Book Description

Excerpt from Under the Red Flag, and Other Tales Stars shining in the deep purple of a summer sky; June roses blooming and breathing sweetness on the soft, cool night; leaves whispering; low faint sounds of falling waters from a fountain hidden in the foliage; and across the dim shadowy night the flaring lights and gaudy colours of a painted and gilded temple, in which the band is playing one of Strauss's tenderest waltzes. The melodious strain is drawing to its close. The players attack the coda with crash and hurry, the pace intensifying as they near the end. All the waltzers have fallen out of the ranks, except one couple, and those two waltz as if it were impossible to tire - as if they were the very spirit of dance and melody, creatures of fire and air, motion incarnate. The girl's golden head reclines against her partner's shoulder, but not with an air of weariness; the attitude expresses only repose; the graceful gliding step, the harmonious flowing movements, are as natural as the fall of waters or the waving of forest boughs. The rosy lips are slightly parted, the sweet eyes look starwards with a dreamy gaze. There is far more of spirit than of gross earthliness in the slim willowy form, the fair and radiant face, which the stars and the lamps shine upon alternately, as those revolving figures circle - now in the glare of the orchestra, and then under those solemn worlds of light which are soon to look upon stranger, sadder, darker, crueller sights than this Sunday evening dance at the Closerie des Lilas. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.