UP IN THE TOP STORY
from his mother, he lay down and was fast asleep before his mother had even shut the door.
Agnes had just finished her last task and was throwing her books into a drawer, each more violently than the other. She was still terribly excited, and as soon as her mother came back to the room, she burst forth: “Oh, mother, if I am not allowed to study music any more, I would rather stop learning anything. Why can’t I become a servant girl? I could do the work well enough. As soon as I have earned enough money, I’ll buy a harp and then I can wander from house to house, singing and playing. I can easily live like that. Nobody needs to be a dressmaker. People can wear petticoats and jackets. That is enough, and those can be woven. All other children are better off than we are. They can learn what they please and we can’t learn anything!” An outburst of tears choked all further words.
During her sister’s speech Nika had been quietly drawing, but she was holding her head lower and lower over her work without once looking up. She continued her studies, but her eyes seemed to be filling. Pushing her
53
