walk along twisting them between my fingers. Prate happens to notice them. He stops for a moment, tilts his head to the side and gazes into my eyes. He seems to want them. I throw them down for him. He sniffs at the flowers, and glances up at me as if to say that he wishes they were dog biscuits. Then he starts running down the road once more.
I walk along like this for nearly two hours. We seem to be climbing considerably and before long I can command quite a good view. Below the open fields that stretch out before me I can vaguely make out some town in the distance between the mist and the clouds. I stand there for some time gazing at it. Yes, it is certainly a town. But what town can possibly be lying over there with all those houses? There is something rather peculiar about the whole scene. I am totally ignorant about the geography of these parts, however, and there is really nothing so surprising about seeing an unfamiliar town. I look down the other side of the hill. It slopes down gently into the distance. The entire surface is covered with dense thickets. It is shortly before noon and the gentle spring sun shines like smoke, like scent, through the fresh green foliage and on to the slender trunks of the oaks, the chestnut trees and the silver birches. The balance of the shade and the sun on the tree-trunks and on the ground is beautiful beyond words. I feel like going into the depths of that forest. The undergrowth must be very dense, but it is surely not impenetrable.
My friend Frate seems to be thinking along the same lines. He advances merrily into the forest and I follow him. When we have gone a little over a hundred yards, the dog begins to walk in a different way. He abandons his easy gait and busily moves his legs forward as if he were weaving. He thrusts his nose forward. He must have found something. Is it a rabbit’s footprints, or can he have found a bird’s-nest lying in that thick grass? For a few moments he hurries to and fro restlessly. Then he seems to find the right path and walks straight ahead. My curiosity is slightly aroused and I follow
