III. so much to live for, so much to die for

One late night following a miserable, foodless day, the boy wonders what he has to live for. In despair and grimness strange for one so young, he thinks, nothing. But then a melody floats through his mind, like a swan high above the hunger and the torment. He remembers the freedom in the soprano's voice, soaring in a language he could not understand – but that did not matter. He knew she was singing about something so beautiful that all words were superfluous.

He would die to know that sort of freedom, that sort of beauty untainted.