One bright, clear morning in early summer, a fair young man walked through a forest that lay before a castle. He was dressed as a soldier, and a fine figure of a man he was: his back was straight, his countenance handsome, and his weapons shone like the sun. It so happened he came upon another young man chopping wood in a clearing, his slender, bare back glistening with the sweat of his honest labours.
Feeling a sudden desire to rest his feet a while, the soldier laid down his arms and seated himself with his back against a tree. He watched the young woodcutter at his work, admiring the play of muscles under tanned skin and the easy strength of his motions.
The woodcutter began presently to feel a prickling sensation upon the back of his neck, as so often happens when one is observed. He
