A magical, secret place in the forest... Our very own little cabin, with wooden walls, and wooden floors, and wooden shutters at the windows... Outside, we can pick sweet berries all year round; chanterelles spread like yellow rugs under trees; and in the bottom of a valley there's a river, a beautiful swirling Fluss overflowing with silvery fish, so when we're hungry and need supper, we can just dip our hands in and pull three out."
-- James (chapter 1 paragraph 3)

Importance: Here, James tells Peggy about die Hütte for the first time. At this point, James and Peggy are still living at Ute's house and have not yet ventured into the forest. James paints die Hütte as an idyllic cabin from a fairy-tale, when in reality, it is a decaying house. Thus, with this' initial description of die Hütte, Fuller introduces her fairy-tale motif, which she will use throughout the novel to...