Read "The Absolute at Large" by Karel Čapek online for free on Textopian. Full text with search, annotations, highlights, and AI-powered reading aids.
And while the world shook with the clash of armies, while the boundaries of States writhed to and fro like earthworms, and the whole earth was crumbling into a field of ruins, old Mrs. Blahous was peeling her potatoes in Seven Cottages, Grandfather Blahous was sitting on the doorstep smoking beech-leaves, and their neighbour, Mrs. Prouzova, was leaning on the fence, repeating meditatively, "Yes, yes."
"Aye, yes," returned Blahous after a while.