lico, from beneath which appeared her feet, only half protected by
heavy shoes. The flowing dress was buttoned at the neck, around which
she wore a few strings of broken corals. Her face was thin and pale,
contrasting sharply with the red colour of the beads. From beneath
the thick eyebrows looked velvet-like eyes, and over the narrow
forehead curled hair as black as ebony.

The whole person of this child, or woman, was a mixture of pride and
wildness. Her walk was stiff, grave, and thoughtful, and she looked
boldly into space. But at the more lively sound of human voices she
stopped and dropped her eyes--not because she was afraid, but because
it seemed that she much disliked meeting people. Only the presence of
the she-goat did not cause her disgust; on the contrary, she looked
after the animal attentively, and when the agile creature went too
far, she called her with sharp, muffled exclamations. Reciprocally,
it seemed that the goat understood her very well, and, obedient to
her call, she returned to the girl with a questioning baa! At the end
of the poor, narrow street, there appeared a small green meadow,
fresh, pearled with the dew of May, and gilded with the sun. This was
situated outside the town, surrounded on one side by a birch grove,
the other side opening on large fields, beyond which, in the far
distance, was seen a blue strip of the forest.

The girl slackened her steps, and having seized the animal by the
horns, she stopped, and looked on the lively scene displayed on the
meadow. At first the outlook appeared to be merely a tumultuous and
chaotic mass of movement, composed of snow-white animals and
variegated children on the green background. Only after a short while
one could distinguish numbers of little girls driving from pasture
several herds of goats.

The girls were full of play, and they hastened home. The goats were
stubborn, and wished to remain on the meadow, so there was some
fighting, in which the goats were victorious over the children. They
escaped from the hands of their leaders, and jumped nimbly and
quickly toward the hazel bushes.

The girls chased them, and, reaching them, they seized the animals by
their long, rough hair, and then they were at a loss what to do next.
Some of them called to their friends, busy and embarrassed also, for
help; others crossed the way of their disobedient charges, and, when
they were opposite them, they stretched out their arms; others
shouted, and, f