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| committer | Roger Frank <rfrank@pglaf.org> | 2025-10-15 04:44:53 -0700 |
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diff --git a/14593-h/14593-h.htm b/14593-h/14593-h.htm new file mode 100644 index 0000000..c978128 --- /dev/null +++ b/14593-h/14593-h.htm @@ -0,0 +1,2338 @@ +<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" + "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"> +<html> +<head> +<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" /> +<title>The Project Gutenberg eBook of Norse Tales and Sketches, by Alexander Lange Kielland</title> + <style type="text/css"> +/*<![CDATA[ XML blockout */ +<!-- + P { margin-top: .75em; + text-align: justify; + margin-bottom: .75em; + } + H1,H2,H3,H4,H5,H6 { + text-align: center; /* all headings centered */ + } + HR { width: 33%; + margin-top: 1em; + margin-bottom: 1em; + } + BODY{margin-left: 10%; + margin-right: 10%; + } + .linenum {position: absolute; top: auto; left: 4%;} /* poetry number */ + .note {margin-left: 2em; margin-right: 2em; margin-bottom: 1em;} /* footnote */ + .cen {text-align: center;} + .blkquot {margin-left: 4em; margin-right: 4em;} /* block indent */ + .pagenum {position: absolute; left: 92%; font-size: smaller; text-align: right;} /* page numbers */ + .sidenote {width: 20%; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-top: 1em; padding-left: 1em; font-size: smaller; float: right; clear: right;} + .poem {margin-left:10%; margin-right:10%; text-align: left;} + .poem br {display: none;} + .poem .stanza {margin: 1em 0em 1em 0em;} + .poem span {display: block; margin: 0; padding-left: 3em; text-indent: -3em;} + .poem span.i2 {display: block; margin-left: 2em;} + .poem span.i4 {display: block; margin-left: 4em;} + .poem .caesura {vertical-align: -200%;} + hr.full { width: 100%; } + a:link {color:blue; + text-decoration:none} + link {color:blue; + text-decoration:none} + a:visited {color:blue; + text-decoration:none} + a:hover {color:red} + pre {font-size: 8pt;} + // --> + /* XML end ]]>*/ + </style> +</head> +<body> +<div>*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 14593 ***</div> +<h1>The Project Gutenberg eBook, Norse Tales and Sketches, by Alexander Lange +Kielland, Translated by R. L. Cassie</h1> + <hr class="full" /> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> + <h1>NORSE TALES AND SKETCHES.</h1> + <h3>BY</h3> + <h2>ALEXANDER L. KIELLAND.</h2> + <br /> + + <h3><i>TRANSLATED BY R. L. CASSIE</i>.</h3> + <br /> + +<br /> + <h3>LONDON<br /> + <br /> + 1896</h3> + <br /> + <hr style='width: 65%;' /> + <br /> + + <p>INTRODUCTION</p> + <br /> + + <p>Encouraged by the great and growing popularity of Scandinavian literature in this + country, I venture to submit to public judgment this humble essay towards an English + presentment of some of the charming novelettes of Alexander L. Kielland, a writer who + takes rank among the foremost exponents of modern Norse thought. Although these short + stories do not represent the full fruition of the author's genius, they yet convey a + fairly accurate conception of his literary personality, and of the bold realistic + tendency which is so strikingly developed in his longer novels.</p> + <p>Kielland's style is polished, lucid, and incisive. He does not waste words or + revel in bombastic diffuseness. Every phrase of his narrative is a definite + contribution towards the vivification of his realistic effects. His concise, laconic + periods are pregnant with deep meaning, and instinct with that indefinable Norse + essence which almost eludes the translator—that vague something which specially + lends itself to the treatment of weird or pathetic situations.</p> + <p>In his pre-eminence as a satirist, Kielland resembles Thackeray. His satire, + although keen, is always wholesome, genial, and good-humoured.</p> + <p>Kielland's longer novels are masterly delineations of Norwegian provincial life + and character, and his vivid individualization of his native town of Stavanger finds + few parallels in fiction.</p> + <p>In conclusion, the writer hopes that this modest publication may help to draw the + attention of the cultured British public to another of the great literary figures of + the North.</p> + <br /> + + <p>R.L.C.</p> + <br /> + <hr style='width: 65%;' /> + <br /> + + <h2>CONTENTS.</h2> + <br /> + <br /> + <p><a href='#A_SIESTA'>A SIESTA.</a></p> + <p><a href='#A_MONKEY'>A MONKEY.</a></p> + <p><a href='#A_TALE_OF_THE_SEA'>A TALE OF THE SEA.</a></p> + <p><a href='#A_DINNER'>A DINNER.</a></p> + <p><a href='#TROFAST'>TROFAST.</a></p> + <p><a href='#KAREN'>KAREN.</a></p> + <p><a href='#JOURNEY'>MY SISTER'S JOURNEY TO MODUM.</a></p> + <p><a href='#LETTERS_FROM_MASTER_PILOT_SEEHUS'>LETTERS FROM MASTER-PILOT SEEHUS.</a></p> + <p><a href='#OLD_DANCES'>OLD DANCES.</a></p> + <p><a href='#AUTUMN'>AUTUMN.</a></p> + + <br /> + <a id="A_SIESTA" name='A_SIESTA'></a><hr style='width: 65%;' /> + <br /> + <br /> + <br /> + <br /> + <h2>A SIESTA.</h2> + <br /> + <p>In an elegant suite of chambers in the Rue Castiglione sat a merry party at + dessert.</p> + <p>Senhor José Francisco de Silvis was a short-legged, dark-complexioned + Portuguese, one of those who usually come from Brazil with incredible wealth, live + incredible lives in Paris, and, above all, become notorious by making the most + incredible acquaintances.</p> + <p>In that little company scarcely anybody, except those who had come in pairs, knew + his neighbour. And the host himself knew his guests only through casual meetings at + balls, <i>tables d' hôte</i>, or in the street.</p> + <p>Senhor de Silvis laughed much, and talked loudly of his success in life, as is the + habit of rich foreigners; and as he could not reach up to the level of the Jockey + Club, he gathered the best company he could find. When he met anyone, he immediately + asked for the address, and sent next day an invitation to a little dinner. He spoke + all languages, even German, and one could see by his face that he was not a little + proud when he called over the table: Mein lieber Herr Doctor! Wie geht's Ihnen?'</p> + <p>There was actually a live German doctor among this merry party. He had an + overgrown light-red beard, and that Sedan smile which invariably accompanies the + Germans in Paris.</p> + <p>The temperature of the conversation rose with the champagne; the sounds of fluent + and broken French were mingled with those of Spanish and Portuguese. The ladies lay + back in their chairs and laughed. The guests already knew each other well enough not + to be reserved or constrained. Jokes and <i>bons-mots</i> passed over the table, and + from mouth to mouth. 'Der liebe Doctor' alone engaged in a serious discussion with + the gentleman next to him—a French journalist with a red ribbon in his + buttonhole.</p> + <p>And there was one more who was not drawn into the general merriment. He sat on the + right of Mademoiselle Adèle, while on the left was her new lover, the + corpulent Anatole, who had surfeited himself on truffles.</p> + <p>During dinner Mademoiselle Adèle had endeavoured, by many innocent little + arts, to infuse some life into her right-hand neighbour. However, he remained very + quiet, answering her courteously, but briefly, and in an undertone.</p> + <p>At first she thought he was a Pole—one of those very tiresome specimens who + wander about and pretend to be outlaws. However, she soon perceived that she had made + a mistake, and this piqued Mademoiselle Adèle. For one of her many specialties + was the ability to immediately 'assort' all the foreigners with whom she mingled, and + she used to declare that she could guess a man's nationality as soon as she had + spoken ten words with him.</p> + <p>But this taciturn stranger caused her much perplexed cogitation. If he had only + been fair-haired, she would at once have set him down as an Englishman, for he talked + like one. But he had dark hair, a thick black moustache, and a nice little figure. + His fingers were remarkably long, and he had a peculiar way of trifling with his + bread and playing with his dessert-fork.</p> + <p>'He is a musician,' whispered Mademoiselle Adèle to her stout friend.</p> + <p>'Ah!' replied Monsieur Anatole. 'I am afraid I have eaten too many truffles.'</p> + <p>Mademoiselle Adèle whispered in his ear some words of good counsel, upon + which he laughed and looked very affectionate.</p> + <p>However, she could not relinquish her hold of the interesting foreigner. After she + had coaxed him to drink several glasses of champagne, he became livelier, and talked + more.</p> + <p>'Ah!' cried she suddenly; 'I hear it in your speech. You are an Englishman!'</p> + <p>The stranger grew quite red in the face, and answered quickly, 'No, madame.'</p> + <p>Mademoiselle Adèle laughed. 'I beg your pardon. I know that Americans feel + angry when they are taken for Englishmen.'</p> + <p>'Neither am I an American,' replied the stranger.</p> + <p>This was too much for Mademoiselle Adèle. She bent over her plate and + looked sulky, for she saw that Mademoiselle Louison opposite was enjoying her + defeat.</p> + <p>The foreign gentleman understood the situation, and added, half aloud: 'I am an + Irishman, madame.'</p> + <p>'Ah!' said Mademoiselle Adèle, with a grateful smile, for she was easily + reconciled.</p> + <p>'Anatole! Irishman—what is that?' she asked in a whisper.</p> + <p>'The poor of England,' he whispered back.</p> + <p>'Indeed!'</p> + <p>Adèle elevated her eyebrows, and cast a shrinking, timid glance at the + stranger. She had suddenly lost much of her interest in him.</p> + <p>De Silvis's dinners were excellent. The party had sat long at table, and when + Monsieur Anatole thought of the oysters with which the feast had begun, they appeared + to him like a beautiful dream. On the contrary, he had a somewhat too lively + recollection of the truffles.</p> + <p>Dinner was over; hands were reaching out for glasses, or trifling with fruit or + biscuits.</p> + <p>That sentimental blonde, Mademoiselle Louison, fell into meditation over a grape + that she had dropped in her champagne glass. Tiny bright air-bubbles gathered all + round the coating of the fruit, and when it was quite covered with these shining + white pearls, they lifted the heavy grape up through the wine to the surface.</p> + <p>'Look!' said Mademoiselle Louison, turning her large, swimming eyes upon the + journalist, 'look, white angels are bearing a sinner to heaven!'</p> + <p>'Ah! <i>charmant</i>, mademoiselle! What a sublime thought!' exclaimed the + journalist, enraptured.</p> + <p>Mademoiselle Louison's sublime thought passed round the table, and was much + admired. Only the frivolous Adèle whispered to her obese admirer, 'It would + take a good many angels to bear you, Anatole.'</p> + <p>Meanwhile the journalist seized the opportunity; he knew how to rivet the general + attention. Besides, he was glad to escape from a tiresome political controversy with + the German; and, as he wore a red ribbon and affected the superior journalistic tone, + everybody listened to him.</p> + <p>He explained how small forces, when united, can lift great burdens; and then he + entered upon the topic of the day—the magnificent collections made by the press + for the sufferers by the floods in Spain, and for the poor of Paris. Concerning this + he had much to relate, and every moment he said 'we,' alluding to the press. He + talked himself quite warm about 'these millions, that we, with such great + self-sacrifice, have raised.'</p> + <p>But each of the others had his own story to tell. Numberless little touches of + nobility—all savouring of self-denial—came to light from amidst these + days of luxury and pleasure.</p> + <p>Mademoiselle Louison's best friend—an insignificant little lady who sat at + the foot of the table—told, in spite, of Louison's protest, how the latter had + taken three poor seamstresses up to her own rooms, and had them sew the whole of the + night before the <i>fête</i> in the hippodrome. She had given the poor girls + coffee and food, besides payment.</p> + <p>Mademoiselle Louison suddenly became an important personage at table, and the + journalist began to show her marked attention.</p> + <p>The many pretty instances of philanthropy, and Louison's swimming eyes, put the + whole company into a quiet, tranquil, benevolent frame of mind, eminently in keeping + with the weariness induced by the exertions of the feast. And this comfortable + feeling rose yet a few degrees higher after the guests were settled in soft + easy-chairs in the cool drawing-room.</p> + <p>There was no other light than the fire in the grate. Its red glimmer crept over + the English carpet and up the gold borders in the tapestry; it shone upon a gilt + picture-frame, on the piano that stood opposite, and, here and there, on a face + further away in the gloom. Nothing else was visible except the red ends of cigars and + cigarettes.</p> + <p>The conversation died away. The silence was broken only by an occasional whisper + or the sound of a coffee-cup being put aside; each seemed disposed to enjoy, + undisturbed, his genial mood and the quiet gladness of digestion. Even Monsieur + Anatole forgot his truffles, as he reclined in a low chair close to the sofa, on + which Mademoiselle Adèle had taken her seat.</p> + <p>'Is there no one who will give us a little music?' asked Senhor de Silvis from his + chair. 'You are always so kind, Mademoiselle Adèle.'</p> + <p>'Oh no, no!' cried Mademoiselle; 'I am too tired.'</p> + <p>But the foreigner—the Irishman—rose from his corner and walked towards + the instrument.</p> + <p>'Ah, you will play for us! A thousand thanks, Monsieur——.' Senhor de + Silvis had forgotten the name—a thing that often happened to him with his + guests.</p> + <p>'He is a musician,' said Mademoiselle Adèle to her friend. Anatole grunted + admiringly.</p> + <p>Indeed, all were similarly impressed by the mere way in which he sat down and, + without any preparation, struck a few chords here and there, as if to wake the + instrument.</p> + <p>Then he began to play—lightly, sportively, frivolously, as befitted the + situation. The melodies of the day were intermingled with fragments of waltzes and + ballads; all the ephemeral trifles that Paris hums over for eight days he blended + together with brilliantly fluent execution.</p> + <p>The ladies uttered exclamations of admiration, and sang a few bars, keeping time + with their feet. The whole party followed the music with intense interest; the + strange artist had hit their mood, and drawn them all with him from the beginning. + 'Der liebe Doctor' alone listened with the Sedan smile on his face; the pieces were + too easy for him.</p> + <p>But soon there came something for the German too; he nodded now and then with a + sort of appreciation.</p> + <p>It was a strange situation: the piquant fragrance that filled the air, the + pleasure-loving women—these people, so free and unconstrained, all strangers to + one another, hidden in the elegant, half-dark salon, each following his most secret + thoughts—thoughts born of the mysterious, muffled music; whilst the firelight + rose and fell, and made everything that was golden glimmer in the darkness.</p> + <p>And there constantly came more for the doctor. From time to time he turned and + signed to De Silvis, as he heard the loved notes of 'unser Schumann,' 'unser + Beethoven,' or even of 'unser famoser Richard.'</p> + <p>Meanwhile the stranger played on, steadily and without apparent effort, slightly + inclined to the left, so as to give power to the bass. It sounded as if he had twenty + fingers, all of steel; he knew how to unite the multitudinous notes in a single + powerful clang. Without any pause to mark the transition from one melody to another, + he riveted the interest of the company by constant new surprises, graceful allusions, + and genial combinations, so that even the least musical among them were constrained + to listen with eager attention.</p> + <p>But the character of the music imperceptibly changed. The artist bent constantly + over the instrument, inclining more to the left, and there was a strange unrest in + the bass notes. The Baptists from 'The Prophet' came with heavy step; a rider from + 'Damnation de Faust' dashed up from far below, in a desperate, hobbling + hell-gallop.</p> + <p>The rumbling grew stronger and stronger down in the depths, and Monsieur Anatole + again began to feel the effects of the truffles. Mademoiselle Adèle half rose; + the music would not let her lie in peace.</p> + <p>Here and there the firelight shone on a pair of black eyes staring at the artist. + He had lured them with him, and now they could not break loose; downward, ever + downward, he led them—downward, where was a dull and muffled murmur as of + threatenings and plaints.</p> + <p>'Er führt eine famose linke Hand,' said the doctor. But De Silvis did not + hear him; he sat, like the others, in breathless expectancy.</p> + <p>A dark, sickening dread went out from the music and spread itself over them all. + The artist's left hand seemed to be tying a knot that would never be loosened, while + his right made light little runs, like flames, up and down in the treble. It sounded + as if there was something uncanny brewing down in the cellar, whilst those above + burnt torches and made merry.</p> + <p>A sigh was heard, a half-scream from one of the ladies, who felt ill; but no one + heeded it. The artist had now got quite down into the bass, and his tireless fingers + whirled the notes together, so that a cold shudder crept down the backs of all.</p> + <p>But into that threatening, growling sound far below there began to come an upward + movement. The notes ran into, over, past each other—upward, always upward, but + without making any way. There was a wild struggle to get up, as it were a multitude + of small, dark figures scratching and tearing; a mad eagerness, a feverish haste; a + scrambling, a seizing with hands and teeth; kicks, curses, shrieks, prayers—and + all the while the artist's hands glided upward so slowly, so painfully slowly.</p> + <p>'Anatole,' whispered Adèle, pale as death, 'he is playing Poverty.'</p> + <p>'Oh, these truffles!' groaned Anatole, holding his stomach.</p> + <p>All at once the room was lit up. Two servants with lamps and candelabra appeared + in the <i>portière</i>; and at the same moment the stranger finished by + bringing down his fingers of steel with all his might in a dissonance, so startling, + so unearthly, that the whole party sprang up.</p> + <p>'Out with the lamps!' shouted De Silvis.</p> + <p>'No, no!' shrieked Adèle; 'I dare not be in the dark. Oh, that dreadful + man!'</p> + <p>Who was it? Yes, who was it? They involuntarily crowded round the host, and no one + noticed the stranger slip out behind the servants.</p> + <p>De Silvis tried to laugh. 'I think it was the devil himself. Come, let us go to + the opera.'</p> + <p>'To the opera! Not at any price!' exclaimed Louison. 'I will hear no music for a + fortnight.'</p> + <p>'Oh, those truffles!' moaned Anatole.</p> + <p>The party broke up. They had all suddenly realized that they were strangers in a + strange place, and each one wished to slip quietly home.</p> + <p>As the journalist conducted Mademoiselle Louison to her carriage, he said: 'Yes, + this is the consequence of letting one's self be persuaded to dine with these + semi-savages. One is never sure of the company he will meet.'</p> + <p>'Ah, how true! He quite spoiled my good spirits,' said Louison mournfully, turning + her swimming eyes upon her companion. 'Will you accompany me to La Trinité? + There is a low mass at twelve o'clock.'</p> + <p>The journalist bowed, and got into the carriage with her.