She offered herself, this early morning, to a man already covered in sweat, as the dogs on the other side of the fencing started barking at the sheep which would not stay still. It drove the dogs mad to see the sheep behaving like that but they could not reach them to control them, and the more the dogs barked the more agitated the sheep became. Neither Joséphine nor Wolfgang paid any attention to the furious chorus. The bleating sheep enraged the dogs, which were now barking in the direction of the house. The lions over on the other slopes must have begun to roar. They couldn’t be heard from here as they were too far away, but the sheep stirring and knocking into each other would be spreading droplets of sweat on the wind which the lions would scent. They would be able to smell the bleating flock getting heated as they tormented the dogs. And down in the village that morning, the lions could be heard louder than ever; people shivered in fear at the incessant roaring. By making love on top of the world, Wolfgang and Joséphine electrified the wildlife, shattered the peace of the morning, and drove the women to swearing.

Once the wildlife had calmed down, Joséphine and Wolfgang improvised breakfast on the little table set up outside. At the farmhouse in the village it was not done to eat outside; there might be an arbour to enjoy the fresh air in, but to eat bareheaded in the sun was not allowed. Besides coffee, there was only bread and cheese, with a few unripe figs. It was not much. All sorts of insects danced around them. Bees, hornets and wasps created a an insistent gentle buzzing. Joséphine had set the ewes free and they had all gone down to the bottom of the little valley, accompanied by the dogs. They were grazing on the hillside, clearly visible from up here. Wolfgang watched the animals. The bond between the three dogs and the sheep was touching. He thought of his wild cats, which he had left well shaded in the cages at the back, because it would be hot today. Knowing that Joséphine would not refuse him, he had planned to spend part of the day here. The relationship had been forged long ago. Seen from here, the land stretched away to infinity. The hills around them were sharply outlined, but in the distance you could have seen as far as the Massif Central, while to the south you could imagine the Pyrenees, or else all those distant mountains were actually clouds, the cumulus of the beautiful weather. Since they had made love, it was if their bodies were continuing a conversation; they spoke little; they were two beings at peace, looking out over all others.

‘Why did you come and live up here?’

‘Ewes were disappearing. In the village they thought you were stealing them for the lions.’