“I don’t know anything about it,” I said timidly. “It’s a bird, or something like it; it must be very old. They say that the house at one time belonged to the abbey.”

“Very likely,” he nodded. “We’ll have another good look at it. Such things are often interesting. It is a hawk, I think.”

We continued our way. I was considerably embarrassed. Suddenly Demian laughed, as if something funny had struck him.

“Oh, I was present at your lesson,” he said with animation. “The story of Cain, who carried the mark on his forehead, was it not? Do you like it?”

Generally I used not to like anything of all the things we had to learn. But I did not dare to say so⁠—it was as though a grown-up person were talking to me. I said I liked the story very much.