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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6833f05 --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,3 @@ +* text=auto +*.txt text +*.md text diff --git a/37725-8.txt b/37725-8.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..b84e7fe --- /dev/null +++ b/37725-8.txt @@ -0,0 +1,5277 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Fisher Girl, by Björnstjerne Björnson + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: The Fisher Girl + +Author: Björnstjerne Björnson + +Translator: Sivert Hjerleid + Elizabeth Hjerleid + +Release Date: October 11, 2011 [EBook #37725] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE FISHER GIRL *** + + + + +Produced by Charles Bowen, from page scans provided by the Web Archive + + + + + + +Transcriber's Notes: + + 1. Page scan source: + http://www.archive.org/details/fishergirl00bjgoog + + + + + + + THE + + FISHER GIRL + + + BY + + BJÖRNSTJERNE BJÖRNSON. + + + + TRANSLATED FROM THE NORWEGIAN + + + BY + + SIVERT AND ELIZABETH HJERLEID. + + + (_Translators of Ovind._) + + + + LONDON: + TRÜBNER AND CO. + + 1871. + +[_Entered at Stationers' Hall._] + + + + + TRANSLATORS' PREFACE. + + +Encouraged by the general appreciation with which our former +translation "Ovind" was received last winter, we now offer to the +English reader what we believe to be a faithful re-production of Herr +Björnson's latest work. The poems are rendered in the metre of the +original, and as in "Ovind" we have taken the liberty of adding +headings to the chapters. + +North Ormesby, + + Middlesbrough, + + December, 1870. + + + + + CONTENTS. + + + CHAP. I. + PEER, PETER, AND PEDRO. + + CHAP. II. + "SOME OTHER BOYS." + + CHAP. III. + READY FOR CONFIRMATION. + + CHAP. IV. + ONE AND ANOTHER. + + CHAP. V. + A MISTAKE. + + CHAP. VI. + THE SOUND OF THE CLOCK. + + CHAP. VII. + THE FIRST ACT. + + CHAP. VIII. + AT THE RURAL DEAN'S. + + CHAP. IX. + APPREHENSIONS. + + CHAP. X. + IS MUSIC LAWFUL? + + CHAP. XI. + RECONCILIATION. + + CHAP. XII. + THE SCENE. + + + + + CHAPTER I. + + PEER, PETER, AND PEDRO. + + +When the herring has for a long time frequented a coast, by degrees, if +other circumstances admit of it, there springs up a town. Not only of +such towns may it be said, that they are cast up out of the sea, but +from a distance they look like washed-up timber and wrecks, or like a +mass of upturned boats that the fishermen have drawn over for shelter +some stormy night; as one draws nearer, one sees how accidentally the +whole has been built, mountains rising in the midst of the +thoroughfare, or the hamlet separated by water into three, four +divisions, while the streets crook and crawl. One condition only is +common to them all, there is safety in the harbour for the largest +ship; there is shelter and calm, and the ships find these enclosures +grateful, when with torn sails and broken bulwarks, they come driving +in from the North Sea to seek for breathing space. + +Such a little town is quiet; all the noise there is, is directed to the +quay, where the boats of the peasants are moored, and the ships are +loading and unloading. The only street in our little town lies along +the quay, the white and red painted, one and two-storied houses follow +this, yet not house to house, but with pretty gardens in between; +consequently it is a long broad street, which, when the wind is +landward, smells of that which is on the quay. + +It is quiet here,--not from fear of the police, for, as a rule, there +is none,--but from fear of report, as everybody knows everybody. If you +go along the street, you must bow at every window, for there sits an +old lady ready to bow again. Besides you must bow to those you meet, +for all these quiet people are thinking what is becoming to the +inhabitants in general, and to themselves in particular. He who +oversteps the bounds where his standing or position is placed, loses +his good reputation; for you know not only him, but his father and +grandfather and you seek out where there has been a tendency in the +family before to that which is unbecoming. + +Many years since to this quiet little town came the well esteemed man, +Peer Olsen; he came from the country, where he had lived as a small +stall keeper and by playing the violin. In this town he opened a little +shop for his old customers, where besides other wares he sold brandy +and bread. One could hear him going backwards and forwards in the room +behind the shop, playing spring dances and wedding marches; every time +he passed the door he peeped through the glass pane, when, if he saw a +customer, he finished up with a trill, and went in. Trade went well, he +married and got a son, whom he named after himself, yet not Peer but +Peter. Little Peter should be what Peer felt HE was not, an educated +man, so the lad was sent to the Latin school. Now when those who should +have been his companions, thrust him out of their play because he was +the son of Peer Olsen, Peer Olsen turned him out to them again, as that +was the only way for the boy to learn manners. Little Peter, therefore, +feeling himself forsaken at the school, grew idle, and gradually became +so indifferent to everything, that his father could neither thrash +smiles nor tears out of him, so the father gave up struggling with him +and put him in the shop. How astonished then--was he not? when he saw +the lad give to each customer what he asked for, without a grain too +much, never even touching so much as a raisin himself preferring not to +talk, but weighing, counting, entering, without any change of +countenance, very slowly, but with scrupulous exactness. His father's +hopes began to revive, and he sent him with a fishing smack to Hamburg, +to enter a Merchant's College, and to learn fine manners; he was away +eight months, that must surely be sufficient. When he came back he had +provided himself with six new suits of clothes, and on landing he put +one suit on the top of another, for "things in actual wear are exempt +from duty." But thickness excepted, he made about the same figure in +the street next day. He walked straight or stiff with his arms +perpendicular, shook hands with a sudden jerk, and bowed as if without +joints to be at once stiff again; he had become politeness itself, but +everything was done without uttering a word, and quickly, with a +certain shyness. He did not sign his name Olsen any more, but Ohlsen, +which led the wits of the town to ask, "How far did Peter Ohlsen get in +Hamburg?" Answer: "As far as the first letter." He even went so far as +to think of calling himself Pedro, but he had to brook so much +annoyance for the h's sake, that he gave it up and signed himself P. +Ohlsen. He extended the business, and though only twenty-two, he +married a red-handed shop girl, for his father had just become a +widower, and it was safer to have a wife than a housekeeper. That day +year he got a son, who that day week was named Pedro. When worthy Peer +Olsen became a grandfather, he felt an inward calling to grow old. +Therefore he left the business to his son, sat outside upon a bench, +and smoked twist tobacco from a short pipe; and when one day he began +to grow tired of sitting there, he wished he might soon die, and even +as all his wishes had quietly been fulfilled, so also was this. + +If the son Peter had inherited exclusively the one feature of his +father's character, aptitude for business, the grandson Pedro seemed to +have inherited the other exclusively--talent for music. He was very +slow in learning to read, but quick in learning to sing, and he played +the flute so exquisitely that one might easily perceive he was of a +refined and susceptible nature. But this was only a trouble to the +father, as if the boy should be brought up to his own busy exactness. +Then, when he forgot anything, he was not scolded nor thrashed as the +father had been, but he was pinched. It was done very quietly, and with +a kindness one might almost call polite, but it was done on every +possible occasion. Every night when she undressed him, the mother +counted the blue and yellow marks, and kissed them, but she offered no +resistance, for she was pinched herself. For every tear in his clothes, +(the father's Hamburg suits made up again,) for every blot on his +copy-book she was to blame. So it was constantly: "Don't do that, +Pedro!" "Take care, Pedro!" "Remember, Pedro!" He was afraid of his +father, and his mother wearied him. He did not suffer much from his +companions, as he cried directly, and begged them not to spoil his +clothes, so they called him, "Withered stick!" and took no more notice +of him. He was like a weak featherless duckling, limping after the +rest, and waddling to one side with the little bit he could catch for +himself, nobody shared with him, and therefore he shared with nobody. + +But he soon observed that it was different with the poorer children of +the town; for they bore with him because he was better dressed than +themselves. The leader of the flock was a tall powerful girl, who took +him under her special protection. He never tired of looking at her, she +had raven black hair, all in one curl that was never combed except with +the fingers; she had deep blue eyes, short brow; the expression of her +face acted simultaneously. She was full of activity, and excitable; in +the summer, bare-footed, bare-armed, and sunburnt; in the winter, clad +as others in summer. Her father was a pilot and fisherman, she flew +about and sold his fish; she rigged his boat, and when he was out as a +pilot she went fishing alone. Every one who saw her turned to look +again, she was so self-reliant. Her name was Gunlaug, but she was +called "The Fisher Girl," a title she accepted as if by rank. In games +she took the weaker side; it was a necessity of her nature to have +something to care for, and now she cared for this delicate boy. + +In her boat he could play his flute, that had been banished at home +because they fancied it drew his thoughts from his lessons. She rowed +him out into the fiord; then she took him with her on her longer +fishing expeditions; and by-and-bye also on the night fishing. At +sunset they rowed out into the light summer stillness, when he would +play his flute, or listen to her as she told him all she knew about the +mermen, dragons, shipwrecks, strange lands and black people, as she had +heard it from the sailors. She shared her viands with him as she shared +her knowledge, and he received all without giving anything in return, +for he had no provisions with him from home, and no imagination from +the school. They rowed till the sun went down behind the snowcapped +mountains, then they drew to shore on some rocky island, and kindled a +fire, i.e. she gathered branches and sticks, while he looked on. She +had bundled along a sailor's jacket of her father's and a rug for him, +and in these he was wrapped. She kept up the fire, while he fell +asleep; she kept herself awake by singing snatches of psalms and songs; +she sang in a full clear voice until he slept--then softly. When the +sun rose again on the other side, and as a harbinger, cast his pale +yellow rays before him over the mountains, she awoke him. The forest +was still black, the fields were dark, but changing to a brown red and +shimmering, until the ridge top glowed, and all the colours came +rushing. Then they pushed the boat in the water again, cut through the +waves in the sharp morning breeze, and were soon aground with the +fishermen. + +When winter came and the fishing tours were given up, he sought her in +her own home; he often came and watched her while she worked, but +neither of them spoke much; it was as if they sat together and waited +for the summer. When summer came, however, this new object in life was +unfortunately also gone; Gunlaug's father died; she left the town, and, +at the suggestion of the schoolmaster, the lad was placed in the shop. +There he stood together with his mother, for his father, who little by +little had taken the colour of the grains he weighed, had to keep his +bed in the back room. From there he must yet take part in everything, +must know what each especially had sold, then appeared not to hear, +till he got them so near that he could pinch them. And one night when +the wick had become quite dry in this little lamp, it went out. The +wife wept without exactly knowing why, but the son could not pinch a +tear. As they had sufficient to live on, they gave up the business, +swept away every reminder, and converted the shop into a parlour. There +the mother sat in the window and knitted stockings; Pedro sat in the +room on the other side of the passage, and played his flute. But as +soon as the summer came he bought a light little sailing-boat, drove +out to the rocky island and lay where Gunlaug had lain. + +One day as he was resting among the ling, he saw a boat steering +directly towards him; it drew up by the side of his, and Gunlaug +stepped out. She was exactly the same, only full grown and taller than +other women. Just as she saw him, she drew to one side a little quite +slowly; she had not thought about his being grown up too. + +This pale thin face she did not know; it was no longer delicate and +fine; it was inanimate. But, as he looked at her, his eye caught a +brightness from the dreams of the past; she went forward again; with +every step she took, a year seemed to fall from off him, and when she +stood beside him, where he had sprung up, then he laughed as a child +and spoke as a child; the old face seemed like a mask over the child; +he was certainly older, but he was not grown. + +Yet, though it was the child she was seeking, now, when she had found +it, she knew not what further to do; she smiled and blushed. +Involuntarily he felt, as it were, a power within him; it was the first +time in his life, and in the same minute he grew handsome; it lasted, +perhaps, scarcely a moment, but in that moment she was caught. + +She was one of those natures that can only love that which is weak, +that they have borne in their arms. She had intended to be in the town +two days; she stayed two months. During these two months he developed +more than in all the rest of his youth; he was lifted so far out of +dreams and drowsiness as to form plans; he would leave, he would learn +to play! But when one day he repeated this, she turned pale; "Yes,--" +she said, "but we must be married first." He looked at her, she looked +wistfully again, they both grew fiery red, and he said: "What would +people say?" + +Gunlaug had never thought over the possibility of his doing other than +agree to what she wished because she acceded to every wish of his. But +now she saw that in the depths of his soul he had never for a moment +thought of sharing anything else with her than what she gave. In one +minute she became conscious that thus it had been the whole of their +lives. She had begun in pity, and ended in love to that which she +herself had tended. Had she been composed but for a single moment! +Seeing her gathering wrath, he was afraid, and exclaimed: "I +will!"----She heard it, but anger over her own folly and his +paltriness, over her own shame and his cowardice, boiled up in such +fervid heat towards the exploding point, that never had a love +beginning in childhood and evening sun, cradled by the waves and +moonlight, led by the flute and gentle song, ended more wretchedly. She +seized him with both her hands, lifted him, and from the very depths of +her heart gave him a good sound thrashing, then rowed straight back to +town, and went direct over the mountains. + +He had sailed out like a youth in love about to win his manhood, and he +rowed back as an old man to whom that was a thing unknown. His life +held but one remembrance, and that he had miserably lost, but one spot +in the world had he to turn to, and thither he never dare come again. +In pondering over his own wretchedness, how all this had really come +about, his energy sank as in a morass never to rise again. The boys of +the town, observing his singularity, soon began to tease him, and as he +was an obscure person whom no one rightly knew, either what he lived on +or what he did,--it never occurred to any one to defend him, and soon +he durst no longer go out, at all events, not into the street. His +whole existence became a strife with the boys, who were perhaps of the +same use as gnats in the heat of summer, for without them he would have +sunk down into perpetual drowsiness. + +Nine years after, Gunlaug came to the town, quite as unexpectedly as +she had left it. She had with her a girl of eight years, just like +herself formerly, only finer, and as if veiled by a dream. Gunlaug had +been married, it was said, and having had something left her, had now +come to the town to establish a boarding house for seamen. This she +conducted in such a way, that merchants and skippers came to her to +hire their men, and sailors to get hired; besides, the whole town +ordered fish there. She was called "Fish-Gunlaug," or "Gunlaug on the +Bank"; the appellation "Fisher Girl" passed over to the daughter, who +was everywhere at the head of the boys in the town. + +Her history it is that shall here be related; she had something of her +mother's natural power, and she got opportunity to use it. + + + + + CHAPTER II. + + "SOME OTHER BOYS." + + +The many lovely gardens of the town were fragrant after the rain in +their second and third flowering. The sun had gone down behind the +everlasting snow-capped mountains, the whole heavens there away were +fire and light, and the snow gave a subdued reflection. The nearer +mountains stood in shade, but were lightened by the forests in their +many coloured tints of autumn. The rocky islands, that in the midst of +the fiord followed one after another, just as though rowing to land, +gave in their dense forests a yet more marked display of colours, +because they lay nearer. The sea was perfectly calm, a large vessel was +heaving landward. The people sat upon their wooden doorsteps, half +covered with rose bushes on either side; they spoke to each other from +porch to porch, or stepped across, or they exchanged greetings with +those who were passing towards the long avenue. The tones of a piano +might fall from an open window, otherwise there was scarcely a sound to +be heard between the conversations; the feeling of stillness was +increased by the last ray of sunlight over the sea. + +All at once there rose up such a tumult from the midst of the town as +though it were being stormed. Boys shouted, girls screamed, other boys +hurrahed, old women scolded and ordered, the policeman's great dog +howled, and all the curs of the town replied; they who were in-doors +must go out, out; the noise became so frightful that even the +magistrate himself turned on his door-step, and let fall these words: +"There must be something up." + +"Whatever is that?" assailed the ears of those who stood on the +doorsteps from others who came from the avenue.--"Yes, what can it be!" +they replied.--"Whatever can that be?" they now all of them asked +anyone who was passing from the centre of the town. But as this town +lies in a crescent shape in an easy curve round the bay, it was long +before all at both ends had heard the reply: "It is only the Fisher +Girl." + +This adventurous soul, protected by a mother of whom all stood in awe, +and certain of every sailor's defence, (for, for such they got always a +free dram from the mother,) had, at the head of her army of boys, +attacked a great apple tree in Pedro Ohlsen's orchard. The plan of +attack was as follows: some of the boys should attract Pedro's +attention to the front of the house by clashing the rose bushes against +the window; one should shake the tree, and the others toss the apples +in all directions over the hedge, not to steal them--far from it--but +only to have some fun. This ingenious plan had been laid that same +afternoon behind Pedro's garden; but as fortune would have it, Pedro +was sitting just at the other side of the hedge, and heard every word. +A little before the appointed time, therefore, he got the drunken +policeman of the town and his great dog into the back room, where both +were treated. When the Fisher Girl's curly pate was seen over the plank +fencing, and at the same time a number of small fry tittered from every +corner, Pedro suffered the scamps in front of the house to clash his +rose bushes at their pleasure,--he waited quietly in the back room. And +just as they were all standing round the tree in great stillness, and +the Fisher Girl barefooted, torn, and scratched, was up to shake it, +the side door suddenly flew open and Pedro and the Police rushed out +with sticks, the great dog following. A cry of terror arose from the +lads, while a number of little girls, who in all innocence were playing +at "Last Bat," outside the plank fencing, thinking some one was being +murdered within, began to shriek at the top of their voices; the boys +who had escaped shouted hurrah! those who were yet hanging on the fence +screamed under the play of the sticks, and to make the whole perfect, +some old women rose up out of the depths, as always when lads are +screaming, and screamed with them. Pedro and the policeman, getting +frightened themselves, tried to silence the women; but in the meantime +the boys ran off, the dog, of whom they were most afraid, after them +over the hedge,--for this was something for him--and now they flew like +wild ducks, boys, girls, the dog and screams all over the town. + +All this time the Fisher Girl sat quite still in the tree, thinking +that no one had observed her. Crouched up in the topmost branch, +through the leaves she followed the course of the fray. But when the +policeman had gone out in a rage to the women, and Pedro Ohlsen was +left alone in the garden, he went straight under the tree, looked up +and cried: "Come down with you this minute, you rascal!"--Not a sound +from the tree.--"Will you come down with you, I say! I know you are +there!"--The most perfect stillness.--"I must go in for my gun, and +shoot up, must I?" He made pretence to go.--"Hu-hu-hu-hu!" it answered +in owlish tones, "I am so frightened!"--"Oh to be sure you are! You are +the worst young scamp in the whole lot, but now I have you!"--"Oh dear! +good kind sir, I won't do it any more," at the same time she flung a +rotten apple right on to his nose, and a rich peal of laughter followed +after. The apple caked all over, and while he was wiping it off, she +scrambled down; she was already hanging on the plank fence before he +could come after her, and she could have got over if she had not been +so terrified that he was behind, that she let go instead. But when he +caught her she began to shriek; the shrill and piercing yell she gave +frightened him so that he let go his hold. At her signal of alarm, the +people came flocking outside, and hearing them she gained courage. "Let +me go, or I'll tell mother!" she threatened, her whole face flashing +fire. Then he recognised the face, and cried: "Your mother? Who is your +mother?"--"Gunlaug on the Bank, Fisher Gunlaug," replied the youngster +triumphantly; she saw he was afraid. Being near sighted, Pedro had +never seen the girl before now; he was the only one in the place who +did not know who she was, and he was not even aware that Gunlaug +was in the town. As though possessed, he cried: "What do they call +you?"--"Petra," cried the other still louder.--"Petra!" howled Pedro, +turned and ran into the house as if he had been talking to the devil. +But as the palest fear and the palest wrath resemble each other, she +thought he was rushing in for his gun. She was terror-stricken, and +already she felt the shot in her back, but as, just at this moment, +they had broken the door open from outside, she made her escape; her +dark hair flew behind her like a terror, her eyes shot fire, the dog +which she just met, followed howling, and thus she fell on her mother, +who was coming from the kitchen with a tureen of soup, the girl into +the soup, the soup on the floor, and a "Go to the dogs!" after them +both. But as she laid there in the soup, she cried: "He'll shoot me, +mother, shoot me!"--"Who'll shoot you, you rascal?"--"He, Pedro +Ohlsen?"--"Who?" roared the mother.--"Pedro Ohlsen, we took apples from +him," she never dare say anything but the truth.--"Who are you talking +about, child?"--"About Pedro Ohlsen, he is after me with a great gun, +and he'll shoot me!"--"Pedro Ohlsen!" fumed the mother, and with an +enraged laugh she drew herself up.--The child began to cry and tried to +escape, but the mother sprang over her, her white teeth glistening, and +catching her by the shoulder, she pulled her up.--"Did you tell him who +you were?"--"Yes!" cried the child, but the mother heard not, saw not, +she only asked again twice, three times:--"Did you tell him who you +were?"--"Yes, yes, yes, yes!" and the child held up her hands +entreatingly. Then the mother rose up to her full height:--"So he got +to know!--What did he say?"--"He ran in after a gun to shoot me."--"He +shoot you!" she laughed in the utmost scorn. The child, scared and +bespattered with soup had crept into the chimney corner, she was drying +herself and crying, when the mother came to her again:--"If you go to +him," she said, and took and shook her, "or speak to him, or listen to +him. Heaven have mercy upon both him and you! Tell him so from me! Tell +him so from me!" she repeated threateningly, as the child did not +answer directly, "Yes, yes, yes, yes!" "Tell him so from me!" she +repeated yet once more, but slowly, and nodding at every word as she +went. + +The child washed herself, changed her dress, and sat out on the steps +in her Sunday clothes. But at the thought of the terror she had been +in, she began to sob again.--"What are you crying for, child?" asked a +voice more kindly than any she had heard before. She looked up; before +her stood a fine looking man, with high forehead and spectacles. She +stood up quickly, for it was Hans Odegaard, a young man whom the whole +town revered. "What are you crying for, my child?" She looked at him +and said that she had been going to take some apples from Pedro +Ohlsen's garden, together with "several other boys;" but then Pedro and +the policeman had come, and then--; she remembered that the mother had +made her uncertain about the shooting, so she durst not tell it; but +she gave a deep sigh instead. + +"Is it possible," said he, "that a child of your age could think of +committing so great a sin?" Petra looked at him; she had known well +enough that it was sin, but she had always heard it denounced thus: +"You child of the devil, you black haired wretch!" Now, she felt +ashamed. "That you do not go to school and learn God's commandment to +us of what is good and evil!" She stood stroking her frock and +answered, that mother did not wish her to go to school.--"Perhaps you +cannot even read?" Yes, she could read. He took up a little book and +gave her. She looked in it, then turned it round to look at the +outside: "I cannot read such small print," she said. But she was +obliged to try, and she felt herself utterly stupid; her eyes and mouth +hung, all her limbs collapsed: "G-o-d, God the L-o-r-d, God the Lord +s-a-i-d, God the Lord said to M-M-M--"--"Dear me! Why you cannot even +read this! And a child of ten or twelve years? Would you not like to +learn to read?" By degrees she drawled out, that she would like it. +"Then come with me, we must begin at once." She rose, but only to look +in the house. "Yes, tell your mother," he said. The mother was just +passing, and seeing the child talking to a stranger, she came out upon +the doorstep. "He will teach me to read," said the child doubtfully, +with eyes fixed on the mother, who did not answer, but stood with +her arms on her side looking at Odegaard.--"Your child is an ignorant +one," he said, "you cannot answer to God or man, to let her go as she +does."--"Who are you?" asked Gunlaug sharply.--"Hans Odegaard, your +pastor's son." Her brow lightened a little, she had heard him highly +spoken of. He began again: "During the time I have been at home, +I have noticed this child, and to-day I have been again reminded +of her. She must not any longer be brought up only to that which +is useless."--What's that to you? the mother's face distinctly +expressed. Then he asked her quietly: "But you mean her to learn +something?"--"No."--He blushed slightly. "Why not?"--"People who have +learning are perhaps the better for it?" She had had but one experience +and this she held fast.--"I am astonished that any one can ask such a +thing!"--"Ah, but, I know they are not;" she went down the steps +to put an end to this nonsense. But he stepped in front of her: +"Here is a duty which you SHALL NOT pass by. You are a thoughtless +mother."--Gunlaug measured him from top to toe: "Who told you what I +am?" she said as she passed by him.--"You have just now done it +yourself, for otherwise you must have seen that the child is on the way +to be ruined."--Gunlaug turned, and her eye met his; she saw he meant +what he had said and she grew afraid. She had only had to do with +seamen and tradespeople; such language she had never heard before. +"What will you do with my child?" she asked.--"Teach her the things +belonging to her soul's salvation, and then see what she must be."--"My +child shall not be other than that I will she shall be."--"Yes she +shall; she shall be what God wills."--Gunlaug was silenced: "What is +that to say?" she said and came nearer.--"It is, that she must learn +what she is capable of by her natural abilities, for therefore has +God given them."--Gunlaug now drew quite near. "Then must not I direct +her, I, who am her mother?" she asked, as if she really wished to +learn.--"That you must, but you must respect the advice of those who +know better; you must listen to the will of God."--Gunlaug stood still +a moment. "But if she learnt too much," she said; "a poor man's child!" +she added and looked tenderly at her daughter.--"If she learns too much +for her station, she has thereby reached a higher one."--She quickly +saw his meaning, and said as if to herself, while she looked more and +more anxiously at the child: "But this is dangerous."--"The question is +not about that, he said mildly, but about what is right."--Her deep +eyes took a strange expression; she looked again piercingly at him; but +there lay so much of truth in his voice, words, countenance, that +Gunlaug felt herself defeated. She went across to the child, laid her +hand on her head, and could not speak. + +"I shall read with her until she is confirmed," he said as if to help +her; "I wish to take this child in hand."--"And you will take her away +from me?"--He hesitated and looked at her inquiringly.--"You must +understand it better than I," she struggled to say; "but if it was not +that you named our Lord,"--she stopped; she had smoothed her daughter's +hair, and now she took a handkerchief and tied round her neck. She did +not say in any other way that the child should go with him, and she +hastened back into the house as if she wished not to see it. + +This behaviour made him feel suddenly anxious at that which in his +youthful ardour he had taken upon himself. The child, too, was afraid +of the one who for the first time had overcome her mother, and so with +this natural fear they went to their first lesson. + +From day to day, however, it seemed to him that she grew in wisdom and +knowledge, and at times his conversation with her, assumed of +themselves quite a peculiar tone. He often drew her attention to +characters in sacred and profane history in pointing out the CALLING +that God had given them. He would dwell upon Saul who was leading a +wild roving life, and upon a lad like David who was tending his +father's sheep, until Samuel came and laid the hand of the Lord upon +them. But the greatest calling of all, was when the Lord himself was +upon earth, when he stopped at the fishing village, and called, and the +poor fishermen arose and went--to poverty, as to death, but always +joyfully; for the feeling of a call carries through all adversities. + +These thoughts followed her so, that at last she could bear these +things no longer, and asked him about her own calling. He looked at her +till she blushed, then answered her that we must reach our calling +through work; it may be modest and simple, but it is there for all. +Then she was seized with an eager zeal; it made her work with the power +of a grown person, it upset her play, she grew quite thin. She got +romantic longings; she would cut her hair, clothe herself like a boy, +and go out to battle. But as her teacher said one day that her hair was +beautiful if only it was nicely kept, she began to think much of it, +and for the sake of her long hair she sacrificed the name of a hero. + +Afterwards it was more to her than before to be a girl, and her studies +went quietly on, canopied by changing dreams. + + + + + CHAPTER III. + + READY FOR CONFIRMATION. + + +Hans Odegaard had gone out as a young man from the hamlet of Odegaard +in Bergen's shire; people had taken to him, and he was now a learned +man and a strict preacher. He was besides an influential man, not so +much in words as in deeds; for, as it was said, he "never forgot." This +man who by perseverance pushed everything through, was however stopped +in a way that he least expected, and where it was most painful. + +He had three daughters and one son. Hans, the son, was the light of the +school, and it was his father's daily pleasure to prepare him himself. +Hans had a friend whom he helped to get the second place, and who +therefore, save his mother, loved him more than all the world. They +went together to school and to the university; they passed the two +first examinations together, and were then to study for the same +profession. One day as they were going joyfully down stairs after their +studies, Hans, in an outburst of high spirits and glee, threw himself +upon his companion's back, thereby causing him a fall, which some days +later ended in his death. When dying he begged his mother, who was a +widow, and now lost her only son, to fulfil his last request and take +Hans up in his place. Almost immediately after the mother died, but her +very considerable fortune was left to Hans Odegaard. + +It was years before Hans could recover himself after this. A long tour +on the continent so far restored him, that he could resume his +theological studies; but on his return home, he could not be persuaded +to make use of his examinations. + +The father's greatest hope had been to see him as his assistant in the +ministry, but he could not now be persuaded to enter the pulpit a +single time; he gave always the same reply: "he felt no calling:" this +was so bitter a disappointment to the father, that it made him several +years older. He had commenced late in life, and was already an old man; +he had worked hard, and always with this end in view. Now the son +occupied the largest part of the house, handsomely furnished, while +down below in his little study, by the lamp that lightened the night of +age, sat the hard-working old father. + +After this disappointment, he neither could nor would take other help, +neither would he give in to his son, and relinquish altogether; +therefore, summer or winter, he knew no rest; but each year the son +took a longer tour abroad. When he was at home he associated with no +one, except that in silence, greater or less, he dined at his father's +table. If any began to converse with him, they were met by a superior +clearness and earnestness for the truth, that made them always feel the +conversation a little embarrassing. He never went to church, but he +gave more than half his income to benevolent objects, and always with +the most express injunctions as to its appropriation. + +This beneficence was so different in its scale from the narrow customs +of the little town that it won the hearts of all. Add to this, his +reserve, his frequent journey abroad, the hesitation all felt in +conversing with him, and one can easily understand that he was regarded +as a mysterious being to which each added all possible qualities, and +his own best judgment. Therefore when he condescended to take the +Fisher Girl under his daily care, she was ennobled by it. + +Every one, especially women, seemed anxious to show her some favour. +One day she came to him clad in all the colours of the rainbow; she had +put on her presents, thinking she would now be really to his taste, as +he always wished her to be neat. But he had scarcely glanced at her, +before he forbade her ever to receive presents; he called her vain, +foolish: her aims were shallow, she took pleasure in folly. + +When she came next morning, with eyes that told a tale of weeping, he +took her with him a walk above the town. He told her about David in +such a manner that he took now this, now that incident, and made the +well-known story anew. First, he depicted him in his youth, beautiful +and rich in talent, and in child-like faith; how, while yet a boy, he +came with the triumphal procession. From a shepherd he was called to be +king, he dwelt in caves, but ended in building Jerusalem. When Saul was +ill, he came beautifully attired, and played and sang before him, but +when as king he himself was ill, he played and sang clad in the garb of +repentance. When he had achieved his great works, he took rest in sin, +then came the prophet and punishment, and he became a child again. +David, who could call the people of God to songs of praise, lay +contrite at the feet of the Lord. Was he most beautiful, when crowned +with victory he danced before the ark to his own songs, or when in his +private closet he begged for mercy from the punishing hand? + +The night after this conversation Petra had a dream, which all her life +she never forgot. She sat upon a white horse and came in triumphal +procession, but, at the same time, in front of the horse, she saw +herself dancing in rags. + +One evening some time after this, as she was sitting at the edge of the +forest above the town learning her lessons, Pedro Ohlsen, who since +that day in the garden had approached gradually nearer, passed close +by, and, with a singular smile, whispered: "Good evening!" Though more +than a year had passed by, her mother's injunction not to speak to him +was so strongly before her that she did not answer. But day after day +he went by in the same way, and always with the same greeting; at last +she missed him, when he did not come. Soon he asked a little question +in passing, by-and-bye it increased to two, and at last it was quite a +conversation. After such one day, he let a silver dollar slip down into +her lap, and then hastened away in delight. Now, if it was against the +mother's commands to talk to Pedro Ohlsen, it was against Odegaard's to +take gifts from any one. The first prohibition she had little by little +overstepped, but it came to her mind now, when it had led to her also +overstepping the second. To get rid of the money she got hold of some +one to treat; but, in spite of their best endeavours, they could not +eat more than the worth of four marks; and afterwards it troubled her +that she had misspent the dollar instead of giving it back. The mark +that still lay in her pocket felt so hot that it might have burned a +hole in her clothes; she took it and threw it into the sea. But she was +not rid of the dollar thereby; her thoughts were burnt by it. She felt +that, if she confessed, it might pass over, but her mother's fearful +rage before, and Odegaard's good faith in her, were each, in its own +way, alike alarming. Whilst the mother said nothing, Odegaard quickly +observed that there was something which made her unhappy. + +One day he asked her tenderly what it was, and, as instead of +answering, she burst into tears, he thought they must be in want at +home and gave her ten specie dollars. It made a strong impression on +her that, although she had sinned against him, he yet gave her money, +and as into the bargain she could now give this openly to her mother, +she felt herself freed from her guilt, and gave herself up to the +greatest joy. She took his hand in both of hers, she thanked him, she +laughed, she jumped about, and smiled in ecstacy through her tears, as +she looked at him something in the way that a dog regards his master +when going out. He did not know her again; she who always sat wrapt in +what he was saying, now took all power from him; for the first time he +felt a strong, wild nature heaving within him, for the first time the +well of life sent her red streams over him, and he drew back all +crimson. Meanwhile Petra went out to run home over the hills behind the +town. Once there, she laid the money on the baking-stone before her +mother, throwing her arms round her neck. "Who has been giving you +money?" said the mother, vexed already.--"Odegaard, mother, he is +the greatest man upon earth."--"What am I to do with it?"--"I don't +know--heavens! mother, if you knew"--and she again threw her arms round +her neck; she could and she would now tell her all, but the mother +released herself impatiently: "Will you have me to take alms? Take the +money back at once. If you have made him believe I am in want, you have +lied!"--"But, mother?"--"Take the money to him, I say, or I shall go +myself and throw them at him, HIM who has taken my child from me!" The +mother's lips trembled after the last words. Petra turned back very +pale. She opened the door softly and glided out of the house. Before +she knew what she was about the ten specie notes were torn to pieces in +her fingers. When she found what she had done, she burst out in an +invective against the mother. But Odegaard must know nothing about it, +yes, he should know all! for to him she must not lie. A moment after +and she stood in his house, and told him that her mother would not take +the money, and that in her vexation at having to bring it back, she had +torn the notes in two. She would have told him more, but he received +her coldly, and told her to go home with the admonition to shew her +mother obedience, even where it felt hard to do so. This, however, +seemed strange to her, as she knew so much, that he did not do what the +father most desired! On her way home she was quite overcome, and just +then she met Pedro Ohlsen. She had shunned him all this time, and would +have done the same now, for from him came all this unhappiness, but he +followed her, and asked her, "Where have you been, has anything +happened to you?" The waves of her mind rose so high that they cast her +whithersoever they would, and, as she thought it over, she could not +understand why the mother should forbid her to have anything to do with +him; it could be only a fancy, the one as well as the other. "Do you +know what I have done?" he said, almost humbly, when she had stopped "I +have bought a sailing boat for you. I thought you might like to have a +sail," and he laughed. His kindness, which resembled a poor man's +entreaty, could touch her now; she nodded; he was in a great hurry and +whispered eagerly that she must go through the town, and down the +avenue to the right, till she came to the great yellow boat-house, +behind which he would come and fetch her; no one could see them there. +She went, and he came and took her in. They sailed along for some time +in the light breeze, then made for a rocky island, where they moored +the boat and got out. He had brought some nice things for her to eat, +and he took out his flute and played. In seeing his pleasure she forgot +her sorrows for a time, and the joy of weak people having a tendering +influence, she became attached to him. + +After this day she had a new and continual secret from her mother, and +soon this had the effect of keeping everything from her. Gunlaug made +no inquiries, she believed everything till she doubted all. + +But now Petra had also a secret from Odegaard, for she accepted many +gifts from Pedro Ohlsen; he likewise made no inquiries, but the lessons +were day by day conducted in a more distant manner. Petra was now +divided amongst three; she never spoke to any one of them about the +others, and she had something to hide from each in particular. + +Under all this she had grown up without being aware of it herself, and +one day Odegaard communicated to her that she must now be confirmed. + +This intimation filled her with uneasiness, for she knew that with the +confirmation her lessons were to cease, and what would then become of +her? The mother was having an attic chamber made for her, that after +the confirmation she might have a room of her own, and the constant +knocking and hammering was a painful reminder. Odegaard observed that +she grew more and more quiet, sometimes he saw also that she had been +weeping. Under these circumstances the religious instruction made a +great impression on her, although Odegaard with great care avoided all +that might excite or move her. For this reason a fortnight before the +confirmation, he gave up the lessons with the short intimation that +this was the last time. By this he meant the last with him; for he +would certainly watch over her still, though through others. She, +however, remained seated where she was, the blood left her veins, her +eyes remained fixed, and involuntarily moved, he hastened to give a +reason: "It is not all young girls that are grown up at their +confirmation; but you must be aware that it is so with you." If she had +stood in the glare of a great fire, she could not have been more fiery +red than she became at these words; her bosom heaved, her eyes took a +vague expression and filled with tears, and driven further he hastened +to say: "We may perhaps still go on?" He did not until after realise +what he had proposed; he was wrong, he must retract it; but her eyes +were already lifted towards him. She did not answer "yes" with her +lips, but more plainly it could not be said. To excuse himself in his +own eyes, by finding a pretext, he asked: "There will be something you +would especially like to do now, something you--" he bent down towards +her--"feel a calling to, Petra?"--"No," she replied so quickly that he +coloured, and as if chilled, fell back into the considerations which +for years had occupied his mind; her unexpected reply had recalled +them. + +That she was possessed of some peculiar qualities, he had never doubted +from the time she was a child, and he saw her march singing at the head +of the street boys; but the longer he taught her, the less he felt to +understand her talent. It was present in every movement; what she +thought, what she wished, mind and body simultaneously made known in +the fulness of power, and the light of beauty, but put in words, and +especially in writing, it is only child-like simplicity. She appeared +all imagination, but he perceived in it especially a feeling of unrest. +She was very earnest, but she read more to go on than to learn; what +could be on the other side occupied her most. She had religious +feeling, but as the pastor expressed it, "no turn for a religious +life," and Odegaard was often anxious about her. Now that he was at the +closing point, his thoughts involuntarily reverted to the stone step +where he had received her; he heard the mother's sharp voice leaving +the responsibility with him, because he had used the name of Our Lord. +After pacing a few times up and down he collected himself: "I am going +abroad, now," he said with a certain shyness, "I have asked my sister +to care for you in my absence, and when I return we will try again. +Farewell! We shall meet again before I go!" he went so quickly into the +next room, that she could not even shake hands with him. + +She saw him again where she had least expected it, in the pastor's pew +beside the choir, just in front of her as she stepped forth with the +others to be confirmed. This so affected her, that her thoughts flew +far away from the holy act, for which, in humility and prayer, she had +prepared herself. Yes, if that was Odegaard's old father, he stopped +and looked long at his son, as he stepped forth to begin. Soon Petra +was once more to be startled in church, for a little below sat Pedro +Ohlsen in prim new clothes; he was just stretching his neck to catch a +glimpse of her over the heads of the boys; he soon bobbed down, but she +saw him repeatedly stick up his thin-haired head to bob again. This +distracted her, she did not wish to look, but she did look, and +there,--just as the others were all deeply moved, many in tears,--she +was terrified to see him rise up with stiff open mouth and transfixed +eyes, without power to sit down or move, for opposite him, stretched to +her full height, stood Gunlaug; Petra shuddered to see her, she was +white as the altar cloth. Her black crimpy hair seemed to rise up, +while her eyes got suddenly a repulsive power, as though they said: +"Away from her, what have you to do with her?" Under this look he sank +down upon the form, and a minute after stole out of church. + +After this Petra felt composed, and the further the rite proceeded the +more fully she entered into it. And when, after having given her +promise, she turned round and looked through her tears at Odegaard, as +the one who stood nearest to her good intentions, she resolved in her +heart that she would not put his hopes to shame. The steadfast eye that +looked expressively in return seemed to entreat her for the same, but +when she had taken her place and would find him again, he was gone. She +soon went home with her mother, who on the way let fall these words: "I +have done my part;--now may Our Lord do His!" + +When they had dined together, they two alone, the mother said as she +rose: "Now we may as well go to him,--the pastor's son. Though I don't +know what it will lead to that he does, he surely means it well. Put on +your things again, child!" + +The road to church which they two had so often trodden, lay above the +town, but through the street they had never before walked together; +indeed the mother had scarcely been there since she had come back to +the place, but she would now go the whole length with her grown up +daughter! + +On the afternoon of a confirmation Sunday, such a little town is all on +the move, either going from house to house to congratulate, or in the +street to see and to be seen; there is a salutation and halting at +every step, a shaking of hands, and interchanging of good wishes: the +poor children appear in the cast-off clothes of the rich, and are +paraded forth to return their thanks. The sailors in their foreign +pageantry, with the hat upon three hairs; and the fops, the merchants, +clerks, walked in groups, bowing to all as they passed. The half-grown +up lads of the Latin school, each arm in arm with his best friend in +the world, sauntered after in rash criticism; but to-day every one in +his own mind must yield the palm to the lion of the place, the young +merchant, the wealthiest man in the town, Yngve Vold, just returned +from Spain, all in trim to take charge on the morrow of his mother's +extensive fish trade. With a light hat over his light hair, he strolled +through the streets; every one bade him welcome, he spoke to all, +smiled to all; so the young people who had just been confirmed were +almost forgotten;--backwards and forwards one might see the light hat +over the light hair, and hear the light laughter. When Petra and her +mother entered the street, he was the first they stumbled upon, and as +if they had in reality stumbled against him, he started back before +Petra, whom he did not recognise. + +She had grown tall, not as tall as the mother but above the average +height, easy, elegant, and fearless, the mother and not the mother +inconstant interchange. The young merchant, who walked along behind +them, could no longer attract the attention of the passers-by; the two, +mother and daughter, were a more striking sight. They walked quickly, +without noticing any one, for they were seldom greeted except by +seamen; they soon returned more quickly still, for they had heard that +Odegaard had just left home for the steamer and would soon be gone. +Petra was in great haste; she must, she must indeed see him and thank +him before he went; it was wrong of him to leave her thus! She saw none +of all those who were looking at her; it was the smoke from the steamer +she saw over the roofs of the houses, and it seemed to be getting +further away. When they came to the quay, the boat had just left, and, +with sobs in her throat, she hastened further up the walk; indeed she +more sprang than walked, and the mother strode after. As the steamer +had taken some minutes to turn in the harbour, she was just in time to +spring down on the wharf, get up on a stone, and wave her pocket +handkerchief. The mother remained on the walk, and would not go down; +Petra waved--waved higher and higher, but there was no one who waved +again. + +Then she could bear it no longer; she could not restrain her tears, and +was obliged to return home by the higher path; the mother followed, but +in silence. The attic which her mother had prepared for her, and where +she had slept for the first time the night before, and had that morning +put on her new dress with so much delight, now received her bathed in +tears, and without so much as a glance around; she would not go down +where the seamen and others were sitting;--she took off her +confirmation dress and sat on the bed till night came; to be grown up +seemed to her the most unhappy thing that could be. + + + + + CHAPTER IV. + + ONE AND ANOTHER. + + +One day after the Confirmation Petra went over to Odegaard's sisters, +but she soon saw that this must have been a mistake on his part, for +the pastor went by as though he never saw her, and the daughters, both +older than Odegaard, received her stiffly. They satisfied themselves +with giving a bare account from their brother of what she was now to +do. The whole of the forenoon she was to be engaged in household duties +at a house in the suburbs of the town, and in the afternoon to go to +the sewing school; she was to sleep at home, and take breakfast and +supper there. + +She acted according to this arrangement, and found it agreeable enough +as long as it was new, but afterwards, and especially when summer came, +she began to get tired of it, for she had been accustomed in summer to +sit up in the forest the whole day long, and had read in her books, +which from the depths of her heart she now missed, as she missed +Odegaard, as she missed conversation. The consequence was that at last +she took it where it was to be found. About this time a young girl +entered the sewing school, called Lise Let, i.e. Lise, but not Let; for +that was the name of a young cadet, who had been at home one Christmas, +and betrothed himself to her on the ice, while she was only a child at +school. Lise vowed it was not true, and cried if any one named it; +nevertheless, she went by the name of Lise Let. The little, active Lise +Let often laughed and often cried; but, whether she laughed or cried, +she thought about love. A perfect swarm of new and curious thoughts +soon filled the school; if a hand was reached out for the scissors, it +was to go a courting, and the scissors said, yes, or gave a refusal. +The needle was bethrothed to the thread, and the thread sacrificed +herself stitch by stitch to the heartless tyrant; she who pricked her +finger, shed her heart's blood, and to change needles was to be +unfaithful. If two of the girls whispered together, it was about +something remarkable that had happened to them; soon two more began to +whisper, and then two again; each one had her confidant, and there were +a thousand secrets: it was impossible to stand it. + +One afternoon at dusk, in a fine drizzling rain, Petra, with a large +handkerchief over her head, stood outside her mother's house, and +peeped into the passage, where a young sailor was standing, whistling a +waltz. She held the handkerchief together with both her hands tight +under her chin, so that only her eyes and nose could be seen, but the +sailor saw she was winking at him, and he went quickly out where she +stood. "I say, Gunnar, will you go a walk?"--"But it rains!"--"Tut, is +that anything!" and so they went to a small house higher up the +mountain. "Buy me a few cakes,--those with the icing!"--"You are always +wanting cakes."--"With the icing!" He came out again with them; she +stuck one hand out from under the handkerchief, took them in, and went +on again, eating as she went. When they had got just above the town, +she said as she gave him the cake: "I say now, Gunnar! we have always +thought so much of each other, we two; I have always liked you better +than any other boys! You don't believe it? But I assure you, Gunnar! +And now you are second mate and can soon take a ship; it seems to me +you should get engaged Gunnar! Dear, why don't you eat the cake?"--"I +have begun to chew tobacco."--"Well, what do you say?"--"Oh! +there's no hurry for that!"--"No hurry? And you go away day after +to-morrow?"--"Yes, but am I not coming back again?"--"But it isn't +certain that I shall have time then, and you don't know where I shall +be either,"--"It should be to you, then?"--"Yes, Gunnar, you might have +understood that, but you were always slow, that was why you were only a +sailor, too."--"Oh! I'm not sorry for that, it's quite nice to be a +sailor."--"Yes, to be sure,--your mother has ships. But what do you say +now? You are so dull!"--"Yes, what shall I say?"--"What shall you say? +Ha-ha-ha, perhaps you won't have me!"--"Ah! Petra, you know quite well +I will; but I don't think I can trust you."--"Yes, Gunnar, I shall be +as true, as true!"--He stood a minute still; "Let me see your face, +Petra!"--"What for that?"--"I want to see if you really mean it."--"Do +you think I go and trifle with you, Gunnar?" She was vexed and lifted +the handkerchief.--"Well, Petra, if it is to be right regular earnest, +then give me a kiss upon it, for one knows what that means."--"Have you +lost your wits?" She drew the handkerchief over, and went on.--"Stay +Petra, stay! You don't understand.--If we are engaged--" "Oh! nonsense +with you!"--"Yes, but I know what is customary, and as far as +experience goes, I beat you hollow. Remember all that I have +seen."--"Yes, you've seen all like a simpleton, and you talk as you've +seen."--"What do you mean by being engaged, then, Petra? I may surely +ask about that! There's no meaning in running up and down hill after +each other!"--"No, that's true enough." She laughed, and stopped. "But +listen now, Gunnar! While we stand here and puff--huf!--I'll tell you +how lovers do. Every evening as long as you are here, you must wait +outside the sewing school and go home with me to the door, and if I am +out anywhere else, you must wait in the street till I come. And when +you go away, you must write to me, and buy things to send me. To be +sure: we must exchange rings, with your name in one and mine in the +other, and then the year and the day; but I have no money, so you must +buy them both."--"Yes, I'll do that; but--" "Now, what about 'but' +again?"--"Good heavens! I only meant I must have the measure of your +finger."--"Yes, that you shall have directly;" and she picked up a +straw and bit off the measure: "Now don't lose it!" He wrapped it +in paper, and put it in his pocket book; she watched him till the +pocket book was hidden again. "Let us go now, I'm tired of standing +here."--"But, I must say I think it rather flat, Petra!"--"Very well, +if you won't, it's all the same to me!"--"Certainly I will, it's not +that; but shan't I even so much as get hold of your hand!"--"What for +that?"--"As a sign that we're really engaged."--"Such nonsense, does +that make it more certain? You can have my hand, anyhow; here it is! No +thank you, no squeezing, sir!"--She drew her head within the +handkerchief again, then suddenly she lifted the handkerchief with both +hands, and her face came full into view. "If you tell any one, Gunnar, +I shall say it is not true, so you know!" She laughed, and went on down +the hill. A little after, she stopped, and said: "The sewing school +will be over to-morrow at nine, so you can go and stand at the foot of +the garden."--"Very well."--"Yes, but now you must go!"--"Won't you, +then, even give me your hand at parting?"--"I don't know what you are +always wanting with my hand,--no, you won't get it now. Good bye!" she +cried, and away she sprang. + +Next evening she arranged it so, that she was the last at the sewing +school. It was nearly ten when she left, but when she had passed +through the garden, Gunnar was not there. She had imagined all sorts of +misfortunes, but not this; she was so much offended, that she waited, +merely to give it him in earnest, when at last he did come. Besides she +had good company as she walked up and down; for the merchants' singing +club had just begun to practise with open windows, in a house near by, +and a Spanish song, that mild evening, lured her thoughts till she was +in Spain, and heard her praises sung from the open balcony. Spain was +her great longing, for every summer came the dark Spanish ships into +the harbour, the Spanish songs into the streets, and upon Odegaard's +walls, hung a row of pictures from Spain; perhaps he was there again +now, and she was with him! But in the same minute she was called home +again, for there, behind the apple tree, was Gunnar coming at last; she +rushed towards--not Gunnar, but the one returned from Spain, the light +hat over the light hair. "Ha, ha, ha, ha," laughed the light laughter, +"so you take me for another?" She denied it eagerly, hastily, and began +to run in her vexation, but he ran after, talking incessantly whilst he +ran very quickly, and with that mixed accent that people get when they +use several languages. "Yes, I can easily keep you company, for I'm a +capital runner,--it won't help you,--I must speak to you,--it is too +quiet here, people are dead, but you are not dead, I can see. I must +speak to you; I am here for the eighth evening."--"For the eighth +evening!"--"The eighth evening; ha, ha, ha, I would gladly go for eight +more, for we two suit each other, don't we? It's no use, I shan't let +you slip, for now you are tired, I can see."--"No, I'm not."--"Yes, you +are."--"No, I'm not."--"Yes, you are! Talk, then, if you are not +tired!"--"Ha, ha, ha!"--"Ha, ha, ha, ha! Yes, that's not to talk," and +so they stopped. They exchanged a few witty words, half in jest, and +half in earnest; then he began to speak in praise of Spain, and one +picture followed another, till he ended in cursing the little town at +their feet. The first, Petra followed with beaming eyes; the second +tingled in her ears, while her eyes moved up and down over a gold chain +that hung twice round his neck. "Yes, this," he said hastily, and drew +out the end of the chain, to which a gold cross was fastened, "see, I +took it with me to-night, to show at the singing club; it is from +Spain. You shall hear its history." Then he related: "When I was in the +south of Spain, I was present at a shooting match, and won this prize; +it was handed to me at the festival with these words: 'Take this with +you to Norway and give it to the most beautiful woman in your country, +with the respectful homage of Spanish Cavaliers.' Then followed shouts, +and processions, the waving of banners and the clapping of cavaliers, +and I received the gift."--"No, how splendid! Tell more, more!" broke +in Petra, for her imagination already pictured the Spanish feast, with +the Spanish colours and songs, and the dusky Spaniards, standing under +the vines in the evening sunlight, sending their thoughts to the most +beautiful woman in the land of snow. He did as she requested; he +increased her longing with new recitals, and, as if transported to that +wonderful land, she began humming the Spanish song she had just heard, +and, little by little, to move her feet to its time. "What! You can +dance the Spanish dance?" he cried.--"Yes, yes--yes!" she sang in +dancing time, snapping her fingers to imitate the castanets, and making +some rapid steps upon the spot where she stood, for she had seen the +Spanish sailors dance!--"You shall have the gift of the Spanish +Cavaliers," cried he, in ecstacy, "you are the most beautiful woman I +have met." He had taken the gold chain from his own neck, and had +lightly thrown it once or twice round hers before she came to +understand it. But, when she understood it, she was suffused with the +deep scarlet, peculiarly her own, and the tears were about to burst +forth, so that he, falling from one surprise into another, did not know +what more to do, but felt that he ought to go, and went. + +At twelve o'clock with the chain in her hand, she still stood at the +open window of her little room. The summer night lay gently over town +and fiord and distant mountains; from the street the Spanish song +sounded again, for the club had gone home with young Yngve Vold. Word +for word it could be heard, about a beautiful wreath. Two voices only +sang the words, the rest hummed the guitar accompaniment. + + + Take up the wreath, dearest, it is for thee, + Take up the wreath, dearest, thinking of me; + Here is the rarest + Of grass for the fairest, + Here is the whitest + Of flowers for the brightest. + Here is a swelling + Bud for the lovely one, + Here is a telling + Leaf for the faithful one. + Take up the wreath, dearest, it is for thee, + Take up the wreath, dearest, thinking of me! + + +When she awoke in the morning she had been in a forest where the sun +shone in on every side, where all the trees were those they called +"golden rain," their long yellow tassels hanging down and almost +touching her as she passed. Soon she remembered the chain, she took it +and hung it over; then she put a black handkerchief over the white, and +the chain over that, as it showed better upon black. She sat up in bed +and kept looking at herself in a little hand mirror; was she indeed so +beautiful? She stood up to do her hair and then look at herself again, +but remembering that her mother knew nothing about it, she hastened to +go down and tell her. Just as she was ready, and was about to hang the +chain round her neck, it occurred to her what her mother would say, +what everybody would say, and what she should answer when they asked +her why she wore such a costly chain. The question being a very +reasonable one, it returned again and again, till at last she drew +forth a little box in which she laid the chain, put the box in her +pocket, and, for the first time in her life, felt herself poor. + +She did not go where she ought to have done that forenoon; for above +the town, near the spot where she had got the chain, she sat with it in +her hand, with a feeling as if she had stolen it. + +That night, at the foot of the garden, she waited still longer for +Yngve Vold than she had done the foregoing evening for Gunnar: she +wanted to give him the chain back. But as the ship that Gunnar was +going with, had the day before unexpectedly weighed anchor, because it +had got a splendid cargo in the next town, so Yngve Vold, the owner of +the vessel had to set out to-day on the same errand; he had other +business to transact at the same time, therefore he was away three +weeks. + +In these three weeks, the chain was gradually transferred from her +pocket to a drawer in the closet, and from there again to an envelope, +and the envelope to a secret corner; and during the time she herself +made one humiliating discovery after another. For the first time she +became aware of the distance that separated her from the ladies of the +higher classes; they could have worn the chain without any one asking +the why and the wherefore. But to one of these, Yngve Vold would not +have ventured to offer the chain without, at the same time, offering +his hand; it was only with the Fisher Girl he could do that. But if he +wished to give her anything, why then not something she could have some +use for; he had meant to scorn her so much the more, by giving her what +she could never use. The story of "the most beautiful" must have been a +fable; for had the chain been given her on that afternoon, he would +never have come in secret, and at night time. Vexation and shame gnawed +themselves so much the deeper in, as she had ceased to confide in any +one. No wonder, then, that the first time she met him again, him in +whom centred all these vexatious and shame-filling thoughts, she should +blush so deeply that he misinterpreted it, and when she saw that, blush +deeper still. + +She turned her steps quickly home again, snatched up the chain, and, +although it was scarcely light, she seated herself above the town to +wait for him; now he should get it back! She felt sure he would come, +because he also had blushed at seeing her, and he had been away the +whole time. But soon these same thoughts began to tell in his favour; +he would not have blushed if he had been indifferent to her; he would +have come before if he had been at home. It began to get rather dusk; +for in these three weeks the days had shortened quickly. But at +nightfall our thoughts often change. She sat close above the road among +the trees; she could see without being seen. When she had been there +some time, and he did not come, conflicting thoughts began to rise; she +listened now in anger, now in fear; she could hear every one who came, +long before she saw them, but it was never him. The little birds that +half asleep changed their perches among the leaves, could frighten her, +she sat so breathlessly; every sound from the town, every noise took +her attention. A large vessel was weighing anchor, and the sailors were +singing; it would be tugged out in the night, to get the good of the +first morning breeze. She longed to go too, out upon the great sea. She +caught up the song, the clinging stroke of the capstan gave raising +power, whereto, whence? There stood the light hat upon the road just in +front of her, she sprang up with a shriek, and frightened at what she +had done, she ran, and in running she remembered she ought not to have +done so; it was one mistake upon another, so she ran with all her +might. But shame and agitation overpowered her, he was just behind, and +she cast herself down among the trees. When he got up to her, she +breathed so heavily that he could hear every breath, and the same power +that in her intrepidity she had exercised over him last time they met, +she still possessed as she lay there in an agony of fear; he bent over +her, and whispered "Do not fear!" + +But she trembled still more. Then he kneeled down beside her and took +her hand, but slowly, for he himself was afraid. At the first touch of +his hand she sprang up as if burnt with fire--and off again--whilst he +remained standing. + +She did not run far, for she had not power, her temples throbbed, her +bosom heaved, she pressed her hands against it, and listened. She heard +a step in the grass, a cracking among the leaves,--he was coming, and +straight towards her. He saw her? No, he did not see,--Yes, good +heavens, he saw!... no, he went by--Then she sank down weak and +exhausted. + +After a long time she got up and began to go slowly down the mountain, +then stopped and went on again, as though without any aim. On reaching +the road, there he was waiting for her; she had been walking as if in a +fog and had not observed him before. He rose; a slight cry escaped her, +but she did not stir, she merely put her hands before her eyes and +wept. Then he whispered again: "I see you love me!--I love you!--You +shall be mine!--You don't answer?--You cannot!--But trust me, for from +this hour you are mine!--Good night!" and he gently touched her +shoulder. + +She started, as before a sudden flash of lightning,--a shade of anxiety +passed over, but it lightened again; this was indeed a marvel. + +As fully as Yngve Vold had occupied her thoughts during the last three +weeks, she was now turned round. He was the wealthiest man in the +place, and of the oldest family; he would raise her up to him +regardless of all considerations. This was something so different from +her thoughts during all this time of vexation and suffering, that it +might well begin to make her happy! And she grew happier and happier as +she realized her new position. She felt herself every one's equal, and +all her longings were about to be fulfilled. She saw Yngve Vold's +finest vessel bedecked as the flag-ship on her wedding day, and, amid +the salute of the minute gun, and fireworks, take them on board to bear +them to Spain, where the wedding sun was glowing. + +When Petra awoke next day, the girl came up to tell her it was +half-past eleven o'clock; she felt ravenously hungry, eat her breakfast +and wanted more,--complained of headache and weariness, and soon fell +asleep again; on awaking about three in the afternoon, she felt quite +well. The mother came up and said she had undoubtedly slept away an +illness, for she used to do so herself; but now she must get up and go +to the sewing school. Petra was sitting upright in bed, and leaned her +head upon her arm; without getting up she answered that she was not +going to the sewing school any more. The mother thought she must be +still a little dazed, and went down to get a parcel and a letter that a +sailor boy had brought. There were the gifts already! As soon as she +was alone, Petra, who had laid down again, got up in haste and opened +the parcel with a certain solemnity; it contained a pair of French +shoes; a little disappointed she was putting them aside, when she felt +them heavy in the toes; she put her hand into one of them and drew +forth a small parcel folded in fine paper; it was a gold bracelet; in +the other was also a parcel, carefully wrapped up; a pair of French +gloves,--and in the right hand she found a scrap of paper containing +two plain gold rings. "Already!" thought Petra, her heart beat as she +looked for the inscription, and read in the one, sure enough: "Petra," +with the date, and in the other: "Gunnar." She turned pale, threw the +rings and all the rest on the floor as though she had burnt herself, +and hastily opened the letter. It was dated "Calais;"--she read: + + +"Dear Petra, + +We had a fair wind from the sixty-first to the fifty-fourth degree of +latitude, and afterwards got here under a strong side wind, which is +unusual even for better vessels than ours, which is a fine craft under +full sail. But now you must know that all the way I have been thinking +about you, and about that which last occurred between us two, and am +grieved that I could not see you to bid you good-bye. I went on board +very vexed about it, but have never forgotten you since, except now and +then in between, for a sailor has hard times of it. Now we have got +here, and I have used all my wages to buy you presents as you asked me, +and the money I got of mother, too, so I have none left. But, if I get +leave, I shall come as soon as the gifts, for as long as it is secret, +there is no certainty about others, especially young men, of whom there +are many; but I will have it certain, so that no one can excuse +himself, but beware of me. You can easily get a better one than me, for +you can get any one you choose, but you can never get a truer, and that +is me. Now I will conclude, for I have used up two sheets, and the +letters are getting so large; it is the worst thing I have to do, but I +do it, nevertheless, as you wish it. And so in conclusion I will say, +that I hope it was earnest; for it was not earnest, it was a great sin, +and will bring misfortune upon many. + + Gunnar Ask, + + _Second Mate_, '_Norwegian Constitution_.'" + + +Overwhelmed with fear, she jumped out of bed and dressed herself. She +felt as if she must go out, where there was counsel to be had +somewhere; for all had become obscure, uncertain, dangerous. The more +she thought about it, the more tangled the thread became; some one must +help to unravel it, or she never could get loose! But in whom dare she +confide? There could be no one but the mother. When after a hard +struggle she stood beside her in the kitchen, afraid and almost +weeping, but determined to give complete confidence, that the +assistance might be complete, the mother said without looking round, +and therefore without observing Petra's face: "He has just been here; +he has got home again."--"Who?" whispered Petra, holding fast for +support; for if Gunnar were really come, all hope was lost. She +knew Gunnar; he was dull and good-natured, but let him once get +vexed, and he grew frantic. "You must not be long in going there," +he said.--"There?" shuddered Petra, she jumped to the conclusion that +he must have told her mother all about it, and then what would +happen?--"Yes, to the Rectory," said the mother. "To the Rectory? Is it +Odegaard that has come home?"--The mother turned round now: "Yes, who +else?"--"Odegaard!" cried Petra, and the storm of joy cleared the air +in an instant: "Odegaard has come, Odegaard, oh! he has got back!" she +was out at the door and up over the fields. She rushed on, she laughed, +she cried aloud; it was him, him, she wanted; if he had been at home, +this trouble would never have come! With him she was safe; if she only +thought upon his lofty beaming countenance, his mild voice, even upon +the quiet rooms, rich in images, where he dwelt, she grew more +peaceful, and a sense of security came over her. She took a moment to +collect herself. Landscape and town were bathed in a stream of light, +on that early autumn night, the fiord especially shone with a radiant +splendour; out there in the haven, the last smoke was curling up from +the steamer that had brought Odegaard. Oh! simply to know that he was +at home again, did her good, and made her resolute and strong; she +prayed to God to help her that Odegaard might never leave her more. And +just as her heart was raised in this hope, she saw him coming towards +her; he had known which way she would take, and had come to meet her! +This touched her, she sprang towards him, grasped both his hands and +kissed them; he felt ashamed, and seeing some one coming in the +distance, he drew her with him up among the trees, away from the road; +he held her hands in his, and she said the whole way: "How delightful +that you have come! No, I can hardly believe it is you, oh! you must +never go away again! Do not leave me, no, do not leave me!" Here her +tears began to flow, he drew her head gently towards him; he wished to +soothe her, for it was needful for his own sake that she should be +calm. She crept close to him, as the bird under the wing that is lifted +for it, and she did not wish to come forth any more. + +Overcome by this confidence, he put his arm round her, as if to provide +her the shelter she sought; but hardly had she perceived this, when she +lifted her tearful face, her eyes met his, and all that can be +exchanged in a glance, when penitence meets love, when gratitude meets +the joy of the giver, when yes meets yes, followed in quick succession. +He embraced her and pressed his lips against hers; he had lost his +mother early, and kissed for the first time in his life; it was the +same with her. They could not release themselves, and when at last they +did, it was only to embrace once more. He was trembling, whilst she was +radiant and blushing; she threw her arms round his neck; she clung to +him like a child. And when they seated themselves, and she could play +about his hands, his hair, his breast-pin, neckerchief, all these that +she had been accustomed to regard respectfully from a distance, and +when he bade her say "thou" and not "you," and she could not, and when +he would tell her how rich she had made his poor life from the first +hour, how long he had fought against it, that he might not check her +with this, nor let himself be paid thus, and when he noticed that she +was unable to understand or gather a word of what he was saying, and +when he himself also no longer found any meaning in it; when she wanted +to go home with him at once, and he had laughingly to bid her wait a +few days, and then they would go away altogether,--when they felt, when +they said, whilst they sat among the trees, with the fiord, and +mountains, and evening sun before them, whilst the horn and song +sounded far in the distance, that this was happiness. + + + Oh! sweet is love's first meeting + In the glow of the evening ray, + As the song of the wavelet fleeting-- + Its plash at the close of day. + As the song in the forest sounding, + As the horn o'er the rugged rocks,-- + Our hearts, the moment resounding + In wonder to nature locks. + + + + + CHAPTER V. + + A MISTAKE. + + +When Odegaard rung for his coffee next morning, he was informed that +Yngve Vold, the merchant, had already called twice to see him. It +annoyed him to have to hold intercourse with a stranger just then, but +one who sought him so early must have an important errand. He was +scarcely dressed before Yngve Vold came again. "You are surprised, I +dare say? So am I. Good morning!"--They shook hands, and he laid his +light hat upon the table. "You rise late, I have been here twice +before; I have something important at heart, and I must speak +with you!"--"Take a seat if you please!" he seated himself in +an easy chair.--"Thank you, thank you, I would rather walk, I am +too excited to sit. I am quite beside myself since the day before +yesterday, stark mad, neither more nor less; and it is your doing, +partly!"--"Mine?"--"Yes, yours. You brought the girl forward, no one +thought about her, no one noticed her except you. But now I have never +seen, no, as true as I live, never seen anything so matchless, anything +so--well isn't it? No, over the whole of Europe I have never seen such +a cursedly curly-haired wonder,--have you? I got no peace, I was +bewitched, she was mixed up in everything, I went away, came back +again, impossible.--isn't it? Didn't know at first who she was ... the +Fisher Girl, they said,--the Senorita they should have called her, the +gipsy, the witch; all fire, eyes, bosom, hair,--what?--sparkling, +hopping, laughing, trilling, blushing,--something----! Ran after +her, you see, up among the trees in the forest, calm evening, ... she +stood, I stood, a few words, song, dance,--and then?... well then I +gave her my chain, as true as I live, a minute before, I had never +thought of it! Next time, same place, same chase, she was afraid, and +I;--well,--would you believe it? I could not say a single word, dare +not touch her; but when she came back again, would you think it? I +proposed to her, I had not thought about it a second before. Now +yesterday I was proving myself, stayed away from her, but then faith +and soul I'm mad, yes,--I CANNOT, I MUST be with her; if I don't get +her I shall shoot myself slap out, there, that's the history. I don't +care what my mother says, nor the town, it's no place, no place at +all,--she must go away, you see, away, far away from here, she must be +'comme il faut,' go abroad, to France, Paris, I pay, and you arrange. I +might go with her myself, live elsewhere, not stay any longer in this +little hole; but the fish you see! I'd like to make something out of +the place, but it's all in a torpor, no thought, no speculation, but +the fish? They don't know how to manage the fish; the Spaniards +complain, it must be done in a fresh way, new drying, new curing, the +town must rise, business make headway, the fish!--Where was it I left +off? the fish, the Fisher Girl,--that suits well: the fish, the Fisher +Girl, ha, ha, ha,--to be sure: I pay, you arrange, she shall be my +wife, and then----" + +Further he did not get; during the conversation he had not observed +Odegaard, who had now risen, deathly pale, and stood over him with a +fine Spanish cane. The astonishment of the latter is not to be +described; he avoided the first strokes. "Take care," said he, "you may +hit me!"--"Yes, I may hit you! you see: Spanish, Spanish cane, that +suits too!" and the strokes fell over shoulders, arms, hands, face, +anywhere and everywhere; the other rushed about the room: "Are you mad, +have you lost your reason;--I will marry her!"--"Out!" cried Odegaard, +his strength failing him, and down went the light haired, away from +this madman, and was soon standing in the street calling up after his +light hat. It was thrown out of the window to him; a heavy fall was +heard, and when they went up, Odegaard lay unconscious upon the floor. + +All this time Petra was sitting up in her bedroom half dressed, and +could not get further the whole day long. Every time she attempted it, +her hands sank down upon her lap. Her thoughts bent down as an ear of +corn fully ripe, as clustering campanulas in the fields. Calmness, +security, waving visions, lay over the airy castles in which she dwelt. +She recalled the meeting of yesterday, every word, every look, every +touch of the hand, every kiss; she would follow the whole way from the +meeting to the parting, but never get to the end; for every single +remembrance vanished away in a dream, and all dreams returned again +with fair promises. But sweet as were these thoughts, she turned from +them to think where she had left off; and as soon as she remembered, +she was again carried off into the land of the wonderful. + +As she did not come down, the mother concluded that Odegaard having +returned, she had begun to study again; she had her meals sent up, and +was left alone the whole day. When evening came, she got up to make +herself ready to go to meet her beloved; she put on the best she +had,--the things she had worn at the confirmation; they were not much, +but that she had not felt until now. She had but little sense of the +elegant, but she was inspired with it to-day: one thing made another +look ugly till the right ones were selected, and even then the whole +was not beautiful! To-day she would have given worlds to have been the +most beautiful,--with the word a remembrance glided in, which she waved +away with her hand; nothing, no nothing should come near that might +disturb her. She went about quietly putting her room in order, as it +was not yet time to go. She opened the window and looked out; warm, +rosy clouds lay encamped over the mountains, but a cooling breeze was +wafted in with a message from the forest near by. "Yes, now I'm coming! +now I'm coming!" She went back once again to the looking-glass to study +her bride-like feelings. + +Then she heard Odegaard's voice down stairs with the mother, heard that +he was being directed the way to her room; he had come to fetch her! A +feeling of bashful joy took hold of her, she looked round to see if all +was in order for him; then she went to the door. "Come in!" she +answered softly to the low tap, and stepped back a little. + +As an icy shower over her, as if the earth gave way beneath her, was +the impression of the face that met her in the door! She staggered back +to get hold of the bed-post; her thoughts slipped from one abyss to +another; in less than a second she had fallen from earth's happiest +bride to its greatest sinner; she heard it thunder out of that face: in +time and eternity he could not forgive her! + +In scarcely audible tones he whispered: "I see it, you are guilty!" He +leaned against the door and held fast to the lock, as if without that +he could not stand. His voice trembled; the tears rolled down his face, +though his countenance was perfectly calm. + +"Do you know what you have done?" and his eyes crushed her to the +earth. She did not answer,--did not even weep; she was paralysed by a +complete and hopeless inability,--"Once before, I gave my heart away, +and he to whom I gave it, died through my fault. I could not rise above +this sorrow, unless one should reach over me and give me the wealth of +a whole heart again. This you have done,--and you have done it +hypocritically!" He stopped: two or three times he tried in vain to +begin again, then with a sudden pang of pain: "And all that I have +stored up during these years, thought upon thought, you have had the +heart to overturn as though it were an image of clay! Child, child, +could you not understand that I was building up myself in you? Now it +is past! Can you not now comprehend it: all that I have given, the very +warmest, the very depths of my heart, lost as flame in the winter air, +no token left?--Who are you, unhappy child?--I believed you to be my +most sacred treasure, but alas; you are more than profaned!"--He wept +in the bitterness of his grief. + +"No, you are too young to comprehend it," he said again; "you know not +what you have done.--But yet you must understand," he exclaimed, "what +it is, when that which shines upon our lives, that which we believe can +yield the flowers and fruit we look for, proves nothing but an enormous +deception!--Tell me, what have I done to you that you COULD do anything +so cruel? Child, child, had you but told me it yesterday! Why, why, did +you lie so fearfully?--It must be my fault, mine, who have instructed +you,--have I then forgotten to speak about truth! No,--then where have +you thus learnt it?" + +She heard him, and it was altogether true. He had tottered to a chair +in the window to lean his head against a table standing beside it. He +started up again, he wrung his hands, a sob of pain escaped him, then +he sank down and was still. "And I, who am not able to help my old +father," he said as if to himself, "I CANNOT, I have no calling, I also +am to have help from no one, all to be broken in pieces before me, all +and everybody forsake me." He was unable to speak more, his head lay in +his right hand; the left hung powerlessly down; he looked as though he +could not move,--and thus he remained sitting and said nothing. Then he +felt something warm against the hand that was hanging down, and +startled, he drew it away, it was Petra's breath; she was on her knees +beside him, her head bent down, now she folded her hands, and looked up +to him with an inexpressible entreaty for mercy. He looked down at her, +and neither of them turned away. Then he lifted his hand preventingly +against her, as if he felt within him a voice of persuasion that he +would not hear,--bent hastily down for his hat that had fallen on the +floor, and went quickly to the door; but still more quickly she stopped +the way before him, she cast herself down, grasped hold of his knees, +and nailed her eyes into him, but all without a sound; he both saw and +felt that she was struggling for life. Then his old love was too +strong, he bent down once more over her, and with an expressive look, +but one that was full of pain, he threw his arms round her and drew her +up to him. Yet once more she lay upon his breast, but it groaned and +sighed within, like an organ after the last stroke, when there is +still air, but no more tone. Again and again he pressed her to his +heart;--for the last time! He left her with a passionate cry; "No, +no!--you can abandon yourself, but you cannot love!" He was overwhelmed +with emotion: "Unhappy child, your future I cannot guide; may God +forgive you that you have ruined mine!" He went past her, she did not +move, he opened the door and shut it again, she did not speak;--she +heard him on the stairs, she heard his last step on the flagstone and +down the road,--then she was released, and gave one cry, a single one, +but with this came the mother. + +When Petra came to herself again, she was lying in bed undressed and +well nursed; before her sat the mother with her arms upon her knees; +her head in both her hands, and eyes of fire fastened upon her +daughter. "Have you read enough with him now?" she asked:--"Have you +learnt something?--What is it you are going to be now?"--Petra answered +with an outburst of grief. The mother sat and listened to this for a +long time, then said with strange solemnity: "May the Lord heartily +curse him!"--The daughter started up: "Mother, mother! Not him, not +him, but me, me,--not him!"--"Oh; I know them! I know who should have +it!"--"No mother, he has been deceived, dreadfully deceived, and that +by me, me--it is I who have deceived him!"--She told the whole story +hurriedly and sobbing; he must not for a moment be misjudged; she told +about Gunnar, and what she had asked of him, how she had hardly +understood at the time, what she was doing; next about Yngve Vold's +unlucky gold chain, that had taught her so much, and got her so +fearfully entangled, and then about Odegaard, how on seeing him, she +had forgotten all else. She could not understand how it had all +happened, but this she did understand, that she had sinned deeply +against them all, and especially against him who had taken her up, and +given her all that one human being can give to another. After sitting +long silent, at last the mother said: "Then you have committed no sin +against ME? Where have I been all this time that you have never said a +word to me?"--"Oh! mother, help me, don't be hard on me now; I feel +that I shall suffer for it as long as I live; but I shall pray to God +that He will let me soon die!--Dear, dear God," she began, as she +folded her hands and looked up to Heaven, "dear, dear God, hear me, I +have already forfeited my life; there is nothing more for me, I am not +fit, I do not know how to live, then, dear God, I pray Thee suffer me +to die!"