</p> + <p>But as Mademoiselle Adèle and Monsieur Anatole drove past the English + dispensary in the Rue de la Paix, he stopped the driver, and said pleadingly to his + fair companion: 'I really think I must get out and get something for those truffles. + You will excuse me, won't you? That music, you know.'</p> + <p>'Don't mind me, my friend. Speaking candidly, I don't think either of us is + specially lively this evening. Good-night.'</p> + <p>She leant back in the carriage, relieved at finding herself alone; and this light, + frivolous creature cried as if she had been whipped whilst she drove homeward.</p> + <p>Anatole was undoubtedly suffering from the truffles, but yet he thought he came to + himself as the carriage rolled away. Never in their whole acquaintance had they been + so well pleased with each other as at this moment of parting.</p> + <p>'Der liebe Doctor' had come best through the experience, because, being a German, + he was hardened in music. All the same, he resolved to take a walk as far as + Müller's <i>brasserie</i> in the Rue Richelieu to get a decent glass of German + beer, and perhaps a little bacon, on the top of it all.</p> + <br /> + <a id="A_MONKEY" name='A_MONKEY'></a><hr style='width: 65%;' /> + <br /> + <br /> + <br /> + <br /> + <h2>A MONKEY.</h2> + <br /> + <p>Yes, it was really a monkey that had nearly procured me 'Laudabilis' [Footnote: A + second-class pass.] in my final law examination. As it was, I only got 'Haud'; [Footnote: A + third-class pass.] but, after all, this was pretty creditable.</p> + <p>But my friend the advocate, who had daily, with mingled feelings, to read the + drafts of my work, found my process-paper so good that he hoped it might raise me + into the 'Laud' list. And he did not wish me to suffer the injury and annoyance of + being plucked in the <i>vivâ voce</i> examination, for he knew me and was my + friend.</p> + <p>But the monkey was really a coffee-stain on the margin of page 496 of + Schweigaard's Process, which I had borrowed from my friend Cucumis.</p> + <p>Going up to a law examination in slush and semi-darkness in mid-winter is one of + the saddest experiences that a man can have. It may, indeed, be even worse in summer; + but this I have not tried.</p> + <p>One rushes through these eleven papers (or is it thirteen?—it is certainly + the most infamous number that the college authorities have been able to + devise)—like an unhappy <i>débutant</i> in a circus. He stands on the + back of a galloping horse, with his life in his hands and a silly circus smile on his + lips; and so he must leap eleven (or is it thirteen?) times through one of these + confounded paper-covered hoops.</p> + <p>The unhappy mortal who passes—or tries to pass—his law examination, + finds himself in precisely the same situation, only he does not gallop round a ring, + under brilliant gaslight, to the music of a full band. He sits upon a hard chair in + semi-darkness with his face to the wall, and the only sound he hears is the creaking + of the inspectors' boots. For in all the wide, wide world there are no such creaky + boots as those of law examination inspectors.</p> + <p>And so comes the dreadful moment when the black-robed tormentor from the Collegium + Juridicum brings in the examination-paper. He plants himself in the doorway, and + reads. Coldly, impassively, with a cruel mockery of the horror of the situation, he + raises aloft this fateful document—this wretched paper-covered hoop, through + which we must all spring, or dismount and wend our way back—on foot!</p> + <p>The candidates settle themselves in the saddle. Some seem quite unable to get + firmly seated; they rock uneasily hither and thither, and one rider dismounts. He is + followed to the door by all eyes, and a sigh runs through the assembled students. + 'You to-day; I to-morrow.'</p> + <p>Meanwhile one begins to hear a light trotting over the paper; they are + leaping.</p> + <p>Some few individuals sit firmly and gracefully through it all, and come out on the + other side 'standing for Laud.' Others think that leaping straight is too easy; + therefore, they turn in the air and alight with backs first. These also get through, + but backwards; and it is said that their agility does not win from the judges its + deserved meed of appreciation.</p> + <p>Again, others leap, but miss the hoop. They spring underneath, to one + side—some even high over the top, alighting safe and sound on the other side. + These latter generally find the paper extremely simple, and continue the wild ride + quite unconcernedly.</p> + <p>But if one is not fond of riding, and has had no practice in leaping, he is much + to be pitied—unless, indeed, he has a monkey on page 496.</p> + <p>I do not know how many hoops I had passed when I found myself face to face with + the process-paper.</p> + <p>It was an unhealthy life that we then led: leaping by day and reading by night. I + sat at midnight half-way through Schweigaard's Process, alternately putting my head + out of the window and into the washhand basin, and, between whiles, rushing like a + whirlwind through the withered leaves of the musty volume.</p> + <p>However, even the most violent wind must eventually fall; and, indeed, this was my + heartfelt wish. But the juridical momentum was strong within me. I sat stiffly, + peering and reading for the eleventh time: 'One might thus certainly + assume'—'One—might—thus—certainly,'— combine the useful + with the agreeable—and lean back—a little in the chair. I can read just + as well; the lamp doesn't bother me in the least. + 'One—might—thus—'</p> + <p>But all manner of non-juridical images rose up from the book, entwined themselves + about the lamp, and threatened to completely overshadow my clear legal brain. I could + yet dimly see the white paper. 'One—might— thus—'. The rest + disappeared in a myriad of small dark characters that flowed down the closely-printed + pages; in dull despair my eyes followed the stream, and then I saw, towards the + bottom of the right-hand page, a face.</p> + <p>It was a monkey that was drawn on the margin. It was excellently drawn, I thought, + the brown colouring of the face being especially remarkable. I am ashamed to say that + my interest in this work of art proved stronger than Schweigaard himself. I roused + myself a little, and leant forward in order to see better.</p> + <p>By turning the leaf, I discovered that the remarkable brown colouring of the face + was due to the fact that the whole monkey, after all, was only a coffee-stain. The + artist had merely added a pair of eyes and a little hair; the genial expression of + the picture was really to be credited to the individual who had spilt the coffee.</p> + <p>'Cucumis couldn't draw,' thought I; that I knew. 'But, by Jove! he <i>could</i> do + his process!'</p> + <p>And now I came to think of Cucumis, of his handsome degree, of his triumphant + home-coming, and of how much he must have read in order to become so learned. And, + while I thought of all this, my consciousness awoke little by little, until my own + ignorance suddenly stood clearly before me in all its horrible nakedness.</p> + <p>I pictured to myself the shame of having to 'dismount,' or, still worse, of being + that one unfortunate of whom it is invariably said with sinister anonymity, 'One of + the candidates received <i>non contemnendus</i>'. And as it sometimes happens that + people lose their reason through much learning, so I grew half crazy with terror at + my ignorance.</p> + <p>Up I jumped, and dipped my head in the wash-basin. Scarcely taking time to dry + myself, I began to read with an energy that fixed every word in my memory.</p> + <p>Down the left page I hurried, with unabated vigour down the right; I reached the + monkey, rushed past him, turned the leaf, and read bravely on.</p> + <p>I was not conscious of the fact that my strength was now completely exhausted. + Although I caught a glimpse of a new section (usually so strong an incentive to + increased effort), I could not help getting entangled in one of those artful + propositions that one reads over and over again in illusory profundity.</p> + <p>I groped about for a way of escape, but there was none. Incoherent thoughts began + to whirl through my brain. 'Where is the monkey?—a spot of coffee—one + cannot be genial on both sides—everything in life has a right and a wrong + side—for example, the university clock—but if I cannot swim, let me come + out—I am going to the circus—I know very well that you are standing there + grinning at me, Cucumis—but I can leap through the hoop, I can—and if + that professor who is standing smoking at my paraffin lamp had only conscientiously + referred to <i>corpus juris</i>, I should not now be lying here—in my + night-shirt in the middle of Karl Johan's Gade [Footnote: A principal street of + Christiania.]—but—' Then I sank into that deep, dreamless slumber which + only falls to the lot of an evil conscience when one is very young.</p> + <p>I was in the saddle early next morning.</p> + <p>I don't know if the devil ever had shoes on, but I must suppose he had, for his + inspectors were in their boots, and they creaked past me, where I sat in my misery + with my face to the wall.</p> + <p>A professor walked round the rooms and looked at the victims. Occasionally he + nodded and smiled encouragingly, as his eye fell on one of those miserable + lick-spittles who frequent the lectures; but when he discovered me, the smile + vanished, and his ice-cold stare seemed to write upon the wall over my head: 'Mene, + mene! [Footnote: Dan. v. 25.] Wretch, I know thee not!'</p> + <p>A pair of inspectors walked creakily up to the professor and fawned upon him; I + heard them whispering behind my chair. I ground my teeth in silent wrath at the + thought that these contemptible creatures were paid for—yes, actually made + their living by torturing me and some of my best friends.</p> + <p>The door opened; a glimmering yellow light fell upon the white faces; it called to + mind 'The Victims of Terrorism' in Luxembourg. Then all again became dark, and the + black-robed emissary of the College flitted through the room like a bat, with the + famous white document in his claws.</p> + <p>He began to read.</p> + <p>Never in my life had I been less inclined for leaping; and yet I started violently + at the first words. 'The monkey!' I had almost shouted; for he it was—it was + evidently the coffee-stain on page 496. The paper bore precisely upon what I had read + with so much energy the preceding night.</p> + <p>And I began to write. After a short, but superior and assured preamble, I + introduced the high-sounding words of Schweigaard, 'One might thus certainly assume,' + etc., and hurried down the left page, with unabated vigour down the right, reached + the monkey, dashed past him, began to grope and fumble, and then I found I could not + write a word more.</p> + <p>I felt that something was wanting, but I knew that it was useless to speculate; + what a man can't do, he can't. I therefore made a full stop, and went away long + before any of the others were half finished.</p> + <p>He has dismounted, thought my fellow-sufferers, or he may have leaped wide of the + hoop. For it was a difficult paper.</p> + <hr style='width: 45%;' /> + <p>'Why,' said the advocate, as he read, 'you are better than I thought. This is pure + Schweigaard. You have left out the last point, but that doesn't matter very much; one + can see that you are well up in these things. But why, then, were you so pitiably + afraid of the process yesterday?'</p> + <p>'I didn't know a thing.'</p> + <p>He laughed. 'Was it last night, then, that you learned your process?'</p> + <p>'Yes.'</p> + <p>'Did anyone help you?'</p> + <p>'Yes.'</p> + <p>'He must be a devil of a crammer who could put so much law into your head in one + night. May I ask what wizard it was?'</p> + <p>'A monkey!' I replied.</p> + <br /> + <a id="A_TALE_OF_THE_SEA" name='A_TALE_OF_THE_SEA'></a><hr style='width: 65%;' /> + <br /> + <br /> + <br /> + <br /> + <h2>A TALE OF THE SEA.</h2> + <br /> + <p>Once there lay in a certain haven a large number of vessels. They had lain there + very long, not exactly on account of storm, but rather because of a dead calm; and at + last they had lain there until they no longer heeded the weather.</p> + <p>All the captains had gradually become good friends; they visited from ship to + ship, and called one another 'Cousin.'</p> + <p>They were in no hurry to depart. Now and then a youthful steersman might chance to + let fall a word about a good wind and a smooth sea. But such remarks were not + tolerated; order had to be maintained on a ship. Those, therefore, who could not hold + their tongues were set ashore.</p> + <p>Matters could not, however, go on thus for ever. Men are not so good as they ought + to be, and all do not thrive under law and order.</p> + <p>The crews at length began to murmur a little; they were weary of painting and + polishing the cabins, and of rowing the captains to and from the toddy suppers. It + was rumoured that individual ships were getting ready for sailing. The sails of some + were set one by one in all silence, the anchors were weighed without song, and the + ships glided quietly out of the harbour; others sailed while their captains slept. + Fighting and mutiny were also heard of; but then there came help from the neighbour + captains, the malcontents were punished and put ashore, and all moorings were + carefully examined and strengthened.</p> + <p>Nevertheless, all the ships, except one, at last left the harbour. They did not + all sail with like fortune; one and another even came in again for a time, damaged. + Others were little heard of. The captain of one ship, it was said, was thrown + overboard by his men; another sailed with half the crew in irons, none knew where. + But yet they were all in motion, each striving after its own fashion, now in storm, + now in calm, towards its goal.</p> + <p>As stated, only one ship remained in the harbour, and it lay safe and sound, with + two anchors at the bottom and three great cables attached to the quay.</p> + <p>It was a strange little craft. The hull was old, but it had been newly repaired, + and they had given it a smart little modern figurehead, which contrasted strangely + with the smooth sides and the heavy stern. One could see that the rigging had + originally belonged to a large vessel, but had been very hastily adapted to the + smaller hull, and this still further increased the want of proportion in the brig's + whole appearance. Then it was painted with large portholes for guns, like a + man-of-war, and always carried its flag at the main-mast.</p> + <p>The skipper was no common man. He himself had painted the sketch of the brig that + hung in the cabin, and, besides, he could sing—both psalms and songs. Indeed, + there were those who maintained that he composed the songs himself; but this was most + probably a lie. And it was certainly a lie that they whispered in the forecastle: + that the skipper had not quite got his sea-legs. Young men always tell such stories + to cabin-boys, in order to appear manly. And, besides, there was a steersman on the + brig, who could, on a pinch, easily round the headlands alone.</p> + <p>He had sailed as steersman for many years of our Lord, ever since the time of the + skipper's late father. He had become as if glued to the tiller, and many could + scarcely imagine the old brig with a new steersman.</p> + <p>He had certainly never voyaged in distant waters; but as his trade had always been + the same, and as he had invariably been in the company of others, the brig had sailed + pretty fortunately, without special damage and without special merit.</p> + <p>Therefore, both he and the skipper had arrived at the conviction that none could + sail better than they, and hence they cared little what the others did. They looked + up at the sky and shook their heads.</p> + <p>The men felt quite comfortable, for they were not used to better things. Most of + them could not understand why the crews of the other ships were in such a hurry to be + off; the month went round all the same, whether one lay in port or sailed, and then + it was better to avoid work. So long as the skipper made no sign of preparation for + sailing, the men might keep their minds easy, for he must surely have the most + interest in getting away. And besides, they all knew what sort of fellow the + steersman was, and if such a capable and experienced man lay still, they might be + quite sure that he had good and powerful reasons.</p> + <p>But a little party among the crew—some quite youthful persons—thought + it was a shame to let themselves be thus left astern by everybody. They had, indeed, + no special advantage or profit to expect from the voyage, but at last the inaction + became intolerable, and they conceived the daring resolve of sending a youth aft to + beg the captain to fix a date for sailing.</p> + <p>The more judicious among the crew crossed themselves, and humbly entreated the + young man to keep quiet; but the latter was a rash greenhorn, who had sailed in + foreign service, and therefore imagined himself to be a 'regular devil of a fellow.' + He went right aft and down into the cabin, where the skipper and the steersman sat + with their whisky before them, playing cards.</p> + <p>'We would ask if the skipper would kindly set sail next week, for now we are all + so weary of lying here,' said the young man, looking the skipper straight in the eyes + without winking.</p> + <p>The latter's face first turned pale blue, and then assumed a deep violet tint; but + he restrained himself, and said, as was his invariable custom:</p> + <p>'What think you, steersman?'</p> + <p>'H'm,' replied the steersman slowly. More he never used to say at first, when he + was questioned, for he did not like to answer promptly. But when he got an + opportunity of speaking alone, without being interrupted, he could utter the longest + sentences and the very hardest words. And then the skipper was especially proud of + him.</p> + <p>However short the steersman's reply might seem, the skipper at once understood its + meaning. He turned towards the youth—gravely, but gracefully, for he was an + exceedingly well-bred man.</p> + <p>'You cursed young fool! don't you think I understand these things better than you? + I, who have thought of nothing but being a skipper since I was knee-high! But I know + well enough what you and the like of you are thinking about. You don't care a + d—— about the craft, and if you could only get the power from us old ones, + you would run her on the first islet you came to, so that you might plunder her of + the whisky. But there will be none of that, my young whelp! Here we shall lie, as + long as I choose.'</p> + <p>When this decision reached the forecastle, it awoke great indignation among the + young and immature, which, indeed, was only to be expected. But even the skipper's + friends and admirers shook their heads, and opined that it was a nasty answer; after + all, it was only a civil question, which ought not to compromise anybody.</p> + <p>There now arose a growing ill-humour—something quite unheard-of among these + peaceable fellows. Even the skipper, who was not usually quick to understand or + remark anything, thought he saw many sullen faces, and he was no longer so well + pleased with the bearing of the crew when he stepped out upon deck with his genial + 'Good-morning, you rogues.'</p> + <p>But the steersman had long scented something, for he had a fine nose and long + ears. Therefore, a couple of evenings after the young man's unfortunate visit, it was + remarked that something extraordinary was brewing aft.</p> + <p>The cabin-boy had to make three journeys with the toddy-kettle, and the report he + gave in the forecastle after his last trip was indeed disquieting.