'Ever seen a leaf - a leaf from a tree?'
'Yes.'
I saw one recently - a yellow one, a little green, wilted at the edges.
Blown by the wind. When I was a little boy, I used to shut my eyes in
winter and imagine a green leaf, with veins on it, and the sun shining ...'
'What's this - an allegory?'
"No; why? Not an allegory - a leaf, just a leaf. A leaf is good.
Everything's good.'
- Dialogue between Kirolov and Stavrogin
Dostoevsky, The Possessed