--But Gunlaug, who had hard words uppermost, stifled them, and +laid her hand on the daughter's arm, to take it down from such a +prayer: "Govern your feelings, child, do not tempt God;--we must live +even if it is painful." She drew several heavy sighs and rose up; she +had no consolation to offer. The daughter had no doubt now given her +entire confidence, but it was too late. Gunlaug never more set foot +within that little attic chamber. + +Odegaard had taken an illness, that seemed likely to be a dangerous +one, so his old father had gone up, and made his study beside him, +saying to all who begged him to spare himself, that he could not do it; +his work was to watch over his son, each time he lost one of those whom +he loved better than his father. + +It was thus that matters stood when Gunnar came home. + +He frightened his mother by showing himself long before the ship he +sailed with,--she thought it was his ghost, and his acquaintances were +not much better. To all their curious inquiries, he could give but an +unsatisfactory reply. They, however, soon got a better one, for the +very day that he came, he was turned out of Gunlaug's house, and that +by Gunlaug herself. "Never let me see you here again," she called out, +to him on the doorstep, so that it could be heard far and near, "we +have had enough of this now!" He had not gone far, before a girl +overtook him with a parcel; she had another as well, and made a +mistake, and Gunnar found in his a heavy gold chain; he stood looking +at it a minute, and turning it over; he had not understood Gunlaug's +fury before, but he understood still less why she should send him a +gold chain. He called the girl back, she must have made a mistake, and +she asked as she gave him the other parcel if it was this. The parcel +proved to contain his gifts to Petra. Yes, that was it; but who was to +have the gold chain? "Yngve Vold, the Merchant," replied the girl, and +went her way. Gunnar stood musing: Yngve Vold the Merchant? Does he +give presents?--and Gunlaug has stumbled upon them! Then it is HE who +has stolen her from me,--Yngve Vold,--but he shall----his vexation and +excitement must have vent, some one must be thrashed, and it proved to +be Yngve Vold. + +To relate shortly: the unhappy merchant was once again attacked quite +unexpectedly, and that upon his own door step. He ran into the office +to escape from the infuriated man, but Gunnar ran after him. The clerks +rose up "en masse" against him, but he kicked and struck on all sides; +chairs, tables, and desks were overthrown; letters, papers, and +journals flew about like dust; help came at last from Yngve's +warehouse, and after a hard fight, Gunnar was turned into the street. + +But here the battle began again in earnest. There were two ships lying +on the quay, and one of them was from abroad; being about noon, when +the sailors were at liberty, they were glad to join in the fun; they +rushed into the fight, crew against crew, many others were sent for, +and came running at double quick pace; labouring people, women and +children drew up, till at last there was no one who knew why or against +whom they were fighting. In vain the captains cursed; in vain the +citizens commanded that the only policeman should be sent for: he was +just then out on the fiord, fishing. They ran to the magistrate, who +was also postmaster; but he had locked himself in with the post that +had just arrived, and answered out of the window, that he could not +come; his assistant was at a funeral, they must wait. But as they could +not wait, several shouted, and especially frightened women, that Arne +the blacksmith should be sent for. This being decided by the worthy +citizens, his own wife was despatched to seek him, "for the policeman +was not at home." He soon came, to the mirth of the school boys; he +made a few strokes among the crowd, picked out a burly Spaniard, and +struck him promiscuously against the rest. + +When all was settled, there came the magistrate with a stick; he found +a few old women and children, talking on the field of battle; these he +sternly commanded to go home to dinner, which he also did himself. + +But the next day he began to look into the matter, the investigation +was continued for a time, though no one had the slightest idea who had +been the aggrieving parties. One thing, however, all were agreed upon, +that Arne the blacksmith had been mingled in the fray, as they had seen +him striking on all sides with the Spaniard. For this Arne had to pay +one specie dollar fine, for which his wife, who had led him into it, +got sundry blows the second Sunday after trinity, which she might well +remember. That was the only judicial consequence of the fray. + +But it had other consequences. The little town was no longer a quiet +town, the Fisher Girl had put it in commotion. The strangest rumours +were set afloat,--arising from angry jealousy at her having been able +to win to herself the best head in the place, and its two wealthiest +matches, besides having several in the background; for Gunnar had grown +by degrees into "several young men." Soon there arose a general moral +storm. The disgrace of a great street brawl, and sorrow in three of the +best families rested on the head of the young girl who had been but +half a year confirmed; three engagements at one time, and one of them +with her teacher,--her life's benefactor! Indignation might well boil +up. Had she not been, from a child, an annoyance to the town, and for +all that, had she not had its expectancy manifested in gifts when +Odegaard took her up, and had she not now scorned them all, crushed +him, and following the instincts of her nature, thrown herself +recklessly on a course that would lead to her being an outcast from +society, with the gaol for old age? + +The mother must have been to blame too; in her sailors' house the child +had learnt to be giddy. They would no longer bear the yoke that Gunlaug +laid upon them, they would no longer tolerate them, neither mother nor +daughter, they would unite to drive them away. + +One night a crowd gathered on the bank; there were sailors, who owed +Gunlaug money, drunken labourers, for whom she would not procure work, +young lads, to whom she would not give credit, and the better class in +the back ground. They whistled, they shouted, they called for The +Fisher Girl, for Fisher Gunlaug; by and bye a stone was thrown against +the door, then another in at the attic window. They did not go away +until after midnight. Behind the windows all was dark and still. + +The next day not a soul looked in to Gunlaug, not even a child went +past, up the hill. But at night the same riot again, only that now all +were there without distinction. They broke all the windows, they tore +up the garden, and trampled down the shrubs, they threw the young fruit +trees about, and then they sang:-- + + + Mother, I've fished up a sailor, oh! + "Ah! have you so?" + Mother, I've fished up a merchant, oh! + "Ah! have you so?" + Mother, I've fished up a pastor's son + "The best you've won!" + Ah! ding dong, + The nose grows long.[1] + Great fishes may bite, but what is the gain, + If into the basket, they ne'er can be ta'en! + + Mother, he's gone, the sailor, oh! + "Ah! has he so!" + Mother, he's gone, the merchant, oh! + "Ah! has he so?" + Mother, the pastor's son's going they say! + "Then haul away!"-- + Ah! ding dong, + The nose grows long, + Great fishes may bite, but what is the gain, + If into the basket, they ne'er can be ta'en! + + +They called especially for Gunlaug, they would have been mightily +pleased to have heard her matchless fury rage. + +Gunlaug was sitting within, and heard every word; but she kept silence; +one must be able to bear something for the sake of one's child. + + + + + CHAPTER VI. + + THE SOUND OF THE CLOCK. + + +Petra had been in her room, when the shouting, whistling, and hallooing +had begun the first evening. She sprang up as if the house had been on +fire, or as if everything were coming down upon her. She ran about in +her room as if whipped with burning rods; it burnt through her soul; +her thoughts ran impetuously after an outlet;--but down to the mother +she dare not go, and they were standing in front of the only window! A +stone came flying through, and fell upon her bed; she gave a cry and +ran into a corner behind a curtain, and hid herself among her old +clothes. There she sat crouched up together, burning with shame, +trembling with fear, visions of unknown horrors passed before her, the +air was full of faces, gaping, mocking faces, they came quite near, it +rained fire round about them;--oh, not fire, but eyes; it rained eyes, +large, glowing and small, sparkling; eyes that stood still, eyes that +ran up and down,--Jesus, Jesus, save me! + +Oh, what a relief, when the last cry died away in the night, and it was +quite dark, and quite still. She ventured out, threw herself on the +bed, and buried her face in the pillow, but she could not turn away +from her thoughts; the mother would come powerfully and threateningly +forward, as thunder clouds gather over the mountains, for what would +the mother not suffer for her sake! No slumber came to her eyelids, nor +peace to her soul, and the day came, but no alleviation. + +She went backwards and forwards, backwards and forwards, thinking only +how to escape, but she dare not meet her mother, neither dare she go +out as long as it was day, and at night they would come again! Yet wait +she must, for before midnight it was still more dangerous to flee. And +then where to? She possessed nothing, and she knew not any way; yet +there must be merciful hearts somewhere, even as there was a merciful +God. He knew that the evil she had done was not done in wickedness, He +knew her penitence, and He also knew her helplessness. She listened for +her mother's steps below, but she did not hear them; she trembled to +hear her on the stairs, but she did not come. The girl, too, must have +left, for no one came up with her meals. She did not venture to go +down, nor to go to the window, for some one might be standing outside +waiting for her. The broken pane let in the cold air, in the morning, +and still more when night came. She had made up a small bundle of +clothes, and dressed herself to be ready; but she must wait for the +furious crowd, and then go through whatever came. + +There they are again! The whistling, the shouting, the throwing of +stones, worse, far worse than the night before; she crept into her +corner, folded her hands, and prayed and prayed. If only her mother did +not go out to them, if only they did not break in! Then they began to +sing, a base lampoon, and though every word cut her with knives, she +was yet obliged to listen; but no sooner had she heard that the mother +was mixed up with it, that they had been guilty of so shameful an +injustice, than she sprang up, she would speak to the dastardly pack +from the window, or cast herself down among them;--but a stone, and yet +another, and then a whole hailstorm flew through the window, the bits +of glass whizzed, the stones rolled about the room, and she crept back +again. The perspiration stood upon her forehead, as though she were +beneath a burning sun, but she no longer wept,--no longer felt afraid. + +Gradually the noise subsided; she ventured forth, and was going to the +window to look out, but she trod upon the bits of glass and drew back, +then she trod upon the stones, and stood still that she might not be +heard; for she must steal quietly away. After waiting a full half hour, +she put off her shoes, took up her bundle, and softly opened the door. +It pained her to think that after causing her mother all this sorrow, +she must leave her without a farewell; but fear overpowered her; +"Farewell mother! farewell mother!" she whispered to herself at each +step she took down the stairs: "Farewell mother!"--She stood at the +bottom, breathed a few times heavily to get air, and then turned +towards the passage door. Some one seized her arm from behind, she gave +a slight scream, and turned,--it was her mother. + +Gunlaug having heard the door open, at once divined her daughter's +intention and waited for her here. Petra felt that she could not pass +without a contest. Explanation would not help; whatever she said, it +would not be believed. Well, if it came to a struggle, nothing in the +world could be worse than the worst, and that she had already +experienced. "Where are you going?" the mother asked in a low tone. "I +must flee!" she answered with a beating heart--"Where to?"--"I do not +know;--but I must get away from here!"--She held her bundle faster and +went on. "No, come with me," said the mother, holding her arm, "I have +provided for it." Petra released herself, as if from too tight a grasp; +breathed out as after a conflict, and gave herself up to her mother. +The latter led the way into a little room behind the kitchen, where a +light was burning, and there was no window;--here she had been hid +whilst the tumult raged. The room was so narrow that they could +scarcely move in it; the mother took up a bundle rather smaller than +Petra's, opened it, and took out a set of sailor's clothes. "Put these +on," she whispered. Petra at once comprehended why she should do it, +but that the mother assigned no reason, touched her. She took off her +own things and put on these; the mother assisted her, and in doing so, +the light fell full upon her face; Petra saw for the first time that +Gunlaug was old. Had she become so in these days, or had Petra not +observed it before? The child's tears trickled down over the mother, +but she did not look up, and so nothing was said. A sou'wester was the +last thing to put on; when all was ready, the mother took the bundle +from her, and blew out the light, "Now come!" + +They went out into the passage, but not through the street door; +Gunlaug unfastened the back door, and locked it again after them. They +passed through the trampled garden, over the uprooted trees, and the +broken fence, "You may as well look round," said the mother, "you will +never come here again."--She shuddered but did not look. They went by +the upper path, along the edge of the forest, where she had passed half +her life; where she had had that evening with Gunnar, those with Yngve +Vold, and the last with Odegaard. They trod in withered leaves; it was +a cold night, and she shivered in her unaccustomed dress. The mother +turned towards a garden; Petra knew it again, though she had not been, +there since that day when as a child she had attacked it; it was Pedro +Ohlsen's. The mother had the key of it and locked them in. + +It had cost Gunlaug much to go to him in the forenoon, it cost her much +to go now with the unhappy daughter, to whom she herself could no +longer give a home. But it must be done, and that which must be done +Gunlaug could do. She knocked at the side door, and almost directly +they heard footsteps and saw a light within. Shortly after, the door +was opened by Pedro himself in travelling attire, looking pale and +nervous. He held a dip in his hand, and he sighed when his eye fell +upon Petra's face, swollen with weeping; she looked up at him, but as +he did not dare to know her, she did not venture to recognise him. +"This man has promised to help you to get away," said the mother +without looking at either of them, and going up the steps she went into +Pedro's room on the other side of the passage, leaving them to follow. +The room was very small and low, and the peculiar close smell that +pervaded it, made Petra feel faint; for more than a day now she had +neither tasted food nor slept. From the middle of the ceiling hung a +cage with a canary bird; they had to go round to avoid knocking against +it. Some heavy old chairs, a ponderous table, and two great closets, +touching the ceiling, were squeezed into the room, making it still +less. On the table lay some music, and on that a flute. Pedro Ohlsen +shuffled about in his great boots, as if he had something important to +do; a weak voice sounded from the back room: "Who is that?--Who has +come in?"--upon which he trailed still quicker round the room, +mumbling: "Oh it is--hm, hm, ... it is--hm, hm," and so in where the +voice came from. + +Gunlaug sat by the window, with both her elbows upon her knees, and her +head in her hands, looking fixedly into the sand that was strewn upon +the floor; she did not speak, but every now and then she drew a heavy +sigh. Petra stood by the door, leaning against the wall, with both her +hands over her bosom, for she felt ill. An old time piece was hacking +the hours asunder, the tallow candle on the table was running down, +with a long wick. The mother was wishful to give some excuse for their +being here, and said: "I knew this man once, long ago." + +Nothing more, and no reply. Pedro did not return, the candle continued +to waste, and the old clock to hack. The feeling of faintness +overpowered Petra more and more, and through all, the words were +continually sounding in her ears, "I knew this man once, long ago!" The +old clock began to go to it: "I-knew-this-man-once-long-a-go." +Afterwards, whenever she came into a close atmosphere, this room was +always before her, reminding her of the faintness and of the clock's +"I-knew-this-man-once-long-ago!" + +When Pedro came in again he had got on a woollen cap, and a cloak of +ancient date, fastened up over his ears. "Now, I am ready," said he, +and drew on his mittens, as if he were going out in the coldest winter +weather. "But we must not forget"--he turned round,--"the cloak +for--for--" he looked at Petra, and from her to Gunlaug, who took up a +blue coat hanging over a chair back, and helped Petra on with it; but +when it came close under her nose, it smelled so strongly of the room, +that she begged for fresh air; the mother saw that she looked ill, and +opening the door, she led her quickly into the garden. Here she drew a +few long draughts of the fresh autumn air. "Where am I going to?" she +asked, when she began to come round.--"To Bergen," replied the mother, +helping her to button the coat; "it is a large place, where no one +knows you." When she was ready, Gunlaug stopped in the doorway: "You +will have 100 specie dollars with you; if you don't get on, you still +have something to fall back upon. He lends you them, he here,"--"Gives, +gives," whispered Pedro, who passed them and went out into the +street.--"Lends them," repeated the mother, as though he had said +nothing: "I shall repay him."--She took a handkerchief from her neck, +tied it round Petra's, and said: "You must write as soon as it goes +well with you, not before."--"Mother!"--"He will row you on board the +vessel lying out there."--"Oh, heavens, mother!"--"Well, then there's +nothing more. I'm not going any further."--"Mother, mother!"--"Now God +be with you. Farewell!"--"Mother, forgive me, mother!"--"And don't +catch cold on the sea."--She had got her gradually outside the garden +gate, and now shut it. + +Petra stood looking at the closed gate; she felt about as wretched and +lonely as it is possible for a human being to do,--but just at that +moment, out of the misery, the injustice, the tears, sprang up an +anticipation, a hope; as a gleam of fire, kindled and extinguished, +blazing up and dying out again, but for one moment shining sublimely; +she opened her eyes, the brightness was gone, and again she stood in +darkness. + +Quietly through the deserted streets of the little town, past the +closed doors and leafless gardens, past the barred houses, where the +lights were no longer burning,--she dragged herself after him, who with +bent figure shuffled on, without any head, in the great boots, and +cloak. They came out into the avenue, where they trod again in withered +leaves, and saw the ghostly branches that seemed stretching out their +arms to come after them. They scrambled down over the mountain behind +the yellow boat house; he baled out the water, and then rowed her along +the coast that now looked like one black mass, with the clouds laying +heavily upon it. Everything was blotted out, fields, houses, woods, +mountains, she saw nothing more of that which, until yesterday, from a +child she had had daily before her eyes; it had shut itself up like the +town, like the people, that night that she was driven away, and she got +no farewell. + +A man was pacing up and down the deck of the ship that was laying at +anchor, waiting for the morning breeze; as soon as he saw them laying +to, he let down the steps, helped them on board, and made a signal to +the captain, who soon joined them. She knew them, and they knew her, +but simply as an ordinary matter, she was told all that it was +necessary for her to know; namely, where she was to sleep, and what she +was to do if she wanted anything, or was sea-sick. She was ill, indeed, +almost directly she got down, so on changing her dress she went up +again. Here she found the smell of--oh, chocolate! She felt an +immoderate hunger, and just then out of the cabin, came the same man +that had received them, with a whole bowl full, and plenty of cakes; it +was from her mother, he said. While she was eating, he told her +further, that a box with her linen, flannels, and best clothes had also +been sent on board by her mother, besides several good things to eat. +On hearing this, a very vivid remembrance of her mother rose up before +her, an exalted image, such as she had never before had, but which she +retained the rest of her life. And above the image rested a hope, sure +and yet sorrowful in prayer, that she might yet give her mother some +joy for all the sorrow she had caused her. + +Pedro Ohlsen sat beside her when she sat, and walked beside her when +she walked; he was perpetually occupied in getting out of her way, and +for that reason, was continually getting into it, as the deck was +covered with goods. She could see only his great nose and his eyes, and +not even these distinctly, but he gave the impression of having +something on his mind, which he wished to say and could not. He sighed, +he sat down, he got up, he went round her, sat down again, but never a +word came forth, and she did not speak. At last he was obliged to give +it up; he drew out a huge leather pocket book, and whispered that the +100 species were within, and a little besides. She held out her hand +and thanked him, and in doing so she came so near his face, that she +observed his eyes were moist and were anxiously following her. For, +with her, he was in truth losing all that was left to his desolate +life. He would like to have said something that might yield him a kind +remembrance, when he should be no more; but it was forbidden him, and +though he would have said it nevertheless, he could not manage it, for +she did not help him! Petra was too tired, and she could not just then +banish the thought that he had been the cause of her first sin against +her mother. She could not bear it much longer, it grew worse instead of +better the longer he sat, for people are easily annoyed when they are +tired. The poor creature felt it, he MUST go, and so at last he got +whispered, "farewell," and drew his shrunken hand out of the mitten; +she laid hers warm within it, and then both arose. "Thank you,--and +give my love to mother!" she said. He gave a sigh, or rather a sob, and +with two or three more such, he left her, turned and went backwards +down the ladder. She went to the railing, he looked up, nodded, and +then rowed slowly away. She stood till he was darkness in the darkness, +then she went below; she was so tired she could scarcely stand, and +although she felt ill directly she went down, she had scarcely laid her +head upon the pillow and said the first two clauses of "The Lord's +Prayer," before she slept. + +Till that same hour, the mother was sitting up by the yellow +boat-house; she had followed them slowly all the way, and sat down +behind the boat-house just as they were rowing from land. From that +same spot, Pedro Ohlsen had in former days rowed out with her; it was a +long time ago, but she could not fail to remember it now, when he rowed +the daughter away. + +As soon as she saw him coming back alone, she arose and went; for then +she knew that Petra was safely on board. She did not take the road +home, but went further over: there, in the darkness, she found the path +that led over the mountains, and that she took. Her house stood empty +and desolate for more than a month, she would not return to it, before +she had had good news from her daughter. + +But this gave time for the voice against her to be put to the test. All +low natures feel an exciting pleasure in uniting to persecute the +strong; but only as long as these offer any resistance; when they see +that they quietly suffer themselves to be maltreated, a feeling of +shame comes over them, and he who will cast another stone is quickly +put down. In the present instance, they had been hoping to see Gunlaug +come fuming out to them in a rage, perhaps calling upon the seamen to +take up arms in her defence, and thus have a regular street fight. But +as she did not shew herself, on the third night the people were +scarcely to be restrained; they declared they would go in after her, +they would turn the two women out into the streets, and chase them away +from the town! The windows had not been mended since the previous +night, and amid the shout of hurrahs, two men crept through to open the +door,--and in rushed the crowd! They looked in all the rooms, upstairs +and down, they broke open the doors, destroyed everything that came in +their way; they sought in every corner; last of all in the cellar, but +neither mother nor daughter were to be found. As soon as this discovery +was made, an instantaneous hush fell over the people; they who were in, +stole out one after another, and hid themselves behind the rest, and +shortly after, the plot of ground in front of the house was left +desolate. + +There were soon found those in the town, who said that this had been an +undignified mode of proceeding against two defenceless women. They +discussed the facts of the case so thoroughly, that at last it was the +unanimous opinion, that whatever the Fisher Girl had done, Gunlaug was +certainly not to blame for it, and she had therefore been treated very +unjustly. + +She was very much missed in the place; drunken brawls and tumults began +to be the order of the day; for the town had lost its police. They +missed her tall figure in the doorway as they passed by; the seamen +especially felt her loss. There was no place like hers, they said; for +there each had been dealt with according to his merit, had had his own +place in her confidence, and her help in any difficulty. Neither +sailors, nor captains, neither masters, nor mistresses, had understood +her worth, until now when she had gone. + +Therefore it was a cause of general rejoicing, when it was reported +that Gunlaug had been seen sitting in her house and cooking as before. +Every one must see for himself that the window panes were really put in +again, the door repaired and the smoke coming out of the chimney. Yes, +it was true! There she was again!--They crept on the other side of the +hill to see better; she was sitting in front of the baking stone, she +looked neither up nor down, but her eye followed her hand and her hand +was busy; for she had come back to regain what she had lost, and first +of all the 100 specie, that she owed Pedro Ohlsen. At first they +contented themselves in this way, with merely peeping in at her, their +consciences pricked them, so they dare not do more. But by degrees they +came,--first the wives, the friendly, kind ones; yet they got no +opportunity to speak of anything but business; for Gunlaug would hear +nothing more. Then came the fishermen, then the merchants and captains, +and last of all, on the first Sunday, the sailors. It must have been by +agreement, for in the evening, just at one time, the house was so +overflowing with people that not only were both rooms full, but the +tables and chairs that stood in the garden in summer, had to be brought +in, and set in the passages, in the kitchen, in the back room. No one +who saw this assembly would suspect the feeling with which the people +were sitting there; for the very moment that they crossed her +threshold, she had taken her quiet command over them, and the decision +with which she dealt to each his due, kept down every inquiry, every +welcome. She was the same; only her hair was no longer black, and her +manner a little more quiet. But when their spirits began to rise, they +could no longer contain themselves, and every time that Gunlaug and the +girl went out of the room, they called out to Knud the Boatman, who had +always been Gunlaug's favorite, to drink her health when she came back. +But he did not get courage to do it, till he was a little warmer in the +head; at last, however, when she came in to collect the empty bottles +and glasses, he got up, and said, "That it was a right good thing she +had come back;--for there wasn't the least doubt, that----that it was a +right good thing she had come back!" The others thought it was very +well said, and they rose up, and shouted: "Yes, it was a right good +thing!" and they in the passage, and in the kitchen, and in the other +rooms, also rose up to join in the decision; the boatman gave her the +glass and cried, "Hurrah!" and the others shouted "Hurrah!" enough to +lift the roof and carry it up to the skies. Soon one of them +acknowledged that they had done her shameful injustice, then another +swore to the same, and soon the whole house were condemning themselves +that they had done her the most shameful wrong. When at last there was +a lull, because they wanted a word from herself, Gunlaug said that she +must thank them very much; "but," continued she, as she once more +gathered up the empty bottles and glasses,--"as long as I don't mention +it, you needn't do so." When she; had gathered up what she could carry, +she went out and came in again for the remainder, and from that hour, +she held undisputed sway. + + + + + CHAPTER VII. + + THE FIRST ACT. + + +It was evening and quite dusk when the vessel cast anchor in the +harbour of Bergen. Petra half stupified from sea-sickness, was led in +the captain's boat, through a multiplicity of ships large and small, +till at last they emerged at the quay, which was covered with ferrymen, +the narrow alleys leading to it swarming with peasants and street boys. + +They stopped before a neat little house, where at the request of the +Captain, an old woman gave Petra a most kind reception. She stood in +need of rest and sleep, and both of these she obtained. Lively and +well, she awoke next day at noon, to new sounds and a new dialect, and +when the blind was drawn up, to a new landscape, new people, and a new +town. She had become new herself she thought, as she stood before the +looking glass,--that face was not the old one. True, she could not +define the difference, and did not understand that at her age, trouble +and sorrow have a refining, spiritualising influence; but seeing +herself in the glass, made her think of the last nights, and trembling +at the remembrance, she hastened to make herself ready to go down to +the new life awaiting her. There, she met her hostess, and several +ladies, who, after eyeing her profoundly, promised to do what they +could for her, and began by taking her round the town. Having several +things to buy, she ran up for her pocket book, but she felt ashamed to +take the thick clumsy old thing down stairs, so she opened it, to take +out the money there. Instead of 100 specie dollars she found 300! That +must be Pedro Ohlsen again, who against her mother's will and knowledge +had given her money. She had so little understanding about the worth of +things, that the greatness of the sum did not astonish her; neither did +it strike her therefore, to seek further for the cause of such great +benevolence. Instead of a glowing letter of thanks with questions +indicating a suspicion of the truth Pedro Ohlsen got a letter sent down +from Gunlaug, and addressed to herself, wherein the daughter with +undisguised annoyance, betrayed her benefactor, and asked what she was +to do with the gift thus clandestinely made her. + +Petra's first impression of the town, was entirely ruled by the power +of the elements. She could not divest herself of the feeling that the +mountains stood so close over her, that she must take care. She felt +burdened every time she looked up to them, and then again, an +inclination prompted her to stretch out her hand and knock at them; +sometimes she felt as though there were no outlet at all. There stood +the mountains, sunless and dark, the clouds hung close over them, or +were chased hurriedly away; wind and rain vied incessantly with each +other. But on the people around her was no burden resting, she was soon +happy among them; for there was in their busy activity a freedom, ease +and gaiety, which, after what she had passed through, she felt to be as +smiles and welcome. + +When the next day she remarked at the dinner table, that she liked to +be where there were a number of people, they told her that she should +go to the theatre, for there she would meet with many hundreds in one +house. Yes, she would like that; the ticket was taken, the theatre was +near at hand, and at the appointed time, she was taken there, and shewn +to a seat in the first tier of the gallery. There she sat among many +hundred happy people, in a dazzling light, surrounded by brilliant +colours, and conversation breaking in upon her from all corners, with +the noise of ocean. + +Petra had not the slightest idea of what she was about to see. She knew +nothing but what Odegaard had told her, and what by chance she had +heard from others. But of the theatre Odegaard had never spoken; the +sailors had merely talked of one where there were wild animals and +horse-riders, and to the lads it never occurred to talk about the play, +even if those from the school knew a little about it; for the little +town had no theatre of its own, not even a house that was called such; +travelling menageries, rope-dancers, and harlequins used to exhibit +either in booths, or in the open field. She was so ignorant, that she +did not even ask any questions, but was sitting boldly expecting +something wonderful, e.g. camels or apes. Taken up by this idea, by +degrees she began to see animals in all the faces around her, horses, +dogs, foxes, cats, mice, and so amused herself. Meanwhile the orchestra +had assembled without her being aware of it. She jumped up in a fright, +for a short sharp burst from trombones, drums, trumpets, and horns, +opened the overture. She had never in her life heard more music at one +time, than a couple of violins and perhaps a flute. This pealing +grandeur turned her pale, it partook of the nature of a cold, dark, +heavy sea, she sat in dread for the next lest it should be still worse, +and yet she did not wish it to be over. By and bye softer harmonies +arose, vistas that she had never even dreamt of, opened before her; +melodies lulled her thither, life and merriment floated in the air, the +whole march rose upwards as on wings, it went softly down, it gathered +again powerfully, it parted quiveringly and sprightfully,--till a +sombre gloom fell over all; it was as if it were whirled away in a +crashing waterfall. Then arose a single tone like a bird on a wet +branch by the deep; sadly and timidly it began, but the air above it, +cleared as it sang, a gleam of sunshine came,--and again the long blue +vista was filled with that wonderful wave and fluttering behind the +rays of the sun; when this had lasted a moment, lo! it subsided in +gentle peace; the exultant host withdrew further and further, nothing +was to be seen but the rays of the sun oozing and fusing through the +air,--over the whole of the endless plain, only sun, over all light and +stillness,--and in this blessedness it died away. Involuntarily she +arose, for she felt it was over. Oh marvel! there went the beautiful +painted wall in front of her straight up through the roof! She was in a +church, a church with pillars and arches, beautifully decorated; the +organ was pealing, and people advancing towards her, in a strange garb, +and they were talking,--yes, talking in church, and in a language she +did not understand. What? They were talking also behind her: "Sit +down!" they said, but there was nothing there to sit upon, and the two +in church continued to stand too; as she looked at them, it came +clearly to her mind, that the dress was the same as that she had seen +in a picture of St. Olaf,--and there they were calling St. Olaf's +name!--"Sit down!" sounded again from behind her; "sit down!" cried a +great many voices,--"there is perhaps something behind as well," +thought Petra, turning round. A sea of angry threatening faces met her +gaze;--"there's something wrong here," she thought, and wanted to get +away; but an old woman who sat next to her, pulled her gently by the +dress: "Come, sit down, child," she whispered, "you know they behind +cannot see!" She was in her place in a moment; for to be sure: that is +the theatre, and we are looking on,--the theatre! she repeated the +word, as if to recall herself. Then she was in the church again; +notwithstanding all her endeavours, she could not understand the +speaker; but when she fairly discovered that he was a young, handsome +man, she began to understand a word now and then, and when she heard +that he was in love, and love was his theme, she understood most of +all. Then a third came in, who, for an instant, drew her attention +away, for she knew from drawings that he must be a monk, and a monk she +had a great desire to see. He trod so softly, was so quiet, yes, he +must in truth be a godfearing man; he spoke slowly, distinctly, she +followed every word. But the next minute, he turned and said exactly +the opposite of what he had said before,--heavens! he's a scoundrel, +he's a scoundrel! he has the look of it! And this young handsome man +cannot see it! he might at all events hear it! "He is deceiving you!" +she whispered, half aloud. "Hush!" said the old lady. No, the young man +does not hear, he withdraws in good faith, they all go, and an old man +comes in alone. How is this? When the old man speaks, it is just as if +the young one was speaking, and yet it is the old man, ... oh! look +there! look there! a shining procession of girls, all in white, two and +two they pass silently through the church; she saw them long after they +had gone by,--and a similar impression from her childhood hovered in +her memory. One winter she had gone with her mother over the mountain; +making their way in the new fallen snow, they had startled a covey of +ptarmigans, that with one accord, flew up in front of them; they were +white, the snow was white, the forest white,--long after, all her +thoughts rose white before her, and now the same thing again. But one +of these maidens robed in white, steps forth alone, with a wreath in +her hand, and kneels, the old man has knelt also, and she talks to him, +he has brought messages and a letter for her from foreign lands, he +brings it out,--her face tells clearly, it is from one she loves, oh! +how delightful, they all seem to love here! She opens it,--it is not a +letter, it is full of music,--yes, see, yes, see! he himself is the +letter, the old man is the young one, and he is the one she loves! They +embrace, heavens, they kiss each other,--Petra felt she grew scarlet, +and hid her face with her hands, while she watched further;--listen, he +is telling her that they will soon get married; and she laughingly +pulls his beard, and says he has grown a barbarian, and he says she has +grown so lovely, and he gives her a ring, and promises her scarlet and +velvet, gold slippers, and a golden belt; he merrily takes his leave, +and goes to the king to arrange about their wedding. His betrothed +looks after him, and her eye glistens, but turning round without him, +all seems so empty! + +There slides the wall down again. Over now? just as it began? Blushing, +she turned to the old lady: "Is it over?"--"No, no, child, it is the +first act. There are five such, yes indeed there are," she repeated +with a sigh: "There are five such."--"About the same?" asked +Petra. "What do you mean by that?"--"The same people come in +again, and it all goes on further?" "Then you have never been at a +comedy?"--"No."--"Well, in many places there is no theatre, it is so +expensive." "But whatever is this?" asked Petra anxiously, staring +as if she couldn't wait for a reply: "Who are these people?"--"A +company that Director Naso has, a first class company; he is very +clever."--"Does he invent it?--or what is it? Pray do tell me!"--"Dear +child, do you really not know what a play is? Where are you from?" But +when Petra thought of her native place, she thought also of her shame, +her flight, she did not speak and dare not ask any more questions. + +The second act came, and with it the king, then she really got to see a +king too! She did not hear what he said, she did not see whom he talked +to, she was observing the king's dress, the king's manners, the king's +bearing; she was first recalled, when the young man came in again and +now they all withdrew to bring in the bride! So she must wait once +more. + +Between the acts, the old lady bent over towards her: "Don't you think +they play beautifully?" she said. Petra looked up astonished at her. +"Play,--what do you mean?" She id not see that everybody round about +was looking at her, and that the old woman had been deputed to ask her, +nor did she hear that they sat and laughed at her. "But they don't +speak like we do?" she asked, as she did not get any reply. "They are +Danes of course," said the lady and began to laugh herself. Then Petra +understood that the good woman was laughing at her many questions, and +was silent; she looked stedfastly at the curtain. + +When it went up again, she had the great pleasure of seeing an +archbishop. It was now the same as before; she was lost in the sight +and did not hear a word of what he said. But then came music, oh so +softly, so far away, but it was coming nearer; female voices were +singing, and the play of flutes and violins, and an instrument, it was +not a guitar, and yet like many guitars, but softer, fuller, loftier in +its tone, the entire harmony poured in in long waves,--and as if all +were a blending of colouring, came the procession, soldiers carrying +halberds, choristers bearing censors, monks holding candles, the king +wearing his crown, and the bridegroom arrayed in white, at his +side,--then the white robed maidens strewing flowers and music before +the bride, who was attired in white silk, and wore a red wreath: at her +side walked a tall lady with a purple train adorned with gold crowns, +and a little sparkling crown on her head, that must be the queen! The +whole church was filled with their song and colours, and all that now +happened, from the bridegroom leading the bride to the altar where they +knelt, the whole company kneeling with them,--to the archbishop coming +in pomp with his brethren, were only fresh links in the tinted music +chain. + +But just as the ceremony was about to take place, the Archbishop waved +his staff, and forbade it; their marriage was against the holy +scriptures, here on earth they could never be united,--oh heavens have +mercy,--the bride sank down, and with a piercing cry, Petra, who had +risen, also fell! + +"Water, bring water!" cried those around her. + +"No," replied the old lady, "there is no need, she has not fainted!" +"No need," they repeated, "silence!"----"Silence!" they cried from +the parquet, "silence in the gallery!"--"Silence!" answered those +above.--"You must not take it so much to heart; it is only fiction and +nonsense altogether," whispered the old lady; "but Madame Naso plays +wonderfully." + +"Silence!" now exclaimed Petra herself; she was already deep in the +acting, for the devilish monk had come forward with a sword, the two +lovers had to hold a handkerchief and he rent it asunder between +them,--as the church rent, as grief rent, as the sword over the gate of +paradise rent that first day. Weeping maidens took the red wreath from +the bride, and replaced it with a white one; thereby she was sealed to +the cloister for life. He to whom she belonged in time and eternity, he +should know her to be alive, yet lost to him, know her to be within, +yet never see her; now dilacerating the farewell they took, there was +no greater suffering upon earth than theirs!-- + +"Mercy," whispered the old lady, when the curtain fell: "don't be so +foolish; you know it is only Madame Naso, the director's wife." Petra +stared at the old lady, she thought she must be crazy and as the latter +had long thought the same of her, they continued to look a little +askance at each other, but did not speak any more. + +Petra could not follow the scene when the curtain rose; the bride +within the convent, and the bridegroom day and night in doubt without +the walls, was what she saw, she suffered their suffering, she prayed +their prayers; but that which took place before her eyes, passed +unheeded by. An ominous silence fell over all, and this brought her to +herself; the church seemed to grow larger, the twelve strokes of the +clocks sounded in empty space; it rumbled under the arches, the walls +shook, St. Olaf had risen from his tomb, and wrapped in a winding +sheet, tall and awful, a spear in his hand, he strode along: the +sentinels flee, the thunder peels, the monk is pierced by the +outstretched lance; then all is darkness, and the apparition +disappears. But where the lightning struck, the monk lies as a heap of +ashes. + +Without being aware of it, Petra had caught fast hold of the old lady, +and grasped her so tightly, that she alarmed her, and seeing Petra's +increasing paleness, she exclaimed: "Why my dear child, it is only +Knutsen; that is the only part he can play, he speaks so broad."--"No, +no, no," said Petra, "I saw flames round about him, and the whole +church shook beneath his tread!"--"Be quiet there!" was heard from +several quarters; "Out with those who can't be quiet!"--"Silence in the +gallery!" cried the parquet; "Silence!" replied the gallery.--Petra had +crept together as if to hide herself, but she soon forgot them +altogether; for see! there are the lovers again, the lightning has +opened their way, they will escape! They have found each other, they +embrace; Heaven protect them! + +Then a tumult arises, a sound of voices and trumpets, the bridegroom is +torn from her side, they are fighting for their country, he is wounded, +and dying he greets his bride, ... Petra first understands what has +happened, when the bride enters softly, and sees him dead! It is as if +the clouds of grief would gather over a single spot, but a glance +dispels them: the bride looks up from the dead man's side, and prays +that she too may die! The heavens open at her glance, the lightning +flashes, the bridal hall is above; let the bride in! Yes,--already she +can see within; for her eyes shed a blessed peace, like that upon the +mountain tops. Then the eyelids close: the battle had a higher +solution, their constancy a brighter crowning; she was now with him. + +Petra sat a long time still: her heart was lifted in faith, and the +strength of the Highest filled her soul. She rose up, above all that +was small, above fear and pain, rose with smiles to all,--were they not +brothers and sisters; the evil that separates was not present, it was +crushed under the thunder. They laughed at her in return, that was the +girl that had been half mad at the play;--but in their smiles, she saw +only a reflection of the victory she herself had gained. In this +confidence, that they were smiling in participation with her joy, her +face bore so radiant an expression, that they could not resist it, and +they smiled her smile in return; she passed down the broad stairs +between the people who made way for her on both sides, returning joy +for her joy, and beauty for the beauty which beamed upon them. There +are times when our souls shine forth in such resplendence, that we shed +a brightness on all about us, though we ourselves cannot see. The +greatest triumphal procession in the world, is this, to be led, upheld, +and followed by one's own refulgent thoughts. + +When, without knowing how, she arrived at home, she asked what it had +all been. There were some present, who were able to understand her, and +give her a satisfactory reply; and when she had got a real appreciation +of what the drama was, and of what great actors had in their power, she +rose and said: "There is nothing greater than this upon earth, and this +I must be." + +To their astonishment she put on her things and went out again; she +must be alone, and in the open air. She went away from the town, and +out to the adjacent promontory,--the wind was high, and the sea lashed +up beneath her;--the town on both sides of the bay lay enveloped in a +light mist, behind which the innumerable lights with all their +endeavours could do no more than lighten the fog they could not lift. + +This was the image of her soul. + +The great darkness, in its damp surge beneath her feet, gave warning of +an impenetrable deep; it behoved her to sink down thither, or rise in +the attempt to lighten it. She asked herself why she had never before +felt these thoughts, and she answered, because it was the moments only +that had power over her, but then she felt that she had also power over +them. She saw it now: as many moments would be given her, as there were +flickering lights yonder, and she prayed God that she might perfect +them all, that so His love might have kindled no light in vain. + +She rose, for the wind was icy told; she had not been long away, but as +she went home again, she knew whither she was going. + + * * * + +The next day she stood at the director's door. Hot words were heard +from within; one of the voices seemed to her like the bride's of +yesterday; in another key, to-day, to be sure, but still it made Petra +tremble. She waited a long time, but as it would not stop, at last she +knocked. "Come in," said a man's voice angrily. "Oh!" screamed a lady, +and as Petra entered, she saw a flying terror in a night dress, and +with dishevelled hair, disappearing through a side door. The director, +a tall man with blear eyes (which he hastened to hide with a pair of +gold spectacles), was pacing backwards and forwards in agitation. His +long nose so ruled his face, that all the rest was there for the nose's +sake, the eyes stuck out like two gun barrels behind this rampart, the +mouth was a trench before it, and the forehead, a light bridge over to +the forest, or barricade of felled trees.--"What is it you want?" he +stopped short; "is it you that wishes to join the chorus?" he asked +hurriedly. "'The chorus,' what is that?"--"Ha! so you don't know that; +what is it you want then?"--"I wish to be an actress."--"An actress +indeed,--and don't know what a chorister is! But you speak the +dialect?"--"'Dialect,' what is that?" "Eh! so you don't know that +either, and will yet be an actress, well, well; yes, that's like the +Norsemen. Dialect means, that you don't talk like we do."--"Yes, +but I've been practising all the morning."--"Have you, indeed? Come, +come, let me hear!" Petra took an attitude, and said with exactly the +same accent as the bride of yesterday: "I greet you my love. Good +morning!"--"I say, you are possessed, are you come here to make a fool +of my wife!" A peal of laughter was heard in the adjoining room, the +director opened the door, and without a trace of remembrance that but a +moment since they had been fighting for life and death: "Here is a +Norwegian hussy," he said, "caricaturing you, pray come and see her!" A +lady's head with untidy, refractory black hair, dark eyes, and large +mouth, peeped in and laughed. And yet Petra hastened towards her; for +it must be the bride,--no, her mother, she thought as she drew nearer. +She looked at the lady, and said: "I am not sure if it is you, or if it +is your mother!" whereupon the director also laughed. The head had +retreated, but laughed in the side room. Petra's embarrassment was +clearly depicted in her face and attitude; it attracted the director's +attention, he looked at her, and taking a book, said as though nothing +in the world had happened: "Take this, my girl, and read, but read as +you talk yourself."--She did so. "No, no, that is not right, read +Norwegian,--Norwegian, I say!"--and Petra read, but the same as before. +"No, I tell you, it is altogether wrong. Do you understand what I mean? +Are you stupid?"--He tried her again and again, then took the book from +her and gave her another: "See, that is the opposite, it is comic, read +that!"--"Yes, Petra read, but with the same result till she wearied him +out."--"No, no!" he cried, "for heavens sake give over,--what do you +want with the stage, what the deuce is it you want to act?"--"The play +I saw yesterday."--"Aha! To be sure! well, and then?"--"Yes," said she, +feeling a little bashful, "I thought it was so delightful, yesterday, +but I have been thinking today it would be still more delightful if it +had a good ending, and I would give it that."--"Eh, that is it? Well, +to be sure! There's nothing to hinder; the author is dead. Of course, +he is no longer correct, and you, who can neither speak, nor read, will +improve his works;--yes, that is Norwegian!" Petra did not understand +the words, she understood only that they went against her, and she +began to fear. "Will you let me?" she asked softly.--"Certainly, Lord +preserve us, there's nothing to hinder, be so good!--Listen," he said +in a different tone, as he went close up to her, "you have no more idea +of the drama than a cat; and you have no talent for either the comedy +or the tragedy; I have tried you in both. Because you have a pretty +face, and a fine figure, I suppose people have put it into your head +that you could play much better than my wife, and so you will take +the first part in my 'répertoire,' and make alterations to begin +with;--yes, that is the Norwegians, they are the people that can do +it."--Petra could hardly breathe, she struggled and struggled; at last +she ventured to say: "Will you really not allow me?" He had been +standing looking out of the window, and was certain she had gone; he +now turned round in surprise, and was struck with her emotion, and the +wonderful strength with which it was pourtrayed in her whole being; he +looked at her a moment, then suddenly seizing the book, he said with a +voice and manner as if nothing had happened before: "See, take this +piece here, and read it slowly, let me hear your voice. Come now!" But +she could not read, for she could not see the letters. "Don't be +afraid!" At last she began, but coldly, without any spirit; he bade her +read it over again with more feeling; but it was still worse, so he +quietly took the book from her: "I have tried you in all ways," he said +"so I have no responsibility. I assure you, my good girl, if I were to +send my boots upon the stage, or I were to send you, the impression +would be just the same--viz., a very remarkable one. So that must end +the matter!" But as a last endeavour, Petra ventured entreatingly: +"I believe though I understand it, if only I get----" "Yes, to be +sure,--every fishing village understands it a great deal better than +we; the Norwegian public is the most enlightened in the world."--"Come +now, if you won't disappear, I must!" She turned to the door, and burst +into tears. "I say," this violent outburst had thrown a new light on +the subject; "I say, I suppose it isn't you that made such a +disturbance in the theatre last night?"--She turned round, fiery red; +"Yes, to be sure, I know you now, Fisher Girl! I was in company with a +gentleman from your town after the play, he 'knew you well.' Ha! so +that is why you wanted to get on the stage; you would try your tricks +there,--I understand!--Listen: My theatre is a respectable +establishment, and I defy all attempts to transform it. Go! Will you +go, I say!"--and Petra went, sobbing fearfully, down the steps, and out +into the street. She ran crying past all the people, and a lady at +mid-day, running and crying in the street created, as may be imagined, +a great sensation. People stopped, the dogs ran after her, and more +followed. The whirr behind her reminded her of those awful nights in +the attic chamber, she remembered the faces in the air and ran faster. +But the remembrance grew more vivid with every step, the noise behind +her increased, and when she arrived at the house and shut the street +door, reached her room and locked herself in, she threw herself down in +a corner to defend herself from the faces; she struck them off with her +hands, and threatened them, then sinking down exhausted, she wept more +quietly,--and was saved. + + * * * + +The same day towards evening, she left Bergen and started for the +country; she did not know where to, but she would go where she was not +known. She went in a carriole, the driver boy sitting on her trunk +strapped on behind. It rained fast, she sat crouched together under a +great rain hat, and looked uneasily at the mountain above her, and then +at the precipice below. The forest before her was a dense mass of fog, +teeming with spectres; the next moment she would enter it, but the fog +was parting at every step she took towards it. A mighty rumbling that +grew stronger and stronger increased the feeling that she was entering +upon an unknown region, where everything had its own meaning and some +dark and mysterious connection, where man was only a nervous traveller, +who had yet to discover whether or not he could get further. The +rumbling came from several waterfalls, that in the wet weather had +grown up to battle, and now hurled themselves precipitately from rock +to rock with a terrific crash. Now and then they passed over narrow +bridges; she could see the water boiling and seething in the hollows +below. Soon the road began to bend and wind down the mountain; here and +there lay a cultivated field, and a few turf houses stood together; +then again it turned up towards the forest and rumbling. She was wet +through, and shivered, but still she would go further, as long as the +day lasted,--further also the next day, ever deeper in, till she came +to a place she dare trust herself to. Thereto He Himself would help +her, the Almighty, who now led them through the darkness and the storm. + + + + + CHAPTER VIII. + + AT THE RURAL DEAN'S. + + +Quite late in autumn, among the mountains in Bergen's shire, where the +land is sheltered and fruitful, there are occasionally days almost like +summer. On such afternoons, the cattle, even if they have already begun +with the winter feeding, are again let out into the pasture; they are +well fed and frisky, and when they are driven home at night, the scene +is lively. Thus they came down over the mountain track, cows, sheep, +and goats, bellowing, butting, and skipping, their bells merrily +ringing, and were just approaching the farm as Petra was driving by. It +was a beautiful day, the window panes in the long white wooden +buildings glittered in the sun, and above the houses, towered the +mountains, so thickly covered with firs, birch, ash, bird cherry, rowan +trees, and the projecting rocks with juniper bushes, that the houses +seemed quite sheltered by them. Facing the road, in front of the house, +was a garden, apples, cherry, and plum trees flourished in abundance; +red and black currant, and gooseberry bushes grew along the walks and +fences, and above all, towered some grand old ash trees with their +broad and stately crowns. The house looked like a nest half hidden +among the branches, out of reach for everything but the sun. But just +this seclusion awakened a longing in Petra, and when she heard it was +the deanery, she exclaimed: "I must go in here!" and pulling in the +reins, she turned along the garden. + +A couple of Finnish dogs rushed out upon her as she drove into the farm +yard, a large square, enclosed with buildings, the cattle stall +opposite the house, another wing of the house to the right, and to the +left the brewery, wash house, and labourers' room. The farm yard was +now full of cattle, and in the midst of them stood a lady, tall and +elegant; she wore a tight fitting dress, and a little silk handkerchief +over her head; round about and above her[2] were goats, white, black, +brown, and parti-coloured, all with their little bells sounding in +harmony; she had a name for each of her goats, and now she had +something nice for them in a dish, which the milkmaid continually +replenished. Upon the low step leading from the house to the farm yard, +the rural dean was standing with a plate of salt, and in front of him +were the cows licking the salt out of his hand and off the step where +he strewed it. The dean was not a tall man, but compact, with short +neck and short forehead; the bushy eyebrows lay over eyes that did not +often look straight before them, but now and then cast a flashing +glance aside. His thick grey hair was cut short, and stood up on all +sides, it grew down over his neck nearly as much as on his head; he +wore no neckerchief, but a shirt stud; in the front the shirt was +open,--one could see his hairy bosom; neither was it buttoned at the +wrists, so the shirt cuffs came down over the small, powerful hands, +now all licked over by the cows; both hands and arms were shaggy. He +glanced sharply from the side, at the stranger lady who had alighted, +and made her way between the goats to where his daughter was standing. +It was impossible, for the noise of the cattle, dogs, and bells, to +hear what they were saying, but now both the ladies were looking at +him, and with the goats around them they came towards the step. The +herdsman, on a sign from the dean, began to drive the cattle away. +Signe, his daughter, called out: (Petra was struck with the harmony of +her voice,) "Father, here is a lady travelling, who would like to rest +a day with us."--"She shall be welcome!" cried the dean in reply, gave +the dish to the lad, and went into his study, in the right wing of the +house, apparently to tidy himself. Petra followed the young lady into +the passage, which was more properly a hall, it was so light and broad; +the driver boy was dismissed, her things carried in, and she herself +shewn into a side room opposite the study, where she took off her +things, and went out again into the passage, to be further shewn into +the dining room. + +What a large light room! Nearly the whole wall fronting the garden was +windows, the middle one opened as a door to the garden. The windows +were broad and high, reaching almost to the floor, and they were full +of flowers, plants stood upon stands here and there in the room, and +instead of curtains was interwoven ivy, hanging from two small hedges +of flowers up in the frame above. As there were bushes and flowers on +every side, growing up the walls, and on the greensward before her, it +seemed like a conservatory in the midst of the garden; and yet one had +not been a minute in the room, before the flowers were no longer seen; +for the church standing by itself on a hill to the right was what one +saw,--the blue waters reflecting its image, coursed sparkling on so far +away between the mountains that one could not tell whether it was a +lake, or an arm of the sea curving in. And then the mountains +themselves! Not single, but chains of mountains, each one rearing its +mighty front behind the other, as if the boundary of the world. + +When Petra withdrew her eyes, everything in the room seemed hallowed by +the scene without; it was pure and light,--a frame of flowers for a +magnificent picture. She felt surrounded by some unseen presence, +observing her deportment, yea, even her thoughts; she went round the +room, without being conscious of doing so, and touched the things. +Suddenly she caught sight of the life size portrait of a lady smiling +down upon her from over the sofa, facing the light. She was sitting +with her head a little to one side, and folded hands, her right arm +rested on a book, on the back of which, in distinct letters, was +inscribed: "Sabbath Hours." Her light hair and fair complexion, shed +radiance, imparting a Sabbath peace to all around her. Her smile was +grave, but the gravity was affection. She seemed as though she could +draw everyone to her in love; she seemed to understand all, for in +everything she saw only the good. Her countenance bore traces of +delicacy, perhaps this delicacy had been her strength, for there could +be no one who dare abuse it. A wreath of everlastings hung above the +frame; she was dead. + +"That was my mother," she heard softly behind her, and she turned,--it +was the daughter, who had gone out and now came in again. The whole +room, seemed as it were, filled with the portrait, everything was +adapted to it, and the daughter was its quiet reflection; she seemed a +little more silent, a little more reserved. The mother received the +glance of all, and gave hers fully in return, the daughter bent hers +down, but in both there was the same peace and mildness. She had also +her mother's figure, but without a trace of weakness,--on the contrary, +the bright colours in her tight-fitting dress, in her apron, and little +silk neckerchief fastened with a Roman pin, cast a glow of freshness +over her face, and yielded a charm, which made her at once the daughter +of the portrait, and the nymph of the place. As she was walking there +among the mother's flowers, Petra felt a strong drawing towards her; in +the presence of such a woman, and in such a place, everything good must +grow;--dare she but step within! She now doubly felt her loneliness; +her glance followed Signe incessantly, Signe felt it and tried to evade +it, but it did not help, she felt embarrassed, and stooped down over +the flowers. At last Petra discovered her impropriety, she felt +ashamed, and would have apologised, but there was something in the +neatly arranged hair, the fine forehead, and the dress, that bade her +be cautious. She looked up at the mother; her, she could already have +embraced! Was it not as if she were bidding her welcome. Dare she +believe it? No one had ever looked thus at her before; it seemed to say +that she knew all that had happened to the wayfarer, and would yet +forgive her. Forbearance, she stood in need of, and she could not take +her eyes from this benevolent glance,--she put her head to one side, +like the portrait, she folded her hands like it, and almost without +knowing it, she exclaimed: "Oh let me stay here!" Signe rose and turned +towards her, she could not answer for amazement. "Do let me stay here!" +begged Petra again, advancing a step towards her: "It is delightful!" +and her eyes filled with tears. + +"I will ask my father to come," said the young lady. Petra watched her +till she passed within the study door, but as soon as she was alone, +she was afraid at what she had done, and she trembled when she saw the +dean's astonished face at the door. He came a little better dressed +than before, and with a pipe in his mouth; he held fast hold of it, +taking it from his lips at every whiff, and emitting the smoke in three +puffs, each with a little smack; he repeated this two or three times, +as he stood before Petra in the middle of the floor, not looking at +her, but as if waiting for her to speak. She dare not before this man +repeat her request; he looked so austere. "You wish to stay here?" he +asked, and he gave her a quick bright side glance. Her terror made her +voice tremble a little: "I have no place to go to."--"Where are you +from?" In a low tone she gave the town and her own name. "How did you +get here?"--"I do not know, ... I am seeking ... I can pay for myself, +... I, ... Yes, I don't know," she could say no more for a minute, then +she took fresh courage and continued: "I will do everything you tell +me, if only I may stay here, and not have to go further ... and not +have to ask any more." The daughter had followed her father in, but +remained standing by the stove, where without looking up, she was +fingering the dried rose leaves that lay there. The dean did not reply, +one could only hear the puff of his pipe, as he looked alternately at +her, Petra, and the portrait. Now the same thing may give two very +different impressions: while Petra was praying that the portrait might +influence him to lenience, he thought it whispered: "Protect our child; +take no stranger in to her!"--He turned with a sharp side glance to +Petra: "No, you cannot remain here!" + +Petra turned pale, drew a deep heavy sigh looked round +hesitatingly,--and then rushing into a side room, the door of which +stood half open, she threw herself down beside a table, and gave full +vent to her grief and disappointment! Father and daughter looked at +each other; this lack of manners,--rushing into another room without a +word, and then sitting down by herself, was only a counterpart of her +former proceeding,--coming in from the road, begging to stay with them, +and bursting into tears when she did not get permission. The dean went +after her, not to speak to her, but to shut the door. He came back +quite flushed, and said in a subdued tone to the daughter, who was +still standing by the stove: "Have you ever seen her equal?--Who is +she? What is her object?"--The daughter did not at once reply, and +when she answered it was in a still more subdued tone than the +father's.--"She goes the wrong way about, but there is something very +remarkable in her."--The dean paced up and down, looking towards the +door; at last he stopped and whispered: "She cannot be altogether in +her right mind?"--and as Signe did not answer, he came nearer and +repeated more decidedly: "She must be crazy, Signe, half-witted; that +is the remarkable about her."--"I don't think so;" replied Signe, "but +she is certainly very unhappy," and she bent down over the dried rose +leaves with which she was still toying. + +The tone of the voice, as well as the movement would have been in no +way striking to another; but it changed the father at once, he walked a +few times up and down, looking at the portrait; at last he said, very +slowly: "You mean, because she looks unhappy,--that mother would have +bidden her stay?"--"Mother would not have given any answer for two or +three days," whispered the daughter, bending lower over the roses. The +gentlest reminder of her up there, when the daughter brought it thus +before him, could make that hairy lion head as mild and gentle as a +lamb's. He felt the truth at once, and stood like a school boy caught +in a trick; he forgot to smoke and walk up and down, and after a long +time he whispered: "Should I bid her remain a few days?"--"You have +already answered her."--"Yes, but it is one thing to receive her +altogether, and another to let her stay here a few days."--Signe seemed +to be pondering the matter, and said at last, "Do as you think best." +The dean would prove the matter yet once more, as he paced the room +again, smoking hard. At last he stopped: "Will you go in, or shall +I?"--"It will certainly do most good if you go," said the daughter and +looked mildly up. + +He was just going to turn the door handle, when a loud peal of laughter +was heard from within,--then silence and again another roar. The dean, +who had turned back, went forward again, the daughter after him; for +there must be something the matter with the one in there. + +When the door opened, they saw her sitting just where they had left +her, but with a great book open before her, over which she had thrown +herself without knowing it. Her tears had trickled down on to its +leaves; she observed it, and was about to dry them, when her eye caught +sight of an expression of the juicy sort, which she remembered from the +street days of her childhood, but which she had never thought to see in +print. In her amazement, she forgot to weep, but buried herself in the +book,--what an absurd book it was!--She read with open mouth, it grew +worse and worse, so low, but so irresistibly amusing, that it was +impossible to give up, she must read on; she read, till she forgot all +else, she read away both sorrow and hunger, both time and place--with +old Father Holberg, for him it was. She laughed, she roared--even now +when the pastor and his daughter were standing over her, she did not +observe how grave they were, she never thought of her request, but +laughed and asked: "Whatever is this, whatever in the world is this?" +and she turned to the title page. + +Then she grew pale, looked up at them, and down again in the book at +the well-known characters; there are things that strike the heart like +a cannon ball, things that we believed to be hundreds of miles away, we +see straight before us,--here on the first page was written: "Hans +Odegaard." Blushing crimson she cried: "Is the book his,--is he coming +here?" she got up.--"He has promised to do so," answered Signe,--and +now Petra remembered, that there was a minister's family in Bergen's +shire, whom he had met abroad.--She had travelled only in a circle, +she had come just in his path. "Is he coming directly? Perhaps he is +here now?" she would at once fly further.--"No, he is ill," said +Signe.--"Yes, that is true, he is ill," said Petra, painfully, and sank +down. + +"But tell me," exclaimed Signe, "is it possible you can be----?" "The +Fisher Girl!" put in the pastor. Petra looked up entreatingly at them. +"Yes, I am the Fisher Girl," she said. + +But her they knew quite well; for Odegaard had talked of nothing else. +"That is another matter," said the dean,--he perceived there was +something wrong, needing a little friendly help;--"stay here as long as +you will, we shall help you!" Petra looked up in time to see the warm +look Signe gave him in thanks; this did her so much good, that she went +across, and took both Signe's hands, saying, though bashfully: "As soon +as we two are alone, I will tell you all!" + +One hour after, Signe knew Petra's whole history, which she at once +communicated to her father. On his advice, Signe wrote the same day to +Odegaard, and continued to do so; as long as Petra was in their house. + +When that evening Petra laid down to rest, in the soft eider down, in a +warm room with crackling birch wood in the stove, and the New Testament +laid between the two lights on the white toilet table,--she thanked her +God, as she took the book, for all, the evil as well as the good. + + * * * + +As a young man, the dean with an ardent temperament and talent for +oratory, had wished to study for the ministry; his parents, people of +wealth, had been against it; they would have preferred to see him +choose what they called an independent position; but their opposition +served only to increase his zeal, and when he had graduated, he went +abroad to study further. During a preliminary stay in Denmark, he used +often to meet a lady, who belonged to a religious sect not sufficiently +strict for him, and to whom he was therefore opposed: he sought +continually to influence her, but the way in which she looked at him, +thereby bringing him to silence, he could never forget during the whole +of his sojourn on the continent. When he returned, he at once visited +her. They had a good deal of intercourse, and grew in intimacy, till at +last they became engaged, and were soon after married. And now it was +evident that each of them had their own private thoughts; he had +purposed to draw her over with all her simple grace, to his gloomy +teaching, and she had been so innocently certain of being able to win +his power and eloquence over to the service of her church. His first +most cautious attempt was met by her first most cautious:--he drew +back, disappointed, mistrustful. She saw it at once, and from that day +he watched for her next attempt, while she did the same for his. But +neither of them tried it again, for both had become afraid: he was +afraid of his own passionate nature, and she, lest by a vain attempt, +she might spoil her opportunity of influencing him; for she never gave +up hope,--she had made it the aim of her life. But it never came to a +conflict; for where she was, such could not be; yet to his active will, +his repressed emotions, he must give vent, and so it happened every +time he entered the pulpit and saw her seated below. The members of his +church were drawn in with him as in a whirlwind, he excited them, and +soon they him. She saw it, and sought to give rest to her foreboding +heart in deeds of benevolence,----and later, when she became a mother, +in the daughter, on whom she lavished her tenderness, physical and +mental, and bore her to her quiet hours. There she gave, there she +took, there in the child's innocence, she watched over her own great +child, there she held the feast of love, and from there she returned to +him in his strictness, with the united mildness of a woman and a +Christian;--it was impossible for him to say anything that could wound +her then. He might indeed love her above all else on earth, but he grew +more sorrowful, the more he became convinced that he could not help her +in the matter of her salvation. With a mother's quiet right, she +withdrew the child also from his religious instruction; the child's +songs, the child's questions soon became a new and deep source of pain +to him,--and now when his violent agitation had excited him to hardness +in the pulpit, his wife only received him with the greater mildness as +they walked home together. The eyes spoke, but the mouth not a single +word. And the daughter clung to his hand, and looked at him with eyes +that were the mother's. + +All sorts of subjects were discussed in this house, only not that which +was the root of all their thoughts. But at length this strain could be +born no longer; she smiled still, it is true; but only because she did +not venture to weep. When the time drew near that the daughter must be +prepared for confirmation, and consequently by the right of his office, +he could draw her as quietly over to his instruction, as hitherto the +mother had held her in hers, the anxiety rose to its height, and after +the Sunday when the noting down of the candidates for confirmation was +announced, the mother became ill, like we are when wearied out. She +said smilingly, that she could not walk any more, and a few days later, +also smilingly, that how she could not sit. Though she could not speak +to the daughter she would yet have her always beside her, for she could +see her. And the daughter knew what she would most like; she read to +her out of The Book of Life, and sang to her the hymns of her +childhood, the new and peaceful hymns of her fellow believers. It was +long before the dean realised what was here preparing; but when he did +realise it, he lost the threads, he could only keep his thoughts to one +point,--to hear her say something to him, just a few words, but she was +not able to do it; she could no longer speak. He stood at the foot of +the bed, and watched, and prayed; she smiled upon him, till he fell on +his knees, took the daughter's hand and laid it in the mother's, as if +he said: "Here, you take her,--with you she shall ever remain!" Then +she smiled as never before,--and in that smile she passed away. + +After this, it was long before the dean could be led into conversation; +another was appointed to perform his duties,--he himself wandered from +room to room, from place to place, as though seeking something. He went +about quietly; when he spoke it was in a subdued tone, and it was only +by adopting the whole of this silent method, that little by little, the +daughter could share his society. But now she helped him in his search, +every word of the mother's was recalled,--what she would have wished, +became their guide for the future. The daughter's communion with her, +that to which he himself had been a stranger, was now lived over +again;--all was gone over afresh from the first hour the child could +remember; the mother's hymns were sung, her prayers were prayed, the +sermons she had thought most of, were read over one by one, and her +explanations and observations upon them, lovingly remembered in faith. +Thus roused to activity, he felt a desire to visit the place where he +had found her, there, in the same manner, to follow in her footsteps. +They went, and in making her life entirely his own, he partly +recovered. Himself a new beginner, he took an interest in every new +effort around him, the great, the small, national, political,--which +gave him back much of his own young life. His powers streamed in again, +and with them his longings,--now he would preach the Word so that it +would prepare for life, and not alone for death! + +Before he again shut himself in with his beloved work in his mountain +home, he felt a desire to take an enlarged view of the world elsewhere. +They therefore continued their journey further, and had now many +pleasing remembrances. + +Among these people lived Petra. + + + + + CHAPTER IX. + + APPREHENSIONS. + + +One Friday, a few days before the Christmas of the third year, the two +girls were sitting together in the evening twilight, and the dean had +just come in with his pipe. The day had passed as most others during +these two years; a walk began the mornings, after breakfast an hour's +practising, next languages or other studies, and then a little +occupation in household duties. In the afternoon, each in her own room, +Signe busy to-day in writing to Odegaard, after whom Petra never +enquired, even as she never would speak of the past. Towards dusk, a +sledge drive, and now they were in, to converse or sing, or later to +read aloud. For this the dean always joined them. He read remarkably +well, and his daughter not less so; Petra learnt the style of both, and +especially their pronunciation. The tone of Signe's voice and accent +was so pleasing to her, that it rang in her ears when she was alone. +Petra held Signe in such high estimation, that the fourth part a man +would have taken for ardent love; she often made Signe blush. By the +dean or Signe reading aloud every evening, (Petra was not to be +persuaded to do it;) they had gone through the chief poets of +Scandinavia, and besides had read many of the best works in foreign +literature; the drama was preferred. Just as they were about to light +the lamps this evening to begin, the kitchen maid came in and said, +that there was some one outside who had a message for Petra. It proved +to be a sailor from her native place; her mother had enjoined him to +seek her, as he was going in that direction, he had now come seven +miles out of his way, and must hasten back, as the vessel would be +sailing. As Petra wanted to talk with him, she went part of the way +along the road, for he was a dependable man whom she knew. The evening +was rather dark, and there was no light from the windows except in the +wash house, where they were having a great wash; there was no light on +the road, and the road itself could scarcely be seen, till the moon +rose over the mountains; but Petra went boldly on into the forest, +though there were weird shadows cast among the branches. One piece of +intelligence especially had enticed her to go with him: the sailor had +told her that Pedro Ohlsen's mother was dead, whereupon he had sold the +house, and moved up to Gunlaug, where he occupied Petra's room. This +was about two years ago, yet the mother had never named a word about +it. Now, however, Petra could judge who it was that had written the +letters for her mother, a question she had often asked, but always in +vain; for every letter concluded with these words: "and a greeting from +the one that writes this letter." The sailor had it in charge to ask +her, how long she was going to stay at the deanery, and what she +intended to do afterwards. Petra replied to the first that she did not +know, and to the second that he must tell the mother, there was only +one thing she wished in the world, and if she did not get it, she would +be unhappy all her life; but just now she could not say what it was. + +While Petra was talking to the sailor, the dean and Signe were sitting +in the dining room, talking about her to whom they were both very much +attached. Then the steward came up, and after giving in his report for +the day, he asked, if either of them knew, that the young lady living +with them went up and down from her room by a rope-ladder at nights. He +had to repeat it three times before either of them could conceive what +he meant; for he might as well have told them that she went up and down +on the moonbeams. It was dark in the room, and now it became perfectly +still; not even the sound of the dean's pipe. At length, with a certain +dull clink in his voice, he asked: "Who has seen it?"--"I have; I was +up attending to the horses, it would be about one o'clock."--"She went +down by a rope ladder?"--"And up again."--Again a long silence. Petra +occupied the room above, that looked on to the farm yard; she was alone +there, no one except her had a room on that side of the house, so there +could be no mistake who it was.--"It may have been in her sleep," said +the steward about to withdraw.--"She could not make the rope-ladder in +her sleep," said the dean.--"No, that was what I thought too, +therefore I judged it was best to tell it to him, father; I have not +mentioned it to any one else."--"Is there any one that has seen it +besides you?"--"No,--but if he, father, doubts the matter, let the +rope-ladder itself be the witness; if it is not there, I must have been +wrong."--The dean rose up quickly. "Father!" begged Signe.--"Bring a +light," said the dean in a way that did not allow of any opposition. +Signe lit it herself. "Father!" she begged once more, as she gave it +him.--"Yes, I am her father too, as long as she is in my house; it is +my duty to look into it,"--he went before with the light, Signe and the +steward after. + +Everything was in order in the little room; only a whole row of books +lay open on the table in front of the bed, one on the top of the other. +"Does she read at night?"--"I don't know, but she never puts her light +out BEFORE one o'clock." The dean and Signe looked at each other,--they +separated at the deanery about ten or half-past, and they re-assembled +again in the morning at six or seven.--"Do YOU know anything about +it?" Signe did not reply. But the steward who was down on his knees in +the corner, seeking, answered from there: "She certainly is not +alone."--"What is that you are saying?"--"No, there is always some one +with her, talking to her; they often speak very loud; I have heard her +both plead for herself and threaten. She must be in the hand of some +evil power, poor thing!" Signe turned away; the dean had grown deathly +pale.--"And here is the ladder," said the steward, he pulled it out, +and got up. Two clothes lines were fastened together by a third, tied +in a hard knot, then carried across and fastened in a knot about half a +foot below, then back, and so on till the ladder was long enough. They +examined it carefully.--"Was she long away?" asked the dean.--The +steward looked at him, "How, away?"--"Was she long away, when she came +down?"--Signe stood and shivered from fear and cold.--"She did not go +anywhere, she went up again."--"Up again? Then who went away?"--Signe +turned, and burst into tears. "There was not any one with her that +evening, it was yesterday."--"Then there was no one on the ladder +except her?"--"No."--"And she went down and up again directly?"--"Yes." + +"She has been proving it then," said the dean, and drew a long breath +as if relieved.--"Yes, before she let any one else go," added the +steward. The dean looked at him: "Then do you mean this is not the +first she has made?"--"No, otherwise how could people have got up to +her?"--"Have you known a long time that some one came to her?"--"Not +before this winter, when she began to burn her lamp at night. It never +struck me before to go down there."--"Then you have known it the whole +winter," said the dean severely; "why have you not told me before?"--"I +thought it was some one belonging to the house that was with her;--but +when I saw her on the ladder last night, it struck me it might be some +one else. If it had struck me before, I should have mentioned it +before."--"Yes,--it is clear enough she has deceived us all!" Signe +looked up imploringly. "She should not have a room so far away from the +others," observed the steward, rolling up the ladder. "She should not +have a room beneath my roof," said the dean, and went; the others +followed. + +When he had gone down, and set the light away from him on the table, +Signe came and threw herself into his arms,----"Yes, my child, this is +a fearful disappointment." Shortly after, Signe was sitting in the sofa +corner, with a pocket handkerchief before her eyes, the dean had lit +his pipe, and walked quickly up and down. Suddenly there was a scream +from the kitchen, and they heard the servants run up stairs, and rush +along the passages overhead; they both hastened out: Petra's room was +on fire! A spark must have fallen from the light in the corner, for the +fire had sprung from there, and in a moment blazed along the wall-paper, +and reached the wood work of the window, when it had been observed by +some one passing by, who had run into the wash house and told them about +it. The fire was soon put out; but in the country, where everything has +its even routine from one year's end to another, any sudden interruption +causes great excitement. The fire is their worst, most dangerous enemy, +never out of their thoughts, and when he thus comes in the night, +thrusting his head up over the precipice, and licking greedily after his +prey, they tremble, and do not regain composure for weeks, some not even +for life. + +When after this, the dean and his daughter again stood together in the +dining room, the lamps having been lit, they both felt there was +something ominous in the thought, that Petra's room had thus been +destroyed, and all traces of her burnt out. At the same moment, they +heard her clear voice, calling and questioning; she sprang up and down +stairs, ran from the attic to the passage, from the passage to the +kitchen, and finally came rushing in with her things on: "Heavens! my +room is burnt!" No one answered, and in the same breath, she asked: +"Who has been there? When did it happen? How did the fire break out?" +The dean now replied, that it was they who had been there: they had +been looking for something; he gave her a penetrating look. But Petra +did not give the slightest sign of finding this anything wonderful, nor +did she betray any fear for what they could have found. She did not +even suspect anything wrong when Signe did not look up from the sofa; +she attributed it to her fright from the fire, and she never ceased +asking, how it had been discovered, put out, who had got there first, +&c., and as she got no answer quickly, she ran out as she had come in. +But she soon came rushing in again, having partly taken off her things, +and told them how she had seen the light herself, and run so fearfully, +but was so glad now to find it was no worse. So saying, she took off +the rest of her things, carried them out, and coming in again, she +seated herself at the table, talking incessantly, of what this and that +one had said and done, the whole place indeed was turned upside down, +and it was very amusing. As the others continued silent, she expressed +her regret that it had spoilt the evening for them; for she had been +looking forward with so much pleasure to "Romeo and Juliet," which they +were then reading aloud; she was going to ask Signe that very evening +to read that scene over again, that she thought the finest of all: the +parting of Romeo and Juliet on the balcony. In the midst of her +chattering, one of the girls from the wash house came and said that +they were short of clothes lines, there was one bundle missing. Petra +grew suddenly red and got up; "I know where it is, I will go for it," +she went a few steps, then remembering the fire, she stopped: +"Goodness, it will be burnt! it was in my room!" Signe had turned +towards her, the dean took a full view from the side: "What do you do +with clothes lines?" He breathed heavily, he could scarcely speak. +Petra looked at him, his fearfully grave look made her half afraid, but +the next moment it made her laugh, she strove a minute against it, but +looking at him again, she burst into such a hearty fit of laughter that +she could not stop;--there was no more of a troubled conscience in it, +than in a rippling brook. Signe heard it in her voice and sprang up +from the sofa: "What is it, what is it?"--Petra turned round, laughed +and hopped about, she ran to the door, but Signe stopped the way: "What +is it, Petra, tell me?" Petra ran behind her as if to hide, but +continued to laugh immoderately. No, guilt does not behave so, now the +dean could see that too;--he who stood on the point of bursting into a +rage, hopped down into laughter instead, and Signe after him; nothing +in the world is more catching than laughter, and especially laughter +that is entirely incomprehensible. The vain attempts which now the +dean, now Signe made to get to know what they were laughing at, only +made them laugh the more; the maid, who was standing waiting, at last +could resist it no longer, and began to roar; she had that +extraordinary laughter as though it came from a pit with hoisting and +heaving; she felt, herself, that it did not suit to fine furniture and +people, so she hastened to the door to give free vent to it in the +kitchen. Of course she took the contagion with her there; soon a whole +volley of laughter poured in from the kitchen, where they knew still +less what they were laughing at, and this made the laughter in the +dining room break out anew. + +When at last they were almost done up, Signe made a last attempt to get +to know the cause: "Now you must tell me!" she exclaimed, holding +Petra's hands.