</p> + <p>The steersman seemed to have talked without intermission for two hours; before + them on the table lay barometer, chronometer, sextant, journal, and half the ship's + library. This consisted of Kingo's hymn-book and an old Dutch + 'Kaart-Boikje';[Footnote: Chart-book.] for the skipper could do just as little with the new + hymns as the steersman with the new charts.</p> + <p>The skipper now sat prodding the chart with a large pair of compasses, while the + steersman talked, using all his longest and hardest words. There was one word in + particular that was often repeated, and this the boy learned by heart. He said it + over and over again to himself as he went up the cabin stairs and passed along the + deck to the forecastle, and the moment he opened the door he shouted:</p> + <p>'Initiative! Mind that word, boys! Write it down—initiative!'</p> + <p><i>In-i-ti-a-tive</i> was with much difficulty spelt out and written with chalk on + the table. And during the boy's long statement all these men sat staring, uneasily + and with anxious expectancy, at this long, mystic word.</p> + <p>'And then,' concluded the cabin-boy at last—'then says the steersman: "But + we ourselves shall take the—" what is written on the table.'</p> + <p>All exclaimed simultaneously, 'Initiative.'</p> + <p>'Yes, that was it. And every time he said it, they both struck the table and + looked at me as if they would eat me. I now think, therefore, that it is a new kind + of revolver they intend to use upon us.'</p> + <p>But none of the others thought so; it was surely not so bad as that. But something + was impending, that was clear. And the relieved watchman went to his berth with + gloomy forebodings, and the middle watch did not get a wink of sleep that night.</p> + <p>At seven o'clock next morning both skipper and steersman were up on deck. No man + could remember ever having seen them before so early in the day. But there was no + time to stand in amazement, for now followed, in quick succession, orders for + sailing.</p> + <p>'Heave up the anchors! Let two men go ashore and slip the cables!'</p> + <p>There was gladness and bustle among the crew, and the preparations proceeded so + rapidly that in less than an hour the brig was under canvas.</p> + <p>The skipper looked at the steersman and shook his head, muttering, 'This is the + devil's own haste.'</p> + <p>After a few little turns in the spacious harbour, the brig passed the headland and + stood out to sea. A fresh breeze was blowing, and the waves ran rather high.</p> + <p>The steersman, with a prodigious twist in his mouth, stood astride the tiller, for + such a piece of devil's trumpery as a wheel should never come on board as long as + <i>he</i> had anything to say in the matter.</p> + <p>The skipper stood on the cabin stairs, with his head above the companion. His face + was of a somewhat greenish hue, and he frequently ran down into the cabin. The old + boatswain believed that he went to look at the chart, the young man thought he drank + whisky, but the cabin-boy swore that he went below to vomit.</p> + <p>The men were in excellent spirits; it was so refreshing to breathe the sea air, + and to feel the ship once again moving under their feet. Indeed, the old brig herself + seemed to be in a good humour; she dived as deep down between the seas as she could, + and raised much more foam than was necessary.</p> + <p>The young sailors looked out for heavy seas. 'Here comes a whopper,' they shouted; + 'if it would only hit us straight!' And it did.</p> + <p>It was a substantial sea, larger than the others. It approached deliberately, and + seemed to lie down and take aim. It then rose suddenly, and gave the brig, which was + chubby as a cherub, such a mighty slap on the port cheek that she quivered in every + timber. And high over the railing, far in upon the deck, dashed the cold salt spray; + the captain had scarcely time to duck his head below the companion.</p> + <p>Ah, how refreshing it was! It exhilarated both old and young; they had not had a + taste of the cold sea-water for a long time, and with one voice the whole crew broke + into a lusty 'Hurrah!'</p> + <p>But at this moment the steerman's stentorian voice rang out: 'Hard to leeward!' + The brig luffed up close to the wind, the sails flapped so violently that the rigging + shook, and now followed in rapid succession, even quicker than before, orders to + anchor. 'Let fall the port anchor! Let go the starboard one too!'</p> + <p>Plump—fell the one; plump—went the other. The old chains rattled out, + and a little red cloud of rust rose up on either side of the bowsprit.</p> + <p>The men, accustomed to obey, worked rapidly without thinking why, and the brig + soon rode pretty quietly at her two anchors.</p> + <p>But now, after the work was finished, no one could conceal his astonishment at + this sudden anchoring, just off the coast, among islets and skerries. And still more + extraordinary seemed the behaviour of those in command. For they both stood right + forward, with their backs to the weather, leaning over the railing and staring at the + port bow. Some had even thought they had heard the captain cry, 'To the pumps, men,' + but this point was never cleared up.</p> + <p>'What the devil can they be doing forward?' said the rash young man.</p> + <p>'They think she struck on a reef when we shipped the big sea,' whispered the + cabin-boy.</p> + <p>'Hold your jaw, boy!' said the boatswain.</p> + <p>All the same, the cabin-boy's words passed from mouth to mouth; a little chuckle + was heard here and there; the men's faces became more and more ludicrously uneasy, + and their suppressed laughter was on the point of bursting forth. Then the steersman + was seen to nudge the skipper in the side.</p> + <p>'Yes; but then you must whisper to me,' said the latter.</p> + <p>The steersman nodded, and then the skipper turned to the crew and solemnly spoke + as follows:</p> + <p>'Yes, this time, fortunately, everything went well; but now I hope that each of + you will have learnt how dangerous it is to lend an ear to these juvenile agitators, + who can never be quiet and let evolution, as the steersman says, pursue its natural + course. I yielded to your wishes this time, it is true, but not because I approved of + your insane rashness; it was simply that I might convince you by—by the logic + of events. And see—how did things go? Certainly we have, as by a miracle, been + spared the worst; but now we lie here, outside our safe haven, our old anchorage, + which we have forsaken to be tossed about on the turbulent waters of the unknown and + the untried. But, believe me, henceforth you will find both our excellent steersman + and your captain at our post, guarding against such crude, immature projects. And if + things go badly with us in days to come, you must all remember that it is entirely + your own fault; we wash our hands of the matter.'</p> + <p>Thereupon he strode through the men, who respectfully fell back to let him pass. + The steersman, who had really whispered, dried his eyes and followed. They both + disappeared in the cabin.</p> + <hr style='width: 35%;' /> + <p>There was much strife in the forecastle that day, and it grew worse after.</p> + <p>The brig's happy days were all over. Dissension and discontent, suspicion and + obstinacy, converted the narrow limits of the forecastle into a veritable hell.</p> + <p>Only skipper and steersman seemed to thrive well under all this. The general + dissatisfaction did not affect them; for they, of course, were not to blame.</p> + <p>None thought of any change. The crew had done what they could, and the skipper, on + his part, had also been accommodating.</p> + <p>Now they might keep their minds at rest. The brig lay in a dangerous place, but + now she would have to lie—and there she lies to this day.</p> + <br /> + <a id="A_DINNER" name='A_DINNER'></a><hr style='width: 65%;' /> + <br /> + <br /> + <br /> + <br /> + <h2>A DINNER.</h2> + <br /> + <p>There was a large dinner-party at the merchant's. The judge had made a speech in + honour of the home-coming of the student, the eldest son of the house, and the + merchant had replied with another in honour of the judge; so far all was well and + good. And yet one could see that the host was disquieted about something. He answered + inconsequentially, decanted Rhine wine into port, and betrayed absence of mind in all + manner of ways.</p> + <p>He was meditating upon a speech—a speech beyond the scope of the regulation + after-dinner orations. This was something very remarkable; for the merchant was no + speaker, and—what was still more remarkable—he knew it himself.</p> + <p>When, therefore, well on in the dinner, he hammered upon the table for silence, + and said that he must give expression to a sentiment that lay at his heart, everybody + instantly felt that something unusual was impending.</p> + <p>There fell such a sudden stillness upon the table, that one could hear the lively + chatter of the ladies, who, in accordance with Norse custom, were dining in the + adjoining rooms.</p> + <p>At length the silence reached even them, and they crowded in the doorway to + listen. Only the hostess held back, sending her husband an anxious look. 'Ah, dear + me!' she sighed, half aloud, 'he is sure to make a muddle of it. He has already made + all his speeches; what would he be at now?'</p> + <p>And he certainly did not begin well. He stammered, cleared his throat, got + entangled among the usual toast expressions, such as 'I will not fail + to—ahem—I am impelled to express my, my—that is, I would beg you, + gentlemen, to assist me in—'</p> + <p>The gentlemen sat and stared down into their glasses, ready to empty them upon the + least hint of a conclusion. But none came. On the contrary, the speaker recovered + himself.</p> + <p>For something really lay at his heart. His joy and pride over his son, who had + come home sound and well after having passed a respectable examination, the judge's + flattering speech, the good cheer, the wine, the festive mood—all this put + words into his mouth. And when he got over the fatal introductory phrases, the words + came more and more fluently.</p> + <p>It was the toast of 'The Young.' The speaker dwelt upon our responsibility towards + children, and the many sorrows—but also the many joys—that the parents + have in them.</p> + <p>He was from time to time compelled to talk quickly to hide his emotion, for he + felt what he said.</p> + <p>And when he came to the grown-up children, when he imagined his dear son a partner + in his business, and spoke of grandchildren and so on, his words acquired a ring of + eloquence which astonished all his hearers, and his peroration was greeted with + hearty applause.</p> + <p>'For, gentlemen, it is in these children that we, as it were, continue our + existence. We leave them not only our name, but also our work. And we leave them + this, not that they may idly enjoy its fruits, but that they may continue it, extend + it—yes, do it much better than their fathers were able to. For it is our hope + that the rising generation may appropriate the fruits of the work of the age, that + they may be freed from the prejudices that have darkened the past and partially + darken the present; and, in drinking the health of the young, let us wish that, + steadily progressing, they may become worthy of their sires—yes, let us say + it—outgrow them.</p> + <p>'And only when we know that we leave the work of our generation in abler hands, + can we calmly look forward to the time when we shall bid adieu to our daily task, and + then we may confidently reckon upon a bright and glorious future for our dear + Fatherland. A health to the Young!'</p> + <p>The hostess, who had ventured nearer when she heard that the speech was going on + well, was proud of her husband; the whole company was in an exhilarated humour, but + the gladdest of all was the student.</p> + <p>He had stood a little in awe of his father, whose severely patriarchal principles + he well knew. He now heard that the old man was extremely liberal-minded towards + youth, and he was very glad to be enabled to discourse with him upon serious + matters.</p> + <p>But, for the moment, it was only a question of jesting; <i>à propos</i> of + the toast, there ensued one of those interesting table-talks, about who was really + young and who old. After the company had arrived at this witty result, that the + eldest were in reality the youngest, they adjourned to the dessert-table, which was + laid in the ladies' room.</p> + <p>But, no matter how gallant the gentlemen—especially those of the old + school—may be towards the fair sex, neither feminine amiability nor the most + <i>recherché</i> dessert has power to stop them for long on their way to the + smoking-room. And soon the first faint aroma of cigars, so great a luxury to smokers, + announced the beginning of that process which has obtained for our ladies the fame of + being quite smoke-dried.</p> + <p>The student and a few other young gentlemen remained for a time with the young + ladies—under the strict surveillance of the elder ones. But little by little + they also were swallowed up in the gray cloud which indicated the way that their + fathers had taken.</p> + <p>In the smoking-room they were carrying on a very animated conversation upon some + matter of social politics. The host, who was speaking, supported his view with a + number of 'historical facts,' which, however, were entirely unreliable.</p> + <p>His opponent, a solicitor of the High Court, was sitting chuckling inwardly at the + prospect of refuting these inaccurate statements, when the student entered the + room.</p> + <p>He came just in time to hear his father's blundering, and, in his jovial humour, + in his delight over the new conception of his father that he had acquired after the + toast, he said, with a cheery bluntness:</p> + <p>'Excuse me, father, you are mistaken there. The circumstances are not at all as + you state. On the contrary—'</p> + <p>He got no further: the father laughingly slapped him on the shoulder, and + said:</p> + <p>'There, there! are you, too, trifling with newspapers! But really, you must not + disturb us; we are in the middle of a serious discussion.'</p> + <p>The son heard an irritating sniff from the gray cloud; he was provoked at the + scorn implied in his interposition being regarded as disturbing a serious + conversation.</p> + <p>He therefore replied somewhat sharply.</p> + <p>The father, who instantly remarked the tone, suddenly changed his own manner.</p> + <p>'Are you serious in coming here and saying that your father is talking + nonsense?'</p> + <p>'I did not say that; I only said that you were mistaken.'</p> + <p>'The words are of little moment, but the meaning was there,' said the merchant, + who was beginning to get angry. For he heard a gentleman say to his neighbour:</p> + <p>'If this had only happened in my father's time!'</p> + <p>One word now drew forth another, and the situation became extremely painful.</p> + <p>The hostess, who had always an attentive ear for the gentlemen's conversation, as + she knew her husband's hasty temper, immediately came and looked in at the door.</p> + <p>'What is it, Adjunct [Footnote: Assistant-teacher.] Hansen?'</p> + <p>'Ah,' replied Hansen, 'your son has forgotten himself a little.'</p> + <p>'To his own father! He must have had too much to drink. Dear Hansen, try and get + him out.'</p> + <p>The Adjunct, who was more well-meaning than diplomatic, and who, besides (a rarer + thing with old teachers than is generally supposed) was esteemed by his former + pupils, went and took the student without ceremony by the arm, saying: 'Come, shall + we two take a turn in the garden?'</p> + <p>The young man turned round violently, but when he saw that it was the old teacher, + and received, at the same time, a troubled, imploring glance from his mother, he + passively allowed himself to be led away.</p> + <p>While in the doorway, he heard the lawyer, whom he had never been able to endure, + say something about the egg that would teach the hen to lay, which witticism was + received with uproarious laughter. A thrill passed through him; but the Adjunct held + him firmly, and out they went.</p> + <p>It was long before the old teacher could get him sufficiently quieted to become + susceptible to reason. The disappointment, the bitter sense of being at variance with + his father, and, not least, the affront of being treated as a boy in the presence of + so many—all this had to pour out for awhile.</p> + <p>But at last he became calm, and sat down with his old friend, who now pointed out + to him that it must be very painful to an elderly man to be corrected by a mere + youth.</p> + <p>'Yes, but I was right,' said the student, certainly for the twentieth time.</p> + <p>'Good, good! but yet you must not put on an air of wanting to be wiser than your + own father.'</p> + <p>'Why, my father himself said that he would have it so.'</p> + <p>'What? When did your father say that?' The teacher almost began to believe that + the wine had gone to the young gentleman's head.</p> + <p>'At the table—in his speech.'</p> + <p>'At the table—yes! In his speech—yes! But, don't you see, that is + quite another matter. People allow themselves to say such things, especially in + speeches; but it is by no means intended that these theories should be translated + into practice. No, believe me, my dear boy, I am old, and I know humanity. The world + must wag like this; we are not made otherwise. In youth one has his own peculiar view + of life, but, young man, it is not the right one. Only when one has arrived at the + calm restfulness of an advanced age does one see circumstances in the true light. And + now I will tell you something, upon the truth of which you may confidently rely. When + you come to your father's years and position, your opinions will be quite the same as + his now are, and, like him, you will strive to maintain them and impress them upon + your children.'</p> + <p>'No, never! I swear it,' cried the young man, springing to his feet. And now he + spoke in glowing terms, to the effect that for him right would always be right, that + he would respect the truth, no matter whence it came, that he would respect the + young, and so on. In short, he talked as hopeful youths are wont to talk after a good + dinner and violent mental disturbance.</p> + <p>He was beautiful, as he stood there with the evening sun shining upon his blonde + hair, and his enthusiastic countenance turned upward.</p> + <p>There was in his whole personality and in his words something transporting and + convincing, something that could not fail to work an impression—that is to say, + if anybody but the teacher had seen and heard him.</p> + <p>For upon the teacher it made no impression whatever; he was old, of course.</p> + <p>The drama of which he had that day been a witness he had seen many times. He + himself had successively played both the principal <i>rôles</i>; he had seen + many <i>débutants</i> like the student and many old players like the + merchant.</p> + <p>Therefore he shook his venerable head, and said to himself:</p> + <p>'Yes, yes; it is all well enough. But just see if I am not right; he will become + precisely the same as the rest of us.'</p> + <p>And the teacher was right.</p> + <br /> + <a id="TROFAST" name='TROFAST'></a><hr style='width: 65%;' /> + <br /> + <br /> + <br /> + <br /> + + <h2>TROFAST.</h2> + <p class="cen">[Footnote: Faithful.]</p> + <br /> + + <h3>I.</h3> + <br /> + + <p>Miss Thyra went and called into the speaking-tube:</p> + <p>'Will Trofast's cutlets be ready soon?'</p> + <p>The maid's voice came up from the kitchen: 'They are on the window-sill cooling; + as soon as they are all right, Stine shall bring them up.'</p> + <p>Trofast, who had heard this, went and laid himself quietly down upon the + hearthrug.