Pagina 317 di 788

Meanwhile an evil spirit assailed him with a new temptation, to

listen to what Zosia was saying to the Count. The girl,

captivated by the Count's affability, at first blushed, lowering

her eyes; then they began to laugh, and finally to talk about a

certain unexpected meeting in the garden, about a certain

stepping over the burdocks and the vegetable beds. Thaddeus,

eagerly pricking up his ears, devoured the bitter words and

digested them in his soul. He had a frightful meal. As a serpent

in a garden drinks with its double tongue from poisonous herbs,

then rolls into a ball and lies down upon the path, threatening

the foot that may carelessly step upon it, so Thaddeus, filled

with the poison of jealousy, seemed indifferent, but yet was

bursting with malice.

In the merriest assembly, if a few are out of sorts, at once

their gloom spreads to the rest. The sportsmen had long ceased to

speak, and now the other side of the table became silent,

infected with the spleen of Thaddeus.