--"No, not for the world!"--"Yes, but I know what it is!" +she said: "and my father knows as well!" Petra screamed and slipped +loose, but on reaching the door, Signe caught her again, then Petra +turned to free herself, she would get away at any price, she laughed +while she struggled, but there were tears in her eyes; then Signe left +loose,--Petra ran, and Signe after her, till they reached the room of +the latter. There they embraced each other, "Mercy! do you really +know?" whispered Petra.--"Yes, we were up in your room with the +steward, who had seen you,--and we found the ladder!"--Fresh screams, +and fresh flight, but this time only to the sofa corner, where she hid +herself Signe came, and bending over her, she whispered in her ear, all +about their journey of discovery, with its pleasing consequences;--that +which an hour ago had cost her both tears and fears, seemed now so +amusing that she told it with humour! Petra listened and stopped her +ears, looked up and hid herself by turns. When Signe had finished, and +they were sitting together in the darkness, Petra whispered: "Do you +know how it is? It is impossible to sleep at ten o'clock, when we go to +our rooms, that which we have read has far too much power over me. So I +learn it by heart, all the best pieces,--I know several scenes, and +read them aloud to myself. When we came to Romeo and Juliet, it seemed +the most delightful thing upon earth; I grew wild, I must try that with +the rope ladder, I had never thought anyone could go up and down on a +rope ladder.... I got hold of some ropes,--and there that fellow was +standing below and watching me!--Yes, but it is nothing to laugh at, +Signe, it is so boyish, I shall never be anything else than a boy,--and +now to-morrow I shall be a laughing stock for the whole neighbourhood." +But Signe, who had begun to laugh again, kissed her, gave her a +clap, and ran out, saying: "No, I must tell father!"--"Are you mad, +Signe!"--and away they rushed. The dean was just coming out to see what +had become of them, and they nearly knocked him over; Signe told him +the whole story. + +After tea where she was duly teased by the dean, Petra, by way of +punishment, was to recite what she knew by heart. It proved to be a +fact that she knew all the most celebrated scenes and not only one part +in them, but all. She recited as if she were reading, now and then she +was almost on fire, but then she would suddenly check herself. The dean +had hardly observed this, before he would have a little more +expression, but it only made her more shy. The recitation continued +several hours; she knew the comic scenes as well as the tragic, the +playful as well as the serious;--her memory both astonished and amused +them, she laughed, and told them only to try her. + +"I wish the poor actors had but the eighth part of the memory you +have!" said Signe.--"God preserve her from ever being an actress," said +the dean, at once becoming earnest.--"But father, you don't suppose +Petra has any idea of such a thing?" said Signe laughing: "I have +always observed that any one educated from youth up in the poetry of +his language, has no longing at all to go upon the stage, while those +who do not know much about poetry till they are grown up, revel in the +thought of it, it is the longing of poetry, a longing all at once +awakened in them that impels them."--"That is very true; it is not often +that a really educated person will go upon the stage."--"And still more +seldom one poetically educated," said Signe--"Yes, if it occurs there +is a want in the character, which allows vanity and levity to get the +upper hand. In my travels abroad, and also when studying, I became +acquainted with many actors, but I have never known, and I have never +heard of any one knowing an actor, who led a really Christian life. I +have seen that they have felt themselves called, but there is something +restless and unsatisfying in their occupation; they have found it +impossible to collect themselves--even long after they have left it. If +I have spoken with them about it, they have admitted and lamented it, +but yet they have at once added: 'But we may console ourselves with the +thought that we are not worse than so many others.' But this is what I +call poor consolation. A life that does not in any way build up our +spiritual manhood, is a sinful life. The Lord help them, and may He +keep pure hearts away from it!" + + * * * + +The next day, Saturday, the dean as usual was up before seven, went his +morning round among the labourers, and then going further, he returned +in daylight. As he was going past the house to the farm yard, he saw an +open exercise book, or something of the sort, which must have been +thrown out of Petra's window the evening before, and not found, because +it was the colour of the snow. He took up the book, and carried it in +with him to his study; in opening the leaves to dry them, he saw it was +an old French exercise book, in which verses were now written. He never +thought of reading the verses, but he caught sight of the word, +"Actress," written all over,--even in the verses themselves ... He sat +down to examine it. + +After repeated erasures and corrections, he came at last to the +following rhyme, which though not copied, could still be read: + + + "Come listen my love, and hear me say, + The longing that fills me from day to day, + An actress I'll be, and I'll picture true, + To the world a woman from every view,-- + How she suffers, and how she laughs, + How she prays, and loves, and chaffs, + How she is when she is sinful, + How she is when she is peaceful, + Oh God, I pray Thee, help Thou me, + To be the one that I aim to be!" + + +And a little below the following: + + + "May not I be Thy servant, Lord? + Wilt Thou not Thy help afford?" + + +Under this, was a verse, in imitation no doubt, of a poem they had read +a few months before: + + + "Oh, a river nymph to be, + Nymph to be, + Moonbeams shining full and free, + Full and free, + Glide along, and turn in glee, + Turn in glee, + Death to him who in will see, + In will see, + --No, that would be sin, lirum, larum, ba!--" + + +And after repeated corrections, marks and notes: + + + "Hop, sa, sa,--hop, sa, sa, + I'll dance with every one, but they'll never catch me, ha! + Tra, la, la,--tra, la, la, + Be always number one, but keep them all afar!" + + +Then distinctly and clearly, the following letter: + + +"Dearest Henrich, + +Don't you think you and I are the best in the whole comedy? It gives us +a great deal of annoyance, but that is nothing; I engrasserer thee to +go to the masquerade with me to-morrow night; for I have never been, +and I long for some real fun; here at home, it is so quiet and lonely. +Du est a great rascal, Henrich,--wherever are you keeping yourself? for +here sits + + Your Pernille." + + +Finally in large letters, written distinctly and several times over, +the following verse; she might have found it somewhere, and wanted to +learn it by heart: + + + "In my heart, an inward burning, + 'Tis the Great within me yearning,-- + From the hidden springs to draw,-- + Loki bind in Baldur's law, + Power to speak with power imbibe, + High and noble thoughts describe,-- + Thereto help in mercy, Thou + Who the need awakens now!" + + +There was a great deal more, but the dean did not read it. + +Then it was to be an actress that she had entered his house, and taken +instruction from his daughter. It was with this secret aim, she was so +eager to hear them read aloud, and then afterwards learn by heart. She +had been deceiving them the whole time; even yesterday, when she seemed +to be telling them everything, she was hiding something: when she +seemed to laugh so innocently, she was lying. + +O this secret purpose! That which the dean had so often condemned in +her presence, SHE embellished with the calling of God, and dared to ask +His blessing upon it! A life of appulance and frivolity, of jealousy +and passion, of idleness and sensuality, of lies and growing +unprincipledness, a life over which the vultures gather, as over a +carcase, was that to which she longed to attach herself, and prayed God +to consecrate! And it was to this life, that the dean and his daughter +had helped her forward in the quiet parsonage, under the watchful eyes +of the awakened church. + +When Signe, bright and cheerful as the winter morning, came in to greet +her father, she found the study entirely filled with tobacco smoke. +This was always a sign of trouble, but especially so early in the +morning. He did not speak a word to her, but gave her the book,--she +saw directly it was Petra's; a shadow of the mistrust and pain of +yesterday, came over her, she dared not look at it; her heart beat so +violently that she was obliged to sit down. But the same word that had +attracted the dean's attention, caught hers too; she must see more, so +she read on. Her first feeling was one of shame--not for Petra,--but +because her father had seen it too. + +But she soon experienced the deep mortification, that comes when we +find ourselves deceived by one we love. For a moment, the one who has +been able to do it, seems greater, more ingenious, wiser than we, yea, +he may even glide into the mysterious. But soon the mind is aroused in +indignation; integrity is strengthened by the powers which are not +secret, though they are unseen: we feel able to defy a hundred cunning +devices; we DESPISE, what at first caused us mortification. + +Petra had seated herself at the piano in the dining room, and now they +heard her singing: + + + "The morning has dawned, and joy to awaken, + --The forts of despondency stormed and taken,-- + Over the glowing mountain tops, + The host of the king of daylight drops. + 'Up, up, up,' little birds of the wood, + 'Up, up, up,' little children good, + And up, my hope with the sun!" + + +And then a storm swept over the instrument, and out of it burst the +following song: + + + "In vain you may plead, + For my boat I must lead, + Through the breakers rough, + To the tempest tough. + And should it be proved the last push from the shore, + I must venture what never I ventured before. + + Not for fancy or boast + Do I leave your coast;-- + I must reach the deep sea, + And the waves ride free. + I must e'en see the keel, as she cuts through the wave, + And thus prove if my vessel knows how to behave!" + + +No, this was too much for the dean, he snatched the book from Signe's +hand, and rushed to the door; this time she did not hold him back. He +went straight to Petra, threw the book on the piano before her, turned, +and strode across the room; when he came back, she had risen, and +pressing the book to her heart, she looked all round with a confused +expression. He stopped to give her his full mind, but his anger at the +thought that for more than two years he had been made use of by this +wily girl, and especially that his warm-hearted, affectionate daughter +had been duped by her, came so forcibly before him, that he did not at +once find words,--and when he did find them, he felt they were too +hard. After striding once more across the floor, and once more coming +opposite to her, his face scarlet, he turned his back, and without a +word walked into his study. When he came there, Signe was gone. + +All that day they kept to their own rooms. The dean dined alone, +neither of the girls appeared. Petra was in the housekeeper's room, +which had been alloted to her since the fire; she sought all over for +Signe to explain to her, but in vain: she could not be at home. + +Petra felt this to be a decisive moment in her life. Her most secret +thoughts had slipped from her, and they would try to exert an influence +over them, which she could not bear. She knew best herself, that if she +relinquished this object, she would be driven at the mercy of the +winds. She could be light-hearted with the light-hearted, and +confidential with the confidential, hopeful in everything, but it was +in the strength of that secret purpose,--that some time she would be +able to secure that after which her powers were yearning. To confide in +any one, after that first baulking attempt at Bergen,--no, she could +not do it, not even in Odegaard himself! She must be alone in it, until +her aim had grown so strong, that it could bear to hear the doubts that +would be breathed upon it. + +But now it had happened otherwise: the dean's fiery red face +looked continually down upon her scared conscience.--She must save +herself!--She sought for Signe more earnestly and hurriedly in the +afternoon, but still she was not to be found. The longer one whom we +seek hides from us, the greater we depict the cause of separation, and +thus it was, that at last she made herself believe it had been +treachery against Signe, secretly to use her friendship for that which +Signe thought to be a sin. The omniscient God must be her witness, that +this view of her conduct had never struck her before; she felt herself +a great sinner. + +Just as before at home, she now stood with the feeling of a great sin +upon her conscience, of which a moment before, she had no suspicion. +That that terrible experience might be repeated, augmented her vague +fear to terror; she saw before her a future of unhappiness. But in +proportion as her own guilt increased, Signe's image stood forth in +purity and disinterested attachment. + +It had grown dark, wherever Signe had been she must have got home. She +ran down the passage leading to the wing where Signe's room was; the +door was locked,--a sign that she was there. Her heart beat as she +took hold of the handle, and begged again: "Signe, let me speak to +you!--Signe, I cannot bear it!"--Not a sound; Petra bent down to +listen, and knocked again: "Signe, oh Signe, you don't know how unhappy +I am." No reply; long listening, still none. If one gets no answer, one +doubts at last if anyone is there, even if one knows there is someone, +and if it is dark, one gets afraid. "Signe,--Signe! if you are there, +be merciful,--answer me,--Signe!" All was silence; a cold shiver came +over her. The kitchen door opened, and quick steps were heard in the +court yard below. This gave her a thought, she would go out herself, +get up on the ledge on the wall of the wing, and go round the whole +building to get to the other side where it was very high. She would see +Signe. + +It was a bright starlight night, the mountains stood in sharp outline, +the snow sparkled, the dark footpaths only increased the sharpness of +the light; from the road the sledge bells were sounding, she felt +inspirited, and sprang up on the ledge. She tried to hold fast by the +outside boarding of the house, but she lost her balance and fell. Then +she rolled an empty cask against the wall and got up from it on to the +ledge. By moving hands and feet together, she could get about half a +foot at a time; it required a strong hand to keep fast; she could not +get well hold for the boards were scarcely an inch thick. She was +afraid lest any one should see her, for they would naturally connect it +with the rope ladder. If she could but get away from this side that +faced the farm, and out on to the cross wall; but when at last she did +get there, a new danger awaited her; there was nothing before the +windows, and she had to stoop down, in great fear of falling, every +time she passed them. The long wall was very high, but there was a +gooseberry hedge to receive her if she fell; she was not afraid. Her +fingers tingled, her muscles quivered, but on she went. A few steps +more and she would reach the window. There was no light in Signe's +room, and the blind was not drawn down; the moon was shining full in, +so she would be able to see into the farthest corners. This gave her +fresh courage, she reached the window ledge, and at last could get a +full hold and rest; as she got near, her heart began to beat so that it +almost took her breath, but as it only grew worse by waiting, she must +make haste--so she suddenly leaned right against the window. A sharp +cry answered from the room. Signe had been sitting in the sofa corner, +she sprang on to the floor, and with both arms warding off the fearful +apparition, she rushed out of the room. + +In a moment Petra realised what her unfortunate freak had done;--this +figure against the window, this thoughtless repulsive boldness--; her +image henceforth would be a constant terror to Signe; she lost +consciousness, and fell with a piercing shriek. + +The people in the house had run out on hearing Signe's scream, but +found nothing,--another scream,--the whole farm was astir; they sought, +they called, but in vain; it was purely accidental that the dean came +to look out of the window in Signe's room, and in the moonlight saw +Petra buried in the bushes. It was with great difficulty they could get +her extricated and carried up; she was taken into Signe's room, as the +housekeeper's was cold, she was undressed and put to bed. Some of them +bathed her hands and neck, while others made the room warm, light and +comfortable. When she came to herself, and looked about, she begged to +be left alone. + +The quiet comfort of the room, the fine white dimity that draped the +window, dressing table, chairs and bed, reminded her at once of Signe. +She thought of her pure loveliness, her mild voice that flowed milk +white, her delicate feeling for the thoughts of others, her gentle +benevolence. She had shut herself out from all this; she must soon +leave the room, and probably the house. And where to then? She could +not expect a third time to be taken up from the highway, and if she +could, she would not; for it would end only in the same way. No human +being could have confidence in her; whatever the cause, she felt that +it was so. She had not got a step further, she never could get further; +for without the confidence of her fellow creatures, she could not +succeed. How she prayed, how she wept! She fell back and wrung her +hands in an agony of mind, till she was fairly exhausted and slept. + +In her sleep, everything became snow white, and by-and-by lofty; she +had never before seen so high and so brilliant a glitter of millions of +stars. + + + + + CHAPTER X. + + IS MUSIC LAWFUL? + + +On awaking she was still in the skies. The thoughts that day poured in +upon her would follow, but were caught and carried away by something +which filled the whole air,--it was the Sabbath bells. She sprang up +and dressed herself, got something to eat in the breakfast room, +wrapped herself warmly up, and hastened away;--never before had she +been so thirsty for the Word of God! + +When she arrived, they had just begun, and the door was shut. The dean +was standing in front of the altar, she waited by the door till he had +concluded, and the assistant had removed his gown; she then went up to +the so-called bishop's pew, that stood in the choir, hung with +curtains. The special pew for the minister's family was higher up; but +if there was any one who felt a desire for seclusion, they retired to +the bishop's pew. As Petra reached it, and glided in, she saw Signe +seated at the farthest corner. She retreated a step out, but just then +the dean turned to go from the altar to the vestry; she hastened back +into the pew, and sat as near the door as possible; Signe had put down +her veil. This grieved Petra. She looked over the congregation, crowded +together in the high wooden pews, the men on the right hand, the women +on the left; their breath lay above them like mist in the air; the ice +was inches thick upon the windows, the rudely carved wooden images, the +heavy drawling singing, the people muffled up,--it was all in unison, +harsh and distant,--she thought of the impression nature made upon her +that afternoon she left Bergen; here she was also only a timid +wayfarer. + +The dean ascended the pulpit, he too looked severe. His prayer was: +"Lead us not into temptation." We knew that the talents God had given +us, contained in themselves the elements of temptation; but He would be +merciful and not suffer us to be tempted above that we were able to +bear, for this we should always remember to pray;--for only by laying +our talents at His feet, could they be of any real service to us. The +minister enlarged upon the theme, setting forth our double duty--on the +one hand to work out our life's calling according to our talents and +position, and on the other to develope the spiritual life in ourselves, +and in those committed to our care. One must be careful in the choice +of a vocation, for there may be a vocation sinful in itself, and there +may be one that would become so for us,--either because it did not suit +us, or because it suited our lusts and passions. Again: as surely as +everyone should choose a vocation according to his talents, so truly +may a choice both right and good in itself, become a snare to us, if we +allow it to take up all our time and thoughts. Our spiritual life must +not be neglected any more than our duty as parents to our children. We +must be collected in ourselves, that the Holy Spirit may have its +constant work in us; we must plant and guard the good seeds of +Christian life in our children. There is no duty, no pretext, that can +liberate us from this, though the opportunities may vary. And now he +went further--into THEIR calling that sat there, their houses, their +conduct, their opinions. Then he drew examples from other conditions +and nobler occupations, that cast their side rays down upon us. + +From the moment the dean waxed warm in the pulpit, he was an entirely +new man to those who knew him only in daily life. Even in appearance, +he was changed; his reserved and powerful face had opened, revealing +the play of thought within; his glance was full, and he looked +earnestly as he set forth the glad tidings of salvation. The shaggy +head stretched itself up like a lion. His voice rolled in thunder, or +struck in short earnest variations, sometimes falling to a gentle tone, +but only again to take new heights. Indeed he could never speak except +in a great room, and with eternity over his thoughts; for his voice had +no harmony till it rose, his countenance no clearness, his thoughts no +striking perspicuity, till they burned with enthusiasm. Not that the +material was first found then, no, if affliction had enriched his soul, +reflection had done so too; he was a diligent worker. But he was not +adapted to general conversation, he must have it to himself, at all +events he must be able to inflect his voice. To open a discussion with +him, was almost like attacking a defenceless man, but dangerous +nevertheless; for his convictions were quickly expressed and with such +force that reasons were left in the back ground; if at last he was +pressed to give them, one of two things happened, either he completely +overset the opposing party, or he became suddenly silent, because he +was afraid of himself. No one could more easily be brought to silence +than this powerful, eloquent man. + +Petra had trembled as soon as the dean began his prayer; she felt +whereto it tended. The further he got in his sermon, the more she felt +he was true to himself; she crept together, and she saw Signe do the +same. But he proceeded unrelentingly; the lion was out after his prey, +she felt herself pursued from all quarters, shut in, and captured;--but +that which was seized so vigourously was gently held in the hand of +mercy. It was as if without a word of condemnation, she was simply +folded in the embrace of Divine love. And there she prayed and wept; +Signe did the same,--and she loved her for it! + +As the dean descended from the pulpit, to go past into the vestry, the +reflection of his communion with the Most High still overspread his +countenance. His gaze fell directly and inquiringly upon Petra; and as +she looked right up to meet it, a ray of mildness shone forth: he +glanced quickly into the corner at his daughter as he passed on. + +Signe rose soon after; her veil was down, so Petra did not venture to +go with her; she therefore waited longer. But at dinner they all three +met together; the dean spoke a little, but Signe was reserved. If the +dean--who was evidently about to bring the recent events into +conversation,--gave the slightest allusion to it, Signe turned his +remarks in a shy delicate way, reminding him at once of her mother;--he +became silent, and by degrees sorrowful. + +There is nothing more painful than an unsuccessful attempt at +reconciliation. They rose without being able to look at each other, to +return thanks for the meal. In the dining room it became at last so +oppressive, that all three would willingly have left the room, but no +one wished to go first. Petra for her part, felt that if she went, it +would be for ever. She could not see Signe again, if she might not love +her, she could not bear to see the dean sorrowful for her sake. But if +she was to go away, she must go without taking leave; for how could she +take leave of these people? The mere thought of it agitated her so, +that she could with the greatest difficulty suppress it. + +An oppressive silence like this, when each is waiting for the other, +becomes more insupportable every moment. We cannot move, because we +feel it will be noticed, every sigh is heard, and if we are quite still +it is heard too, for it is heard as harshness. We are kept in suspense +because no one says anything, and we tremble lest any one should +begin.--They all felt this to be a moment that would never return.--The +walls that we build up between each other rise higher, our own guilt +and that of the others increases with every breath; now we are in +desperation, now in wroth; for the one that behaves so to us is +unmerciful, wicked, we don't tolerate THAT, we don't forgive THAT! +Petra could not bear it longer, she must either escape or scream. + +But just then sledge bells were heard on the road, a man with a wolf +skin coat dashed by, and turned in at the farm.--All breathed easier, +and listened for the liberation. They heard the stranger in the hall, +he put off his travelling coat and boots, and talked with the servant +who assisted him; the dean rose to meet him, but turned so as not to +leave the two girls alone,--they heard the stranger talking again, and +this time nearer, so that his voice made all three look up, and Petra +rose, fixing her eyes on the door,--there was a knock,--"Come in!" said +the dean in an agitated tone; a tall gentleman with a light complexion +and spectacles appeared in the doorway, Petra gave a scream, and +fainted--it was Odegaard. He was expected at the deanery at Christmas, +although no one had told Petra, but that he should come just at this +juncture, must have been in the ordering of Providence; this was felt +at once, and by them all. + +When Petra recovered consciousness, he was standing beside her, and +held her hand. He continued to hold it, but said nothing, nor did she; +she was powerless even to rise. But while she continued looking at him, +two tears rolled down her cheeks. He was very pale, but quite calm and +kind; he withdrew his hand, and walked across the floor; then he went +to Signe, who had crouched down among her mother's flowers in the +furthest window. + +Petra longed to be alone, and so withdrew. Domestic matters required +Signe's attention, so the dean and Odegaard repaired to the study, to +take a glass of wine, of which the traveller stood in need. Here he was +briefly told the events of the last few days, it made him very +thoughtful but he said nothing. They were interrupted in a singular +way. + +Two women and three men came past the windows, following one after the +other; as soon as the dean caught sight of them, he sprang up: "There +they are again!--now for a trial of patience."--In they came, first the +women, then the men, slowly, silently. They placed themselves along the +wall under the book shelves, opposite the sofa where Odegaard was +seated. The dean set chairs, and brought others from the next room; +they all took seats with the exception of a young man in a modern suit +who declined, and leaned against the door post, not without a defiant +expression and with both hands in his pockets. + +After a long silence, during which the dean filled his pipe, and +Odegaard who did not smoke surveyed the visitors, the conversation was +at length opened by a pale light-haired woman of about forty. Her +forehead was rather narrow, her eyes large, but shy; they did not +know exactly which way to turn. "The father gave an excellent sermon +to-day," she said, "it touched upon what we were just thinking +about;--for up at Oygarene we have been talking much about temptation +lately."--She sighed; a man with a small face and large forehead sighed +also: "'Take away mine eyes from beholding vanity, O Lord, and quicken +thou me in thy way.'" Then Else, she who had first spoken, sighed again +and said: "Lord, wherewithal shall a young man cleanse his way? by +taking heed thereto according to Thy word."--It seemed rather strange, +for she was no longer young. But a middle aged man who sat with his +head to one side, rocking backwards and forwards, his eyelids never +really lifted, said as if half asleep: + + + "Temptation, Satan's fiery dart, + None is exempt from sharing-- + Who taketh part in Jesu's death, + The name of Christ thus bearing." + + +The dean knew them too well not to be aware that this was only the +introduction, so he waited as if nothing had been said, although there +was again a long silence with repeated sighs. + +A little woman, who became still less by stooping, and was enveloped in +such a manifold number of shawls that she looked like a parcel,--her +face almost lost,--now began to move uneasily in her chair, and at last +a "hm, hm!" was heard. The light-haired woman was at once frightened +up, and said: "There is an end to all music and dancing in Oygarene +now;----but----" She stopped again, whereupon Lars, he with the great +forehead and the short face, continued:--"But there is one man, Hans +the musician, who WILL NOT give it up."--While Lars was thinking of the +rest, the young man came out with it: "Because he knows that the dean +has an instrument to which they both dance and sing at the deanery +here."--"It certainly cannot be greater sin for him than it is for the +dean," said Lars.--"And the music must be a temptation at the deanery +too," said Else cautiously, as if to help the matter forward. But the +young man added more strongly: "It is a stumbling block to the young, +as it is written: 'And whosoever shall offend one of these little ones, +it were better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck, and +he were cast into the sea.'" And Lars continued: "We request therefore +that you will send away the instrument, or burn it up, that it may +cease to be a stumbling block--" "To your parishioners," added the +young man. The dean smoked vigorously, and at last with an evident +struggle for self command, he said: "To me music is not a temptation, +it is refreshing and elevating. Now you know that that which can make +our spirits free, makes us better able to receive and understand high +things; therefore I believe most assuredly that music is of service to +me."--"And I know there are pastors," said the young man, "who +following the words of Paul, will nevertheless give it up for the sake +of their parishioners."--"It may be that I understood his words so +once," replied the dean, "but I do not now. One may well give up a +custom or a pleasure; but one must with reluctance make oneself +narrow-minded or foolish with those that are such. I should not be +acting wrongly towards myself only, but also towards those to whom I +should be a guide; for I should be giving an example against my +convictions." It was seldom that the dean gave so long an explanation +out of the pulpit. He added: "I will neither send away my piano, nor +burn it; I will hear it often for I often feel the need of it,--and I +wish that in all innocence you also could now and then refresh your +spirits by song, and music and dancing; for I believe these things to +be right and proper." + +The young man bent his head to one side: "Twi!" spat he. + +The dean's face grew scarlet, and deep silence ensued. Then the man +rocking, with a loud voice struck in: + + + "O Lord, my God, I can testify, + His cross in patience bearing, + With poor and rich, with women and men, + 'Tis a cause of anxious wearing; + For flesh and blood as frail and weak, + We all alike are sharing.----" + + +Then Lars said in a mild tone: "So you say that music and singing and +dancing are right, do you? then it is right to rouse Satan through the +senses; hm!--so that is what our pastor says; very well then, we know +it now!--that all these things connected with idleness and sensuality +are elevating and helpful, ... that that which is a temptation is +right!" But now Odegaard,--who saw by the dean's face that things were +going wrong,--hastened to interpose: "Tell me, my good man, what there +is, that is NOT a temptation?" + +All looked at him from whom these pointed and terse words came. The +question was in itself so unexpected, that Lars could not at once tell +what to reply; nor could the others. Then it sounded up as from a well, +or out of a cellar: "Labour is not."--The voice came from the bundle of +shawls, it was Randi, who spoke for the first time. An exulting smile +came over Lars' face, the light-haired woman looked at her with a +satisfied air, even the young man leaning against the door post for a +moment lost the sneering curl of his lip. Odegaard understood that this +was the head, although it was not to be seen. He therefore turned +himself to her: "What can that labour be, that is without temptation?" +She would not answer this, but the young man replied: "The curse says: +'In the sweat of thy brow, shalt thou eat thy bread;' labour then that +brings us toil and trouble." "And nothing but toil and trouble? No +profit for example?"--To this neither would he reply; but the short +face felt a calling: "Yes, as much profit as one can get!"--"Then there +must be temptation in work also, temptation to too much gain." In this +strait, succour came again from the depths: "Then the gain is the +temptation and not the work."--"Well, but how is it when the work is +carried to excess for the sake of the gain?" She crept in again; +but Lars went on: "What do you mean by the work being carried to +excess?"--"Why, when it makes you like animals and binds you in +thraldom."--"Thraldom it has to be!" said the advocate of the +toil.--"But can it as thraldom lead to God?"--"Labour IS the worship +of God!" shouted Lars.--"Dare you say that of ALL your labour?" Lars +was silent. "No, be reasonable and admit that for the sake of gain, +labour may be carried to excess, as if we lived only for it. Therefore +labour also has its temptation."--"Yes, there is temptation in +everything, children,--there is temptation in everything!" said the +dean as he rose, and put out his pipe as if in conclusion! Sighs issued +from the bundle of shawls, but no reply. + +"Listen," began Odegaard again,--and the dean filled himself a new +pipe--"now if labour yields fruit, i.e. profit, then we have certainly +liberty to enjoy that fruit? If it should become riches, have we then +liberty to enjoy these riches?"--This set them thinking, they looked +from one to the other. "I shall answer, while you are thinking," said +he; "God must have permitted us to try to make a blessing of his curse, +for HE HIMSELF led the patriarchs, led His people to the enjoyment of +riches."--"The apostles were to possess nothing," exclaimed the young +man triumphantly.--"Yes, that is true; for God would place them +beyond and above all human conditions, that they should look only to +Him;--they were called!"--"We are all called!"--"But not in the same +way;--are YOU called to be an apostle?"--The young man turned deadly +pale, his eyes retreated under the wall of forehead above them: he must +have his reasons for taking it so to heart. + +"But the rich must also work," observed Lars; for work is God's +command.--"Certainly he must, although his aim and method may be +different, each one has his own task. But tell me: shall a man be +ALWAYS at work?"--"He must also pray!" chimed in Else, and folded her +hands, as if she remembered that she had too long neglected it.--"Then +whenever a man is not working; he must pray? Is any man able to do +this? What kind of prayer would it be, and what kind of work? Shall he +not also rest?"--"We must rest only when we can do no more; for then we +shall not be tempted by evil thoughts,--ah! then we shall not be +tempted!" said Else again,--and Erik joined in: + + + "If ye are weary seek and find + In Jesu's name a peaceful mind, + How sweet is rest! + There comes a time when also ye + To the last resting place will flee, + An earthy nest!----" + + +"Be quiet, Erik, and listen to this," said the dean. And Odegaard +knitted his eyebrows: "See here: labour has its fruit, and requires its +rest: and it is my opinion respecting society, music, singing, and the +rest, that they are not only the sweet fruit of our labours, but they +also give rest and strength to the soul." + +Here there was restlessness in the camp; all looked at Randi; she +rocked and rocked, and at last it sounded slowly and quietly: "Worldly +song, and music and dancing, afford no rest, for such excite the lust +and desires of the flesh. THAT certainly cannot be the fruit of labour, +which wastes and enervates."--"Ah! such things are full of temptation!" +said Else with a sigh. This put Erik in mind of the verse of a hymn:-- + + + "We see with shame and sorrow, + From virtue fain to borrow + The vices that abound + Increasingly are found; + They craftily ensnare + And with a pompous air----" + + +"Be quiet Erik!" said the dean; "you are only rambling."--"Oh well, +that may be," said Erik--and began again:-- + + + "If one will work upon you so + With ticing words that you shall go + In the broad, cursed way of sin, + Be strong, permit him not to win--" + + +"No, do give over Erik! The hymn is nice enough, but everything in its +own time."--"Yes, yes, father, that is true,--everything in its own +time:-- + + + "Oh I every minute, every hour + Is Thine, it is Thy due, + Our hearts must beat to own Thy power, + And call to prayer anew--" + + +"No, no, Erik, or prayer itself would lead into temptation; you might +become a Catholic, and go into the monastery--"--"God forbid!" said +Erik, and opened his eyes wide, then shutting them, he began: + + + "As earth and dust to pure gold, + Are Catholics--" + + +"Now Erik if you can't be quiet, you must go out with the rest of it. +Where was it we left off?" But Odegaard, much to his amusement had been +following Erik, and could not remember. Then it came peacefully from +the shawls: "I was saying that THAT cannot give rest or be the fruit +of our labours, that--"--"Now I remember: that there was temptation +in,--and then Erik came and proved that there may also be temptation in +prayer. Let us therefore see, what these things may lead to. Have you +ever observed that cheerful men work better than the dejected? Why?" + +Lars caught the drift of this: "It is religion that makes us cheerful," +he said.--"Yes, when it is not desponding; but have you never seen that +there is a religion that makes everything so gloomy, that the world +itself is like a prison?" + +Else was sighing so, that the shawls began to move, Lars also looked +sharply at her, and she gave over.--Odegaard continued: "Always the +same, whether it is work, prayer, or play, makes you stupid and gloomy. +You may grovel in the earth till you become an animal, pray till habit +makes you a monk, and play till you are nothing better than a doll. But +combine them and the mind is strengthened; work prospers, and religion +becomes more cheerful."--"Then we have to be cheerful now!" said the +young man, and smiled.--"Yes, and then you too would win sympathy: for +it is only when we are cheerful, that we can see and admire the good in +others, and only by loving others that we can love God." + +As no one at once contradicted this, Odegaard made a second attempt to +bring the bundle to the point; "Those things that disenthral, so that +the Holy Spirit can work in us, (for in bondage He cannot work) those +things that assist us, must have a blessing in them,--and that this +does." The dean rose, he had again a pipe to put out. + +In the silence which followed, unbroken by sighs, one could see the +shawls working, and at last there issued softly: "It is written: +'Whatsoever thou doest, do all to the glory of God,'---but is worldly +song, and music and dancing to the glory of God?" "Directly, no;--but +may we not ask the same when we eat and sleep and dress? And yet these +MUST be done. The meaning therefore can only be, that we shall do +nothing that is sinful."--"Yes, but is not this sinful?" + +For the first time Odegaard grew a little impatient, and he merely +replied: "We see in the bible, that both singing and music and dancing +were used."--"Yes, to the glory of God."--"Very well,--to the glory of +God. But the reason why the Jews named GOD in everything, was because, +like children, they had not learnt to make distinctions. To children, +every man they do not know is 'the man,'--to the child's question, +'Where does, this come from, where that?' we answer always: 'from God'; +but as men to men we name the intermediate as well, and not God the +giver alone. So, for example, a beautiful song may relate to God, or +lead to Him, even if His name never occurs in it; for there is much +that points thither, although not directly. Our dancing, when it is the +pure healthful enjoyment of the innocent, is, even if not directly, to +the praise of Him who has given us health, and loveth the child in our +hearts." + +"Hear that, hear that!" said the dean; he knew that he himself had long +misunderstood these things, and misrepresented them to others. + +All this time, Lars had been sitting and thinking, now he was ready; +the corn had fallen from the high forehead, to the short peevish face; +there it had been crushed and ground, and now fell out: "Then all sorts +of stories, tales, and nonsense,--all the fiction and invention that +they fill the books with now-a-days, are they also allowable? Is it not +written: 'Every word that proceedeth out of thy mouth shall be truth?'" + +"I really thank you for this. You see it is with the mind as with the +house you dwell in. If it was so narrow that you could scarcely get +your head in and your legs stretched out, you would be obliged to widen +it. And fiction elevates the mind and enlarges it. If those ideas were +falsehood that are above absolute necessity, then those which ARE +absolute necessity would surely become falsehood too. They would thus +press you down in your house of clay that you would never reach +eternity, and yet it was just there you wished to be, and it was these +very same thoughts, that in faith should bear you thitherward."--"But +fiction is something that has verily never been, and so it must surely +be falsehood?" said Randi thoughtfully.--"No, it has often greater +truths for us than that which we see," answered Odegaard. Here they all +looked at him doubtfully, and the young man threw out: "I never knew +before that the story of Askeladden was truer than that which I see +before my eyes."--They all tittered.--"Then tell me if you always +understand that which you see before your eyes?"--"I am not learned +enough for that!"--"Oh, the learned certainly understand it still less! +I mean those things in daily life that give us sorrow and trouble, and +that 'worry us sore,' as the saying is. Are there not such things?" +He did not reply, but from the bundle it sounded earnestly: "Yes, +often."--"But if you heard a fictitious history, that resembled +your own in such a way, that as you heard it, you understood your +own,--would you not say of this story,--which gave you the comfort and +encouragement that understanding gives--would you not say that it had +greater truth for you than your own?"--"I once read a story," said +Else, "that helped me so in a great sorrow, that that which had long +been a trouble seemed almost a joy." It coughed from the bundle;--"Yes, +that is true," she added timidly. + +But the young man would not agree to this; "Can the story of Askeladden +be a comfort to any one?"--"Everything has its own use. The amusing has +great power, and this story proves in an amusing way, that that which +the world thinks the least of may often be the best,--that everything +assists him who is of good cheer, and that that man gets on, who +makes up his mind to do so. Do you not think that it does many children +good to remember it;--and many grown people with them?"--"But to +believe in hobgoblins and trolls is surely superstitious?"--"Who said +you must believe in them? They are figures of speech."--"But we are +forbidden to use figures and images; for they are the wiles of the +devil"--"Indeed;--where do you find that?"--"In the Bible."--Here the +dean interposed: "No, that is a mistake, for the Bible itself uses +imagery."--All looked at him, "It employs imagery on all sides, as the +Eastern people abound in such. We ourselves use it in our churches, in +wood, on canvas, in stone, and we cannot conceive of the Godhead except +through imagery. And not this alone: Jesus uses figures, and did not +the Lord Himself appear in varied forms, when He made Himself known +unto the prophets; was it not in the form of a traveller that he came +to Abraham in Mamre, and ate at his table? Now if GOD HIMSELF appears +in varied forms, and uses imagery, surely man may do the same," They +were about to assent, but Odegaard rose and gently tapping the dean on +the shoulder: "Thank you! you have shewn most conclusively from the +Bible, that the drama is allowable!"--The dean started in surprise; the +smoke which he had in his mouth coursed slowly out of itself. + +Odegaard went across to the bundle of shawls, and bent over to try to +catch a glimpse of her face, but in vain, "Is there anything more you +would like to ask," said he, "for you seem to have thought over several +things?"--"Oh, the Lord help me, I do not think always right."--"Well; +at first after the grace of conversion, one is so absorbed by its +wonders, that other things appear useless and wrong; one is like a +lover, desiring only the beloved."--"Yes, but look at the early +Christians, we must still follow their example."--"No, their difficult +position among the heathen is no longer ours; we have other duties; we +must bring Christianity into the life that now is."--"But there is so +much in the Old Testament against the whole spirit of what you say," +said the young man, for the first time without bitterness.--"Yes, but +those commands are now dead, they are 'done away,' as Paul says: 'We +are the ministers of the New Testament; not of the letter, but of the +spirit':--again: 'Where the spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty.' +And:----'All things are needful unto me,' says Paul further, 'but,' he +adds, 'all things are not expedient.'--Now we are fortunate in having a +man's life before us, that shows us what Paul meant. That is Luther's. +Of course you believe that Luther was a good enlightened Christian?" +Yes, they believed that.--"Luther's religion was cheerful, IT was the +religion of the new testament. His idea of a gloomy faith was, that the +devil was always on the watch behind it; and as for fear of temptation, +those that fear the least are the least tempted. He used all the powers +God had given, the powers of enjoyment too. Shall I give you a few +examples? The pious Melancthon once sat so closely at a defence of the +true doctrines, that he did not take time to eat; Luther snatched the +pen from his hand: 'One does not serve God by work alone,' said he, +'but also in rest and quietness; therefore God gave us the third +commandment and instituted the Sabbath.'--Again, Luther used figures of +speech, the facetious as well as the serious, and he was full of good, +often merry ideas. He also translated some excellent old popular tales +into his mother tongue, and said in the preface, that next to the +Bible, he scarcely knew any better admonitions than these. He played +the lute, as perhaps you may know, and sang with his children and +friends,--not psalms only, no, but lively old songs too; he was fond of +social games, played at chess, let the young people dance at his house; +he desired only that all should be modestly and well conducted.--A +simple old disciple of Luther's, pastor Johan Mathesius wrote this +down, and gave it to his parishioners from the pulpit. He prayed that +it might be a guide to them,--and let us pray for the same." + +The dean rose: "Dear friends, now we will conclude for to day." All +rose up. "Many words have been spoken for our edification; may God +grant His grace upon the seed sown! Dear friends, your homes are in +remote parts; you live high up, where the frost more often cuts down +the corn than the sickle. Such desolate mountain places ought not to be +cultivated, and ought now to be left to tradition, and the grazing +cattle. Spiritual life can scarcely flourish up there, it becomes +gloomy like the surrounding vegetation. Life is overshadowed by +prejudice,--as by the mountains under which they grow up. The Lord +gather, the Lord enlighten!--I thank you for this day my friends, it +has been a day of enlightenment for me also." He shook hands with each +of them, and even the young man gave his cordially, yet without raising +his eyes. + +"You go over the mountain,--when will you reach home?" asked the dean +when they were ready to go.--"Oh, to-night sometime," said Lars; "a +good deal of snow has fallen now, and where it has blown off, there are +ice-banks."--"Well, my friends, it is worthy of all honour to come to +church under such difficulties.--I trust you will get home safely now!" +Erik answered in a low tone: + + + "Is God for me, whate'er there is + That will against me fall, + I can with prayer, and joyfully, + Tread under foot it all!" + + +"That is true, Erik, this time you have hit the mark!"--"Yes, but wait +a moment," said Odegaard just as they were going; "it is not strange +that you do not know me;--but I should have relations up at +Odegardene." They all turned to him, even the dean, who had known, +it is true, but quite forgotten it. "My name is Hans Odegaard, +son of Pastor Knud Hansen Odegaard, who once left you, long ago, with +his knapsack on his back."--Then it sounded from the shawls: +"Goodness,--that is my brother, that."-- + +They had all gathered round him, but no one was able to say anything. +At last Odegaard asked: "Then it was with you I was staying when I was +once up there with my father?"--"Yes, it was with me."--"And a little +while with me," said Lars; "your father is my cousin."--But Randi +said sorrowfully: "So this is little Hans;--yes, time goes."--"How is +Else?" asked Odegaard.--"This is Else," said Randi, pointing to the +fair-haired woman.--"Are YOU Else!" he exclaimed; "you were in trouble +about a love affair then; you wanted to have the musician; did you get +him?" No one replied. Although it was beginning to darken, he could see +that Else turned very red, and the men looked either away or down--with +the exception of the young man, who looked fixedly at Else. Odegaard +saw that he had put an unfortunate question, the dean came to his +assistance, "No, Hans the musician is unmarried; Else married Lars' +son, but now she is free again, she is a widow."--Again she blushed +scarlet, the young man saw it, and smiled haughtily. + +Then Randi said: "Well, I suppose you have travelled far? you have +learnt a good deal I can hear."--"Yes, hitherto I have been either +reading or travelling; but now I mean to settle down to work."--"Well, +well; that is the way:--some go out and get light and wisdom; others +remain at home." And Lars added: "It is often hard to make a living at +home; if we help one forward, whom we hope may be of service to us, he +goes and leaves us."--"There are different callings; each must follow +his own," said the dean.--"And the Lord sums up our work," said +Odegaard; "my father's labours will yet tend hither again, if God +will."--"Well, I suppose they will;" said Randi sadly; "but it is often +hard to wait." + +They departed; the dean placed himself in one window, and Odegaard in +the other to look after them, as they went over the mountain; the young +man went last. Odegaard learnt that he was from the town, where he had +begun with several things, but had always some misunderstanding with +the people. He thought himself called to be something great, an apostle +in sooth; but strangely enough he remained up at the hamlet of +Odegaard,--some thought from love to Else. He was a passionate soul, +who had passed through many disappointments, and had many more to come. + +They were now to be seen on the mountain; the roof of the barn hid them +no longer. They laboured on, the trees hid them, they came forth again, +ever higher and higher. There was no track in the deep snow, the trees +were the way-marks in the waste, and far away to the side the snow +mountains indicated the direction of their home. + +In from the dining room sounded a lively prelude, and then: + + + "My song I give to the spring, + Though she scarce is on the wing, + My song I give to the spring, + As longing on longing laid. + So the two unite their aid + To lure and tice the sun, + That old winter overcome, + May slip a choir of brooks;-- + Then with their merry looks + They'll chase him out of the air + With the perfume of flowers rare,-- + My song I give to the spring." + + + + + CHAPTER XI. + + RECONCILIATION. + + +From that day the dean was very little with his family; for one thing, +he was occupied with Christmas, and for another, he had not arrived at +any conclusion, whether or not the drama was lawful for the Christian; +if Petra but showed herself, he fell into a revery. + +While the dean therefore was sitting in his study either with his +sermons or some work on Christian ethics before him, Odegaard was with +the ladies, whom he was constantly comparing. Petra was versatile, +never alike; he who would follow her, must study as in a book. Signe, +on the contrary, was so winning in her unvarying cordiality, her +movements were never unexpected; they were the reflection of her +being. Petra's voice had all colours, sharp and mild, and every +intermediate grade. Signe's possessed a peculiar harmony, but was not +changing--except to the father, who understood to distinguish its +tones. Petra was with one at a time; if she were with more, it was to +observe, certainly not to help. Signe had an eye to all and everybody, +and divided her attention without its being observed. If Odegaard spoke +about Signe with Petra, he heard a hopeless lover's complaint; but if +he talked about Petra with Signe, the words were very few. The girls +often talked together, and without constraint; but it was only upon +indifferent subjects. + +To Signe, Odegaard owed a debt of gratitude; for it was to her he owed, +what he called his "new self." The first letter he received from her in +his great distress, was like a gentle touch upon his forehead. So +carefully she told how Petra had come to them, misunderstood and +persecuted, so delicately she added, that the accident of her arrival +might be the guidance of God, "that nothing should be rent in pieces;" +it sounded like a distant horn in the forest, as one stands and wonders +which direction to take. + +Signe's letters followed him where he travelled, and were the thread he +held by. She thought in every line to lead Petra straight to his +embrace, but in reality she was doing just the opposite; for through +these letters, Petra's taste for art rose up before him; the key note +to her talents, which he had sought for himself in vain, Signe, without +knowing it, had constantly in view,--and as soon as he understood this, +he saw both his own and her mistake, and thereby became as a new man. + +He watched himself narrowly in writing to Signe about that which her +letters had taught him. The first word must not come from Petra's +friends, but from Petra herself, that nothing should be hastened before +its time. But now he also saw Petra in a new light. These moments +constantly chasing one another, each one individually felt in full +power, but regarded ad infinitum, opposed to each other, what could +they be but the foreshadowing of an artist life? And the work must be +to unite them into a complete whole; otherwise it would be only +patchwork, and life itself unreal. Therefore: not too early to enter +upon her career! Reticence as long as possible, yes even opposition. + +Thus occupied, before he was aware of it, Petra had once more become +the constant occupation of his mind, but with a DIFFERENT object. He +studied art from every point of view, and especially artists, most of +all, the artists of the stage. He saw much to appall a Christian, he +saw the enormous abuses, but did he not see the same around him, even +in the church itself? Though there were hypocritical ministers, the +calling was still the same, great, eternal. If the search after truth +wherever begun, gains power in life and poetry, should it not also +reach the stage? Having assured himself on this point, he was glad to +see from Signers letters, that Petra was developing her mind, and that +Signe was the right one to help her. And now he had returned to see and +thank the gentle guide, who knew not herself what she was to him. + +But he had also come to see Petra again. How far had she got now? The +word had been spoken, he could therefore talk freely with her about it; +this was a relief to both, for thus they spoke not of the past. + +In the meantime they were interrupted by guests from town, invited and +uninvited! The affair was already so far advanced, that a single well +employed opportunity must make all clear,--and this the guests brought +with them. A large party was invited to meet them, and when after +dinner, the gentlemen were together in the study, the conversation +turned upon the stage; for a chaplain had seen a work on Christian +ethics open upon the dean's table, and his eye had caught the appalling +word: Theatre. This led to a hasty discussion, in the midst of which +the dean entered; he had not been present at dinner, having been called +away to a dying bed; he was very serious, and neither ate, nor took any +part in the conversation; but he filled his pipe and listened. As soon +as Odegaard observed this, he joined in the conversation himself, but +for a long time he tried in vain to explain his views, for the chaplain +had a habit of exclaiming every time a link in the chain of evidence +was about to be adduced: "I deny it!" and then that which was about to +be a proof, must itself be proved; consequently the matter was always +going backwards; from the theatre, they had already passed to +navigation, and now to get something proved in that, they were just +going over to agriculture. + +This was too much, so Odegaard elected himself chairman. There were +several ministers present besides the chaplain, there was also a +captain, a little swarthy man, with an immense abdomen, and a pair of +small legs that went stumping one after the other. Odegaard called upon +the chaplain to state his objections to the theatre. He began: + +"Good men of even heathen times were opposed to the drama, Plato, +Aristotle, because it was ruinous to morals. Socrates it is true, +sometimes visited the theatre, but if any one concludes from that, that +he approved of it, I deny it; one must see much of which one does not +approve. The early Christians were expressly warned against the play, +vide Tertullian, and since the revival of the drama in later times, +earnest Christians have spoken and written against it, I name such men +as Spener and Francke; I name a writer on Christian ethics, as Schwarz, +I name Schleiermacher. ('Hear! hear!' cried the captain, for this name +he knew.) The two latter admit dramatic representations to be +allowable, and Schleiermacher even thinks that in a private company and +by amateurs, a good play may be performed, but he condemns the actors +on the stage. As a profession, it presents so many temptations to the +Christian, that he MUST avoid it. And is it not also a temptation to +the spectator? To be moved by fictitious suffering, to be elevated by a +fictitious paragon of virtue, such (which in reading one can better +defend oneself from,) entice us to believe, that we are ourselves what +we see before us, our energy and force of will are weakened by it, it +drags us down into the mere wish to see and hear, making us visionary. +Is it not so? Who are the frequenters of the theatre? Idlers in search +of amusement, voluptuaries who will be stimulated, vain people who wish +to be seen, visionaries who flee hither to escape the actual life +against which they dare not contend. Sin behind the curtain, sin before +it! I have never heard sincere Christians say anything else." + +The Capt.: "I am beginning to tremble for myself; if I have been in +such a den of wolves each time I have attended the theatre, the +devil----" "Fie captain," said a little girl who had come in with them, +"you mustn't swear, or else you'll go to hell!"--"Aye my child, yes, +yes."--Then Odegaard rose to speak: + +"Plato raised the same objections against poetry as against the stage, +and Aristotle's opinion is doubtful,--therefore I will leave them +alone. The early Christians did well to abstain from the HEATHEN +play,--I will also leave them alone. That earnest Christians in modern +times should have their scruples about the theatre, I can well +understand; I have had them myself. But if one admits that a poet has +liberty to write a drama, then an actor has liberty to play it, for in +writing, what other does a poet do than play it--in his thoughts, with +ardour, with passion, and 'whosoever looketh after a woman to lust +after her,' &c.--you know the words of Christ Himself. When +Schleiermacher says, that the drama may only be played privately and by +amateurs, it is the same as to assert, that the talents God has given +us, shall be neglected, whereas the meaning really is, that they shall +be developed to the highest possible perfection; and to this end have +we received them. We are all acting every day, when we imitate others +in joke or earnest. Where, in any single instance these powers outweigh +all others, I really wonder if such a one ceased to cultivate them, if +it would not soon be shown that THIS was sin. For he who does not +follow his proper calling, becomes unfit for another, leads an +unsettled wavering life,--in short becomes a far easier prey to +temptation. Where work and inclination fall together, much temptation +is locked out. Now if you say the calling is in itself too full of +temptation, well, every one feels it differently. To ME that +calling possesses the greatest temptation that dupes one to believe +he is righteous himself, because he bears the commands of the +Righteous,--dupes him to believe he himself is believing, because he +speaks to the belief of others, or more plainly said: 'To me the +ministerial calling has the greatest temptation of all.'" (Great uproar: +I deny it! Yes! Silence! I deny it! It's true! Silence!) The Captain: +"Well I never heard before that the pulpit was worse than the stage!" +Laughter and cries from all: "No, he never said it was." Captain: "Yes, +the deuce----" "No, no, captain, the devil will be coming!"--"Well, my +child, well, well!" And Odegaard took up the thread: + +"All the temptation of being excited in a moment, of sinking down into +the mere wish to see and hear, of taking the models of virtue, and +without trouble appropriating their life as ours, this verily is also +present in the church!" (The same clamour again.) + +The ladies could no longer hear this uproar, without finding out what +it was. Now the door was open. Odegaard seeing Petra among them, said +with emphasis: "It is true there are actors who get excited upon the +stage, then rush to church, and get excited there,--and still they are +the same. But in general actors, in common with seamen, are so often +placed in the direst extremity, (for the moment before they enter must +be awful!) and so often come face to face with the great, the +unexpected, are so often called to be instruments in the hands of the +Lord, that they bear in their hearts a fear and longing, a strong +feeling of unworthiness; and this we know, that Christ preferred to be +with publicans and penitent women. I give them no charter; verily the +greater their work, the greater their guilt if their work leads them +into rashness, or degenerates into loose frivolity. But as there is no +actor, who has not learnt, by a series of disappointments how worthless +applause and flattery is, although the most behave as though believing +in it,--in the same way we see their mistakes and faults, but we +do not know so well their own relation to them, and on that it +depends--considered from a Christian point of view." + +Several rose, and began to speak all together, but-- + + + "Fourteen years surely I must have been--" + + +sounded in from the piano, and they streamed into the room; for it was +Signe who was singing, and Signe's Swedish melodies and the way in +which she sang them, were most delightful. One song followed another, +and as the first melodies of the land, faithful messages from the heart +of a great people, had had an elevating effect, and they were now +standing in anticipation, Odegaard rose and asked Petra to recite a +poem. She must have been conscious of it, for her face was crimson. She +stepped forward at once,--though she trembled so that she was obliged +to hold fast by the back of a chair,--turned very pale and began:-- + + + He could not get leave to go to sea, + His mother was weak, his father was old, + The farm was increasing a hundred fold:-- + "Why should he with the Vikings roam? + Here he has all he can wish for at home." + + But the youth in the clouds, as they onward sped, + Saw armèd hosts to the battle led; + And the youth would pine when he saw the sun, + 'Twas the King in state after victories won. + He pondered the sagas of ancient days, + He forgot his work in the Vikings' praise. + + There came a morning, away went he, + To the outermost isle by the open sea, + To see the breakers come dashing in, + And list to the distant battle's din. + It was a day in the early spring, + When the voice of the storm is on the wing: + "Earth shall not ice-bound slumber longer!"-- + A sight he saw,--his will grew stronger. + They lay a ship, in a steel grey cove, + Resting after a stormy raid,-- + In sooth she seemed better inclined to rove, + Though her sail was bound and her anchor laid, + For the sail and the mast were going to and fro, + And the vessel was frothing scum with her bow. + + On board they were having a little rest, + To eat and to sleep was their present behest;-- + Up from the cliff they heard one calling, + --The words of a fool they seemed, thus falling,-- + "Dare no one steer in a storm so strong, + Then give me the rudder;--ah! I long!" + + Some looked up to the rocky brow, + Others nor cared to see just now; + None of them rose from the mid-day fare, + Down came a stone and felled two men there. + Up they sprang from deck and cheer, + Threw down the platters,--seized bow and spear; + Up whizzed the arrows,--while unprepared + He stood on the cliff and his will declared: + "Chieftain with grace wilt yield thy vessel, + Or longest thou first to strive and wrestle?" + + To listen to such was but time to waste, + In answer a spear was hurled in haste, + It hit him not; and calmly he said: + "None wait for me in the halls of the dead, + But thou who afar the sea hast ploughèd + Canst hasten home, or hie thee thither.-- + All that under thee thou hast bowèd + Must pass to me; so came I hither! + For me thou gatheredst, to me it falleth; + My time hath come, for me it calleth." + The other laughed from his height in scorn: + "Verily if thou indeed so longest, + Come prove thee to be my warrior strongest!" + "That can I not, I'm a _chieftain_ born. + I must command for I know my way; + The new can never the old obey." + But for the answer in vain he listened + Then down he sprang, his eyes they glistened: + "Ye warriors! your chieftain the duty owes + To prove to whom Odin his favour shows. + Then heroes! serve ye the one he aideth. + Shame to him that his yoke evadeth!" + + Red in wroth grew the chieftain's face; + Sprang in the sea and swam to land; + The other leapt hastily down to the strand + And took him up in his strong embrace. + + But the chieftain saw in the light of his eyes, + That his soul was of noble and lofty guise. + "Throw him arms across for none he weareth," + On board he cried;--"if the day beareth + Thee victory, say that himself he gave + The sword that brought him a hasty grave." + + The struggle waxed warm on the mountain side, + Each blow fell back with an echoing bomb;-- + The wrothful "Dragon" snuffed in her fume, + Felled was her champion in his pride. + + There rent a scream the mountains o'er, + Each man would revenge the mighty wrong; + From stem to stem there rose a throng, + And soon they stood on the rocky shore. + Then up the dying man swung his hand + To give amongst them his last command: + "A man must fall when his work is done; + The end of a hero song is grand; + Make him your chieftain,--a worthy one." + His lips grew white, his strength was past, + They hastened up as he breathed his last; + For him was a place of honour stored, + Thereto he pointed,--at Odin's board. + + The new commander made no delay, + He sprang on a stone and the order gave: + "First raise a mound o'er the hero's grave, + And mind ye the noble deeds of his day. + But e'er the night shall the anchor be weighed, + Nor e'en by the dead must our journey be stayed." + + The beacon was raised, the sail was spread, + The Dragon soon over the waters sped; + A song of remembrance clang o'er the wave + To him they had left in the island grave,-- + An ode of welcome rang in the ear + Of the youth who stood at the helm to steer. + + And just as his home was near in view, + And all were rushing down to the strand, + With cries of wonder to see the hand + That was steering Oger's sea-worthy shoe,-- + Fell the evening sun upon sail and shield, + And red o'er the height by the battle field. + + The vessel he steered so near the land, + That frightened they cried: "The ship will strand!" + He turned her round with a lurch and heave, + And he smiled upon them: "_Now_ have I leave?" + + +The poem was said tremblingly, solemnly, without a trace of +affectation. They stood as if a ray had shot up among them from the +earth, in all the splendours of the rainbow. No one spoke, no one +moved;--but the captain could no longer control himself, he sprang +up, puffed, stretched himself, and said: "Well I don't know how +it is with you; but when I am taken in this way, the deuce take me +if--"--"Captain, there you swore again," said the little girl, and held +up her finger threateningly; "the devil will come this very hour and +take you!"--"Well, it is all the same my child, let him come, for now I +must, the deuce take me, must have a patriotic song!" And so he began +with a voice so terrific, that one would have thought the great stomach +gave pressure as organ bellows--and the rest with him:-- + + + I will watch our land, + I will build up our land + I will further its cause in my prayers, in my home, + I will increase its gains, + And its wants seek with pains + From the boundary out to the driving sea foam. + + There is sunlight enough, + There are corn fields enough, + If we pull but together there's plenty of stuff. + Midst the labour and strife + There's poetical life + To raise up our land if our love's strong enough. + + To search and to save + We went far o'er the wave, + In the countries around rise our watch towers of yore; + But our ensign to-day + Waveth further away, + And it waveth in vigour as never before. + + And our future is great, + For the three cloven state + Shall be joinèd again, shall herself be once more. + Then whate'er you can spare + Let the neediest share, + And a gathering river shall treasure the store. + + Scandinavia's ours, + And we'll value her powers, + What she was, what she is, what she shall be again, + And as love has its birth + In the dear homely earth, + From the seed corn of love shall she spring up again. + + +Signe came and put her arm round Petra, and drew her into the study +where no one was. "Really," she said, "you have so captivated me that I +must:----Petra, shall we be friends again!"--"Oh, Signe, then at last +you forgive me!"--"Yes, now I can, however things turn! Petra, do you +not love Odegaard?"--"Heavens, Signe!"--"Petra! I have thought it from +the very first day,--and now at last he has come to----All that I have +thought and done for you in these two and a half years has been with +this in view, and father has thought the same; I believe he has already +spoken to Odegaard about it."--"But Signe----!" "Hush," she put her +hand to Petra's lips and ran away, there was some one calling; it was +tea time. + +There was wine on the table, as the dean had been absent from dinner; +he had been very grave all the afternoon, and now sat as though no one +were present, till they were about to leave the table, when he tapped +on his wine glass, and said: "I have a betrothal to announce!"--Every +one looked at the young girls who were sitting together, and these +neither of them knew whether to fall from their chairs or remain +seated. + +"I have a betrothal to announce," repeated the dean, as though he found +it difficult to proceed. "I must confess that at first it was not just +what I wished."--All the guests looked at Odegaard in astonishment, and +their amazement knew no bounds when they saw him sitting quietly +looking at the dean.--"To speak plainly, I thought that he was not +worthy of her."--The guests here became so embarrassed that no one dare +longer look up, and as the girls had not ventured to do so at all, the +dean had but one face to talk to, and that was Odegaard's, who +meanwhile was enjoying perfect composure. "But now," continued the +dean, "now, when I have learnt to know him better, it has ended in my +doubting whether she is worthy of HIM, so noble does he appear to me; +for it is Art, the great dramatic Art betrothed to Petra, my foster +daughter, my dear child; may it go well with you! I tremble at the +thought, but that which belongs together must go together. God be with +you, my daughter!" In a moment she was in his arms. + +As no one sat down again, the whole company naturally left the table. +Petra went up to Odegaard, who drew her into the furthest window; he +had something to say to her now, but she must first say: "I owe it all +to you!"--"No, Petra; I have been only a kind brother; it was a great +sin of mine that I wished to be more; for if it had happened it would +have hindered your whole career."--"Odegaard!" They held each other's +hands, but did not look up; a moment after, he left her. + +The day following Odegaard left the deanery. + + * * * + +Just after Christmas, Petra received a letter with a large official +seal; she felt quite nervous and took it in to the dean to open. It was +from the magistrate in her native town, and read thus: "Whereas Pedro +Ohlsen, who yesterday departed this life, has left a will as follows: + + +'That which I leave behind me, which is exactly noted down in the +account book, that is in the blue chest, standing in my room at Gunlaug +Aamund's on the bank, and of which the said Gunlaug has the key, even +as she alone knows the whole matter,--I wish,--if she, Gunlaug Aamund, +gives her mind thereto, which she need not do unless she likes, to +fulfil the condition which I have named, which she alone who is the +only one who knows it, can fulfil,--that it should pass to Miss Petra, +daughter of the said Gunlaug Aamund, that is to say, if Miss Petra +thinks it worth while to remember a decrepit old man, to whom she has +done good though she did not know it, as she could not do, and who has +been his only comfort in his last years, wherefore he has thought to +give her a little joy in return, which she must not despise. God be +merciful to me a sinner. + + Pedro Ohlsen.' + + +I beg to ask if you will communicate with your mother respecting it, or +you wish me to do it." + +The next mail brought a letter from the mother, written by Pastor +Odegaard, the only one in whom she dare now confide; it contained the +information that she was willing to fulfil the requirement, namely to +inform Petra who Pedro was. + +This information and the legacy gave Petra a peculiar feeling; it +seemed as if everything were now putting itself to rights; it was +another reminder of her departure. + +Then it was for her artist life that old Peer Ohlsen had fiddled his +money together at weddings and dances, and son and grandson in +different ways, by little and little added thereto. The sum was not +great but it was sufficient to bring her further out into the world, +and thus more quickly forward. + +The thought rose as sunshine before her, that now she could repay her +mother, her mother should come to her, every day she could give her +some happiness. She wrote a long letter to her every post day, she +could scarcely wait for the answer, and when it came it was a bitter +disappointment, for Gunlaug thanked her, but observed, "that each was +best in his own place." Then the dean promised to write, and when +Gunlaug got his letter, she could no longer contain herself, she must +tell her sailors and other acquaintances, that her daughter was going +to be something great, and wanted her to go to her. Thus the matter +became a very important topic in the town, it was discussed on the +quay, in the boats, and in all kitchens. Gunlaug, who up to this time +had never named her daughter, now spoke of nothing but "my daughter +Petra," even as no one spoke of anything else to her. + +But still though it grew near to the time of Petra's departure, Gunlaug +had not given her consent, which grieved the daughter much. It was +expressly promised her on the contrary, both by the dean and Signe, +that they would be present when she should make her first appearance. + +The snow began to disappear from the mountains, the fields to grow a +little green. She had only a few more days at the deanery, and she and +Signe went round and bade farewell to all and everything,--especially +to the places they mutually held dear. Then they were informed by a +peasant, that Odegaard was up at Oygarene, and would soon be coming +down to them. The girls both grew very shy, and ceased to go out. + +When Odegaard came, he was lighthearted and happy as never seen before. +His errand in the district was to establish a free high school, and at +first, till he got a teacher, he meant to conduct it himself; +afterwards he would carry out other plans. In this way he would repay +he said, some of the debt his father owed to the district,--and his +father had promised to come to him as soon as the house was ready. It +was to be near the deanery. The dean, as well as Signe, was exceedingly +pleased at the prospect; Petra too, but she felt it a little strange, +that he should settle down there just as she was leaving. + +The dean wished that the day before Petra's departure they should +partake of the Lord's supper together. So a quiet solemnity fell over +the last days, and when they spoke it was in a half whisper. In these +days the dean never passed by Petra without stroking her hair, and at +the holy ceremony in church, at which with the exception of an +officiating clergyman and the sexton, there were none present but +themselves, he spoke particularly to her, and spoke as he would do at +their own table on a birthday or holiday. It would now soon be shown, +he said, whether the time that in prayer for Divine grace she this day +brought to a close, had laid a good foundation. No man's life is really +perfected before he reaches his right vocation. Our work is revealed to +us, and he who comes with truth, and holds himself worthy, will reap +the greatest and most lasting harvest. It is true the Lord often makes +use of the unworthy also, even as in a higher sense we are all +unworthy. He makes use of our longings. But there is a vocation that no +man can discover from his longings alone, and that he supposed she was +aiming at; every one must strive to reach the highest. He bade her come +frequently to see them, for it is the intention of the church that +companionship in faith should help and strengthen. If she had erred, +she would here always meet with sympathy, and if she herself understood +not that she had strayed, they would most affectionately tell her. + +The next day at the parting meal, he bade her the most tender farewell, +"He was of her friend's opinion," he said, "that she ought to begin her +career ALONE. In the struggle she would meet, she would find that it +was good to know, that in one place there lived a few on whom she could +rely; only to know with certainty that they were constantly PRAYING for +her,--she would see that it would help!"--After the adieu to Petra, he +turned with a welcome to Odegaard. "To be united in love to one and the +same is the most beautiful introduction to love one another." The dean +certainly never thought in this greeting, of that which first made +Signe red, then Petra; and if Odegaard; they did not know, for neither +of them ventured to look at him. + +But when the horses were at the door, and the three friends stood +around the young girl, and all the servants round the carriage, Petra +whispered, as for the last time she embraced Signe: "I know I shall +soon hear important news from you; may God bless it!" + +An hour after she saw only the white pinnacles that showed where the +place lay. + + + + + CHAPTER XII. + + THE SCENE. + + +One evening just before Christmas the theatre of the metropolis was +sold out; a new actress was to appear, about whom there were the +greatest expectations. Sprung from the people--her mother was a poor +fisherwoman--she had reached her present position by the help of others +who had discovered her talents, and she gave great promise. In the time +before the curtain rose, all sorts of things were whispered about her; +she was said to have been a strange unruly child, and later when grown +up, to have been betrothed to six at one time, and to have kept it +going for half a year. The town was in such an uproar on her account, +that she had had to be conducted out of it by a guard of police; it was +remarkable that the director should allow such a character to appear. +Others affirmed there was not the slightest truth in the statement; she +had been educated in a clergyman's family in Bergen's shire, from the +time she was ten years old; she was a cultivated and amiable girl, they +knew her well, she must have wonderful talent; she was so handsome. + +Others were there who were better authority. First the well-known fish +merchant, Yngve Vold. He had come here accidentally on a business +journey; it was said that the brilliant Spanish lady, to whom he was +married, made the house at home so hot, that he travelled merely to +cool himself. He had taken the largest box in the house, and invited +his hotel acquaintances to go with him to see "something, devilish +something!" He was in remarkable spirits, till he suddenly caught sight +of----could it be he?----in a box in the second tier and with a whole +ship's company round him?----no! yes!----verily it was Gunnar Ask! +Gunnar Ask who through his mother's money had become owner and captain +of "The Norwegian Constitution," had in cruising out of the fiord come +to sail side by side with a ship bearing the name: "The Danish +Constitution," and as Gunnar thought he observed it trying to pass him, +such certainly could not be permitted; he put out all the sail he +possessed, the old Constitution creaked, and the consequence was, that +in his endeavour to scud before the wind as long and as far as +possible, he ran the ship aground in a most preposterous place, and was +now reluctantly detained in the town while the vessel was being patched +up. One day he met Petra in the street, and she was so thoroughly kind +both then and afterwards, that he not only forgot his grudge, but +called himself the greatest fool that ever sailed from their native +place, that he could ever have imagined himself worthy of such a girl +as Petra. To-day he had taken tickets at a premium for the whole of his +crew, and mentally resolved to treat them between each act, and the +seamen, all from Petra's native place, and familiar with the mother's +tavern, that earthly paradise, felt Petra's honour to be their own, and +sat and promised each other that they would applaud as had never been +heard before. + +Down below in the parquet one could see the dean's thick bristly hair. +He looked calm, he had entrusted her cause to a Higher Power. By his +side sat Signe, now Signe Odegaard. Her husband, herself and Petra, had +just returned from a three month's tour on the continent; she looked +happy, as she sat and smiled over to Odegaard, for between them sat an +old woman with snow-white hair, that rose above her brown face like a +crown; sitting higher than everybody, she could be seen from the whole +house, and soon every opera glass was directed towards her, for it was +said she was the young actress's mother. She who bore a man's name, now +also produced so powerful an impression, that she shed peace over the +daughter. A youthful people is full of expectancy, it possesses faith +in the inner power of its nature, and the faith was roused by the sight +of this mother? She herself saw neither anything nor anybody; she was +indifferent as to what was coming; she was there only to see whether +people were kind to her daughter or not. + +The time was almost up; conversation died away in the suspense that by +degrees pervaded all, and did them good. + +A flourish of drums, trumpets and horns, suddenly opened the overture; +Oehlenschläger's "Axel and Valborg" was to be played, and Petra had +herself chosen this. She was sitting behind the scenes and listening. + +Before the curtain, the small number of her countrymen that the house +could muster, were trembling on her account, as one always does when +expecting anything personally dear of one's own to be brought forward. +It was as if each were about to appear on the stage himself; at such +moments many prayers arise, even from hearts that otherwise seldom +pray. + +The overture grew softer, peace fell over the harmonies, they melted +gradually away as in sunlight. It was over,--anxious silence ensued. + + The curtain rose. + + + + FOOTNOTES: + +[Footnote 1: Norwegian idiom, to get a long nose--to be +disappointed.--Tr.] + +[Footnote 2: The farms are often built on a steep mountain side.--Tr.] + + + + * * * * * + BURNETT AND HOOD, MIDDLESBROUGH. + + + + + + OVIND: + + A STORY OF COUNTRY LIFE IN NORWAY, + + BY + + BJÖRNSTJERNE BJÖRNSON, + + TRANSLATED BY + + S. AND E. HJERLEID. + + _Elegantly bound, Crown 8vo_. + + LONDON: SIMPKIN MARSHALL AND CO. + + MIDDLESBROUGH: BURNETT AND HOOD. + + * * * + + NOTICES OF THE PRESS. + +"We drop from fairy land to one almost as attractive in _Ovind_.... +There is about it a delightful freshness."--_Athenæum_, Nov. 20, 1869. + +"_Ovind_ is thoroughly simple and genuine, a word-painting wonderfully +like those Scandinavian pictures which most of us saw for the first +time in the Exhibition of 1862.... Its subdued harmonious tones have a +singular charm about them, and leave a very distinct impression."--_The +Spectator_, Dec. 25, 1869. + +"The tale is told in simple language with many quaint touches of +humour."--_Daily Telegraph_, Dec, 24, 1869. + +"The story relates simply, but very beautifully, the young loves of a +peasant boy and a landowners grand-daughter, and introduces in the +course of the narrative very many Norwegian customs."--_Public +Opinion_, Dec. 11, 1869. + +"The great merits of Björnson's literary style are his intense +originality and unfaltering simplicity. All his writings are thoroughly +true to nature, while the sombre scenery of his native land inspires +him with a diction which we meet with in no other books, and is +entirely his own."--_The Examiner and London Review_, Jan. 1, 1870. + +"One of the most winning little stories we have ever read."--_The +Literary Churchman_, Nov. 29, 1869. + +"The translators are to be congratulated upon their successful +rendering of the story, the publishers have also got up the book in a +highly creditable manner. Altogether the translation is well worthy of +all who are interested in Scandinavian literature."--_Iron and Coal +Trades Review_, Dec. 22, 1869. + +"Opens to us a field of freshness and beauty which never loses its +charm for readers of all ages."--_Standard_, Jan. 26, 1870. + +"It is not for the novelty of the story so much as for the fresh vivid +picture it presents of peasant life in Norway that we commend the book +to the English reader."--_Trubner's American and Oriental Literary +Record_, Dec. 24, 1869. + +"This is a charmingly simple and beautiful story ... It is as real as +actual life, and as poetical as Milton's Paradise, not great with +ponderous thoughts, but running over with exquisite poetry, suggesting +new worlds of beauty lying under every day things.... A pure spiritual +beauty, which the author has drawn from the simplest outward things in +peasant life, lies over all the story, and bathes everything in the +cool calm light of heaven."--_The Border Advertiser_, Dec. 19, 1869. + +"The book is indeed redolent of country pastures, of sweet smelling +pine woods, of happy, glad, unsophisticated Northern life.... It +touches chords lying hidden in the depths of the mysteries of race and +language, and moves us as, perhaps, no book of the warm but alien south +could succeed in doing."--_Northern Daily Express_. + +"The story has enough of originality, and of the foreign element, to +make it quite worthy of translation and of general acceptance."--_The +Illustrated London News_, July 23, 1870. + +"We cannot speak too highly of the excellence of this translation. It +reads as if it had been originally written in English."--_The +Manchester Weekly Times_, June 11, 1870. + + + + + THE NEWLY-MARRIED COUPLE: + + BY + + BJÖRNSTJERNE BJÖRNSON. + + TRANSLATED FROM THE NORWEGIAN + + BY S. AND E. HJERLEID. + + _Price 1s; Cloth bound 2s_. + + LONDON: TRÜBNER AND CO. + + * * * + + MUSIC. + + THE WEDDING IN HARDANGER. + + (Arranged as a Solo.) + +Words by Munch. Translated from the Norwegian, by S. and E. Hjerleid. +Music by Kjerulf. + +(The Song by which the Swedish Singers won the Prize at the Paris +Exhibition of 1867.) + +_1s. 6d. post free from the Translators, North Ormesby, Middlesbrough_. + + LONDON: F. PITMAN, 20, PATERNOSTER ROW. + + + + + * * * + BURNETT AND HOOD, PRINTERS, MIDDLESBROUGH. + + + + + + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's The Fisher Girl, by Björnstjerne Björnson + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE FISHER GIRL *** + +***** This file should be named 37725-8.txt or 37725-8.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + https://www.gutenberg.org/3/7/7/2/37725/ + +Produced by Charles Bowen, from page scans provided by the Web Archive + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: The Fisher Girl + +Author: Björnstjerne Björnson + +Translator: Sivert Hjerleid + Elizabeth Hjerleid + +Release Date: October 11, 2011 [EBook #37725] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE FISHER GIRL *** + + + + +Produced by Charles Bowen, from page scans provided by the Web Archive + + + + + +</pre> + + +<br> +<br> +<br> +<p class="hang1">Transcriber's Notes:<br> +1. Page scan source:<br> +http://www.archive.org/details/fishergirl00bjgoog</p> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<h4>THE</h4> + +<h1>FISHER GIRL</h1> +<br> +<br> +<h5>BY</h5> + +<h2>BJÖRNSTJERNE BJÖRNSON.</h2> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<h5>TRANSLATED FROM THE NORWEGIAN</h5> +<br> +<br> +<h5>BY</h5> + +<h3>SIVERT AND ELIZABETH HJERLEID.</h3> +<br> +<br> +<h4>(<i>Translators of Ovind.</i>)</h4> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<h3>LONDON:<br> +TRÜBNER AND CO.</h3> +<hr class="W10" style="margin-top:0px; margin-bottom:0px"> +<h4>1871.</h4> + +<p class="continue">[<i>Entered at Stationers' Hall.</i>]</p> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<h2>TRANSLATORS' PREFACE.