</p> + <p>He understood much better than a human being, the merchant used to say.</p> + <p>Besides the people of the house, there sat at the breakfast-table an old enemy of + Trofast's—the only one he had. But be it said that Cand. jur. [Footnote: Graduate in + law.] Viggo Hansen was the enemy of a great deal in this world, and his snappish + tongue was well known all over Copenhagen. Having been a friend of the family for + many years, he affected an especial frankness in this house, and when he was in a + querulous mood (which was always the case) he wreaked his bitterness unsparingly upon + anything or anybody.</p> + <p>In particular, he was always attacking Trofast.</p> + <p>'That big yellow beast,' he used to say, 'is being petted and pampered and stuffed + with steak and cutlets, while many a human child must bite its fingers after a piece + of dry bread.'</p> + <p>This, however, was a tender point, of which Dr. Hansen had to be rather + careful.</p> + <p>Whenever anyone mentioned Trofast in words that were not full of admiration, he + received a simultaneous look from the whole family, and the merchant had even said + point-blank to Dr. Hansen that he might one day get seriously angry if the other + would not refer to Trofast in a becoming manner.</p> + <p>But Miss Thyra positively hated Dr. Hansen for this; and although Waldemar was now + grown up—a student, at any rate—he took a special pleasure in stealing + the gloves out of the doctor's back pocket, and delivering them to Trofast to + tear.</p> + <p>Yes, the good-wife herself, although as mild and sweet as tea, was sometimes + compelled to take the doctor to task, and seriously remonstrate with him for daring + to speak so ill of the dear animal.</p> + <p>All this Trofast understood very well; but he despised Dr. Hansen, and took no + notice of him. He condescended to tear the gloves, because it pleased his friend + Waldemar, but otherwise he did not seem to see the doctor.</p> + <p>When the cutlets came, Trofast ate them quietly and discreetly. He did not crunch + the bones, but picked them quite clean, and licked the platter.</p> + <p>Thereupon he went up to the merchant, and laid his right fore-paw upon his + knee.</p> + <p>'Welcome, welcome, old boy!' cried the merchant with emotion. He was moved in like + manner every morning, when this little scene was re-enacted.</p> + <p>'Why, you can't call Trofast old, father,' said Waldemar, with a little tone of + superiority.</p> + <p>'Indeed! Do you know that he will soon be eight?'</p> + <p>'Yes, my little man,' said the good wife gently; 'but a dog of eight is not an old + dog.'</p> + <p>'No, mother,' exclaimed Waldemar eagerly. 'You side with me, don't you? A dog of + eight is not an old dog.'</p> + <p>And in an instant the whole family was divided into two parties—two very + ardent parties, who, with an unceasing flow of words, set to debating the momentous + question:—whether one can call a dog of eight years an old dog or not. Both + sides became warm, and, although each one kept on repeating his unalterable opinion + into his opponent's face, it did not seem likely that they would ever arrive at + unanimity—not even when old grandmother hurriedly rose from her chair, and + positively insisted upon telling some story about the Queen-Dowager's lap-dog, which + she had had the honour of knowing from the street.</p> + <p>But in the midst of the irresistible whirl of words there came a pause. Some one + looked at his watch and said: 'The steamboat.' They all rose; the gentlemen, who had + to go to town, rushed off; the whole company was scattered to the four winds, and the + problem—whether one can call a dog of eight an old dog or not—floated + away in the air, unsolved.</p> + <p>Trofast alone did not stir. He was accustomed to this domestic din, and these + unsolved problems did not interest him. He ran his wise eyes over the deserted + breakfast-table, dropped his black nose upon his powerful fore-paws, and closed his + eyes for a little morning nap. As long as they were staying out in the country, there + was nothing much for him to do, except eat and sleep.</p> + <p>Trofast was one of the pure Danish hounds from the Zoological Gardens. The King + had even bought his brother, which fact was expressly communicated to all who came to + the house.</p> + <p>All the same, he had had a pretty hard upbringing, for he was originally + designated to be watch-dog at the merchant's large coalstore out at + Kristianshavn.</p> + <p>Out there, Trofast's behaviour was exemplary. Savage and furious as a tiger at + night, in the daytime he was so quiet, kindly, and even humble, that the merchant + took notice of him, and promoted him to the position of house-dog.</p> + <p>And it was really from this moment that the noble animal began to develop all his + excellent qualities.</p> + <p>From the very beginning he had a peculiar, modest way of standing at the + drawing-room door, and looking so humbly at anybody who entered that it was quite + impossible to avoid letting him into the room. And there he soon made himself at + home—under the sofa at first, but afterwards upon the soft carpet in front of + the fire.</p> + <p>And as the other members of the family learned to appreciate his rare gifts, + Trofast gradually advanced in importance, until Dr. Hansen maintained that he was the + real master of the house.</p> + <p>Certain it is that there came a something into Trofast's whole demeanour which + distinctly indicated that he was well aware of the position he occupied. He no longer + stood humbly at the door, but entered first himself as soon as it was opened. And if + the door was not opened for him instantly when he scratched at it, the powerful + animal would raise himself upon his hind-legs, lay his fore-paws upon the latch, and + open it for himself.</p> + <p>The first time that he performed this feat the good-wife delightedly + exclaimed:</p> + <p>'Isn't he charming? He's just like a human being, only so much better and more + faithful!'</p> + <p>The rest of the family were also of opinion that Trofast was better than a human + being. Each one seemed, as it were, to get quit of a few of his own sins and + infirmities through this admiring worship of the noble animal; and whenever anybody + was displeased with himself or others, Trofast received the most confidential + communications, and solemn assurances that he was really the only friend upon whom + one could rely.</p> + <p>When Miss Thyra came home disappointed from a ball, or when her best friend had + faithlessly betrayed a frightfully great secret, she would throw herself, weeping, + upon Trofast's neck, and say: 'Now, Trofast, I have only you left. There is + nobody—nobody—nobody on the earth who likes me but you! Now we two are + quite alone in the wide, wide world; but you will not betray your poor little + Thyra—you must promise me that, Trofast.' And so she would weep on, until her + tears trickled down Trofast's black nose.</p> + <p>No wonder, therefore, that Trofast comported himself with a certain dignity at + home in the house. But in the street also it was evident that he felt self-confident, + and that he was proud of being a dog in a town where dogs are in power.</p> + <p>When they were staying in the country in summer, Trofast went to town only once a + week or so, to scent out old acquaintances. Out in the country, he lived exclusively + for the sake of his health; he bathed, rolled in the flower-beds, and then went into + the parlour to rub himself dry upon the furniture, the ladies, and finally upon the + hearthrug.</p> + <p>But for the remainder of the year the whole of Copenhagen was at his disposal, and + he availed himself of his privileges with much assurance.</p> + <br /> + + <p>What a treat it was, early in the spring, when the fine grass began to shoot upon + the public lawns, which no human foot must tread, to run up and down and round in a + ring with a few friends, scattering the tufts of grass in the air!</p> + <p>Or when the gardener's people had gone home to dinner, after having pottered and + trimmed all the forenoon among the fine flowers and bushes, what fun it was to + pretend to dig for moles; thrust his nose down into the earth in the centre of the + flower-bed, snort and blow, then begin scraping up the earth with his fore-feet, stop + for a little, thrust his muzzle down again, blow, and then fall to digging up earth + with all his might, until the hole was so deep that a single vigorous kick from his + hind-legs could throw a whole rose-bush, roots and all, high in the air!</p> + <p>When Trofast, after such an escapade, lay quietly in the middle of the lawn, in + the warm spring sunshine, and saw the humans trudge wearily past outside, in dust or + mud, he would silently and self-complacently wag his tail.</p> + <p>Then there were the great fights in Grönningen, or round the horse in Kongens + Nytorv. [Footnote: King's Square.] From thence, wet and bedraggled, he would dash up + Östergade [Footnote: East Street.] among people's legs, rubbing against ladies' dresses + and gentlemen's trousers, overthrowing old women and children, exercising an + unlimited right-of-way on both sides of the pavement, now rushing into a backyard and + up the kitchen stairs after a cat, now scattering terror and confusion by flying + right at the throat of an old enemy. Or Trofast would sometimes amuse himself by + stopping in front of a little girl who might be going an errand for her mother, + thrusting his black nose up into her face, and growling, with gaping jaws, 'Bow, wow, + wow!'</p> + <p>If you could see the little thing! She becomes blue in the face, her arms hang + rigidly by her sides, her feet keep tripping up and down; she tries to scream, but + cannot utter a sound.</p> + <p>But the grown ladies in the street cry shame upon her, and say:</p> + <p>'What a little fool! How <i>can</i> you be afraid of such a dear, nice dog? Why, + he only wants to play with you! See what a great big, fine fellow he is. Won't you + pat him?'</p> + <p>But this the little one will not do upon any account; and, when she goes home to + her mother, the sobs are still rising in her throat. Neither her mother nor the + doctor can understand, afterwards, why the healthy, lively child becomes rigid and + blue in the face at the least fright, and loses the power to scream.</p> + <p>But all these diversions were colourless and tame in comparison with <i>les grands + cavalcades d'amour</i>, in which Trofast was always one of the foremost. Six, eight, + ten, or twelve large yellow, black, and red dogs, with a long following of smaller + and quite small ones, so bitten and mud-bespattered that one could scarcely see what + they were made of, but yet very courageous, tails in the air and panting with ardour, + although they stood no chance at all, except of getting mauled again and rolled in + the mud. And so off in a wild gallop through streets, squares, gardens, and + flower-beds, fighting and howling, covered with blood and dirt, tongues lolling from + mouths. Out of the way with humans and baby-carriages, room for canine warfare and + love! And thus they would rush on like Aasgaard's demon riders [Footnote: Aasgaard was the + 'garth' or home of the gods. After the advent of Christianity, the Norse gods became + demons, and it was the popular belief that they rode across the sky at night, + foreboding evil.] through the unhappy town.</p> + <p>Trofast heeded none of the people on the street except the policemen. For, with + his keen understanding, he had long ago discerned that the police were there to + protect him and his kind against the manifold encroachments of humanity. Therefore he + obligingly stopped whenever he met a policeman, and allowed himself to be scratched + behind the ear. In particular, he had a good, stout friend, whom he often met up in + Aabenraa, where he (Trofast) had a <i>liaison</i> of many years' standing.</p> + <p>When Policeman Frode Hansen was seen coming upstairs from a cellar—a thing + that often happened, for he was a jolly fellow, and it was a pleasure to offer him a + half of lager-beer—his face bore a great likeness to the rising sun. It was + round and red, warm and beaming.</p> + <p>But when he appeared in full view upon the pavement, casting a severe glance up + and down the street, in order to ascertain whether any evil-disposed person had seen + where he came from, there would arise a faint reminiscence of something that we, as + young men, had read about in physics, and which, I believe, we called the + co-efficient of expansion.</p> + <p>For, when we looked at the deep incision made by his strong belt, before, behind + and at the sides, we involuntarily received the impression that such a co-efficient, + with an extraordinarily strong tendency to expand, was present in Frode Hansen's + stomach.</p> + <p>And people who met him, especially when he heaved one of his deep, beery sighs, + nervously stepped to one side. For if the co-efficient in there should ever happen to + get the better of the strong belt, the pieces, and particularly the front buckle, + would fly around with a force sufficient to break plate-glass windows.</p> + <p>In other respects, Frode Hansen was not very dangerous of approach. He was even + looked upon as one of the most harmless of police-constables; he very rarely reported + a case of any kind. All the same, he stood well with his superiors, for when anything + was reported by others, no matter what, if they only asked Frode Hansen, he could + always make some interesting disclosure or other about it.</p> + <p>In this way the world went well with him; he was almost esteemed in Aabenraa and + down Vognmagergade. Yes, even Mam Hansen sometimes found means to stand him a half of + lager beer.</p> + <p>And she had certainly little to give away. Poverty-stricken and besotted, she had + enough to do to struggle along with her two children.</p> + <p>Not that Mam Hansen worked or tried to work herself forward or upward; if she + could only manage to pay her rent and have a little left over for coffee and brandy, + she was content. Beyond this she had no illusions.</p> + <p>In reality, the general opinion—even in Aabenraa—was that Mam Hansen + was a beast; and, when she was asked if she were a widow, she would answer: 'Well, + you see, that's not so easy to know.'</p> + <p>The daughter was about fifteen and the son a couple of years younger. About these, + too, the public opinion of Aabenraa and district had it that a worse pair of + youngsters had seldom grown up in those parts.</p> + <p>Waldemar was a little, pale, dark-eyed fellow, slippery as an eel, full of + mischief and cunning, with a face of indiarubber, which in one second could change + its expression from the boldest effrontery to the most sheepish innocence.</p> + <p>Nor was there anything good to say about Thyra, except that she gave promise of + becoming a pretty girl. But all sorts of ugly stories were already told about her, + and she gadded round the town upon very various errands.</p> + <p>Mam Hansen would never listen to these stories; she merely waved them off. She + paid just as little attention to the advice of her female friends and neighbours, + when they said:</p> + <p>'Let the children shift for themselves—really, they're quite brazen enough + to do it—and take in a couple of paying lodgers.'</p> + <p>'No, no,' Mam Hansen would reply; 'as long as they have some kind of a home with + me, the police will not get a firm grip of them, and they will not quite flow + over.'</p> + <p>This idea, that the bairns should not quite 'flow over,' had grown and grown in + her puny brain, until it had become the last point, around which gathered everything + motherly that could be left, after a life like hers.</p> + <p>And therefore she slaved on, scolded and slapped the children when they came late + home, made their bed, gave them a little food, and so held them to her, in some kind + of fashion.</p> + <p>Mam Hansen had tried many things in the course of her life, and everything had + brought her gradually downward, from servant-girl to waitress, down past washerwoman + to what she now was.</p> + <p>Early in the mornings, before it was light, she would come over Knippelsbro [Footnote: Bro, + a bridge.] into the town, with a heavy basket upon each arm. Out of the baskets stuck + cabbage-leaves and carrot-tops, so that one would suppose that she made a business of + buying vegetables from the peasants out at Amager, in order to sell them in Aabenraa + and the surrounding quarters.</p> + <p>All the same, it was not a greengrocery business that she carried on, but, on the + contrary, a little coal business: she sold coals clandestinely and in small portions + to poor folk like herself.</p> + <p>This evident incongruity was not noticed in Aabenraa; not even Policeman Frode + Hansen seemed to find anything remarkable about Mam Hansen's business. When he met + her in the mornings, toiling along with the heavy baskets, he usually asked quite + genially: 'Well, my little Mam Hansen, were the roots cheap to-day?'</p> + <p>And, if his greeting were less friendly than usual, he was treated to a half of + lager later in the day.</p> + <p>This was a standing outlay of Madam Hansen's, and she had one besides. Every + evening she bought a large piece of sugared Vienna bread. She did not eat it herself; + neither was it for the children; no one knew what she did with it, nor did anybody + particularly care.</p> + <hr style='width: 35%;' /> + <p>When there was no prospect of halves of lager, Policeman Frode Hansen promenaded + his co-efficient with dignity up and down the street.</p> + <p>If he then happened to meet Trofast or any other of his canine friends, he always + made a long halt, for the purpose of scratching him behind the ear. And when he + observed the great <i>nonchalance</i> with which the dogs comported themselves in the + street, it was a real pleasure to him to sternly pounce upon some unhappy man and + note down his full name and address, because he had taken the liberty of throwing an + envelope into the gutter.</p> + <br /> + <br /> + <h3>II.</h3> + <br /> + + <p>It was late in the autumn. There was a dinner-party at the merchant's; the family + had been back from the country for some time.</p> + <p>The conversation flowed on languidly and intermittently, until the flood-gates + were suddenly lifted, and it became a wild <i>fos</i> [Footnote: Waterfall, cataract.] For down + at the hostess's end of the table this question had cropped up: 'Can one call a lady + a fine lady—a real fine lady—if it be known that on a steam-boat she has + put her feet up on a stool, and disclosed small shoes and embroidered stockings?' + And, strangely enough, as if each individual in the company had spent half his life + in considering and weighing this question, all cast their matured, decided, + unalterable opinions upon the table. The opposing parties were formed in an instant; + the unalterable opinions collided with each other, fell down, were caught up again, + and thrown with ever-increasing ardour.</p> + <p>Up at the other end of the table they took no part in this animated conversation. + Near the host there sat mostly elderly gentlemen, and however ardently their wives + might have desired to solve the problem once for all by expressing their unalterable + opinion, they were compelled to give up the idea, as the focus of the animated + conversation was among some young students right down beside the hostess, and the + distance was too great.</p> + <p>'I don't think I see the big yellow beast to-day,' said Dr. Viggo Hansen in his + querulous tone.</p> + <p>'Unfortunately not. Trofast is not here to-day. Poor fellow! I have been obliged + to request him to do me a disagreeable service.'