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They had now reached the river's edge. There was a moist, damp odour
from the reeds that swayed pensively in the stream. On the other side,
fields lay dim in twilight beneath the vast sky where shone the first
pale stars.
Stepping aside, Sanine seized a withered branch, broke it in two, and
flung the pieces into the stream where swiftly circles appeared on its
surface and swiftly vanished. As if to hail Sanine as their comrade,
the reeds bent their heads.


CHAPTER II.
It was about six o'clock. The sun still shone brightly, but in the
garden there were already faint green shadows. The air was full of
light and warmth and peace. Maria Ivanovna was making jam, and under
the green linden-tree there was a strong smell of boiling sugar and
raspberries. Sanine had been busy at the flower-beds all the morning,
trying to revive some of the flowers that suffered most from the dust
and heat.
"You had better pull up the weeds first," suggested his mother, as from
time to time she watched him through the blue, quivering stream. "Tell
Grounjka, and she'll do it for you.


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