We were on the bank of my pond. Straight before
me there were glimpses through the pointed leaves
of the willows of its broad surface with threads of
fluffy mist clinging here and there upon it. To
the right a field of rye shone dimly; on the left
stood up my orchard trees, tall, rigid, drenched it
seemed in dew ... The breath of the morning was
already upon them. Across the pure grey sky stretched
like streaks of smoke, two or three slanting clouds;
they had a yellowish tinge, the first faint glow of
dawn fell on them; one could not say whence it came;
the eye could not detect on the horizon, which was
gradually growing lighter, the spot where the sun
was to rise. The stars had disappeared; nothing
was astir yet, though everything was already on the
point of awakening in the enchanted stillness of the
morning twilight.
‘Morning! see, it is morning!’ cried Alice
in my ear. ’Farewell till to-morrow.’
I turned round ... Lightly rising from the earth,
she floated by, and suddenly she raised both hands
above her head. The head and hands and shoulders
glowed for an instant with warm, corporeal light; living
sparks gleamed in the dark eyes; a smile of mysterious
tenderness stirred the reddening lips.... A lovely
woman had suddenly arisen before me.... But as
though dropping into a swoon, she fell back instantly
and melted away like vapour.
I remained passive.
When I recovered myself and looked round me, it seemed
to me that the corporeal, pale-rosy colour that had
flitted over the figure of my phantom had not yet
vanished, and was enfolding me, diffused in the air....
It was the flush of dawn. All at once I was conscious
of extreme fatigue and turned homewards. As I
passed the poultry-yard, I heard the first morning
cackling of the geese (no birds wake earlier than they
do); along the roof at the end of each beam sat a
rook, and they were all busily and silently pluming
themselves, standing out in sharp outline against the
milky sky. From time to time they all rose at
once, and after a short flight, settled again in a
row, without uttering a caw.... From the wood
close by came twice repeated the drowsy, fresh chuck-chuck
of the black-cock, beginning to fly into the dewy
grass, overgrown by brambles.... With a faint
tremor all over me I made my way to my bed, and soon
fell into a sound sleep.
The next night, as I was approaching the old oak,
Alice moved to meet me, as if I were an old friend.
I was not afraid of her as I had been the day before,
I was almost rejoiced at seeing her; I did not even
attempt to comprehend what was happening to me; I
was simply longing to fly farther to interesting places.
Alice’s arm again twined about me, and we took
flight again.
‘Let us go to Italy,’ I whispered in her
ear.
‘Wherever you wish, my dear one,’ she
answered solemnly and slowly, and slowly and solemnly
she turned her face towards me. It struck me as
less transparent than on the eve; more womanlike and
more imposing; it recalled to me the being I had had
a glimpse of in the early dawn at parting.
