the same from the inhabitants of these towns! Rolling stones cannot bark,
neither do they attract thieves; they are mere ballast. Quiet behavior:
that is what I hold against them, that they make no fiery gestures; it
would become them to roll a little, but there they lie, with even their
sex unknown. But you saw the eagle instead! Be still....

A gentle wind begins to blow, swaying the bracken a little, the flowers
and the straw; but the straw cannot sway, it only trembles.

I walk on along my great arc and come down by the first cotter's house.

"Well, I expect you'll end up by building a summer resort too," I tell him
in the course of our conversation.

"Oh, no; we couldn't venture on anything like that," he replies cunningly.
In his heart I daresay he has no desire to, for he has seen what it leads
to.

I didn't like him; his eyes were fawning and rested on the ground. He
thought of nothing but land; he was land-greedy, like an animal that
sought to escape its padlock. The other cotter had bought a slightly
larger piece of land than he, a marsh that would feed one cow more; but he
himself had only got this bit of a field. Still, this would amount to
something, too, as long as he kept his health to work it.

He gripped his spade again.