his expressionless face and cropped head were between her legs and a last fruit fell with a thud—the dropped dot of an inverted exclamation point.

A clear starry sky looked down upon the dark abodes of humanity. Kerkau castle lay in the deep stillness of night. And yet a woman with fair curly hair buried her head in the pillows and could find no sleep. Tomorrow, ah tomorrow, one she loves, her sweetheart, was to forsake her. A whisper passed (ran) through the gloomy, impenetrable (dark) night