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 Odi profanum, and as long as his breast was beset by longings, he dreamed of some day attaching a “von” to his name, or of some well-sounding baronetcy.

The doctor did not find him at home. He was told that he was in the field.

He went down to see him there. The two walked among acres of beets, where a crowd of perspiring peasants were swarming in the heat of the sun, amidst the singing of larks, and in the blue smoke of cigarettes; and they talked for a long time.

At once the news flew through the town that Jiří had gone over to the Opposition, that he had become co-proprietor of The Free Citizen, that he would be a candidate for representative at the Diet, that he would speak on Sunday, when the banner of the white veterans would be consecrated upon the island; that The Free Citizen would from now on appear with an illustrated satirical addition,—and many more things flew through the town like lightning.