First one arm ... then he drew up his torso, then pushed one knee out from under the blanket ... then ... and then all at once he dashed barefoot on tiptoe over to Basini, and sat down on the edge of the bed.

Basini was asleep.

He looked as though he was having pleasant dreams.

Törless was not yet master of his actions. For a moment he sat quietly and stared into the sleeping boy’s face. Twitching through his brain were those short, disconnected thoughts which do no more than record the state of things, the thoughts that one has when one loses one’s balance or falls, or when an object is torn from one’s hands. And without thinking he grabbed Basini by the shoulder and shook him awake.

The sleeping boy stretched lethargically a few times, then sat up and looked at Törless, his eyes stupid with sleep.

Törless was frightened; he was utterly confused; for the first time he became aware of what he was doing, and didn’t know what to do next. He was terribly ashamed. His heart beat audibly. Words of explanation, excuses jostled on his tongue. He wanted to ask Basini if he had any matches, if he could tell him what time it was ...

Basini continued to stare at him uncomprehendingly.

Now, without having uttered a word, Törless drew back his arm, now he was sliding down from the bed to creep silently back to his own - then Basini seemed to have grasped the situation and sat upright with a jolt.

Törless stood irresolutely at the end of the bed. Basini looked at him again with a questioning, inquiring glance, then he rose from his bed, slipped into his dressing-gown and slippers and padded on ahead.

All of a sudden Törless knew that it wasn’t the first time this had happened.

In passing he picked up the keys to the room, which he had hidden under his pillow. Basini made straight for the attic hideaway. He seemed to have become very familiar with the path which had once been kept secret from him. He held the crate firmly when Törless stepped on to it, he pushed the stage sets aside, warily, discreetly, like a trained lackey.

Törless opened the door and they stepped inside. He stood with his back to Basini and lit the little lamp.

When he turned around, Basini was standing naked before him.

He involuntarily took a step back. He was blinded and appalled by the sudden sight of that naked, snow-white body, with the red of the walls turning to blood behind him. Basini had a beautiful physique; his body, almost entirely lacking in masculine forms, was as chastely slender as that of a young girl. And Törless felt the image of that nakedness lighting up in his nerves like hot, white flames. He could not escape the power of that beauty. He had never known before what beauty was. For what was art, at his age, what did he know of it? Up to a certain age, after all, it is incomprehensible and boring to anyone who has grown up in the open air!

But now it had come to him along the paths of sensuality. Covertly, ambushing him. A stupefying warm breath emanated from the bared body, a soft, lascivious flattery. And yet there was something about it so solemn and compelling that it would have made one clasp one’s hands together.

But after the initial surprise Törless was ashamed of both reactions. ‘This is a man!’ The thought infuriated him, and yet he felt as though he would have felt exactly the same way with a girl.

Ashamed, he said imperiously, ‘What can you be thinking of? Get those things right back on ... !’

Now it was Basini’s turn to seem dismayed; hesitantly, without taking his eyes off Törless, he picked up his dressing-gown.

‘Go on, sit down!’ Törless ordered. Basini obeyed. Törless leaned against the wall, hands crossed behind his back.

‘Why did you get undressed? What did you want from me?’

‘I thought ...’

Hesitation.

‘What did you think?’

‘The others ...’

‘What about the others?’

‘Beineberg and Reiting ...’

‘What about Beineberg and Reiting? What have they been doing? You’ve got to tell me everything! That’s what I want; do you understand? Although I’ve already heard it from the lips of the others.’ Törless blushed at his clumsy lie. Basini bit his lips.

‘Now, all right?’

‘No, don’t make me tell you! Please don’t ask me to do that! I’ll do anything you like.