Page 62 - madame-bovary

She recalled the prize days, when she mounted the plat-
form to receive her little crowns, with her hair in long plaits.
In her white frock and open prunella shoes she had a pretty
way, and when she went back to her seat, the gentlemen bent
over her to congratulate her; the courtyard was full of car-
riages; farewells were called to her through their windows;
the music master with his violin case bowed in passing by.
How far all of this! How far away! She called Djali, took her
between her knees, and smoothed the long delicate head,
saying, ‘Come, kiss mistress; you have no troubles.’
Then noting the melancholy face of the graceful animal,
who yawned slowly, she softened, and comparing her to
herself, spoke to her aloud as to somebody in trouble whom
one is consoling.
Occasionally there came gusts of winds, breezes from
the sea rolling in one sweep over the whole plateau of the
Caux country, which brought even to these fields a salt
freshness. The rushes, close to the ground, whistled; the
branches trembled in a swift rustling, while their summits,
ceaselessly swaying, kept up a deep murmur. Emma drew
her shawl round her shoulders and rose.
In the avenue a green light dimmed by the leaves lit up
the short moss that crackled softly beneath her feet. The sun
was setting; the sky showed red between the branches, and
the trunks of the trees, uniform, and planted in a straight
line, seemed a brown colonnade standing out against a
background of gold. A fear took hold of her; she called Dja-
li, and hurriedly returned to Tostes by the high road, threw
herself into an armchair, and for the rest of the evening did

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