</h2> +<hr class="W10"> + +<p class="normal">Encouraged by the general appreciation with which our former +translation "Ovind" was received last winter, we now offer to the +English reader what we believe to be a faithful re-production of Herr +Björnson's latest work. The poems are rendered in the metre of the +original, and as in "Ovind" we have taken the liberty of adding +headings to the chapters.</p> + +<p class="continue"><span class="sc2">North Ormesby</span>,</p> + +<p class="normal"><span class="sc2">Middlesbrough</span>,</p> + +<p style="text-indent:4em">December, 1870.</p> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<h2>CONTENTS.</h2> +<hr class="W10"> + +<h3>CHAP. I.</h3> +<p class="normal"><a name="div1Ref_01" href="#div1_01"><span class="sc">Peer, Peter, and Pedro.</span></a></p> + +<h3>CHAP. II.</h3> +<p class="normal"><a name="div1Ref_02" href="#div1_02">"<span class="sc">Some Other Boys.</span>"</a></p> + +<h3>CHAP. III.</h3> +<p class="normal"><a name="div1Ref_03" href="#div1_03"><span class="sc">Ready for Confirmation.</span></a></p> + +<h3>CHAP. IV.</h3> +<p class="normal"><a name="div1Ref_04" href="#div1_04"><span class="sc">One and Another.</span></a></p> + +<h3>CHAP. V.</h3> +<p class="normal"><a name="div1Ref_05" href="#div1_05"><span class="sc">A Mistake.</span></a></p> + +<h3>CHAP. VI.</h3> +<p class="normal"><a name="div1Ref_06" href="#div1_06"><span class="sc">The Sound of the Clock.</span></a></p> + +<h3>CHAP. VII.</h3> +<p class="normal"><a name="div1Ref_07" href="#div1_07"><span class="sc">The First Act.</span></a></p> + +<h3>CHAP. VIII.</h3> +<p class="normal"><a name="div1Ref_08" href="#div1_08"><span class="sc">At the Rural Dean's.</span></a></p> + +<h3>CHAP. IX.</h3> +<p class="normal"><a name="div1Ref_09" href="#div1_09"><span class="sc">Apprehensions.</span></a></p> + +<h3>CHAP. X.</h3> +<p class="normal"><a name="div1Ref_10" href="#div1_10"><span class="sc">Is Music Lawful?</span></a></p> + +<h3>CHAP. XI.</h3> +<p class="normal"><a name="div1Ref_11" href="#div1_11"><span class="sc">Reconciliation.</span></a></p> + +<h3>CHAP. XII.</h3> +<p class="normal"><a name="div1Ref_12" href="#div1_12"><span class="sc">The Scene.</span></a></p> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<h2>CHAPTER I.</h2> + +<h3><a name="div1_01" href="#div1Ref_01">PEER, PETER, AND PEDRO.</a></h3> + + +<p class="normal">When the herring has for a long time frequented a coast, by degrees, if +other circumstances admit of it, there springs up a town. Not only of +such towns may it be said, that they are cast up out of the sea, but +from a distance they look like washed-up timber and wrecks, or like a +mass of upturned boats that the fishermen have drawn over for shelter +some stormy night; as one draws nearer, one sees how accidentally the +whole has been built, mountains rising in the midst of the +thoroughfare, or the hamlet separated by water into three, four +divisions, while the streets crook and crawl. One condition only is +common to them all, there is safety in the harbour for the largest +ship; there is shelter and calm, and the ships find these enclosures +grateful, when with torn sails and broken bulwarks, they come driving +in from the North Sea to seek for breathing space.</p> + +<p class="normal">Such a little town is quiet; all the noise there is, is directed to the +quay, where the boats of the peasants are moored, and the ships are +loading and unloading. The only street in our little town lies along +the quay, the white and red painted, one and two-storied houses follow +this, yet not house to house, but with pretty gardens in between; +consequently it is a long broad street, which, when the wind is +landward, smells of that which is on the quay.</p> + +<p class="normal">It is quiet here,--not from fear of the police, for, as a rule, there +is none,--but from fear of report, as everybody knows everybody. If you +go along the street, you must bow at every window, for there sits an +old lady ready to bow again. Besides you must bow to those you meet, +for all these quiet people are thinking what is becoming to the +inhabitants in general, and to themselves in particular. He who +oversteps the bounds where his standing or position is placed, loses +his good reputation; for you know not only him, but his father and +grandfather and you seek out where there has been a tendency in the +family before to that which is unbecoming.</p> + +<p class="normal">Many years since to this quiet little town came the well esteemed man, +Peer Olsen; he came from the country, where he had lived as a small +stall keeper and by playing the violin. In this town he opened a little +shop for his old customers, where besides other wares he sold brandy +and bread. One could hear him going backwards and forwards in the room +behind the shop, playing spring dances and wedding marches; every time +he passed the door he peeped through the glass pane, when, if he saw a +customer, he finished up with a trill, and went in. Trade went well, he +married and got a son, whom he named after himself, yet not Peer but +Peter. Little Peter should be what Peer felt HE was not, an educated +man, so the lad was sent to the Latin school. Now when those who should +have been his companions, thrust him out of their play because he was +the son of Peer Olsen, Peer Olsen turned him out to them again, as that +was the only way for the boy to learn manners. Little Peter, therefore, +feeling himself forsaken at the school, grew idle, and gradually became +so indifferent to everything, that his father could neither thrash +smiles nor tears out of him, so the father gave up struggling with him +and put him in the shop. How astonished then--was he not? when he saw +the lad give to each customer what he asked for, without a grain too +much, never even touching so much as a raisin himself preferring not to +talk, but weighing, counting, entering, without any change of +countenance, very slowly, but with scrupulous exactness. His father's +hopes began to revive, and he sent him with a fishing smack to Hamburg, +to enter a Merchant's College, and to learn fine manners; he was away +eight months, that must surely be sufficient. When he came back he had +provided himself with six new suits of clothes, and on landing he put +one suit on the top of another, for "things in actual wear are exempt +from duty." But thickness excepted, he made about the same figure in +the street next day. He walked straight or stiff with his arms +perpendicular, shook hands with a sudden jerk, and bowed as if without +joints to be at once stiff again; he had become politeness itself, but +everything was done without uttering a word, and quickly, with a +certain shyness. He did not sign his name Olsen any more, but Ohlsen, +which led the wits of the town to ask, "How far did Peter Ohlsen get in +Hamburg?" Answer: "As far as the first letter." He even went so far as +to think of calling himself Pedro, but he had to brook so much +annoyance for the h's sake, that he gave it up and signed himself P. +Ohlsen. He extended the business, and though only twenty-two, he +married a red-handed shop girl, for his father had just become a +widower, and it was safer to have a wife than a housekeeper. That day +year he got a son, who that day week was named Pedro. When worthy Peer +Olsen became a grandfather, he felt an inward calling to grow old. +Therefore he left the business to his son, sat outside upon a bench, +and smoked twist tobacco from a short pipe; and when one day he began +to grow tired of sitting there, he wished he might soon die, and even +as all his wishes had quietly been fulfilled, so also was this.</p> + +<p class="normal">If the son Peter had inherited exclusively the one feature of his +father's character, aptitude for business, the grandson Pedro seemed to +have inherited the other exclusively--talent for music. He was very +slow in learning to read, but quick in learning to sing, and he played +the flute so exquisitely that one might easily perceive he was of a +refined and susceptible nature. But this was only a trouble to the +father, as if the boy should be brought up to his own busy exactness. +Then, when he forgot anything, he was not scolded nor thrashed as the +father had been, but he was pinched. It was done very quietly, and with +a kindness one might almost call polite, but it was done on every +possible occasion. Every night when she undressed him, the mother +counted the blue and yellow marks, and kissed them, but she offered no +resistance, for she was pinched herself. For every tear in his clothes, +(the father's Hamburg suits made up again,) for every blot on his +copy-book she was to blame. So it was constantly: "Don't do that, +Pedro!" "Take care, Pedro!" "Remember, Pedro!" He was afraid of his +father, and his mother wearied him. He did not suffer much from his +companions, as he cried directly, and begged them not to spoil his +clothes, so they called him, "Withered stick!" and took no more notice +of him. He was like a weak featherless duckling, limping after the +rest, and waddling to one side with the little bit he could catch for +himself, nobody shared with him, and therefore he shared with nobody.</p> + +<p class="normal">But he soon observed that it was different with the poorer children of +the town; for they bore with him because he was better dressed than +themselves. The leader of the flock was a tall powerful girl, who took +him under her special protection. He never tired of looking at her, she +had raven black hair, all in one curl that was never combed except with +the fingers; she had deep blue eyes, short brow; the expression of her +face acted simultaneously. She was full of activity, and excitable; in +the summer, bare-footed, bare-armed, and sunburnt; in the winter, clad +as others in summer. Her father was a pilot and fisherman, she flew +about and sold his fish; she rigged his boat, and when he was out as a +pilot she went fishing alone. Every one who saw her turned to look +again, she was so self-reliant. Her name was Gunlaug, but she was +called "The Fisher Girl," a title she accepted as if by rank. In games +she took the weaker side; it was a necessity of her nature to have +something to care for, and now she cared for this delicate boy.</p> + +<p class="normal">In her boat he could play his flute, that had been banished at home +because they fancied it drew his thoughts from his lessons. She rowed +him out into the fiord; then she took him with her on her longer +fishing expeditions; and by-and-bye also on the night fishing. At +sunset they rowed out into the light summer stillness, when he would +play his flute, or listen to her as she told him all she knew about the +mermen, dragons, shipwrecks, strange lands and black people, as she had +heard it from the sailors. She shared her viands with him as she shared +her knowledge, and he received all without giving anything in return, +for he had no provisions with him from home, and no imagination from +the school. They rowed till the sun went down behind the snowcapped +mountains, then they drew to shore on some rocky island, and kindled a +fire, i.e. she gathered branches and sticks, while he looked on. She +had bundled along a sailor's jacket of her father's and a rug for him, +and in these he was wrapped. She kept up the fire, while he fell +asleep; she kept herself awake by singing snatches of psalms and songs; +she sang in a full clear voice until he slept--then softly. When the +sun rose again on the other side, and as a harbinger, cast his pale +yellow rays before him over the mountains, she awoke him. The forest +was still black, the fields were dark, but changing to a brown red and +shimmering, until the ridge top glowed, and all the colours came +rushing. Then they pushed the boat in the water again, cut through the +waves in the sharp morning breeze, and were soon aground with the +fishermen.</p> + +<p class="normal">When winter came and the fishing tours were given up, he sought her in +her own home; he often came and watched her while she worked, but +neither of them spoke much; it was as if they sat together and waited +for the summer. When summer came, however, this new object in life was +unfortunately also gone; Gunlaug's father died; she left the town, and, +at the suggestion of the schoolmaster, the lad was placed in the shop. +There he stood together with his mother, for his father, who little by +little had taken the colour of the grains he weighed, had to keep his +bed in the back room. From there he must yet take part in everything, +must know what each especially had sold, then appeared not to hear, +till he got them so near that he could pinch them. And one night when +the wick had become quite dry in this little lamp, it went out. The +wife wept without exactly knowing why, but the son could not pinch a +tear. As they had sufficient to live on, they gave up the business, +swept away every reminder, and converted the shop into a parlour. There +the mother sat in the window and knitted stockings; Pedro sat in the +room on the other side of the passage, and played his flute. But as +soon as the summer came he bought a light little sailing-boat, drove +out to the rocky island and lay where Gunlaug had lain.</p> + +<p class="normal">One day as he was resting among the ling, he saw a boat steering +directly towards him; it drew up by the side of his, and Gunlaug +stepped out. She was exactly the same, only full grown and taller than +other women. Just as she saw him, she drew to one side a little quite +slowly; she had not thought about his being grown up too.</p> + +<p class="normal">This pale thin face she did not know; it was no longer delicate and +fine; it was inanimate. But, as he looked at her, his eye caught a +brightness from the dreams of the past; she went forward again; with +every step she took, a year seemed to fall from off him, and when she +stood beside him, where he had sprung up, then he laughed as a child +and spoke as a child; the old face seemed like a mask over the child; +he was certainly older, but he was not grown.</p> + +<p class="normal">Yet, though it was the child she was seeking, now, when she had found +it, she knew not what further to do; she smiled and blushed. +Involuntarily he felt, as it were, a power within him; it was the first +time in his life, and in the same minute he grew handsome; it lasted, +perhaps, scarcely a moment, but in that moment she was caught.</p> + +<p class="normal">She was one of those natures that can only love that which is weak, +that they have borne in their arms. She had intended to be in the town +two days; she stayed two months. During these two months he developed +more than in all the rest of his youth; he was lifted so far out of +dreams and drowsiness as to form plans; he would leave, he would learn +to play! But when one day he repeated this, she turned pale; "Yes,--" +she said, "but we must be married first." He looked at her, she looked +wistfully again, they both grew fiery red, and he said: "What would +people say?"</p> + +<p class="normal">Gunlaug had never thought over the possibility of his doing other than +agree to what she wished because she acceded to every wish of his. But +now she saw that in the depths of his soul he had never for a moment +thought of sharing anything else with her than what she gave. In one +minute she became conscious that thus it had been the whole of their +lives. She had begun in pity, and ended in love to that which she +herself had tended. Had she been composed but for a single moment! +Seeing her gathering wrath, he was afraid, and exclaimed: "I +will!"----She heard it, but anger over her own folly and his +paltriness, over her own shame and his cowardice, boiled up in such +fervid heat towards the exploding point, that never had a love +beginning in childhood and evening sun, cradled by the waves and +moonlight, led by the flute and gentle song, ended more wretchedly. She +seized him with both her hands, lifted him, and from the very depths of +her heart gave him a good sound thrashing, then rowed straight back to +town, and went direct over the mountains.</p> + +<p class="normal">He had sailed out like a youth in love about to win his manhood, and he +rowed back as an old man to whom that was a thing unknown. His life +held but one remembrance, and that he had miserably lost, but one spot +in the world had he to turn to, and thither he never dare come again. +In pondering over his own wretchedness, how all this had really come +about, his energy sank as in a morass never to rise again. The boys of +the town, observing his singularity, soon began to tease him, and as he +was an obscure person whom no one rightly knew, either what he lived on +or what he did,--it never occurred to any one to defend him, and soon +he durst no longer go out, at all events, not into the street. His +whole existence became a strife with the boys, who were perhaps of the +same use as gnats in the heat of summer, for without them he would have +sunk down into perpetual drowsiness.</p> + +<p class="normal">Nine years after, Gunlaug came to the town, quite as unexpectedly as +she had left it. She had with her a girl of eight years, just like +herself formerly, only finer, and as if veiled by a dream. Gunlaug had +been married, it was said, and having had something left her, had now +come to the town to establish a boarding house for seamen. This she +conducted in such a way, that merchants and skippers came to her to +hire their men, and sailors to get hired; besides, the whole town +ordered fish there. She was called "Fish-Gunlaug," or "Gunlaug on the +Bank"; the appellation "Fisher Girl" passed over to the daughter, who +was everywhere at the head of the boys in the town.</p> + +<p class="normal">Her history it is that shall here be related; she had something of her +mother's natural power, and she got opportunity to use it.</p> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<h2> II.</h2> + +<h3><a name="div1_02" href="#div1Ref_02">"SOME OTHER BOYS."</a></h3> + + +<p class="normal">The many lovely gardens of the town were fragrant after the rain in +their second and third flowering. The sun had gone down behind the +everlasting snow-capped mountains, the whole heavens there away were +fire and light, and the snow gave a subdued reflection. The nearer +mountains stood in shade, but were lightened by the forests in their +many coloured tints of autumn. The rocky islands, that in the midst of +the fiord followed one after another, just as though rowing to land, +gave in their dense forests a yet more marked display of colours, +because they lay nearer. The sea was perfectly calm, a large vessel was +heaving landward. The people sat upon their wooden doorsteps, half +covered with rose bushes on either side; they spoke to each other from +porch to porch, or stepped across, or they exchanged greetings with +those who were passing towards the long avenue. The tones of a piano +might fall from an open window, otherwise there was scarcely a sound to +be heard between the conversations; the feeling of stillness was +increased by the last ray of sunlight over the sea.</p> + +<p class="normal">All at once there rose up such a tumult from the midst of the town as +though it were being stormed. Boys shouted, girls screamed, other boys +hurrahed, old women scolded and ordered, the policeman's great dog +howled, and all the curs of the town replied; they who were in-doors +must go out, out; the noise became so frightful that even the +magistrate himself turned on his door-step, and let fall these words: +"There must be something up."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Whatever is that?" assailed the ears of those who stood on the +doorsteps from others who came from the avenue.--"Yes, what can it be!" +they replied.--"Whatever can that be?" they now all of them asked +anyone who was passing from the centre of the town. But as this town +lies in a crescent shape in an easy curve round the bay, it was long +before all at both ends had heard the reply: "It is only the Fisher +Girl."</p> + +<p class="normal">This adventurous soul, protected by a mother of whom all stood in awe, +and certain of every sailor's defence, (for, for such they got always a +free dram from the mother,) had, at the head of her army of boys, +attacked a great apple tree in Pedro Ohlsen's orchard. The plan of +attack was as follows: some of the boys should attract Pedro's +attention to the front of the house by clashing the rose bushes against +the window; one should shake the tree, and the others toss the apples +in all directions over the hedge, not to steal them--far from it--but +only to have some fun. This ingenious plan had been laid that same +afternoon behind Pedro's garden; but as fortune would have it, Pedro +was sitting just at the other side of the hedge, and heard every word. +A little before the appointed time, therefore, he got the drunken +policeman of the town and his great dog into the back room, where both +were treated. When the Fisher Girl's curly pate was seen over the plank +fencing, and at the same time a number of small fry tittered from every +corner, Pedro suffered the scamps in front of the house to clash his +rose bushes at their pleasure,--he waited quietly in the back room. And +just as they were all standing round the tree in great stillness, and +the Fisher Girl barefooted, torn, and scratched, was up to shake it, +the side door suddenly flew open and Pedro and the Police rushed out +with sticks, the great dog following. A cry of terror arose from the +lads, while a number of little girls, who in all innocence were playing +at "Last Bat," outside the plank fencing, thinking some one was being +murdered within, began to shriek at the top of their voices; the boys +who had escaped shouted hurrah! those who were yet hanging on the fence +screamed under the play of the sticks, and to make the whole perfect, +some old women rose up out of the depths, as always when lads are +screaming, and screamed with them. Pedro and the policeman, getting +frightened themselves, tried to silence the women; but in the meantime +the boys ran off, the dog, of whom they were most afraid, after them +over the hedge,--for this was something for him--and now they flew like +wild ducks, boys, girls, the dog and screams all over the town.</p> + +<p class="normal">All this time the Fisher Girl sat quite still in the tree, thinking +that no one had observed her. Crouched up in the topmost branch, +through the leaves she followed the course of the fray. But when the +policeman had gone out in a rage to the women, and Pedro Ohlsen was +left alone in the garden, he went straight under the tree, looked up +and cried: "Come down with you this minute, you rascal!"--Not a sound +from the tree.--"Will you come down with you, I say! I know you are +there!"--The most perfect stillness.--"I must go in for my gun, and +shoot up, must I?" He made pretence to go.--"Hu-hu-hu-hu!" it answered +in owlish tones, "I am so frightened!"--"Oh to be sure you are! You are +the worst young scamp in the whole lot, but now I have you!"--"Oh dear! +good kind sir, I won't do it any more," at the same time she flung a +rotten apple right on to his nose, and a rich peal of laughter followed +after. The apple caked all over, and while he was wiping it off, she +scrambled down; she was already hanging on the plank fence before he +could come after her, and she could have got over if she had not been +so terrified that he was behind, that she let go instead. But when he +caught her she began to shriek; the shrill and piercing yell she gave +frightened him so that he let go his hold. At her signal of alarm, the +people came flocking outside, and hearing them she gained courage. "Let +me go, or I'll tell mother!" she threatened, her whole face flashing +fire. Then he recognised the face, and cried: "Your mother? Who is your +mother?"--"Gunlaug on the Bank, Fisher Gunlaug," replied the youngster +triumphantly; she saw he was afraid. Being near sighted, Pedro had +never seen the girl before now; he was the only one in the place who +did not know who she was, and he was not even aware that Gunlaug +was in the town. As though possessed, he cried: "What do they call +you?"--"Petra," cried the other still louder.--"Petra!" howled Pedro, +turned and ran into the house as if he had been talking to the devil. +But as the palest fear and the palest wrath resemble each other, she +thought he was rushing in for his gun. She was terror-stricken, and +already she felt the shot in her back, but as, just at this moment, +they had broken the door open from outside, she made her escape; her +dark hair flew behind her like a terror, her eyes shot fire, the dog +which she just met, followed howling, and thus she fell on her mother, +who was coming from the kitchen with a tureen of soup, the girl into +the soup, the soup on the floor, and a "Go to the dogs!" after them +both. But as she laid there in the soup, she cried: "He'll shoot me, +mother, shoot me!"--"Who'll shoot you, you rascal?"--"He, Pedro +Ohlsen?"--"Who?" roared the mother.--"Pedro Ohlsen, we took apples from +him," she never dare say anything but the truth.--"Who are you talking +about, child?"--"About Pedro Ohlsen, he is after me with a great gun, +and he'll shoot me!"--"Pedro Ohlsen!" fumed the mother, and with an +enraged laugh she drew herself up.--The child began to cry and tried to +escape, but the mother sprang over her, her white teeth glistening, and +catching her by the shoulder, she pulled her up.--"Did you tell him who +you were?"--"Yes!" cried the child, but the mother heard not, saw not, +she only asked again twice, three times:--"Did you tell him who you +were?"--"Yes, yes, yes, yes!" and the child held up her hands +entreatingly. Then the mother rose up to her full height:--"So he got +to know!--What did he say?"--"He ran in after a gun to shoot me."--"He +shoot you!" she laughed in the utmost scorn. The child, scared and +bespattered with soup had crept into the chimney corner, she was drying +herself and crying, when the mother came to her again:--"If you go to +him," she said, and took and shook her, "or speak to him, or listen to +him. Heaven have mercy upon both him and you! Tell him so from me! Tell +him so from me!" she repeated threateningly, as the child did not +answer directly, "Yes, yes, yes, yes!" "Tell him so from me!" she +repeated yet once more, but slowly, and nodding at every word as she +went.</p> + +<p class="normal">The child washed herself, changed her dress, and sat out on the steps +in her Sunday clothes. But at the thought of the terror she had been +in, she began to sob again.--"What are you crying for, child?" asked a +voice more kindly than any she had heard before. She looked up; before +her stood a fine looking man, with high forehead and spectacles. She +stood up quickly, for it was Hans Odegaard, a young man whom the whole +town revered. "What are you crying for, my child?" She looked at him +and said that she had been going to take some apples from Pedro +Ohlsen's garden, together with "several other boys;" but then Pedro and +the policeman had come, and then--; she remembered that the mother had +made her uncertain about the shooting, so she durst not tell it; but +she gave a deep sigh instead.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Is it possible," said he, "that a child of your age could think of +committing so great a sin?" Petra looked at him; she had known well +enough that it was sin, but she had always heard it denounced thus: +"You child of the devil, you black haired wretch!" Now, she felt +ashamed. "That you do not go to school and learn God's commandment to +us of what is good and evil!" She stood stroking her frock and +answered, that mother did not wish her to go to school.--"Perhaps you +cannot even read?" Yes, she could read. He took up a little book and +gave her. She looked in it, then turned it round to look at the +outside: "I cannot read such small print," she said. But she was +obliged to try, and she felt herself utterly stupid; her eyes and mouth +hung, all her limbs collapsed: "G-o-d, God the L-o-r-d, God the Lord +s-a-i-d, God the Lord said to M-M-M--"--"Dear me! Why you cannot even +read this! And a child of ten or twelve years? Would you not like to +learn to read?" By degrees she drawled out, that she would like it. +"Then come with me, we must begin at once." She rose, but only to look +in the house. "Yes, tell your mother," he said. The mother was just +passing, and seeing the child talking to a stranger, she came out upon +the doorstep. "He will teach me to read," said the child doubtfully, +with eyes fixed on the mother, who did not answer, but stood with +her arms on her side looking at Odegaard.--"Your child is an ignorant +one," he said, "you cannot answer to God or man, to let her go as she +does."--"Who are you?" asked Gunlaug sharply.--"Hans Odegaard, your +pastor's son." Her brow lightened a little, she had heard him highly +spoken of. He began again: "During the time I have been at home, +I have noticed this child, and to-day I have been again reminded +of her. She must not any longer be brought up only to that which +is useless."--What's that to you? the mother's face distinctly +expressed. Then he asked her quietly: "But you mean her to learn +something?"--"No."--He blushed slightly. "Why not?"--"People who have +learning are perhaps the better for it?" She had had but one experience +and this she held fast.--"I am astonished that any one can ask such a +thing!"--"Ah, but, I know they are not;" she went down the steps +to put an end to this nonsense. But he stepped in front of her: +"Here is a duty which you SHALL NOT pass by. You are a thoughtless +mother."--Gunlaug measured him from top to toe: "Who told you what I +am?" she said as she passed by him.--"You have just now done it +yourself, for otherwise you must have seen that the child is on the way +to be ruined."--Gunlaug turned, and her eye met his; she saw he meant +what he had said and she grew afraid. She had only had to do with +seamen and tradespeople; such language she had never heard before. +"What will you do with my child?" she asked.--"Teach her the things +belonging to her soul's salvation, and then see what she must be."--"My +child shall not be other than that I will she shall be."--"Yes she +shall; she shall be what God wills."--Gunlaug was silenced: "What is +that to say?" she said and came nearer.--"It is, that she must learn +what she is capable of by her natural abilities, for therefore has +God given them."--Gunlaug now drew quite near. "Then must not I direct +her, I, who am her mother?" she asked, as if she really wished to +learn.--"That you must, but you must respect the advice of those who +know better; you must listen to the will of God."--Gunlaug stood still +a moment. "But if she learnt too much," she said; "a poor man's child!" +she added and looked tenderly at her daughter.--"If she learns too much +for her station, she has thereby reached a higher one."--She quickly +saw his meaning, and said as if to herself, while she looked more and +more anxiously at the child: "But this is dangerous."--"The question is +not about that, he said mildly, but about what is right."--Her deep +eyes took a strange expression; she looked again piercingly at him; but +there lay so much of truth in his voice, words, countenance, that +Gunlaug felt herself defeated. She went across to the child, laid her +hand on her head, and could not speak.</p> + +<p class="normal">"I shall read with her until she is confirmed," he said as if to help +her; "I wish to take this child in hand."--"And you will take her away +from me?"--He hesitated and looked at her inquiringly.--"You must +understand it better than I," she struggled to say; "but if it was not +that you named our Lord,"--she stopped; she had smoothed her daughter's +hair, and now she took a handkerchief and tied round her neck. She did +not say in any other way that the child should go with him, and she +hastened back into the house as if she wished not to see it.</p> + +<p class="normal">This behaviour made him feel suddenly anxious at that which in his +youthful ardour he had taken upon himself. The child, too, was afraid +of the one who for the first time had overcome her mother, and so with +this natural fear they went to their first lesson.</p> + +<p class="normal">From day to day, however, it seemed to him that she grew in wisdom and +knowledge, and at times his conversation with her, assumed of +themselves quite a peculiar tone. He often drew her attention to +characters in sacred and profane history in pointing out the CALLING +that God had given them. He would dwell upon Saul who was leading a +wild roving life, and upon a lad like David who was tending his +father's sheep, until Samuel came and laid the hand of the Lord upon +them. But the greatest calling of all, was when the Lord himself was +upon earth, when he stopped at the fishing village, and called, and the +poor fishermen arose and went--to poverty, as to death, but always +joyfully; for the feeling of a call carries through all adversities.</p> + +<p class="normal">These thoughts followed her so, that at last she could bear these +things no longer, and asked him about her own calling. He looked at her +till she blushed, then answered her that we must reach our calling +through work; it may be modest and simple, but it is there for all. +Then she was seized with an eager zeal; it made her work with the power +of a grown person, it upset her play, she grew quite thin. She got +romantic longings; she would cut her hair, clothe herself like a boy, +and go out to battle. But as her teacher said one day that her hair was +beautiful if only it was nicely kept, she began to think much of it, +and for the sake of her long hair she sacrificed the name of a hero.</p> + +<p class="normal">Afterwards it was more to her than before to be a girl, and her studies +went quietly on, canopied by changing dreams.</p> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<h2> III.</h2> + +<h3><a name="div1_03" href="#div1Ref_03">READY FOR CONFIRMATION.</a></h3> + + +<p class="normal">Hans Odegaard had gone out as a young man from the hamlet of Odegaard +in Bergen's shire; people had taken to him, and he was now a learned +man and a strict preacher. He was besides an influential man, not so +much in words as in deeds; for, as it was said, he "never forgot." This +man who by perseverance pushed everything through, was however stopped +in a way that he least expected, and where it was most painful.</p> + +<p class="normal">He had three daughters and one son. Hans, the son, was the light of the +school, and it was his father's daily pleasure to prepare him himself. +Hans had a friend whom he helped to get the second place, and who +therefore, save his mother, loved him more than all the world. They +went together to school and to the university; they passed the two +first examinations together, and were then to study for the same +profession. One day as they were going joyfully down stairs after their +studies, Hans, in an outburst of high spirits and glee, threw himself +upon his companion's back, thereby causing him a fall, which some days +later ended in his death. When dying he begged his mother, who was a +widow, and now lost her only son, to fulfil his last request and take +Hans up in his place. Almost immediately after the mother died, but her +very considerable fortune was left to Hans Odegaard.</p> + +<p class="normal">It was years before Hans could recover himself after this. A long tour +on the continent so far restored him, that he could resume his +theological studies; but on his return home, he could not be persuaded +to make use of his examinations.</p> + +<p class="normal">The father's greatest hope had been to see him as his assistant in the +ministry, but he could not now be persuaded to enter the pulpit a +single time; he gave always the same reply: "he felt no calling:" this +was so bitter a disappointment to the father, that it made him several +years older. He had commenced late in life, and was already an old man; +he had worked hard, and always with this end in view. Now the son +occupied the largest part of the house, handsomely furnished, while +down below in his little study, by the lamp that lightened the night of +age, sat the hard-working old father.</p> + +<p class="normal">After this disappointment, he neither could nor would take other help, +neither would he give in to his son, and relinquish altogether; +therefore, summer or winter, he knew no rest; but each year the son +took a longer tour abroad. When he was at home he associated with no +one, except that in silence, greater or less, he dined at his father's +table. If any began to converse with him, they were met by a superior +clearness and earnestness for the truth, that made them always feel the +conversation a little embarrassing. He never went to church, but he +gave more than half his income to benevolent objects, and always with +the most express injunctions as to its appropriation.</p> + +<p class="normal">This beneficence was so different in its scale from the narrow customs +of the little town that it won the hearts of all. Add to this, his +reserve, his frequent journey abroad, the hesitation all felt in +conversing with him, and one can easily understand that he was regarded +as a mysterious being to which each added all possible qualities, and +his own best judgment. Therefore when he condescended to take the +Fisher Girl under his daily care, she was ennobled by it.</p> + +<p class="normal">Every one, especially women, seemed anxious to show her some favour. +One day she came to him clad in all the colours of the rainbow; she had +put on her presents, thinking she would now be really to his taste, as +he always wished her to be neat. But he had scarcely glanced at her, +before he forbade her ever to receive presents; he called her vain, +foolish: her aims were shallow, she took pleasure in folly.</p> + +<p class="normal">When she came next morning, with eyes that told a tale of weeping, he +took her with him a walk above the town. He told her about David in +such a manner that he took now this, now that incident, and made the +well-known story anew. First, he depicted him in his youth, beautiful +and rich in talent, and in child-like faith; how, while yet a boy, he +came with the triumphal procession. From a shepherd he was called to be +king, he dwelt in caves, but ended in building Jerusalem. When Saul was +ill, he came beautifully attired, and played and sang before him, but +when as king he himself was ill, he played and sang clad in the garb of +repentance. When he had achieved his great works, he took rest in sin, +then came the prophet and punishment, and he became a child again. +David, who could call the people of God to songs of praise, lay +contrite at the feet of the Lord. Was he most beautiful, when crowned +with victory he danced before the ark to his own songs, or when in his +private closet he begged for mercy from the punishing hand?</p> + +<p class="normal">The night after this conversation Petra had a dream, which all her life +she never forgot. She sat upon a white horse and came in triumphal +procession, but, at the same time, in front of the horse, she saw +herself dancing in rags.</p> + +<p class="normal">One evening some time after this, as she was sitting at the edge of the +forest above the town learning her lessons, Pedro Ohlsen, who since +that day in the garden had approached gradually nearer, passed close +by, and, with a singular smile, whispered: "Good evening!" Though more +than a year had passed by, her mother's injunction not to speak to him +was so strongly before her that she did not answer. But day after day +he went by in the same way, and always with the same greeting; at last +she missed him, when he did not come. Soon he asked a little question +in passing, by-and-bye it increased to two, and at last it was quite a +conversation. After such one day, he let a silver dollar slip down into +her lap, and then hastened away in delight. Now, if it was against the +mother's commands to talk to Pedro Ohlsen, it was against Odegaard's to +take gifts from any one. The first prohibition she had little by little +overstepped, but it came to her mind now, when it had led to her also +overstepping the second. To get rid of the money she got hold of some +one to treat; but, in spite of their best endeavours, they could not +eat more than the worth of four marks; and afterwards it troubled her +that she had misspent the dollar instead of giving it back. The mark +that still lay in her pocket felt so hot that it might have burned a +hole in her clothes; she took it and threw it into the sea. But she was +not rid of the dollar thereby; her thoughts were burnt by it. She felt +that, if she confessed, it might pass over, but her mother's fearful +rage before, and Odegaard's good faith in her, were each, in its own +way, alike alarming. Whilst the mother said nothing, Odegaard quickly +observed that there was something which made her unhappy.</p> + +<p class="normal">One day he asked her tenderly what it was, and, as instead of +answering, she burst into tears, he thought they must be in want at +home and gave her ten specie dollars. It made a strong impression on +her that, although she had sinned against him, he yet gave her money, +and as into the bargain she could now give this openly to her mother, +she felt herself freed from her guilt, and gave herself up to the +greatest joy. She took his hand in both of hers, she thanked him, she +laughed, she jumped about, and smiled in ecstacy through her tears, as +she looked at him something in the way that a dog regards his master +when going out. He did not know her again; she who always sat wrapt in +what he was saying, now took all power from him; for the first time he +felt a strong, wild nature heaving within him, for the first time the +well of life sent her red streams over him, and he drew back all +crimson. Meanwhile Petra went out to run home over the hills behind the +town. Once there, she laid the money on the baking-stone before her +mother, throwing her arms round her neck. "Who has been giving you +money?" said the mother, vexed already.--"Odegaard, mother, he is +the greatest man upon earth."--"What am I to do with it?"--"I don't +know--heavens! mother, if you knew"--and she again threw her arms round +her neck; she could and she would now tell her all, but the mother +released herself impatiently: "Will you have me to take alms? Take the +money back at once. If you have made him believe I am in want, you have +lied!"--"But, mother?"--"Take the money to him, I say, or I shall go +myself and throw them at him, HIM who has taken my child from me!" The +mother's lips trembled after the last words. Petra turned back very +pale. She opened the door softly and glided out of the house. Before +she knew what she was about the ten specie notes were torn to pieces in +her fingers. When she found what she had done, she burst out in an +invective against the mother. But Odegaard must know nothing about it, +yes, he should know all! for to him she must not lie. A moment after +and she stood in his house, and told him that her mother would not take +the money, and that in her vexation at having to bring it back, she had +torn the notes in two. She would have told him more, but he received +her coldly, and told her to go home with the admonition to shew her +mother obedience, even where it felt hard to do so. This, however, +seemed strange to her, as she knew so much, that he did not do what the +father most desired! On her way home she was quite overcome, and just +then she met Pedro Ohlsen. She had shunned him all this time, and would +have done the same now, for from him came all this unhappiness, but he +followed her, and asked her, "Where have you been, has anything +happened to you?" The waves of her mind rose so high that they cast her +whithersoever they would, and, as she thought it over, she could not +understand why the mother should forbid her to have anything to do with +him; it could be only a fancy, the one as well as the other. "Do you +know what I have done?" he said, almost humbly, when she had stopped "I +have bought a sailing boat for you. I thought you might like to have a +sail," and he laughed. His kindness, which resembled a poor man's +entreaty, could touch her now; she nodded; he was in a great hurry and +whispered eagerly that she must go through the town, and down the +avenue to the right, till she came to the great yellow boat-house, +behind which he would come and fetch her; no one could see them there. +She went, and he came and took her in. They sailed along for some time +in the light breeze, then made for a rocky island, where they moored +the boat and got out. He had brought some nice things for her to eat, +and he took out his flute and played. In seeing his pleasure she forgot +her sorrows for a time, and the joy of weak people having a tendering +influence, she became attached to him.</p> + +<p class="normal">After this day she had a new and continual secret from her mother, and +soon this had the effect of keeping everything from her. Gunlaug made +no inquiries, she believed everything till she doubted all.</p> + +<p class="normal">But now Petra had also a secret from Odegaard, for she accepted many +gifts from Pedro Ohlsen; he likewise made no inquiries, but the lessons +were day by day conducted in a more distant manner. Petra was now +divided amongst three; she never spoke to any one of them about the +others, and she had something to hide from each in particular.</p> + +<p class="normal">Under all this she had grown up without being aware of it herself, and +one day Odegaard communicated to her that she must now be confirmed.</p> + +<p class="normal">This intimation filled her with uneasiness, for she knew that with the +confirmation her lessons were to cease, and what would then become of +her? The mother was having an attic chamber made for her, that after +the confirmation she might have a room of her own, and the constant +knocking and hammering was a painful reminder. Odegaard observed that +she grew more and more quiet, sometimes he saw also that she had been +weeping. Under these circumstances the religious instruction made a +great impression on her, although Odegaard with great care avoided all +that might excite or move her. For this reason a fortnight before the +confirmation, he gave up the lessons with the short intimation that +this was the last time. By this he meant the last with him; for he +would certainly watch over her still, though through others. She, +however, remained seated where she was, the blood left her veins, her +eyes remained fixed, and involuntarily moved, he hastened to give a +reason: "It is not all young girls that are grown up at their +confirmation; but you must be aware that it is so with you." If she had +stood in the glare of a great fire, she could not have been more fiery +red than she became at these words; her bosom heaved, her eyes took a +vague expression and filled with tears, and driven further he hastened +to say: "We may perhaps still go on?" He did not until after realise +what he had proposed; he was wrong, he must retract it; but her eyes +were already lifted towards him. She did not answer "yes" with her +lips, but more plainly it could not be said. To excuse himself in his +own eyes, by finding a pretext, he asked: "There will be something you +would especially like to do now, something you--" he bent down towards +her--"feel a calling to, Petra?"--"No," she replied so quickly that he +coloured, and as if chilled, fell back into the considerations which +for years had occupied his mind; her unexpected reply had recalled +them.</p> + +<p class="normal">That she was possessed of some peculiar qualities, he had never doubted +from the time she was a child, and he saw her march singing at the head +of the street boys; but the longer he taught her, the less he felt to +understand her talent. It was present in every movement; what she +thought, what she wished, mind and body simultaneously made known in +the fulness of power, and the light of beauty, but put in words, and +especially in writing, it is only child-like simplicity. She appeared +all imagination, but he perceived in it especially a feeling of unrest. +She was very earnest, but she read more to go on than to learn; what +could be on the other side occupied her most. She had religious +feeling, but as the pastor expressed it, "no turn for a religious +life," and Odegaard was often anxious about her. Now that he was at the +closing point, his thoughts involuntarily reverted to the stone step +where he had received her; he heard the mother's sharp voice leaving +the responsibility with him, because he had used the name of Our Lord. +After pacing a few times up and down he collected himself: "I am going +abroad, now," he said with a certain shyness, "I have asked my sister +to care for you in my absence, and when I return we will try again. +Farewell! We shall meet again before I go!" he went so quickly into the +next room, that she could not even shake hands with him.</p> + +<p class="normal">She saw him again where she had least expected it, in the pastor's pew +beside the choir, just in front of her as she stepped forth with the +others to be confirmed. This so affected her, that her thoughts flew +far away from the holy act, for which, in humility and prayer, she had +prepared herself. Yes, if that was Odegaard's old father, he stopped +and looked long at his son, as he stepped forth to begin. Soon Petra +was once more to be startled in church, for a little below sat Pedro +Ohlsen in prim new clothes; he was just stretching his neck to catch a +glimpse of her over the heads of the boys; he soon bobbed down, but she +saw him repeatedly stick up his thin-haired head to bob again. This +distracted her, she did not wish to look, but she did look, and +there,--just as the others were all deeply moved, many in tears,--she +was terrified to see him rise up with stiff open mouth and transfixed +eyes, without power to sit down or move, for opposite him, stretched to +her full height, stood Gunlaug; Petra shuddered to see her, she was +white as the altar cloth. Her black crimpy hair seemed to rise up, +while her eyes got suddenly a repulsive power, as though they said: +"Away from her, what have you to do with her?" Under this look he sank +down upon the form, and a minute after stole out of church.</p> + +<p class="normal">After this Petra felt composed, and the further the rite proceeded the +more fully she entered into it. And when, after having given her +promise, she turned round and looked through her tears at Odegaard, as +the one who stood nearest to her good intentions, she resolved in her +heart that she would not put his hopes to shame. The steadfast eye that +looked expressively in return seemed to entreat her for the same, but +when she had taken her place and would find him again, he was gone. She +soon went home with her mother, who on the way let fall these words: "I +have done my part;--now may Our Lord do His!"</p> + +<p class="normal">When they had dined together, they two alone, the mother said as she +rose: "Now we may as well go to him,--the pastor's son. Though I don't +know what it will lead to that he does, he surely means it well. Put on +your things again, child!"</p> + +<p class="normal">The road to church which they two had so often trodden, lay above the +town, but through the street they had never before walked together; +indeed the mother had scarcely been there since she had come back to +the place, but she would now go the whole length with her grown up +daughter!</p> + +<p class="normal">On the afternoon of a confirmation Sunday, such a little town is all on +the move, either going from house to house to congratulate, or in the +street to see and to be seen; there is a salutation and halting at +every step, a shaking of hands, and interchanging of good wishes: the +poor children appear in the cast-off clothes of the rich, and are +paraded forth to return their thanks. The sailors in their foreign +pageantry, with the hat upon three hairs; and the fops, the merchants, +clerks, walked in groups, bowing to all as they passed. The half-grown +up lads of the Latin school, each arm in arm with his best friend in +the world, sauntered after in rash criticism; but to-day every one in +his own mind must yield the palm to the lion of the place, the young +merchant, the wealthiest man in the town, Yngve Vold, just returned +from Spain, all in trim to take charge on the morrow of his mother's +extensive fish trade. With a light hat over his light hair, he strolled +through the streets; every one bade him welcome, he spoke to all, +smiled to all; so the young people who had just been confirmed were +almost forgotten;--backwards and forwards one might see the light hat +over the light hair, and hear the light laughter. When Petra and her +mother entered the street, he was the first they stumbled upon, and as +if they had in reality stumbled against him, he started back before +Petra, whom he did not recognise.</p> + +<p class="normal">She had grown tall, not as tall as the mother but above the average +height, easy, elegant, and fearless, the mother and not the mother +inconstant interchange. The young merchant, who walked along behind +them, could no longer attract the attention of the passers-by; the two, +mother and daughter, were a more striking sight. They walked quickly, +without noticing any one, for they were seldom greeted except by +seamen; they soon returned more quickly still, for they had heard that +Odegaard had just left home for the steamer and would soon be gone. +Petra was in great haste; she must, she must indeed see him and thank +him before he went; it was wrong of him to leave her thus! She saw none +of all those who were looking at her; it was the smoke from the steamer +she saw over the roofs of the houses, and it seemed to be getting +further away. When they came to the quay, the boat had just left, and, +with sobs in her throat, she hastened further up the walk; indeed she +more sprang than walked, and the mother strode after. As the steamer +had taken some minutes to turn in the harbour, she was just in time to +spring down on the wharf, get up on a stone, and wave her pocket +handkerchief. The mother remained on the walk, and would not go down; +Petra waved--waved higher and higher, but there was no one who waved +again.</p> + +<p class="normal">Then she could bear it no longer; she could not restrain her tears, and +was obliged to return home by the higher path; the mother followed, but +in silence. The attic which her mother had prepared for her, and where +she had slept for the first time the night before, and had that morning +put on her new dress with so much delight, now received her bathed in +tears, and without so much as a glance around; she would not go down +where the seamen and others were sitting;--she took off her +confirmation dress and sat on the bed till night came; to be grown up +seemed to her the most unhappy thing that could be.</p> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<h2> IV.</h2> + +<h3><a name="div1_04" href="#div1Ref_04">ONE AND ANOTHER.</a></h3> + + +<p class="normal">One day after the Confirmation Petra went over to Odegaard's sisters, +but she soon saw that this must have been a mistake on his part, for +the pastor went by as though he never saw her, and the daughters, both +older than Odegaard, received her stiffly. They satisfied themselves +with giving a bare account from their brother of what she was now to +do. The whole of the forenoon she was to be engaged in household duties +at a house in the suburbs of the town, and in the afternoon to go to +the sewing school; she was to sleep at home, and take breakfast and +supper there.</p> + +<p class="normal">She acted according to this arrangement, and found it agreeable enough +as long as it was new, but afterwards, and especially when summer came, +she began to get tired of it, for she had been accustomed in summer to +sit up in the forest the whole day long, and had read in her books, +which from the depths of her heart she now missed, as she missed +Odegaard, as she missed conversation. The consequence was that at last +she took it where it was to be found. About this time a young girl +entered the sewing school, called Lise Let, i.e. Lise, but not Let; for +that was the name of a young cadet, who had been at home one Christmas, +and betrothed himself to her on the ice, while she was only a child at +school. Lise vowed it was not true, and cried if any one named it; +nevertheless, she went by the name of Lise Let. The little, active Lise +Let often laughed and often cried; but, whether she laughed or cried, +she thought about love. A perfect swarm of new and curious thoughts +soon filled the school; if a hand was reached out for the scissors, it +was to go a courting, and the scissors said, yes, or gave a refusal. +The needle was bethrothed to the thread, and the thread sacrificed +herself stitch by stitch to the heartless tyrant; she who pricked her +finger, shed her heart's blood, and to change needles was to be +unfaithful. If two of the girls whispered together, it was about +something remarkable that had happened to them; soon two more began to +whisper, and then two again; each one had her confidant, and there were +a thousand secrets: it was impossible to stand it.</p> + +<p class="normal">One afternoon at dusk, in a fine drizzling rain, Petra, with a large +handkerchief over her head, stood outside her mother's house, and +peeped into the passage, where a young sailor was standing, whistling a +waltz. She held the handkerchief together with both her hands tight +under her chin, so that only her eyes and nose could be seen, but the +sailor saw she was winking at him, and he went quickly out where she +stood. "I say, Gunnar, will you go a walk?"--"But it rains!"--"Tut, is +that anything!" and so they went to a small house higher up the +mountain. "Buy me a few cakes,--those with the icing!"--"You are always +wanting cakes."--"With the icing!" He came out again with them; she +stuck one hand out from under the handkerchief, took them in, and went +on again, eating as she went. When they had got just above the town, +she said as she gave him the cake: "I say now, Gunnar! we have always +thought so much of each other, we two; I have always liked you better +than any other boys! You don't believe it? But I assure you, Gunnar! +And now you are second mate and can soon take a ship; it seems to me +you should get engaged Gunnar! Dear, why don't you eat the cake?"--"I +have begun to chew tobacco."--"Well, what do you say?"--"Oh! +there's no hurry for that!"--"No hurry? And you go away day after +to-morrow?"--"Yes, but am I not coming back again?"--"But it isn't +certain that I shall have time then, and you don't know where I shall +be either,"--"It should be to you, then?"--"Yes, Gunnar, you might have +understood that, but you were always slow, that was why you were only a +sailor, too."--"Oh! I'm not sorry for that, it's quite nice to be a +sailor."--"Yes, to be sure,--your mother has ships. But what do you say +now? You are so dull!"--"Yes, what shall I say?"--"What shall you say? +Ha-ha-ha, perhaps you won't have me!"--"Ah! Petra, you know quite well +I will; but I don't think I can trust you."--"Yes, Gunnar, I shall be +as true, as true!"--He stood a minute still; "Let me see your face, +Petra!"--"What for that?"--"I want to see if you really mean it."--"Do +you think I go and trifle with you, Gunnar?" She was vexed and lifted +the handkerchief.--"Well, Petra, if it is to be right regular earnest, +then give me a kiss upon it, for one knows what that means."--"Have you +lost your wits?" She drew the handkerchief over, and went on.--"Stay +Petra, stay! You don't understand.--If we are engaged--" "Oh! nonsense +with you!"--"Yes, but I know what is customary, and as far as +experience goes, I beat you hollow. Remember all that I have +seen."--"Yes, you've seen all like a simpleton, and you talk as you've +seen."--"What do you mean by being engaged, then, Petra? I may surely +ask about that! There's no meaning in running up and down hill after +each other!"--"No, that's true enough." She laughed, and stopped. "But +listen now, Gunnar! While we stand here and puff--huf!--I'll tell you +how lovers do. Every evening as long as you are here, you must wait +outside the sewing school and go home with me to the door, and if I am +out anywhere else, you must wait in the street till I come. And when +you go away, you must write to me, and buy things to send me. To be +sure: we must exchange rings, with your name in one and mine in the +other, and then the year and the day; but I have no money, so you must +buy them both."--"Yes, I'll do that; but--" "Now, what about 'but' +again?"--"Good heavens! I only meant I must have the measure of your +finger."--"Yes, that you shall have directly;" and she picked up a +straw and bit off the measure: "Now don't lose it!" He wrapped it +in paper, and put it in his pocket book; she watched him till the +pocket book was hidden again. "Let us go now, I'm tired of standing +here."--"But, I must say I think it rather flat, Petra!"--"Very well, +if you won't, it's all the same to me!"--"Certainly I will, it's not +that; but shan't I even so much as get hold of your hand!"--"What for +that?"--"As a sign that we're really engaged."--"Such nonsense, does +that make it more certain? You can have my hand, anyhow; here it is! No +thank you, no squeezing, sir!"--She drew her head within the +handkerchief again, then suddenly she lifted the handkerchief with both +hands, and her face came full into view. "If you tell any one, Gunnar, +I shall say it is not true, so you know!" She laughed, and went on down +the hill. A little after, she stopped, and said: "The sewing school +will be over to-morrow at nine, so you can go and stand at the foot of +the garden."--"Very well."--"Yes, but now you must go!"--"Won't you, +then, even give me your hand at parting?"--"I don't know what you are +always wanting with my hand,--no, you won't get it now. Good bye!" she +cried, and away she sprang.</p> + +<p class="normal">Next evening she arranged it so, that she was the last at the sewing +school. It was nearly ten when she left, but when she had passed +through the garden, Gunnar was not there. She had imagined all sorts of +misfortunes, but not this; she was so much offended, that she waited, +merely to give it him in earnest, when at last he did come. Besides she +had good company as she walked up and down; for the merchants' singing +club had just begun to practise with open windows, in a house near by, +and a Spanish song, that mild evening, lured her thoughts till she was +in Spain, and heard her praises sung from the open balcony. Spain was +her great longing, for every summer came the dark Spanish ships into +the harbour, the Spanish songs into the streets, and upon Odegaard's +walls, hung a row of pictures from Spain; perhaps he was there again +now, and she was with him! But in the same minute she was called home +again, for there, behind the apple tree, was Gunnar coming at last; she +rushed towards--not Gunnar, but the one returned from Spain, the light +hat over the light hair. "Ha, ha, ha, ha," laughed the light laughter, +"so you take me for another?" She denied it eagerly, hastily, and began +to run in her vexation, but he ran after, talking incessantly whilst he +ran very quickly, and with that mixed accent that people get when they +use several languages. "Yes, I can easily keep you company, for I'm a +capital runner,--it won't help you,--I must speak to you,--it is too +quiet here, people are dead, but you are not dead, I can see. I must +speak to you; I am here for the eighth evening."--"For the eighth +evening!"--"The eighth evening; ha, ha, ha, I would gladly go for eight +more, for we two suit each other, don't we? It's no use, I shan't let +you slip, for now you are tired, I can see."--"No, I'm not."--"Yes, you +are."--"No, I'm not."--"Yes, you are! Talk, then, if you are not +tired!"--"Ha, ha, ha!"--"Ha, ha, ha, ha! Yes, that's not to talk," and +so they stopped. They exchanged a few witty words, half in jest, and +half in earnest; then he began to speak in praise of Spain, and one +picture followed another, till he ended in cursing the little town at +their feet. The first, Petra followed with beaming eyes; the second +tingled in her ears, while her eyes moved up and down over a gold chain +that hung twice round his neck. "Yes, this," he said hastily, and drew +out the end of the chain, to which a gold cross was fastened, "see, I +took it with me to-night, to show at the singing club; it is from +Spain. You shall hear its history." Then he related: "When I was in the +south of Spain, I was present at a shooting match, and won this prize; +it was handed to me at the festival with these words: 'Take this with +you to Norway and give it to the most beautiful woman in your country, +with the respectful homage of Spanish Cavaliers.' Then followed shouts, +and processions, the waving of banners and the clapping of cavaliers, +and I received the gift."--"No, how splendid! Tell more, more!" broke +in Petra, for her imagination already pictured the Spanish feast, with +the Spanish colours and songs, and the dusky Spaniards, standing under +the vines in the evening sunlight, sending their thoughts to the most +beautiful woman in the land of snow. He did as she requested; he +increased her longing with new recitals, and, as if transported to that +wonderful land, she began humming the Spanish song she had just heard, +and, little by little, to move her feet to its time. "What! You can +dance the Spanish dance?" he cried.--"Yes, yes--yes!" she sang in +dancing time, snapping her fingers to imitate the castanets, and making +some rapid steps upon the spot where she stood, for she had seen the +Spanish sailors dance!--"You shall have the gift of the Spanish +Cavaliers," cried he, in ecstacy, "you are the most beautiful woman I +have met." He had taken the gold chain from his own neck, and had +lightly thrown it once or twice round hers before she came to +understand it. But, when she understood it, she was suffused with the +deep scarlet, peculiarly her own, and the tears were about to burst +forth, so that he, falling from one surprise into another, did not know +what more to do, but felt that he ought to go, and went.</p> + +<p class="normal">At twelve o'clock with the chain in her hand, she still stood at the +open window of her little room. The summer night lay gently over town +and fiord and distant mountains; from the street the Spanish song +sounded again, for the club had gone home with young Yngve Vold. Word +for word it could be heard, about a beautiful wreath. Two voices only +sang the words, the rest hummed the guitar accompaniment.</p> +<div class="poem2"> +<p class="t0"> +Take up the wreath, dearest, it is for thee,<br> +Take up the wreath, dearest, thinking of me;</p> +<p class="t5">Here is the rarest<br> +Of grass for the fairest,<br> +Here is the whitest<br> +Of flowers for the brightest.<br> +Here is a swelling<br> +Bud for the lovely one,<br> +Here is a telling<br> +Leaf for the faithful one.</p> +<p class="t0">Take up the wreath, dearest, it is for thee, +Take up the wreath, dearest, thinking of me!</p> +</div> + +<p class="normal">When she awoke in the morning she had been in a forest where the sun +shone in on every side, where all the trees were those they called +"golden rain," their long yellow tassels hanging down and almost +touching her as she passed. Soon she remembered the chain, she took it +and hung it over; then she put a black handkerchief over the white, and +the chain over that, as it showed better upon black. She sat up in bed +and kept looking at herself in a little hand mirror; was she indeed so +beautiful? She stood up to do her hair and then look at herself again, +but remembering that her mother knew nothing about it, she hastened to +go down and tell her. Just as she was ready, and was about to hang the +chain round her neck, it occurred to her what her mother would say, +what everybody would say, and what she should answer when they asked +her why she wore such a costly chain. The question being a very +reasonable one, it returned again and again, till at last she drew +forth a little box in which she laid the chain, put the box in her +pocket, and, for the first time in her life, felt herself poor.</p> + +<p class="normal">She did not go where she ought to have done that forenoon; for above +the town, near the spot where she had got the chain, she sat with it in +her hand, with a feeling as if she had stolen it.</p> + +<p class="normal">That night, at the foot of the garden, she waited still longer for +Yngve Vold than she had done the foregoing evening for Gunnar: she +wanted to give him the chain back. But as the ship that Gunnar was +going with, had the day before unexpectedly weighed anchor, because it +had got a splendid cargo in the next town, so Yngve Vold, the owner of +the vessel had to set out to-day on the same errand; he had other +business to transact at the same time, therefore he was away three +weeks.</p> + +<p class="normal">In these three weeks, the chain was gradually transferred from her +pocket to a drawer in the closet, and from there again to an envelope, +and the envelope to a secret corner; and during the time she herself +made one humiliating discovery after another. For the first time she +became aware of the distance that separated her from the ladies of the +higher classes; they could have worn the chain without any one asking +the why and the wherefore. But to one of these, Yngve Vold would not +have ventured to offer the chain without, at the same time, offering +his hand; it was only with the Fisher Girl he could do that. But if he +wished to give her anything, why then not something she could have some +use for; he had meant to scorn her so much the more, by giving her what +she could never use. The story of "the most beautiful" must have been a +fable; for had the chain been given her on that afternoon, he would +never have come in secret, and at night time. Vexation and shame gnawed +themselves so much the deeper in, as she had ceased to confide in any +one. No wonder, then, that the first time she met him again, him in +whom centred all these vexatious and shame-filling thoughts, she should +blush so deeply that he misinterpreted it, and when she saw that, blush +deeper still.</p> + +<p class="normal">She turned her steps quickly home again, snatched up the chain, and, +although it was scarcely light, she seated herself above the town to +wait for him; now he should get it back! She felt sure he would come, +because he also had blushed at seeing her, and he had been away the +whole time. But soon these same thoughts began to tell in his favour; +he would not have blushed if he had been indifferent to her; he would +have come before if he had been at home. It began to get rather dusk; +for in these three weeks the days had shortened quickly. But at +nightfall our thoughts often change. She sat close above the road among +the trees; she could see without being seen. When she had been there +some time, and he did not come, conflicting thoughts began to rise; she +listened now in anger, now in fear; she could hear every one who came, +long before she saw them, but it was never him. The little birds that +half asleep changed their perches among the leaves, could frighten her, +she sat so breathlessly; every sound from the town, every noise took +her attention. A large vessel was weighing anchor, and the sailors were +singing; it would be tugged out in the night, to get the good of the +first morning breeze. She longed to go too, out upon the great sea. She +caught up the song, the clinging stroke of the capstan gave raising +power, whereto, whence? There stood the light hat upon the road just in +front of her, she sprang up with a shriek, and frightened at what she +had done, she ran, and in running she remembered she ought not to have +done so; it was one mistake upon another, so she ran with all her +might. But shame and agitation overpowered her, he was just behind, and +she cast herself down among the trees. When he got up to her, she +breathed so heavily that he could hear every breath, and the same power +that in her intrepidity she had exercised over him last time they met, +she still possessed as she lay there in an agony of fear; he bent over +her, and whispered "Do not fear!"</p> + +<p class="normal">But she trembled still more. Then he kneeled down beside her and took +her hand, but slowly, for he himself was afraid. At the first touch of +his hand she sprang up as if burnt with fire--and off again--whilst he +remained standing.</p> + +<p class="normal">She did not run far, for she had not power, her temples throbbed, her +bosom heaved, she pressed her hands against it, and listened. She heard +a step in the grass, a cracking among the leaves,--he was coming, and +straight towards her. He saw her? No, he did not see,--Yes, good +heavens, he saw!... no, he went by--Then she sank down weak and +exhausted.</p> + +<p class="normal">After a long time she got up and began to go slowly down the mountain, +then stopped and went on again, as though without any aim. On reaching +the road, there he was waiting for her; she had been walking as if in a +fog and had not observed him before. He rose; a slight cry escaped her, +but she did not stir, she merely put her hands before her eyes and +wept. Then he whispered again: "I see you love me!--I love you!--You +shall be mine!--You don't answer?--You cannot!--But trust me, for from +this hour you are mine!--Good night!" and he gently touched her +shoulder.</p> + +<p class="normal">She started, as before a sudden flash of lightning,--a shade of anxiety +passed over, but it lightened again; this was indeed a marvel.</p> + +<p class="normal">As fully as Yngve Vold had occupied her thoughts during the last three +weeks, she was now turned round. He was the wealthiest man in the +place, and of the oldest family; he would raise her up to him +regardless of all considerations. This was something so different from +her thoughts during all this time of vexation and suffering, that it +might well begin to make her happy! And she grew happier and happier as +she realized her new position. She felt herself every one's equal, and +all her longings were about to be fulfilled. She saw Yngve Vold's +finest vessel bedecked as the flag-ship on her wedding day, and, amid +the salute of the minute gun, and fireworks, take them on board to bear +them to Spain, where the wedding sun was glowing.</p> + +<p class="normal">When Petra awoke next day, the girl came up to tell her it was +half-past eleven o'clock; she felt ravenously hungry, eat her breakfast +and wanted more,--complained of headache and weariness, and soon fell +asleep again; on awaking about three in the afternoon, she felt quite +well. The mother came up and said she had undoubtedly slept away an +illness, for she used to do so herself; but now she must get up and go +to the sewing school. Petra was sitting upright in bed, and leaned her +head upon her arm; without getting up she answered that she was not +going to the sewing school any more. The mother thought she must be +still a little dazed, and went down to get a parcel and a letter that a +sailor boy had brought. There were the gifts already! As soon as she +was alone, Petra, who had laid down again, got up in haste and opened +the parcel with a certain solemnity; it contained a pair of French +shoes; a little disappointed she was putting them aside, when she felt +them heavy in the toes; she put her hand into one of them and drew +forth a small parcel folded in fine paper; it was a gold bracelet; in +the other was also a parcel, carefully wrapped up; a pair of French +gloves,--and in the right hand she found a scrap of paper containing +two plain gold rings. "Already!" thought Petra, her heart beat as she +looked for the inscription, and read in the one, sure enough: "Petra," +with the date, and in the other: "Gunnar." She turned pale, threw the +rings and all the rest on the floor as though she had burnt herself, +and hastily opened the letter. It was dated "Calais;"--she read:</p> +<br> +<p class="normal">"<span class="sc">Dear Petra</span>,</p> + +<p style="text-indent:10%">We had a fair wind from the sixty-first to the fifty-fourth degree of +latitude, and afterwards got here under a strong side wind, which is +unusual even for better vessels than ours, which is a fine craft under +full sail. But now you must know that all the way I have been thinking +about you, and about that which last occurred between us two, and am +grieved that I could not see you to bid you good-bye. I went on board +very vexed about it, but have never forgotten you since, except now and +then in between, for a sailor has hard times of it. Now we have got +here, and I have used all my wages to buy you presents as you asked me, +and the money I got of mother, too, so I have none left. But, if I get +leave, I shall come as soon as the gifts, for as long as it is secret, +there is no certainty about others, especially young men, of whom there +are many; but I will have it certain, so that no one can excuse +himself, but beware of me. You can easily get a better one than me, for +you can get any one you choose, but you can never get a truer, and that +is me. Now I will conclude, for I have used up two sheets, and the +letters are getting so large; it is the worst thing I have to do, but I +do it, nevertheless, as you wish it. And so in conclusion I will say, +that I hope it was earnest; for it was not earnest, it was a great sin, +and will bring misfortune upon many.</p> + +<p style="text-indent:50%"><span class="sc">Gunnar Ask</span>,</p> + +<p style="text-indent:35%"><i>Second Mate</i>, '<i>Norwegian Constitution</i>.'"</p> +<br> + +<p class="normal">Overwhelmed with fear, she jumped out of bed and dressed herself. She +felt as if she must go out, where there was counsel to be had +somewhere; for all had become obscure, uncertain, dangerous. The more +she thought about it, the more tangled the thread became; some one must +help to unravel it, or she never could get loose! But in whom dare she +confide? There could be no one but the mother. When after a hard +struggle she stood beside her in the kitchen, afraid and almost +weeping, but determined to give complete confidence, that the +assistance might be complete, the mother said without looking round, +and therefore without observing Petra's face: "He has just been here; +he has got home again."--"Who?" whispered Petra, holding fast for +support; for if Gunnar were really come, all hope was lost. She +knew Gunnar; he was dull and good-natured, but let him once get +vexed, and he grew frantic. "You must not be long in going there," +he said.--"There?" shuddered Petra, she jumped to the conclusion that +he must have told her mother all about it, and then what would +happen?--"Yes, to the Rectory," said the mother. "To the Rectory? Is it +Odegaard that has come home?"--The mother turned round now: "Yes, who +else?"--"Odegaard!" cried Petra, and the storm of joy cleared the air +in an instant: "Odegaard has come, Odegaard, oh! he has got back!" she +was out at the door and up over the fields. She rushed on, she laughed, +she cried aloud; it was him, him, she wanted; if he had been at home, +this trouble would never have come! With him she was safe; if she only +thought upon his lofty beaming countenance, his mild voice, even upon +the quiet rooms, rich in images, where he dwelt, she grew more +peaceful, and a sense of security came over her. She took a moment to +collect herself. Landscape and town were bathed in a stream of light, +on that early autumn night, the fiord especially shone with a radiant +splendour; out there in the haven, the last smoke was curling up from +the steamer that had brought Odegaard. Oh! simply to know that he was +at home again, did her good, and made her resolute and strong; she +prayed to God to help her that Odegaard might never leave her more. And +just as her heart was raised in this hope, she saw him coming towards +her; he had known which way she would take, and had come to meet her! +This touched her, she sprang towards him, grasped both his hands and +kissed them; he felt ashamed, and seeing some one coming in the +distance, he drew her with him up among the trees, away from the road; +he held her hands in his, and she said the whole way: "How delightful +that you have come! No, I can hardly believe it is you, oh! you must +never go away again! Do not leave me, no, do not leave me!" Here her +tears began to flow, he drew her head gently towards him; he wished to +soothe her, for it was needful for his own sake that she should be +calm. She crept close to him, as the bird under the wing that is lifted +for it, and she did not wish to come forth any more.</p> + +<p class="normal">Overcome by this confidence, he put his arm round her, as if to provide +her the shelter she sought; but hardly had she perceived this, when she +lifted her tearful face, her eyes met his, and all that can be +exchanged in a glance, when penitence meets love, when gratitude meets +the joy of the giver, when yes meets yes, followed in quick succession. +He embraced her and pressed his lips against hers; he had lost his +mother early, and kissed for the first time in his life; it was the +same with her. They could not release themselves, and when at last they +did, it was only to embrace once more. He was trembling, whilst she was +radiant and blushing; she threw her arms round his neck; she clung to +him like a child. And when they seated themselves, and she could play +about his hands, his hair, his breast-pin, neckerchief, all these that +she had been accustomed to regard respectfully from a distance, and +when he bade her say "thou" and not "you," and she could not, and when +he would tell her how rich she had made his poor life from the first +hour, how long he had fought against it, that he might not check her +with this, nor let himself be paid thus, and when he noticed that she +was unable to understand or gather a word of what he was saying, and +when he himself also no longer found any meaning in it; when she wanted +to go home with him at once, and he had laughingly to bid her wait a +few days, and then they would go away altogether,--when they felt, when +they said, whilst they sat among the trees, with the fiord, and +mountains, and evening sun before them, whilst the horn and song +sounded far in the distance, that this was happiness.</p> +<div class="poem2"> +<p class="t0"> +Oh! sweet is love's first meeting</p> +<p class="t1">In the glow of the evening ray,</p> +<p class="t0">As the song of the wavelet fleeting--</p> +<p class="t1">Its plash at the close of day.</p> +<p class="t0">As the song in the forest sounding,</p> +<p class="t1">As the horn o'er the rugged rocks,--</p> +<p class="t0">Our hearts, the moment resounding</p> +<p class="t1">In wonder to nature locks.</p> +</div> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<h2> V.</h2> + +<h3><a name="div1_05" href="#div1Ref_05">A MISTAKE.</a></h3> + + +<p class="normal">When Odegaard rung for his coffee next morning, he was informed that +Yngve Vold, the merchant, had already called twice to see him. It +annoyed him to have to hold intercourse with a stranger just then, but +one who sought him so early must have an important errand. He was +scarcely dressed before Yngve Vold came again. "You are surprised, I +dare say? So am I. Good morning!"--They shook hands, and he laid his +light hat upon the table. "You rise late, I have been here twice +before; I have something important at heart, and I must speak +with you!"--"Take a seat if you please!" he seated himself in +an easy chair.--"Thank you, thank you, I would rather walk, I am +too excited to sit. I am quite beside myself since the day before +yesterday, stark mad, neither more nor less; and it is your doing, +partly!"--"Mine?"--"Yes, yours. You brought the girl forward, no one +thought about her, no one noticed her except you. But now I have never +seen, no, as true as I live, never seen anything so matchless, anything +so--well isn't it? No, over the whole of Europe I have never seen such +a cursedly curly-haired wonder,--have you? I got no peace, I was +bewitched, she was mixed up in everything, I went away, came back +again, impossible.--isn't it? Didn't know at first who she was ... the +Fisher Girl, they said,--the Senorita they should have called her, the +gipsy, the witch; all fire, eyes, bosom, hair,--what?--sparkling, +hopping, laughing, trilling, blushing,--something----! Ran after +her, you see, up among the trees in the forest, calm evening, ... she +stood, I stood, a few words, song, dance,--and then?... well then I +gave her my chain, as true as I live, a minute before, I had never +thought of it! Next time, same place, same chase, she was afraid, and +I;--well,--would you believe it? I could not say a single word, dare +not touch her; but when she came back again, would you think it? I +proposed to her, I had not thought about it a second before. Now +yesterday I was proving myself, stayed away from her, but then faith +and soul I'm mad, yes,--I CANNOT, I MUST be with her; if I don't get +her I shall shoot myself slap out, there, that's the history. I don't +care what my mother says, nor the town, it's no place, no place at +all,--she must go away, you see, away, far away from here, she must be +'comme il faut,' go abroad, to France, Paris, I pay, and you arrange. I +might go with her myself, live elsewhere, not stay any longer in this +little hole; but the fish you see! I'd like to make something out of +the place, but it's all in a torpor, no thought, no speculation, but +the fish? They don't know how to manage the fish; the Spaniards +complain, it must be done in a fresh way, new drying, new curing, the +town must rise, business make headway, the fish!--Where was it I left +off? the fish, the Fisher Girl,--that suits well: the fish, the Fisher +Girl, ha, ha, ha,--to be sure: I pay, you arrange, she shall be my +wife, and then----"</p> + +<p class="normal">Further he did not get; during the conversation he had not observed +Odegaard, who had now risen, deathly pale, and stood over him with a +fine Spanish cane. The astonishment of the latter is not to be +described; he avoided the first strokes. "Take care," said he, "you may +hit me!"--"Yes, I may hit you! you see: Spanish, Spanish cane, that +suits too!" and the strokes fell over shoulders, arms, hands, face, +anywhere and everywhere; the other rushed about the room: "Are you mad, +have you lost your reason;--I will marry her!"--"Out!" cried Odegaard, +his strength failing him, and down went the light haired, away from +this madman, and was soon standing in the street calling up after his +light hat. It was thrown out of the window to him; a heavy fall was +heard, and when they went up, Odegaard lay unconscious upon the floor.</p> + +<p class="normal">All this time Petra was sitting up in her bedroom half dressed, and +could not get further the whole day long. Every time she attempted it, +her hands sank down upon her lap. Her thoughts bent down as an ear of +corn fully ripe, as clustering campanulas in the fields. Calmness, +security, waving visions, lay over the airy castles in which she dwelt. +She recalled the meeting of yesterday, every word, every look, every +touch of the hand, every kiss; she would follow the whole way from the +meeting to the parting, but never get to the end; for every single +remembrance vanished away in a dream, and all dreams returned again +with fair promises. But sweet as were these thoughts, she turned from +them to think where she had left off; and as soon as she remembered, +she was again carried off into the land of the wonderful.</p> + +<p class="normal">As she did not come down, the mother concluded that Odegaard having +returned, she had begun to study again; she had her meals sent up, and +was left alone the whole day. When evening came, she got up to make +herself ready to go to meet her beloved; she put on the best she +had,--the things she had worn at the confirmation; they were not much, +but that she had not felt until now. She had but little sense of the +elegant, but she was inspired with it to-day: one thing made another +look ugly till the right ones were selected, and even then the whole +was not beautiful! To-day she would have given worlds to have been the +most beautiful,--with the word a remembrance glided in, which she waved +away with her hand; nothing, no nothing should come near that might +disturb her. She went about quietly putting her room in order, as it +was not yet time to go. She opened the window and looked out; warm, +rosy clouds lay encamped over the mountains, but a cooling breeze was +wafted in with a message from the forest near by. "Yes, now I'm coming! +now I'm coming!" She went back once again to the looking-glass to study +her bride-like feelings.</p> + +<p class="normal">Then she heard Odegaard's voice down stairs with the mother, heard that +he was being directed the way to her room; he had come to fetch her! A +feeling of bashful joy took hold of her, she looked round to see if all +was in order for him; then she went to the door. "Come in!" she +answered softly to the low tap, and stepped back a little.</p> + +<p class="normal">As an icy shower over her, as if the earth gave way beneath her, was +the impression of the face that met her in the door! She staggered back +to get hold of the bed-post; her thoughts slipped from one abyss to +another; in less than a second she had fallen from earth's happiest +bride to its greatest sinner; she heard it thunder out of that face: in +time and eternity he could not forgive her!</p> + +<p class="normal">In scarcely audible tones he whispered: "I see it, you are guilty!" He +leaned against the door and held fast to the lock, as if without that +he could not stand. His voice trembled; the tears rolled down his face, +though his countenance was perfectly calm.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Do you know what you have done?" and his eyes crushed her to the +earth. She did not answer,--did not even weep; she was paralysed by a +complete and hopeless inability,--"Once before, I gave my heart away, +and he to whom I gave it, died through my fault. I could not rise above +this sorrow, unless one should reach over me and give me the wealth of +a whole heart again. This you have done,--and you have done it +hypocritically!" He stopped: two or three times he tried in vain to +begin again, then with a sudden pang of pain: "And all that I have +stored up during these years, thought upon thought, you have had the +heart to overturn as though it were an image of clay! Child, child, +could you not understand that I was building up myself in you? Now it +is past! Can you not now comprehend it: all that I have given, the very +warmest, the very depths of my heart, lost as flame in the winter air, +no token left?--Who are you, unhappy child?--I believed you to be my +most sacred treasure, but alas; you are more than profaned!"--He wept +in the bitterness of his grief.</p> + +<p class="normal">"No, you are too young to comprehend it," he said again; "you know not +what you have done.--But yet you must understand," he exclaimed, "what +it is, when that which shines upon our lives, that which we believe can +yield the flowers and fruit we look for, proves nothing but an enormous +deception!--Tell me, what have I done to you that you COULD do anything +so cruel? Child, child, had you but told me it yesterday! Why, why, did +you lie so fearfully?--It must be my fault, mine, who have instructed +you,--have I then forgotten to speak about truth! No,--then where have +you thus learnt it?"</p> + +<p class="normal">She heard him, and it was altogether true. He had tottered to a chair +in the window to lean his head against a table standing beside it. He +started up again, he wrung his hands, a sob of pain escaped him, then +he sank down and was still. "And I, who am not able to help my old +father," he said as if to himself, "I CANNOT, I have no calling, I also +am to have help from no one, all to be broken in pieces before me, all +and everybody forsake me." He was unable to speak more, his head lay in +his right hand; the left hung powerlessly down; he looked as though he +could not move,--and thus he remained sitting and said nothing. Then he +felt something warm against the hand that was hanging down, and +startled, he drew it away, it was Petra's breath; she was on her knees +beside him, her head bent down, now she folded her hands, and looked up +to him with an inexpressible entreaty for mercy. He looked down at her, +and neither of them turned away. Then he lifted his hand preventingly +against her, as if he felt within him a voice of persuasion that he +would not hear,--bent hastily down for his hat that had fallen on the +floor, and went quickly to the door; but still more quickly she stopped +the way before him, she cast herself down, grasped hold of his knees, +and nailed her eyes into him, but all without a sound; he both saw and +felt that she was struggling for life. Then his old love was too +strong, he bent down once more over her, and with an expressive look, +but one that was full of pain, he threw his arms round her and drew her +up to him. Yet once more she lay upon his breast, but it groaned and +sighed within, like an organ after the last stroke, when there is +still air, but no more tone. Again and again he pressed her to his +heart;--for the last time! He left her with a passionate cry; "No, +no!