THE  burning  sun  of  July  shone  blindingly  down  on
Smolkena,  flooding  its  old  huts  with  liberal  streams  of
bright  sunshine.  There  was  a  particularly  large
quantity  of  sunlight  on  the  roof  of  the  Starosta's*  hut,
not  so  long  ago  re-roofed  with  smoothly-planed,  yellow,
fragrant,  boards.  It  was  Sunday,  and  almost  the
whole  population  of  the  village  had  come  out  into  the
street  thickly  grown  over  with  grass  and  spotted  here
and  there  with  lumps  of  dry  mud.  In  front  of  the
Starosta's  house,  a  large  group  of  men  and  women
were  assembled ;  some  were  sitting  on  the  mound  of
earth  round  the  hut,  others  were  sitting  on  the  bare
ground,  others  were  standing.  The  little  children
were  chasing  each  other  in  and  out  of  the  groups,  to
an  accompaniment  of  angry  rebukes  and  slaps  from
the  grown-ups.
The  centre  of  this  crowd  was  a  tall  man,  with  large

*  Chief  of  a  village  community.

### Language ###
English

### Assessment ###
We can ask about the weather/season since the text clearly mentions it's a hot July day.

### Query ###
What season is it during the events of the story?
What season is it during the events of the story?