Prose

[Sharkith]

Ok this one is for prose. Try to keep the passages short and if you could please provide references - I might want to go buy the books etc.
___________________

"The weather was fine and still at first. There were thrushes singing, and in the marshes nearby something alive was whistling mournfully, as if blowing into an empty bottle. A lone woodcock flew over, and the shot fired at it rang out with resounding brightness in the spring air. But when it grew dark in the wood, an unseasonable cold and biting wind started blowing from the east and everything fell silent. Ice needles stretched across the puddles and the wood became bleak, desolate, and empty. It began to smell of winter.

Chekov "The student" from "About love and other stories."
___________________

"Just then ripples ran along the rye and a light evening breeze geently grazed his uncovered head. A minute later there was another gust of wind, but stronger this time - the rye started rustling and a muffled whisper came from the pines behind him. Kovrin stopped in astonishment. A tall black column had appeared on the horizon, stretching from the ground to the sky like a whirlwind or a sandstorm. Its countors were not clear, but from the the very first moment you could see that it was not standing still but moving at a terrifying speed, and moving in this direction, straight towards him; as it came closer it became smaller and more distinct. Kovrin jumped out of the way, into the rye, in order to give it room to pass, and just in the nick of time......

A monk dressed in black with grey hair and black eyebrows, his arms crossed over his chest, sped past.....

Chekov "The Black Monk" from "About love and other stories."