"Oh! That was fast."

His hands are both occupied at the moment by oats and horse lips, but as soon as they're empty of food he wipes them on a nearby blanket and takes the book. Meanwhile the horse snuffles at his shoulder and back in search of something else edible. Additional biting is possible. But Bastien lets him do it.

"And you can keep the other one," he says, "or pass it along, or put it in the library. I'm not attached to it."