Wie wir einst so glücklich waren!

A first-person narrator reflects on autumnal rain and deep loneliness at a rural estate, preferring bleak weather that matches their mood and awakens memories. Through detailed sensory scenes and literary allusions the narrator recalls a past summer of communal warmth and ardent admiration for a woman, then shifts to recollections of uneasy city school years, social alienation, and moral estrangement from classmates. The narrative alternates present introspection with vivid recollection, exploring themes of solitude, longing, memory's consolations, and the tension between pastoral belonging and urban isolation.