--you can abandon yourself, but you cannot love!" He was overwhelmed +with emotion: "Unhappy child, your future I cannot guide; may God +forgive you that you have ruined mine!" He went past her, she did not +move, he opened the door and shut it again, she did not speak;--she +heard him on the stairs, she heard his last step on the flagstone and +down the road,--then she was released, and gave one cry, a single one, +but with this came the mother.</p> + +<p class="normal">When Petra came to herself again, she was lying in bed undressed and +well nursed; before her sat the mother with her arms upon her knees; +her head in both her hands, and eyes of fire fastened upon her +daughter. "Have you read enough with him now?" she asked:--"Have you +learnt something?--What is it you are going to be now?"--Petra answered +with an outburst of grief. The mother sat and listened to this for a +long time, then said with strange solemnity: "May the Lord heartily +curse him!"--The daughter started up: "Mother, mother! Not him, not +him, but me, me,--not him!"--"Oh; I know them! I know who should have +it!"--"No mother, he has been deceived, dreadfully deceived, and that +by me, me--it is I who have deceived him!"--She told the whole story +hurriedly and sobbing; he must not for a moment be misjudged; she told +about Gunnar, and what she had asked of him, how she had hardly +understood at the time, what she was doing; next about Yngve Vold's +unlucky gold chain, that had taught her so much, and got her so +fearfully entangled, and then about Odegaard, how on seeing him, she +had forgotten all else. She could not understand how it had all +happened, but this she did understand, that she had sinned deeply +against them all, and especially against him who had taken her up, and +given her all that one human being can give to another. After sitting +long silent, at last the mother said: "Then you have committed no sin +against ME? Where have I been all this time that you have never said a +word to me?"--"Oh! mother, help me, don't be hard on me now; I feel +that I shall suffer for it as long as I live; but I shall pray to God +that He will let me soon die!--Dear, dear God," she began, as she +folded her hands and looked up to Heaven, "dear, dear God, hear me, I +have already forfeited my life; there is nothing more for me, I am not +fit, I do not know how to live, then, dear God, I pray Thee suffer me +to die!"--But Gunlaug, who had hard words uppermost, stifled them, and +laid her hand on the daughter's arm, to take it down from such a +prayer: "Govern your feelings, child, do not tempt God;--we must live +even if it is painful." She drew several heavy sighs and rose up; she +had no consolation to offer. The daughter had no doubt now given her +entire confidence, but it was too late. Gunlaug never more set foot +within that little attic chamber.</p> + +<p class="normal">Odegaard had taken an illness, that seemed likely to be a dangerous +one, so his old father had gone up, and made his study beside him, +saying to all who begged him to spare himself, that he could not do it; +his work was to watch over his son, each time he lost one of those whom +he loved better than his father.</p> + +<p class="normal">It was thus that matters stood when Gunnar came home.</p> + +<p class="normal">He frightened his mother by showing himself long before the ship he +sailed with,--she thought it was his ghost, and his acquaintances were +not much better. To all their curious inquiries, he could give but an +unsatisfactory reply. They, however, soon got a better one, for the +very day that he came, he was turned out of Gunlaug's house, and that +by Gunlaug herself. "Never let me see you here again," she called out, +to him on the doorstep, so that it could be heard far and near, "we +have had enough of this now!" He had not gone far, before a girl +overtook him with a parcel; she had another as well, and made a +mistake, and Gunnar found in his a heavy gold chain; he stood looking +at it a minute, and turning it over; he had not understood Gunlaug's +fury before, but he understood still less why she should send him a +gold chain. He called the girl back, she must have made a mistake, and +she asked as she gave him the other parcel if it was this. The parcel +proved to contain his gifts to Petra. Yes, that was it; but who was to +have the gold chain? "Yngve Vold, the Merchant," replied the girl, and +went her way. Gunnar stood musing: Yngve Vold the Merchant? Does he +give presents?--and Gunlaug has stumbled upon them! Then it is HE who +has stolen her from me,--Yngve Vold,--but he shall----his vexation and +excitement must have vent, some one must be thrashed, and it proved to +be Yngve Vold.</p> + +<p class="normal">To relate shortly: the unhappy merchant was once again attacked quite +unexpectedly, and that upon his own door step. He ran into the office +to escape from the infuriated man, but Gunnar ran after him. The clerks +rose up "en masse" against him, but he kicked and struck on all sides; +chairs, tables, and desks were overthrown; letters, papers, and +journals flew about like dust; help came at last from Yngve's +warehouse, and after a hard fight, Gunnar was turned into the street.</p> + +<p class="normal">But here the battle began again in earnest. There were two ships lying +on the quay, and one of them was from abroad; being about noon, when +the sailors were at liberty, they were glad to join in the fun; they +rushed into the fight, crew against crew, many others were sent for, +and came running at double quick pace; labouring people, women and +children drew up, till at last there was no one who knew why or against +whom they were fighting. In vain the captains cursed; in vain the +citizens commanded that the only policeman should be sent for: he was +just then out on the fiord, fishing. They ran to the magistrate, who +was also postmaster; but he had locked himself in with the post that +had just arrived, and answered out of the window, that he could not +come; his assistant was at a funeral, they must wait. But as they could +not wait, several shouted, and especially frightened women, that Arne +the blacksmith should be sent for. This being decided by the worthy +citizens, his own wife was despatched to seek him, "for the policeman +was not at home." He soon came, to the mirth of the school boys; he +made a few strokes among the crowd, picked out a burly Spaniard, and +struck him promiscuously against the rest.</p> + +<p class="normal">When all was settled, there came the magistrate with a stick; he found +a few old women and children, talking on the field of battle; these he +sternly commanded to go home to dinner, which he also did himself.</p> + +<p class="normal">But the next day he began to look into the matter, the investigation +was continued for a time, though no one had the slightest idea who had +been the aggrieving parties. One thing, however, all were agreed upon, +that Arne the blacksmith had been mingled in the fray, as they had seen +him striking on all sides with the Spaniard. For this Arne had to pay +one specie dollar fine, for which his wife, who had led him into it, +got sundry blows the second Sunday after trinity, which she might well +remember. That was the only judicial consequence of the fray.</p> + +<p class="normal">But it had other consequences. The little town was no longer a quiet +town, the Fisher Girl had put it in commotion. The strangest rumours +were set afloat,--arising from angry jealousy at her having been able +to win to herself the best head in the place, and its two wealthiest +matches, besides having several in the background; for Gunnar had grown +by degrees into "several young men." Soon there arose a general moral +storm. The disgrace of a great street brawl, and sorrow in three of the +best families rested on the head of the young girl who had been but +half a year confirmed; three engagements at one time, and one of them +with her teacher,--her life's benefactor! Indignation might well boil +up. Had she not been, from a child, an annoyance to the town, and for +all that, had she not had its expectancy manifested in gifts when +Odegaard took her up, and had she not now scorned them all, crushed +him, and following the instincts of her nature, thrown herself +recklessly on a course that would lead to her being an outcast from +society, with the gaol for old age?</p> + +<p class="normal">The mother must have been to blame too; in her sailors' house the child +had learnt to be giddy. They would no longer bear the yoke that Gunlaug +laid upon them, they would no longer tolerate them, neither mother nor +daughter, they would unite to drive them away.</p> + +<p class="normal">One night a crowd gathered on the bank; there were sailors, who owed +Gunlaug money, drunken labourers, for whom she would not procure work, +young lads, to whom she would not give credit, and the better class in +the back ground. They whistled, they shouted, they called for The +Fisher Girl, for Fisher Gunlaug; by and bye a stone was thrown against +the door, then another in at the attic window. They did not go away +until after midnight. Behind the windows all was dark and still.</p> + +<p class="normal">The next day not a soul looked in to Gunlaug, not even a child went +past, up the hill. But at night the same riot again, only that now all +were there without distinction. They broke all the windows, they tore +up the garden, and trampled down the shrubs, they threw the young fruit +trees about, and then they sang:--</p> +<div class="poem2"> +<p class="t2">Mother, I've fished up a sailor, oh!</p> +<p class="t6">"Ah! have you so?"</p> +<p class="t2">Mother, I've fished up a merchant, oh!</p> +<p class="t6">"Ah! have you so?"</p> +<p class="t2">Mother, I've fished up a pastor's son</p> +<p class="t6">"The best you've won!"</p> +<p class="t6">Ah! ding dong,</p> +<p class="t6">The nose grows long.<a name="div2Ref_01" href="#div2_01"><sup>[1]</sup></a></p> +<p class="t0">Great fishes may bite, but what is the gain,</p> +<p class="t0">If into the basket, they ne'er can be ta'en!</p> +<p class="t0"> </p> +<p class="t2">Mother, he's gone, the sailor, oh!</p> +<p class="t6">"Ah! has he so!"</p> +<p class="t2">Mother, he's gone, the merchant, oh!</p> +<p class="t6">"Ah! has he so?"</p> +<p class="t2">Mother, the pastor's son's going they say!</p> +<p class="t6">"Then haul away!"--</p> +<p class="t6">Ah! ding dong,</p> +<p class="t6">The nose grows long,</p> +<p class="t0">Great fishes may bite, but what is the gain,</p> +<p class="t0">If into the basket, they ne'er can be ta'en!</p> +</div> + +<p class="normal">They called especially for Gunlaug, they would have been mightily +pleased to have heard her matchless fury rage.</p> + +<p class="normal">Gunlaug was sitting within, and heard every word; but she kept silence; +one must be able to bear something for the sake of one's child.</p> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<h2> VI.</h2> + +<h3><a name="div1_06" href="#div1Ref_06">THE SOUND OF THE CLOCK.</a></h3> + + +<p class="normal">Petra had been in her room, when the shouting, whistling, and hallooing +had begun the first evening. She sprang up as if the house had been on +fire, or as if everything were coming down upon her. She ran about in +her room as if whipped with burning rods; it burnt through her soul; +her thoughts ran impetuously after an outlet;--but down to the mother +she dare not go, and they were standing in front of the only window! A +stone came flying through, and fell upon her bed; she gave a cry and +ran into a corner behind a curtain, and hid herself among her old +clothes. There she sat crouched up together, burning with shame, +trembling with fear, visions of unknown horrors passed before her, the +air was full of faces, gaping, mocking faces, they came quite near, it +rained fire round about them;--oh, not fire, but eyes; it rained eyes, +large, glowing and small, sparkling; eyes that stood still, eyes that +ran up and down,--Jesus, Jesus, save me!</p> + +<p class="normal">Oh, what a relief, when the last cry died away in the night, and it was +quite dark, and quite still. She ventured out, threw herself on the +bed, and buried her face in the pillow, but she could not turn away +from her thoughts; the mother would come powerfully and threateningly +forward, as thunder clouds gather over the mountains, for what would +the mother not suffer for her sake! No slumber came to her eyelids, nor +peace to her soul, and the day came, but no alleviation.</p> + +<p class="normal">She went backwards and forwards, backwards and forwards, thinking only +how to escape, but she dare not meet her mother, neither dare she go +out as long as it was day, and at night they would come again! Yet wait +she must, for before midnight it was still more dangerous to flee. And +then where to? She possessed nothing, and she knew not any way; yet +there must be merciful hearts somewhere, even as there was a merciful +God. He knew that the evil she had done was not done in wickedness, He +knew her penitence, and He also knew her helplessness. She listened for +her mother's steps below, but she did not hear them; she trembled to +hear her on the stairs, but she did not come. The girl, too, must have +left, for no one came up with her meals. She did not venture to go +down, nor to go to the window, for some one might be standing outside +waiting for her. The broken pane let in the cold air, in the morning, +and still more when night came. She had made up a small bundle of +clothes, and dressed herself to be ready; but she must wait for the +furious crowd, and then go through whatever came.</p> + +<p class="normal">There they are again! The whistling, the shouting, the throwing of +stones, worse, far worse than the night before; she crept into her +corner, folded her hands, and prayed and prayed. If only her mother did +not go out to them, if only they did not break in! Then they began to +sing, a base lampoon, and though every word cut her with knives, she +was yet obliged to listen; but no sooner had she heard that the mother +was mixed up with it, that they had been guilty of so shameful an +injustice, than she sprang up, she would speak to the dastardly pack +from the window, or cast herself down among them;--but a stone, and yet +another, and then a whole hailstorm flew through the window, the bits +of glass whizzed, the stones rolled about the room, and she crept back +again. The perspiration stood upon her forehead, as though she were +beneath a burning sun, but she no longer wept,--no longer felt afraid.</p> + +<p class="normal">Gradually the noise subsided; she ventured forth, and was going to the +window to look out, but she trod upon the bits of glass and drew back, +then she trod upon the stones, and stood still that she might not be +heard; for she must steal quietly away. After waiting a full half hour, +she put off her shoes, took up her bundle, and softly opened the door. +It pained her to think that after causing her mother all this sorrow, +she must leave her without a farewell; but fear overpowered her; +"Farewell mother! farewell mother!" she whispered to herself at each +step she took down the stairs: "Farewell mother!"--She stood at the +bottom, breathed a few times heavily to get air, and then turned +towards the passage door. Some one seized her arm from behind, she gave +a slight scream, and turned,--it was her mother.</p> + +<p class="normal">Gunlaug having heard the door open, at once divined her daughter's +intention and waited for her here. Petra felt that she could not pass +without a contest. Explanation would not help; whatever she said, it +would not be believed. Well, if it came to a struggle, nothing in the +world could be worse than the worst, and that she had already +experienced. "Where are you going?" the mother asked in a low tone. "I +must flee!" she answered with a beating heart--"Where to?"--"I do not +know;--but I must get away from here!"--She held her bundle faster and +went on. "No, come with me," said the mother, holding her arm, "I have +provided for it." Petra released herself, as if from too tight a grasp; +breathed out as after a conflict, and gave herself up to her mother. +The latter led the way into a little room behind the kitchen, where a +light was burning, and there was no window;--here she had been hid +whilst the tumult raged. The room was so narrow that they could +scarcely move in it; the mother took up a bundle rather smaller than +Petra's, opened it, and took out a set of sailor's clothes. "Put these +on," she whispered. Petra at once comprehended why she should do it, +but that the mother assigned no reason, touched her. She took off her +own things and put on these; the mother assisted her, and in doing so, +the light fell full upon her face; Petra saw for the first time that +Gunlaug was old. Had she become so in these days, or had Petra not +observed it before? The child's tears trickled down over the mother, +but she did not look up, and so nothing was said. A sou'wester was the +last thing to put on; when all was ready, the mother took the bundle +from her, and blew out the light, "Now come!"</p> + +<p class="normal">They went out into the passage, but not through the street door; +Gunlaug unfastened the back door, and locked it again after them. They +passed through the trampled garden, over the uprooted trees, and the +broken fence, "You may as well look round," said the mother, "you will +never come here again."--She shuddered but did not look. They went by +the upper path, along the edge of the forest, where she had passed half +her life; where she had had that evening with Gunnar, those with Yngve +Vold, and the last with Odegaard. They trod in withered leaves; it was +a cold night, and she shivered in her unaccustomed dress. The mother +turned towards a garden; Petra knew it again, though she had not been, +there since that day when as a child she had attacked it; it was Pedro +Ohlsen's. The mother had the key of it and locked them in.</p> + +<p class="normal">It had cost Gunlaug much to go to him in the forenoon, it cost her much +to go now with the unhappy daughter, to whom she herself could no +longer give a home. But it must be done, and that which must be done +Gunlaug could do. She knocked at the side door, and almost directly +they heard footsteps and saw a light within. Shortly after, the door +was opened by Pedro himself in travelling attire, looking pale and +nervous. He held a dip in his hand, and he sighed when his eye fell +upon Petra's face, swollen with weeping; she looked up at him, but as +he did not dare to know her, she did not venture to recognise him. +"This man has promised to help you to get away," said the mother +without looking at either of them, and going up the steps she went into +Pedro's room on the other side of the passage, leaving them to follow. +The room was very small and low, and the peculiar close smell that +pervaded it, made Petra feel faint; for more than a day now she had +neither tasted food nor slept. From the middle of the ceiling hung a +cage with a canary bird; they had to go round to avoid knocking against +it. Some heavy old chairs, a ponderous table, and two great closets, +touching the ceiling, were squeezed into the room, making it still +less. On the table lay some music, and on that a flute. Pedro Ohlsen +shuffled about in his great boots, as if he had something important to +do; a weak voice sounded from the back room: "Who is that?--Who has +come in?"--upon which he trailed still quicker round the room, +mumbling: "Oh it is--hm, hm, ... it is--hm, hm," and so in where the +voice came from.</p> + +<p class="normal">Gunlaug sat by the window, with both her elbows upon her knees, and her +head in her hands, looking fixedly into the sand that was strewn upon +the floor; she did not speak, but every now and then she drew a heavy +sigh. Petra stood by the door, leaning against the wall, with both her +hands over her bosom, for she felt ill. An old time piece was hacking +the hours asunder, the tallow candle on the table was running down, +with a long wick. The mother was wishful to give some excuse for their +being here, and said: "I knew this man once, long ago."</p> + +<p class="normal">Nothing more, and no reply. Pedro did not return, the candle continued +to waste, and the old clock to hack. The feeling of faintness +overpowered Petra more and more, and through all, the words were +continually sounding in her ears, "I knew this man once, long ago!" The +old clock began to go to it: "I-knew-this-man-once-long-a-go." +Afterwards, whenever she came into a close atmosphere, this room was +always before her, reminding her of the faintness and of the clock's +"I-knew-this-man-once-long-ago!"</p> + +<p class="normal">When Pedro came in again he had got on a woollen cap, and a cloak of +ancient date, fastened up over his ears. "Now, I am ready," said he, +and drew on his mittens, as if he were going out in the coldest winter +weather. "But we must not forget"--he turned round,--"the cloak +for--for--" he looked at Petra, and from her to Gunlaug, who took up a +blue coat hanging over a chair back, and helped Petra on with it; but +when it came close under her nose, it smelled so strongly of the room, +that she begged for fresh air; the mother saw that she looked ill, and +opening the door, she led her quickly into the garden. Here she drew a +few long draughts of the fresh autumn air. "Where am I going to?" she +asked, when she began to come round.--"To Bergen," replied the mother, +helping her to button the coat; "it is a large place, where no one +knows you." When she was ready, Gunlaug stopped in the doorway: "You +will have 100 specie dollars with you; if you don't get on, you still +have something to fall back upon. He lends you them, he here,"--"Gives, +gives," whispered Pedro, who passed them and went out into the +street.--"Lends them," repeated the mother, as though he had said +nothing: "I shall repay him."--She took a handkerchief from her neck, +tied it round Petra's, and said: "You must write as soon as it goes +well with you, not before."--"Mother!"--"He will row you on board the +vessel lying out there."--"Oh, heavens, mother!"--"Well, then there's +nothing more. I'm not going any further."--"Mother, mother!"--"Now God +be with you. Farewell!"--"Mother, forgive me, mother!"--"And don't +catch cold on the sea."--She had got her gradually outside the garden +gate, and now shut it.</p> + +<p class="normal">Petra stood looking at the closed gate; she felt about as wretched and +lonely as it is possible for a human being to do,--but just at that +moment, out of the misery, the injustice, the tears, sprang up an +anticipation, a hope; as a gleam of fire, kindled and extinguished, +blazing up and dying out again, but for one moment shining sublimely; +she opened her eyes, the brightness was gone, and again she stood in +darkness.</p> + +<p class="normal">Quietly through the deserted streets of the little town, past the +closed doors and leafless gardens, past the barred houses, where the +lights were no longer burning,--she dragged herself after him, who with +bent figure shuffled on, without any head, in the great boots, and +cloak. They came out into the avenue, where they trod again in withered +leaves, and saw the ghostly branches that seemed stretching out their +arms to come after them. They scrambled down over the mountain behind +the yellow boat house; he baled out the water, and then rowed her along +the coast that now looked like one black mass, with the clouds laying +heavily upon it. Everything was blotted out, fields, houses, woods, +mountains, she saw nothing more of that which, until yesterday, from a +child she had had daily before her eyes; it had shut itself up like the +town, like the people, that night that she was driven away, and she got +no farewell.</p> + +<p class="normal">A man was pacing up and down the deck of the ship that was laying at +anchor, waiting for the morning breeze; as soon as he saw them laying +to, he let down the steps, helped them on board, and made a signal to +the captain, who soon joined them. She knew them, and they knew her, +but simply as an ordinary matter, she was told all that it was +necessary for her to know; namely, where she was to sleep, and what she +was to do if she wanted anything, or was sea-sick. She was ill, indeed, +almost directly she got down, so on changing her dress she went up +again. Here she found the smell of--oh, chocolate! She felt an +immoderate hunger, and just then out of the cabin, came the same man +that had received them, with a whole bowl full, and plenty of cakes; it +was from her mother, he said. While she was eating, he told her +further, that a box with her linen, flannels, and best clothes had also +been sent on board by her mother, besides several good things to eat. +On hearing this, a very vivid remembrance of her mother rose up before +her, an exalted image, such as she had never before had, but which she +retained the rest of her life. And above the image rested a hope, sure +and yet sorrowful in prayer, that she might yet give her mother some +joy for all the sorrow she had caused her.</p> + +<p class="normal">Pedro Ohlsen sat beside her when she sat, and walked beside her when +she walked; he was perpetually occupied in getting out of her way, and +for that reason, was continually getting into it, as the deck was +covered with goods. She could see only his great nose and his eyes, and +not even these distinctly, but he gave the impression of having +something on his mind, which he wished to say and could not. He sighed, +he sat down, he got up, he went round her, sat down again, but never a +word came forth, and she did not speak. At last he was obliged to give +it up; he drew out a huge leather pocket book, and whispered that the +100 species were within, and a little besides. She held out her hand +and thanked him, and in doing so she came so near his face, that she +observed his eyes were moist and were anxiously following her. For, +with her, he was in truth losing all that was left to his desolate +life. He would like to have said something that might yield him a kind +remembrance, when he should be no more; but it was forbidden him, and +though he would have said it nevertheless, he could not manage it, for +she did not help him! Petra was too tired, and she could not just then +banish the thought that he had been the cause of her first sin against +her mother. She could not bear it much longer, it grew worse instead of +better the longer he sat, for people are easily annoyed when they are +tired. The poor creature felt it, he MUST go, and so at last he got +whispered, "farewell," and drew his shrunken hand out of the mitten; +she laid hers warm within it, and then both arose. "Thank you,--and +give my love to mother!" she said. He gave a sigh, or rather a sob, and +with two or three more such, he left her, turned and went backwards +down the ladder. She went to the railing, he looked up, nodded, and +then rowed slowly away. She stood till he was darkness in the darkness, +then she went below; she was so tired she could scarcely stand, and +although she felt ill directly she went down, she had scarcely laid her +head upon the pillow and said the first two clauses of "The Lord's +Prayer," before she slept.</p> + +<p class="normal">Till that same hour, the mother was sitting up by the yellow +boat-house; she had followed them slowly all the way, and sat down +behind the boat-house just as they were rowing from land. From that +same spot, Pedro Ohlsen had in former days rowed out with her; it was a +long time ago, but she could not fail to remember it now, when he rowed +the daughter away.</p> + +<p class="normal">As soon as she saw him coming back alone, she arose and went; for then +she knew that Petra was safely on board. She did not take the road +home, but went further over: there, in the darkness, she found the path +that led over the mountains, and that she took. Her house stood empty +and desolate for more than a month, she would not return to it, before +she had had good news from her daughter.</p> + +<p class="normal">But this gave time for the voice against her to be put to the test. All +low natures feel an exciting pleasure in uniting to persecute the +strong; but only as long as these offer any resistance; when they see +that they quietly suffer themselves to be maltreated, a feeling of +shame comes over them, and he who will cast another stone is quickly +put down. In the present instance, they had been hoping to see Gunlaug +come fuming out to them in a rage, perhaps calling upon the seamen to +take up arms in her defence, and thus have a regular street fight. But +as she did not shew herself, on the third night the people were +scarcely to be restrained; they declared they would go in after her, +they would turn the two women out into the streets, and chase them away +from the town! The windows had not been mended since the previous +night, and amid the shout of hurrahs, two men crept through to open the +door,--and in rushed the crowd! They looked in all the rooms, upstairs +and down, they broke open the doors, destroyed everything that came in +their way; they sought in every corner; last of all in the cellar, but +neither mother nor daughter were to be found. As soon as this discovery +was made, an instantaneous hush fell over the people; they who were in, +stole out one after another, and hid themselves behind the rest, and +shortly after, the plot of ground in front of the house was left +desolate.</p> + +<p class="normal">There were soon found those in the town, who said that this had been an +undignified mode of proceeding against two defenceless women. They +discussed the facts of the case so thoroughly, that at last it was the +unanimous opinion, that whatever the Fisher Girl had done, Gunlaug was +certainly not to blame for it, and she had therefore been treated very +unjustly.</p> + +<p class="normal">She was very much missed in the place; drunken brawls and tumults began +to be the order of the day; for the town had lost its police. They +missed her tall figure in the doorway as they passed by; the seamen +especially felt her loss. There was no place like hers, they said; for +there each had been dealt with according to his merit, had had his own +place in her confidence, and her help in any difficulty. Neither +sailors, nor captains, neither masters, nor mistresses, had understood +her worth, until now when she had gone.</p> + +<p class="normal">Therefore it was a cause of general rejoicing, when it was reported +that Gunlaug had been seen sitting in her house and cooking as before. +Every one must see for himself that the window panes were really put in +again, the door repaired and the smoke coming out of the chimney. Yes, +it was true! There she was again!--They crept on the other side of the +hill to see better; she was sitting in front of the baking stone, she +looked neither up nor down, but her eye followed her hand and her hand +was busy; for she had come back to regain what she had lost, and first +of all the 100 specie, that she owed Pedro Ohlsen. At first they +contented themselves in this way, with merely peeping in at her, their +consciences pricked them, so they dare not do more. But by degrees they +came,--first the wives, the friendly, kind ones; yet they got no +opportunity to speak of anything but business; for Gunlaug would hear +nothing more. Then came the fishermen, then the merchants and captains, +and last of all, on the first Sunday, the sailors. It must have been by +agreement, for in the evening, just at one time, the house was so +overflowing with people that not only were both rooms full, but the +tables and chairs that stood in the garden in summer, had to be brought +in, and set in the passages, in the kitchen, in the back room. No one +who saw this assembly would suspect the feeling with which the people +were sitting there; for the very moment that they crossed her +threshold, she had taken her quiet command over them, and the decision +with which she dealt to each his due, kept down every inquiry, every +welcome. She was the same; only her hair was no longer black, and her +manner a little more quiet. But when their spirits began to rise, they +could no longer contain themselves, and every time that Gunlaug and the +girl went out of the room, they called out to Knud the Boatman, who had +always been Gunlaug's favorite, to drink her health when she came back. +But he did not get courage to do it, till he was a little warmer in the +head; at last, however, when she came in to collect the empty bottles +and glasses, he got up, and said, "That it was a right good thing she +had come back;--for there wasn't the least doubt, that----that it was a +right good thing she had come back!" The others thought it was very +well said, and they rose up, and shouted: "Yes, it was a right good +thing!" and they in the passage, and in the kitchen, and in the other +rooms, also rose up to join in the decision; the boatman gave her the +glass and cried, "Hurrah!" and the others shouted "Hurrah!" enough to +lift the roof and carry it up to the skies. Soon one of them +acknowledged that they had done her shameful injustice, then another +swore to the same, and soon the whole house were condemning themselves +that they had done her the most shameful wrong. When at last there was +a lull, because they wanted a word from herself, Gunlaug said that she +must thank them very much; "but," continued she, as she once more +gathered up the empty bottles and glasses,--"as long as I don't mention +it, you needn't do so." When she; had gathered up what she could carry, +she went out and came in again for the remainder, and from that hour, +she held undisputed sway.</p> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<h2> VII.</h2> + +<h3><a name="div1_07" href="#div1Ref_07">THE FIRST ACT.</a></h3> + + +<p class="normal">It was evening and quite dusk when the vessel cast anchor in the +harbour of Bergen. Petra half stupified from sea-sickness, was led in +the captain's boat, through a multiplicity of ships large and small, +till at last they emerged at the quay, which was covered with ferrymen, +the narrow alleys leading to it swarming with peasants and street boys.</p> + +<p class="normal">They stopped before a neat little house, where at the request of the +Captain, an old woman gave Petra a most kind reception. She stood in +need of rest and sleep, and both of these she obtained. Lively and +well, she awoke next day at noon, to new sounds and a new dialect, and +when the blind was drawn up, to a new landscape, new people, and a new +town. She had become new herself she thought, as she stood before the +looking glass,--that face was not the old one. True, she could not +define the difference, and did not understand that at her age, trouble +and sorrow have a refining, spiritualising influence; but seeing +herself in the glass, made her think of the last nights, and trembling +at the remembrance, she hastened to make herself ready to go down to +the new life awaiting her. There, she met her hostess, and several +ladies, who, after eyeing her profoundly, promised to do what they +could for her, and began by taking her round the town. Having several +things to buy, she ran up for her pocket book, but she felt ashamed to +take the thick clumsy old thing down stairs, so she opened it, to take +out the money there. Instead of 100 specie dollars she found 300! That +must be Pedro Ohlsen again, who against her mother's will and knowledge +had given her money. She had so little understanding about the worth of +things, that the greatness of the sum did not astonish her; neither did +it strike her therefore, to seek further for the cause of such great +benevolence. Instead of a glowing letter of thanks with questions +indicating a suspicion of the truth Pedro Ohlsen got a letter sent down +from Gunlaug, and addressed to herself, wherein the daughter with +undisguised annoyance, betrayed her benefactor, and asked what she was +to do with the gift thus clandestinely made her.</p> + +<p class="normal">Petra's first impression of the town, was entirely ruled by the power +of the elements. She could not divest herself of the feeling that the +mountains stood so close over her, that she must take care. She felt +burdened every time she looked up to them, and then again, an +inclination prompted her to stretch out her hand and knock at them; +sometimes she felt as though there were no outlet at all. There stood +the mountains, sunless and dark, the clouds hung close over them, or +were chased hurriedly away; wind and rain vied incessantly with each +other. But on the people around her was no burden resting, she was soon +happy among them; for there was in their busy activity a freedom, ease +and gaiety, which, after what she had passed through, she felt to be as +smiles and welcome.</p> + +<p class="normal">When the next day she remarked at the dinner table, that she liked to +be where there were a number of people, they told her that she should +go to the theatre, for there she would meet with many hundreds in one +house. Yes, she would like that; the ticket was taken, the theatre was +near at hand, and at the appointed time, she was taken there, and shewn +to a seat in the first tier of the gallery. There she sat among many +hundred happy people, in a dazzling light, surrounded by brilliant +colours, and conversation breaking in upon her from all corners, with +the noise of ocean.</p> + +<p class="normal">Petra had not the slightest idea of what she was about to see. She knew +nothing but what Odegaard had told her, and what by chance she had +heard from others. But of the theatre Odegaard had never spoken; the +sailors had merely talked of one where there were wild animals and +horse-riders, and to the lads it never occurred to talk about the play, +even if those from the school knew a little about it; for the little +town had no theatre of its own, not even a house that was called such; +travelling menageries, rope-dancers, and harlequins used to exhibit +either in booths, or in the open field. She was so ignorant, that she +did not even ask any questions, but was sitting boldly expecting +something wonderful, e.g. camels or apes. Taken up by this idea, by +degrees she began to see animals in all the faces around her, horses, +dogs, foxes, cats, mice, and so amused herself. Meanwhile the orchestra +had assembled without her being aware of it. She jumped up in a fright, +for a short sharp burst from trombones, drums, trumpets, and horns, +opened the overture. She had never in her life heard more music at one +time, than a couple of violins and perhaps a flute. This pealing +grandeur turned her pale, it partook of the nature of a cold, dark, +heavy sea, she sat in dread for the next lest it should be still worse, +and yet she did not wish it to be over. By and bye softer harmonies +arose, vistas that she had never even dreamt of, opened before her; +melodies lulled her thither, life and merriment floated in the air, the +whole march rose upwards as on wings, it went softly down, it gathered +again powerfully, it parted quiveringly and sprightfully,--till a +sombre gloom fell over all; it was as if it were whirled away in a +crashing waterfall. Then arose a single tone like a bird on a wet +branch by the deep; sadly and timidly it began, but the air above it, +cleared as it sang, a gleam of sunshine came,--and again the long blue +vista was filled with that wonderful wave and fluttering behind the +rays of the sun; when this had lasted a moment, lo! it subsided in +gentle peace; the exultant host withdrew further and further, nothing +was to be seen but the rays of the sun oozing and fusing through the +air,--over the whole of the endless plain, only sun, over all light and +stillness,--and in this blessedness it died away. Involuntarily she +arose, for she felt it was over. Oh marvel! there went the beautiful +painted wall in front of her straight up through the roof! She was in a +church, a church with pillars and arches, beautifully decorated; the +organ was pealing, and people advancing towards her, in a strange garb, +and they were talking,--yes, talking in church, and in a language she +did not understand. What? They were talking also behind her: "Sit +down!" they said, but there was nothing there to sit upon, and the two +in church continued to stand too; as she looked at them, it came +clearly to her mind, that the dress was the same as that she had seen +in a picture of St. Olaf,--and there they were calling St. Olaf's +name!--"Sit down!" sounded again from behind her; "sit down!" cried a +great many voices,--"there is perhaps something behind as well," +thought Petra, turning round. A sea of angry threatening faces met her +gaze;--"there's something wrong here," she thought, and wanted to get +away; but an old woman who sat next to her, pulled her gently by the +dress: "Come, sit down, child," she whispered, "you know they behind +cannot see!" She was in her place in a moment; for to be sure: that is +the theatre, and we are looking on,--the theatre! she repeated the +word, as if to recall herself. Then she was in the church again; +notwithstanding all her endeavours, she could not understand the +speaker; but when she fairly discovered that he was a young, handsome +man, she began to understand a word now and then, and when she heard +that he was in love, and love was his theme, she understood most of +all. Then a third came in, who, for an instant, drew her attention +away, for she knew from drawings that he must be a monk, and a monk she +had a great desire to see. He trod so softly, was so quiet, yes, he +must in truth be a godfearing man; he spoke slowly, distinctly, she +followed every word. But the next minute, he turned and said exactly +the opposite of what he had said before,--heavens! he's a scoundrel, +he's a scoundrel! he has the look of it! And this young handsome man +cannot see it! he might at all events hear it! "He is deceiving you!" +she whispered, half aloud. "Hush!" said the old lady. No, the young man +does not hear, he withdraws in good faith, they all go, and an old man +comes in alone. How is this? When the old man speaks, it is just as if +the young one was speaking, and yet it is the old man, ... oh! look +there! look there! a shining procession of girls, all in white, two and +two they pass silently through the church; she saw them long after they +had gone by,--and a similar impression from her childhood hovered in +her memory. One winter she had gone with her mother over the mountain; +making their way in the new fallen snow, they had startled a covey of +ptarmigans, that with one accord, flew up in front of them; they were +white, the snow was white, the forest white,--long after, all her +thoughts rose white before her, and now the same thing again. But one +of these maidens robed in white, steps forth alone, with a wreath in +her hand, and kneels, the old man has knelt also, and she talks to him, +he has brought messages and a letter for her from foreign lands, he +brings it out,--her face tells clearly, it is from one she loves, oh! +how delightful, they all seem to love here! She opens it,--it is not a +letter, it is full of music,--yes, see, yes, see! he himself is the +letter, the old man is the young one, and he is the one she loves! They +embrace, heavens, they kiss each other,--Petra felt she grew scarlet, +and hid her face with her hands, while she watched further;--listen, he +is telling her that they will soon get married; and she laughingly +pulls his beard, and says he has grown a barbarian, and he says she has +grown so lovely, and he gives her a ring, and promises her scarlet and +velvet, gold slippers, and a golden belt; he merrily takes his leave, +and goes to the king to arrange about their wedding. His betrothed +looks after him, and her eye glistens, but turning round without him, +all seems so empty!</p> + +<p class="normal">There slides the wall down again. Over now? just as it began? Blushing, +she turned to the old lady: "Is it over?"--"No, no, child, it is the +first act. There are five such, yes indeed there are," she repeated +with a sigh: "There are five such."--"About the same?" asked +Petra. "What do you mean by that?"--"The same people come in +again, and it all goes on further?" "Then you have never been at a +comedy?"--"No."--"Well, in many places there is no theatre, it is so +expensive." "But whatever is this?" asked Petra anxiously, staring +as if she couldn't wait for a reply: "Who are these people?"--"A +company that Director Naso has, a first class company; he is very +clever."--"Does he invent it?--or what is it? Pray do tell me!"--"Dear +child, do you really not know what a play is? Where are you from?" But +when Petra thought of her native place, she thought also of her shame, +her flight, she did not speak and dare not ask any more questions.</p> + +<p class="normal">The second act came, and with it the king, then she really got to see a +king too! She did not hear what he said, she did not see whom he talked +to, she was observing the king's dress, the king's manners, the king's +bearing; she was first recalled, when the young man came in again and +now they all withdrew to bring in the bride! So she must wait once +more.</p> + +<p class="normal">Between the acts, the old lady bent over towards her: "Don't you think +they play beautifully?" she said. Petra looked up astonished at her. +"Play,--what do you mean?" She id not see that everybody round about +was looking at her, and that the old woman had been deputed to ask her, +nor did she hear that they sat and laughed at her. "But they don't +speak like we do?" she asked, as she did not get any reply. "They are +Danes of course," said the lady and began to laugh herself. Then Petra +understood that the good woman was laughing at her many questions, and +was silent; she looked stedfastly at the curtain.</p> + +<p class="normal">When it went up again, she had the great pleasure of seeing an +archbishop. It was now the same as before; she was lost in the sight +and did not hear a word of what he said. But then came music, oh so +softly, so far away, but it was coming nearer; female voices were +singing, and the play of flutes and violins, and an instrument, it was +not a guitar, and yet like many guitars, but softer, fuller, loftier in +its tone, the entire harmony poured in in long waves,--and as if all +were a blending of colouring, came the procession, soldiers carrying +halberds, choristers bearing censors, monks holding candles, the king +wearing his crown, and the bridegroom arrayed in white, at his +side,--then the white robed maidens strewing flowers and music before +the bride, who was attired in white silk, and wore a red wreath: at her +side walked a tall lady with a purple train adorned with gold crowns, +and a little sparkling crown on her head, that must be the queen! The +whole church was filled with their song and colours, and all that now +happened, from the bridegroom leading the bride to the altar where they +knelt, the whole company kneeling with them,--to the archbishop coming +in pomp with his brethren, were only fresh links in the tinted music +chain.</p> + +<p class="normal">But just as the ceremony was about to take place, the Archbishop waved +his staff, and forbade it; their marriage was against the holy +scriptures, here on earth they could never be united,--oh heavens have +mercy,--the bride sank down, and with a piercing cry, Petra, who had +risen, also fell!</p> + +<p class="normal">"Water, bring water!" cried those around her.</p> + +<p class="normal">"No," replied the old lady, "there is no need, she has not fainted!" +"No need," they repeated, "silence!"----"Silence!" they cried from +the parquet, "silence in the gallery!"--"Silence!" answered those +above.--"You must not take it so much to heart; it is only fiction and +nonsense altogether," whispered the old lady; "but Madame Naso plays +wonderfully."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Silence!" now exclaimed Petra herself; she was already deep in the +acting, for the devilish monk had come forward with a sword, the two +lovers had to hold a handkerchief and he rent it asunder between +them,--as the church rent, as grief rent, as the sword over the gate of +paradise rent that first day. Weeping maidens took the red wreath from +the bride, and replaced it with a white one; thereby she was sealed to +the cloister for life. He to whom she belonged in time and eternity, he +should know her to be alive, yet lost to him, know her to be within, +yet never see her; now dilacerating the farewell they took, there was +no greater suffering upon earth than theirs!--</p> + +<p class="normal">"Mercy," whispered the old lady, when the curtain fell: "don't be so +foolish; you know it is only Madame Naso, the director's wife." Petra +stared at the old lady, she thought she must be crazy and as the latter +had long thought the same of her, they continued to look a little +askance at each other, but did not speak any more.</p> + +<p class="normal">Petra could not follow the scene when the curtain rose; the bride +within the convent, and the bridegroom day and night in doubt without +the walls, was what she saw, she suffered their suffering, she prayed +their prayers; but that which took place before her eyes, passed +unheeded by. An ominous silence fell over all, and this brought her to +herself; the church seemed to grow larger, the twelve strokes of the +clocks sounded in empty space; it rumbled under the arches, the walls +shook, St. Olaf had risen from his tomb, and wrapped in a winding +sheet, tall and awful, a spear in his hand, he strode along: the +sentinels flee, the thunder peels, the monk is pierced by the +outstretched lance; then all is darkness, and the apparition +disappears. But where the lightning struck, the monk lies as a heap of +ashes.</p> + +<p class="normal">Without being aware of it, Petra had caught fast hold of the old lady, +and grasped her so tightly, that she alarmed her, and seeing Petra's +increasing paleness, she exclaimed: "Why my dear child, it is only +Knutsen; that is the only part he can play, he speaks so broad."--"No, +no, no," said Petra, "I saw flames round about him, and the whole +church shook beneath his tread!"--"Be quiet there!" was heard from +several quarters; "Out with those who can't be quiet!"--"Silence in the +gallery!" cried the parquet; "Silence!" replied the gallery.--Petra had +crept together as if to hide herself, but she soon forgot them +altogether; for see! there are the lovers again, the lightning has +opened their way, they will escape! They have found each other, they +embrace; Heaven protect them!</p> + +<p class="normal">Then a tumult arises, a sound of voices and trumpets, the bridegroom is +torn from her side, they are fighting for their country, he is wounded, +and dying he greets his bride, ... Petra first understands what has +happened, when the bride enters softly, and sees him dead! It is as if +the clouds of grief would gather over a single spot, but a glance +dispels them: the bride looks up from the dead man's side, and prays +that she too may die! The heavens open at her glance, the lightning +flashes, the bridal hall is above; let the bride in! Yes,--already she +can see within; for her eyes shed a blessed peace, like that upon the +mountain tops. Then the eyelids close: the battle had a higher +solution, their constancy a brighter crowning; she was now with him.</p> + +<p class="normal">Petra sat a long time still: her heart was lifted in faith, and the +strength of the Highest filled her soul. She rose up, above all that +was small, above fear and pain, rose with smiles to all,--were they not +brothers and sisters; the evil that separates was not present, it was +crushed under the thunder. They laughed at her in return, that was the +girl that had been half mad at the play;--but in their smiles, she saw +only a reflection of the victory she herself had gained. In this +confidence, that they were smiling in participation with her joy, her +face bore so radiant an expression, that they could not resist it, and +they smiled her smile in return; she passed down the broad stairs +between the people who made way for her on both sides, returning joy +for her joy, and beauty for the beauty which beamed upon them. There +are times when our souls shine forth in such resplendence, that we shed +a brightness on all about us, though we ourselves cannot see. The +greatest triumphal procession in the world, is this, to be led, upheld, +and followed by one's own refulgent thoughts.</p> + +<p class="normal">When, without knowing how, she arrived at home, she asked what it had +all been. There were some present, who were able to understand her, and +give her a satisfactory reply; and when she had got a real appreciation +of what the drama was, and of what great actors had in their power, she +rose and said: "There is nothing greater than this upon earth, and this +I must be."</p> + +<p class="normal">To their astonishment she put on her things and went out again; she +must be alone, and in the open air. She went away from the town, and +out to the adjacent promontory,--the wind was high, and the sea lashed +up beneath her;--the town on both sides of the bay lay enveloped in a +light mist, behind which the innumerable lights with all their +endeavours could do no more than lighten the fog they could not lift.</p> + +<p class="normal">This was the image of her soul.</p> + +<p class="normal">The great darkness, in its damp surge beneath her feet, gave warning of +an impenetrable deep; it behoved her to sink down thither, or rise in +the attempt to lighten it. She asked herself why she had never before +felt these thoughts, and she answered, because it was the moments only +that had power over her, but then she felt that she had also power over +them. She saw it now: as many moments would be given her, as there were +flickering lights yonder, and she prayed God that she might perfect +them all, that so His love might have kindled no light in vain.</p> + +<p class="normal">She rose, for the wind was icy told; she had not been long away, but as +she went home again, she knew whither she was going.</p> + +<hr class="W10"> + +<p class="normal">The next day she stood at the director's door. Hot words were heard +from within; one of the voices seemed to her like the bride's of +yesterday; in another key, to-day, to be sure, but still it made Petra +tremble. She waited a long time, but as it would not stop, at last she +knocked. "Come in," said a man's voice angrily. "Oh!" screamed a lady, +and as Petra entered, she saw a flying terror in a night dress, and +with dishevelled hair, disappearing through a side door. The director, +a tall man with blear eyes (which he hastened to hide with a pair of +gold spectacles), was pacing backwards and forwards in agitation. His +long nose so ruled his face, that all the rest was there for the nose's +sake, the eyes stuck out like two gun barrels behind this rampart, the +mouth was a trench before it, and the forehead, a light bridge over to +the forest, or barricade of felled trees.--"What is it you want?" he +stopped short; "is it you that wishes to join the chorus?" he asked +hurriedly. "'The chorus,' what is that?"--"Ha! so you don't know that; +what is it you want then?"--"I wish to be an actress."--"An actress +indeed,--and don't know what a chorister is! But you speak the +dialect?"--"'Dialect,' what is that?" "Eh! so you don't know that +either, and will yet be an actress, well, well; yes, that's like the +Norsemen. Dialect means, that you don't talk like we do."--"Yes, +but I've been practising all the morning."--"Have you, indeed? Come, +come, let me hear!" Petra took an attitude, and said with exactly the +same accent as the bride of yesterday: "I greet you my love. Good +morning!"--"I say, you are possessed, are you come here to make a fool +of my wife!" A peal of laughter was heard in the adjoining room, the +director opened the door, and without a trace of remembrance that but a +moment since they had been fighting for life and death: "Here is a +Norwegian hussy," he said, "caricaturing you, pray come and see her!" A +lady's head with untidy, refractory black hair, dark eyes, and large +mouth, peeped in and laughed. And yet Petra hastened towards her; for +it must be the bride,--no, her mother, she thought as she drew nearer. +She looked at the lady, and said: "I am not sure if it is you, or if it +is your mother!" whereupon the director also laughed. The head had +retreated, but laughed in the side room. Petra's embarrassment was +clearly depicted in her face and attitude; it attracted the director's +attention, he looked at her, and taking a book, said as though nothing +in the world had happened: "Take this, my girl, and read, but read as +you talk yourself."--She did so. "No, no, that is not right, read +Norwegian,--Norwegian, I say!"--and Petra read, but the same as before. +"No, I tell you, it is altogether wrong. Do you understand what I mean? +Are you stupid?"--He tried her again and again, then took the book from +her and gave her another: "See, that is the opposite, it is comic, read +that!"--"Yes, Petra read, but with the same result till she wearied him +out."--"No, no!" he cried, "for heavens sake give over,--what do you +want with the stage, what the deuce is it you want to act?"--"The play +I saw yesterday."--"Aha! To be sure! well, and then?"--"Yes," said she, +feeling a little bashful, "I thought it was so delightful, yesterday, +but I have been thinking today it would be still more delightful if it +had a good ending, and I would give it that."--"Eh, that is it? Well, +to be sure! There's nothing to hinder; the author is dead. Of course, +he is no longer correct, and you, who can neither speak, nor read, will +improve his works;--yes, that is Norwegian!" Petra did not understand +the words, she understood only that they went against her, and she +began to fear. "Will you let me?" she asked softly.--"Certainly, Lord +preserve us, there's nothing to hinder, be so good!--Listen," he said +in a different tone, as he went close up to her, "you have no more idea +of the drama than a cat; and you have no talent for either the comedy +or the tragedy; I have tried you in both. Because you have a pretty +face, and a fine figure, I suppose people have put it into your head +that you could play much better than my wife, and so you will take +the first part in my 'répertoire,' and make alterations to begin +with;--yes, that is the Norwegians, they are the people that can do +it."--Petra could hardly breathe, she struggled and struggled; at last +she ventured to say: "Will you really not allow me?" He had been +standing looking out of the window, and was certain she had gone; he +now turned round in surprise, and was struck with her emotion, and the +wonderful strength with which it was pourtrayed in her whole being; he +looked at her a moment, then suddenly seizing the book, he said with a +voice and manner as if nothing had happened before: "See, take this +piece here, and read it slowly, let me hear your voice. Come now!" But +she could not read, for she could not see the letters. "Don't be +afraid!" At last she began, but coldly, without any spirit; he bade her +read it over again with more feeling; but it was still worse, so he +quietly took the book from her: "I have tried you in all ways," he said +"so I have no responsibility. I assure you, my good girl, if I were to +send my boots upon the stage, or I were to send you, the impression +would be just the same--viz., a very remarkable one. So that must end +the matter!" But as a last endeavour, Petra ventured entreatingly: +"I believe though I understand it, if only I get----" "Yes, to be +sure,--every fishing village understands it a great deal better than +we; the Norwegian public is the most enlightened in the world."--"Come +now, if you won't disappear, I must!" She turned to the door, and burst +into tears. "I say," this violent outburst had thrown a new light on +the subject; "I say, I suppose it isn't you that made such a +disturbance in the theatre last night?"--She turned round, fiery red; +"Yes, to be sure, I know you now, Fisher Girl! I was in company with a +gentleman from your town after the play, he 'knew you well.' Ha! so +that is why you wanted to get on the stage; you would try your tricks +there,--I understand!--Listen: My theatre is a respectable +establishment, and I defy all attempts to transform it. Go! Will you +go, I say!"--and Petra went, sobbing fearfully, down the steps, and out +into the street. She ran crying past all the people, and a lady at +mid-day, running and crying in the street created, as may be imagined, +a great sensation. People stopped, the dogs ran after her, and more +followed. The whirr behind her reminded her of those awful nights in +the attic chamber, she remembered the faces in the air and ran faster. +But the remembrance grew more vivid with every step, the noise behind +her increased, and when she arrived at the house and shut the street +door, reached her room and locked herself in, she threw herself down in +a corner to defend herself from the faces; she struck them off with her +hands, and threatened them, then sinking down exhausted, she wept more +quietly,--and was saved.</p> + +<hr class="W10"> + +<p class="normal">The same day towards evening, she left Bergen and started for the +country; she did not know where to, but she would go where she was not +known. She went in a carriole, the driver boy sitting on her trunk +strapped on behind. It rained fast, she sat crouched together under a +great rain hat, and looked uneasily at the mountain above her, and then +at the precipice below. The forest before her was a dense mass of fog, +teeming with spectres; the next moment she would enter it, but the fog +was parting at every step she took towards it. A mighty rumbling that +grew stronger and stronger increased the feeling that she was entering +upon an unknown region, where everything had its own meaning and some +dark and mysterious connection, where man was only a nervous traveller, +who had yet to discover whether or not he could get further. The +rumbling came from several waterfalls, that in the wet weather had +grown up to battle, and now hurled themselves precipitately from rock +to rock with a terrific crash. Now and then they passed over narrow +bridges; she could see the water boiling and seething in the hollows +below. Soon the road began to bend and wind down the mountain; here and +there lay a cultivated field, and a few turf houses stood together; +then again it turned up towards the forest and rumbling. She was wet +through, and shivered, but still she would go further, as long as the +day lasted,--further also the next day, ever deeper in, till she came +to a place she dare trust herself to. Thereto He Himself would help +her, the Almighty, who now led them through the darkness and the storm.</p> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<h2> VIII.</h2> + +<h3><a name="div1_08" href="#div1Ref_08">AT THE RURAL DEAN'S.</a></h3> + + +<p class="normal">Quite late in autumn, among the mountains in Bergen's shire, where the +land is sheltered and fruitful, there are occasionally days almost like +summer. On such afternoons, the cattle, even if they have already begun +with the winter feeding, are again let out into the pasture; they are +well fed and frisky, and when they are driven home at night, the scene +is lively. Thus they came down over the mountain track, cows, sheep, +and goats, bellowing, butting, and skipping, their bells merrily +ringing, and were just approaching the farm as Petra was driving by. It +was a beautiful day, the window panes in the long white wooden +buildings glittered in the sun, and above the houses, towered the +mountains, so thickly covered with firs, birch, ash, bird cherry, rowan +trees, and the projecting rocks with juniper bushes, that the houses +seemed quite sheltered by them. Facing the road, in front of the house, +was a garden, apples, cherry, and plum trees flourished in abundance; +red and black currant, and gooseberry bushes grew along the walks and +fences, and above all, towered some grand old ash trees with their +broad and stately crowns. The house looked like a nest half hidden +among the branches, out of reach for everything but the sun. But just +this seclusion awakened a longing in Petra, and when she heard it was +the deanery, she exclaimed: "I must go in here!" and pulling in the +reins, she turned along the garden.</p> + +<p class="normal">A couple of Finnish dogs rushed out upon her as she drove into the farm +yard, a large square, enclosed with buildings, the cattle stall +opposite the house, another wing of the house to the right, and to the +left the brewery, wash house, and labourers' room. The farm yard was +now full of cattle, and in the midst of them stood a lady, tall and +elegant; she wore a tight fitting dress, and a little silk handkerchief +over her head; round about and above her<a name="div2Ref_02" href="#div2_02"><sup>[2]</sup></a> were goats, white, black, +brown, and parti-coloured, all with their little bells sounding in +harmony; she had a name for each of her goats, and now she had +something nice for them in a dish, which the milkmaid continually +replenished. Upon the low step leading from the house to the farm yard, +the rural dean was standing with a plate of salt, and in front of him +were the cows licking the salt out of his hand and off the step where +he strewed it. The dean was not a tall man, but compact, with short +neck and short forehead; the bushy eyebrows lay over eyes that did not +often look straight before them, but now and then cast a flashing +glance aside. His thick grey hair was cut short, and stood up on all +sides, it grew down over his neck nearly as much as on his head; he +wore no neckerchief, but a shirt stud; in the front the shirt was +open,--one could see his hairy bosom; neither was it buttoned at the +wrists, so the shirt cuffs came down over the small, powerful hands, +now all licked over by the cows; both hands and arms were shaggy. He +glanced sharply from the side, at the stranger lady who had alighted, +and made her way between the goats to where his daughter was standing. +It was impossible, for the noise of the cattle, dogs, and bells, to +hear what they were saying, but now both the ladies were looking at +him, and with the goats around them they came towards the step. The +herdsman, on a sign from the dean, began to drive the cattle away. +Signe, his daughter, called out: (Petra was struck with the harmony of +her voice,) "Father, here is a lady travelling, who would like to rest +a day with us."--"She shall be welcome!" cried the dean in reply, gave +the dish to the lad, and went into his study, in the right wing of the +house, apparently to tidy himself. Petra followed the young lady into +the passage, which was more properly a hall, it was so light and broad; +the driver boy was dismissed, her things carried in, and she herself +shewn into a side room opposite the study, where she took off her +things, and went out again into the passage, to be further shewn into +the dining room.</p> + +<p class="normal">What a large light room! Nearly the whole wall fronting the garden was +windows, the middle one opened as a door to the garden. The windows +were broad and high, reaching almost to the floor, and they were full +of flowers, plants stood upon stands here and there in the room, and +instead of curtains was interwoven ivy, hanging from two small hedges +of flowers up in the frame above. As there were bushes and flowers on +every side, growing up the walls, and on the greensward before her, it +seemed like a conservatory in the midst of the garden; and yet one had +not been a minute in the room, before the flowers were no longer seen; +for the church standing by itself on a hill to the right was what one +saw,--the blue waters reflecting its image, coursed sparkling on so far +away between the mountains that one could not tell whether it was a +lake, or an arm of the sea curving in. And then the mountains +themselves! Not single, but chains of mountains, each one rearing its +mighty front behind the other, as if the boundary of the world.</p> + +<p class="normal">When Petra withdrew her eyes, everything in the room seemed hallowed by +the scene without; it was pure and light,--a frame of flowers for a +magnificent picture. She felt surrounded by some unseen presence, +observing her deportment, yea, even her thoughts; she went round the +room, without being conscious of doing so, and touched the things. +Suddenly she caught sight of the life size portrait of a lady smiling +down upon her from over the sofa, facing the light. She was sitting +with her head a little to one side, and folded hands, her right arm +rested on a book, on the back of which, in distinct letters, was +inscribed: "Sabbath Hours." Her light hair and fair complexion, shed +radiance, imparting a Sabbath peace to all around her. Her smile was +grave, but the gravity was affection. She seemed as though she could +draw everyone to her in love; she seemed to understand all, for in +everything she saw only the good. Her countenance bore traces of +delicacy, perhaps this delicacy had been her strength, for there could +be no one who dare abuse it. A wreath of everlastings hung above the +frame; she was dead.</p> + +<p class="normal">"That was my mother," she heard softly behind her, and she turned,--it +was the daughter, who had gone out and now came in again. The whole +room, seemed as it were, filled with the portrait, everything was +adapted to it, and the daughter was its quiet reflection; she seemed a +little more silent, a little more reserved. The mother received the +glance of all, and gave hers fully in return, the daughter bent hers +down, but in both there was the same peace and mildness. She had also +her mother's figure, but without a trace of weakness,--on the contrary, +the bright colours in her tight-fitting dress, in her apron, and little +silk neckerchief fastened with a Roman pin, cast a glow of freshness +over her face, and yielded a charm, which made her at once the daughter +of the portrait, and the nymph of the place. As she was walking there +among the mother's flowers, Petra felt a strong drawing towards her; in +the presence of such a woman, and in such a place, everything good must +grow;--dare she but step within! She now doubly felt her loneliness; +her glance followed Signe incessantly, Signe felt it and tried to evade +it, but it did not help, she felt embarrassed, and stooped down over +the flowers. At last Petra discovered her impropriety, she felt +ashamed, and would have apologised, but there was something in the +neatly arranged hair, the fine forehead, and the dress, that bade her +be cautious. She looked up at the mother; her, she could already have +embraced! Was it not as if she were bidding her welcome. Dare she +believe it? No one had ever looked thus at her before; it seemed to say +that she knew all that had happened to the wayfarer, and would yet +forgive her. Forbearance, she stood in need of, and she could not take +her eyes from this benevolent glance,--she put her head to one side, +like the portrait, she folded her hands like it, and almost without +knowing it, she exclaimed: "Oh let me stay here!" Signe rose and turned +towards her, she could not answer for amazement. "Do let me stay here!" +begged Petra again, advancing a step towards her: "It is delightful!" +and her eyes filled with tears.</p> + +<p class="normal">"I will ask my father to come," said the young lady. Petra watched her +till she passed within the study door, but as soon as she was alone, +she was afraid at what she had done, and she trembled when she saw the +dean's astonished face at the door. He came a little better dressed +than before, and with a pipe in his mouth; he held fast hold of it, +taking it from his lips at every whiff, and emitting the smoke in three +puffs, each with a little smack; he repeated this two or three times, +as he stood before Petra in the middle of the floor, not looking at +her, but as if waiting for her to speak. She dare not before this man +repeat her request; he looked so austere. "You wish to stay here?" he +asked, and he gave her a quick bright side glance. Her terror made her +voice tremble a little: "I have no place to go to."--"Where are you +from?" In a low tone she gave the town and her own name. "How did you +get here?"--"I do not know, ... I am seeking ... I can pay for myself, +... I, ... Yes, I don't know," she could say no more for a minute, then +she took fresh courage and continued: "I will do everything you tell +me, if only I may stay here, and not have to go further ... and not +have to ask any more." The daughter had followed her father in, but +remained standing by the stove, where without looking up, she was +fingering the dried rose leaves that lay there. The dean did not reply, +one could only hear the puff of his pipe, as he looked alternately at +her, Petra, and the portrait. Now the same thing may give two very +different impressions: while Petra was praying that the portrait might +influence him to lenience, he thought it whispered: "Protect our child; +take no stranger in to her!"--He turned with a sharp side glance to +Petra: "No, you cannot remain here!"</p> + +<p class="normal">Petra turned pale, drew a deep heavy sigh looked round +hesitatingly,--and then rushing into a side room, the door of which +stood half open, she threw herself down beside a table, and gave full +vent to her grief and disappointment! Father and daughter looked at +each other; this lack of manners,--rushing into another room without a +word, and then sitting down by herself, was only a counterpart of her +former proceeding,--coming in from the road, begging to stay with them, +and bursting into tears when she did not get permission. The dean went +after her, not to speak to her, but to shut the door. He came back +quite flushed, and said in a subdued tone to the daughter, who was +still standing by the stove: "Have you ever seen her equal?--Who is +she? What is her object?"--The daughter did not at once reply, and +when she answered it was in a still more subdued tone than the +father's.--"She goes the wrong way about, but there is something very +remarkable in her."--The dean paced up and down, looking towards the +door; at last he stopped and whispered: "She cannot be altogether in +her right mind?"--and as Signe did not answer, he came nearer and +repeated more decidedly: "She must be crazy, Signe, half-witted; that +is the remarkable about her."--"I don't think so;" replied Signe, "but +she is certainly very unhappy," and she bent down over the dried rose +leaves with which she was still toying.</p> + +<p class="normal">The tone of the voice, as well as the movement would have been in no +way striking to another; but it changed the father at once, he walked a +few times up and down, looking at the portrait; at last he said, very +slowly: "You mean, because she looks unhappy,--that mother would have +bidden her stay?"--"Mother would not have given any answer for two or +three days," whispered the daughter, bending lower over the roses. The +gentlest reminder of her up there, when the daughter brought it thus +before him, could make that hairy lion head as mild and gentle as a +lamb's. He felt the truth at once, and stood like a school boy caught +in a trick; he forgot to smoke and walk up and down, and after a long +time he whispered: "Should I bid her remain a few days?"--"You have +already answered her."--"Yes, but it is one thing to receive her +altogether, and another to let her stay here a few days."--Signe seemed +to be pondering the matter, and said at last, "Do as you think best." +The dean would prove the matter yet once more, as he paced the room +again, smoking hard. At last he stopped: "Will you go in, or shall +I?"--"It will certainly do most good if you go," said the daughter and +looked mildly up.</p> + +<p class="normal">He was just going to turn the door handle, when a loud peal of laughter +was heard from within,--then silence and again another roar. The dean, +who had turned back, went forward again, the daughter after him; for +there must be something the matter with the one in there.</p> + +<p class="normal">When the door opened, they saw her sitting just where they had left +her, but with a great book open before her, over which she had thrown +herself without knowing it. Her tears had trickled down on to its +leaves; she observed it, and was about to dry them, when her eye caught +sight of an expression of the juicy sort, which she remembered from the +street days of her childhood, but which she had never thought to see in +print. In her amazement, she forgot to weep, but buried herself in the +book,--what an absurd book it was!--She read with open mouth, it grew +worse and worse, so low, but so irresistibly amusing, that it was +impossible to give up, she must read on; she read, till she forgot all +else, she read away both sorrow and hunger, both time and place--with +old Father Holberg, for him it was. She laughed, she roared--even now +when the pastor and his daughter were standing over her, she did not +observe how grave they were, she never thought of her request, but +laughed and asked: "Whatever is this, whatever in the world is this?" +and she turned to the title page.</p> + +<p class="normal">Then she grew pale, looked up at them, and down again in the book at +the well-known characters; there are things that strike the heart like +a cannon ball, things that we believed to be hundreds of miles away, we +see straight before us,--here on the first page was written: "Hans +Odegaard." Blushing crimson she cried: "Is the book his,--is he coming +here?" she got up.--"He has promised to do so," answered Signe,--and +now Petra remembered, that there was a minister's family in Bergen's +shire, whom he had met abroad.--She had travelled only in a circle, +she had come just in his path. "Is he coming directly? Perhaps he is +here now?" she would at once fly further.--"No, he is ill," said +Signe.--"Yes, that is true, he is ill," said Petra, painfully, and sank +down.</p> + +<p class="normal">"But tell me," exclaimed Signe, "is it possible you can be----?" "The +Fisher Girl!" put in the pastor. Petra looked up entreatingly at them. +"Yes, I am the Fisher Girl," she said.</p> + +<p class="normal">But her they knew quite well; for Odegaard had talked of nothing else. +"That is another matter," said the dean,--he perceived there was +something wrong, needing a little friendly help;--"stay here as long as +you will, we shall help you!" Petra looked up in time to see the warm +look Signe gave him in thanks; this did her so much good, that she went +across, and took both Signe's hands, saying, though bashfully: "As soon +as we two are alone, I will tell you all!"</p> + +<p class="normal">One hour after, Signe knew Petra's whole history, which she at once +communicated to her father. On his advice, Signe wrote the same day to +Odegaard, and continued to do so; as long as Petra was in their house.</p> + +<p class="normal">When that evening Petra laid down to rest, in the soft eider down, in a +warm room with crackling birch wood in the stove, and the New Testament +laid between the two lights on the white toilet table,--she thanked her +God, as she took the book, for all, the evil as well as the good.</p> + +<hr class="W10"> + +<p class="normal">As a young man, the dean with an ardent temperament and talent for +oratory, had wished to study for the ministry; his parents, people of +wealth, had been against it; they would have preferred to see him +choose what they called an independent position; but their opposition +served only to increase his zeal, and when he had graduated, he went +abroad to study further. During a preliminary stay in Denmark, he used +often to meet a lady, who belonged to a religious sect not sufficiently +strict for him, and to whom he was therefore opposed: he sought +continually to influence her, but the way in which she looked at him, +thereby bringing him to silence, he could never forget during the whole +of his sojourn on the continent. When he returned, he at once visited +her. They had a good deal of intercourse, and grew in intimacy, till at +last they became engaged, and were soon after married. And now it was +evident that each of them had their own private thoughts; he had +purposed to draw her over with all her simple grace, to his gloomy +teaching, and she had been so innocently certain of being able to win +his power and eloquence over to the service of her church. His first +most cautious attempt was met by her first most cautious:--he drew +back, disappointed, mistrustful. She saw it at once, and from that day +he watched for her next attempt, while she did the same for his. But +neither of them tried it again, for both had become afraid: he was +afraid of his own passionate nature, and she, lest by a vain attempt, +she might spoil her opportunity of influencing him; for she never gave +up hope,--she had made it the aim of her life. But it never came to a +conflict; for where she was, such could not be; yet to his active will, +his repressed emotions, he must give vent, and so it happened every +time he entered the pulpit and saw her seated below. The members of his +church were drawn in with him as in a whirlwind, he excited them, and +soon they him. She saw it, and sought to give rest to her foreboding +heart in deeds of benevolence,----and later, when she became a mother, +in the daughter, on whom she lavished her tenderness, physical and +mental, and bore her to her quiet hours. There she gave, there she +took, there in the child's innocence, she watched over her own great +child, there she held the feast of love, and from there she returned to +him in his strictness, with the united mildness of a woman and a +Christian;--it was impossible for him to say anything that could wound +her then. He might indeed love her above all else on earth, but he grew +more sorrowful, the more he became convinced that he could not help her +in the matter of her salvation. With a mother's quiet right, she +withdrew the child also from his religious instruction; the child's +songs, the child's questions soon became a new and deep source of pain +to him,--and now when his violent agitation had excited him to hardness +in the pulpit, his wife only received him with the greater mildness as +they walked home together. The eyes spoke, but the mouth not a single +word. And the daughter clung to his hand, and looked at him with eyes +that were the mother's.</p> + +<p class="normal">All sorts of subjects were discussed in this house, only not that which +was the root of all their thoughts. But at length this strain could be +born no longer; she smiled still, it is true; but only because she did +not venture to weep. When the time drew near that the daughter must be +prepared for confirmation, and consequently by the right of his office, +he could draw her as quietly over to his instruction, as hitherto the +mother had held her in hers, the anxiety rose to its height, and after +the Sunday when the noting down of the candidates for confirmation was +announced, the mother became ill, like we are when wearied out. She +said smilingly, that she could not walk any more, and a few days later, +also smilingly, that how she could not sit. Though she could not speak +to the daughter she would yet have her always beside her, for she could +see her. And the daughter knew what she would most like; she read to +her out of The Book of Life, and sang to her the hymns of her +childhood, the new and peaceful hymns of her fellow believers. It was +long before the dean realised what was here preparing; but when he did +realise it, he lost the threads, he could only keep his thoughts to one +point,--to hear her say something to him, just a few words, but she was +not able to do it; she could no longer speak. He stood at the foot of +the bed, and watched, and prayed; she smiled upon him, till he fell on +his knees, took the daughter's hand and laid it in the mother's, as if +he said: "Here, you take her,--with you she shall ever remain!" Then +she smiled as never before,--and in that smile she passed away.</p> + +<p class="normal">After this, it was long before the dean could be led into conversation; +another was appointed to perform his duties,--he himself wandered from +room to room, from place to place, as though seeking something. He went +about quietly; when he spoke it was in a subdued tone, and it was only +by adopting the whole of this silent method, that little by little, the +daughter could share his society. But now she helped him in his search, +every word of the mother's was recalled,--what she would have wished, +became their guide for the future. The daughter's communion with her, +that to which he himself had been a stranger, was now lived over +again;--all was gone over afresh from the first hour the child could +remember; the mother's hymns were sung, her prayers were prayed, the +sermons she had thought most of, were read over one by one, and her +explanations and observations upon them, lovingly remembered in faith. +Thus roused to activity, he felt a desire to visit the place where he +had found her, there, in the same manner, to follow in her footsteps. +They went, and in making her life entirely his own, he partly +recovered. Himself a new beginner, he took an interest in every new +effort around him, the great, the small, national, political,--which +gave him back much of his own young life. His powers streamed in again, +and with them his longings,--now he would preach the Word so that it +would prepare for life, and not alone for death!</p> + +<p class="normal">Before he again shut himself in with his beloved work in his mountain +home, he felt a desire to take an enlarged view of the world elsewhere. +They therefore continued their journey further, and had now many +pleasing remembrances.</p> + +<p class="normal">Among these people lived Petra.</p> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<h2> IX.</h2> + +<h3><a name="div1_09" href="#div1Ref_09">APPREHENSIONS.</a></h3> + + +<p class="normal">One Friday, a few days before the Christmas of the third year, the two +girls were sitting together in the evening twilight, and the dean had +just come in with his pipe. The day had passed as most others during +these two years; a walk began the mornings, after breakfast an hour's +practising, next languages or other studies, and then a little +occupation in household duties. In the afternoon, each in her own room, +Signe busy to-day in writing to Odegaard, after whom Petra never +enquired, even as she never would speak of the past. Towards dusk, a +sledge drive, and now they were in, to converse or sing, or later to +read aloud. For this the dean always joined them. He read remarkably +well, and his daughter not less so; Petra learnt the style of both, and +especially their pronunciation. The tone of Signe's voice and accent +was so pleasing to her, that it rang in her ears when she was alone. +Petra held Signe in such high estimation, that the fourth part a man +would have taken for ardent love; she often made Signe blush. By the +dean or Signe reading aloud every evening, (Petra was not to be +persuaded to do it;) they had gone through the chief poets of +Scandinavia, and besides had read many of the best works in foreign +literature; the drama was preferred. Just as they were about to light +the lamps this evening to begin, the kitchen maid came in and said, +that there was some one outside who had a message for Petra. It proved +to be a sailor from her native place; her mother had enjoined him to +seek her, as he was going in that direction, he had now come seven +miles out of his way, and must hasten back, as the vessel would be +sailing. As Petra wanted to talk with him, she went part of the way +along the road, for he was a dependable man whom she knew. The evening +was rather dark, and there was no light from the windows except in the +wash house, where they were having a great wash; there was no light on +the road, and the road itself could scarcely be seen, till the moon +rose over the mountains; but Petra went boldly on into the forest, +though there were weird shadows cast among the branches. One piece of +intelligence especially had enticed her to go with him: the sailor had +told her that Pedro Ohlsen's mother was dead, whereupon he had sold the +house, and moved up to Gunlaug, where he occupied Petra's room. This +was about two years ago, yet the mother had never named a word about +it. Now, however, Petra could judge who it was that had written the +letters for her mother, a question she had often asked, but always in +vain; for every letter concluded with these words: "and a greeting from +the one that writes this letter." The sailor had it in charge to ask +her, how long she was going to stay at the deanery, and what she +intended to do afterwards. Petra replied to the first that she did not +know, and to the second that he must tell the mother, there was only +one thing she wished in the world, and if she did not get it, she would +be unhappy all her life; but just now she could not say what it was.</p> + +<p class="normal">While Petra was talking to the sailor, the dean and Signe were sitting +in the dining room, talking about her to whom they were both very much +attached. Then the steward came up, and after giving in his report for +the day, he asked, if either of them knew, that the young lady living +with them went up and down from her room by a rope-ladder at nights. He +had to repeat it three times before either of them could conceive what +he meant; for he might as well have told them that she went up and down +on the moonbeams. It was dark in the room, and now it became perfectly +still; not even the sound of the dean's pipe. At length, with a certain +dull clink in his voice, he asked: "Who has seen it?"--"I have; I was +up attending to the horses, it would be about one o'clock."--"She went +down by a rope ladder?"--"And up again."--Again a long silence. Petra +occupied the room above, that looked on to the farm yard; she was alone +there, no one except her had a room on that side of the house, so there +could be no mistake who it was.--"It may have been in her sleep," said +the steward about to withdraw.--"She could not make the rope-ladder in +her sleep," said the dean.--"No, that was what I thought too, +therefore I judged it was best to tell it to him, father; I have not +mentioned it to any one else."--"Is there any one that has seen it +besides you?"--"No,--but if he, father, doubts the matter, let the +rope-ladder itself be the witness; if it is not there, I must have been +wrong."--The dean rose up quickly. "Father!" begged Signe.--"Bring a +light," said the dean in a way that did not allow of any opposition. +Signe lit it herself. "Father!" she begged once more, as she gave it +him.--"Yes, I am her father too, as long as she is in my house; it is +my duty to look into it,"--he went before with the light, Signe and the +steward after.</p> + +<p class="normal">Everything was in order in the little room; only a whole row of books +lay open on the table in front of the bed, one on the top of the other. +"Does she read at night?"--"I don't know, but she never puts her light +out BEFORE one o'clock." The dean and Signe looked at each other,--they +separated at the deanery about ten or half-past, and they re-assembled +again in the morning at six or seven.--"Do YOU know anything about +it?" Signe did not reply. But the steward who was down on his knees in +the corner, seeking, answered from there: "She certainly is not +alone."--"What is that you are saying?"--"No, there is always some one +with her, talking to her; they often speak very loud; I have heard her +both plead for herself and threaten. She must be in the hand of some +evil power, poor thing!" Signe turned away; the dean had grown deathly +pale.--"And here is the ladder," said the steward, he pulled it out, +and got up. Two clothes lines were fastened together by a third, tied +in a hard knot, then carried across and fastened in a knot about half a +foot below, then back, and so on till the ladder was long enough. They +examined it carefully.--"Was she long away?" asked the dean.--The +steward looked at him, "How, away?"--"Was she long away, when she came +down?"--Signe stood and shivered from fear and cold.--"She did not go +anywhere, she went up again."--"Up again? Then who went away?"--Signe +turned, and burst into tears. "There was not any one with her that +evening, it was yesterday."--"Then there was no one on the ladder +except her?"--"No."--"And she went down and up again directly?"--"Yes."</p> + +<p class="normal">"She has been proving it then," said the dean, and drew a long breath +as if relieved.--"Yes, before she let any one else go," added the +steward. The dean looked at him: "Then do you mean this is not the +first she has made?"--"No, otherwise how could people have got up to +her?"--"Have you known a long time that some one came to her?"--"Not +before this winter, when she began to burn her lamp at night. It never +struck me before to go down there."