‘That aspen over there’, Bazarov began, ‘reminds me of my childhood. It’s growing at the edge of a hole which is all that remains of a brick barn, and in those days I was sure that that hole and that aspen possessed special magic powers, because I was never bored when I was near them. I didn’t understand then that I wasn’t bored because I was a child. Now I’m grown-up the special magic powers don’t work any more.’
