form made
love to them.

Brightness and gaiety everywhere. There was a glad excited rustling
in the tops of the pines, and the sap rose and fell in the willows
along the shores of the lake. A flight of starlings passed over the
Grunewald colony, and each bird looked down and chose in which box on
the tall pine stems it would prefer to nest.

The new suit of clothes--black trousers and coat--Wolfgang was to
wear at his confirmation lay spread out on his bed upstairs. Now he was
to try it on.

Kate was filled with a strange emotion, and her pulse quickened as
she helped him to put on his new suit. So far he had always been
dressed like a boy, in knickers and a sailor blouse, now he was to be
dressed like a man all at once. The festive black suit of fine cloth
did not suit him; for the first time one noticed that he was thick-set.
He stood there stiffly, he felt cramped in the trousers, the coat was
uncomfortable, too: he looked miserable.

"Look at yourself, just look at yourself," said Kate, pushing him in
front of the glass.

He looked into it. But he did not see the clothes, he only saw his
mother's face as she looked into the glass at the same time as he, and
he saw they had not a single feature in common.

"We're not a bit alike," he murmured.

"Hm? What did you say?" She had not understood him.

He did not answer.

"Don't you like the suit?"

"It's awful!" And then he stared at himself absently. What had they
been saying again that morning? They had been jeering at him, Lehmann
and von Kesselborn, who were to be confirmed with him. Was it because
their fathers were not so rich as his? Kesselborn's father was a
retired officer, who now filled the post of registrar, but Kesselborn
was terribly proud of his "von"; and Lehmann was his bosom friend.
However, he had told them that he had already had a silver watch since
he was eight years old, and that he was to have a re