They had gone out for the whole afternoon, taking a little
snack with them in order that they might share it amid the long grass in
the fields. And after scouring the paths, crossing the copses, rambling
over the moorland, they came back to the verge of the woods and sat down
under an oak. Thence the whole expanse spread out before them, from the
little pavilion where they dwelt to the distant village of Janville. On
their right was the great marshy plateau, from which broad, dry, sterile
slopes descended; while lower ground stretched away on their left. Then,
behind them, spread the woods with deep thickets parted by clearings,
full of herbage which no scythe had ever touched. And not a soul was to
be seen around them; there was naught save wild Nature, grandly quiescent
under the bright sun of that splendid April day. The earth seemed to be
dilating with all the sap amassed within it, and a flood of life could be
felt rising and quivering in the vigorous trees, the spreading plants,
and the impetuous growth of brambles and nettles which stretched
invadingly over the soil. And on all sides a powerful, pungent odor was
diffused.
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