--"Then you have known it the whole +winter," said the dean severely; "why have you not told me before?"--"I +thought it was some one belonging to the house that was with her;--but +when I saw her on the ladder last night, it struck me it might be some +one else. If it had struck me before, I should have mentioned it +before."--"Yes,--it is clear enough she has deceived us all!" Signe +looked up imploringly. "She should not have a room so far away from the +others," observed the steward, rolling up the ladder. "She should not +have a room beneath my roof," said the dean, and went; the others +followed.</p> + +<p class="normal">When he had gone down, and set the light away from him on the table, +Signe came and threw herself into his arms,----"Yes, my child, this is +a fearful disappointment." Shortly after, Signe was sitting in the sofa +corner, with a pocket handkerchief before her eyes, the dean had lit +his pipe, and walked quickly up and down. Suddenly there was a scream +from the kitchen, and they heard the servants run up stairs, and rush +along the passages overhead; they both hastened out: Petra's room was +on fire! A spark must have fallen from the light in the corner, for the +fire had sprung from there, and in a moment blazed along the wall-paper, +and reached the wood work of the window, when it had been observed by +some one passing by, who had run into the wash house and told them about +it. The fire was soon put out; but in the country, where everything has +its even routine from one year's end to another, any sudden interruption +causes great excitement. The fire is their worst, most dangerous enemy, +never out of their thoughts, and when he thus comes in the night, +thrusting his head up over the precipice, and licking greedily after his +prey, they tremble, and do not regain composure for weeks, some not even +for life.</p> + +<p class="normal">When after this, the dean and his daughter again stood together in the +dining room, the lamps having been lit, they both felt there was +something ominous in the thought, that Petra's room had thus been +destroyed, and all traces of her burnt out. At the same moment, they +heard her clear voice, calling and questioning; she sprang up and down +stairs, ran from the attic to the passage, from the passage to the +kitchen, and finally came rushing in with her things on: "Heavens! my +room is burnt!" No one answered, and in the same breath, she asked: +"Who has been there? When did it happen? How did the fire break out?" +The dean now replied, that it was they who had been there: they had +been looking for something; he gave her a penetrating look. But Petra +did not give the slightest sign of finding this anything wonderful, nor +did she betray any fear for what they could have found. She did not +even suspect anything wrong when Signe did not look up from the sofa; +she attributed it to her fright from the fire, and she never ceased +asking, how it had been discovered, put out, who had got there first, +&c., and as she got no answer quickly, she ran out as she had come in. +But she soon came rushing in again, having partly taken off her things, +and told them how she had seen the light herself, and run so fearfully, +but was so glad now to find it was no worse. So saying, she took off +the rest of her things, carried them out, and coming in again, she +seated herself at the table, talking incessantly, of what this and that +one had said and done, the whole place indeed was turned upside down, +and it was very amusing. As the others continued silent, she expressed +her regret that it had spoilt the evening for them; for she had been +looking forward with so much pleasure to "Romeo and Juliet," which they +were then reading aloud; she was going to ask Signe that very evening +to read that scene over again, that she thought the finest of all: the +parting of Romeo and Juliet on the balcony. In the midst of her +chattering, one of the girls from the wash house came and said that +they were short of clothes lines, there was one bundle missing. Petra +grew suddenly red and got up; "I know where it is, I will go for it," +she went a few steps, then remembering the fire, she stopped: +"Goodness, it will be burnt! it was in my room!" Signe had turned +towards her, the dean took a full view from the side: "What do you do +with clothes lines?" He breathed heavily, he could scarcely speak. +Petra looked at him, his fearfully grave look made her half afraid, but +the next moment it made her laugh, she strove a minute against it, but +looking at him again, she burst into such a hearty fit of laughter that +she could not stop;--there was no more of a troubled conscience in it, +than in a rippling brook. Signe heard it in her voice and sprang up +from the sofa: "What is it, what is it?"--Petra turned round, laughed +and hopped about, she ran to the door, but Signe stopped the way: "What +is it, Petra, tell me?" Petra ran behind her as if to hide, but +continued to laugh immoderately. No, guilt does not behave so, now the +dean could see that too;--he who stood on the point of bursting into a +rage, hopped down into laughter instead, and Signe after him; nothing +in the world is more catching than laughter, and especially laughter +that is entirely incomprehensible. The vain attempts which now the +dean, now Signe made to get to know what they were laughing at, only +made them laugh the more; the maid, who was standing waiting, at last +could resist it no longer, and began to roar; she had that +extraordinary laughter as though it came from a pit with hoisting and +heaving; she felt, herself, that it did not suit to fine furniture and +people, so she hastened to the door to give free vent to it in the +kitchen. Of course she took the contagion with her there; soon a whole +volley of laughter poured in from the kitchen, where they knew still +less what they were laughing at, and this made the laughter in the +dining room break out anew.</p> + +<p class="normal">When at last they were almost done up, Signe made a last attempt to get +to know the cause: "Now you must tell me!" she exclaimed, holding +Petra's hands.--"No, not for the world!"--"Yes, but I know what it is!" +she said: "and my father knows as well!" Petra screamed and slipped +loose, but on reaching the door, Signe caught her again, then Petra +turned to free herself, she would get away at any price, she laughed +while she struggled, but there were tears in her eyes; then Signe left +loose,--Petra ran, and Signe after her, till they reached the room of +the latter. There they embraced each other, "Mercy! do you really +know?" whispered Petra.--"Yes, we were up in your room with the +steward, who had seen you,--and we found the ladder!"--Fresh screams, +and fresh flight, but this time only to the sofa corner, where she hid +herself Signe came, and bending over her, she whispered in her ear, all +about their journey of discovery, with its pleasing consequences;--that +which an hour ago had cost her both tears and fears, seemed now so +amusing that she told it with humour! Petra listened and stopped her +ears, looked up and hid herself by turns. When Signe had finished, and +they were sitting together in the darkness, Petra whispered: "Do you +know how it is? It is impossible to sleep at ten o'clock, when we go to +our rooms, that which we have read has far too much power over me. So I +learn it by heart, all the best pieces,--I know several scenes, and +read them aloud to myself. When we came to Romeo and Juliet, it seemed +the most delightful thing upon earth; I grew wild, I must try that with +the rope ladder, I had never thought anyone could go up and down on a +rope ladder.... I got hold of some ropes,--and there that fellow was +standing below and watching me!--Yes, but it is nothing to laugh at, +Signe, it is so boyish, I shall never be anything else than a boy,--and +now to-morrow I shall be a laughing stock for the whole neighbourhood." +But Signe, who had begun to laugh again, kissed her, gave her a +clap, and ran out, saying: "No, I must tell father!"--"Are you mad, +Signe!"--and away they rushed. The dean was just coming out to see what +had become of them, and they nearly knocked him over; Signe told him +the whole story.</p> + +<p class="normal">After tea where she was duly teased by the dean, Petra, by way of +punishment, was to recite what she knew by heart. It proved to be a +fact that she knew all the most celebrated scenes and not only one part +in them, but all. She recited as if she were reading, now and then she +was almost on fire, but then she would suddenly check herself. The dean +had hardly observed this, before he would have a little more +expression, but it only made her more shy. The recitation continued +several hours; she knew the comic scenes as well as the tragic, the +playful as well as the serious;--her memory both astonished and amused +them, she laughed, and told them only to try her.</p> + +<p class="normal">"I wish the poor actors had but the eighth part of the memory you +have!" said Signe.--"God preserve her from ever being an actress," said +the dean, at once becoming earnest.--"But father, you don't suppose +Petra has any idea of such a thing?" said Signe laughing: "I have +always observed that any one educated from youth up in the poetry of +his language, has no longing at all to go upon the stage, while those +who do not know much about poetry till they are grown up, revel in the +thought of it, it is the longing of poetry, a longing all at once +awakened in them that impels them."--"That is very true; it is not often +that a really educated person will go upon the stage."--"And still more +seldom one poetically educated," said Signe--"Yes, if it occurs there +is a want in the character, which allows vanity and levity to get the +upper hand. In my travels abroad, and also when studying, I became +acquainted with many actors, but I have never known, and I have never +heard of any one knowing an actor, who led a really Christian life. I +have seen that they have felt themselves called, but there is something +restless and unsatisfying in their occupation; they have found it +impossible to collect themselves--even long after they have left it. If +I have spoken with them about it, they have admitted and lamented it, +but yet they have at once added: 'But we may console ourselves with the +thought that we are not worse than so many others.' But this is what I +call poor consolation. A life that does not in any way build up our +spiritual manhood, is a sinful life. The Lord help them, and may He +keep pure hearts away from it!"</p> + +<hr class="W10"> + +<p class="normal">The next day, Saturday, the dean as usual was up before seven, went his +morning round among the labourers, and then going further, he returned +in daylight. As he was going past the house to the farm yard, he saw an +open exercise book, or something of the sort, which must have been +thrown out of Petra's window the evening before, and not found, because +it was the colour of the snow. He took up the book, and carried it in +with him to his study; in opening the leaves to dry them, he saw it was +an old French exercise book, in which verses were now written. He never +thought of reading the verses, but he caught sight of the word, +"Actress," written all over,--even in the verses themselves ... He sat +down to examine it.</p> + +<p class="normal">After repeated erasures and corrections, he came at last to the +following rhyme, which though not copied, could still be read:</p> +<div class="poem2"> +<p class="t0" style="text-indent:-4px">"Come listen my love, and hear me say,<br> +The longing that fills me from day to day,<br> +An actress I'll be, and I'll picture true,<br> +To the world a woman from every view,--</p> +<p class="t2">How she suffers, and how she laughs,<br> +How she prays, and loves, and chaffs,<br> +How she is when she is sinful,<br> +How she is when she is peaceful,</p> +<p class="t0">Oh God, I pray Thee, help Thou me,<br> +To be the one that I aim to be!"</p> +</div> + +<p class="continue">And a little below the following:</p> +<div class="poem2"> +<p class="t3" style="text-indent:-4px"> +"May not I be Thy servant, Lord?<br> +Wilt Thou not Thy help afford?"</p> +</div> + +<p class="continue">Under this, was a verse, in imitation no doubt, of a poem they had read +a few months before:</p> +<div class="poem2"> +<p class="t0" style="text-indent:-4px">"Oh, a river nymph to be,</p> +<p class="t7">Nymph to be,</p> +<p class="t0">Moonbeams shining full and free,</p> +<p class="t7">Full and free,</p> +<p class="t0">Glide along, and turn in glee,</p> +<p class="t7">Turn in glee,</p> +<p class="t0">Death to him who in will see,</p> +<p class="t7">In will see,</p> +<p class="t0">--No, that would be sin, lirum, larum, ba!--"</p> +</div> + +<p class="continue">And after repeated corrections, marks and notes:</p> +<div class="poem2"> +<p class="t0" style="text-indent:-4px">"Hop, sa, sa,--hop, sa, sa,<br> +I'll dance with every one, but they'll never catch me, ha!<br> +Tra, la, la,--tra, la, la,<br> +Be always number one, but keep them all afar!"</p> +</div> + +<p class="continue">Then distinctly and clearly, the following letter:</p> +<br> +<div style="font-size:90%"> +<p class="normal">"<span class="sc">Dearest Henrich</span>,</p> + +<p style="text-indent:10%">Don't you think you and I are the best in the whole comedy? It gives us +a great deal of annoyance, but that is nothing; I engrasserer thee to +go to the masquerade with me to-morrow night; for I have never been, +and I long for some real fun; here at home, it is so quiet and lonely. +Du est a great rascal, Henrich,--wherever are you keeping yourself? for +here sits</p> + +<p class="right"><span class="sc">Your Pernille</span>."</p> +</div> +<br> +<p class="normal">Finally in large letters, written distinctly and several times over, +the following verse; she might have found it somewhere, and wanted to +learn it by heart:</p> +<div class="poem2"> +<p class="t0" style="text-indent:-4px"> +"In my heart, an inward burning,<br> +'Tis <span class="sc">the Great</span> within me yearning,--<br> +From the hidden springs to draw,--<br> +Loki bind in Baldur's law,<br> +Power to speak with power imbibe,<br> +High and noble thoughts describe,--<br> +Thereto help in mercy, Thou<br> +Who the need awakens now!"</p> +</div> +<p class="continue">There was a great deal more, but the dean did not read it.</p> + +<p class="normal">Then it was to be an actress that she had entered his house, and taken +instruction from his daughter. It was with this secret aim, she was so +eager to hear them read aloud, and then afterwards learn by heart. She +had been deceiving them the whole time; even yesterday, when she seemed +to be telling them everything, she was hiding something: when she +seemed to laugh so innocently, she was lying.</p> + +<p class="normal">O this secret purpose! That which the dean had so often condemned in +her presence, SHE embellished with the calling of God, and dared to ask +His blessing upon it! A life of appulance and frivolity, of jealousy +and passion, of idleness and sensuality, of lies and growing +unprincipledness, a life over which the vultures gather, as over a +carcase, was that to which she longed to attach herself, and prayed God +to consecrate! And it was to this life, that the dean and his daughter +had helped her forward in the quiet parsonage, under the watchful eyes +of the awakened church.</p> + +<p class="normal">When Signe, bright and cheerful as the winter morning, came in to greet +her father, she found the study entirely filled with tobacco smoke. +This was always a sign of trouble, but especially so early in the +morning. He did not speak a word to her, but gave her the book,--she +saw directly it was Petra's; a shadow of the mistrust and pain of +yesterday, came over her, she dared not look at it; her heart beat so +violently that she was obliged to sit down. But the same word that had +attracted the dean's attention, caught hers too; she must see more, so +she read on. Her first feeling was one of shame--not for Petra,--but +because her father had seen it too.</p> + +<p class="normal">But she soon experienced the deep mortification, that comes when we +find ourselves deceived by one we love. For a moment, the one who has +been able to do it, seems greater, more ingenious, wiser than we, yea, +he may even glide into the mysterious. But soon the mind is aroused in +indignation; integrity is strengthened by the powers which are not +secret, though they are unseen: we feel able to defy a hundred cunning +devices; we DESPISE, what at first caused us mortification.</p> + +<p class="normal">Petra had seated herself at the piano in the dining room, and now they +heard her singing:</p> +<div class="poem2"> +<p class="t0" style="text-indent:-4px">"The morning has dawned, and joy to awaken,<br> +--The forts of despondency stormed and taken,--<br> +Over the glowing mountain tops,<br> +The host of the king of daylight drops.</p> +<p class="t2">'Up, up, up,' little birds of the wood,<br> +'Up, up, up,' little children good,<br> +And up, my hope with the sun!"</p> +</div> + +<p class="normal">And then a storm swept over the instrument, and out of it burst the +following song:</p> +<div class="poem2"> +<p class="t6" style="text-indent:-4px">"In vain you may plead,<br> +For my boat I must lead,<br> +Through the breakers rough,<br> +To the tempest tough.</p> +<p class="t0">And should it be proved the last push from the shore,<br> +I must venture what never I ventured before.</p> +<p class="t0"> </p> +<p class="t6">Not for fancy or boast<br> +Do I leave your coast;--<br> +I must reach the deep sea,<br> +And the waves ride free.</p> +<p class="t0">I must e'en see the keel, as she cuts through the wave,<br> +And thus prove if my vessel knows how to behave!"</p> +</div> + +<p class="normal">No, this was too much for the dean, he snatched the book from Signe's +hand, and rushed to the door; this time she did not hold him back. He +went straight to Petra, threw the book on the piano before her, turned, +and strode across the room; when he came back, she had risen, and +pressing the book to her heart, she looked all round with a confused +expression. He stopped to give her his full mind, but his anger at the +thought that for more than two years he had been made use of by this +wily girl, and especially that his warm-hearted, affectionate daughter +had been duped by her, came so forcibly before him, that he did not at +once find words,--and when he did find them, he felt they were too +hard. After striding once more across the floor, and once more coming +opposite to her, his face scarlet, he turned his back, and without a +word walked into his study. When he came there, Signe was gone.</p> + +<p class="normal">All that day they kept to their own rooms. The dean dined alone, +neither of the girls appeared. Petra was in the housekeeper's room, +which had been alloted to her since the fire; she sought all over for +Signe to explain to her, but in vain: she could not be at home.</p> + +<p class="normal">Petra felt this to be a decisive moment in her life. Her most secret +thoughts had slipped from her, and they would try to exert an influence +over them, which she could not bear. She knew best herself, that if she +relinquished this object, she would be driven at the mercy of the +winds. She could be light-hearted with the light-hearted, and +confidential with the confidential, hopeful in everything, but it was +in the strength of that secret purpose,--that some time she would be +able to secure that after which her powers were yearning. To confide in +any one, after that first baulking attempt at Bergen,--no, she could +not do it, not even in Odegaard himself! She must be alone in it, until +her aim had grown so strong, that it could bear to hear the doubts that +would be breathed upon it.</p> + +<p class="normal">But now it had happened otherwise: the dean's fiery red face +looked continually down upon her scared conscience.--She must save +herself!--She sought for Signe more earnestly and hurriedly in the +afternoon, but still she was not to be found. The longer one whom we +seek hides from us, the greater we depict the cause of separation, and +thus it was, that at last she made herself believe it had been +treachery against Signe, secretly to use her friendship for that which +Signe thought to be a sin. The omniscient God must be her witness, that +this view of her conduct had never struck her before; she felt herself +a great sinner.</p> + +<p class="normal">Just as before at home, she now stood with the feeling of a great sin +upon her conscience, of which a moment before, she had no suspicion. +That that terrible experience might be repeated, augmented her vague +fear to terror; she saw before her a future of unhappiness. But in +proportion as her own guilt increased, Signe's image stood forth in +purity and disinterested attachment.</p> + +<p class="normal">It had grown dark, wherever Signe had been she must have got home. She +ran down the passage leading to the wing where Signe's room was; the +door was locked,--a sign that she was there. Her heart beat as she +took hold of the handle, and begged again: "Signe, let me speak to +you!--Signe, I cannot bear it!"--Not a sound; Petra bent down to +listen, and knocked again: "Signe, oh Signe, you don't know how unhappy +I am." No reply; long listening, still none. If one gets no answer, one +doubts at last if anyone is there, even if one knows there is someone, +and if it is dark, one gets afraid. "Signe,--Signe! if you are there, +be merciful,--answer me,--Signe!" All was silence; a cold shiver came +over her. The kitchen door opened, and quick steps were heard in the +court yard below. This gave her a thought, she would go out herself, +get up on the ledge on the wall of the wing, and go round the whole +building to get to the other side where it was very high. She would see +Signe.</p> + +<p class="normal">It was a bright starlight night, the mountains stood in sharp outline, +the snow sparkled, the dark footpaths only increased the sharpness of +the light; from the road the sledge bells were sounding, she felt +inspirited, and sprang up on the ledge. She tried to hold fast by the +outside boarding of the house, but she lost her balance and fell. Then +she rolled an empty cask against the wall and got up from it on to the +ledge. By moving hands and feet together, she could get about half a +foot at a time; it required a strong hand to keep fast; she could not +get well hold for the boards were scarcely an inch thick. She was +afraid lest any one should see her, for they would naturally connect it +with the rope ladder. If she could but get away from this side that +faced the farm, and out on to the cross wall; but when at last she did +get there, a new danger awaited her; there was nothing before the +windows, and she had to stoop down, in great fear of falling, every +time she passed them. The long wall was very high, but there was a +gooseberry hedge to receive her if she fell; she was not afraid. Her +fingers tingled, her muscles quivered, but on she went. A few steps +more and she would reach the window. There was no light in Signe's +room, and the blind was not drawn down; the moon was shining full in, +so she would be able to see into the farthest corners. This gave her +fresh courage, she reached the window ledge, and at last could get a +full hold and rest; as she got near, her heart began to beat so that it +almost took her breath, but as it only grew worse by waiting, she must +make haste--so she suddenly leaned right against the window. A sharp +cry answered from the room. Signe had been sitting in the sofa corner, +she sprang on to the floor, and with both arms warding off the fearful +apparition, she rushed out of the room.</p> + +<p class="normal">In a moment Petra realised what her unfortunate freak had done;--this +figure against the window, this thoughtless repulsive boldness--; her +image henceforth would be a constant terror to Signe; she lost +consciousness, and fell with a piercing shriek.</p> + +<p class="normal">The people in the house had run out on hearing Signe's scream, but +found nothing,--another scream,--the whole farm was astir; they sought, +they called, but in vain; it was purely accidental that the dean came +to look out of the window in Signe's room, and in the moonlight saw +Petra buried in the bushes. It was with great difficulty they could get +her extricated and carried up; she was taken into Signe's room, as the +housekeeper's was cold, she was undressed and put to bed. Some of them +bathed her hands and neck, while others made the room warm, light and +comfortable. When she came to herself, and looked about, she begged to +be left alone.</p> + +<p class="normal">The quiet comfort of the room, the fine white dimity that draped the +window, dressing table, chairs and bed, reminded her at once of Signe. +She thought of her pure loveliness, her mild voice that flowed milk +white, her delicate feeling for the thoughts of others, her gentle +benevolence. She had shut herself out from all this; she must soon +leave the room, and probably the house. And where to then? She could +not expect a third time to be taken up from the highway, and if she +could, she would not; for it would end only in the same way. No human +being could have confidence in her; whatever the cause, she felt that +it was so. She had not got a step further, she never could get further; +for without the confidence of her fellow creatures, she could not +succeed. How she prayed, how she wept! She fell back and wrung her +hands in an agony of mind, till she was fairly exhausted and slept.</p> + +<p class="normal">In her sleep, everything became snow white, and by-and-by lofty; she +had never before seen so high and so brilliant a glitter of millions of +stars.</p> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<h2> X.</h2> + +<h3><a name="div1_10" href="#div1Ref_10">IS MUSIC LAWFUL?</a></h3> + + +<p class="normal">On awaking she was still in the skies. The thoughts that day poured in +upon her would follow, but were caught and carried away by something +which filled the whole air,--it was the Sabbath bells. She sprang up +and dressed herself, got something to eat in the breakfast room, +wrapped herself warmly up, and hastened away;--never before had she +been so thirsty for the Word of God!</p> + +<p class="normal">When she arrived, they had just begun, and the door was shut. The dean +was standing in front of the altar, she waited by the door till he had +concluded, and the assistant had removed his gown; she then went up to +the so-called bishop's pew, that stood in the choir, hung with +curtains. The special pew for the minister's family was higher up; but +if there was any one who felt a desire for seclusion, they retired to +the bishop's pew. As Petra reached it, and glided in, she saw Signe +seated at the farthest corner. She retreated a step out, but just then +the dean turned to go from the altar to the vestry; she hastened back +into the pew, and sat as near the door as possible; Signe had put down +her veil. This grieved Petra. She looked over the congregation, crowded +together in the high wooden pews, the men on the right hand, the women +on the left; their breath lay above them like mist in the air; the ice +was inches thick upon the windows, the rudely carved wooden images, the +heavy drawling singing, the people muffled up,--it was all in unison, +harsh and distant,--she thought of the impression nature made upon her +that afternoon she left Bergen; here she was also only a timid +wayfarer.</p> + +<p class="normal">The dean ascended the pulpit, he too looked severe. His prayer was: +"Lead us not into temptation." We knew that the talents God had given +us, contained in themselves the elements of temptation; but He would be +merciful and not suffer us to be tempted above that we were able to +bear, for this we should always remember to pray;--for only by laying +our talents at His feet, could they be of any real service to us. The +minister enlarged upon the theme, setting forth our double duty--on the +one hand to work out our life's calling according to our talents and +position, and on the other to develope the spiritual life in ourselves, +and in those committed to our care. One must be careful in the choice +of a vocation, for there may be a vocation sinful in itself, and there +may be one that would become so for us,--either because it did not suit +us, or because it suited our lusts and passions. Again: as surely as +everyone should choose a vocation according to his talents, so truly +may a choice both right and good in itself, become a snare to us, if we +allow it to take up all our time and thoughts. Our spiritual life must +not be neglected any more than our duty as parents to our children. We +must be collected in ourselves, that the Holy Spirit may have its +constant work in us; we must plant and guard the good seeds of +Christian life in our children. There is no duty, no pretext, that can +liberate us from this, though the opportunities may vary. And now he +went further--into THEIR calling that sat there, their houses, their +conduct, their opinions. Then he drew examples from other conditions +and nobler occupations, that cast their side rays down upon us.</p> + +<p class="normal">From the moment the dean waxed warm in the pulpit, he was an entirely +new man to those who knew him only in daily life. Even in appearance, +he was changed; his reserved and powerful face had opened, revealing +the play of thought within; his glance was full, and he looked +earnestly as he set forth the glad tidings of salvation. The shaggy +head stretched itself up like a lion. His voice rolled in thunder, or +struck in short earnest variations, sometimes falling to a gentle tone, +but only again to take new heights. Indeed he could never speak except +in a great room, and with eternity over his thoughts; for his voice had +no harmony till it rose, his countenance no clearness, his thoughts no +striking perspicuity, till they burned with enthusiasm. Not that the +material was first found then, no, if affliction had enriched his soul, +reflection had done so too; he was a diligent worker. But he was not +adapted to general conversation, he must have it to himself, at all +events he must be able to inflect his voice. To open a discussion with +him, was almost like attacking a defenceless man, but dangerous +nevertheless; for his convictions were quickly expressed and with such +force that reasons were left in the back ground; if at last he was +pressed to give them, one of two things happened, either he completely +overset the opposing party, or he became suddenly silent, because he +was afraid of himself. No one could more easily be brought to silence +than this powerful, eloquent man.</p> + +<p class="normal">Petra had trembled as soon as the dean began his prayer; she felt +whereto it tended. The further he got in his sermon, the more she felt +he was true to himself; she crept together, and she saw Signe do the +same. But he proceeded unrelentingly; the lion was out after his prey, +she felt herself pursued from all quarters, shut in, and captured;--but +that which was seized so vigourously was gently held in the hand of +mercy. It was as if without a word of condemnation, she was simply +folded in the embrace of Divine love. And there she prayed and wept; +Signe did the same,--and she loved her for it!</p> + +<p class="normal">As the dean descended from the pulpit, to go past into the vestry, the +reflection of his communion with the Most High still overspread his +countenance. His gaze fell directly and inquiringly upon Petra; and as +she looked right up to meet it, a ray of mildness shone forth: he +glanced quickly into the corner at his daughter as he passed on.</p> + +<p class="normal">Signe rose soon after; her veil was down, so Petra did not venture to +go with her; she therefore waited longer. But at dinner they all three +met together; the dean spoke a little, but Signe was reserved. If the +dean--who was evidently about to bring the recent events into +conversation,--gave the slightest allusion to it, Signe turned his +remarks in a shy delicate way, reminding him at once of her mother;--he +became silent, and by degrees sorrowful.</p> + +<p class="normal">There is nothing more painful than an unsuccessful attempt at +reconciliation. They rose without being able to look at each other, to +return thanks for the meal. In the dining room it became at last so +oppressive, that all three would willingly have left the room, but no +one wished to go first. Petra for her part, felt that if she went, it +would be for ever. She could not see Signe again, if she might not love +her, she could not bear to see the dean sorrowful for her sake. But if +she was to go away, she must go without taking leave; for how could she +take leave of these people? The mere thought of it agitated her so, +that she could with the greatest difficulty suppress it.</p> + +<p class="normal">An oppressive silence like this, when each is waiting for the other, +becomes more insupportable every moment. We cannot move, because we +feel it will be noticed, every sigh is heard, and if we are quite still +it is heard too, for it is heard as harshness. We are kept in suspense +because no one says anything, and we tremble lest any one should +begin.--They all felt this to be a moment that would never return.--The +walls that we build up between each other rise higher, our own guilt +and that of the others increases with every breath; now we are in +desperation, now in wroth; for the one that behaves so to us is +unmerciful, wicked, we don't tolerate THAT, we don't forgive THAT! +Petra could not bear it longer, she must either escape or scream.</p> + +<p class="normal">But just then sledge bells were heard on the road, a man with a wolf +skin coat dashed by, and turned in at the farm.--All breathed easier, +and listened for the liberation. They heard the stranger in the hall, +he put off his travelling coat and boots, and talked with the servant +who assisted him; the dean rose to meet him, but turned so as not to +leave the two girls alone,--they heard the stranger talking again, and +this time nearer, so that his voice made all three look up, and Petra +rose, fixing her eyes on the door,--there was a knock,--"Come in!" said +the dean in an agitated tone; a tall gentleman with a light complexion +and spectacles appeared in the doorway, Petra gave a scream, and +fainted--it was Odegaard. He was expected at the deanery at Christmas, +although no one had told Petra, but that he should come just at this +juncture, must have been in the ordering of Providence; this was felt +at once, and by them all.</p> + +<p class="normal">When Petra recovered consciousness, he was standing beside her, and +held her hand. He continued to hold it, but said nothing, nor did she; +she was powerless even to rise. But while she continued looking at him, +two tears rolled down her cheeks. He was very pale, but quite calm and +kind; he withdrew his hand, and walked across the floor; then he went +to Signe, who had crouched down among her mother's flowers in the +furthest window.</p> + +<p class="normal">Petra longed to be alone, and so withdrew. Domestic matters required +Signe's attention, so the dean and Odegaard repaired to the study, to +take a glass of wine, of which the traveller stood in need. Here he was +briefly told the events of the last few days, it made him very +thoughtful but he said nothing. They were interrupted in a singular +way.</p> + +<p class="normal">Two women and three men came past the windows, following one after the +other; as soon as the dean caught sight of them, he sprang up: "There +they are again!--now for a trial of patience."--In they came, first the +women, then the men, slowly, silently. They placed themselves along the +wall under the book shelves, opposite the sofa where Odegaard was +seated. The dean set chairs, and brought others from the next room; +they all took seats with the exception of a young man in a modern suit +who declined, and leaned against the door post, not without a defiant +expression and with both hands in his pockets.</p> + +<p class="normal">After a long silence, during which the dean filled his pipe, and +Odegaard who did not smoke surveyed the visitors, the conversation was +at length opened by a pale light-haired woman of about forty. Her +forehead was rather narrow, her eyes large, but shy; they did not +know exactly which way to turn. "The father gave an excellent sermon +to-day," she said, "it touched upon what we were just thinking +about;--for up at Oygarene we have been talking much about temptation +lately."--She sighed; a man with a small face and large forehead sighed +also: "'Take away mine eyes from beholding vanity, O Lord, and quicken +thou me in thy way.'" Then Else, she who had first spoken, sighed again +and said: "Lord, wherewithal shall a young man cleanse his way? by +taking heed thereto according to Thy word."--It seemed rather strange, +for she was no longer young. But a middle aged man who sat with his +head to one side, rocking backwards and forwards, his eyelids never +really lifted, said as if half asleep:</p> +<div class="poem2"> +<p class="t1" style="text-indent:-4px"> +"Temptation, Satan's fiery dart,<br> +None is exempt from sharing--</p> +<p class="t0">Who taketh part in Jesu's death,</p> +<p class="t1">The name of Christ thus bearing."</p> +</div> + +<p class="normal">The dean knew them too well not to be aware that this was only the +introduction, so he waited as if nothing had been said, although there +was again a long silence with repeated sighs.</p> + +<p class="normal">A little woman, who became still less by stooping, and was enveloped in +such a manifold number of shawls that she looked like a parcel,--her +face almost lost,--now began to move uneasily in her chair, and at last +a "hm, hm!" was heard. The light-haired woman was at once frightened +up, and said: "There is an end to all music and dancing in Oygarene +now;----but----" She stopped again, whereupon Lars, he with the great +forehead and the short face, continued:--"But there is one man, Hans +the musician, who WILL NOT give it up."--While Lars was thinking of the +rest, the young man came out with it: "Because he knows that the dean +has an instrument to which they both dance and sing at the deanery +here."--"It certainly cannot be greater sin for him than it is for the +dean," said Lars.--"And the music must be a temptation at the deanery +too," said Else cautiously, as if to help the matter forward. But the +young man added more strongly: "It is a stumbling block to the young, +as it is written: 'And whosoever shall offend one of these little ones, +it were better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck, and +he were cast into the sea.'" And Lars continued: "We request therefore +that you will send away the instrument, or burn it up, that it may +cease to be a stumbling block--" "To your parishioners," added the +young man. The dean smoked vigorously, and at last with an evident +struggle for self command, he said: "To me music is not a temptation, +it is refreshing and elevating. Now you know that that which can make +our spirits free, makes us better able to receive and understand high +things; therefore I believe most assuredly that music is of service to +me."--"And I know there are pastors," said the young man, "who +following the words of Paul, will nevertheless give it up for the sake +of their parishioners."--"It may be that I understood his words so +once," replied the dean, "but I do not now. One may well give up a +custom or a pleasure; but one must with reluctance make oneself +narrow-minded or foolish with those that are such. I should not be +acting wrongly towards myself only, but also towards those to whom I +should be a guide; for I should be giving an example against my +convictions." It was seldom that the dean gave so long an explanation +out of the pulpit. He added: "I will neither send away my piano, nor +burn it; I will hear it often for I often feel the need of it,--and I +wish that in all innocence you also could now and then refresh your +spirits by song, and music and dancing; for I believe these things to +be right and proper."</p> + +<p class="normal">The young man bent his head to one side: "Twi!" spat he.</p> + +<p class="normal">The dean's face grew scarlet, and deep silence ensued. Then the man +rocking, with a loud voice struck in:</p> +<div class="poem2"> +<p class="t0" style="text-indent:-4px">"O Lord, my God, I can testify,</p> +<p class="t1">His cross in patience bearing,</p> +<p class="t0">With poor and rich, with women and men,</p> +<p class="t1">'Tis a cause of anxious wearing;</p> +<p class="t0">For flesh and blood as frail and weak,</p> +<p class="t1">We all alike are sharing.----"</p> +</div> + +<p class="normal">Then Lars said in a mild tone: "So you say that music and singing and +dancing are right, do you? then it is right to rouse Satan through the +senses; hm!--so that is what our pastor says; very well then, we know +it now!--that all these things connected with idleness and sensuality +are elevating and helpful, ... that that which is a temptation is +right!" But now Odegaard,--who saw by the dean's face that things were +going wrong,--hastened to interpose: "Tell me, my good man, what there +is, that is NOT a temptation?"</p> + +<p class="normal">All looked at him from whom these pointed and terse words came. The +question was in itself so unexpected, that Lars could not at once tell +what to reply; nor could the others. Then it sounded up as from a well, +or out of a cellar: "Labour is not."--The voice came from the bundle of +shawls, it was Randi, who spoke for the first time. An exulting smile +came over Lars' face, the light-haired woman looked at her with a +satisfied air, even the young man leaning against the door post for a +moment lost the sneering curl of his lip. Odegaard understood that this +was the head, although it was not to be seen. He therefore turned +himself to her: "What can that labour be, that is without temptation?" +She would not answer this, but the young man replied: "The curse says: +'In the sweat of thy brow, shalt thou eat thy bread;' labour then that +brings us toil and trouble." "And nothing but toil and trouble? No +profit for example?"--To this neither would he reply; but the short +face felt a calling: "Yes, as much profit as one can get!"--"Then there +must be temptation in work also, temptation to too much gain." In this +strait, succour came again from the depths: "Then the gain is the +temptation and not the work."--"Well, but how is it when the work is +carried to excess for the sake of the gain?" She crept in again; +but Lars went on: "What do you mean by the work being carried to +excess?"--"Why, when it makes you like animals and binds you in +thraldom."--"Thraldom it has to be!" said the advocate of the +toil.--"But can it as thraldom lead to God?"--"Labour IS the worship +of God!" shouted Lars.--"Dare you say that of ALL your labour?" Lars +was silent. "No, be reasonable and admit that for the sake of gain, +labour may be carried to excess, as if we lived only for it. Therefore +labour also has its temptation."--"Yes, there is temptation in +everything, children,--there is temptation in everything!" said the +dean as he rose, and put out his pipe as if in conclusion! Sighs issued +from the bundle of shawls, but no reply.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Listen," began Odegaard again,--and the dean filled himself a new +pipe--"now if labour yields fruit, i.e. profit, then we have certainly +liberty to enjoy that fruit? If it should become riches, have we then +liberty to enjoy these riches?"--This set them thinking, they looked +from one to the other. "I shall answer, while you are thinking," said +he; "God must have permitted us to try to make a blessing of his curse, +for HE HIMSELF led the patriarchs, led His people to the enjoyment of +riches."--"The apostles were to possess nothing," exclaimed the young +man triumphantly.--"Yes, that is true; for God would place them +beyond and above all human conditions, that they should look only to +Him;--they were called!"--"We are all called!"--"But not in the same +way;--are YOU called to be an apostle?"--The young man turned deadly +pale, his eyes retreated under the wall of forehead above them: he must +have his reasons for taking it so to heart.</p> + +<p class="normal">"But the rich must also work," observed Lars; for work is God's +command.--"Certainly he must, although his aim and method may be +different, each one has his own task. But tell me: shall a man be +ALWAYS at work?"--"He must also pray!" chimed in Else, and folded her +hands, as if she remembered that she had too long neglected it.--"Then +whenever a man is not working; he must pray? Is any man able to do +this? What kind of prayer would it be, and what kind of work? Shall he +not also rest?"--"We must rest only when we can do no more; for then we +shall not be tempted by evil thoughts,--ah! then we shall not be +tempted!" said Else again,--and Erik joined in:</p> +<div class="poem2"> +<p class="t0" style="text-indent:-4px">"If ye are weary seek and find</p> +<p class="t0">In Jesu's name a peaceful mind,</p> +<p class="t2">How sweet is rest!</p> +<p class="t0">There comes a time when also ye</p> +<p class="t0">To the last resting place will flee,</p> +<p class="t2">An earthy nest!----"</p> +</div> + +<p class="normal">"Be quiet, Erik, and listen to this," said the dean. And Odegaard +knitted his eyebrows: "See here: labour has its fruit, and requires its +rest: and it is my opinion respecting society, music, singing, and the +rest, that they are not only the sweet fruit of our labours, but they +also give rest and strength to the soul."</p> + +<p class="normal">Here there was restlessness in the camp; all looked at Randi; she +rocked and rocked, and at last it sounded slowly and quietly: "Worldly +song, and music and dancing, afford no rest, for such excite the lust +and desires of the flesh. THAT certainly cannot be the fruit of labour, +which wastes and enervates."--"Ah! such things are full of temptation!" +said Else with a sigh. This put Erik in mind of the verse of a hymn:--</p> +<div class="poem2"> +<p class="t0" style="text-indent:-4px">"We see with shame and sorrow,<br> +From virtue fain to borrow<br> +The vices that abound<br> +Increasingly are found;<br> +They craftily ensnare<br> +And with a pompous air----"</p> +</div> + +<p class="normal">"Be quiet Erik!" said the dean; "you are only rambling."--"Oh well, +that may be," said Erik--and began again:--</p> +<div class="poem2"> +<p class="t0" style="text-indent:-4px">"If one will work upon you so<br> +With ticing words that you shall go<br> +In the broad, cursed way of sin,<br> +Be strong, permit him not to win--"</p> +</div> + +<p class="normal">"No, do give over Erik! The hymn is nice enough, but everything in its +own time."--"Yes, yes, father, that is true,--everything in its own +time:--</p> +<div class="poem2"> +<p class="t0" style="text-indent:-4px">"Oh I every minute, every hour</p> +<p class="t1">Is Thine, it is Thy due,</p> +<p class="t0">Our hearts must beat to own Thy power,</p> +<p class="t1">And call to prayer anew--"</p> +</div> + +<p class="normal">"No, no, Erik, or prayer itself would lead into temptation; you might +become a Catholic, and go into the monastery--"--"God forbid!" said +Erik, and opened his eyes wide, then shutting them, he began:</p> +<div class="poem2"> +<p class="t1" style="text-indent:-4px"> +"As earth and dust to pure gold,</p> +<p class="t2">Are Catholics--"</p> +</div> + +<p class="normal">"Now Erik if you can't be quiet, you must go out with the rest of it. +Where was it we left off?" But Odegaard, much to his amusement had been +following Erik, and could not remember. Then it came peacefully from +the shawls: "I was saying that THAT cannot give rest or be the fruit +of our labours, that--"--"Now I remember: that there was temptation +in,--and then Erik came and proved that there may also be temptation in +prayer. Let us therefore see, what these things may lead to. Have you +ever observed that cheerful men work better than the dejected? Why?"</p> + +<p class="normal">Lars caught the drift of this: "It is religion that makes us cheerful," +he said.--"Yes, when it is not desponding; but have you never seen that +there is a religion that makes everything so gloomy, that the world +itself is like a prison?"</p> + +<p class="normal">Else was sighing so, that the shawls began to move, Lars also looked +sharply at her, and she gave over.--Odegaard continued: "Always the +same, whether it is work, prayer, or play, makes you stupid and gloomy. +You may grovel in the earth till you become an animal, pray till habit +makes you a monk, and play till you are nothing better than a doll. But +combine them and the mind is strengthened; work prospers, and religion +becomes more cheerful."--"Then we have to be cheerful now!" said the +young man, and smiled.--"Yes, and then you too would win sympathy: for +it is only when we are cheerful, that we can see and admire the good in +others, and only by loving others that we can love God."</p> + +<p class="normal">As no one at once contradicted this, Odegaard made a second attempt to +bring the bundle to the point; "Those things that disenthral, so that +the Holy Spirit can work in us, (for in bondage He cannot work) those +things that assist us, must have a blessing in them,--and that this +does." The dean rose, he had again a pipe to put out.</p> + +<p class="normal">In the silence which followed, unbroken by sighs, one could see the +shawls working, and at last there issued softly: "It is written: +'Whatsoever thou doest, do all to the glory of God,'---but is worldly +song, and music and dancing to the glory of God?" "Directly, no;--but +may we not ask the same when we eat and sleep and dress? And yet these +MUST be done. The meaning therefore can only be, that we shall do +nothing that is sinful."--"Yes, but is not this sinful?"</p> + +<p class="normal">For the first time Odegaard grew a little impatient, and he merely +replied: "We see in the bible, that both singing and music and dancing +were used."--"Yes, to the glory of God."--"Very well,--to the glory of +God. But the reason why the Jews named GOD in everything, was because, +like children, they had not learnt to make distinctions. To children, +every man they do not know is 'the man,'--to the child's question, +'Where does, this come from, where that?' we answer always: 'from God'; +but as men to men we name the intermediate as well, and not God the +giver alone. So, for example, a beautiful song may relate to God, or +lead to Him, even if His name never occurs in it; for there is much +that points thither, although not directly. Our dancing, when it is the +pure healthful enjoyment of the innocent, is, even if not directly, to +the praise of Him who has given us health, and loveth the child in our +hearts."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Hear that, hear that!" said the dean; he knew that he himself had long +misunderstood these things, and misrepresented them to others.</p> + +<p class="normal">All this time, Lars had been sitting and thinking, now he was ready; +the corn had fallen from the high forehead, to the short peevish face; +there it had been crushed and ground, and now fell out: "Then all sorts +of stories, tales, and nonsense,--all the fiction and invention that +they fill the books with now-a-days, are they also allowable? Is it not +written: 'Every word that proceedeth out of thy mouth shall be truth?'"</p> + +<p class="normal">"I really thank you for this. You see it is with the mind as with the +house you dwell in. If it was so narrow that you could scarcely get +your head in and your legs stretched out, you would be obliged to widen +it. And fiction elevates the mind and enlarges it. If those ideas were +falsehood that are above absolute necessity, then those which ARE +absolute necessity would surely become falsehood too. They would thus +press you down in your house of clay that you would never reach +eternity, and yet it was just there you wished to be, and it was these +very same thoughts, that in faith should bear you thitherward."--"But +fiction is something that has verily never been, and so it must surely +be falsehood?" said Randi thoughtfully.--"No, it has often greater +truths for us than that which we see," answered Odegaard. Here they all +looked at him doubtfully, and the young man threw out: "I never knew +before that the story of Askeladden was truer than that which I see +before my eyes."--They all tittered.--"Then tell me if you always +understand that which you see before your eyes?"--"I am not learned +enough for that!"--"Oh, the learned certainly understand it still less! +I mean those things in daily life that give us sorrow and trouble, and +that 'worry us sore,' as the saying is. Are there not such things?" +He did not reply, but from the bundle it sounded earnestly: "Yes, +often."--"But if you heard a fictitious history, that resembled +your own in such a way, that as you heard it, you understood your +own,--would you not say of this story,--which gave you the comfort and +encouragement that understanding gives--would you not say that it had +greater truth for you than your own?"--"I once read a story," said +Else, "that helped me so in a great sorrow, that that which had long +been a trouble seemed almost a joy." It coughed from the bundle;--"Yes, +that is true," she added timidly.</p> + +<p class="normal">But the young man would not agree to this; "Can the story of Askeladden +be a comfort to any one?"--"Everything has its own use. The amusing has +great power, and this story proves in an amusing way, that that which +the world thinks the least of may often be the best,--that everything +assists him who is of good cheer, and that that man gets on, who +makes up his mind to do so. Do you not think that it does many children +good to remember it;--and many grown people with them?"--"But to +believe in hobgoblins and trolls is surely superstitious?"--"Who said +you must believe in them? They are figures of speech."--"But we are +forbidden to use figures and images; for they are the wiles of the +devil"--"Indeed;--where do you find that?"--"In the Bible."--Here the +dean interposed: "No, that is a mistake, for the Bible itself uses +imagery."--All looked at him, "It employs imagery on all sides, as the +Eastern people abound in such. We ourselves use it in our churches, in +wood, on canvas, in stone, and we cannot conceive of the Godhead except +through imagery. And not this alone: Jesus uses figures, and did not +the Lord Himself appear in varied forms, when He made Himself known +unto the prophets; was it not in the form of a traveller that he came +to Abraham in Mamre, and ate at his table? Now if GOD HIMSELF appears +in varied forms, and uses imagery, surely man may do the same," They +were about to assent, but Odegaard rose and gently tapping the dean on +the shoulder: "Thank you! you have shewn most conclusively from the +Bible, that the drama is allowable!"--The dean started in surprise; the +smoke which he had in his mouth coursed slowly out of itself.</p> + +<p class="normal">Odegaard went across to the bundle of shawls, and bent over to try to +catch a glimpse of her face, but in vain, "Is there anything more you +would like to ask," said he, "for you seem to have thought over several +things?"--"Oh, the Lord help me, I do not think always right."--"Well; +at first after the grace of conversion, one is so absorbed by its +wonders, that other things appear useless and wrong; one is like a +lover, desiring only the beloved."--"Yes, but look at the early +Christians, we must still follow their example."--"No, their difficult +position among the heathen is no longer ours; we have other duties; we +must bring Christianity into the life that now is."--"But there is so +much in the Old Testament against the whole spirit of what you say," +said the young man, for the first time without bitterness.--"Yes, but +those commands are now dead, they are 'done away,' as Paul says: 'We +are the ministers of the New Testament; not of the letter, but of the +spirit':--again: 'Where the spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty.' +And:----'All things are needful unto me,' says Paul further, 'but,' he +adds, 'all things are not expedient.'--Now we are fortunate in having a +man's life before us, that shows us what Paul meant. That is Luther's. +Of course you believe that Luther was a good enlightened Christian?" +Yes, they believed that.--"Luther's religion was cheerful, IT was the +religion of the new testament. His idea of a gloomy faith was, that the +devil was always on the watch behind it; and as for fear of temptation, +those that fear the least are the least tempted. He used all the powers +God had given, the powers of enjoyment too. Shall I give you a few +examples? The pious Melancthon once sat so closely at a defence of the +true doctrines, that he did not take time to eat; Luther snatched the +pen from his hand: 'One does not serve God by work alone,' said he, +'but also in rest and quietness; therefore God gave us the third +commandment and instituted the Sabbath.'--Again, Luther used figures of +speech, the facetious as well as the serious, and he was full of good, +often merry ideas. He also translated some excellent old popular tales +into his mother tongue, and said in the preface, that next to the +Bible, he scarcely knew any better admonitions than these. He played +the lute, as perhaps you may know, and sang with his children and +friends,--not psalms only, no, but lively old songs too; he was fond of +social games, played at chess, let the young people dance at his house; +he desired only that all should be modestly and well conducted.--A +simple old disciple of Luther's, pastor Johan Mathesius wrote this +down, and gave it to his parishioners from the pulpit. He prayed that +it might be a guide to them,--and let us pray for the same."</p> + +<p class="normal">The dean rose: "Dear friends, now we will conclude for to day." All +rose up. "Many words have been spoken for our edification; may God +grant His grace upon the seed sown! Dear friends, your homes are in +remote parts; you live high up, where the frost more often cuts down +the corn than the sickle. Such desolate mountain places ought not to be +cultivated, and ought now to be left to tradition, and the grazing +cattle. Spiritual life can scarcely flourish up there, it becomes +gloomy like the surrounding vegetation. Life is overshadowed by +prejudice,--as by the mountains under which they grow up. The Lord +gather, the Lord enlighten!--I thank you for this day my friends, it +has been a day of enlightenment for me also." He shook hands with each +of them, and even the young man gave his cordially, yet without raising +his eyes.</p> + +<p class="normal">"You go over the mountain,--when will you reach home?" asked the dean +when they were ready to go.--"Oh, to-night sometime," said Lars; "a +good deal of snow has fallen now, and where it has blown off, there are +ice-banks."--"Well, my friends, it is worthy of all honour to come to +church under such difficulties.--I trust you will get home safely now!" +Erik answered in a low tone:</p> +<div class="poem2"> +<p class="t0" style="text-indent:-4px">"Is God for me, whate'er there is</p> +<p class="t1">That will against me fall,</p> +<p class="t0">I can with prayer, and joyfully,</p> +<p class="t1">Tread under foot it all!"</p> +</div> + +<p class="continue">"That is true, Erik, this time you have hit the mark!"--"Yes, but wait +a moment," said Odegaard just as they were going; "it is not strange +that you do not know me;--but I should have relations up at +Odegardene." They all turned to him, even the dean, who had known, +it is true, but quite forgotten it. "My name is Hans Odegaard, +son of Pastor Knud Hansen Odegaard, who once left you, long ago, with +his knapsack on his back."--Then it sounded from the shawls: +"Goodness,--that is my brother, that."--</p> + +<p class="normal">They had all gathered round him, but no one was able to say anything. +At last Odegaard asked: "Then it was with you I was staying when I was +once up there with my father?"--"Yes, it was with me."--"And a little +while with me," said Lars; "your father is my cousin."--But Randi +said sorrowfully: "So this is little Hans;--yes, time goes."--"How is +Else?" asked Odegaard.--"This is Else," said Randi, pointing to the +fair-haired woman.--"Are YOU Else!" he exclaimed; "you were in trouble +about a love affair then; you wanted to have the musician; did you get +him?" No one replied. Although it was beginning to darken, he could see +that Else turned very red, and the men looked either away or down--with +the exception of the young man, who looked fixedly at Else. Odegaard +saw that he had put an unfortunate question, the dean came to his +assistance, "No, Hans the musician is unmarried; Else married Lars' +son, but now she is free again, she is a widow."--Again she blushed +scarlet, the young man saw it, and smiled haughtily.</p> + +<p class="normal">Then Randi said: "Well, I suppose you have travelled far? you have +learnt a good deal I can hear."--"Yes, hitherto I have been either +reading or travelling; but now I mean to settle down to work."--"Well, +well; that is the way:--some go out and get light and wisdom; others +remain at home." And Lars added: "It is often hard to make a living at +home; if we help one forward, whom we hope may be of service to us, he +goes and leaves us."--"There are different callings; each must follow +his own," said the dean.--"And the Lord sums up our work," said +Odegaard; "my father's labours will yet tend hither again, if God +will."--"Well, I suppose they will;" said Randi sadly; "but it is often +hard to wait."</p> + +<p class="normal">They departed; the dean placed himself in one window, and Odegaard in +the other to look after them, as they went over the mountain; the young +man went last. Odegaard learnt that he was from the town, where he had +begun with several things, but had always some misunderstanding with +the people. He thought himself called to be something great, an apostle +in sooth; but strangely enough he remained up at the hamlet of +Odegaard,--some thought from love to Else. He was a passionate soul, +who had passed through many disappointments, and had many more to come.</p> + +<p class="normal">They were now to be seen on the mountain; the roof of the barn hid them +no longer. They laboured on, the trees hid them, they came forth again, +ever higher and higher. There was no track in the deep snow, the trees +were the way-marks in the waste, and far away to the side the snow +mountains indicated the direction of their home.</p> + +<p class="normal">In from the dining room sounded a lively prelude, and then:</p> +<div class="poem2"> +<p class="t0" style="text-indent:-4px">"My song I give to the spring,<br> +Though she scarce is on the wing,<br> +My song I give to the spring,<br> +As longing on longing laid.<br> +So the two unite their aid<br> +To lure and tice the sun,<br> +That old winter overcome,<br> +May slip a choir of brooks;--<br> +Then with their merry looks<br> +They'll chase him out of the air<br> +With the perfume of flowers rare,--<br> +My song I give to the spring."</p> +</div> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<h2> XI.</h2> + +<h3><a name="div1_11" href="#div1Ref_11">RECONCILIATION.</a></h3> + + +<p class="normal">From that day the dean was very little with his family; for one thing, +he was occupied with Christmas, and for another, he had not arrived at +any conclusion, whether or not the drama was lawful for the Christian; +if Petra but showed herself, he fell into a revery.</p> + +<p class="normal">While the dean therefore was sitting in his study either with his +sermons or some work on Christian ethics before him, Odegaard was with +the ladies, whom he was constantly comparing. Petra was versatile, +never alike; he who would follow her, must study as in a book. Signe, +on the contrary, was so winning in her unvarying cordiality, her +movements were never unexpected; they were the reflection of her +being. Petra's voice had all colours, sharp and mild, and every +intermediate grade. Signe's possessed a peculiar harmony, but was not +changing--except to the father, who understood to distinguish its +tones. Petra was with one at a time; if she were with more, it was to +observe, certainly not to help. Signe had an eye to all and everybody, +and divided her attention without its being observed. If Odegaard spoke +about Signe with Petra, he heard a hopeless lover's complaint; but if +he talked about Petra with Signe, the words were very few. The girls +often talked together, and without constraint; but it was only upon +indifferent subjects.</p> + +<p class="normal">To Signe, Odegaard owed a debt of gratitude; for it was to her he owed, +what he called his "new self." The first letter he received from her in +his great distress, was like a gentle touch upon his forehead. So +carefully she told how Petra had come to them, misunderstood and +persecuted, so delicately she added, that the accident of her arrival +might be the guidance of God, "that nothing should be rent in pieces;" +it sounded like a distant horn in the forest, as one stands and wonders +which direction to take.</p> + +<p class="normal">Signe's letters followed him where he travelled, and were the thread he +held by. She thought in every line to lead Petra straight to his +embrace, but in reality she was doing just the opposite; for through +these letters, Petra's taste for art rose up before him; the key note +to her talents, which he had sought for himself in vain, Signe, without +knowing it, had constantly in view,--and as soon as he understood this, +he saw both his own and her mistake, and thereby became as a new man.</p> + +<p class="normal">He watched himself narrowly in writing to Signe about that which her +letters had taught him. The first word must not come from Petra's +friends, but from Petra herself, that nothing should be hastened before +its time. But now he also saw Petra in a new light. These moments +constantly chasing one another, each one individually felt in full +power, but regarded ad infinitum, opposed to each other, what could +they be but the foreshadowing of an artist life? And the work must be +to unite them into a complete whole; otherwise it would be only +patchwork, and life itself unreal. Therefore: not too early to enter +upon her career! Reticence as long as possible, yes even opposition.</p> + +<p class="normal">Thus occupied, before he was aware of it, Petra had once more become +the constant occupation of his mind, but with a DIFFERENT object. He +studied art from every point of view, and especially artists, most of +all, the artists of the stage. He saw much to appall a Christian, he +saw the enormous abuses, but did he not see the same around him, even +in the church itself? Though there were hypocritical ministers, the +calling was still the same, great, eternal. If the search after truth +wherever begun, gains power in life and poetry, should it not also +reach the stage? Having assured himself on this point, he was glad to +see from Signers letters, that Petra was developing her mind, and that +Signe was the right one to help her. And now he had returned to see and +thank the gentle guide, who knew not herself what she was to him.</p> + +<p class="normal">But he had also come to see Petra again. How far had she got now? The +word had been spoken, he could therefore talk freely with her about it; +this was a relief to both, for thus they spoke not of the past.</p> + +<p class="normal">In the meantime they were interrupted by guests from town, invited and +uninvited! The affair was already so far advanced, that a single well +employed opportunity must make all clear,--and this the guests brought +with them. A large party was invited to meet them, and when after +dinner, the gentlemen were together in the study, the conversation +turned upon the stage; for a chaplain had seen a work on Christian +ethics open upon the dean's table, and his eye had caught the appalling +word: Theatre. This led to a hasty discussion, in the midst of which +the dean entered; he had not been present at dinner, having been called +away to a dying bed; he was very serious, and neither ate, nor took any +part in the conversation; but he filled his pipe and listened. As soon +as Odegaard observed this, he joined in the conversation himself, but +for a long time he tried in vain to explain his views, for the chaplain +had a habit of exclaiming every time a link in the chain of evidence +was about to be adduced: "I deny it!" and then that which was about to +be a proof, must itself be proved; consequently the matter was always +going backwards; from the theatre, they had already passed to +navigation, and now to get something proved in that, they were just +going over to agriculture.</p> + +<p class="normal">This was too much, so Odegaard elected himself chairman. There were +several ministers present besides the chaplain, there was also a +captain, a little swarthy man, with an immense abdomen, and a pair of +small legs that went stumping one after the other. Odegaard called upon +the chaplain to state his objections to the theatre. He began:</p> + +<p class="normal">"Good men of even heathen times were opposed to the drama, Plato, +Aristotle, because it was ruinous to morals. Socrates it is true, +sometimes visited the theatre, but if any one concludes from that, that +he approved of it, I deny it; one must see much of which one does not +approve. The early Christians were expressly warned against the play, +vide Tertullian, and since the revival of the drama in later times, +earnest Christians have spoken and written against it, I name such men +as Spener and Francke; I name a writer on Christian ethics, as Schwarz, +I name Schleiermacher. ('Hear! hear!' cried the captain, for this name +he knew.) The two latter admit dramatic representations to be +allowable, and Schleiermacher even thinks that in a private company and +by amateurs, a good play may be performed, but he condemns the actors +on the stage. As a profession, it presents so many temptations to the +Christian, that he MUST avoid it. And is it not also a temptation to +the spectator? To be moved by fictitious suffering, to be elevated by a +fictitious paragon of virtue, such (which in reading one can better +defend oneself from,) entice us to believe, that we are ourselves what +we see before us, our energy and force of will are weakened by it, it +drags us down into the mere wish to see and hear, making us visionary. +Is it not so? Who are the frequenters of the theatre? Idlers in search +of amusement, voluptuaries who will be stimulated, vain people who wish +to be seen, visionaries who flee hither to escape the actual life +against which they dare not contend. Sin behind the curtain, sin before +it! I have never heard sincere Christians say anything else."</p> + +<p class="normal">The Capt.: "I am beginning to tremble for myself; if I have been in +such a den of wolves each time I have attended the theatre, the +devil----" "Fie captain," said a little girl who had come in with them, +"you mustn't swear, or else you'll go to hell!"--"Aye my child, yes, +yes."--Then Odegaard rose to speak:</p> + +<p class="normal">"Plato raised the same objections against poetry as against the stage, +and Aristotle's opinion is doubtful,--therefore I will leave them +alone. The early Christians did well to abstain from the HEATHEN +play,--I will also leave them alone. That earnest Christians in modern +times should have their scruples about the theatre, I can well +understand; I have had them myself. But if one admits that a poet has +liberty to write a drama, then an actor has liberty to play it, for in +writing, what other does a poet do than play it--in his thoughts, with +ardour, with passion, and 'whosoever looketh after a woman to lust +after her,' &c.--you know the words of Christ Himself. When +Schleiermacher says, that the drama may only be played privately and by +amateurs, it is the same as to assert, that the talents God has given +us, shall be neglected, whereas the meaning really is, that they shall +be developed to the highest possible perfection; and to this end have +we received them. We are all acting every day, when we imitate others +in joke or earnest. Where, in any single instance these powers outweigh +all others, I really wonder if such a one ceased to cultivate them, if +it would not soon be shown that THIS was sin. For he who does not +follow his proper calling, becomes unfit for another, leads an +unsettled wavering life,--in short becomes a far easier prey to +temptation. Where work and inclination fall together, much temptation +is locked out. Now if you say the calling is in itself too full of +temptation, well, every one feels it differently. To ME that +calling possesses the greatest temptation that dupes one to believe +he is righteous himself, because he bears the commands of the +Righteous,--dupes him to believe he himself is believing, because he +speaks to the belief of others, or more plainly said: 'To me the +ministerial calling has the greatest temptation of all.'" (Great uproar: +I deny it! Yes! Silence! I deny it! It's true! Silence!) The Captain: +"Well I never heard before that the pulpit was worse than the stage!" +Laughter and cries from all: "No, he never said it was." Captain: "Yes, +the deuce----" "No, no, captain, the devil will be coming!"--"Well, my +child, well, well!" And Odegaard took up the thread:</p> + +<p class="normal">"All the temptation of being excited in a moment, of sinking down into +the mere wish to see and hear, of taking the models of virtue, and +without trouble appropriating their life as ours, this verily is also +present in the church!" (The same clamour again.)</p> + +<p class="normal">The ladies could no longer hear this uproar, without finding out what +it was. Now the door was open. Odegaard seeing Petra among them, said +with emphasis: "It is true there are actors who get excited upon the +stage, then rush to church, and get excited there,--and still they are +the same. But in general actors, in common with seamen, are so often +placed in the direst extremity, (for the moment before they enter must +be awful!) and so often come face to face with the great, the +unexpected, are so often called to be instruments in the hands of the +Lord, that they bear in their hearts a fear and longing, a strong +feeling of unworthiness; and this we know, that Christ preferred to be +with publicans and penitent women. I give them no charter; verily the +greater their work, the greater their guilt if their work leads them +into rashness, or degenerates into loose frivolity. But as there is no +actor, who has not learnt, by a series of disappointments how worthless +applause and flattery is, although the most behave as though believing +in it,--in the same way we see their mistakes and faults, but we +do not know so well their own relation to them, and on that it +depends--considered from a Christian point of view."</p> + +<p class="normal">Several rose, and began to speak all together, but--</p> + + +<p class="center" style="font-size:90%">"Fourteen years surely I must have been--"</p> + + +<p class="continue">sounded in from the piano, and they streamed into the room; for it was +Signe who was singing, and Signe's Swedish melodies and the way in +which she sang them, were most delightful. One song followed another, +and as the first melodies of the land, faithful messages from the heart +of a great people, had had an elevating effect, and they were now +standing in anticipation, Odegaard rose and asked Petra to recite a +poem. She must have been conscious of it, for her face was crimson. She +stepped forward at once,--though she trembled so that she was obliged +to hold fast by the back of a chair,--turned very pale and began:--</p> +<div class="poem2"> +<p class="t1">He could not get leave to go to sea,</p> +<p class="t0">His mother was weak, his father was old,<br> +The farm was increasing a hundred fold:--<br> +"Why should he with the Vikings roam?<br> +Here he has all he can wish for at home."</p> +<p class="t0"> </p> +<p class="t1">But the youth in the clouds, as they onward sped,</p> +<p class="t0">Saw armèd hosts to the battle led;<br> +And the youth would pine when he saw the sun,<br> +'Twas the King in state after victories won.<br> +He pondered the sagas of ancient days,<br> +He forgot his work in the Vikings' praise.</p> +<p class="t0"> </p> +<p class="t1">There came a morning, away went he,</p> +<p class="t0">To the outermost isle by the open sea,<br> +To see the breakers come dashing in,<br> +And list to the distant battle's din.<br> +It was a day in the early spring,<br> +When the voice of the storm is on the wing:<br> +"Earth shall not ice-bound slumber longer!"--</p> +<p class="t1">A sight he saw,--his will grew stronger.<br> +They lay a ship, in a steel grey cove,</p> +<p class="t0">Resting after a stormy raid,--<br> +In sooth she seemed better inclined to rove,<br> +Though her sail was bound and her anchor laid,<br> +For the sail and the mast were going to and fro,<br> +And the vessel was frothing scum with her bow.</p> +<p class="t0"> </p> +<p class="t1">On board they were having a little rest,</p> +<p class="t0">To eat and to sleep was their present behest;--<br> +Up from the cliff they heard one calling,<br> +--The words of a fool they seemed, thus falling,--<br> +"Dare no one steer in a storm so strong,<br> +Then give me the rudder;--ah! I long!"</p> +<p class="t0"> </p> +<p class="t1">Some looked up to the rocky brow,</p> +<p class="t0">Others nor cared to see just now; +None of them rose from the mid-day fare, +Down came a stone and felled two men there.</p> +<p class="t1">Up they sprang from deck and cheer,</p> +<p class="t0">Threw down the platters,--seized bow and spear;<br> +Up whizzed the arrows,--while unprepared<br> +He stood on the cliff and his will declared:<br> +"Chieftain with grace wilt yield thy vessel,<br> +Or longest thou first to strive and wrestle?"</p> +<p class="t0"> </p> +<p class="t1">To listen to such was but time to waste,</p> +<p class="t0">In answer a spear was hurled in haste,</p> +<p class="t1">It hit him not; and calmly he said:</p> +<p class="t0">"None wait for me in the halls of the dead,<br> +But thou who afar the sea hast ploughèd<br> +Canst hasten home, or hie thee thither.--<br> +All that under thee thou hast bowèd<br> +Must pass to me; so came I hither!<br> +For me thou gatheredst, to me it falleth;<br> +My time hath come, for me it calleth."</p> +<p class="t1">The other laughed from his height in scorn:</p> +<p class="t0">"Verily if thou indeed so longest,<br> +Come prove thee to be my warrior strongest!"<br> +"That can I not, I'm a <i>chieftain</i> born.<br> +I must command for I know my way;<br> +The new can never the old obey."</p> +<p class="t1">But for the answer in vain he listened</p> +<p class="t0">Then down he sprang, his eyes they glistened:<br> +"Ye warriors! your chieftain the duty owes<br> +To prove to whom Odin his favour shows.<br> +Then heroes! serve ye the one he aideth.<br> +Shame to him that his yoke evadeth!"</p> +<p class="t0"> </p> +<p class="t1">Red in wroth grew the chieftain's face;</p> +<p class="t0">Sprang in the sea and swam to land;<br> +The other leapt hastily down to the strand<br> +And took him up in his strong embrace.</p> +<p class="t0"> </p> +<p class="t1">But the chieftain saw in the light of his eyes,</p> +<p class="t0">That his soul was of noble and lofty guise.<br> +"Throw him arms across for none he weareth,"<br> +On board he cried;--"if the day beareth<br> +Thee victory, say that himself he gave<br> +The sword that brought him a hasty grave."</p> +<p class="t0"> </p> +<p class="t1">The struggle waxed warm on the mountain side,</p> +<p class="t0">Each blow fell back with an echoing bomb;--<br> +The wrothful "Dragon" snuffed in her fume,<br> +Felled was her champion in his pride.</p> +<p class="t0"> </p> +<p class="t1">There rent a scream the mountains o'er,</p> +<p class="t0">Each man would revenge the mighty wrong;<br> +From stem to stem there rose a throng,<br> +And soon they stood on the rocky shore.<br> +Then up the dying man swung his hand<br> +To give amongst them his last command:<br> +"A man must fall when his work is done;<br> +The end of a hero song is grand;<br> +Make him your chieftain,--a worthy one."<br> +His lips grew white, his strength was past,<br> +They hastened up as he breathed his last;<br> +For him was a place of honour stored,<br> +Thereto he pointed,--at Odin's board.</p> +<p class="t0"> </p> +<p class="t1">The new commander made no delay,</p> +<p class="t0">He sprang on a stone and the order gave:<br> +"First raise a mound o'er the hero's grave,<br> +And mind ye the noble deeds of his day.<br> +But e'er the night shall the anchor be weighed,<br> +Nor e'en by the dead must our journey be stayed."</p> +<p class="t0"> </p> +<p class="t1">The beacon was raised, the sail was spread,</p> +<p class="t0">The Dragon soon over the waters sped;<br> +A song of remembrance clang o'er the wave<br> +To him they had left in the island grave,--<br> +An ode of welcome rang in the ear<br> +Of the youth who stood at the helm to steer.</p> +<p class="t0"> </p> +<p class="t1">And just as his home was near in view,</p> +<p class="t0">And all were rushing down to the strand,<br> +With cries of wonder to see the hand<br> +That was steering Oger's sea-worthy shoe,--<br> +Fell the evening sun upon sail and shield,<br> +And red o'er the height by the battle field.</p> +<p class="t0"> </p> +<p class="t0">The vessel he steered so near the land,</p> +<p class="t1">That frightened they cried: "The ship will strand!"<br> +He turned her round with a lurch and heave,<br> +And he smiled upon them: "<i>Now</i> have I leave?"</p> +</div> + +<p class="normal">The poem was said tremblingly, solemnly, without a trace of +affectation. They stood as if a ray had shot up among them from the +earth, in all the splendours of the rainbow. No one spoke, no one +moved;--but the captain could no longer control himself, he sprang +up, puffed, stretched himself, and said: "Well I don't know how +it is with you; but when I am taken in this way, the deuce take me +if--"--"Captain, there you swore again," said the little girl, and held +up her finger threateningly; "the devil will come this very hour and +take you!"--"Well, it is all the same my child, let him come, for now I +must, the deuce take me, must have a patriotic song!" And so he began +with a voice so terrific, that one would have thought the great stomach +gave pressure as organ bellows--and the rest with him:--</p> +<div class="poem2"> +<p class="t5">I will watch our land,<br> +I will build up our land</p> +<p class="t0">I will further its cause in my prayers, in my home,</p> +<p class="t5">I will increase its gains,<br> +And its wants seek with pains</p> +<p class="t0">From the boundary out to the driving sea foam.</p> +<p class="t0"> </p> +<p class="t5">There is sunlight enough,<br> +There are corn fields enough,</p> +<p class="t0">If we pull but together there's plenty of stuff.</p> +<p class="t5">Midst the labour and strife<br> +There's poetical life</p> +<p class="t0">To raise up our land if our love's strong enough.</p> +<p class="t0"> </p> +<p class="t5">To search and to save<br> +We went far o'er the wave,</p> +<p class="t0">In the countries around rise our watch towers of yore;</p> +<p class="t5">But our ensign to-day<br> +Waveth further away,</p> +<p class="t0">And it waveth in vigour as never before.</p> +<p class="t0"> </p> +<p class="t5">And our future is great,<br> +For the three cloven state</p> +<p class="t0">Shall be joinèd again, shall herself be once more.</p> +<p class="t5">Then whate'er you can spare<br> +Let the neediest share,</p> +<p class="t0">And a gathering river shall treasure the store.</p> +<p class="t0"> </p> +<p class="t5">Scandinavia's ours,<br> +And we'll value her powers,</p> +<p class="t0">What she was, what she is, what she shall be again,</p> +<p class="t5">And as love has its birth<br> +In the dear homely earth,</p> +<p class="t0">From the seed corn of love shall she spring up again.</p> +</div> + +<p class="normal">Signe came and put her arm round Petra, and drew her into the study +where no one was. "Really," she said, "you have so captivated me that I +must:----Petra, shall we be friends again!"--"Oh, Signe, then at last +you forgive me!"--"Yes, now I can, however things turn! Petra, do you +not love Odegaard?"--"Heavens, Signe!"--"Petra! I have thought it from +the very first day,--and now at last he has come to----All that I have +thought and done for you in these two and a half years has been with +this in view, and father has thought the same; I believe he has already +spoken to Odegaard about it."--"But Signe----!" "Hush," she put her +hand to Petra's lips and ran away, there was some one calling; it was +tea time.</p> + +<p class="normal">There was wine on the table, as the dean had been absent from dinner; +he had been very grave all the afternoon, and now sat as though no one +were present, till they were about to leave the table, when he tapped +on his wine glass, and said: "I have a betrothal to announce!"--Every +one looked at the young girls who were sitting together, and these +neither of them knew whether to fall from their chairs or remain +seated.</p> + +<p class="normal">"I have a betrothal to announce," repeated the dean, as though he found +it difficult to proceed. "I must confess that at first it was not just +what I wished."--All the guests looked at Odegaard in astonishment, and +their amazement knew no bounds when they saw him sitting quietly +looking at the dean.--"To speak plainly, I thought that he was not +worthy of her."--The guests here became so embarrassed that no one dare +longer look up, and as the girls had not ventured to do so at all, the +dean had but one face to talk to, and that was Odegaard's, who +meanwhile was enjoying perfect composure. "But now," continued the +dean, "now, when I have learnt to know him better, it has ended in my +doubting whether she is worthy of HIM, so noble does he appear to me; +for it is Art, the great dramatic Art betrothed to Petra, my foster +daughter, my dear child; may it go well with you! I tremble at the +thought, but that which belongs together must go together. God be with +you, my daughter!" In a moment she was in his arms.</p> + +<p class="normal">As no one sat down again, the whole company naturally left the table. +Petra went up to Odegaard, who drew her into the furthest window; he +had something to say to her now, but she must first say: "I owe it all +to you!"--"No, Petra; I have been only a kind brother; it was a great +sin of mine that I wished to be more; for if it had happened it would +have hindered your whole career."--"Odegaard!" They held each other's +hands, but did not look up; a moment after, he left her.</p> + +<p class="normal">The day following Odegaard left the deanery.</p> + +<hr class="W10"> + +<p class="normal">Just after Christmas, Petra received a letter with a large official +seal; she felt quite nervous and took it in to the dean to open. It was +from the magistrate in her native town, and read thus: "Whereas Pedro +Ohlsen, who yesterday departed this life, has left a will as follows:</p> + +<div style="font-size:90%"> +<p class="normal">'That which I leave behind me, which is exactly noted down in the +account book, that is in the blue chest, standing in my room at Gunlaug +Aamund's on the bank, and of which the said Gunlaug has the key, even +as she alone knows the whole matter,--I wish,--if she, Gunlaug Aamund, +gives her mind thereto, which she need not do unless she likes, to +fulfil the condition which I have named, which she alone who is the +only one who knows it, can fulfil,--that it should pass to Miss Petra, +daughter of the said Gunlaug Aamund, that is to say, if Miss Petra +thinks it worth while to remember a decrepit old man, to whom she has +done good though she did not know it, as she could not do, and who has +been his only comfort in his last years, wherefore he has thought to +give her a little joy in return, which she must not despise. God be +merciful to me a sinner.</p> + +<p class="right"><span class="sc">Pedro Ohlsen</span>.'</p> +</div> + +<p class="continue">I beg to ask if you will communicate with your mother respecting it, or +you wish me to do it."</p> + +<p class="normal">The next mail brought a letter from the mother, written by Pastor +Odegaard, the only one in whom she dare now confide; it contained the +information that she was willing to fulfil the requirement, namely to +inform Petra who Pedro was.</p> + +<p class="normal">This information and the legacy gave Petra a peculiar feeling; it +seemed as if everything were now putting itself to rights; it was +another reminder of her departure.</p> + +<p class="normal">Then it was for her artist life that old Peer Ohlsen had fiddled his +money together at weddings and dances, and son and grandson in +different ways, by little and little added thereto. The sum was not +great but it was sufficient to bring her further out into the world, +and thus more quickly forward.</p> + +<p class="normal">The thought rose as sunshine before her, that now she could repay her +mother, her mother should come to her, every day she could give her +some happiness. She wrote a long letter to her every post day, she +could scarcely wait for the answer, and when it came it was a bitter +disappointment, for Gunlaug thanked her, but observed, "that each was +best in his own place." Then the dean promised to write, and when +Gunlaug got his letter, she could no longer contain herself, she must +tell her sailors and other acquaintances, that her daughter was going +to be something great, and wanted her to go to her. Thus the matter +became a very important topic in the town, it was discussed on the +quay, in the boats, and in all kitchens. Gunlaug, who up to this time +had never named her daughter, now spoke of nothing but "my daughter +Petra," even as no one spoke of anything else to her.</p> + +<p class="normal">But still though it grew near to the time of Petra's departure, Gunlaug +had not given her consent, which grieved the daughter much. It was +expressly promised her on the contrary, both by the dean and Signe, +that they would be present when she should make her first appearance.</p> + +<p class="normal">The snow began to disappear from the mountains, the fields to grow a +little green. She had only a few more days at the deanery, and she and +Signe went round and bade farewell to all and everything,--especially +to the places they mutually held dear. Then they were informed by a +peasant, that Odegaard was up at Oygarene, and would soon be coming +down to them. The girls both grew very shy, and ceased to go out.</p> + +<p class="normal">When Odegaard came, he was lighthearted and happy as never seen before. +His errand in the district was to establish a free high school, and at +first, till he got a teacher, he meant to conduct it himself; +afterwards he would carry out other plans. In this way he would repay +he said, some of the debt his father owed to the district,--and his +father had promised to come to him as soon as the house was ready. It +was to be near the deanery. The dean, as well as Signe, was exceedingly +pleased at the prospect; Petra too, but she felt it a little strange, +that he should settle down there just as she was leaving.</p> + +<p class="normal">The dean wished that the day before Petra's departure they should +partake of the Lord's supper together. So a quiet solemnity fell over +the last days, and when they spoke it was in a half whisper. In these +days the dean never passed by Petra without stroking her hair, and at +the holy ceremony in church, at which with the exception of an +officiating clergyman and the sexton, there were none present but +themselves, he spoke particularly to her, and spoke as he would do at +their own table on a birthday or holiday. It would now soon be shown, +he said, whether the time that in prayer for Divine grace she this day +brought to a close, had laid a good foundation. No man's life is really +perfected before he reaches his right vocation. Our work is revealed to +us, and he who comes with truth, and holds himself worthy, will reap +the greatest and most lasting harvest. It is true the Lord often makes +use of the unworthy also, even as in a higher sense we are all +unworthy. He makes use of our longings. But there is a vocation that no +man can discover from his longings alone, and that he supposed she was +aiming at; every one must strive to reach the highest. He bade her come +frequently to see them, for it is the intention of the church that +companionship in faith should help and strengthen. If she had erred, +she would here always meet with sympathy, and if she herself understood +not that she had strayed, they would most affectionately tell her.</p> + +<p class="normal">The next day at the parting meal, he bade her the most tender farewell, +"He was of her friend's opinion," he said, "that she ought to begin her +career ALONE. In the struggle she would meet, she would find that it +was good to know, that in one place there lived a few on whom she could +rely; only to know with certainty that they were constantly PRAYING for +her,--she would see that it would help!"