</p> + <p>The merchant always talked about Trofast as if he were an esteemed business + friend.</p> + <p>'You make me quite curious. Where <i>is</i> the dear animal?'</p> + <p>'Ah, my dear madam, it is indeed a tiresome story. For, you know, there has been + stealing going on out at our coal warehouse at Kristianshavn.'</p> + <p>'Oh, good gracious! Stealing?'</p> + <p>'The thefts have evidently been practised systematically for a long time.'</p> + <p>'Have you noticed the stock getting less, then?'</p> + <p>But now the merchant had to laugh, which he seldom did.</p> + <p>'No, no, my dear doctor, excuse my laughing, but you are really too naive. Why, + there are now about ten thousand tons of coal out there, so you will see that it + wants some—'</p> + <p>'They would have to steal from evening till morning with a pair of horses,' + interjected a young business man, who was witty.</p> + <p>When the merchant had finished his laugh, he continued:</p> + <p>'No; the theft was discovered by means of a little snow that fell yesterday.'</p> + <p>'What! Snow yesterday? I don't know anything about that.'</p> + <p>'It was not at the time of day when we are awake, madam, it is true; but yet, very + early yesterday morning there fell a little snow, and when my folks arrived at the + coal store, they discovered the footprints of the thief or thieves. It was then found + that a couple of boards in the wall were loose, but they had been so skilfully put in + place that nobody would ever notice anything wrong. And the thief crawls through the + opening night after night; is it not outrageous?'</p> + <p>'But don't you keep a watch-dog?'</p> + <p>'Certainly I do; but he is a young animal (of excellent breed, by the way, half a + bloodhound), and, whatever way these wretches go about their work, it is evident that + they must be on friendly terms with the beast, for the dog's footprints were found + among those of the thieves.'</p> + <p>'That was indeed remarkable. And now Trofast is to try what he can do, I + presume?'</p> + <p>'Yes, you are quite right. I have sent Trofast out there to-day; he will catch the + villains for me.'</p> + <p>'Could you not nail the loose boards securely in position?'</p> + <p>'Of course we could, Dr. Hansen; but I must get hold of the fellows. They shall + have their well-merited punishment. My sense of right is most deeply wounded.'</p> + <p>'It is really delightful to have such a faithful animal.'</p> + <p>'Yes, isn't it, madam? We men must confess to our shame that in many respects we + are far behind the dumb animals.'</p> + <p>'Yes, Trofast is really a pearl, sir. He is, beyond comparison, the prettiest dog + in all—'</p> + <p>'Constantinople,' interrupted Dr. Hansen.</p> + <p>'That is an old joke of Hansen's,' explained the merchant. 'He has re-christened + the Northern Athens the Northern Constantinople, because he thinks there are too many + dogs.'</p> + <p>'It is good for the dog-tax,' said some one.</p> + <p>'Yes, if the dog-tax were not so inequitably fixed,' snapped Dr. Hansen. 'There is + really no sense in a respectable old lady, who keeps a dog in a hand-bag, having to + pay as much as a man who takes pleasure in annoying his fellow-creatures by owning a + half-wild animal as big as a little lion.'</p> + <p>'May I ask how you would have the dog-tax reckoned, Dr. Hansen?'</p> + <p>'According to weight, of course,' replied Dr. Viggo Hansen without hesitation.</p> + <p>The old merchants and councillors laughed so heartily at this idea of weighing the + dogs, that the disputants at the lower end of the table, who were still vigorously + bombarding each other with unalterable opinions, became attentive and dropped their + opinions, in order to listen to the discussion on dogs. And the question, 'Can one + call a lady a fine lady—a really fine lady—if it be known that on a + steamboat she has put her feet up on a stool, and disclosed small shoes and + embroidered stockings?' also floated away in the air, unsolved.</p> + <p>'You seem to be a downright hater of dogs, Dr. Hansen!' said the lady next to him, + still laughing.</p> + <p>'I must tell you, madam,' cried a gentleman across the table, 'that he is terribly + afraid of dogs.'</p> + <p>'But one thing,' continued the lady—'one thing you must admit, and that is, + that the dog has always been the faithful companion of man.'</p> + <p>'Yes, that is true, madam, and I could tell you what the dog has learned from man, + and man from the dog.'</p> + <p>'Tell us; do tell us!' was simultaneously exclaimed from several quarters.</p> + <p>'With pleasure. In the first place, man has taught the dog to fawn.'</p> + <p>'What a very queer thing to say!' cried old grandmother.</p> + <p>'Next, the dog has acquired all the qualities that make man base and unreliable: + cringing flattery upward, and rudeness and contempt downward; the narrowest adhesion + to his own, and distrust and hatred of all else. Indeed, the noble animal has proved + such an apt pupil that he even understands the purely human art of judging people by + their clothes. He lets well-dressed folks alone, but snaps at the legs of the + ragged.'</p> + <p>Here the doctor was interrupted by a general chorus of disapproval, and Miss Thyra + bitterly gripped the fruit-knife in her little hand.</p> + <p>But there were some who wanted to hear what mankind had learned from the dog, and + Dr. Hansen proceeded, with steadily-growing passion and bitterness:</p> + <p>'Man has learned from the dog to set a high price upon this grovelling, unmerited + worship. When neither injustice nor ill-treatment has ever met anything but this + perpetually wagging tail, stomach upon earth, and licking tongue, the final result is + that the master fancies himself a splendid fellow, to whom all this devotion belongs + as a right. And, transferring his experience of the dog into his human intercourse, + he puts little restraint upon himself, expecting to meet wagging tails and licking + tongues. And if he be disappointed, then he despises mankind and turns, with + loud-mouthed eulogies, to the dog.'</p> + <p>He was once more interrupted; some laughed, but the greater number were offended. + By this time Viggo Hansen had warmed to his subject; his little, sharp voice pierced + through the chorus of objections, and he proceeded as follows:</p> + <p>'And, while we are speaking of the dog, may I be allowed to present an + extraordinarily profound hypothesis of my own? Is there not something highly + characteristic of our national character in the fact that it is we who have produced + this noble breed of dogs—the celebrated, pure Danish hounds? This strong, + broad-chested animal with the heavy paws, the black throat, and the frightful teeth, + but so good-natured, harmless, and amiable withal—does he not remind you of the + renowned, indestructible Danish loyalty, which has never met injustice or + ill-treatment with anything but perpetually wagging tail, stomach upon earth, and + licking tongue? And when we admire this animal, formed in our own image, is it not + with a kind of melancholy self-praise that we pat him upon the head, and say: "You + are indeed a great, good, faithful creature!"'</p> + <p>'Do you hear, Dr. Hansen? I must point out to you that in my house there are + certain matters which—'</p> + <p>The host was angry, but a good-natured relation of the family hastened to + interrupt him, saying: 'I am a countryman, and you will surely admit, Dr. Hansen, + that a good farm watch-dog is an absolute necessity for <i>us</i>. Eh?'</p> + <p>'Oh yes, a little cur that can yelp, so as to awake the master.'</p> + <p>'No, thank you. We must have a decent dog, that can lay the rascals by the heels. + I have now a magnificent bloodhound.'</p> + <p>'And if an honest fellow comes running up to tell you that your outbuildings are + burning, and your magnificent bloodhound flies at his throat—what then?'</p> + <p>'Why, that would be awkward,' laughed the countryman. And the others laughed + too.</p> + <p>Dr. Hansen was now so busily engaged in replying to all sides, employing the most + extravagant paradoxes, that the young folks in particular were extremely amused, + without specially noting the increasing bitterness of his tone.</p> + <p>'But our watch-dogs, our watch-dogs! You will surely let us keep them, doctor?' + exclaimed a coal-merchant laughingly.</p> + <p>'Not at all. Nothing is more unreasonable than that a poor man, who comes to fill + his bag from a coal mountain, should be torn to pieces by wild beasts. There is + absolutely no reasonable relation between such a trifling misdemeanour and so + dreadful a punishment.'</p> + <p>'May we ask how you would protect your coal mountain, if you had one?'</p> + <p>'I should erect a substantial fence of boards, and if I were very anxious, I + should keep a watchman, who would say politely, but firmly, to those who came with + bags: "Excuse me, but my master is very particular about that. You must not fill your + bag; you must take yourself off at once."'</p> + <p>Through the general laughter which followed this last paradox, a clerical + gentleman spoke from the ladies' end of the table:</p> + <p>'It appears to me that there is something lacking in this + discussion—something that I would call the ethical aspect of the question. Is + it not a fact that in the hearts of all who sit here there is a clear, definite sense + of the revolting nature of the crime we call theft?'</p> + <p>These words were received with general and hearty applause.</p> + <p>'And I think it does very great violence to our feelings to hear Dr. Hansen + minimising a crime that is distinctly mentioned in Divine and human law as one of the + worst—to hear him reduce it to the size of a trifling and insignificant + misdemeanour. Is not this highly demoralizing and dangerous to Society?'</p> + <p>'Permit me, too,' promptly replied the indefatigable Hansen, 'to present an + ethical aspect of the question. Is it not a fact that in the hearts of innumerable + persons who do not sit here there is a clear, definite sense of the revolting nature + of the crime they call wealth? And must it not greatly outrage the feelings of those + who do not themselves possess any coal except an empty bag, to see a man who permits + himself to own two or three hundred thousand sacks letting wild beasts loose to guard + his coal mountain, and then going to bed after having written on the gate: + "Watch-dogs unfastened at dusk"? Is not that very provoking and very dangerous to + Society?'</p> + <p>'Oh, good God and Father! He is a regular <i>sans-culotte</i>!' cried old + grandmother.</p> + <p>The majority gave vent to mutterings of displeasure; he was going too far; it was + no longer amusing. Only a few still laughingly exclaimed: 'He does not mean a word of + what he says; it is only his way. Good health, Hansen!'</p> + <p>But the host took the matter more seriously. He thought of himself, and he thought + of Trofast. With ominous politeness, he began:</p> + <p>'May I venture to ask what you understand by a reasonable relation between a crime + and its punishment?'</p> + <p>'For example,' replied Dr. Viggo Hansen, who was now thoroughly roused, 'if I heard + that a merchant possessing two or three hundred thousand sacks of coal had refused to + allow a poor creature to fill his bag, and that this same merchant, as a punishment, + had been torn to pieces by wild beasts, then that would be something that I could + very easily understand, for between such heartlessness and so horrible a punishment + there is a reasonable relation.'</p> + <p>'Ladies and gentlemen, my wife and I beg you to make yourselves at home, and + welcome.'</p> + <p>There was a secret whispering and muttering, and a depressed feeling among the + guests, as they dispersed themselves through the salons.</p> + <p>The host walked about with a forced smile on his lips, and, as soon as he had + welcomed every one individually, he went in search of Hansen, in order to definitely + show him the door once for all.</p> + <p>But this was not necessary. Dr. Viggo Hansen had already found it.</p> + <br /> + <br /> + <h3>III.</h3> + <br /> + <p>There had really been some snow, as the merchant had stated. Although it was so + early in the winter, a little wet snow fell towards morning for several days in + succession, but it turned into fine rain when the sun rose.</p> + <p>This was almost the only sign that the sun had risen, for it did not get much + lighter or warmer all day. The air was thick with fog—not the whitish-gray sea + mist, but brown-gray, close, dead Russian fog, which had not become lighter in + passing over Sweden; and the east wind came with it and packed it well and securely + down among the houses of Copenhagen.</p> + <p>Under the trees along Kastelgraven and in Gronningen the ground was quite black + after the dripping from the branches. But along the middle of the streets and on the + roofs there was a thin white layer of snow.</p> + <p>All was yet quite still over at Burmeister and Wain's; the black morning smoke + curled up from the chimneys, and the east wind dashed it down upon the white roofs. + Then it became still blacker, and spread over the harbour among the rigging of the + ships, which lay sad and dark in the gray morning light, with white streaks of snow + along their sides. At the Custom House the bloodhounds would soon be shut in, and the + iron gates opened.</p> + <p>The east wind was strong, rolling the waves in upon Langelinie, and breaking them + in grayish-green foam among the slimy stones, whilst long swelling billows dashed + into the harbour, broke under the Custom House, and rolled great names and gloomy + memories over the stocks round the fleet's anchorage, where lay the old dismantled + wooden frigates in all their imposing uselessness.</p> + <p>The harbour was still full of ships, and goods were piled high in the warehouses + and upon the quays.</p> + <p>Nobody could know what kind of winter they were to have—whether they would + be cut off for months from the world, or if it would go by with fogs and + snow-slush.</p> + <p>Therefore there lay row upon row of petroleum casks, which, together with the + enormous coal mountains, awaited a severe winter, and there lay pipes and hogsheads + of wine and cognac, patiently waiting for new adulterations; oil and tallow and cork + and iron—all lay and waited, each its own destiny.</p> + <p>Everywhere lay work waiting—heavy work, coarse work, and fine work, from the + holds of the massive English coal-steamers, right up to the three gilded cupolas on + the Emperor of Russia's new church in Bredgade.</p> + <p>But as yet there was no one to put a hand to all this work. The town slept + heavily, the air was thick, winter hung over the city, and it was so still in the + streets that one could hear the water from the melting snow on the roofs fall down + into the spouts with a deep gurgling, as if even the great stone houses yet sobbed in + semi-slumber.</p> + <p>A little sleepy morning clock chimed over upon Holmen; here and there a door was + opened, and a dog came out to howl; curtains were rolled up and windows were opened; + the servant-girls went about in the houses, and did their cleaning by a naked light + which stood and flickered; at a window in the palace sat a gilded lacquey and rubbed + his nose in that early morning hour.</p> + <p>The fog lay thick over the harbour, and hung in the rigging of the great ships as + if in a forest; rain and flakes of wet snow made it still thicker, but the east wind + pressed it down between the houses, and completely filled Amalieplads, so that + Frederick V. sat as if in the clouds, and turned his proud nose unconcernedly towards + his half-finished church.</p> + <p>Some more sleepy clocks now began to chime; a steam-whistle joined in with a + diabolical shriek. In the taverns which 'open before the clock strikes' they were + already serving early refections of hot coffee and schnapps; girls with hair hanging + down their backs, after a wild night, came out of the sailors' houses by Nyhavn, and + sleepily began to clean windows.</p> + <p>It was bitterly cold and raw, and those who had to cross Kongens Nytorv hurried + past Öhlenschläger, whom they had set outside the theatre, bare-headed, + with his collar full of snow, which melted and ran down into his open + shirt-front.</p> + <p>Now came the long, relentless blasts of steam-whistles from the factories all + round the town, and the little steamers in the harbour whistled for no reason at + all.</p> + <p>The work, which everywhere lay waiting, began to swallow up the many small dark + figures, who, sleepy and freezingly cold, appeared and disappeared all round the + town. And there was almost a quiet bustle in the streets; some ran, others + walked—both those who had to go down into the coal steamers, and those who must + up and gild the Emperor of Russia's cupolas, and thousands of others who were being + swallowed by all kinds of work.</p> + <p>And waggons began to rumble, criers to shout, engines raised their polished, oily + shoulders, and turned their buzzing wheels; and little by little the heavy, thick + atmosphere was filled with a muffled murmur from the collective work of thousands. + The day was begun; joyous Copenhagen was awake.</p> + <p>Policeman Frode Hansen froze even to his innermost co-efficient. It had been an + unusually bitter watch, and he walked impatiently up and down in Aabenraa, and waited + for Mam Hansen. She was in the habit of coming at this time, or even earlier, and + to-day he had almost resolved to carry matters as far as a half lager or a cup of + warm coffee.</p> + <p>But Mam Hansen came not, and he began to wonder whether it was not really his duty + to report her. She was carrying the thing too far; it would not do at all any longer, + this humbug with these cabbage-leaves and that coal business.</p> + <p>Thyra and Waldemar had also several times peeped out into the little kitchen, to + see if their mother had come and had put the coffee-pot on the fire. But it was black + under the kettle, and the air was so dark and the room so cold that they jumped into + bed again.</p> + <hr style='width: 35%;' /> + <p>When they opened the great gates of merchant Hansen's coalstore at Kristianshavn, + Trofast sat there and shamefacedly looked askance; it was really a loathsome piece of + work that they had set him to do.</p> + <p>In a corner, between two empty baskets, they found a bundle of rags, from which + there came a faint moaning. There were a few drops of blood upon the snow, and close + by there lay, untouched, a piece of sugared Vienna bread.</p> + <p>When the foreman understood the situation, he turned to Trofast to praise him. But + Trofast had already gone home; the position was quite too uncomfortable for + <i>him</i>.</p> + <p>They gathered her up, such as she was, wet and loathsome, and the foreman decided + that she should be placed upon the first coal-cart going into town, and that they + could stop at the hospital, so that the professor himself might see whether she was + worth repairing.</p> + <hr style='width: 35%;' /> + <p>About ten o'clock the merchant's family began to assemble at the breakfast-table. + Thyra came first. She hurried up to Trofast, patted and kissed him, and overwhelmed + him with words of endearment.</p> + <p>But Trofast did not move his tail, and scarcely raised his eyes. He kept on + licking his fore-paws, which were a little black after the coal.</p> + <p>'Good gracious, my dear mother!' cried Miss Thyra; 'Trofast is undoubtedly ill. Of + course he has caught cold in the night; it was really horrid of father.'</p> + <p>But when Waldemar came in, he declared, with a knowing air, that Trofast was + affronted.</p> + <p>All three now fell upon him with entreaties and excuses and kind words, but + Trofast coldly looked from one to the other. It was clear that Waldemar was + right.