Page:The Novels of Ivan Turgenev (volume X).djvu/280

Rh What a huge monster must the dog have seemed to it! And yet it could not stay on its high branch out of danger. . .. A force stronger than its will flung it down.

My Trésor stood still, drew back. . .. Clearly he too recognised this force.

I hastened to call off the disconcerted dog, and went away, full of reverence.

Yes; do not laugh. I felt reverence for that tiny heroic bird, for its impulse of love.

Love, I thought, is stronger than death or the fear of death. Only by it, by love, life holds together and advances.

April 1878.

, brilliantly lighted hall; a number of ladies and gentlemen.

All the faces are animated, the talk is lively. . .. A noisy conversation is being carried on about a famous singer. They call her divine, immortal. . .. O, how finely yesterday she rendered her last trill!

And suddenly—as by the wave of an enchanter's wand—from every head and from every face, slipped off the delicate covering of