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726.Coming around the protruding nose of a hill, he suddenly found himelf in front of a shady lime tree. Delighted, he heard the music of a well from which water ran through a wooden pipe into a long wooden trough. He drank cold delicious water and noticed with joy a couple of thatched roofs seemingly coming out of the elderberry trees; the berries were already dark. The lowing of a cow touched him still more than all these signs of friendliness; it sounded so pleasantly warm and hospitable, like a greeting that had come to met him, a welcome.
Hermann Hesse, Narcissus and Goldmund, translated by Ursele Molinaro, Bantam, 1971, p. 90-91.
PLACE: a farm in Germany
TIME: the Middle Ages
CIRCUMSTANCE: Goldmund has just returned from many days in the forest.
The lime tree, the well, the flickering fire under the kettle, the snuffing and muching of the feeding cow, the dull thuds she made against the wall, the half-dark room with table and bench, the small ancient woman's gestures--all this was beautiful and good, smelled of food and peace, of people and warmth, of home.
Hermann Hesse, Narcissus and Goldmund, translated by Ursele Molinaro, Bantam, 1971, p. 93.
PLACE: a farm in Germany
TIME: the Middle Ages
CIRCUMSTANCE: Goldmund has recently returned from a long journey in the forest
How distinguished and imposing he was, and so young! But most of all she felt drawn by the stranger's voice. She fell in love with the singing undertone, the radiating warmth and gentle wooing in the young man's voice; it sounded like a caress. She would have liked to go an listening to his voice much longer.
Hermann Hesse, Narcissus and Goldmund, translated by Ursele Molinaro, Bantam, 1971, p. 94.
PLACE: a monastery in Germany
TIME: the Middle Ages
CIRCUMSTANCE: the farmer's wife has just been smitten
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