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The owl began it, hooting from beneath the house roof; the bats

rustled with flimsy wings, and flew towards the house, where

shone the panes of the windows and human faces; but nearer, the

little sisters of the bats, the moths, hovered in a swarm,

attracted by the white garments of the women; they were

especially troublesome to Zosia, beating against her face and her

bright eyes, which they mistook for two candles. In the air an

immense cloud of insects gathered and whirled about, playing like

the music of the spheres; Zosia's ear distinguished amid the

thousand noises the accord of the flies and the false half-tone

of the mosquitoes.