two o'clock
The whole day had passed in gaiety and noise , even a trifle clamorously , and just the least wee bit tiresomely , but with youth-like continence ; without intoxication , and , which happens especially rarely , without the least shadow of mutual affronts , or jealousy , or unvoiced mortifications . Of course , such a benign mood had been helped by the sun , the fresh river breeze , the sweet exhalations of the grasses and the water , the joyous sensation of the strength and alertness of one 's body while bathing and rowing , and the restraining influence of the clever , kind , pure and handsome girls from families they were acquainted with . But , almost without the knowledge of their consciousness , their sensuousness -- not imagination , but the simple , healthy , instinctive sensuousness of young playful males -- kindled from chance encounters of their hands with feminine hands and from comradely obliging embraces , when the occasion arose to help the young ladies enter a boat or jump out on shore ; from the tender odour of maiden apparel , warmed by the sun ; from the feminine cries of coquettish fright on the river ; from the sight of feminine figures , negligently half-reclining with a naive immodesty on the green grass around the samovar -- from all these innocent liberties , which are so usual and unavoidable on picnics , country outings and river excursions , when within man , in the infinite depth of his soul , secretly awakens from the care-free contact with earth , grasses , water and sun , the beast-ancient , splendid , free , but disfigured and intimidated of men . And for that reason , at two o'clock in the night , when THE SPARROWS , a cozy students ' restaurant , had barely closed , and all the eight , excited by alcohol and the plentiful food , had come out of the smoky , fumy underground place into the street , into the sweet , disquieting darkness of the night , with its beckoning fires in the sky and on the earth , with its warm , heady air , from which the nostrils dilate avidly , with its aromas , gliding from unseen gardens and flower-beds , -- the head of each one of them was aflame and the heart quietly and languishingly yearning from vague desires . It was joyous and arrogant to sense after the rest the new , fresh strength in all the sinews , the deep breathing of the lungs , the red , resilient blood in the veins , the supple obedience of all the members . And -- without words , without thoughts , without consciousness -- one was drawn on this night to be running without raiment in the somnolent forest , to be sniffing hurriedly the tracks of some one 's feet on the dewy grass , with a loud call to be summoning a female unto one 's self . But to separate was now very difficult .