</p> + <p>Thyra then ran out for her father, and the merchant came in serious—somewhat + solemn. They had just told him by telephone from the office how well Trofast had + acquitted himself of his task, and, kneeling down on the hearthrug before Trofast, he + thanked him warmly for the great service.</p> + <p>This mollified Trofast a good deal.</p> + <p>Still kneeling, with Trofast's paw in his hand, the merchant now told his family + what had occurred during the night. That the thief was a hardened old woman, one of + the very worst kind, who had even—just imagine it!—driven a pretty + considerable trade in the stolen coal. She had been cunning enough to bribe the young + watch-dog with a dainty piece of bread; but, of course, that was no use with + Trofast.</p> + <p>'And that brings me to think how often a certain person, whom I do not wish to + name, would rant about it being a shame that a beast should refuse bread, for which + many a human being would be thankful. Do we not now see the good of that? Through + that—ahem!—that peculiarity, Trofast was enabled to reveal an abominable + crime; to contribute to the just punishment of evildoers, and thus benefit both us + and society.'</p> + <p>'But, father,' exclaimed Miss Thyra, 'will you not promise me one thing?'</p> + <p>'What is that, my child?'</p> + <p>'That you will never again require such a service of Trofast. Rather let them + steal a little.'</p> + <p>'That I promise you, Thyra; and you, too, my brave Trofast,' said the merchant, + rising with dignity.</p> + <p>'Trofast is hungry,' said Waldemar, with his knowing air.</p> + <p>'Goodness, Thyra! fetch his cutlets!'</p> + <p>Thyra was about to rush down into the kitchen, but at that moment Stine came + puffing upstairs with them.</p> + <hr style='width: 35%;' /> + <p>Presumably, the professor did not find Mam Hansen worth repairing. At any rate, + she was never seen again, and the children 'flowed quite over.' I do not know what + became of them.</p> + <br /> + <a id="KAREN" name='KAREN'></a><hr style='width: 65%;' /> + <br /> + <br /> + <br /> + <br /> + <h2>KAREN.</h2> + <p class="cen">[Footnote: The scene of this tale is laid in Denmark.]</p> + <br /> + <p>There was once in Krarup Kro [Footnote: Kro, a country inn.] a girl named Karen. She had to + wait upon all the guests, for the innkeeper's wife almost always went about looking + for her keys. And there came many to Krarup Kro—folk from the surrounding + district, who gathered in the autumn gloamings, and sat in the inn parlour drinking + coffee-punches, usually without any definite object; and also travellers and + wayfarers, who tramped in, blue and weather-beaten, to get something hot to carry + them on to the next inn.</p> + <p>But Karen could manage everything all the same, although she walked about so + quietly, and never seemed in a hurry.</p> + <p>She was small and slim, quite young, grave and silent, so that with her there was + no amusement for the commercial travellers. But decent folks who went into the tavern + in earnest, and who set store on their coffee being served promptly and scalding hot, + thought a great deal of Karen. And when she slipped quietly forward among the guests + with her tray, the unwieldy frieze-clad figures fell back with unaccustomed celerity + to make way for her, and the conversation stopped for a moment. All had to look after + her, she was so charming.</p> + <p>Karen's eyes were of that large gray sort which seem at once to look at one and to + look far, far beyond, and her eyebrows were loftily arched, as if in wonder.</p> + <p>Therefore strangers thought she did not rightly understand what they asked for. + But she understood very well, and made no mistakes. There was only something strange + about her, as if she were looking for something far away, or listening, or waiting, + or dreaming.</p> + <p>The wind came from the west over the low plains. It had rolled long, heavy billows + across the Western Sea; [Footnote: German Ocean.] salt and wet with spray and foam, it had + dashed in upon the coast. But on the high downs with the tall wrack-grass it had + become dry and full of sand and somewhat tired, so that when it came to Krarup Kro it + had quite enough to do to open the stable-doors.</p> + <p>But open they flew, and the wind filled the spacious building, and forced its way + in at the kitchen-door, which stood ajar. And at last there was such a pressure of + air that the doors in the other end of the stable also burst open; and now the west + wind rushed triumphantly right through the building, swinging the lantern that hung + from the roof, whisking the ostler's cap out into the darkness, blowing the rugs over + the horses' heads, and sweeping a white hen off the roost into the watering-trough. + And the cock raised a frightful screech, and the ostler swore, and the hens cackled, + and in the kitchen they were nearly smothered with smoke, and the horses grew + restless, and struck sparks from the stones. Even the ducks, which had huddled + themselves together near the mangers, so as to be first at the spilt corn, began + quacking; and the wind howled through the stable with a hellish din, until a couple + of men came out from the inn parlour, set their broad backs against the doors and + pressed them to again, while the sparks from their great tobacco-pipes flew about + their beards.</p> + <p>After these achievements the wind plunged down into the heather, ran along the + deep ditches, and took a substantial grip of the mail-coach, which it met half a mile + from the town.</p> + <p>'He is always in a devil of a hurry to get to Krarup Kro!' growled Anders, the + postboy, cracking his whip over the perspiring horses.</p> + <p>For this was certainly the twentieth time that the guard had lowered the window to + shout something or other up to Anders. First it was a friendly invitation to a + coffee-punch in the inn; but each time the friendliness became scantier, until at + last the window was let down with a bang, and out sped some brief but expressive + remarks about both driver and horses, which Anders, at all events, could not have + cared to hear.</p> + <p>Meanwhile the wind swept low along the ground, and sighed long and strangely in + the dry clusters of heather. The moon was full, but so densely beclouded that only a + pale hazy shimmer hovered over the night.</p> + <p>Behind Krarup Kro lay a peat moss, dark with black turf-stacks and dangerous deep + pits. And among the heathery mounds there wound a strip of grass that looked like a + path; but it was no path, for it stopped on the very brink of a turf-pit that was + larger than the others, and deeper also.</p> + <p>In this grassy strip the fox lay and lurked, quite flat, and the hare bounded + lightly over the heather.</p> + <p>It was easy for the fox to calculate that the hare would not describe a wide + circle so late in the evening. It cautiously raised its pointed nose and made an + estimate; and as it sneaked back before the wind, to find a good place from which it + could see where the hare would finish its circuit and lie down, it self-complacently + thought that the foxes were always getting wiser and wiser, and the hares more + foolish than ever.</p> + <p>In the inn they were unusually busy, for a couple of commercial travellers had + ordered roast hare; besides, the landlord was at an auction in Thisted, and Madame + had never been in the habit of seeing to anything but the kitchen. But now it + unfortunately chanced that the lawyer wanted to get hold of the landlord, and, as he + was not at home, Madame had to receive a lengthy message and an extremely important + letter, which utterly bewildered her.</p> + <p>By the stove stood a strange man in oilskins, waiting for a bottle of soda-water; + two fish-buyers had three times demanded cognac for their coffee; the stableman stood + with an empty lantern waiting for a light, and a tall, hard-featured countryman + followed Karen anxiously with his eyes; he had to get sixty-three öre change out + of a krone. [Footnote: A krone contains 100 öre, and is equal to 1 S. 1-1/2 d.]</p> + <p>But Karen went to and fro without hurrying herself, and without getting confused. + One could scarcely understand how she kept account of all this. The large eyes and + the wondering eyebrows were strained as if in expectation. She held her fine little + head erect and steady, as if not to be distracted from all she had to think of. Her + simple dress of blue serge had become too tight for her, so that the collar cut + slightly into her neck, forming a little fold in the skin below the hair.</p> + <p>'These country girls are very white-skinned,' said one of the fish-buyers to the + other. They were young men, and talked about Karen as connoisseurs.</p> + <p>At the window was a man who looked at the clock and said: 'The post comes early + to-night.'</p> + <p>There was a rumbling of wheels on the paving-stones without, the stable-door was + flung open, and the wind again rattled all the doors and drove smoke out of the + stove.</p> + <p>Karen slipped out into the kitchen the moment the door of the parlour was opened. + The mail-guard entered, and said 'good-evening' to the company.</p> + <p>He was a tall, handsome man, with dark eyes, black curly hair and beard, and a + small, well-shaped head. The long rich cloak of King of Denmark's magnificent red + cloth was adorned with a broad collar of curled dogskin that drooped over his + shoulders.</p> + <p>All the dim, sickly light from the two paraffin lamps that hung over the table + seemed to fall affectionately upon the red colour, which contrasted so strikingly + with the sober black and gray tints of all else in the room. And the tall figure with + the small curly head, the broad collar, and the long purple folds, became, as he + walked through the low-roofed, smoky room, a marvel of beauty and magnificence.</p> + <p>Karen came hurriedly in from the kitchen with her tray. She bent her head, so that + one could not see her face, as she hastened from guest to guest.</p> + <p>She placed the roast hare right in front of the two fish-buyers, whereupon she + took a bottle of soda-water to the two commercial travellers, who sat in the inner + room. Then she gave the anxious countryman a tallow candle, and, as she slipped out + again, she put sixty-three öre into the hand of the stranger by the stove.</p> + <p>The innkeeper's wife was in utter despair. She had, indeed, quite unexpectedly + found her keys, but lost the lawyer's letter immediately after, and now the whole inn + was in the most frightful commotion. None had got what they wanted—all were + shouting together. The commercial men kept continuously ringing the table bell; the + fish-buyers went into fits of laughter over the roast hare, which lay straddling on + the dish before them. But the anxious countryman tapped Madame on the shoulder with + his tallow candle; he trembled for his sixty-three öre. And, amid all this + hopeless confusion, Karen had disappeared without leaving a trace.</p> + <p>Anders the post-boy sat on the box; the innkeeper's boy stood ready to open the + gates; the two passengers inside the coach became impatient, as did also the + horses—although they had nothing to look forward to—and the wind rustled + and whistled through the stable.</p> + <p>At length came the guard, whom they awaited. He carried his large cloak over his + arm, as he walked up to the coach and made a little excuse for having kept the party + waiting. The light of the lantern shone upon his face; he looked very warm, and + smilingly said as much, as he drew on his cloak and climbed up beside the driver.</p> + <p>The gates were opened, and the coach rumbled away. Anders let the horses go + gently, for now there was no hurry. Now and then he stole a glance at the guard by + his side; he was still sitting smiling to himself, and letting the wind ruffle his + hair.</p> + <p>Anders the post-boy also smiled in his peculiar way. He began to understand.</p> + <p>The wind followed the coach until the road turned; thereupon it again swept over + the plain, and whistled and sighed long and strangely among the dry clusters of + heather. The fox lay at his post; everything was calculated to a nicety; the hare + must soon be there.</p> + <p>In the inn Karen had at last reappeared, and the confusion had gradually subsided. + The anxious countryman had got quit of his candle and received his sixty-three + öre, and the commercial gentlemen had set to work upon the roast hare.</p> + <p>Madame whined a little, but she never scolded Karen; there was not a person in the + world who could scold Karen.</p> + <p>Quietly and without haste Karen again walked to and fro, and the air of peaceful + comfort that always followed her once more overspread the snug, half-dark parlour. + But the two fish-buyers, who had had both one and two cognacs with their coffee, were + quite taken up with her. She had got some colour in her cheeks, and wore a little + half-hidden gleam of a smile, and when she once happened to raise her eyes, a thrill + shot through their whole frames.</p> + <p>But when she felt their eyes following her, she went into the room where the + commercial men sat dining, and began to polish some teaspoons at the sideboard.</p> + <p>'Did you notice the mail-guard?' asked one of the travellers.</p> + <p>'No, not particularly; I only got a glimpse of him. I think he went out again + directly,' replied the other, with his mouth full of food.</p> + <p>'He's a devilish fine fellow! Why, I danced at his wedding.'</p> + <p>'Indeed. So he is married?'</p> + <p>'Yes; his wife lives in Lemvig; they have at least two children. She was a + daughter of the innkeeper of Ulstrop, and I arrived there on the very evening of the + wedding. It was a jolly night, you may be sure.'</p> + <p>Karen dropped the teaspoons and went out. She did not hear them calling to her + from the parlour. She walked across the courtyard to her chamber, closed the door, + and began half-unconsciously to arrange the bedclothes. Her eyes stood rigid in the + darkness; she pressed her hands to her head, to her breast; she moaned; she did not + understand—she did not understand—</p> + <p>But when she heard Madame calling so piteously, 'Karen, Karen!' she sprang up, + rushed out of the yard, round the back of the house, out—out upon the + heath.</p> + <p>In the twilight the little grassy strip wound in and out among the heather, as if + it were a path; but it was no path—no one must believe it to be a + path—for it led to the very brink of the great turf-pit.</p> + <p>The hare started up; it had heard a splash. It dashed off with long leaps, as if + mad; now contracted, with legs under body and back arched, now drawn out to an + incredible length, like a flying accordion, it bounded away over the heather.</p> + <p>The fox put up its pointed nose, and stared in amazement after the hare. It had + not heard any splash. For, according to all the rules of art, it had come creeping + along the bottom of a deep ditch; and, as it was not conscious of having made any + mistake, it could not understand the strange conduct of the hare.</p> + <p>Long it stood, with its head up, its hindquarters lowered, and its great bushy + tail hidden in the heather; and it began to wonder whether the hares were getting + wiser or the foxes getting more foolish.</p> + <p>But when the west wind had travelled a long way it became a north wind, then an + east wind, then a south wind, and at last it again came over the sea as a west wind, + dashed in upon the downs, and sighed long and strangely among the dry clusters of + heather. But then a pair of wondering gray eyes were lacking in Krarup Kro, and a + blue serge dress that had grown too tight. And the innkeeper's wife whined and + whimpered more than ever. She could not understand it—nobody could understand + it—except Anders the post-boy—and one beside.</p> + <p>But when old folks wished to give the young a really serious admonition, they used + to begin thus: 'There was once in Krarup Kro a girl named Karen——</p> + <br /> + <a id="JOURNEY" name='JOURNEY'></a><hr style='width: 65%;' /> + <br /> + <br /> + <br /> + <br /> + <h2>MY SISTER'S JOURNEY TO MODUM.</h2> + <br /> + + <p>My sister was going to Modum. It was before the opening of the Drammen Railway, + and it was a dreadfully long carriole drive from Christiania to Drammen.</p> + <p>But everything depended upon getting off—hyp—getting to + Drammen—hyp, hyp—in time to catch the train which left for Modum at two + o'clock. Hyp—oh, dear, if the train should be gone—to wait until next + day—alone—in Drammen!</p> + <p>My sister stimulated the post-boys with drink-money, and the horses with small + pokes of her umbrella; but both horses and post-boys were numerous upon this route, + and much time was lost at the stopping-places.</p> + <p>First, the luggage had to be transferred to the new carriole. There were the big + trunk and the little one, and the plaids with loosened strap, the umbrella, the + <i>en-tout-cas</i>, the bouquet, and the book.</p> + <p>Then there was paying, and reckoning, and changing; and the purse was crammed so + extraordinarily full that it would shower three-skilling pieces, [Footnote: Skilling, a + halfpenny.] or a shining half-dollar would swing itself over the side, make a + graceful curve, like a skater, round the floor, and disappear behind the stove. It + had to be got out before it could be changed, and that nobody could do.</p> + <p>As soon as the fresh horses appeared in the yard, my sister would spring + resolutely out, and swing herself into the carriole.</p> + <p>'Thanks; I am ready now. Let us be off. Good-bye.'</p> + <p>Yes, then they would all come running after her—the umbrella, the + <i>en-tout-cas</i>, the plaids with loosened strap, the bouquet, and the book, + everything would be thrown into her lap, and she would hold on to them until the next + station was reached, while the station-master's honest wife stood and feebly waved + the young lady's pocket-handkerchief, in a manner which could not possibly attract + her attention.</p> + <p>Although she thus lost no time, the drive was, nevertheless, extremely trying, and + it was a great relief to my sister when she at length rattled down the hill from + Gjelleboek, and saw Drammen extended below her. There were not many minutes left.</p> + <p>At last she was down in the town. 'In Drammen, in Drammen!' muttered my sister, + beginning to triumph. Like a fire-engine she dashed along the streets to the station. + Everything was paid. She had only to jump out of the carriole; but when she looked up + at the station clock, the minute-hand was just passing the number twelve.</p> + <p>Undismayed, my sister collected her knick-knacks and rushed into the waiting-room, + which was quite empty. But the young man who had sold the tickets, and who was in the + act of drawing down the panel, caught a glimpse of this belated lady, and was + good-natured enough to wait.</p> + <p>'A ticket—for Heaven's sake! A ticket for Drammen! What does it cost?'</p> + <p>'Where are you going, miss?' asked the good-natured young man.</p> + <p>'To Drammen—do you hear? But do make haste. I am sure the train will be + gone.'</p> + <p>'But, miss,' said the young man, with a modest smile, 'you <i>are</i> in + Drammen.'</p> + <p>'Ah! I beg your pardon. Yes, so I am; it is to Modum, to Modum that I want to + go.'</p> + <p>She received her ticket, filled her lap with her things, and, purse in mouth, + hurried out upon the platform.</p> + <p>She was instantly seized by powerful hands, lifted off the ground, and tenderly + deposited in a <i>coupé</i>.</p> + <p>'Puff,' said the locomotive impatiently, beginning to strain at the carriages.