--After the adieu to Petra, he +turned with a welcome to Odegaard. "To be united in love to one and the +same is the most beautiful introduction to love one another." The dean +certainly never thought in this greeting, of that which first made +Signe red, then Petra; and if Odegaard; they did not know, for neither +of them ventured to look at him.</p> + +<p class="normal">But when the horses were at the door, and the three friends stood +around the young girl, and all the servants round the carriage, Petra +whispered, as for the last time she embraced Signe: "I know I shall +soon hear important news from you; may God bless it!"</p> + +<p class="normal">An hour after she saw only the white pinnacles that showed where the +place lay.</p> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<h2> XII.</h2> + +<h3><a name="div1_12" href="#div1Ref_12">THE SCENE.</a></h3> + + +<p class="normal">One evening just before Christmas the theatre of the metropolis was +sold out; a new actress was to appear, about whom there were the +greatest expectations. Sprung from the people--her mother was a poor +fisherwoman--she had reached her present position by the help of others +who had discovered her talents, and she gave great promise. In the time +before the curtain rose, all sorts of things were whispered about her; +she was said to have been a strange unruly child, and later when grown +up, to have been betrothed to six at one time, and to have kept it +going for half a year. The town was in such an uproar on her account, +that she had had to be conducted out of it by a guard of police; it was +remarkable that the director should allow such a character to appear. +Others affirmed there was not the slightest truth in the statement; she +had been educated in a clergyman's family in Bergen's shire, from the +time she was ten years old; she was a cultivated and amiable girl, they +knew her well, she must have wonderful talent; she was so handsome.</p> + +<p class="normal">Others were there who were better authority. First the well-known fish +merchant, Yngve Vold. He had come here accidentally on a business +journey; it was said that the brilliant Spanish lady, to whom he was +married, made the house at home so hot, that he travelled merely to +cool himself. He had taken the largest box in the house, and invited +his hotel acquaintances to go with him to see "something, devilish +something!" He was in remarkable spirits, till he suddenly caught sight +of----could it be he?----in a box in the second tier and with a whole +ship's company round him?----no! yes!----verily it was Gunnar Ask! +Gunnar Ask who through his mother's money had become owner and captain +of "The Norwegian Constitution," had in cruising out of the fiord come +to sail side by side with a ship bearing the name: "The Danish +Constitution," and as Gunnar thought he observed it trying to pass him, +such certainly could not be permitted; he put out all the sail he +possessed, the old Constitution creaked, and the consequence was, that +in his endeavour to scud before the wind as long and as far as +possible, he ran the ship aground in a most preposterous place, and was +now reluctantly detained in the town while the vessel was being patched +up. One day he met Petra in the street, and she was so thoroughly kind +both then and afterwards, that he not only forgot his grudge, but +called himself the greatest fool that ever sailed from their native +place, that he could ever have imagined himself worthy of such a girl +as Petra. To-day he had taken tickets at a premium for the whole of his +crew, and mentally resolved to treat them between each act, and the +seamen, all from Petra's native place, and familiar with the mother's +tavern, that earthly paradise, felt Petra's honour to be their own, and +sat and promised each other that they would applaud as had never been +heard before.</p> + +<p class="normal">Down below in the parquet one could see the dean's thick bristly hair. +He looked calm, he had entrusted her cause to a Higher Power. By his +side sat Signe, now Signe Odegaard. Her husband, herself and Petra, had +just returned from a three month's tour on the continent; she looked +happy, as she sat and smiled over to Odegaard, for between them sat an +old woman with snow-white hair, that rose above her brown face like a +crown; sitting higher than everybody, she could be seen from the whole +house, and soon every opera glass was directed towards her, for it was +said she was the young actress's mother. She who bore a man's name, now +also produced so powerful an impression, that she shed peace over the +daughter. A youthful people is full of expectancy, it possesses faith +in the inner power of its nature, and the faith was roused by the sight +of this mother? She herself saw neither anything nor anybody; she was +indifferent as to what was coming; she was there only to see whether +people were kind to her daughter or not.</p> + +<p class="normal">The time was almost up; conversation died away in the suspense that by +degrees pervaded all, and did them good.</p> + +<p class="normal">A flourish of drums, trumpets and horns, suddenly opened the overture; +Oehlenschläger's "Axel and Valborg" was to be played, and Petra had +herself chosen this. She was sitting behind the scenes and listening.</p> + +<p class="normal">Before the curtain, the small number of her countrymen that the house +could muster, were trembling on her account, as one always does when +expecting anything personally dear of one's own to be brought forward. +It was as if each were about to appear on the stage himself; at such +moments many prayers arise, even from hearts that otherwise seldom +pray.</p> + +<p class="normal">The overture grew softer, peace fell over the harmonies, they melted +gradually away as in sunlight. It was over,--anxious silence ensued.</p> + +<p class="normal">The curtain rose.</p> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<h3>FOOTNOTES:</h3> +<br> +<p class="hang1"><a name="div2_01" href="#div2Ref_01">Footnote 1</a>: Norwegian idiom, to get a long nose--to be +disappointed.--Tr.</p> +<br> +<p class="hang1"><a name="div2_02" href="#div2Ref_02">Footnote 2</a>: The farms are often built on a steep mountain side.--Tr.</p> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<hr class="W90" style="margin-bottom:0px"> +<h5>BURNETT AND HOOD, MIDDLESBROUGH.</h5> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<div style="line-height:200%"> +<h2>OVIND:</h2> + +<h4>A STORY OF COUNTRY LIFE IN NORWAY,</h4> + +<h5>BY</h5> + +<h3>BJÖRNSTJERNE BJÖRNSON,</h3> + +<h5>TRANSLATED BY</h5> + +<h4>S. AND E. HJERLEID.</h4> + +<h4><i>Elegantly bound, Crown 8vo</i>.</h4> + +<h4>LONDON: SIMPKIN MARSHALL AND CO.</h4> + +<h3><span class="sc2">MIDDLESBROUGH: BURNETT AND HOOD.</span></h3> +</div> +<hr class="W10"> + +<h3>NOTICES OF THE PRESS.</h3> + +<p class="normal">"We drop from fairy land to one almost as attractive in <i>Ovind</i>.... +There is about it a delightful freshness."--<i>Athenæum</i>, Nov. 20, 1869.</p> + +<p class="normal">"<i>Ovind</i> is thoroughly simple and genuine, a word-painting wonderfully +like those Scandinavian pictures which most of us saw for the first +time in the Exhibition of 1862.... Its subdued harmonious tones have a +singular charm about them, and leave a very distinct impression."--<i>The +Spectator</i>, Dec. 25, 1869.</p> + +<p class="normal">"The tale is told in simple language with many quaint touches of +humour."--<i>Daily Telegraph</i>, Dec, 24, 1869.</p> + +<p class="normal">"The story relates simply, but very beautifully, the young loves of a +peasant boy and a landowners grand-daughter, and introduces in the +course of the narrative very many Norwegian customs."--<i>Public +Opinion</i>, Dec. 11, 1869.</p> + +<p class="normal">"The great merits of Björnson's literary style are his intense +originality and unfaltering simplicity. All his writings are thoroughly +true to nature, while the sombre scenery of his native land inspires +him with a diction which we meet with in no other books, and is +entirely his own."--<i>The Examiner and London Review</i>, Jan. 1, 1870.</p> + +<p class="normal">"One of the most winning little stories we have ever read."--<i>The +Literary Churchman</i>, Nov. 29, 1869.</p> + +<p class="normal">"The translators are to be congratulated upon their successful +rendering of the story, the publishers have also got up the book in a +highly creditable manner. Altogether the translation is well worthy of +all who are interested in Scandinavian literature."--<i>Iron and Coal +Trades Review</i>, Dec. 22, 1869.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Opens to us a field of freshness and beauty which never loses its +charm for readers of all ages."--<i>Standard</i>, Jan. 26, 1870.</p> + +<p class="normal">"It is not for the novelty of the story so much as for the fresh vivid +picture it presents of peasant life in Norway that we commend the book +to the English reader."--<i>Trubner's American and Oriental Literary +Record</i>, Dec. 24, 1869.</p> + +<p class="normal">"This is a charmingly simple and beautiful story ... It is as real as +actual life, and as poetical as Milton's Paradise, not great with +ponderous thoughts, but running over with exquisite poetry, suggesting +new worlds of beauty lying under every day things.... A pure spiritual +beauty, which the author has drawn from the simplest outward things in +peasant life, lies over all the story, and bathes everything in the +cool calm light of heaven."--<i>The Border Advertiser</i>, Dec. 19, 1869.</p> + +<p class="normal">"The book is indeed redolent of country pastures, of sweet smelling +pine woods, of happy, glad, unsophisticated Northern life.... It +touches chords lying hidden in the depths of the mysteries of race and +language, and moves us as, perhaps, no book of the warm but alien south +could succeed in doing."--<i>Northern Daily Express</i>.</p> + +<p class="normal">"The story has enough of originality, and of the foreign element, to +make it quite worthy of translation and of general acceptance."--<i>The +Illustrated London News</i>, July 23, 1870.</p> + +<p class="normal">"We cannot speak too highly of the excellence of this translation. It +reads as if it had been originally written in English."--<i>The +Manchester Weekly Times</i>, June 11, 1870.</p> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<div style="line-height:200%"> +<h2>THE NEWLY-MARRIED COUPLE:</h2> + +<h5>BY</h5> + +<h3>BJÖRNSTJERNE BJÖRNSON,</h3> + +<h5>TRANSLATED FROM THE NORWEGIAN</h5> + +<h4>BY S. AND E. HJERLEID.</h4> + +<h4><i>Price 1s; Cloth bound 2s</i>.</h4> + +<h4>LONDON: TRÜBNER AND CO.</h4> +</div> +<hr class="W10"> + +<div style="line-height:200%"> +<h2>MUSIC.</h2> + +<h3>THE WEDDING IN HARDANGER.</h3> + +<h3>(<span class="sc">Arranged as a Solo.</span>)</h3> +</div> + +<h3>Words by <span class="sc">Munch</span>. Translated from the Norwegian, by <span class="sc">S</span>. and <span class="sc">E. Hjerleid</span>.<br> +Music by <span class="sc">Kjerulf</span>.</h3> + +<h3>(The Song by which the Swedish Singers won the Prize at the Paris +Exhibition of 1867.)</h3> + +<h4><i>1s. 6d. post free from the Translators, North Ormesby, Middlesbrough</i>.</h4> +<br> +<h4>LONDON: F. PITMAN, 20, PATERNOSTER ROW.</h4> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<hr class="W10"> +<h5>BURNETT AND HOOD, PRINTERS, MIDDLESBROUGH.</h5> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> + + + + + + + + + +<pre> + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's The Fisher Girl, by Björnstjerne Björnson + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE FISHER GIRL *** + +***** This file should be named 37725-h.htm or 37725-h.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + https://www.gutenberg.org/3/7/7/2/37725/ + +Produced by Charles Bowen, from page scans provided by the Web Archive + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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Thus, we do not necessarily +keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper edition. + + +Most people start at our Web site which has the main PG search facility: + + https://www.gutenberg.org + +This Web site includes information about Project Gutenberg-tm, +including how to make donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary +Archive Foundation, how to help produce our new eBooks, and how to +subscribe to our email newsletter to hear about new eBooks. + + +</pre> + +</body> + +</html> + + diff --git a/37725.txt b/37725.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6c9caf2 --- /dev/null +++ b/37725.txt @@ -0,0 +1,5277 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Fisher Girl, by Bjoernstjerne Bjoernson + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: The Fisher Girl + +Author: Bjoernstjerne Bjoernson + +Translator: Sivert Hjerleid + Elizabeth Hjerleid + +Release Date: October 11, 2011 [EBook #37725] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE FISHER GIRL *** + + + + +Produced by Charles Bowen, from page scans provided by the Web Archive + + + + + + +Transcriber's Notes: + + 1. Page scan source: + http://www.archive.org/details/fishergirl00bjgoog + + + + + + + THE + + FISHER GIRL + + + BY + + BJOeRNSTJERNE BJOeRNSON. + + + + TRANSLATED FROM THE NORWEGIAN + + + BY + + SIVERT AND ELIZABETH HJERLEID. + + + (_Translators of Ovind._) + + + + LONDON: + TRUeBNER AND CO. + + 1871. + +[_Entered at Stationers' Hall._] + + + + + TRANSLATORS' PREFACE. + + +Encouraged by the general appreciation with which our former +translation "Ovind" was received last winter, we now offer to the +English reader what we believe to be a faithful re-production of Herr +Bjoernson's latest work. The poems are rendered in the metre of the +original, and as in "Ovind" we have taken the liberty of adding +headings to the chapters. + +North Ormesby, + + Middlesbrough, + + December, 1870. + + + + + CONTENTS. + + + CHAP. I. + PEER, PETER, AND PEDRO. + + CHAP. II. + "SOME OTHER BOYS." + + CHAP. III. + READY FOR CONFIRMATION. + + CHAP. IV. + ONE AND ANOTHER. + + CHAP. V. + A MISTAKE. + + CHAP. VI. + THE SOUND OF THE CLOCK. + + CHAP. VII. + THE FIRST ACT. + + CHAP. VIII. + AT THE RURAL DEAN'S. + + CHAP. IX. + APPREHENSIONS. + + CHAP. X. + IS MUSIC LAWFUL? + + CHAP. XI. + RECONCILIATION. + + CHAP. XII. + THE SCENE. + + + + + CHAPTER I. + + PEER, PETER, AND PEDRO. + + +When the herring has for a long time frequented a coast, by degrees, if +other circumstances admit of it, there springs up a town. Not only of +such towns may it be said, that they are cast up out of the sea, but +from a distance they look like washed-up timber and wrecks, or like a +mass of upturned boats that the fishermen have drawn over for shelter +some stormy night; as one draws nearer, one sees how accidentally the +whole has been built, mountains rising in the midst of the +thoroughfare, or the hamlet separated by water into three, four +divisions, while the streets crook and crawl. One condition only is +common to them all, there is safety in the harbour for the largest +ship; there is shelter and calm, and the ships find these enclosures +grateful, when with torn sails and broken bulwarks, they come driving +in from the North Sea to seek for breathing space. + +Such a little town is quiet; all the noise there is, is directed to the +quay, where the boats of the peasants are moored, and the ships are +loading and unloading. The only street in our little town lies along +the quay, the white and red painted, one and two-storied houses follow +this, yet not house to house, but with pretty gardens in between; +consequently it is a long broad street, which, when the wind is +landward, smells of that which is on the quay. + +It is quiet here,--not from fear of the police, for, as a rule, there +is none,--but from fear of report, as everybody knows everybody. If you +go along the street, you must bow at every window, for there sits an +old lady ready to bow again. Besides you must bow to those you meet, +for all these quiet people are thinking what is becoming to the +inhabitants in general, and to themselves in particular. He who +oversteps the bounds where his standing or position is placed, loses +his good reputation; for you know not only him, but his father and +grandfather and you seek out where there has been a tendency in the +family before to that which is unbecoming. + +Many years since to this quiet little town came the well esteemed man, +Peer Olsen; he came from the country, where he had lived as a small +stall keeper and by playing the violin. In this town he opened a little +shop for his old customers, where besides other wares he sold brandy +and bread. One could hear him going backwards and forwards in the room +behind the shop, playing spring dances and wedding marches; every time +he passed the door he peeped through the glass pane, when, if he saw a +customer, he finished up with a trill, and went in. Trade went well, he +married and got a son, whom he named after himself, yet not Peer but +Peter. Little Peter should be what Peer felt HE was not, an educated +man, so the lad was sent to the Latin school. Now when those who should +have been his companions, thrust him out of their play because he was +the son of Peer Olsen, Peer Olsen turned him out to them again, as that +was the only way for the boy to learn manners. Little Peter, therefore, +feeling himself forsaken at the school, grew idle, and gradually became +so indifferent to everything, that his father could neither thrash +smiles nor tears out of him, so the father gave up struggling with him +and put him in the shop. How astonished then--was he not? when he saw +the lad give to each customer what he asked for, without a grain too +much, never even touching so much as a raisin himself preferring not to +talk, but weighing, counting, entering, without any change of +countenance, very slowly, but with scrupulous exactness. His father's +hopes began to revive, and he sent him with a fishing smack to Hamburg, +to enter a Merchant's College, and to learn fine manners; he was away +eight months, that must surely be sufficient. When he came back he had +provided himself with six new suits of clothes, and on landing he put +one suit on the top of another, for "things in actual wear are exempt +from duty." But thickness excepted, he made about the same figure in +the street next day. He walked straight or stiff with his arms +perpendicular, shook hands with a sudden jerk, and bowed as if without +joints to be at once stiff again; he had become politeness itself, but +everything was done without uttering a word, and quickly, with a +certain shyness. He did not sign his name Olsen any more, but Ohlsen, +which led the wits of the town to ask, "How far did Peter Ohlsen get in +Hamburg?" Answer: "As far as the first letter." He even went so far as +to think of calling himself Pedro, but he had to brook so much +annoyance for the h's sake, that he gave it up and signed himself P. +Ohlsen. He extended the business, and though only twenty-two, he +married a red-handed shop girl, for his father had just become a +widower, and it was safer to have a wife than a housekeeper. That day +year he got a son, who that day week was named Pedro. When worthy Peer +Olsen became a grandfather, he felt an inward calling to grow old. +Therefore he left the business to his son, sat outside upon a bench, +and smoked twist tobacco from a short pipe; and when one day he began +to grow tired of sitting there, he wished he might soon die, and even +as all his wishes had quietly been fulfilled, so also was this. + +If the son Peter had inherited exclusively the one feature of his +father's character, aptitude for business, the grandson Pedro seemed to +have inherited the other exclusively--talent for music. He was very +slow in learning to read, but quick in learning to sing, and he played +the flute so exquisitely that one might easily perceive he was of a +refined and susceptible nature. But this was only a trouble to the +father, as if the boy should be brought up to his own busy exactness. +Then, when he forgot anything, he was not scolded nor thrashed as the +father had been, but he was pinched. It was done very quietly, and with +a kindness one might almost call polite, but it was done on every +possible occasion. Every night when she undressed him, the mother +counted the blue and yellow marks, and kissed them, but she offered no +resistance, for she was pinched herself. For every tear in his clothes, +(the father's Hamburg suits made up again,) for every blot on his +copy-book she was to blame. So it was constantly: "Don't do that, +Pedro!" "Take care, Pedro!" "Remember, Pedro!" He was afraid of his +father, and his mother wearied him. He did not suffer much from his +companions, as he cried directly, and begged them not to spoil his +clothes, so they called him, "Withered stick!" and took no more notice +of him. He was like a weak featherless duckling, limping after the +rest, and waddling to one side with the little bit he could catch for +himself, nobody shared with him, and therefore he shared with nobody. + +But he soon observed that it was different with the poorer children of +the town; for they bore with him because he was better dressed than +themselves. The leader of the flock was a tall powerful girl, who took +him under her special protection. He never tired of looking at her, she +had raven black hair, all in one curl that was never combed except with +the fingers; she had deep blue eyes, short brow; the expression of her +face acted simultaneously. She was full of activity, and excitable; in +the summer, bare-footed, bare-armed, and sunburnt; in the winter, clad +as others in summer. Her father was a pilot and fisherman, she flew +about and sold his fish; she rigged his boat, and when he was out as a +pilot she went fishing alone. Every one who saw her turned to look +again, she was so self-reliant. Her name was Gunlaug, but she was +called "The Fisher Girl," a title she accepted as if by rank. In games +she took the weaker side; it was a necessity of her nature to have +something to care for, and now she cared for this delicate boy. + +In her boat he could play his flute, that had been banished at home +because they fancied it drew his thoughts from his lessons. She rowed +him out into the fiord; then she took him with her on her longer +fishing expeditions; and by-and-bye also on the night fishing. At +sunset they rowed out into the light summer stillness, when he would +play his flute, or listen to her as she told him all she knew about the +mermen, dragons, shipwrecks, strange lands and black people, as she had +heard it from the sailors. She shared her viands with him as she shared +her knowledge, and he received all without giving anything in return, +for he had no provisions with him from home, and no imagination from +the school. They rowed till the sun went down behind the snowcapped +mountains, then they drew to shore on some rocky island, and kindled a +fire, i.e. she gathered branches and sticks, while he looked on. She +had bundled along a sailor's jacket of her father's and a rug for him, +and in these he was wrapped. She kept up the fire, while he fell +asleep; she kept herself awake by singing snatches of psalms and songs; +she sang in a full clear voice until he slept--then softly. When the +sun rose again on the other side, and as a harbinger, cast his pale +yellow rays before him over the mountains, she awoke him. The forest +was still black, the fields were dark, but changing to a brown red and +shimmering, until the ridge top glowed, and all the colours came +rushing. Then they pushed the boat in the water again, cut through the +waves in the sharp morning breeze, and were soon aground with the +fishermen. + +When winter came and the fishing tours were given up, he sought her in +her own home; he often came and watched her while she worked, but +neither of them spoke much; it was as if they sat together and waited +for the summer. When summer came, however, this new object in life was +unfortunately also gone; Gunlaug's father died; she left the town, and, +at the suggestion of the schoolmaster, the lad was placed in the shop. +There he stood together with his mother, for his father, who little by +little had taken the colour of the grains he weighed, had to keep his +bed in the back room. From there he must yet take part in everything, +must know what each especially had sold, then appeared not to hear, +till he got them so near that he could pinch them. And one night when +the wick had become quite dry in this little lamp, it went out. The +wife wept without exactly knowing why, but the son could not pinch a +tear. As they had sufficient to live on, they gave up the business, +swept away every reminder, and converted the shop into a parlour. There +the mother sat in the window and knitted stockings; Pedro sat in the +room on the other side of the passage, and played his flute. But as +soon as the summer came he bought a light little sailing-boat, drove +out to the rocky island and lay where Gunlaug had lain. + +One day as he was resting among the ling, he saw a boat steering +directly towards him; it drew up by the side of his, and Gunlaug +stepped out. She was exactly the same, only full grown and taller than +other women. Just as she saw him, she drew to one side a little quite +slowly; she had not thought about his being grown up too. + +This pale thin face she did not know; it was no longer delicate and +fine; it was inanimate. But, as he looked at her, his eye caught a +brightness from the dreams of the past; she went forward again; with +every step she took, a year seemed to fall from off him, and when she +stood beside him, where he had sprung up, then he laughed as a child +and spoke as a child; the old face seemed like a mask over the child; +he was certainly older, but he was not grown. + +Yet, though it was the child she was seeking, now, when she had found +it, she knew not what further to do; she smiled and blushed. +Involuntarily he felt, as it were, a power within him; it was the first +time in his life, and in the same minute he grew handsome; it lasted, +perhaps, scarcely a moment, but in that moment she was caught. + +She was one of those natures that can only love that which is weak, +that they have borne in their arms. She had intended to be in the town +two days; she stayed two months. During these two months he developed +more than in all the rest of his youth; he was lifted so far out of +dreams and drowsiness as to form plans; he would leave, he would learn +to play! But when one day he repeated this, she turned pale; "Yes,--" +she said, "but we must be married first." He looked at her, she looked +wistfully again, they both grew fiery red, and he said: "What would +people say?" + +Gunlaug had never thought over the possibility of his doing other than +agree to what she wished because she acceded to every wish of his. But +now she saw that in the depths of his soul he had never for a moment +thought of sharing anything else with her than what she gave. In one +minute she became conscious that thus it had been the whole of their +lives. She had begun in pity, and ended in love to that which she +herself had tended. Had she been composed but for a single moment! +Seeing her gathering wrath, he was afraid, and exclaimed: "I +will!"----She heard it, but anger over her own folly and his +paltriness, over her own shame and his cowardice, boiled up in such +fervid heat towards the exploding point, that never had a love +beginning in childhood and evening sun, cradled by the waves and +moonlight, led by the flute and gentle song, ended more wretchedly. She +seized him with both her hands, lifted him, and from the very depths of +her heart gave him a good sound thrashing, then rowed straight back to +town, and went direct over the mountains. + +He had sailed out like a youth in love about to win his manhood, and he +rowed back as an old man to whom that was a thing unknown. His life +held but one remembrance, and that he had miserably lost, but one spot +in the world had he to turn to, and thither he never dare come again. +In pondering over his own wretchedness, how all this had really come +about, his energy sank as in a morass never to rise again. The boys of +the town, observing his singularity, soon began to tease him, and as he +was an obscure person whom no one rightly knew, either what he lived on +or what he did,--it never occurred to any one to defend him, and soon +he durst no longer go out, at all events, not into the street. His +whole existence became a strife with the boys, who were perhaps of the +same use as gnats in the heat of summer, for without them he would have +sunk down into perpetual drowsiness. + +Nine years after, Gunlaug came to the town, quite as unexpectedly as +she had left it. She had with her a girl of eight years, just like +herself formerly, only finer, and as if veiled by a dream. Gunlaug had +been married, it was said, and having had something left her, had now +come to the town to establish a boarding house for seamen. This she +conducted in such a way, that merchants and skippers came to her to +hire their men, and sailors to get hired; besides, the whole town +ordered fish there. She was called "Fish-Gunlaug," or "Gunlaug on the +Bank"; the appellation "Fisher Girl" passed over to the daughter, who +was everywhere at the head of the boys in the town. + +Her history it is that shall here be related; she had something of her +mother's natural power, and she got opportunity to use it. + + + + + CHAPTER II. + + "SOME OTHER BOYS." + + +The many lovely gardens of the town were fragrant after the rain in +their second and third flowering. The sun had gone down behind the +everlasting snow-capped mountains, the whole heavens there away were +fire and light, and the snow gave a subdued reflection. The nearer +mountains stood in shade, but were lightened by the forests in their +many coloured tints of autumn. The rocky islands, that in the midst of +the fiord followed one after another, just as though rowing to land, +gave in their dense forests a yet more marked display of colours, +because they lay nearer. The sea was perfectly calm, a large vessel was +heaving landward. The people sat upon their wooden doorsteps, half +covered with rose bushes on either side; they spoke to each other from +porch to porch, or stepped across, or they exchanged greetings with +those who were passing towards the long avenue. The tones of a piano +might fall from an open window, otherwise there was scarcely a sound to +be heard between the conversations; the feeling of stillness was +increased by the last ray of sunlight over the sea. + +All at once there rose up such a tumult from the midst of the town as +though it were being stormed. Boys shouted, girls screamed, other boys +hurrahed, old women scolded and ordered, the policeman's great dog +howled, and all the curs of the town replied; they who were in-doors +must go out, out; the noise became so frightful that even the +magistrate himself turned on his door-step, and let fall these words: +"There must be something up." + +"Whatever is that?" assailed the ears of those who stood on the +doorsteps from others who came from the avenue.--"Yes, what can it be!" +they replied.--"Whatever can that be?" they now all of them asked +anyone who was passing from the centre of the town. But as this town +lies in a crescent shape in an easy curve round the bay, it was long +before all at both ends had heard the reply: "It is only the Fisher +Girl." + +This adventurous soul, protected by a mother of whom all stood in awe, +and certain of every sailor's defence, (for, for such they got always a +free dram from the mother,) had, at the head of her army of boys, +attacked a great apple tree in Pedro Ohlsen's orchard. The plan of +attack was as follows: some of the boys should attract Pedro's +attention to the front of the house by clashing the rose bushes against +the window; one should shake the tree, and the others toss the apples +in all directions over the hedge, not to steal them--far from it--but +only to have some fun. This ingenious plan had been laid that same +afternoon behind Pedro's garden; but as fortune would have it, Pedro +was sitting just at the other side of the hedge, and heard every word. +A little before the appointed time, therefore, he got the drunken +policeman of the town and his great dog into the back room, where both +were treated. When the Fisher Girl's curly pate was seen over the plank +fencing, and at the same time a number of small fry tittered from every +corner, Pedro suffered the scamps in front of the house to clash his +rose bushes at their pleasure,--he waited quietly in the back room. And +just as they were all standing round the tree in great stillness, and +the Fisher Girl barefooted, torn, and scratched, was up to shake it, +the side door suddenly flew open and Pedro and the Police rushed out +with sticks, the great dog following. A cry of terror arose from the +lads, while a number of little girls, who in all innocence were playing +at "Last Bat," outside the plank fencing, thinking some one was being +murdered within, began to shriek at the top of their voices; the boys +who had escaped shouted hurrah! those who were yet hanging on the fence +screamed under the play of the sticks, and to make the whole perfect, +some old women rose up out of the depths, as always when lads are +screaming, and screamed with them. Pedro and the policeman, getting +frightened themselves, tried to silence the women; but in the meantime +the boys ran off, the dog, of whom they were most afraid, after them +over the hedge,--for this was something for him--and now they flew like +wild ducks, boys, girls, the dog and screams all over the town. + +All this time the Fisher Girl sat quite still in the tree, thinking +that no one had observed her. Crouched up in the topmost branch, +through the leaves she followed the course of the fray. But when the +policeman had gone out in a rage to the women, and Pedro Ohlsen was +left alone in the garden, he went straight under the tree, looked up +and cried: "Come down with you this minute, you rascal!"--Not a sound +from the tree.--"Will you come down with you, I say! I know you are +there!"--The most perfect stillness.--"I must go in for my gun, and +shoot up, must I?" He made pretence to go.--"Hu-hu-hu-hu!" it answered +in owlish tones, "I am so frightened!"--"Oh to be sure you are! You are +the worst young scamp in the whole lot, but now I have you!"--"Oh dear! +good kind sir, I won't do it any more," at the same time she flung a +rotten apple right on to his nose, and a rich peal of laughter followed +after. The apple caked all over, and while he was wiping it off, she +scrambled down; she was already hanging on the plank fence before he +could come after her, and she could have got over if she had not been +so terrified that he was behind, that she let go instead. But when he +caught her she began to shriek; the shrill and piercing yell she gave +frightened him so that he let go his hold. At her signal of alarm, the +people came flocking outside, and hearing them she gained courage. "Let +me go, or I'll tell mother!" she threatened, her whole face flashing +fire. Then he recognised the face, and cried: "Your mother? Who is your +mother?"--"Gunlaug on the Bank, Fisher Gunlaug," replied the youngster +triumphantly; she saw he was afraid. Being near sighted, Pedro had +never seen the girl before now; he was the only one in the place who +did not know who she was, and he was not even aware that Gunlaug +was in the town. As though possessed, he cried: "What do they call +you?"--"Petra," cried the other still louder.--"Petra!" howled Pedro, +turned and ran into the house as if he had been talking to the devil. +But as the palest fear and the palest wrath resemble each other, she +thought he was rushing in for his gun. She was terror-stricken, and +already she felt the shot in her back, but as, just at this moment, +they had broken the door open from outside, she made her escape; her +dark hair flew behind her like a terror, her eyes shot fire, the dog +which she just met, followed howling, and thus she fell on her mother, +who was coming from the kitchen with a tureen of soup, the girl into +the soup, the soup on the floor, and a "Go to the dogs!" after them +both. But as she laid there in the soup, she cried: "He'll shoot me, +mother, shoot me!"--"Who'll shoot you, you rascal?"--"He, Pedro +Ohlsen?"--"Who?" roared the mother.--"Pedro Ohlsen, we took apples from +him," she never dare say anything but the truth.--"Who are you talking +about, child?"--"About Pedro Ohlsen, he is after me with a great gun, +and he'll shoot me!"--"Pedro Ohlsen!" fumed the mother, and with an +enraged laugh she drew herself up.--The child began to cry and tried to +escape, but the mother sprang over her, her white teeth glistening, and +catching her by the shoulder, she pulled her up.--"Did you tell him who +you were?"--"Yes!" cried the child, but the mother heard not, saw not, +she only asked again twice, three times:--"Did you tell him who you +were?"--"Yes, yes, yes, yes!" and the child held up her hands +entreatingly. Then the mother rose up to her full height:--"So he got +to know!--What did he say?"--"He ran in after a gun to shoot me."--"He +shoot you!" she laughed in the utmost scorn. The child, scared and +bespattered with soup had crept into the chimney corner, she was drying +herself and crying, when the mother came to her again:--"If you go to +him," she said, and took and shook her, "or speak to him, or listen to +him. Heaven have mercy upon both him and you! Tell him so from me! Tell +him so from me!" she repeated threateningly, as the child did not +answer directly, "Yes, yes, yes, yes!" "Tell him so from me!" she +repeated yet once more, but slowly, and nodding at every word as she +went. + +The child washed herself, changed her dress, and sat out on the steps +in her Sunday clothes. But at the thought of the terror she had been +in, she began to sob again.--"What are you crying for, child?" asked a +voice more kindly than any she had heard before. She looked up; before +her stood a fine looking man, with high forehead and spectacles. She +stood up quickly, for it was Hans Odegaard, a young man whom the whole +town revered. "What are you crying for, my child?" She looked at him +and said that she had been going to take some apples from Pedro +Ohlsen's garden, together with "several other boys;" but then Pedro and +the policeman had come, and then--; she remembered that the mother had +made her uncertain about the shooting, so she durst not tell it; but +she gave a deep sigh instead. + +"Is it possible," said he, "that a child of your age could think of +committing so great a sin?" Petra looked at him; she had known well +enough that it was sin, but she had always heard it denounced thus: +"You child of the devil, you black haired wretch!" Now, she felt +ashamed. "That you do not go to school and learn God's commandment to +us of what is good and evil!" She stood stroking her frock and +answered, that mother did not wish her to go to school.--"Perhaps you +cannot even read?" Yes, she could read. He took up a little book and +gave her. She looked in it, then turned it round to look at the +outside: "I cannot read such small print," she said. But she was +obliged to try, and she felt herself utterly stupid; her eyes and mouth +hung, all her limbs collapsed: "G-o-d, God the L-o-r-d, God the Lord +s-a-i-d, God the Lord said to M-M-M--"--"Dear me! Why you cannot even +read this! And a child of ten or twelve years? Would you not like to +learn to read?" By degrees she drawled out, that she would like it. +"Then come with me, we must begin at once." She rose, but only to look +in the house. "Yes, tell your mother," he said. The mother was just +passing, and seeing the child talking to a stranger, she came out upon +the doorstep. "He will teach me to read," said the child doubtfully, +with eyes fixed on the mother, who did not answer, but stood with +her arms on her side looking at Odegaard.--"Your child is an ignorant +one," he said, "you cannot answer to God or man, to let her go as she +does."--"Who are you?" asked Gunlaug sharply.--"Hans Odegaard, your +pastor's son." Her brow lightened a little, she had heard him highly +spoken of. He began again: "During the time I have been at home, +I have noticed this child, and to-day I have been again reminded +of her. She must not any longer be brought up only to that which +is useless."--What's that to you? the mother's face distinctly +expressed. Then he asked her quietly: "But you mean her to learn +something?"--"No."--He blushed slightly. "Why not?"--"People who have +learning are perhaps the better for it?" She had had but one experience +and this she held fast.--"I am astonished that any one can ask such a +thing!"--"Ah, but, I know they are not;" she went down the steps +to put an end to this nonsense. But he stepped in front of her: +"Here is a duty which you SHALL NOT pass by. You are a thoughtless +mother."--Gunlaug measured him from top to toe: "Who told you what I +am?" she said as she passed by him.--"You have just now done it +yourself, for otherwise you must have seen that the child is on the way +to be ruined."--Gunlaug turned, and her eye met his; she saw he meant +what he had said and she grew afraid. She had only had to do with +seamen and tradespeople; such language she had never heard before. +"What will you do with my child?" she asked.--"Teach her the things +belonging to her soul's salvation, and then see what she must be."--"My +child shall not be other than that I will she shall be."--"Yes she +shall; she shall be what God wills."--Gunlaug was silenced: "What is +that to say?" she said and came nearer.--"It is, that she must learn +what she is capable of by her natural abilities, for therefore has +God given them."--Gunlaug now drew quite near. "Then must not I direct +her, I, who am her mother?" she asked, as if she really wished to +learn.--"That you must, but you must respect the advice of those who +know better; you must listen to the will of God."--Gunlaug stood still +a moment. "But if she learnt too much," she said; "a poor man's child!" +she added and looked tenderly at her daughter.--"If she learns too much +for her station, she has thereby reached a higher one."--She quickly +saw his meaning, and said as if to herself, while she looked more and +more anxiously at the child: "But this is dangerous."--"The question is +not about that, he said mildly, but about what is right."--Her deep +eyes took a strange expression; she looked again piercingly at him; but +there lay so much of truth in his voice, words, countenance, that +Gunlaug felt herself defeated. She went across to the child, laid her +hand on her head, and could not speak. + +"I shall read with her until she is confirmed," he said as if to help +her; "I wish to take this child in hand."--"And you will take her away +from me?"--He hesitated and looked at her inquiringly.--"You must +understand it better than I," she struggled to say; "but if it was not +that you named our Lord,"--she stopped; she had smoothed her daughter's +hair, and now she took a handkerchief and tied round her neck. She did +not say in any other way that the child should go with him, and she +hastened back into the house as if she wished not to see it. + +This behaviour made him feel suddenly anxious at that which in his +youthful ardour he had taken upon himself. The child, too, was afraid +of the one who for the first time had overcome her mother, and so with +this natural fear they went to their first lesson. + +From day to day, however, it seemed to him that she grew in wisdom and +knowledge, and at times his conversation with her, assumed of +themselves quite a peculiar tone. He often drew her attention to +characters in sacred and profane history in pointing out the CALLING +that God had given them. He would dwell upon Saul who was leading a +wild roving life, and upon a lad like David who was tending his +father's sheep, until Samuel came and laid the hand of the Lord upon +them. But the greatest calling of all, was when the Lord himself was +upon earth, when he stopped at the fishing village, and called, and the +poor fishermen arose and went--to poverty, as to death, but always +joyfully; for the feeling of a call carries through all adversities. + +These thoughts followed her so, that at last she could bear these +things no longer, and asked him about her own calling. He looked at her +till she blushed, then answered her that we must reach our calling +through work; it may be modest and simple, but it is there for all. +Then she was seized with an eager zeal; it made her work with the power +of a grown person, it upset her play, she grew quite thin. She got +romantic longings; she would cut her hair, clothe herself like a boy, +and go out to battle. But as her teacher said one day that her hair was +beautiful if only it was nicely kept, she began to think much of it, +and for the sake of her long hair she sacrificed the name of a hero. + +Afterwards it was more to her than before to be a girl, and her studies +went quietly on, canopied by changing dreams. + + + + + CHAPTER III. + + READY FOR CONFIRMATION. + + +Hans Odegaard had gone out as a young man from the hamlet of Odegaard +in Bergen's shire; people had taken to him, and he was now a learned +man and a strict preacher. He was besides an influential man, not so +much in words as in deeds; for, as it was said, he "never forgot." This +man who by perseverance pushed everything through, was however stopped +in a way that he least expected, and where it was most painful. + +He had three daughters and one son. Hans, the son, was the light of the +school, and it was his father's daily pleasure to prepare him himself. +Hans had a friend whom he helped to get the second place, and who +therefore, save his mother, loved him more than all the world. They +went together to school and to the university; they passed the two +first examinations together, and were then to study for the same +profession. One day as they were going joyfully down stairs after their +studies, Hans, in an outburst of high spirits and glee, threw himself +upon his companion's back, thereby causing him a fall, which some days +later ended in his death. When dying he begged his mother, who was a +widow, and now lost her only son, to fulfil his last request and take +Hans up in his place. Almost immediately after the mother died, but her +very considerable fortune was left to Hans Odegaard. + +It was years before Hans could recover himself after this. A long tour +on the continent so far restored him, that he could resume his +theological studies; but on his return home, he could not be persuaded +to make use of his examinations. + +The father's greatest hope had been to see him as his assistant in the +ministry, but he could not now be persuaded to enter the pulpit a +single time; he gave always the same reply: "he felt no calling:" this +was so bitter a disappointment to the father, that it made him several +years older. He had commenced late in life, and was already an old man; +he had worked hard, and always with this end in view. Now the son +occupied the largest part of the house, handsomely furnished, while +down below in his little study, by the lamp that lightened the night of +age, sat the hard-working old father. + +After this disappointment, he neither could nor would take other help, +neither would he give in to his son, and relinquish altogether; +therefore, summer or winter, he knew no rest; but each year the son +took a longer tour abroad. When he was at home he associated with no +one, except that in silence, greater or less, he dined at his father's +table. If any began to converse with him, they were met by a superior +clearness and earnestness for the truth, that made them always feel the +conversation a little embarrassing. He never went to church, but he +gave more than half his income to benevolent objects, and always with +the most express injunctions as to its appropriation. + +This beneficence was so different in its scale from the narrow customs +of the little town that it won the hearts of all. Add to this, his +reserve, his frequent journey abroad, the hesitation all felt in +conversing with him, and one can easily understand that he was regarded +as a mysterious being to which each added all possible qualities, and +his own best judgment. Therefore when he condescended to take the +Fisher Girl under his daily care, she was ennobled by it. + +Every one, especially women, seemed anxious to show her some favour. +One day she came to him clad in all the colours of the rainbow; she had +put on her presents, thinking she would now be really to his taste, as +he always wished her to be neat. But he had scarcely glanced at her, +before he forbade her ever to receive presents; he called her vain, +foolish: her aims were shallow, she took pleasure in folly. + +When she came next morning, with eyes that told a tale of weeping, he +took her with him a walk above the town. He told her about David in +such a manner that he took now this, now that incident, and made the +well-known story anew. First, he depicted him in his youth, beautiful +and rich in talent, and in child-like faith; how, while yet a boy, he +came with the triumphal procession. From a shepherd he was called to be +king, he dwelt in caves, but ended in building Jerusalem. When Saul was +ill, he came beautifully attired, and played and sang before him, but +when as king he himself was ill, he played and sang clad in the garb of +repentance. When he had achieved his great works, he took rest in sin, +then came the prophet and punishment, and he became a child again. +David, who could call the people of God to songs of praise, lay +contrite at the feet of the Lord. Was he most beautiful, when crowned +with victory he danced before the ark to his own songs, or when in his +private closet he begged for mercy from the punishing hand? + +The night after this conversation Petra had a dream, which all her life +she never forgot. She sat upon a white horse and came in triumphal +procession, but, at the same time, in front of the horse, she saw +herself dancing in rags. + +One evening some time after this, as she was sitting at the edge of the +forest above the town learning her lessons, Pedro Ohlsen, who since +that day in the garden had approached gradually nearer, passed close +by, and, with a singular smile, whispered: "Good evening!" Though more +than a year had passed by, her mother's injunction not to speak to him +was so strongly before her that she did not answer. But day after day +he went by in the same way, and always with the same greeting; at last +she missed him, when he did not come. Soon he asked a little question +in passing, by-and-bye it increased to two, and at last it was quite a +conversation. After such one day, he let a silver dollar slip down into +her lap, and then hastened away in delight. Now, if it was against the +mother's commands to talk to Pedro Ohlsen, it was against Odegaard's to +take gifts from any one. The first prohibition she had little by little +overstepped, but it came to her mind now, when it had led to her also +overstepping the second. To get rid of the money she got hold of some +one to treat; but, in spite of their best endeavours, they could not +eat more than the worth of four marks; and afterwards it troubled her +that she had misspent the dollar instead of giving it back. The mark +that still lay in her pocket felt so hot that it might have burned a +hole in her clothes; she took it and threw it into the sea. But she was +not rid of the dollar thereby; her thoughts were burnt by it. She felt +that, if she confessed, it might pass over, but her mother's fearful +rage before, and Odegaard's good faith in her, were each, in its own +way, alike alarming. Whilst the mother said nothing, Odegaard quickly +observed that there was something which made her unhappy. + +One day he asked her tenderly what it was, and, as instead of +answering, she burst into tears, he thought they must be in want at +home and gave her ten specie dollars. It made a strong impression on +her that, although she had sinned against him, he yet gave her money, +and as into the bargain she could now give this openly to her mother, +she felt herself freed from her guilt, and gave herself up to the +greatest joy. She took his hand in both of hers, she thanked him, she +laughed, she jumped about, and smiled in ecstacy through her tears, as +she looked at him something in the way that a dog regards his master +when going out. He did not know her again; she who always sat wrapt in +what he was saying, now took all power from him; for the first time he +felt a strong, wild nature heaving within him, for the first time the +well of life sent her red streams over him, and he drew back all +crimson. Meanwhile Petra went out to run home over the hills behind the +town. Once there, she laid the money on the baking-stone before her +mother, throwing her arms round her neck. "Who has been giving you +money?" said the mother, vexed already.--"Odegaard, mother, he is +the greatest man upon earth."--"What am I to do with it?"--"I don't +know--heavens! mother, if you knew"--and she again threw her arms round +her neck; she could and she would now tell her all, but the mother +released herself impatiently: "Will you have me to take alms? Take the +money back at once. If you have made him believe I am in want, you have +lied!"--"But, mother?"--"Take the money to him, I say, or I shall go +myself and throw them at him, HIM who has taken my child from me!" The +mother's lips trembled after the last words. Petra turned back very +pale. She opened the door softly and glided out of the house. Before +she knew what she was about the ten specie notes were torn to pieces in +her fingers. When she found what she had done, she burst out in an +invective against the mother. But Odegaard must know nothing about it, +yes, he should know all! for to him she must not lie. A moment after +and she stood in his house, and told him that her mother would not take +the money, and that in her vexation at having to bring it back, she had +torn the notes in two. She would have told him more, but he received +her coldly, and told her to go home with the admonition to shew her +mother obedience, even where it felt hard to do so. This, however, +seemed strange to her, as she knew so much, that he did not do what the +father most desired! On her way home she was quite overcome, and just +then she met Pedro Ohlsen. She had shunned him all this time, and would +have done the same now, for from him came all this unhappiness, but he +followed her, and asked her, "Where have you been, has anything +happened to you?" The waves of her mind rose so high that they cast her +whithersoever they would, and, as she thought it over, she could not +understand why the mother should forbid her to have anything to do with +him; it could be only a fancy, the one as well as the other. "Do you +know what I have done?" he said, almost humbly, when she had stopped "I +have bought a sailing boat for you. I thought you might like to have a +sail," and he laughed. His kindness, which resembled a poor man's +entreaty, could touch her now; she nodded; he was in a great hurry and +whispered eagerly that she must go through the town, and down the +avenue to the right, till she came to the great yellow boat-house, +behind which he would come and fetch her; no one could see them there. +She went, and he came and took her in. They sailed along for some time +in the light breeze, then made for a rocky island, where they moored +the boat and got out. He had brought some nice things for her to eat, +and he took out his flute and played. In seeing his pleasure she forgot +her sorrows for a time, and the joy of weak people having a tendering +influence, she became attached to him. + +After this day she had a new and continual secret from her mother, and +soon this had the effect of keeping everything from her. Gunlaug made +no inquiries, she believed everything till she doubted all. + +But now Petra had also a secret from Odegaard, for she accepted many +gifts from Pedro Ohlsen; he likewise made no inquiries, but the lessons +were day by day conducted in a more distant manner. Petra was now +divided amongst three; she never spoke to any one of them about the +others, and she had something to hide from each in particular. + +Under all this she had grown up without being aware of it herself, and +one day Odegaard communicated to her that she must now be confirmed. + +This intimation filled her with uneasiness, for she knew that with the +confirmation her lessons were to cease, and what would then become of +her? The mother was having an attic chamber made for her, that after +the confirmation she might have a room of her own, and the constant +knocking and hammering was a painful reminder. Odegaard observed that +she grew more and more quiet, sometimes he saw also that she had been +weeping. Under these circumstances the religious instruction made a +great impression on her, although Odegaard with great care avoided all +that might excite or move her. For this reason a fortnight before the +confirmation, he gave up the lessons with the short intimation that +this was the last time. By this he meant the last with him; for he +would certainly watch over her still, though through others. She, +however, remained seated where she was, the blood left her veins, her +eyes remained fixed, and involuntarily moved, he hastened to give a +reason: "It is not all young girls that are grown up at their +confirmation; but you must be aware that it is so with you." If she had +stood in the glare of a great fire, she could not have been more fiery +red than she became at these words; her bosom heaved, her eyes took a +vague expression and filled with tears, and driven further he hastened +to say: "We may perhaps still go on?" He did not until after realise +what he had proposed; he was wrong, he must retract it; but her eyes +were already lifted towards him. She did not answer "yes" with her +lips, but more plainly it could not be said. To excuse himself in his +own eyes, by finding a pretext, he asked: "There will be something you +would especially like to do now, something you--" he bent down towards +her--"feel a calling to, Petra?"--"No," she replied so quickly that he +coloured, and as if chilled, fell back into the considerations which +for years had occupied his mind; her unexpected reply had recalled +them. + +That she was possessed of some peculiar qualities, he had never doubted +from the time she was a child, and he saw her march singing at the head +of the street boys; but the longer he taught her, the less he felt to +understand her talent. It was present in every movement; what she +thought, what she wished, mind and body simultaneously made known in +the fulness of power, and the light of beauty, but put in words, and +especially in writing, it is only child-like simplicity. She appeared +all imagination, but he perceived in it especially a feeling of unrest. +She was very earnest, but she read more to go on than to learn; what +could be on the other side occupied her most. She had religious +feeling, but as the pastor expressed it, "no turn for a religious +life," and Odegaard was often anxious about her. Now that he was at the +closing point, his thoughts involuntarily reverted to the stone step +where he had received her; he heard the mother's sharp voice leaving +the responsibility with him, because he had used the name of Our Lord. +After pacing a few times up and down he collected himself: "I am going +abroad, now," he said with a certain shyness, "I have asked my sister +to care for you in my absence, and when I return we will try again. +Farewell! We shall meet again before I go!" he went so quickly into the +next room, that she could not even shake hands with him. + +She saw him again where she had least expected it, in the pastor's pew +beside the choir, just in front of her as she stepped forth with the +others to be confirmed. This so affected her, that her thoughts flew +far away from the holy act, for which, in humility and prayer, she had +prepared herself. Yes, if that was Odegaard's old father, he stopped +and looked long at his son, as he stepped forth to begin. Soon Petra +was once more to be startled in church, for a little below sat Pedro +Ohlsen in prim new clothes; he was just stretching his neck to catch a +glimpse of her over the heads of the boys; he soon bobbed down, but she +saw him repeatedly stick up his thin-haired head to bob again. This +distracted her, she did not wish to look, but she did look, and +there,--just as the others were all deeply moved, many in tears,--she +was terrified to see him rise up with stiff open mouth and transfixed +eyes, without power to sit down or move, for opposite him, stretched to +her full height, stood Gunlaug; Petra shuddered to see her, she was +white as the altar cloth. Her black crimpy hair seemed to rise up, +while her eyes got suddenly a repulsive power, as though they said: +"Away from her, what have you to do with her?" Under this look he sank +down upon the form, and a minute after stole out of church. + +After this Petra felt composed, and the further the rite proceeded the +more fully she entered into it. And when, after having given her +promise, she turned round and looked through her tears at Odegaard, as +the one who stood nearest to her good intentions, she resolved in her +heart that she would not put his hopes to shame. The steadfast eye that +looked expressively in return seemed to entreat her for the same, but +when she had taken her place and would find him again, he was gone. She +soon went home with her mother, who on the way let fall these words: "I +have done my part;--now may Our Lord do His!" + +When they had dined together, they two alone, the mother said as she +rose: "Now we may as well go to him,--the pastor's son. Though I don't +know what it will lead to that he does, he surely means it well. Put on +your things again, child!" + +The road to church which they two had so often trodden, lay above the +town, but through the street they had never before walked together; +indeed the mother had scarcely been there since she had come back to +the place, but she would now go the whole length with her grown up +daughter! + +On the afternoon of a confirmation Sunday, such a little town is all on +the move, either going from house to house to congratulate, or in the +street to see and to be seen; there is a salutation and halting at +every step, a shaking of hands, and interchanging of good wishes: the +poor children appear in the cast-off clothes of the rich, and are +paraded forth to return their thanks. The sailors in their foreign +pageantry, with the hat upon three hairs; and the fops, the merchants, +clerks, walked in groups, bowing to all as they passed. The half-grown +up lads of the Latin school, each arm in arm with his best friend in +the world, sauntered after in rash criticism; but to-day every one in +his own mind must yield the palm to the lion of the place, the young +merchant, the wealthiest man in the town, Yngve Vold, just returned +from Spain, all in trim to take charge on the morrow of his mother's +extensive fish trade. With a light hat over his light hair, he strolled +through the streets; every one bade him welcome, he spoke to all, +smiled to all; so the young people who had just been confirmed were +almost forgotten;--backwards and forwards one might see the light hat +over the light hair, and hear the light laughter. When Petra and her +mother entered the street, he was the first they stumbled upon, and as +if they had in reality stumbled against him, he started back before +Petra, whom he did not recognise. + +She had grown tall, not as tall as the mother but above the average +height, easy, elegant, and fearless, the mother and not the mother +inconstant interchange. The young merchant, who walked along behind +them, could no longer attract the attention of the passers-by; the two, +mother and daughter, were a more striking sight. They walked quickly, +without noticing any one, for they were seldom greeted except by +seamen; they soon returned more quickly still, for they had heard that +Odegaard had just left home for the steamer and would soon be gone. +Petra was in great haste; she must, she must indeed see him and thank +him before he went; it was wrong of him to leave her thus! She saw none +of all those who were looking at her; it was the smoke from the steamer +she saw over the roofs of the houses, and it seemed to be getting +further away. When they came to the quay, the boat had just left, and, +with sobs in her throat, she hastened further up the walk; indeed she +more sprang than walked, and the mother strode after. As the steamer +had taken some minutes to turn in the harbour, she was just in time to +spring down on the wharf, get up on a stone, and wave her pocket +handkerchief. The mother remained on the walk, and would not go down; +Petra waved--waved higher and higher, but there was no one who waved +again. + +Then she could bear it no longer; she could not restrain her tears, and +was obliged to return home by the higher path; the mother followed, but +in silence. The attic which her mother had prepared for her, and where +she had slept for the first time the night before, and had that morning +put on her new dress with so much delight, now received her bathed in +tears, and without so much as a glance around; she would not go down +where the seamen and others were sitting;--she took off her +confirmation dress and sat on the bed till night came; to be grown up +seemed to her the most unhappy thing that could be. + + + + + CHAPTER IV. + + ONE AND ANOTHER. + + +One day after the Confirmation Petra went over to Odegaard's sisters, +but she soon saw that this must have been a mistake on his part, for +the pastor went by as though he never saw her, and the daughters, both +older than Odegaard, received her stiffly. They satisfied themselves +with giving a bare account from their brother of what she was now to +do. The whole of the forenoon she was to be engaged in household duties +at a house in the suburbs of the town, and in the afternoon to go to +the sewing school; she was to sleep at home, and take breakfast and +supper there. + +She acted according to this arrangement, and found it agreeable enough +as long as it was new, but afterwards, and especially when summer came, +she began to get tired of it, for she had been accustomed in summer to +sit up in the forest the whole day long, and had read in her books, +which from the depths of her heart she now missed, as she missed +Odegaard, as she missed conversation. The consequence was that at last +she took it where it was to be found. About this time a young girl +entered the sewing school, called Lise Let, i.e. Lise, but not Let; for +that was the name of a young cadet, who had been at home one Christmas, +and betrothed himself to her on the ice, while she was only a child at +school. Lise vowed it was not true, and cried if any one named it; +nevertheless, she went by the name of Lise Let. The little, active Lise +Let often laughed and often cried; but, whether she laughed or cried, +she thought about love. A perfect swarm of new and curious thoughts +soon filled the school; if a hand was reached out for the scissors, it +was to go a courting, and the scissors said, yes, or gave a refusal. +The needle was bethrothed to the thread, and the thread sacrificed +herself stitch by stitch to the heartless tyrant; she who pricked her +finger, shed her heart's blood, and to change needles was to be +unfaithful. If two of the girls whispered together, it was about +something remarkable that had happened to them; soon two more began to +whisper, and then two again; each one had her confidant, and there were +a thousand secrets: it was impossible to stand it. + +One afternoon at dusk, in a fine drizzling rain, Petra, with a large +handkerchief over her head, stood outside her mother's house, and +peeped into the passage, where a young sailor was standing, whistling a +waltz. She held the handkerchief together with both her hands tight +under her chin, so that only her eyes and nose could be seen, but the +sailor saw she was winking at him, and he went quickly out where she +stood. "I say, Gunnar, will you go a walk?"--"But it rains!"--"Tut, is +that anything!" and so they went to a small house higher up the +mountain. "Buy me a few cakes,--those with the icing!"--"You are always +wanting cakes."--"With the icing!" He came out again with them; she +stuck one hand out from under the handkerchief, took them in, and went +on again, eating as she went. When they had got just above the town, +she said as she gave him the cake: "I say now, Gunnar! we have always +thought so much of each other, we two; I have always liked you better +than any other boys! You don't believe it? But I assure you, Gunnar! +And now you are second mate and can soon take a ship; it seems to me +you should get engaged Gunnar! Dear, why don't you eat the cake?"--"I +have begun to chew tobacco."--"Well, what do you say?"--"Oh! +there's no hurry for that!"--"No hurry? And you go away day after +to-morrow?"--"Yes, but am I not coming back again?"--"But it isn't +certain that I shall have time then, and you don't know where I shall +be either,"--"It should be to you, then?"--"Yes, Gunnar, you might have +understood that, but you were always slow, that was why you were only a +sailor, too."--"Oh! I'm not sorry for that, it's quite nice to be a +sailor."--"Yes, to be sure,--your mother has ships. But what do you say +now? You are so dull!"--"Yes, what shall I say?"--"What shall you say? +Ha-ha-ha, perhaps you won't have me!"--"Ah! Petra, you know quite well +I will; but I don't think I can trust you."--"Yes, Gunnar, I shall be +as true, as true!"--He stood a minute still; "Let me see your face, +Petra!"--"What for that?"--"I want to see if you really mean it."--"Do +you think I go and trifle with you, Gunnar?" She was vexed and lifted +the handkerchief.--"Well, Petra, if it is to be right regular earnest, +then give me a kiss upon it, for one knows what that means."--"Have you +lost your wits?" She drew the handkerchief over, and went on.--"Stay +Petra, stay! You don't understand.--If we are engaged--" "Oh! nonsense +with you!"--"Yes, but I know what is customary, and as far as +experience goes, I beat you hollow. Remember all that I have +seen."--"Yes, you've seen all like a simpleton, and you talk as you've +seen."--"What do you mean by being engaged, then, Petra? I may surely +ask about that! There's no meaning in running up and down hill after +each other!"--"No, that's true enough." She laughed, and stopped. "But +listen now, Gunnar! While we stand here and puff--huf!--I'll tell you +how lovers do. Every evening as long as you are here, you must wait +outside the sewing school and go home with me to the door, and if I am +out anywhere else, you must wait in the street till I come. And when +you go away, you must write to me, and buy things to send me. To be +sure: we must exchange rings, with your name in one and mine in the +other, and then the year and the day; but I have no money, so you must +buy them both."--"Yes, I'll do that; but--" "Now, what about 'but' +again?"--"Good heavens! I only meant I must have the measure of your +finger."--"Yes, that you shall have directly;" and she picked up a +straw and bit off the measure: "Now don't lose it!" He wrapped it +in paper, and put it in his pocket book; she watched him till the +pocket book was hidden again. "Let us go now, I'm tired of standing +here."--"But, I must say I think it rather flat, Petra!"--"Very well, +if you won't, it's all the same to me!"--"Certainly I will, it's not +that; but shan't I even so much as get hold of your hand!"--"What for +that?"--"As a sign that we're really engaged."--"Such nonsense, does +that make it more certain? You can have my hand, anyhow; here it is! No +thank you, no squeezing, sir!"--She drew her head within the +handkerchief again, then suddenly she lifted the handkerchief with both +hands, and her face came full into view. "If you tell any one, Gunnar, +I shall say it is not true, so you know!" She laughed, and went on down +the hill. A little after, she stopped, and said: "The sewing school +will be over to-morrow at nine, so you can go and stand at the foot of +the garden."--"Very well."--"Yes, but now you must go!"--"Won't you, +then, even give me your hand at parting?"--"I don't know what you are +always wanting with my hand,--no, you won't get it now. Good bye!" she +cried, and away she sprang. + +Next evening she arranged it so, that she was the last at the sewing +school. It was nearly ten when she left, but when she had passed +through the garden, Gunnar was not there. She had imagined all sorts of +misfortunes, but not this; she was so much offended, that she waited, +merely to give it him in earnest, when at last he did come. Besides she +had good company as she walked up and down; for the merchants' singing +club had just begun to practise with open windows, in a house near by, +and a Spanish song, that mild evening, lured her thoughts till she was +in Spain, and heard her praises sung from the open balcony. Spain was +her great longing, for every summer came the dark Spanish ships into +the harbour, the Spanish songs into the streets, and upon Odegaard's +walls, hung a row of pictures from Spain; perhaps he was there again +now, and she was with him! But in the same minute she was called home +again, for there, behind the apple tree, was Gunnar coming at last; she +rushed towards--not Gunnar, but the one returned from Spain, the light +hat over the light hair. "Ha, ha, ha, ha," laughed the light laughter, +"so you take me for another?" She denied it eagerly, hastily, and began +to run in her vexation, but he ran after, talking incessantly whilst he +ran very quickly, and with that mixed accent that people get when they +use several languages. "Yes, I can easily keep you company, for I'm a +capital runner,--it won't help you,--I must speak to you,--it is too +quiet here, people are dead, but you are not dead, I can see. I must +speak to you; I am here for the eighth evening."--"For the eighth +evening!"--"The eighth evening; ha, ha, ha, I would gladly go for eight +more, for we two suit each other, don't we? It's no use, I shan't let +you slip, for now you are tired, I can see."--"No, I'm not."--"Yes, you +are."--"No, I'm not."--"Yes, you are! Talk, then, if you are not +tired!"--"Ha, ha, ha!"--"Ha, ha, ha, ha! Yes, that's not to talk," and +so they stopped. They exchanged a few witty words, half in jest, and +half in earnest; then he began to speak in praise of Spain, and one +picture followed another, till he ended in cursing the little town at +their feet. The first, Petra followed with beaming eyes; the second +tingled in her ears, while her eyes moved up and down over a gold chain +that hung twice round his neck. "Yes, this," he said hastily, and drew +out the end of the chain, to which a gold cross was fastened, "see, I +took it with me to-night, to show at the singing club; it is from +Spain. You shall hear its history." Then he related: "When I was in the +south of Spain, I was present at a shooting match, and won this prize; +it was handed to me at the festival with these words: 'Take this with +you to Norway and give it to the most beautiful woman in your country, +with the respectful homage of Spanish Cavaliers.' Then followed shouts, +and processions, the waving of banners and the clapping of cavaliers, +and I received the gift."--"No, how splendid! Tell more, more!" broke +in Petra, for her imagination already pictured the Spanish feast, with +the Spanish colours and songs, and the dusky Spaniards, standing under +the vines in the evening sunlight, sending their thoughts to the most +beautiful woman in the land of snow. He did as she requested; he +increased her longing with new recitals, and, as if transported to that +wonderful land, she began humming the Spanish song she had just heard, +and, little by little, to move her feet to its time. "What! You can +dance the Spanish dance?" he cried.--"Yes, yes--yes!" she sang in +dancing time, snapping her fingers to imitate the castanets, and making +some rapid steps upon the spot where she stood, for she had seen the +Spanish sailors dance!--"You shall have the gift of the Spanish +Cavaliers," cried he, in ecstacy, "you are the most beautiful woman I +have met." He had taken the gold chain from his own neck, and had +lightly thrown it once or twice round hers before she came to +understand it. But, when she understood it, she was suffused with the +deep scarlet, peculiarly her own, and the tears were about to burst +forth, so that he, falling from one surprise into another, did not know +what more to do, but felt that he ought to go, and went. + +At twelve o'clock with the chain in her hand, she still stood at the +open window of her little room. The summer night lay gently over town +and fiord and distant mountains; from the street the Spanish song +sounded again, for the club had gone home with young Yngve Vold. Word +for word it could be heard, about a beautiful wreath. Two voices only +sang the words, the rest hummed the guitar accompaniment. + + + Take up the wreath, dearest, it is for thee, + Take up the wreath, dearest, thinking of me; + Here is the rarest + Of grass for the fairest, + Here is the whitest + Of flowers for the brightest. + Here is a swelling + Bud for the lovely one, + Here is a telling + Leaf for the faithful one. + Take up the wreath, dearest, it is for thee, + Take up the wreath, dearest, thinking of me! + + +When she awoke in the morning she had been in a forest where the sun +shone in on every side, where all the trees were those they called +"golden rain," their long yellow tassels hanging down and almost +touching her as she passed. Soon she remembered the chain, she took it +and hung it over; then she put a black handkerchief over the white, and +the chain over that, as it showed better upon black. She sat up in bed +and kept looking at herself in a little hand mirror; was she indeed so +beautiful? She stood up to do her hair and then look at herself again, +but remembering that her mother knew nothing about it, she hastened to +go down and tell her. Just as she was ready, and was about to hang the +chain round her neck, it occurred to her what her mother would say, +what everybody would say, and what she should answer when they asked +her why she wore such a costly chain. The question being a very +reasonable one, it returned again and again, till at last she drew +forth a little box in which she laid the chain, put the box in her +pocket, and, for the first time in her life, felt herself poor. + +She did not go where she ought to have done that forenoon; for above +the town, near the spot where she had got the chain, she sat with it in +her hand, with a feeling as if she had stolen it. + +That night, at the foot of the garden, she waited still longer for +Yngve Vold than she had done the foregoing evening for Gunnar: she +wanted to give him the chain back. But as the ship that Gunnar was +going with, had the day before unexpectedly weighed anchor, because it +had got a splendid cargo in the next town, so Yngve Vold, the owner of +the vessel had to set out to-day on the same errand; he had other +business to transact at the same time, therefore he was away three +weeks. + +In these three weeks, the chain was gradually transferred from her +pocket to a drawer in the closet, and from there again to an envelope, +and the envelope to a secret corner; and during the time she herself +made one humiliating discovery after another. For the first time she +became aware of the distance that separated her from the ladies of the +higher classes; they could have worn the chain without any one asking +the why and the wherefore. But to one of these, Yngve Vold would not +have ventured to offer the chain without, at the same time, offering +his hand; it was only with the Fisher Girl he could do that. But if he +wished to give her anything, why then not something she could have some +use for; he had meant to scorn her so much the more, by giving her what +she could never use. The story of "the most beautiful" must have been a +fable; for had the chain been given her on that afternoon, he would +never have come in secret, and at night time. Vexation and shame gnawed +themselves so much the deeper in, as she had ceased to confide in any +one. No wonder, then, that the first time she met him again, him in +whom centred all these vexatious and shame-filling thoughts, she should +blush so deeply that he misinterpreted it, and when she saw that, blush +deeper still. + +She turned her steps quickly home again, snatched up the chain, and, +although it was scarcely light, she seated herself above the town to +wait for him; now he should get it back! She felt sure he would come, +because he also had blushed at seeing her, and he had been away the +whole time. But soon these same thoughts began to tell in his favour; +he would not have blushed if he had been indifferent to her; he would +have come before if he had been at home. It began to get rather dusk; +for in these three weeks the days had shortened quickly. But at +nightfall our thoughts often change. She sat close above the road among +the trees; she could see without being seen. When she had been there +some time, and he did not come, conflicting thoughts began to rise; she +listened now in anger, now in fear; she could hear every one who came, +long before she saw them, but it was never him. The little birds that +half asleep changed their perches among the leaves, could frighten her, +she sat so breathlessly; every sound from the town, every noise took +her attention. A large vessel was weighing anchor, and the sailors were +singing; it would be tugged out in the night, to get the good of the +first morning breeze. She longed to go too, out upon the great sea. She +caught up the song, the clinging stroke of the capstan gave raising +power, whereto, whence? There stood the light hat upon the road just in +front of her, she sprang up with a shriek, and frightened at what she +had done, she ran, and in running she remembered she ought not to have +done so; it was one mistake upon another, so she ran with all her +might. But shame and agitation overpowered her, he was just behind, and +she cast herself down among the trees. When he got up to her, she +breathed so heavily that he could hear every breath, and the same power +that in her intrepidity she had exercised over him last time they met, +she still possessed as she lay there in an agony of fear; he bent over +her, and whispered "Do not fear!" + +But she trembled still more. Then he kneeled down beside her and took +her hand, but slowly, for he himself was afraid. At the first touch of +his hand she sprang up as if burnt with fire--and off again--whilst he +remained standing. + +She did not run far, for she had not power, her temples throbbed, her +bosom heaved, she pressed her hands against it, and listened. She heard +a step in the grass, a cracking among the leaves,--he was coming, and +straight towards her. He saw her? No, he did not see,--Yes, good +heavens, he saw!... no, he went by--Then she sank down weak and +exhausted. + +After a long time she got up and began to go slowly down the mountain, +then stopped and went on again, as though without any aim. On reaching +the road, there he was waiting for her; she had been walking as if in a +fog and had not observed him before. He rose; a slight cry escaped her, +but she did not stir, she merely put her hands before her eyes and +wept. Then he whispered again: "I see you love me!--I love you!--You +shall be mine!--You don't answer?--You cannot!--But trust me, for from +this hour you are mine!--Good night!" and he gently touched her +shoulder. + +She started, as before a sudden flash of lightning,--a shade of anxiety +passed over, but it lightened again; this was indeed a marvel. + +As fully as Yngve Vold had occupied her thoughts during the last three +weeks, she was now turned round. He was the wealthiest man in the +place, and of the oldest family; he would raise her up to him +regardless of all considerations. This was something so different from +her thoughts during all this time of vexation and suffering, that it +might well begin to make her happy! And she grew happier and happier as +she realized her new position. She felt herself every one's equal, and +all her longings were about to be fulfilled. She saw Yngve Vold's +finest vessel bedecked as the flag-ship on her wedding day, and, amid +the salute of the minute gun, and fireworks, take them on board to bear +them to Spain, where the wedding sun was glowing. + +When Petra awoke next day, the girl came up to tell her it was +half-past eleven o'clock; she felt ravenously hungry, eat her breakfast +and wanted more,--complained of headache and weariness, and soon fell +asleep again; on awaking about three in the afternoon, she felt quite +well. The mother came up and said she had undoubtedly slept away an +illness, for she used to do so herself; but now she must get up and go +to the sewing school. Petra was sitting upright in bed, and leaned her +head upon her arm; without getting up she answered that she was not +going to the sewing school any more. The mother thought she must be +still a little dazed, and went down to get a parcel and a letter that a +sailor boy had brought. There were the gifts already! As soon as she +was alone, Petra, who had laid down again, got up in haste and opened +the parcel with a certain solemnity; it contained a pair of French +shoes; a little disappointed she was putting them aside, when she felt +them heavy in the toes; she put her hand into one of them and drew +forth a small parcel folded in fine paper; it was a gold bracelet; in +the other was also a parcel, carefully wrapped up; a pair of French +gloves,--and in the right hand she found a scrap of paper containing +two plain gold rings. "Already!" thought Petra, her heart beat as she +looked for the inscription, and read in the one, sure enough: "Petra," +with the date, and in the other: "Gunnar." She turned pale, threw the +rings and all the rest on the floor as though she had burnt herself, +and hastily opened the letter. It was dated "Calais;"--she read: + + +"Dear Petra, + +We had a fair wind from the sixty-first to the fifty-fourth degree of +latitude, and afterwards got here under a strong side wind, which is +unusual even for better vessels than ours, which is a fine craft under +full sail. But now you must know that all the way I have been thinking +about you, and about that which last occurred between us two, and am +grieved that I could not see you to bid you good-bye. I went on board +very vexed about it, but have never forgotten you since, except now and +then in between, for a sailor has hard times of it. Now we have got +here, and I have used all my wages to buy you presents as you asked me, +and the money I got of mother, too, so I have none left. But, if I get +leave, I shall come as soon as the gifts, for as long as it is secret, +there is no certainty about others, especially young men, of whom there +are many; but I will have it certain, so that no one can excuse +himself, but beware of me. You can easily get a better one than me, for +you can get any one you choose, but you can never get a truer, and that +is me. Now I will conclude, for I have used up two sheets, and the +letters are getting so large; it is the worst thing I have to do, but I +do it, nevertheless, as you wish it. And so in conclusion I will say, +that I hope it was earnest; for it was not earnest, it was a great sin, +and will bring misfortune upon many. + + Gunnar Ask, + + _Second Mate_, '_Norwegian Constitution_.'" + + +Overwhelmed with fear, she jumped out of bed and dressed herself. She +felt as if she must go out, where there was counsel to be had +somewhere; for all had become obscure, uncertain, dangerous. The more +she thought about it, the more tangled the thread became; some one must +help to unravel it, or she never could get loose! But in whom dare she +confide? There could be no one but the mother. When after a hard +struggle she stood beside her in the kitchen, afraid and almost +weeping, but determined to give complete confidence, that the +assistance might be complete, the mother said without looking round, +and therefore without observing Petra's face: "He has just been here; +he has got home again."--"Who?" whispered Petra, holding fast for +support; for if Gunnar were really come, all hope was lost. She +knew Gunnar; he was dull and good-natured, but let him once get +vexed, and he grew frantic. "You must not be long in going there," +he said.--"There?" shuddered Petra, she jumped to the conclusion that +he must have told her mother all about it, and then what would +happen?--"Yes, to the Rectory," said the mother. "To the Rectory? Is it +Odegaard that has come home?"--The mother turned round now: "Yes, who +else?"--"Odegaard!" cried Petra, and the storm of joy cleared the air +in an instant: "Odegaard has come, Odegaard, oh! he has got back!" she +was out at the door and up over the fields. She rushed on, she laughed, +she cried aloud; it was him, him, she wanted; if he had been at home, +this trouble would never have come! With him she was safe; if she only +thought upon his lofty beaming countenance, his mild voice, even upon +the quiet rooms, rich in images, where he dwelt, she grew more +peaceful, and a sense of security came over her. She took a moment to +collect herself. Landscape and town were bathed in a stream of light, +on that early autumn night, the fiord especially shone with a radiant +splendour; out there in the haven, the last smoke was curling up from +the steamer that had brought Odegaard. Oh! simply to know that he was +at home again, did her good, and made her resolute and strong; she +prayed to God to help her that Odegaard might never leave her more. And +just as her heart was raised in this hope, she saw him coming towards +her; he had known which way she would take, and had come to meet her! +This touched her, she sprang towards him, grasped both his hands and +kissed them; he felt ashamed, and seeing some one coming in the +distance, he drew her with him up among the trees, away from the road; +he held her hands in his, and she said the whole way: "How delightful +that you have come! No, I can hardly believe it is you, oh! you must +never go away again! Do not leave me, no, do not leave me!" Here her +tears began to flow, he drew her head gently towards him; he wished to +soothe her, for it was needful for his own sake that she should be +calm. She crept close to him, as the bird under the wing that is lifted +for it, and she did not wish to come forth any more. + +Overcome by this confidence, he put his arm round her, as if to provide +her the shelter she sought; but hardly had she perceived this, when she +lifted her tearful face, her eyes met his, and all that can be +exchanged in a glance, when penitence meets love, when gratitude meets +the joy of the giver, when yes meets yes, followed in quick succession. +He embraced her and pressed his lips against hers; he had lost his +mother early, and kissed for the first time in his life; it was the +same with her. They could not release themselves, and when at last they +did, it was only to embrace once more. He was trembling, whilst she was +radiant and blushing; she threw her arms round his neck; she clung to +him like a child. And when they seated themselves, and she could play +about his hands, his hair, his breast-pin, neckerchief, all these that +she had been accustomed to regard respectfully from a distance, and +when he bade her say "thou" and not "you," and she could not, and when +he would tell her how rich she had made his poor life from the first +hour, how long he had fought against it, that he might not check her +with this, nor let himself be paid thus, and when he noticed that she +was unable to understand or gather a word of what he was saying, and +when he himself also no longer found any meaning in it; when she wanted +to go home with him at once, and he had laughingly to bid her wait a +few days, and then they would go away altogether,--when they felt, when +they said, whilst they sat among the trees, with the fiord, and +mountains, and evening sun before them, whilst the horn and song +sounded far in the distance, that this was happiness. + + + Oh! sweet is love's first meeting + In the glow of the evening ray, + As the song of the wavelet fleeting-- + Its plash at the close of day. + As the song in the forest sounding, + As the horn o'er the rugged rocks,-- + Our hearts, the moment resounding + In wonder to nature locks. + + + + + CHAPTER V. + + A MISTAKE. + + +When Odegaard rung for his coffee next morning, he was informed that +Yngve Vold, the merchant, had already called twice to see him. It +annoyed him to have to hold intercourse with a stranger just then, but +one who sought him so early must have an important errand. He was +scarcely dressed before Yngve Vold came again. "You are surprised, I +dare say? So am I. Good morning!"