Summary

One day, Alois’s father, Baas Cogez, came into the meadow and saw his daughter sitting on a rock with Patrasche, covered in wraths and flowers while Nello was drawing them both with a stick of charcoal on a slab of pine wood. Baas Cogez is emotionally moved by the portrait, but he chides Alois for idling away and sends her inside to help her mother. When she leaves, he tells Nello that painting is an “evil waste of time,” but he pays him a silver coin for the portrait. However, Nello refuses the silver and gives the portrait to Baas Cogez for free.

Since Alois was 12 and Nello was now 15, Baas Cogez told his wife that the two should not spend too much time together anymore. His wife argued that Nello was a good boy and very handsome. Since Alois would have...