d sexual impulse which is found in _Wilhelm Meisters
Wanderjahren_. In the twelfth chapter of the second book, Wilhelm
describes "one of the earliest incidents of his youth":--"The elder of
these boys, a year or two my own senior, the son of the fisherman,
seemed to take no pleasure in this sport with flowers. This boy, by whom
at his first appearance I had been greatly attracted, invited me to go
with him to the river, a fairly wide stream which flowed past at a
little distance. We sat side by side in a shady spot with our
fishing-rods.... As we sat there quietly, leaning towards one another,
he seemed to grow rather weary of our inaction, and he drew my attention
to a flat stretch of gravel which extended from our feet beneath the
surface of the water. This would be a fine place to bathe. At last,
jumping to his feet, he cried out that the chance was too good to be
missed, and almost before I realised his intention, he had stripped, and
was in the water. Being a good swimmer, he soon left the shallows, swam
across the stream, and then back again into the deep water near the bank
on which I was sitting. My own mood was a strange one. Grasshoppers
danced round about me, ants crawled to and fro, many-coloured beetles
hung from the twigs, and brilliant dragon flies hovered in the air; my
companion caught sight of a great crayfish, flashing merrily out from
its hole beneath the roots overhanging the water, and cleverly eluding
an attempt to seize it by darting back into its lair. The air was so
warm and moist; in the sunshine one longed for the shade, and even in
the coolness of the shade one longed for the still greater coolness of
the water. Thus it was easy for him to entice me into the stream; his
invitation, once or twice repeated, proved irresistible, notwithstanding
my fear of a scolding from my parents, mingled with some dread of the
unknown element. Soon I undressed upon the gravelly bank, and ventured
gently into the water, not too far down the gradually shelving bank;
here he let me wait awhile, swimming out himself across the stream; then
he returned to my side, and as he left the water, standing upright, to
dry himself in the bright sunshine, it seemed to me that my eyes must be
dazzled by the power of the sun, so blindingly beautiful was the human
form--far more beautiful than I had ever before imagined. He seemed to
look at me with equal attention. Dressing quickly, we stood beside each
other with all barriers