First Lines of "Rosshalde"

"Ten years ago when Johann Veraguth bought Rosshalde and moved in, it was an abandoned old manor with overgrown garden paths, moss-covered benches, cracked stone steps, and a tangled, neglected park. The only buildings on the property, which measured about eight acres, were the fine, slightly run-down manor house with its stable, and in the park a small temple-like summer house, its door hanging askew on bent hinges and its walls, formerly hung with blue silk, covered with moss and mold."
- Herman Hesse, t. by Ralph Manheim

Bonus Quotes!
"'...if you've done something that isn't right, you know it and you're ashamed. If somebody scolds me, i'm much less ashamed. And sometimes they scold you when you havent' done anything at all, just because you weren't there when they called, or because Mama is in a bad humor.'
Robert laughed. 'You've just got to average it up. Think of all of the wicked things you must do that nobody sees and nobody scolds you for.'
Pierre gave no reply. It was always the same. Whenever he let himself be drawn into a discussion with a grownup about something that was really important to him, it ended in disappointment or even humiliation." p. 22

"The painter closed his tired eyes for a moment, let his hands fall, and with almost painful delight breathed in the deep sunny silence of the hour, his friend's presence, his own appeased weariness after successful work, and the letdown of his overstrained nerves. Along with the frenzy of unstinting activity, he had long found his deepest, most comforting pleasure in these gentle moments of weary relaxation, comparable to the restful vegetative twilight states between sleep and waking." p. 42-3

Pretty good stuff so far!