Fatigued with a two-days' spree and with the dinner that had just
been finished, the company was in a weary frame of mind. They all
gazed at the river, chatting, but their conversation was now and
again interrupted by long pauses.
The day was clear and bright and young, as in spring. The cold,
clear sky stretched itself majestically over the turbid water of
the gigantically-wide, overflowing river, which was as calm as
the sky and as vast as the sea. The distant, mountainous shore
was tenderly bathed in bluish mist. Through it, there, on the
mountain tops, the crosses of churches were flashing like big
stars. The river was animated at the mountainous shore; steamers
were going hither and thither, and their noise came in deep moans
toward the rafts and into the meadows, where the calm flow of the
waves filled the air with soft and faint sounds. Gigantic barges
stretched themselves one after another against the current, like
huge pigs, tearing asunder the smooth expanse of the river. Black
smoke came in ponderous puffs from the chimneys of the steamers,
slowly melting in the fresh air, which was full of bright
sunshine.
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