They came out into the open field; the sun
rose to meet them. As yet invisible, he spread out over the sky a
transparent fan of rosy rays, and the dewdrops in the grass
glittered with the many-colored gems of brave spring joy. The birds
awoke fresh from their slumber, vivifying the morning with their
merry, impetuous voices. The crows flew about croaking, and
flapping their wings heavily. The black rooks jumped about in the
winter wheat, conversing in abrupt accents. Somewhere the orioles
whistled mournfully, a note of alarm in their song. The larks sang,
soaring up to meet the sun. The distance opened up, the nocturnal
shadows lifting from the hills.
"Sometimes a man will speak and speak to you, and you won't
understand him until he succeeds in telling you some simple word;
and this one word will suddenly lighten up everything," the mother
said thoughtfully. "There's that sick man, for instance; I've heard
and known myself how the workingmen in the factories and everywhere
are squeezed; but you get used to it from childhood on, and it
doesn't touch your heart much. But he suddenly tells you such an
outrageous, vile thing! O Lord! Can it be that people give their
whole lives away to work in order that the masters may permit
themselves pleasure? That's without justification.
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