</p> + <p>My sister leant back on the velvet sofa, happy and triumphant; she had been in + time. Before her, upon the other sofa, she had all her dear little things, which + seemed to lie and smile at her—the bouquet and the book, the <i>en-tout-cas</i> + and the umbrella, and the very plaids, with the strap completely unfastened.</p> + <p>Then, as the train slowly began to glide out of the station, she heard the + footstep of a man—rap, rap—of a man running—rap, rap, + rap—running on the platform alongside the train; and although, of course, it + did not concern her, still she would see what he was running for.</p> + <p>But no sooner did my sister's head become visible than the running man waved his + arms and cried:</p> + <p>'There she is, there she is—the young lady who came last! Where shall we + send your luggage?'</p> + <p>Then my sister cried in a loud and firm voice:</p> + <p>'To Drammen!'</p> + <p>And with these words she was whirled away.</p> + <br /> + <a id="LETTERS_FROM_MASTER_PILOT_SEEHUS" name='LETTERS_FROM_MASTER_PILOT_SEEHUS'></a><hr style='width: 65%;' /> + <br /> + <br /> + <br /> + <br /> + <h2>LETTERS FROM MASTER-PILOT SEEHUS.</h2> + <br /> + + <p>KRYDSVIG FARM,</p> + <p><i>January</i> 1, 1889.</p> + <p>MR. EDITOR,</p> + <p>Referring to our talk of last December, when I said I was not unwilling to send + you occasional letters, if anything important should happen, I do not know of + anything that I could think worthy of being published or made public in your paper + except the weather, which always and ever gives cause for alternate praise and blame, + when one is living, so to speak, out among the sea's breakers, where there is no + quietness to expect on a winter's day, but storms and rough weather as we had in the + last Yule-nights, with a violent storm from the east and with such tremendous gusts + of wind that the pots and pans flew about like birds. And there is much damage done + by the east wind and nothing gained, because it only drives wreckage out to sea. But + it was not quite so bad as it was in the great storms in the last days of November, + which culminated or reached their highest point on Monday, the 26th November, when it + was rougher than old folk can remember it to have ever been, with such a tremendous + sea that it seemed as if it would reach the fields that we here at Krydsvig have + owned from old times; it almost touched the cowhouses. After that time we had light + frosts with changeable weather and a smoother sea, which was not covered, but richly + sown, with many sad relics of the storm, mostly deck cargo, which is not so great a + loss, as it is always lying, so to speak, upon expectancy or adventure; and when it + goes, it is a relief to the ship and a great and especial blessing to these treeless + coasts, particularly when it comes ashore well split up and distributed, a few planks + at each place, so that the Lensmand [Footnote: Sheriff's officer.] cannot see any greater + accumulation at any one place than that he can, with a good conscience, abandon an + auction and let the folk keep what they have been lucky enough to find or diligent + enough to garner in from the sea in their boats; but this time it did not repay the + trouble, because of frost and an easterly land-wind, which kept the wreck from land + for some time. But now the most of it has come in that is to come at this time, and + it may be long to another time, as we must hope, for the seaman's sake, although I, + for my part, have never been able to join with any particular devotion in prayers and + supplications that we may be free from storms and foul weather; for our Lord has made + the sea thus and not otherwise, so that there must come storms and tumults in the + atmosphere of the air, and, as a consequence, towering billows. And it seems to me, + further, that we cannot decently turn to the Lord and ask Him to do something over + again or in a different way; but we can well wish each other God's help and all good + luck in danger, and especially good gear for our own ones, who sail with wit and + canniness, while the Englishman is mostly a demon to sail and go with full steam on + in fogs and driving rain-storms, of which we can expect enough in Januarius month at + the beginning of the new year, which I hope may be a good year for these coasts, with + decent weather, as it may fall out, and something respectable in the way of + wreckage.</p> + <p>Yours very truly,</p> + <p>LAURITZ BOLDEMANN SEEHUS,</p> + <p>Late Master-Pilot.</p> + <br /> + <hr style='width: 35%;' /> + <br /> + <p>KRYDSVIG,</p> + <p><i>January</i> 22, 1889.</p> + <p>MR. EDITOR,</p> + <p>I take up my pen to-day to inform you that I, the undersigned, address you for the + last time, as I will not write more because of my sore eyes, which are not to be + wondered at, after all that they have seen in bitter weather and in a long life of + trouble and hardship from my youth up, mostly at sea in spray and driving snow-storms + at the fishing, which is all over and past, as everything old is past. But things new + are coming to the front, and here I sit alone like Job, though he, to be sure, had + some friends, but loneliness is a sore thing for old folk, and idleness which they + are not used to, so that the Sheriff might as well have given me back my post as + master-pilot on my return from America. But he would not do it, because I was not + cunning enough to agree with him, when he did not understand anybody, but it is given + out officially that I am too old, and thus I sit here without having shaved for a + week, because I am angry and my hand trembles, but not owing to old age. And I don't + think, either, that anybody is much to be envied for having friends like Job's, and I + am not stricken with boils and sitting among potsherds, but am quite hale and strong, + if I am rather dried-up and stiff, but I would undertake to dance a reel and a + Hamburg schottische if I could only get a girl with a fairly round waist to take hold + of, but it seems to me that they are shrinking in and becoming flatter than they were + in my young days; but then I think that it is surely the sore eyes that are cheating + me, for I have always held this belief, that girls are girls in all times, but old + folks should be quiet and mind what they understand, which is nothing that relates to + the young. But a man should not get sour <i>in finem</i>, for all that, and I have + found that it is a dangerous thing to grow old, for this reason, that one becomes so + surly before one's time, and that is against my inner construction, and I have now + sat here awhile and gazed out on the sea through rain and mist, and then I + straightened my old back and spat out my quid, which in all truth smacked more of the + brass box than of tobacco, because it had been chewed several times, but I have cut + myself a new one with my knife, as I can no longer bite it off, for the reason that + there are hardly any teeth, but I have still a few front ones, and I have one good + tooth, which is hidden and is no ornament, but it is useful when I eat tough things + like dried ham. And I take up the pen again because I want to let you know that I am + not so ill but that I may hold out for a while yet; and, if I keep my health, you + shall hear from me soon, but I have nothing to say about the weather, because we have + not had any weather for a long time, and I am wondering whether this winter will come + to anything, or if it will pass over in damp and wet and loose wind.</p> + <p>Yours very truly,</p> + <p>LAURITZ BOLDEMANN SEEHUS,</p> + <p>Late Master-Pilot.</p> + <br /> + <hr style='width: 35%;' /> + <br /> + <p>KRYDSVIG,</p> + <p><i>April</i> 13, 1889.</p> + <p>MR. EDITOR,</p> + <p>About the rotten feet on the sheep, which animal I by nature despise, on account + of its cowardice and a tremendous silliness, the one running after the other, but if + a man <i>will</i> plague himself with farming who has been a sailor from his mother's + apron-string, he must keep these beasts and others like his neighbours, although he + understands nothing, or very little, about the whole tribe. So I have upon my small + patch of ground two good ewes, with little wit, but wool, and I sent them long before + Yule to a ram at Börevig, one of the fine kind from Scotland, as folk bothered + me that I must do it, because of the breed and the wool and many things, but not a + rotten foot did I hear of until after much jangling among folk and a great to-do + among the learned and such like, which is nothing new to me in that kind of folk, who + always and always stand behind each other's backs, crying with a loud cry, 'It was + not my fault,' but, faith, it was. So I say to myself, 'What shall I do with these + rotten feet from Scotland, if I get the disease ingrafted, and likewise upon the + innocent offspring,' who are already toddling about all three, because there were two + in the one ewe. But foreign sickness is not a thing to be afflicted with, at a time + when we have scab among our sheep and much else, and more than I know of, and thus I + turned my look again and again to that Government, to see if it will ever gather + sense. But yet the Government had not so very rotten feet in that other important + matter of a Sheriff, whom we got with unexpected smartness and promptness, much to + our gain and the reverse, when we think of what the man now is, but there must be a + skipper all the same. And now it is growing light all over the world; that is, in our + hemisphere, for spring has come upon us with extraordinary quickness, and the ice, it + went with Peder-Varmestol, [Footnote: February 22nd.] and the lapwing, she came one morning + with her back shining as if she had been polished out of bronze, with her crest + erect, and throwing herself about in the air like a dolphin in the sea, with her head + down and her tail up, crying and screaming. But the lark is really the silliest + creature, to sing on without ceasing the livelong day, and the sea-pie has come, and + stands bobbing upon the same stone as last year, and the wild-goose and the + water-wagtail. So we are all cheered up again, all the men of Jæderen, and the + cod bites, too, for those who have time, but folk are mostly carting sea-weed, and + ploughing and sowing, not without grumbling in some places, but the work must be + done.</p> + <p>Yours very truly,</p> + <p>L.B. SEEHUS.</p> + <br /> + <hr style='width: 35%;' /> + <br /> + <p>KRYDSVIG,</p> + <p><i>July</i> 1, 1889.</p> + <p>MR. EDITOR,</p> + <p>Your letter of the 20th ult. received, and contents noted, and I now beg to reply + that it is not very convenient, for the reason that old folk's talk is mostly about + winter storms and seldom about summer, when the sun shines, and the lambs frisk and + throw their tails high in the air. But, you see, they were tups all three, which was + not unlooked-for after such a ram, and consequently no letter can be expected from me + before autumn, when the sea gets some life in it and a grown man's voice, so to + speak, for now it lies—God bless me—like a basin of milk, to the inward + vexation of folk who know what the sea should be in Nature's household with ships and + storms and wreckage, and a decent number of wrecks at those places where the + structure of the coast permits the rescue of men and a distribution of the wreck if + it be of wood, but some trash are now of iron. And I am now as parched in the hide as + I was that time in Naples when the helmsman sailed the brig on to the pier-head + because a hurricane had risen, and Skipper Worse and I stood on the quay and cried, + though he swore mostly, and I had a basket on my arm with something that they called + bananas, which they fry in butter. And it is not very nice nowadays, when the sun + rises and sets in nothing but blue sky, and not a cloud to be seen, as if it were the + Mediterranean of my young days, and I smell the bananas, but we here have no other + stinking stuff, that I know, than ware and cods' heads. But, Mr. Editor, the young + are dull and heavy with the sunshine; I myself went about singing, and wanted to show + the flabby wenches of Varhaug how one once danced a real <i>molinask</i>, as it was + Sunday and the young folk hung round the walls like half-dead flies in the heat. But + there had been grease burnt, which made it more slippery than soft soap on the deck, + and there lay the whole master-pilot in the middle of the <i>molinask</i>, and bit + off the stalk of his clay pipe, but he kept his tooth, which has already been spoken + about, and to his shame had to be lifted by four firm-handed fellows with much + laughing, wherefore I have sat myself down in my chair to wait for the autumn, + because I cannot speak or write about the drought, but only get angry and + unreasonable.</p> + <p>Yours very truly,</p> + <p>LAURITZ BOLDEMANN SEEHUS.</p> + <br /> + <hr style='width: 35%;' /> + <br /> + <p>KRYDSVIG,</p> + <p><i>October</i> 20, 1889.</p> + <p>MR. EDITOR,</p> + <p>I could have continued my silence a very long time yet, for it has not been a + great autumn either on land or sea, but little summer storms, as if for frolic, with + small seas and loose wreckage, but unusually far out, about three miles from land. + But the long, dark lamp-lit evenings are come, and this shoal of fish which I must + write to you about and ask what the end is going to be; for now we almost think that + the sea up north Stavanger way must be choke-full, as it was of herrings in the good + old days that are no more, but it is now big with coal-fish, mostly north by the + Reef, they say, but the undersigned and old Velas, who is a still older man, got + about four boxes of right nice coal-fish yesterday, a little to the south-east. But + half Jæren [Footnote: Jæderen, the coast district near Stavanger.] was on the sea, boat upon + boat, for the double reason of the coal-fish and that they had not an earthly thing + to do upon the land, for this year the earth has yielded us everything well and very + early, but the straw is short, which, if the truth must be told, is the only thing to + complain of. But the farmers are making wry faces, like the merchants in + Östersöen when they complain of the herrings, for they must always + complain, except about the sheep, which are going off very well to the Englishman, + and I can't conceive what there will be left of this kind of beast in Jæren, but it + is all the same to me, seeing that I have never liked the sheep at all until last + year, when he paid taxes for all Jæren, which was more than was expected of him. And + it would be well if any one were able to put bounds upon this burning of sea-ware, + which the devil or somebody has invented for use as a medicine in Bergen—they + say, but I do not believe it, because it has a stink that goes into the innermost + part of your nostrils and into your tobacco besides. But then the east wind is good + for something, at least, for it sends the heaps of ware out to sea, and I can imagine + how it will surprise the Queen of England when she knows how we stink. And I have a + grievance of my own, viz., boys shooting with blunderbusses and powder, and with so + little wit that my eyes flash with anger every time I see them creeping on their + stomachs towards a starling or a couple of lean ring-plovers, and I shout and cast + stones to warn the innocent creatures, since the farmer of Jæren is, as it + were, his thrall's thrall, and lets the servant-boys make a fool of him and play the + concertina all night, which might be put up with, but no powder and shooting should + be allowed, so that Jæren may not become a desert for bird-life, and only + concertinas left and rascals of boys on their stomachs as above.</p> + <p>Yours very truly,</p> + <p>LAURITZ BOLDEMANN SEEHUS.</p> + <br /> + <hr style='width: 35%;' /> + <br /> + <p>KRYDSVIG,</p> + <p><i>December</i> 25, 1889.</p> + <p>MR. EDITOR,</p> + <p>After having, in the course of a long and very stormy life, given heed to the + clouds of the sky and the various aspects of the sea, which can change before your + eyes as you look, like a woman who discovers another whom she likes better, and you + stand forsaken and rejected, because a girl's mind is like the ocean above-mentioned, + and full of storms as the Spanish Sea, and I early received my shock of that kind for + life, of which I do not intend to speak, but the weather is of a nature that I have + never before observed in this country, with small seas, rare and moderate storms, and + on this first Yule-day a peace on the earth and such a complacent calm on the sea + that you might row out in a trough. The wreckage that came in on the 8th and 9th + December last was the only extravagance, so to speak, of the sea this year, for there + was too much in some places, and this will probably give the Lensmand a pretext for + holding an auction, to the great ruination of the people, for the planks were rare + ones, both long and good-hearted timber. But at an auction half the pleasure is lost, + besides more that is very various in kind—for instance, brandy: and the town + gentlemen who sell such liquor to the farmer must answer to their consciences what + substances and ingredients such a drink is cooked out of, as it brings on mental + weakness and bodily torment, proof of which I have seen numberless times in strong + and well-fabricated persons, especially during the Yule-days. But this is not my + friendship's time, for they say at the farm that the Oldermand [Footnote: Master-pilot] is + haughty, and will not swallow their devil's drink at any price. But I sit alone + before a bottle of old Jamaica, which is part of what Jacob Worse brought home from + the West Indies in 1825, and I think of him and Randulf and the old ones, and the + smell of the liquor seems to call up living conversations, which you can hear, and + you must laugh, although you are alone, and you have such a desire to write + everything down as it happened; but no more to the newspapers for this reason, that + they have been after me with false teeth and a nice, neat widow, of whom nothing more + will be said. And this extraordinarily mild winter has in some way kept the + rheumatism out of my limbs; besides, I am strong by nature and no age to speak of; + but, of course, it must be admitted that youth is better and more lively, of which, + as above, nothing more will be said.</p> + <p>As the years go on, Mr. Editor, disappointments bite fast into us, like barnacles + and mussels under ships; but we ourselves do not feel that our speed is decreasing, + and that we are dropping astern, and, as already hinted, old age does not protect us + against folly.</p> + <p>Yours very truly,</p> + <p>LAURITZ BOLDEMANN SEEHUS.</p> + <br /> + <a id="OLD_DANCES" name='OLD_DANCES'></a><hr style='width: 65%;' /> + <br /> + <br /> + <br /> + <br /> + <h2>OLD DANCES.</h2> + <br /> + + <p>We really strove honestly, swung ourselves and swung our ladies, although many + were stiff enough to get round. We were not invited to a ball; this dance was merely + a surprise frolic.</p> + <p>We had dined in all good faith—at least, the stranger cousin had; and while + I stood thinking of coffee, and dreading no danger, the house began to swarm with + young folks who had dined upstairs or downstairs, or at home, or not at all, or God + knows where. The dining-room doors were thrown open again, the floor was cleared as + if by magic, partners caught hold of each other, two rushed to the piano, + and—one, two, three, they were in the middle of a galop before I could recover + my wits.</p> + <p>They immediately forsook me again, when I received a frightful blow in the region + of the heart. It was Uncle Ivar himself, who shouted:</p> + <p>'Come, boy; inside with you, and move your legs. Don't stand there like a + snivelling chamberlain, but show what kind of fellow you are with those long + pipe-stalks that our Lord has sent you out upon.'