He laid there, in the straw, soaked, cold and tied up. He stared at the ceiling of the shed. Through the wooden beams you could see a bit of the starry sky and the moon, it was shining very bright today. Was it a full moon? He turned on his side and his chains from the shackles, crunched in the straw.
He had been a slave since he was a little boy and he had grown accustomed to the shackles that were wrapped around his ankles. The fame of the shackled man came from the fact that he never took the shackles off, that when he wanted to wash himself, he always had to wash his clothes at the same time, and when he wanted to wash his clothes, he always had to wash himself at the same time, that he could not help jumping into the river every day, as he was, as soon as the sun came out. And that he couldn't venture out too far lest he be swept away.
Today he was not in the river in the morning, so he was punished with beatings and was not allowed to eat or drink.
In the evening he had to jump into the already cold river to wash himself. Now he lays in the straw and tries to warm himself. Then the big fuzzy dog of his master came and laid down with him. He was grateful and snuggled into the warm fur of the big dog. The boy had a good relationship with the animals on the farm, as he cared for them every day. His master was also rather nice.
As long as he, had a clean demeanor, the master was good to him. He often gets the leftovers of the master's delicious meals and he was very happy about it. He heard from other slaves, on other farms, that they mostly got only hard bread. This made him sad and he prayed for them every night so that they would be treated better soon. He yawned and snuggled deeper into the dog's fur. However, he could not sleep, not because of the full moon, but because of the pretty girl he had seen at the river. He was standing in the river when she came. She was wearing a white dress and her long golden blonde curls fell over her shoulders. The sun was slowly setting and the orange colors of the sky were reflected in her hair. She looked like an angel. She had a basket with her, covered by a red cloth. He wondered what was in it? The girl sat down on the bank of the river and put the basket beside her. She washed her face with the river water and then parted her curls to make braids. He sighed into the dog's fur. He longed for her, even though he didn't know her and hadn't spoken a word with her. He noticed how slowly his eyes fell shut. Shortly after, he fell into a deep sleep and dreamed of the pretty stranger.
