If the donkey would refuse to eat anything but oats and barley, and turned and rent anybody who annoyed him in the slightest degree, you would see how people would immediately have the highest respect for his intellect." "You seem to have a low opinion of your fellow-creatures, madame ?" "It is their own fault then," she replied, gazing through the window into the courtyard.
After this conversation Wilhelm looked for the first time more attentively at his neighbor.

He had a general impression of her being tall and stout, with a remarkably clear, bright complexion.

Now he took in the details.

In spite of the fullness of her figure she was slender about the waist, and her small slim hands, with their tapering fingers and pink nails, retained the purity of their outline, and had by no means degenerated into mere cushions of fat.

The proudly-poised head was crowned by a wealth of heavy, pale brown hair with dull gold reflections in it, waving in soft, downy locks round her forehead.