</p> + <p>Thus the dance began; and although I did not at all like uncle's way of arranging + matters, I good-naturedly set to work, and we strove honestly, that I can say, with + the cousins as well as the lighter of the aunts.</p> + <p>By degrees we even became lively; and everything might have passed off in peace + and joy if uncle had not taken it into his head that we were not doing our utmost in + the dance, especially we gentlemen.</p> + <p>'What kind of dancing is that to show to people?' he exclaimed contemptuously. + 'There they go, mincing and tripping, as spindle-shanked as pencils and parasols. No, + there was another kind of legs in my time! Pooh, boys, that was dancing, that + was!'</p> + <p>We held up our heads and footed it until our ears tingled. But every time that + Uncle Ivar passed the ball-room door, his jeers became more aggravating, until we + were almost exhausted, each one trying to be nimbler than another.</p> + <p>But what was the use? Every time uncle came back from his round through the + smoking-room, where he cooled his head in an enormous ale-bowl, he was bolder and + bolder, and at last he had aled so long in the cooling bowl that his boldness was not + to be repressed.</p> + <p>'Out of the way with these long-shanked flamingoes!' he cried. 'Now, boys, you are + going to see a real national dance. Come, Aunt Knoph, we two old ones will make these + miserable youngsters of nowadays think shame.'</p> + <p>'Oh, no, my dear, do let me alone,' begged respectable Mrs. Knoph; 'remember, we + are both old.'</p> + <p>'The devil is old,' laughed uncle merrily; 'you were the smartest of the lasses, + and I was not the greatest lout among the boys, that I know. So come along, old + girl!'</p> + <p>'Oh no, my dear Ivaren; won't you excuse me?' pleaded Mrs. Knoph. But what was the + use? The hall was cleared, room had to be made, and we miserable flamingoes were + squeezed up against the walls, so that we might be out of the way, at all events.</p> + <p>All the young ladies were annoyed at the interruption, and we gentlemen were more + or less sulky over all the affronts that we had endured. But the lady who had to play + was quite in despair. She had merely received orders to play something purely + national; and no matter how often she asked what dance it was to be, uncle would only + stare politely at her over his spectacles, and swear that this would be another kind + of dance.</p> + <p>As far as Uncle Ivar was concerned, 'Sons of Norway' was no doubt good enough for + any or every dance; and as to the dance itself, the music was really not so very + important; for, you see, it happened in this way:</p> + <p>Uncle Ivar came swinging in with one arm by his side, and tall, respectable Mrs. + Knoph on the other. He placed her with a chivalrous sweep in the middle of the floor, + bowed in the fashion of elderly gallants, with head down between his legs and arms + hanging in front, but quickly straightened himself up again and looked about with a + provoking smile.</p> + <p>Uncle Ivar, without a coat and with vest unbuttoned, was a sight to see in a + ball-room. A flaming red poll, one of the points of his collar up and one down, his + false shirtfront thrust under a pair of home-made braces, which were green, two white + bands of tape hanging down, a tuft of woollen shirt visible here and there.</p> + <p>But one began to respect the braces when one saw what they carried—a + trousers-button as big as a square-sail, and another behind—I am sure that one + could have written 'Constantinople' in full across it in a large hand.</p> + <p>'Tush, boys!' cried uncle, clapping his hands, 'now, by Jove, you shall see a + dance worth looking at!' And then it began—at least, I <i>think</i> that it + began here, but, as will presently appear, this is not quite certain. It happened in + this way:</p> + <p>The pianist struck up some national tune or other; uncle swung his arms and + shuffled a little with his feet, amorously ogling old Mrs. Knoph over his + spectacles.</p> + <p>All attention was now concentrated upon Uncle Ivar's legs; it was clear that after + the little preliminary steps he would let himself go! I stood and wondered whether he + would spring into the air clear over Mrs. Knoph, or only kick the cap off her + head.</p> + <p>That would have been quite like him, and it is not at all certain whether he + himself did not think of performing some such feat, for, as will presently appear, we + cannot know; it happened, you see, in this way:</p> + <p>As Uncle Ivar, after some little pattering, collected his energies for the + decisive <i>coup</i>, he violently stamped his feet upon the floor.</p> + <p>But, as if he had trodden upon soft soap, like lightning his heels glided forward + from under him. The whole of Uncle Ivar fell backward upon Constantinople, his legs + beat the air, and the crown of his head struck the floor with a boom that resounded + through the whole house.</p> + <p>Yes, there he lay stretched in all his <i>rondeur</i>, with the square-sail just + in front of the feet of respectable Mrs. Knoph, who resembled a deserted tower in the + desert.</p> + <p>I was irreverent enough to let the others gather him up. Of course he would not + fall to pieces; I knew the Constantinople architecture. I slipped out into the + corridor and laughed until I was quite exhausted.</p> + <p>But since then I have often wondered what kind of dance it could have been.</p> + <br /> + <a id="AUTUMN" name='AUTUMN'></a><hr style='width: 65%;' /> + <br /> + <br /> + <br /> + <br /> + <h2>AUTUMN.</h2> + <br /> + + <p>AARRE,</p> + <p><i>October</i> 7, 1890.</p> + <p>I had intended to send a few observations upon the wild-goose to <i>Nature</i>, + but since they have extended to quite a long letter, they go to <i>Dagbladet</i>. It + is not because I believe that they represent anything new that no one has observed + before; but I know how thoughtlessly most of us let the sun shine, and the birds fly, + without any idea of what a refreshment it is for a man's soul to understand what he + sees in Nature, and how interesting animal life becomes when we have once learned + that there is a method and a thought in every single thing that the animal + undertakes, and what a pleasure it is to discover this thought, and trace the + beautiful reasoning power which is Nature's essence.</p> + <p>And thus most of us go through life, and down into a hole in the ground like + moles, without having taken any notice of the bird that flew or the bill that sang. + We believe that the small birds are sparrows, the larger probably crows; barndoor + fowls are the only ones we know definitely.</p> + <p>I met a lady the other day who was extremely indignant about this. She had asked + the man at whose house she was staying—a very intelligent peasant—what + kind of bird it was that she had seen in the fields. It was evident that it was a + thrush—merely a common thrush—and she described the bird to him: it was + about half as large as a pigeon, gray and speckled with yellow; it hopped in the + fields, and so on.</p> + <p>'Would it be the bird they call a swallow?' suggested the man.</p> + <p>'Not at all,' replied the lady angrily. 'I rather think it was a kind of + thrush.'</p> + <p>'Oh! then you had better ask my wife.'</p> + <p>'So she understands birds, does she?' exclaimed the lady, much mollified.</p> + <p>'Yes, she is mad with them, they do so much mischief among the cherries.'</p> + <p>With this my lady had to go. But the story is not yet finished; the worst is to + come.</p> + <p>For when, indignant at the countryman's ignorance of the bird-world, she told all + this in town, there was one very solemn gentleman who said:</p> + <p>'Are you sure that it was not a gull?'</p> + <p>This went beyond all bounds, thought my lady, and she came and complained bitterly + to me.</p> + <p>When wild-geese fly in good order, as they do when in the air for days and nights + together, the lines generally form the well-known plough, with one bird at the point, + and the two next ones on either side of him a little way behind.</p> + <p>Hitherto I have always been content with the explanation that we received and gave + one another as boys, viz., that the birds chose this formation in order to cleave the + air, like a snow-plough clearing a way.</p> + <p>But it suddenly occurred to me the other day that this was pure nonsense—an + association of ideas called forth by the resemblance to a plough, which moves in + earth or snow, but which has no meaning up in the air.</p> + <p>What <i>is</i> cloven air? And who gets any benefit by it?</p> + <p>Yes, if the geese flew as they walk—one directly behind the + other—there might perhaps, in a contrary wind, be some little shelter and + relief for the very last ones. But they fly nearly side by side in such a manner that + each one, from first to last, receives completely 'uncloven' air right in the breast; + there can be no suggestion that it is easier for the last than for the first bird to + cut a way.</p> + <p>The peculiar order of flight has quite another meaning, viz., to keep the flock + together on the long and fatiguing journey; and if we start from this basis, the + reasoning thought becomes also evident in the arrangement itself.</p> + <p>Out here by the broad Aarre Water there pass great flights of wild-geese; and in + bad weather it may happen that they sit in thousands on the water, resting and + waiting.</p> + <p>But even if the flock flies past, there is always uneasiness and noise when they + come over Aarre Water. The ranks break, for a time the whole becomes a confused mass, + while they all scream and quack at the same time.</p> + <p>Only slowly do they form again and fly southward in long lines, until they shrink + to thinner and thinner threads in the gray autumn sky, and their last sound follows + them upon the north wind.</p> + <p>Then I always believe that there has been a debate as to whether they should take + a little rest down on Aarre Water. There are certainly many old ones who know the + place again, and plenty of the young are tender-winged, and would fain sit on the + water and dawdle away a half-day's time.</p> + <p>But when it is eventually resolved to fly on without stopping, and the lines again + begin to arrange themselves, it has become clear to me that each seeks his own place + in the ranks slanting outwards behind the leaders, so that by this means he may be + conducted along with the train without being under the necessity of troubling about + the way.</p> + <p>If these large, heavy birds were to fly in a cluster for weeks, day and night, + separation and confusion would be inevitable. They would get in each other's way + every minute with their heavy wings, there would be such a noise that the leader's + voice could not be distinguished, and it would be impossible to keep an eye upon him + after dark. Besides, over half the number are young birds, who are undertaking this + tremendous journey for the first time, and who naturally, at Aarre Water, begin to + ask if it be the Nile that they see. Time would be lost, the flock would be broken + up, and all the young would perish on the journey, if there were not, in the very + disposition of the ranks, something of the beautiful reasoning thought binding them + together.</p> + <p>Let us now consider the first bird, who leads the flock—presumably an old + experienced gander. He feels an impulse towards the south, but he undoubtedly bends + his neck and looks down for known marks in the landscape. That is why the great + flocks of geese follow our coast-line southward until the land is lost to view.</p> + <p>But the birds do not look straight forward in the direction of their bills: they + look to both sides. Therefore, the bird next to the leader does not follow right + behind him in the 'cloven' air, but flies nearly alongside, so that it has the leader + in a direct line with its right or left eye at a distance of about two + wing-flaps.</p> + <p>And the next bird does the same, and the next; each keeps at the same distance + from its fore-bird.</p> + <p>And what each bird sees of its fore-bird are the very whitest feathers of the + whole goose, under the wings and towards the tail, and this, in dark nights, is of + great assistance to the tired, half-sleeping creatures.</p> + <p>Thus each, except the pilot himself, has a fore-bird's white body in a line with + one eye, and more they do not need to trouble about. They can put all their strength + into the monotonous work of wing-flapping, as long as they merely keep the one eye + half open and see that they have the fore-bird in his place. Thus they know that all + is in order, that they are in connection with the train, and with him at the head who + knows the way.</p> + <p>If from any cause a disturbance arises, it is soon arranged upon this principle; + and when the geese have flown a day or two from the starting-point, such + rearrangement is doubtless effected more rapidly and more easily. For I am convinced + that they soon come to know one another personally so well that each at once finds + his comrade in flight, whom he is accustomed to have before his eye, and therefore + they are able to take their fixed places in the ranks as surely and accurately as + trained soldiers.</p> + <p>We can all the more readily imagine such a personal acquaintance among animals, as + we know that even men learn with comparative ease to distinguish individuals in + flocks of the same species of beasts. If we townspeople see a flock of sheep, it + presents to us the same ovine face—only with some difference between old and + young. But a peasant-woman can at once take out her two or three ewes from the big + flock that stands staring by the door—indeed, she can even recognise very young + lambs by their faces.</p> + <p>Thus I believe I understand the reason for the wild-goose's order of flight better + than when I thought of a plough that 'clove' the air; and, as already stated, it may + well be that many have been just as wise long ago. But I venture to wager that the + great majority of people have never thought of the matter at all, and I fear that + multitudes will think of it somewhat in this fashion: 'What is it to me how those + silly geese fly?'</p> + <p>I often revert to the strangely thoughtless manner in which knowledge of animal + life is skipped over in the teaching of the young. The rude and wild conception of + animals which the clergy teach from the Old Testament seems to cause only deep + indifference on the part of the girls, and, in the boys, an unholy desire to ramble + about and blaze away with a gun.</p> + <p>Here there has been a shooting as on a drill-ground all the summer, until now only + the necessary domestic animals are left. Among the cows, the starlings were shot into + tatters, so that they crawled wingless, legless, maimed, into holes in the stone + fences to die. If a respectable curlew sat by the water's edge mirroring his long + bill, a rascal of a hunter lay behind a stone and sighted; and was there a + water-puddle with rushes that could conceal a young duck, there immediately came a + fully-armed hero with raised gun. Even English have been here! They had some new kind + of guns—people said—that shot as far as you pleased, and round corners + and behind knolls. They murdered, I assure you; they laid the district bare as pest + and pox! I must stop, for I am growing so angry.</p> + <p>I have had thoughts of applying for a post as inspector of birds in the Westland. + I should travel round and teach people about the birds, exhibit the common ones, so + that all might have the pleasure of recognising them in Nature; accustom people to + listen to their song and cry, and to take an interest in their life, their nests, + eggs, and young.</p> + <p>Then I should inflame the peasants against the armed farm-boys, day-labourers, and + poachers, and against the sportsmen from town, who stroll around without permission + and crack away where they please. It only wants a beginning and a little combination, + for the peasant, in his heart, is furious at this senseless shooting.</p> + <p>Perhaps some day, when not a single bird is left, my idea of an inspector may come + to be honoured and valued. Would that a godly Storthing [Footnote: Parliament.] may then + succeed in finding a pious and well-recommended man, who can instruct the people in a + moral manner as to where the humid Noah accommodated the ostriches in the ark, or + what he managed to teach the parrots during the prolonged rainy weather.</p> + <p>We, too, have recently had a deluge. The lakes and the river have risen to the + highest winter-marks. But the soil of this blessed place is so sandy that roads and + fields remain firm and dry, the water running off and disappearing in a moment.</p> + <p>It has also blown from all quarters, with varying force, for three weeks. We press + onward over the plain, and stagger about among the houses, where the gusts of wind + rush in quite unexpectedly with loud claps. The fishing-rod has had to be carried + against the wind, and the water of the river has risen in the air like smoke.</p> + <p>And the sea, white with wrath, begins to form great heavy breakers far out in many + fathoms of water, rolls them in upon the strand, inundates large tracts, and carries + away the young wrack-grass and what we call 'strandkaal' [Footnote: Sea-kale.]—all that + has grown in summer and gathered a little flying sand around it as tiny + fortifications; the sea has washed the beach quite bare again, and fixed its old + limits high up among the sand-heaps, where they are strong enough to hold out for the + winter.</p> + <p>I have now been here four months to a day, and have seen the corn since it was + light-green shoots until now, when it is well secured in the barns,—where there + was room. For the crop has been so heavy—not in the memory of man has there + been such a year on this coast—that rich stacks of corn are standing on many + farms, and the lofts are crammed to the roof-trees.</p> + <p>Inland there is corn yet standing out; it is yellowing on the fields, which are + here green and fresh as in the middle of spring.</p> + <p>We have had many fine days; but autumn is the time when Jæderen is seen at its + best.</p> + <p>As the landscape nowhere rises to any great height, we always see much sky; and, + although we do not really know it, we look quite as much at the magnificent, + changeful clouds as at the fine scenery, which recedes far into the distance and is + never strikingly prominent.</p> + <p>And all day long, in storm and violent showers, the autumn sky changes, as if in a + passionate uproar of wrath and threatenings, alternating with reconciliation and + promise, with dark brewing storm-clouds, gleams of sunshine and rainbows, until the + evening, when all is gathered together out on the sea to the west.</p> + <p>Then cloud chases cloud, with deep openings between, which shine with a lurid + yellow. The great bubbling storm-clouds form a framework around the western sky, + while everywhere shoot yellow streaks and red beams, which die away and disappear and + are pressed down into the sea, until we see only one sickly yellow stripe of light, + far out upon the wave.</p> + <p>Then darkness rolls up from the sea in the west and glides down from the fjelds in + the east, lays itself to rest upon the black wastes of heather, and spreads an + uncanny covering over the troubled Aarre Waters, which groan and sob and sigh among + rushes and stones. A stupendous melancholy rises up from the sea and overflows all + things, while the wakeful breakers, ever faithful, murmur their watchman-song the + livelong night.</p> + +<br /> +<br /> +<div>*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 14593 ***</div> +</body> +</html> |