above his head some little bird sang out, of a sudden; he began to peer about for it among the leaves. suddenly the bird darted out of the tree and away, and instantly he thought of the "fly buzzing about in the sun’s rays" that hippolyte had talked of; how that it knew its place and was a participator in the universal life, while he alone was an "outcast." this picture had impressed him at the time, and he meditated upon it now. an old, forgotten memory awoke in his brain, and suddenly burst into clearness and light. it was a recollection of switzerland, during the first year of his cure, the very first months. at that time he had been pretty nearly an idiot still; he could not speak properly, and had difficulty in understanding when others spoke to him. he climbed the mountain-side, one sunny morning, and wandered long and aimlessly with a certain thought in his brain, which would not become clear. above him was the blazing sky, below, the lake; all around was the horizon, clear and infinite. he looked out upon this, long and anxiously. he remembered how he had stretched out his arms towards the beautiful, boundless blue of the horizon, and wept, and wept. what had so tormented him was the idea that he was a stranger to all this, that he was outside this glorious festival.