--They shook hands, and he laid his +light hat upon the table. "You rise late, I have been here twice +before; I have something important at heart, and I must speak +with you!"--"Take a seat if you please!" he seated himself in +an easy chair.--"Thank you, thank you, I would rather walk, I am +too excited to sit. I am quite beside myself since the day before +yesterday, stark mad, neither more nor less; and it is your doing, +partly!"--"Mine?"--"Yes, yours. You brought the girl forward, no one +thought about her, no one noticed her except you. But now I have never +seen, no, as true as I live, never seen anything so matchless, anything +so--well isn't it? No, over the whole of Europe I have never seen such +a cursedly curly-haired wonder,--have you? I got no peace, I was +bewitched, she was mixed up in everything, I went away, came back +again, impossible.--isn't it? Didn't know at first who she was ... the +Fisher Girl, they said,--the Senorita they should have called her, the +gipsy, the witch; all fire, eyes, bosom, hair,--what?--sparkling, +hopping, laughing, trilling, blushing,--something----! Ran after +her, you see, up among the trees in the forest, calm evening, ... she +stood, I stood, a few words, song, dance,--and then?... well then I +gave her my chain, as true as I live, a minute before, I had never +thought of it! Next time, same place, same chase, she was afraid, and +I;--well,--would you believe it? I could not say a single word, dare +not touch her; but when she came back again, would you think it? I +proposed to her, I had not thought about it a second before. Now +yesterday I was proving myself, stayed away from her, but then faith +and soul I'm mad, yes,--I CANNOT, I MUST be with her; if I don't get +her I shall shoot myself slap out, there, that's the history. I don't +care what my mother says, nor the town, it's no place, no place at +all,--she must go away, you see, away, far away from here, she must be +'comme il faut,' go abroad, to France, Paris, I pay, and you arrange. I +might go with her myself, live elsewhere, not stay any longer in this +little hole; but the fish you see! I'd like to make something out of +the place, but it's all in a torpor, no thought, no speculation, but +the fish? They don't know how to manage the fish; the Spaniards +complain, it must be done in a fresh way, new drying, new curing, the +town must rise, business make headway, the fish!--Where was it I left +off? the fish, the Fisher Girl,--that suits well: the fish, the Fisher +Girl, ha, ha, ha,--to be sure: I pay, you arrange, she shall be my +wife, and then----" + +Further he did not get; during the conversation he had not observed +Odegaard, who had now risen, deathly pale, and stood over him with a +fine Spanish cane. The astonishment of the latter is not to be +described; he avoided the first strokes. "Take care," said he, "you may +hit me!"--"Yes, I may hit you! you see: Spanish, Spanish cane, that +suits too!" and the strokes fell over shoulders, arms, hands, face, +anywhere and everywhere; the other rushed about the room: "Are you mad, +have you lost your reason;--I will marry her!"--"Out!" cried Odegaard, +his strength failing him, and down went the light haired, away from +this madman, and was soon standing in the street calling up after his +light hat. It was thrown out of the window to him; a heavy fall was +heard, and when they went up, Odegaard lay unconscious upon the floor. + +All this time Petra was sitting up in her bedroom half dressed, and +could not get further the whole day long. Every time she attempted it, +her hands sank down upon her lap. Her thoughts bent down as an ear of +corn fully ripe, as clustering campanulas in the fields. Calmness, +security, waving visions, lay over the airy castles in which she dwelt. +She recalled the meeting of yesterday, every word, every look, every +touch of the hand, every kiss; she would follow the whole way from the +meeting to the parting, but never get to the end; for every single +remembrance vanished away in a dream, and all dreams returned again +with fair promises. But sweet as were these thoughts, she turned from +them to think where she had left off; and as soon as she remembered, +she was again carried off into the land of the wonderful. + +As she did not come down, the mother concluded that Odegaard having +returned, she had begun to study again; she had her meals sent up, and +was left alone the whole day. When evening came, she got up to make +herself ready to go to meet her beloved; she put on the best she +had,--the things she had worn at the confirmation; they were not much, +but that she had not felt until now. She had but little sense of the +elegant, but she was inspired with it to-day: one thing made another +look ugly till the right ones were selected, and even then the whole +was not beautiful! To-day she would have given worlds to have been the +most beautiful,--with the word a remembrance glided in, which she waved +away with her hand; nothing, no nothing should come near that might +disturb her. She went about quietly putting her room in order, as it +was not yet time to go. She opened the window and looked out; warm, +rosy clouds lay encamped over the mountains, but a cooling breeze was +wafted in with a message from the forest near by. "Yes, now I'm coming! +now I'm coming!" She went back once again to the looking-glass to study +her bride-like feelings. + +Then she heard Odegaard's voice down stairs with the mother, heard that +he was being directed the way to her room; he had come to fetch her! A +feeling of bashful joy took hold of her, she looked round to see if all +was in order for him; then she went to the door. "Come in!" she +answered softly to the low tap, and stepped back a little. + +As an icy shower over her, as if the earth gave way beneath her, was +the impression of the face that met her in the door! She staggered back +to get hold of the bed-post; her thoughts slipped from one abyss to +another; in less than a second she had fallen from earth's happiest +bride to its greatest sinner; she heard it thunder out of that face: in +time and eternity he could not forgive her! + +In scarcely audible tones he whispered: "I see it, you are guilty!" He +leaned against the door and held fast to the lock, as if without that +he could not stand. His voice trembled; the tears rolled down his face, +though his countenance was perfectly calm. + +"Do you know what you have done?" and his eyes crushed her to the +earth. She did not answer,--did not even weep; she was paralysed by a +complete and hopeless inability,--"Once before, I gave my heart away, +and he to whom I gave it, died through my fault. I could not rise above +this sorrow, unless one should reach over me and give me the wealth of +a whole heart again. This you have done,--and you have done it +hypocritically!" He stopped: two or three times he tried in vain to +begin again, then with a sudden pang of pain: "And all that I have +stored up during these years, thought upon thought, you have had the +heart to overturn as though it were an image of clay! Child, child, +could you not understand that I was building up myself in you? Now it +is past! Can you not now comprehend it: all that I have given, the very +warmest, the very depths of my heart, lost as flame in the winter air, +no token left?--Who are you, unhappy child?--I believed you to be my +most sacred treasure, but alas; you are more than profaned!"--He wept +in the bitterness of his grief. + +"No, you are too young to comprehend it," he said again; "you know not +what you have done.--But yet you must understand," he exclaimed, "what +it is, when that which shines upon our lives, that which we believe can +yield the flowers and fruit we look for, proves nothing but an enormous +deception!--Tell me, what have I done to you that you COULD do anything +so cruel? Child, child, had you but told me it yesterday! Why, why, did +you lie so fearfully?--It must be my fault, mine, who have instructed +you,--have I then forgotten to speak about truth! No,--then where have +you thus learnt it?" + +She heard him, and it was altogether true. He had tottered to a chair +in the window to lean his head against a table standing beside it. He +started up again, he wrung his hands, a sob of pain escaped him, then +he sank down and was still. "And I, who am not able to help my old +father," he said as if to himself, "I CANNOT, I have no calling, I also +am to have help from no one, all to be broken in pieces before me, all +and everybody forsake me." He was unable to speak more, his head lay in +his right hand; the left hung powerlessly down; he looked as though he +could not move,--and thus he remained sitting and said nothing. Then he +felt something warm against the hand that was hanging down, and +startled, he drew it away, it was Petra's breath; she was on her knees +beside him, her head bent down, now she folded her hands, and looked up +to him with an inexpressible entreaty for mercy. He looked down at her, +and neither of them turned away. Then he lifted his hand preventingly +against her, as if he felt within him a voice of persuasion that he +would not hear,--bent hastily down for his hat that had fallen on the +floor, and went quickly to the door; but still more quickly she stopped +the way before him, she cast herself down, grasped hold of his knees, +and nailed her eyes into him, but all without a sound; he both saw and +felt that she was struggling for life. Then his old love was too +strong, he bent down once more over her, and with an expressive look, +but one that was full of pain, he threw his arms round her and drew her +up to him. Yet once more she lay upon his breast, but it groaned and +sighed within, like an organ after the last stroke, when there is +still air, but no more tone. Again and again he pressed her to his +heart;--for the last time! He left her with a passionate cry; "No, +no!--you can abandon yourself, but you cannot love!" He was overwhelmed +with emotion: "Unhappy child, your future I cannot guide; may God +forgive you that you have ruined mine!" He went past her, she did not +move, he opened the door and shut it again, she did not speak;--she +heard him on the stairs, she heard his last step on the flagstone and +down the road,--then she was released, and gave one cry, a single one, +but with this came the mother. + +When Petra came to herself again, she was lying in bed undressed and +well nursed; before her sat the mother with her arms upon her knees; +her head in both her hands, and eyes of fire fastened upon her +daughter. "Have you read enough with him now?" she asked:--"Have you +learnt something?--What is it you are going to be now?"--Petra answered +with an outburst of grief. The mother sat and listened to this for a +long time, then said with strange solemnity: "May the Lord heartily +curse him!"--The daughter started up: "Mother, mother! Not him, not +him, but me, me,--not him!"--"Oh; I know them! I know who should have +it!"--"No mother, he has been deceived, dreadfully deceived, and that +by me, me--it is I who have deceived him!"--She told the whole story +hurriedly and sobbing; he must not for a moment be misjudged; she told +about Gunnar, and what she had asked of him, how she had hardly +understood at the time, what she was doing; next about Yngve Vold's +unlucky gold chain, that had taught her so much, and got her so +fearfully entangled, and then about Odegaard, how on seeing him, she +had forgotten all else. She could not understand how it had all +happened, but this she did understand, that she had sinned deeply +against them all, and especially against him who had taken her up, and +given her all that one human being can give to another. After sitting +long silent, at last the mother said: "Then you have committed no sin +against ME? Where have I been all this time that you have never said a +word to me?"--"Oh! mother, help me, don't be hard on me now; I feel +that I shall suffer for it as long as I live; but I shall pray to God +that He will let me soon die!--Dear, dear God," she began, as she +folded her hands and looked up to Heaven, "dear, dear God, hear me, I +have already forfeited my life; there is nothing more for me, I am not +fit, I do not know how to live, then, dear God, I pray Thee suffer me +to die!"--But Gunlaug, who had hard words uppermost, stifled them, and +laid her hand on the daughter's arm, to take it down from such a +prayer: "Govern your feelings, child, do not tempt God;--we must live +even if it is painful." She drew several heavy sighs and rose up; she +had no consolation to offer. The daughter had no doubt now given her +entire confidence, but it was too late. Gunlaug never more set foot +within that little attic chamber. + +Odegaard had taken an illness, that seemed likely to be a dangerous +one, so his old father had gone up, and made his study beside him, +saying to all who begged him to spare himself, that he could not do it; +his work was to watch over his son, each time he lost one of those whom +he loved better than his father. + +It was thus that matters stood when Gunnar came home. + +He frightened his mother by showing himself long before the ship he +sailed with,--she thought it was his ghost, and his acquaintances were +not much better. To all their curious inquiries, he could give but an +unsatisfactory reply. They, however, soon got a better one, for the +very day that he came, he was turned out of Gunlaug's house, and that +by Gunlaug herself. "Never let me see you here again," she called out, +to him on the doorstep, so that it could be heard far and near, "we +have had enough of this now!" He had not gone far, before a girl +overtook him with a parcel; she had another as well, and made a +mistake, and Gunnar found in his a heavy gold chain; he stood looking +at it a minute, and turning it over; he had not understood Gunlaug's +fury before, but he understood still less why she should send him a +gold chain. He called the girl back, she must have made a mistake, and +she asked as she gave him the other parcel if it was this. The parcel +proved to contain his gifts to Petra. Yes, that was it; but who was to +have the gold chain? "Yngve Vold, the Merchant," replied the girl, and +went her way. Gunnar stood musing: Yngve Vold the Merchant? Does he +give presents?--and Gunlaug has stumbled upon them! Then it is HE who +has stolen her from me,--Yngve Vold,--but he shall----his vexation and +excitement must have vent, some one must be thrashed, and it proved to +be Yngve Vold. + +To relate shortly: the unhappy merchant was once again attacked quite +unexpectedly, and that upon his own door step. He ran into the office +to escape from the infuriated man, but Gunnar ran after him. The clerks +rose up "en masse" against him, but he kicked and struck on all sides; +chairs, tables, and desks were overthrown; letters, papers, and +journals flew about like dust; help came at last from Yngve's +warehouse, and after a hard fight, Gunnar was turned into the street. + +But here the battle began again in earnest. There were two ships lying +on the quay, and one of them was from abroad; being about noon, when +the sailors were at liberty, they were glad to join in the fun; they +rushed into the fight, crew against crew, many others were sent for, +and came running at double quick pace; labouring people, women and +children drew up, till at last there was no one who knew why or against +whom they were fighting. In vain the captains cursed; in vain the +citizens commanded that the only policeman should be sent for: he was +just then out on the fiord, fishing. They ran to the magistrate, who +was also postmaster; but he had locked himself in with the post that +had just arrived, and answered out of the window, that he could not +come; his assistant was at a funeral, they must wait. But as they could +not wait, several shouted, and especially frightened women, that Arne +the blacksmith should be sent for. This being decided by the worthy +citizens, his own wife was despatched to seek him, "for the policeman +was not at home." He soon came, to the mirth of the school boys; he +made a few strokes among the crowd, picked out a burly Spaniard, and +struck him promiscuously against the rest. + +When all was settled, there came the magistrate with a stick; he found +a few old women and children, talking on the field of battle; these he +sternly commanded to go home to dinner, which he also did himself. + +But the next day he began to look into the matter, the investigation +was continued for a time, though no one had the slightest idea who had +been the aggrieving parties. One thing, however, all were agreed upon, +that Arne the blacksmith had been mingled in the fray, as they had seen +him striking on all sides with the Spaniard. For this Arne had to pay +one specie dollar fine, for which his wife, who had led him into it, +got sundry blows the second Sunday after trinity, which she might well +remember. That was the only judicial consequence of the fray. + +But it had other consequences. The little town was no longer a quiet +town, the Fisher Girl had put it in commotion. The strangest rumours +were set afloat,--arising from angry jealousy at her having been able +to win to herself the best head in the place, and its two wealthiest +matches, besides having several in the background; for Gunnar had grown +by degrees into "several young men." Soon there arose a general moral +storm. The disgrace of a great street brawl, and sorrow in three of the +best families rested on the head of the young girl who had been but +half a year confirmed; three engagements at one time, and one of them +with her teacher,--her life's benefactor! Indignation might well boil +up. Had she not been, from a child, an annoyance to the town, and for +all that, had she not had its expectancy manifested in gifts when +Odegaard took her up, and had she not now scorned them all, crushed +him, and following the instincts of her nature, thrown herself +recklessly on a course that would lead to her being an outcast from +society, with the gaol for old age? + +The mother must have been to blame too; in her sailors' house the child +had learnt to be giddy. They would no longer bear the yoke that Gunlaug +laid upon them, they would no longer tolerate them, neither mother nor +daughter, they would unite to drive them away. + +One night a crowd gathered on the bank; there were sailors, who owed +Gunlaug money, drunken labourers, for whom she would not procure work, +young lads, to whom she would not give credit, and the better class in +the back ground. They whistled, they shouted, they called for The +Fisher Girl, for Fisher Gunlaug; by and bye a stone was thrown against +the door, then another in at the attic window. They did not go away +until after midnight. Behind the windows all was dark and still. + +The next day not a soul looked in to Gunlaug, not even a child went +past, up the hill. But at night the same riot again, only that now all +were there without distinction. They broke all the windows, they tore +up the garden, and trampled down the shrubs, they threw the young fruit +trees about, and then they sang:-- + + + Mother, I've fished up a sailor, oh! + "Ah! have you so?" + Mother, I've fished up a merchant, oh! + "Ah! have you so?" + Mother, I've fished up a pastor's son + "The best you've won!" + Ah! ding dong, + The nose grows long.[1] + Great fishes may bite, but what is the gain, + If into the basket, they ne'er can be ta'en! + + Mother, he's gone, the sailor, oh! + "Ah! has he so!" + Mother, he's gone, the merchant, oh! + "Ah! has he so?" + Mother, the pastor's son's going they say! + "Then haul away!"-- + Ah! ding dong, + The nose grows long, + Great fishes may bite, but what is the gain, + If into the basket, they ne'er can be ta'en! + + +They called especially for Gunlaug, they would have been mightily +pleased to have heard her matchless fury rage. + +Gunlaug was sitting within, and heard every word; but she kept silence; +one must be able to bear something for the sake of one's child. + + + + + CHAPTER VI. + + THE SOUND OF THE CLOCK. + + +Petra had been in her room, when the shouting, whistling, and hallooing +had begun the first evening. She sprang up as if the house had been on +fire, or as if everything were coming down upon her. She ran about in +her room as if whipped with burning rods; it burnt through her soul; +her thoughts ran impetuously after an outlet;--but down to the mother +she dare not go, and they were standing in front of the only window! A +stone came flying through, and fell upon her bed; she gave a cry and +ran into a corner behind a curtain, and hid herself among her old +clothes. There she sat crouched up together, burning with shame, +trembling with fear, visions of unknown horrors passed before her, the +air was full of faces, gaping, mocking faces, they came quite near, it +rained fire round about them;--oh, not fire, but eyes; it rained eyes, +large, glowing and small, sparkling; eyes that stood still, eyes that +ran up and down,--Jesus, Jesus, save me! + +Oh, what a relief, when the last cry died away in the night, and it was +quite dark, and quite still. She ventured out, threw herself on the +bed, and buried her face in the pillow, but she could not turn away +from her thoughts; the mother would come powerfully and threateningly +forward, as thunder clouds gather over the mountains, for what would +the mother not suffer for her sake! No slumber came to her eyelids, nor +peace to her soul, and the day came, but no alleviation. + +She went backwards and forwards, backwards and forwards, thinking only +how to escape, but she dare not meet her mother, neither dare she go +out as long as it was day, and at night they would come again! Yet wait +she must, for before midnight it was still more dangerous to flee. And +then where to? She possessed nothing, and she knew not any way; yet +there must be merciful hearts somewhere, even as there was a merciful +God. He knew that the evil she had done was not done in wickedness, He +knew her penitence, and He also knew her helplessness. She listened for +her mother's steps below, but she did not hear them; she trembled to +hear her on the stairs, but she did not come. The girl, too, must have +left, for no one came up with her meals. She did not venture to go +down, nor to go to the window, for some one might be standing outside +waiting for her. The broken pane let in the cold air, in the morning, +and still more when night came. She had made up a small bundle of +clothes, and dressed herself to be ready; but she must wait for the +furious crowd, and then go through whatever came. + +There they are again! The whistling, the shouting, the throwing of +stones, worse, far worse than the night before; she crept into her +corner, folded her hands, and prayed and prayed. If only her mother did +not go out to them, if only they did not break in! Then they began to +sing, a base lampoon, and though every word cut her with knives, she +was yet obliged to listen; but no sooner had she heard that the mother +was mixed up with it, that they had been guilty of so shameful an +injustice, than she sprang up, she would speak to the dastardly pack +from the window, or cast herself down among them;--but a stone, and yet +another, and then a whole hailstorm flew through the window, the bits +of glass whizzed, the stones rolled about the room, and she crept back +again. The perspiration stood upon her forehead, as though she were +beneath a burning sun, but she no longer wept,--no longer felt afraid. + +Gradually the noise subsided; she ventured forth, and was going to the +window to look out, but she trod upon the bits of glass and drew back, +then she trod upon the stones, and stood still that she might not be +heard; for she must steal quietly away. After waiting a full half hour, +she put off her shoes, took up her bundle, and softly opened the door. +It pained her to think that after causing her mother all this sorrow, +she must leave her without a farewell; but fear overpowered her; +"Farewell mother! farewell mother!" she whispered to herself at each +step she took down the stairs: "Farewell mother!"--She stood at the +bottom, breathed a few times heavily to get air, and then turned +towards the passage door. Some one seized her arm from behind, she gave +a slight scream, and turned,--it was her mother. + +Gunlaug having heard the door open, at once divined her daughter's +intention and waited for her here. Petra felt that she could not pass +without a contest. Explanation would not help; whatever she said, it +would not be believed. Well, if it came to a struggle, nothing in the +world could be worse than the worst, and that she had already +experienced. "Where are you going?" the mother asked in a low tone. "I +must flee!" she answered with a beating heart--"Where to?"--"I do not +know;--but I must get away from here!"--She held her bundle faster and +went on. "No, come with me," said the mother, holding her arm, "I have +provided for it." Petra released herself, as if from too tight a grasp; +breathed out as after a conflict, and gave herself up to her mother. +The latter led the way into a little room behind the kitchen, where a +light was burning, and there was no window;--here she had been hid +whilst the tumult raged. The room was so narrow that they could +scarcely move in it; the mother took up a bundle rather smaller than +Petra's, opened it, and took out a set of sailor's clothes. "Put these +on," she whispered. Petra at once comprehended why she should do it, +but that the mother assigned no reason, touched her. She took off her +own things and put on these; the mother assisted her, and in doing so, +the light fell full upon her face; Petra saw for the first time that +Gunlaug was old. Had she become so in these days, or had Petra not +observed it before? The child's tears trickled down over the mother, +but she did not look up, and so nothing was said. A sou'wester was the +last thing to put on; when all was ready, the mother took the bundle +from her, and blew out the light, "Now come!" + +They went out into the passage, but not through the street door; +Gunlaug unfastened the back door, and locked it again after them. They +passed through the trampled garden, over the uprooted trees, and the +broken fence, "You may as well look round," said the mother, "you will +never come here again."--She shuddered but did not look. They went by +the upper path, along the edge of the forest, where she had passed half +her life; where she had had that evening with Gunnar, those with Yngve +Vold, and the last with Odegaard. They trod in withered leaves; it was +a cold night, and she shivered in her unaccustomed dress. The mother +turned towards a garden; Petra knew it again, though she had not been, +there since that day when as a child she had attacked it; it was Pedro +Ohlsen's. The mother had the key of it and locked them in. + +It had cost Gunlaug much to go to him in the forenoon, it cost her much +to go now with the unhappy daughter, to whom she herself could no +longer give a home. But it must be done, and that which must be done +Gunlaug could do. She knocked at the side door, and almost directly +they heard footsteps and saw a light within. Shortly after, the door +was opened by Pedro himself in travelling attire, looking pale and +nervous. He held a dip in his hand, and he sighed when his eye fell +upon Petra's face, swollen with weeping; she looked up at him, but as +he did not dare to know her, she did not venture to recognise him. +"This man has promised to help you to get away," said the mother +without looking at either of them, and going up the steps she went into +Pedro's room on the other side of the passage, leaving them to follow. +The room was very small and low, and the peculiar close smell that +pervaded it, made Petra feel faint; for more than a day now she had +neither tasted food nor slept. From the middle of the ceiling hung a +cage with a canary bird; they had to go round to avoid knocking against +it. Some heavy old chairs, a ponderous table, and two great closets, +touching the ceiling, were squeezed into the room, making it still +less. On the table lay some music, and on that a flute. Pedro Ohlsen +shuffled about in his great boots, as if he had something important to +do; a weak voice sounded from the back room: "Who is that?--Who has +come in?"--upon which he trailed still quicker round the room, +mumbling: "Oh it is--hm, hm, ... it is--hm, hm," and so in where the +voice came from. + +Gunlaug sat by the window, with both her elbows upon her knees, and her +head in her hands, looking fixedly into the sand that was strewn upon +the floor; she did not speak, but every now and then she drew a heavy +sigh. Petra stood by the door, leaning against the wall, with both her +hands over her bosom, for she felt ill. An old time piece was hacking +the hours asunder, the tallow candle on the table was running down, +with a long wick. The mother was wishful to give some excuse for their +being here, and said: "I knew this man once, long ago." + +Nothing more, and no reply. Pedro did not return, the candle continued +to waste, and the old clock to hack. The feeling of faintness +overpowered Petra more and more, and through all, the words were +continually sounding in her ears, "I knew this man once, long ago!" The +old clock began to go to it: "I-knew-this-man-once-long-a-go." +Afterwards, whenever she came into a close atmosphere, this room was +always before her, reminding her of the faintness and of the clock's +"I-knew-this-man-once-long-ago!" + +When Pedro came in again he had got on a woollen cap, and a cloak of +ancient date, fastened up over his ears. "Now, I am ready," said he, +and drew on his mittens, as if he were going out in the coldest winter +weather. "But we must not forget"--he turned round,--"the cloak +for--for--" he looked at Petra, and from her to Gunlaug, who took up a +blue coat hanging over a chair back, and helped Petra on with it; but +when it came close under her nose, it smelled so strongly of the room, +that she begged for fresh air; the mother saw that she looked ill, and +opening the door, she led her quickly into the garden. Here she drew a +few long draughts of the fresh autumn air. "Where am I going to?" she +asked, when she began to come round.--"To Bergen," replied the mother, +helping her to button the coat; "it is a large place, where no one +knows you." When she was ready, Gunlaug stopped in the doorway: "You +will have 100 specie dollars with you; if you don't get on, you still +have something to fall back upon. He lends you them, he here,"--"Gives, +gives," whispered Pedro, who passed them and went out into the +street.--"Lends them," repeated the mother, as though he had said +nothing: "I shall repay him."--She took a handkerchief from her neck, +tied it round Petra's, and said: "You must write as soon as it goes +well with you, not before."--"Mother!"--"He will row you on board the +vessel lying out there."--"Oh, heavens, mother!"--"Well, then there's +nothing more. I'm not going any further."--"Mother, mother!"--"Now God +be with you. Farewell!"--"Mother, forgive me, mother!"--"And don't +catch cold on the sea."--She had got her gradually outside the garden +gate, and now shut it. + +Petra stood looking at the closed gate; she felt about as wretched and +lonely as it is possible for a human being to do,--but just at that +moment, out of the misery, the injustice, the tears, sprang up an +anticipation, a hope; as a gleam of fire, kindled and extinguished, +blazing up and dying out again, but for one moment shining sublimely; +she opened her eyes, the brightness was gone, and again she stood in +darkness. + +Quietly through the deserted streets of the little town, past the +closed doors and leafless gardens, past the barred houses, where the +lights were no longer burning,--she dragged herself after him, who with +bent figure shuffled on, without any head, in the great boots, and +cloak. They came out into the avenue, where they trod again in withered +leaves, and saw the ghostly branches that seemed stretching out their +arms to come after them. They scrambled down over the mountain behind +the yellow boat house; he baled out the water, and then rowed her along +the coast that now looked like one black mass, with the clouds laying +heavily upon it. Everything was blotted out, fields, houses, woods, +mountains, she saw nothing more of that which, until yesterday, from a +child she had had daily before her eyes; it had shut itself up like the +town, like the people, that night that she was driven away, and she got +no farewell. + +A man was pacing up and down the deck of the ship that was laying at +anchor, waiting for the morning breeze; as soon as he saw them laying +to, he let down the steps, helped them on board, and made a signal to +the captain, who soon joined them. She knew them, and they knew her, +but simply as an ordinary matter, she was told all that it was +necessary for her to know; namely, where she was to sleep, and what she +was to do if she wanted anything, or was sea-sick. She was ill, indeed, +almost directly she got down, so on changing her dress she went up +again. Here she found the smell of--oh, chocolate! She felt an +immoderate hunger, and just then out of the cabin, came the same man +that had received them, with a whole bowl full, and plenty of cakes; it +was from her mother, he said. While she was eating, he told her +further, that a box with her linen, flannels, and best clothes had also +been sent on board by her mother, besides several good things to eat. +On hearing this, a very vivid remembrance of her mother rose up before +her, an exalted image, such as she had never before had, but which she +retained the rest of her life. And above the image rested a hope, sure +and yet sorrowful in prayer, that she might yet give her mother some +joy for all the sorrow she had caused her. + +Pedro Ohlsen sat beside her when she sat, and walked beside her when +she walked; he was perpetually occupied in getting out of her way, and +for that reason, was continually getting into it, as the deck was +covered with goods. She could see only his great nose and his eyes, and +not even these distinctly, but he gave the impression of having +something on his mind, which he wished to say and could not. He sighed, +he sat down, he got up, he went round her, sat down again, but never a +word came forth, and she did not speak. At last he was obliged to give +it up; he drew out a huge leather pocket book, and whispered that the +100 species were within, and a little besides. She held out her hand +and thanked him, and in doing so she came so near his face, that she +observed his eyes were moist and were anxiously following her. For, +with her, he was in truth losing all that was left to his desolate +life. He would like to have said something that might yield him a kind +remembrance, when he should be no more; but it was forbidden him, and +though he would have said it nevertheless, he could not manage it, for +she did not help him! Petra was too tired, and she could not just then +banish the thought that he had been the cause of her first sin against +her mother. She could not bear it much longer, it grew worse instead of +better the longer he sat, for people are easily annoyed when they are +tired. The poor creature felt it, he MUST go, and so at last he got +whispered, "farewell," and drew his shrunken hand out of the mitten; +she laid hers warm within it, and then both arose. "Thank you,--and +give my love to mother!" she said. He gave a sigh, or rather a sob, and +with two or three more such, he left her, turned and went backwards +down the ladder. She went to the railing, he looked up, nodded, and +then rowed slowly away. She stood till he was darkness in the darkness, +then she went below; she was so tired she could scarcely stand, and +although she felt ill directly she went down, she had scarcely laid her +head upon the pillow and said the first two clauses of "The Lord's +Prayer," before she slept. + +Till that same hour, the mother was sitting up by the yellow +boat-house; she had followed them slowly all the way, and sat down +behind the boat-house just as they were rowing from land. From that +same spot, Pedro Ohlsen had in former days rowed out with her; it was a +long time ago, but she could not fail to remember it now, when he rowed +the daughter away. + +As soon as she saw him coming back alone, she arose and went; for then +she knew that Petra was safely on board. She did not take the road +home, but went further over: there, in the darkness, she found the path +that led over the mountains, and that she took. Her house stood empty +and desolate for more than a month, she would not return to it, before +she had had good news from her daughter. + +But this gave time for the voice against her to be put to the test. All +low natures feel an exciting pleasure in uniting to persecute the +strong; but only as long as these offer any resistance; when they see +that they quietly suffer themselves to be maltreated, a feeling of +shame comes over them, and he who will cast another stone is quickly +put down. In the present instance, they had been hoping to see Gunlaug +come fuming out to them in a rage, perhaps calling upon the seamen to +take up arms in her defence, and thus have a regular street fight. But +as she did not shew herself, on the third night the people were +scarcely to be restrained; they declared they would go in after her, +they would turn the two women out into the streets, and chase them away +from the town! The windows had not been mended since the previous +night, and amid the shout of hurrahs, two men crept through to open the +door,--and in rushed the crowd! They looked in all the rooms, upstairs +and down, they broke open the doors, destroyed everything that came in +their way; they sought in every corner; last of all in the cellar, but +neither mother nor daughter were to be found. As soon as this discovery +was made, an instantaneous hush fell over the people; they who were in, +stole out one after another, and hid themselves behind the rest, and +shortly after, the plot of ground in front of the house was left +desolate. + +There were soon found those in the town, who said that this had been an +undignified mode of proceeding against two defenceless women. They +discussed the facts of the case so thoroughly, that at last it was the +unanimous opinion, that whatever the Fisher Girl had done, Gunlaug was +certainly not to blame for it, and she had therefore been treated very +unjustly. + +She was very much missed in the place; drunken brawls and tumults began +to be the order of the day; for the town had lost its police. They +missed her tall figure in the doorway as they passed by; the seamen +especially felt her loss. There was no place like hers, they said; for +there each had been dealt with according to his merit, had had his own +place in her confidence, and her help in any difficulty. Neither +sailors, nor captains, neither masters, nor mistresses, had understood +her worth, until now when she had gone. + +Therefore it was a cause of general rejoicing, when it was reported +that Gunlaug had been seen sitting in her house and cooking as before. +Every one must see for himself that the window panes were really put in +again, the door repaired and the smoke coming out of the chimney. Yes, +it was true! There she was again!--They crept on the other side of the +hill to see better; she was sitting in front of the baking stone, she +looked neither up nor down, but her eye followed her hand and her hand +was busy; for she had come back to regain what she had lost, and first +of all the 100 specie, that she owed Pedro Ohlsen. At first they +contented themselves in this way, with merely peeping in at her, their +consciences pricked them, so they dare not do more. But by degrees they +came,--first the wives, the friendly, kind ones; yet they got no +opportunity to speak of anything but business; for Gunlaug would hear +nothing more. Then came the fishermen, then the merchants and captains, +and last of all, on the first Sunday, the sailors. It must have been by +agreement, for in the evening, just at one time, the house was so +overflowing with people that not only were both rooms full, but the +tables and chairs that stood in the garden in summer, had to be brought +in, and set in the passages, in the kitchen, in the back room. No one +who saw this assembly would suspect the feeling with which the people +were sitting there; for the very moment that they crossed her +threshold, she had taken her quiet command over them, and the decision +with which she dealt to each his due, kept down every inquiry, every +welcome. She was the same; only her hair was no longer black, and her +manner a little more quiet. But when their spirits began to rise, they +could no longer contain themselves, and every time that Gunlaug and the +girl went out of the room, they called out to Knud the Boatman, who had +always been Gunlaug's favorite, to drink her health when she came back. +But he did not get courage to do it, till he was a little warmer in the +head; at last, however, when she came in to collect the empty bottles +and glasses, he got up, and said, "That it was a right good thing she +had come back;--for there wasn't the least doubt, that----that it was a +right good thing she had come back!" The others thought it was very +well said, and they rose up, and shouted: "Yes, it was a right good +thing!" and they in the passage, and in the kitchen, and in the other +rooms, also rose up to join in the decision; the boatman gave her the +glass and cried, "Hurrah!" and the others shouted "Hurrah!" enough to +lift the roof and carry it up to the skies. Soon one of them +acknowledged that they had done her shameful injustice, then another +swore to the same, and soon the whole house were condemning themselves +that they had done her the most shameful wrong. When at last there was +a lull, because they wanted a word from herself, Gunlaug said that she +must thank them very much; "but," continued she, as she once more +gathered up the empty bottles and glasses,--"as long as I don't mention +it, you needn't do so." When she; had gathered up what she could carry, +she went out and came in again for the remainder, and from that hour, +she held undisputed sway. + + + + + CHAPTER VII. + + THE FIRST ACT. + + +It was evening and quite dusk when the vessel cast anchor in the +harbour of Bergen. Petra half stupified from sea-sickness, was led in +the captain's boat, through a multiplicity of ships large and small, +till at last they emerged at the quay, which was covered with ferrymen, +the narrow alleys leading to it swarming with peasants and street boys. + +They stopped before a neat little house, where at the request of the +Captain, an old woman gave Petra a most kind reception. She stood in +need of rest and sleep, and both of these she obtained. Lively and +well, she awoke next day at noon, to new sounds and a new dialect, and +when the blind was drawn up, to a new landscape, new people, and a new +town. She had become new herself she thought, as she stood before the +looking glass,--that face was not the old one. True, she could not +define the difference, and did not understand that at her age, trouble +and sorrow have a refining, spiritualising influence; but seeing +herself in the glass, made her think of the last nights, and trembling +at the remembrance, she hastened to make herself ready to go down to +the new life awaiting her. There, she met her hostess, and several +ladies, who, after eyeing her profoundly, promised to do what they +could for her, and began by taking her round the town. Having several +things to buy, she ran up for her pocket book, but she felt ashamed to +take the thick clumsy old thing down stairs, so she opened it, to take +out the money there. Instead of 100 specie dollars she found 300! That +must be Pedro Ohlsen again, who against her mother's will and knowledge +had given her money. She had so little understanding about the worth of +things, that the greatness of the sum did not astonish her; neither did +it strike her therefore, to seek further for the cause of such great +benevolence. Instead of a glowing letter of thanks with questions +indicating a suspicion of the truth Pedro Ohlsen got a letter sent down +from Gunlaug, and addressed to herself, wherein the daughter with +undisguised annoyance, betrayed her benefactor, and asked what she was +to do with the gift thus clandestinely made her. + +Petra's first impression of the town, was entirely ruled by the power +of the elements. She could not divest herself of the feeling that the +mountains stood so close over her, that she must take care. She felt +burdened every time she looked up to them, and then again, an +inclination prompted her to stretch out her hand and knock at them; +sometimes she felt as though there were no outlet at all. There stood +the mountains, sunless and dark, the clouds hung close over them, or +were chased hurriedly away; wind and rain vied incessantly with each +other. But on the people around her was no burden resting, she was soon +happy among them; for there was in their busy activity a freedom, ease +and gaiety, which, after what she had passed through, she felt to be as +smiles and welcome. + +When the next day she remarked at the dinner table, that she liked to +be where there were a number of people, they told her that she should +go to the theatre, for there she would meet with many hundreds in one +house. Yes, she would like that; the ticket was taken, the theatre was +near at hand, and at the appointed time, she was taken there, and shewn +to a seat in the first tier of the gallery. There she sat among many +hundred happy people, in a dazzling light, surrounded by brilliant +colours, and conversation breaking in upon her from all corners, with +the noise of ocean. + +Petra had not the slightest idea of what she was about to see. She knew +nothing but what Odegaard had told her, and what by chance she had +heard from others. But of the theatre Odegaard had never spoken; the +sailors had merely talked of one where there were wild animals and +horse-riders, and to the lads it never occurred to talk about the play, +even if those from the school knew a little about it; for the little +town had no theatre of its own, not even a house that was called such; +travelling menageries, rope-dancers, and harlequins used to exhibit +either in booths, or in the open field. She was so ignorant, that she +did not even ask any questions, but was sitting boldly expecting +something wonderful, e.g. camels or apes. Taken up by this idea, by +degrees she began to see animals in all the faces around her, horses, +dogs, foxes, cats, mice, and so amused herself. Meanwhile the orchestra +had assembled without her being aware of it. She jumped up in a fright, +for a short sharp burst from trombones, drums, trumpets, and horns, +opened the overture. She had never in her life heard more music at one +time, than a couple of violins and perhaps a flute. This pealing +grandeur turned her pale, it partook of the nature of a cold, dark, +heavy sea, she sat in dread for the next lest it should be still worse, +and yet she did not wish it to be over. By and bye softer harmonies +arose, vistas that she had never even dreamt of, opened before her; +melodies lulled her thither, life and merriment floated in the air, the +whole march rose upwards as on wings, it went softly down, it gathered +again powerfully, it parted quiveringly and sprightfully,--till a +sombre gloom fell over all; it was as if it were whirled away in a +crashing waterfall. Then arose a single tone like a bird on a wet +branch by the deep; sadly and timidly it began, but the air above it, +cleared as it sang, a gleam of sunshine came,--and again the long blue +vista was filled with that wonderful wave and fluttering behind the +rays of the sun; when this had lasted a moment, lo! it subsided in +gentle peace; the exultant host withdrew further and further, nothing +was to be seen but the rays of the sun oozing and fusing through the +air,--over the whole of the endless plain, only sun, over all light and +stillness,--and in this blessedness it died away. Involuntarily she +arose, for she felt it was over. Oh marvel! there went the beautiful +painted wall in front of her straight up through the roof! She was in a +church, a church with pillars and arches, beautifully decorated; the +organ was pealing, and people advancing towards her, in a strange garb, +and they were talking,--yes, talking in church, and in a language she +did not understand. What? They were talking also behind her: "Sit +down!" they said, but there was nothing there to sit upon, and the two +in church continued to stand too; as she looked at them, it came +clearly to her mind, that the dress was the same as that she had seen +in a picture of St. Olaf,--and there they were calling St. Olaf's +name!--"Sit down!" sounded again from behind her; "sit down!" cried a +great many voices,--"there is perhaps something behind as well," +thought Petra, turning round. A sea of angry threatening faces met her +gaze;--"there's something wrong here," she thought, and wanted to get +away; but an old woman who sat next to her, pulled her gently by the +dress: "Come, sit down, child," she whispered, "you know they behind +cannot see!" She was in her place in a moment; for to be sure: that is +the theatre, and we are looking on,--the theatre! she repeated the +word, as if to recall herself. Then she was in the church again; +notwithstanding all her endeavours, she could not understand the +speaker; but when she fairly discovered that he was a young, handsome +man, she began to understand a word now and then, and when she heard +that he was in love, and love was his theme, she understood most of +all. Then a third came in, who, for an instant, drew her attention +away, for she knew from drawings that he must be a monk, and a monk she +had a great desire to see. He trod so softly, was so quiet, yes, he +must in truth be a godfearing man; he spoke slowly, distinctly, she +followed every word. But the next minute, he turned and said exactly +the opposite of what he had said before,--heavens! he's a scoundrel, +he's a scoundrel! he has the look of it! And this young handsome man +cannot see it! he might at all events hear it! "He is deceiving you!" +she whispered, half aloud. "Hush!" said the old lady. No, the young man +does not hear, he withdraws in good faith, they all go, and an old man +comes in alone. How is this? When the old man speaks, it is just as if +the young one was speaking, and yet it is the old man, ... oh! look +there! look there! a shining procession of girls, all in white, two and +two they pass silently through the church; she saw them long after they +had gone by,--and a similar impression from her childhood hovered in +her memory. One winter she had gone with her mother over the mountain; +making their way in the new fallen snow, they had startled a covey of +ptarmigans, that with one accord, flew up in front of them; they were +white, the snow was white, the forest white,--long after, all her +thoughts rose white before her, and now the same thing again. But one +of these maidens robed in white, steps forth alone, with a wreath in +her hand, and kneels, the old man has knelt also, and she talks to him, +he has brought messages and a letter for her from foreign lands, he +brings it out,--her face tells clearly, it is from one she loves, oh! +how delightful, they all seem to love here! She opens it,--it is not a +letter, it is full of music,--yes, see, yes, see! he himself is the +letter, the old man is the young one, and he is the one she loves! They +embrace, heavens, they kiss each other,--Petra felt she grew scarlet, +and hid her face with her hands, while she watched further;--listen, he +is telling her that they will soon get married; and she laughingly +pulls his beard, and says he has grown a barbarian, and he says she has +grown so lovely, and he gives her a ring, and promises her scarlet and +velvet, gold slippers, and a golden belt; he merrily takes his leave, +and goes to the king to arrange about their wedding. His betrothed +looks after him, and her eye glistens, but turning round without him, +all seems so empty! + +There slides the wall down again. Over now? just as it began? Blushing, +she turned to the old lady: "Is it over?"--"No, no, child, it is the +first act. There are five such, yes indeed there are," she repeated +with a sigh: "There are five such."--"About the same?" asked +Petra. "What do you mean by that?"--"The same people come in +again, and it all goes on further?" "Then you have never been at a +comedy?"--"No."--"Well, in many places there is no theatre, it is so +expensive." "But whatever is this?" asked Petra anxiously, staring +as if she couldn't wait for a reply: "Who are these people?"--"A +company that Director Naso has, a first class company; he is very +clever."--"Does he invent it?--or what is it? Pray do tell me!"--"Dear +child, do you really not know what a play is? Where are you from?" But +when Petra thought of her native place, she thought also of her shame, +her flight, she did not speak and dare not ask any more questions. + +The second act came, and with it the king, then she really got to see a +king too! She did not hear what he said, she did not see whom he talked +to, she was observing the king's dress, the king's manners, the king's +bearing; she was first recalled, when the young man came in again and +now they all withdrew to bring in the bride! So she must wait once +more. + +Between the acts, the old lady bent over towards her: "Don't you think +they play beautifully?" she said. Petra looked up astonished at her. +"Play,--what do you mean?" She id not see that everybody round about +was looking at her, and that the old woman had been deputed to ask her, +nor did she hear that they sat and laughed at her. "But they don't +speak like we do?" she asked, as she did not get any reply. "They are +Danes of course," said the lady and began to laugh herself. Then Petra +understood that the good woman was laughing at her many questions, and +was silent; she looked stedfastly at the curtain. + +When it went up again, she had the great pleasure of seeing an +archbishop. It was now the same as before; she was lost in the sight +and did not hear a word of what he said. But then came music, oh so +softly, so far away, but it was coming nearer; female voices were +singing, and the play of flutes and violins, and an instrument, it was +not a guitar, and yet like many guitars, but softer, fuller, loftier in +its tone, the entire harmony poured in in long waves,--and as if all +were a blending of colouring, came the procession, soldiers carrying +halberds, choristers bearing censors, monks holding candles, the king +wearing his crown, and the bridegroom arrayed in white, at his +side,--then the white robed maidens strewing flowers and music before +the bride, who was attired in white silk, and wore a red wreath: at her +side walked a tall lady with a purple train adorned with gold crowns, +and a little sparkling crown on her head, that must be the queen! The +whole church was filled with their song and colours, and all that now +happened, from the bridegroom leading the bride to the altar where they +knelt, the whole company kneeling with them,--to the archbishop coming +in pomp with his brethren, were only fresh links in the tinted music +chain. + +But just as the ceremony was about to take place, the Archbishop waved +his staff, and forbade it; their marriage was against the holy +scriptures, here on earth they could never be united,--oh heavens have +mercy,--the bride sank down, and with a piercing cry, Petra, who had +risen, also fell! + +"Water, bring water!" cried those around her. + +"No," replied the old lady, "there is no need, she has not fainted!" +"No need," they repeated, "silence!"----"Silence!" they cried from +the parquet, "silence in the gallery!"--"Silence!" answered those +above.--"You must not take it so much to heart; it is only fiction and +nonsense altogether," whispered the old lady; "but Madame Naso plays +wonderfully." + +"Silence!" now exclaimed Petra herself; she was already deep in the +acting, for the devilish monk had come forward with a sword, the two +lovers had to hold a handkerchief and he rent it asunder between +them,--as the church rent, as grief rent, as the sword over the gate of +paradise rent that first day. Weeping maidens took the red wreath from +the bride, and replaced it with a white one; thereby she was sealed to +the cloister for life. He to whom she belonged in time and eternity, he +should know her to be alive, yet lost to him, know her to be within, +yet never see her; now dilacerating the farewell they took, there was +no greater suffering upon earth than theirs!-- + +"Mercy," whispered the old lady, when the curtain fell: "don't be so +foolish; you know it is only Madame Naso, the director's wife." Petra +stared at the old lady, she thought she must be crazy and as the latter +had long thought the same of her, they continued to look a little +askance at each other, but did not speak any more. + +Petra could not follow the scene when the curtain rose; the bride +within the convent, and the bridegroom day and night in doubt without +the walls, was what she saw, she suffered their suffering, she prayed +their prayers; but that which took place before her eyes, passed +unheeded by. An ominous silence fell over all, and this brought her to +herself; the church seemed to grow larger, the twelve strokes of the +clocks sounded in empty space; it rumbled under the arches, the walls +shook, St. Olaf had risen from his tomb, and wrapped in a winding +sheet, tall and awful, a spear in his hand, he strode along: the +sentinels flee, the thunder peels, the monk is pierced by the +outstretched lance; then all is darkness, and the apparition +disappears. But where the lightning struck, the monk lies as a heap of +ashes. + +Without being aware of it, Petra had caught fast hold of the old lady, +and grasped her so tightly, that she alarmed her, and seeing Petra's +increasing paleness, she exclaimed: "Why my dear child, it is only +Knutsen; that is the only part he can play, he speaks so broad."--"No, +no, no," said Petra, "I saw flames round about him, and the whole +church shook beneath his tread!"--"Be quiet there!" was heard from +several quarters; "Out with those who can't be quiet!"--"Silence in the +gallery!" cried the parquet; "Silence!" replied the gallery.--Petra had +crept together as if to hide herself, but she soon forgot them +altogether; for see! there are the lovers again, the lightning has +opened their way, they will escape! They have found each other, they +embrace; Heaven protect them! + +Then a tumult arises, a sound of voices and trumpets, the bridegroom is +torn from her side, they are fighting for their country, he is wounded, +and dying he greets his bride, ... Petra first understands what has +happened, when the bride enters softly, and sees him dead! It is as if +the clouds of grief would gather over a single spot, but a glance +dispels them: the bride looks up from the dead man's side, and prays +that she too may die! The heavens open at her glance, the lightning +flashes, the bridal hall is above; let the bride in! Yes,--already she +can see within; for her eyes shed a blessed peace, like that upon the +mountain tops. Then the eyelids close: the battle had a higher +solution, their constancy a brighter crowning; she was now with him. + +Petra sat a long time still: her heart was lifted in faith, and the +strength of the Highest filled her soul. She rose up, above all that +was small, above fear and pain, rose with smiles to all,--were they not +brothers and sisters; the evil that separates was not present, it was +crushed under the thunder. They laughed at her in return, that was the +girl that had been half mad at the play;--but in their smiles, she saw +only a reflection of the victory she herself had gained. In this +confidence, that they were smiling in participation with her joy, her +face bore so radiant an expression, that they could not resist it, and +they smiled her smile in return; she passed down the broad stairs +between the people who made way for her on both sides, returning joy +for her joy, and beauty for the beauty which beamed upon them. There +are times when our souls shine forth in such resplendence, that we shed +a brightness on all about us, though we ourselves cannot see. The +greatest triumphal procession in the world, is this, to be led, upheld, +and followed by one's own refulgent thoughts. + +When, without knowing how, she arrived at home, she asked what it had +all been. There were some present, who were able to understand her, and +give her a satisfactory reply; and when she had got a real appreciation +of what the drama was, and of what great actors had in their power, she +rose and said: "There is nothing greater than this upon earth, and this +I must be." + +To their astonishment she put on her things and went out again; she +must be alone, and in the open air. She went away from the town, and +out to the adjacent promontory,--the wind was high, and the sea lashed +up beneath her;--the town on both sides of the bay lay enveloped in a +light mist, behind which the innumerable lights with all their +endeavours could do no more than lighten the fog they could not lift. + +This was the image of her soul. + +The great darkness, in its damp surge beneath her feet, gave warning of +an impenetrable deep; it behoved her to sink down thither, or rise in +the attempt to lighten it. She asked herself why she had never before +felt these thoughts, and she answered, because it was the moments only +that had power over her, but then she felt that she had also power over +them. She saw it now: as many moments would be given her, as there were +flickering lights yonder, and she prayed God that she might perfect +them all, that so His love might have kindled no light in vain. + +She rose, for the wind was icy told; she had not been long away, but as +she went home again, she knew whither she was going. + + * * * + +The next day she stood at the director's door. Hot words were heard +from within; one of the voices seemed to her like the bride's of +yesterday; in another key, to-day, to be sure, but still it made Petra +tremble. She waited a long time, but as it would not stop, at last she +knocked. "Come in," said a man's voice angrily. "Oh!" screamed a lady, +and as Petra entered, she saw a flying terror in a night dress, and +with dishevelled hair, disappearing through a side door. The director, +a tall man with blear eyes (which he hastened to hide with a pair of +gold spectacles), was pacing backwards and forwards in agitation. His +long nose so ruled his face, that all the rest was there for the nose's +sake, the eyes stuck out like two gun barrels behind this rampart, the +mouth was a trench before it, and the forehead, a light bridge over to +the forest, or barricade of felled trees.--"What is it you want?" he +stopped short; "is it you that wishes to join the chorus?" he asked +hurriedly. "'The chorus,' what is that?"--"Ha! so you don't know that; +what is it you want then?"--"I wish to be an actress."--"An actress +indeed,--and don't know what a chorister is! But you speak the +dialect?"--"'Dialect,' what is that?" "Eh! so you don't know that +either, and will yet be an actress, well, well; yes, that's like the +Norsemen. Dialect means, that you don't talk like we do."--"Yes, +but I've been practising all the morning."--"Have you, indeed? Come, +come, let me hear!" Petra took an attitude, and said with exactly the +same accent as the bride of yesterday: "I greet you my love. Good +morning!"--"I say, you are possessed, are you come here to make a fool +of my wife!" A peal of laughter was heard in the adjoining room, the +director opened the door, and without a trace of remembrance that but a +moment since they had been fighting for life and death: "Here is a +Norwegian hussy," he said, "caricaturing you, pray come and see her!" A +lady's head with untidy, refractory black hair, dark eyes, and large +mouth, peeped in and laughed. And yet Petra hastened towards her; for +it must be the bride,--no, her mother, she thought as she drew nearer. +She looked at the lady, and said: "I am not sure if it is you, or if it +is your mother!" whereupon the director also laughed. The head had +retreated, but laughed in the side room. Petra's embarrassment was +clearly depicted in her face and attitude; it attracted the director's +attention, he looked at her, and taking a book, said as though nothing +in the world had happened: "Take this, my girl, and read, but read as +you talk yourself."--She did so. "No, no, that is not right, read +Norwegian,--Norwegian, I say!"--and Petra read, but the same as before. +"No, I tell you, it is altogether wrong. Do you understand what I mean? +Are you stupid?"--He tried her again and again, then took the book from +her and gave her another: "See, that is the opposite, it is comic, read +that!"--"Yes, Petra read, but with the same result till she wearied him +out."--"No, no!" he cried, "for heavens sake give over,--what do you +want with the stage, what the deuce is it you want to act?"--"The play +I saw yesterday."--"Aha! To be sure! well, and then?"--"Yes," said she, +feeling a little bashful, "I thought it was so delightful, yesterday, +but I have been thinking today it would be still more delightful if it +had a good ending, and I would give it that."--"Eh, that is it? Well, +to be sure! There's nothing to hinder; the author is dead. Of course, +he is no longer correct, and you, who can neither speak, nor read, will +improve his works;--yes, that is Norwegian!" Petra did not understand +the words, she understood only that they went against her, and she +began to fear. "Will you let me?" she asked softly.--"Certainly, Lord +preserve us, there's nothing to hinder, be so good!--Listen," he said +in a different tone, as he went close up to her, "you have no more idea +of the drama than a cat; and you have no talent for either the comedy +or the tragedy; I have tried you in both. Because you have a pretty +face, and a fine figure, I suppose people have put it into your head +that you could play much better than my wife, and so you will take +the first part in my 'repertoire,' and make alterations to begin +with;--yes, that is the Norwegians, they are the people that can do +it."--Petra could hardly breathe, she struggled and struggled; at last +she ventured to say: "Will you really not allow me?" He had been +standing looking out of the window, and was certain she had gone; he +now turned round in surprise, and was struck with her emotion, and the +wonderful strength with which it was pourtrayed in her whole being; he +looked at her a moment, then suddenly seizing the book, he said with a +voice and manner as if nothing had happened before: "See, take this +piece here, and read it slowly, let me hear your voice. Come now!" But +she could not read, for she could not see the letters. "Don't be +afraid!" At last she began, but coldly, without any spirit; he bade her +read it over again with more feeling; but it was still worse, so he +quietly took the book from her: "I have tried you in all ways," he said +"so I have no responsibility. I assure you, my good girl, if I were to +send my boots upon the stage, or I were to send you, the impression +would be just the same--viz., a very remarkable one. So that must end +the matter!" But as a last endeavour, Petra ventured entreatingly: +"I believe though I understand it, if only I get----" "Yes, to be +sure,--every fishing village understands it a great deal better than +we; the Norwegian public is the most enlightened in the world."--"Come +now, if you won't disappear, I must!" She turned to the door, and burst +into tears. "I say," this violent outburst had thrown a new light on +the subject; "I say, I suppose it isn't you that made such a +disturbance in the theatre last night?"--She turned round, fiery red; +"Yes, to be sure, I know you now, Fisher Girl! I was in company with a +gentleman from your town after the play, he 'knew you well.' Ha! so +that is why you wanted to get on the stage; you would try your tricks +there,--I understand!--Listen: My theatre is a respectable +establishment, and I defy all attempts to transform it. Go! Will you +go, I say!"--and Petra went, sobbing fearfully, down the steps, and out +into the street. She ran crying past all the people, and a lady at +mid-day, running and crying in the street created, as may be imagined, +a great sensation. People stopped, the dogs ran after her, and more +followed. The whirr behind her reminded her of those awful nights in +the attic chamber, she remembered the faces in the air and ran faster. +But the remembrance grew more vivid with every step, the noise behind +her increased, and when she arrived at the house and shut the street +door, reached her room and locked herself in, she threw herself down in +a corner to defend herself from the faces; she struck them off with her +hands, and threatened them, then sinking down exhausted, she wept more +quietly,--and was saved. + + * * * + +The same day towards evening, she left Bergen and started for the +country; she did not know where to, but she would go where she was not +known. She went in a carriole, the driver boy sitting on her trunk +strapped on behind. It rained fast, she sat crouched together under a +great rain hat, and looked uneasily at the mountain above her, and then +at the precipice below. The forest before her was a dense mass of fog, +teeming with spectres; the next moment she would enter it, but the fog +was parting at every step she took towards it. A mighty rumbling that +grew stronger and stronger increased the feeling that she was entering +upon an unknown region, where everything had its own meaning and some +dark and mysterious connection, where man was only a nervous traveller, +who had yet to discover whether or not he could get further. The +rumbling came from several waterfalls, that in the wet weather had +grown up to battle, and now hurled themselves precipitately from rock +to rock with a terrific crash. Now and then they passed over narrow +bridges; she could see the water boiling and seething in the hollows +below. Soon the road began to bend and wind down the mountain; here and +there lay a cultivated field, and a few turf houses stood together; +then again it turned up towards the forest and rumbling. She was wet +through, and shivered, but still she would go further, as long as the +day lasted,--further also the next day, ever deeper in, till she came +to a place she dare trust herself to. Thereto He Himself would help +her, the Almighty, who now led them through the darkness and the storm. + + + + + CHAPTER VIII. + + AT THE RURAL DEAN'S. + + +Quite late in autumn, among the mountains in Bergen's shire, where the +land is sheltered and fruitful, there are occasionally days almost like +summer. On such afternoons, the cattle, even if they have already begun +with the winter feeding, are again let out into the pasture; they are +well fed and frisky, and when they are driven home at night, the scene +is lively. Thus they came down over the mountain track, cows, sheep, +and goats, bellowing, butting, and skipping, their bells merrily +ringing, and were just approaching the farm as Petra was driving by. It +was a beautiful day, the window panes in the long white wooden +buildings glittered in the sun, and above the houses, towered the +mountains, so thickly covered with firs, birch, ash, bird cherry, rowan +trees, and the projecting rocks with juniper bushes, that the houses +seemed quite sheltered by them. Facing the road, in front of the house, +was a garden, apples, cherry, and plum trees flourished in abundance; +red and black currant, and gooseberry bushes grew along the walks and +fences, and above all, towered some grand old ash trees with their +broad and stately crowns. The house looked like a nest half hidden +among the branches, out of reach for everything but the sun. But just +this seclusion awakened a longing in Petra, and when she heard it was +the deanery, she exclaimed: "I must go in here!" and pulling in the +reins, she turned along the garden. + +A couple of Finnish dogs rushed out upon her as she drove into the farm +yard, a large square, enclosed with buildings, the cattle stall +opposite the house, another wing of the house to the right, and to the +left the brewery, wash house, and labourers' room. The farm yard was +now full of cattle, and in the midst of them stood a lady, tall and +elegant; she wore a tight fitting dress, and a little silk handkerchief +over her head; round about and above her[2] were goats, white, black, +brown, and parti-coloured, all with their little bells sounding in +harmony; she had a name for each of her goats, and now she had +something nice for them in a dish, which the milkmaid continually +replenished. Upon the low step leading from the house to the farm yard, +the rural dean was standing with a plate of salt, and in front of him +were the cows licking the salt out of his hand and off the step where +he strewed it. The dean was not a tall man, but compact, with short +neck and short forehead; the bushy eyebrows lay over eyes that did not +often look straight before them, but now and then cast a flashing +glance aside. His thick grey hair was cut short, and stood up on all +sides, it grew down over his neck nearly as much as on his head; he +wore no neckerchief, but a shirt stud; in the front the shirt was +open,--one could see his hairy bosom; neither was it buttoned at the +wrists, so the shirt cuffs came down over the small, powerful hands, +now all licked over by the cows; both hands and arms were shaggy. He +glanced sharply from the side, at the stranger lady who had alighted, +and made her way between the goats to where his daughter was standing. +It was impossible, for the noise of the cattle, dogs, and bells, to +hear what they were saying, but now both the ladies were looking at +him, and with the goats around them they came towards the step. The +herdsman, on a sign from the dean, began to drive the cattle away. +Signe, his daughter, called out: (Petra was struck with the harmony of +her voice,) "Father, here is a lady travelling, who would like to rest +a day with us."--"She shall be welcome!" cried the dean in reply, gave +the dish to the lad, and went into his study, in the right wing of the +house, apparently to tidy himself. Petra followed the young lady into +the passage, which was more properly a hall, it was so light and broad; +the driver boy was dismissed, her things carried in, and she herself +shewn into a side room opposite the study, where she took off her +things, and went out again into the passage, to be further shewn into +the dining room. + +What a large light room! Nearly the whole wall fronting the garden was +windows, the middle one opened as a door to the garden. The windows +were broad and high, reaching almost to the floor, and they were full +of flowers, plants stood upon stands here and there in the room, and +instead of curtains was interwoven ivy, hanging from two small hedges +of flowers up in the frame above. As there were bushes and flowers on +every side, growing up the walls, and on the greensward before her, it +seemed like a conservatory in the midst of the garden; and yet one had +not been a minute in the room, before the flowers were no longer seen; +for the church standing by itself on a hill to the right was what one +saw,--the blue waters reflecting its image, coursed sparkling on so far +away between the mountains that one could not tell whether it was a +lake, or an arm of the sea curving in. And then the mountains +themselves! Not single, but chains of mountains, each one rearing its +mighty front behind the other, as if the boundary of the world. + +When Petra withdrew her eyes, everything in the room seemed hallowed by +the scene without; it was pure and light,--a frame of flowers for a +magnificent picture. She felt surrounded by some unseen presence, +observing her deportment, yea, even her thoughts; she went round the +room, without being conscious of doing so, and touched the things. +Suddenly she caught sight of the life size portrait of a lady smiling +down upon her from over the sofa, facing the light. She was sitting +with her head a little to one side, and folded hands, her right arm +rested on a book, on the back of which, in distinct letters, was +inscribed: "Sabbath Hours." Her light hair and fair complexion, shed +radiance, imparting a Sabbath peace to all around her. Her smile was +grave, but the gravity was affection. She seemed as though she could +draw everyone to her in love; she seemed to understand all, for in +everything she saw only the good. Her countenance bore traces of +delicacy, perhaps this delicacy had been her strength, for there could +be no one who dare abuse it. A wreath of everlastings hung above the +frame; she was dead. + +"That was my mother," she heard softly behind her, and she turned,--it +was the daughter, who had gone out and now came in again. The whole +room, seemed as it were, filled with the portrait, everything was +adapted to it, and the daughter was its quiet reflection; she seemed a +little more silent, a little more reserved. The mother received the +glance of all, and gave hers fully in return, the daughter bent hers +down, but in both there was the same peace and mildness. She had also +her mother's figure, but without a trace of weakness,--on the contrary, +the bright colours in her tight-fitting dress, in her apron, and little +silk neckerchief fastened with a Roman pin, cast a glow of freshness +over her face, and yielded a charm, which made her at once the daughter +of the portrait, and the nymph of the place. As she was walking there +among the mother's flowers, Petra felt a strong drawing towards her; in +the presence of such a woman, and in such a place, everything good must +grow;--dare she but step within! She now doubly felt her loneliness; +her glance followed Signe incessantly, Signe felt it and tried to evade +it, but it did not help, she felt embarrassed, and stooped down over +the flowers. At last Petra discovered her impropriety, she felt +ashamed, and would have apologised, but there was something in the +neatly arranged hair, the fine forehead, and the dress, that bade her +be cautious. She looked up at the mother; her, she could already have +embraced! Was it not as if she were bidding her welcome. Dare she +believe it? No one had ever looked thus at her before; it seemed to say +that she knew all that had happened to the wayfarer, and would yet +forgive her. Forbearance, she stood in need of, and she could not take +her eyes from this benevolent glance,--she put her head to one side, +like the portrait, she folded her hands like it, and almost without +knowing it, she exclaimed: "Oh let me stay here!" Signe rose and turned +towards her, she could not answer for amazement. "Do let me stay here!" +begged Petra again, advancing a step towards her: "It is delightful!" +and her eyes filled with tears. + +"I will ask my father to come," said the young lady. Petra watched her +till she passed within the study door, but as soon as she was alone, +she was afraid at what she had done, and she trembled when she saw the +dean's astonished face at the door. He came a little better dressed +than before, and with a pipe in his mouth; he held fast hold of it, +taking it from his lips at every whiff, and emitting the smoke in three +puffs, each with a little smack; he repeated this two or three times, +as he stood before Petra in the middle of the floor, not looking at +her, but as if waiting for her to speak. She dare not before this man +repeat her request; he looked so austere. "You wish to stay here?" he +asked, and he gave her a quick bright side glance. Her terror made her +voice tremble a little: "I have no place to go to."--"Where are you +from?" In a low tone she gave the town and her own name. "How did you +get here?"--"I do not know, ... I am seeking ... I can pay for myself, +... I, ... Yes, I don't know," she could say no more for a minute, then +she took fresh courage and continued: "I will do everything you tell +me, if only I may stay here, and not have to go further ... and not +have to ask any more." The daughter had followed her father in, but +remained standing by the stove, where without looking up, she was +fingering the dried rose leaves that lay there. The dean did not reply, +one could only hear the puff of his pipe, as he looked alternately at +her, Petra, and the portrait. Now the same thing may give two very +different impressions: while Petra was praying that the portrait might +influence him to lenience, he thought it whispered: "Protect our child; +take no stranger in to her!"--He turned with a sharp side glance to +Petra: "No, you cannot remain here!" + +Petra turned pale, drew a deep heavy sigh looked round +hesitatingly,--and then rushing into a side room, the door of which +stood half open, she threw herself down beside a table, and gave full +vent to her grief and disappointment! Father and daughter looked at +each other; this lack of manners,--rushing into another room without a +word, and then sitting down by herself, was only a counterpart of her +former proceeding,--coming in from the road, begging to stay with them, +and bursting into tears when she did not get permission. The dean went +after her, not to speak to her, but to shut the door. He came back +quite flushed, and said in a subdued tone to the daughter, who was +still standing by the stove: "Have you ever seen her equal?--Who is +she? What is her object?"--The daughter did not at once reply, and +when she answered it was in a still more subdued tone than the +father's.--"She goes the wrong way about, but there is something very +remarkable in her."--The dean paced up and down, looking towards the +door; at last he stopped and whispered: "She cannot be altogether in +her right mind?"--and as Signe did not answer, he came nearer and +repeated more decidedly: "She must be crazy, Signe, half-witted; that +is the remarkable about her."--"I don't think so;" replied Signe, "but +she is certainly very unhappy," and she bent down over the dried rose +leaves with which she was still toying. + +The tone of the voice, as well as the movement would have been in no +way striking to another; but it changed the father at once, he walked a +few times up and down, looking at the portrait; at last he said, very +slowly: "You mean, because she looks unhappy,--that mother would have +bidden her stay?"--"Mother would not have given any answer for two or +three days," whispered the daughter, bending lower over the roses. The +gentlest reminder of her up there, when the daughter brought it thus +before him, could make that hairy lion head as mild and gentle as a +lamb's. He felt the truth at once, and stood like a school boy caught +in a trick; he forgot to smoke and walk up and down, and after a long +time he whispered: "Should I bid her remain a few days?"--"You have +already answered her."--"Yes, but it is one thing to receive her +altogether, and another to let her stay here a few days."--Signe seemed +to be pondering the matter, and said at last, "Do as you think best." +The dean would prove the matter yet once more, as he paced the room +again, smoking hard. At last he stopped: "Will you go in, or shall +I?"--"It will certainly do most good if you go," said the daughter and +looked mildly up. + +He was just going to turn the door handle, when a loud peal of laughter +was heard from within,--then silence and again another roar. The dean, +who had turned back, went forward again, the daughter after him; for +there must be something the matter with the one in there. + +When the door opened, they saw her sitting just where they had left +her, but with a great book open before her, over which she had thrown +herself without knowing it. Her tears had trickled down on to its +leaves; she observed it, and was about to dry them, when her eye caught +sight of an expression of the juicy sort, which she remembered from the +street days of her childhood, but which she had never thought to see in +print. In her amazement, she forgot to weep, but buried herself in the +book,--what an absurd book it was!--She read with open mouth, it grew +worse and worse, so low, but so irresistibly amusing, that it was +impossible to give up, she must read on; she read, till she forgot all +else, she read away both sorrow and hunger, both time and place--with +old Father Holberg, for him it was. She laughed, she roared--even now +when the pastor and his daughter were standing over her, she did not +observe how grave they were, she never thought of her request, but +laughed and asked: "Whatever is this, whatever in the world is this?" +and she turned to the title page. + +Then she grew pale, looked up at them, and down again in the book at +the well-known characters; there are things that strike the heart like +a cannon ball, things that we believed to be hundreds of miles away, we +see straight before us,--here on the first page was written: "Hans +Odegaard." Blushing crimson she cried: "Is the book his,--is he coming +here?" she got up.--"He has promised to do so," answered Signe,--and +now Petra remembered, that there was a minister's family in Bergen's +shire, whom he had met abroad.--She had travelled only in a circle, +she had come just in his path. "Is he coming directly? Perhaps he is +here now?" she would at once fly further.--"No, he is ill," said +Signe.--"Yes, that is true, he is ill," said Petra, painfully, and sank +down. + +"But tell me," exclaimed Signe, "is it possible you can be----?" "The +Fisher Girl!" put in the pastor. Petra looked up entreatingly at them. +"Yes, I am the Fisher Girl," she said. + +But her they knew quite well; for Odegaard had talked of nothing else. +"That is another matter," said the dean,--he perceived there was +something wrong, needing a little friendly help;--"stay here as long as +you will, we shall help you!" Petra looked up in time to see the warm +look Signe gave him in thanks; this did her so much good, that she went +across, and took both Signe's hands, saying, though bashfully: "As soon +as we two are alone, I will tell you all!" + +One hour after, Signe knew Petra's whole history, which she at once +communicated to her father. On his advice, Signe wrote the same day to +Odegaard, and continued to do so; as long as Petra was in their house. + +When that evening Petra laid down to rest, in the soft eider down, in a +warm room with crackling birch wood in the stove, and the New Testament +laid between the two lights on the white toilet table,--she thanked her +God, as she took the book, for all, the evil as well as the good. + + * * * + +As a young man, the dean with an ardent temperament and talent for +oratory, had wished to study for the ministry; his parents, people of +wealth, had been against it; they would have preferred to see him +choose what they called an independent position; but their opposition +served only to increase his zeal, and when he had graduated, he went +abroad to study further. During a preliminary stay in Denmark, he used +often to meet a lady, who belonged to a religious sect not sufficiently +strict for him, and to whom he was therefore opposed: he sought +continually to influence her, but the way in which she looked at him, +thereby bringing him to silence, he could never forget during the whole +of his sojourn on the continent. When he returned, he at once visited +her. They had a good deal of intercourse, and grew in intimacy, till at +last they became engaged, and were soon after married. And now it was +evident that each of them had their own private thoughts; he had +purposed to draw her over with all her simple grace, to his gloomy +teaching, and she had been so innocently certain of being able to win +his power and eloquence over to the service of her church. His first +most cautious attempt was met by her first most cautious:--he drew +back, disappointed, mistrustful. She saw it at once, and from that day +he watched for her next attempt, while she did the same for his. But +neither of them tried it again, for both had become afraid: he was +afraid of his own passionate nature, and she, lest by a vain attempt, +she might spoil her opportunity of influencing him; for she never gave +up hope,--she had made it the aim of her life. But it never came to a +conflict; for where she was, such could not be; yet to his active will, +his repressed emotions, he must give vent, and so it happened every +time he entered the pulpit and saw her seated below. The members of his +church were drawn in with him as in a whirlwind, he excited them, and +soon they him. She saw it, and sought to give rest to her foreboding +heart in deeds of benevolence,----and later, when she became a mother, +in the daughter, on whom she lavished her tenderness, physical and +mental, and bore her to her quiet hours. There she gave, there she +took, there in the child's innocence, she watched over her own great +child, there she held the feast of love, and from there she returned to +him in his strictness, with the united mildness of a woman and a +Christian;--it was impossible for him to say anything that could wound +her then. He might indeed love her above all else on earth, but he grew +more sorrowful, the more he became convinced that he could not help her +in the matter of her salvation. With a mother's quiet right, she +withdrew the child also from his religious instruction; the child's +songs, the child's questions soon became a new and deep source of pain +to him,--and now when his violent agitation had excited him to hardness +in the pulpit, his wife only received him with the greater mildness as +they walked home together. The eyes spoke, but the mouth not a single +word. And the daughter clung to his hand, and looked at him with eyes +that were the mother's. + +All sorts of subjects were discussed in this house, only not that which +was the root of all their thoughts. But at length this strain could be +born no longer; she smiled still, it is true; but only because she did +not venture to weep. When the time drew near that the daughter must be +prepared for confirmation, and consequently by the right of his office, +he could draw her as quietly over to his instruction, as hitherto the +mother had held her in hers, the anxiety rose to its height, and after +the Sunday when the noting down of the candidates for confirmation was +announced, the mother became ill, like we are when wearied out. She +said smilingly, that she could not walk any more, and a few days later, +also smilingly, that how she could not sit. Though she could not speak +to the daughter she would yet have her always beside her, for she could +see her. And the daughter knew what she would most like; she read to +her out of The Book of Life, and sang to her the hymns of her +childhood, the new and peaceful hymns of her fellow believers. It was +long before the dean realised what was here preparing; but when he did +realise it, he lost the threads, he could only keep his thoughts to one +point,--to hear her say something to him, just a few words, but she was +not able to do it; she could no longer speak. He stood at the foot of +the bed, and watched, and prayed; she smiled upon him, till he fell on +his knees, took the daughter's hand and laid it in the mother's, as if +he said: "Here, you take her,--with you she shall ever remain!" Then +she smiled as never before,--and in that smile she passed away. + +After this, it was long before the dean could be led into conversation; +another was appointed to perform his duties,--he himself wandered from +room to room, from place to place, as though seeking something. He went +about quietly; when he spoke it was in a subdued tone, and it was only +by adopting the whole of this silent method, that little by little, the +daughter could share his society. But now she helped him in his search, +every word of the mother's was recalled,--what she would have wished, +became their guide for the future. The daughter's communion with her, +that to which he himself had been a stranger, was now lived over +again;--all was gone over afresh from the first hour the child could +remember; the mother's hymns were sung, her prayers were prayed, the +sermons she had thought most of, were read over one by one, and her +explanations and observations upon them, lovingly remembered in faith. +Thus roused to activity, he felt a desire to visit the place where he +had found her, there, in the same manner, to follow in her footsteps. +They went, and in making her life entirely his own, he partly +recovered. Himself a new beginner, he took an interest in every new +effort around him, the great, the small, national, political,--which +gave him back much of his own young life. His powers streamed in again, +and with them his longings,--now he would preach the Word so that it +would prepare for life, and not alone for death! + +Before he again shut himself in with his beloved work in his mountain +home, he felt a desire to take an enlarged view of the world elsewhere. +They therefore continued their journey further, and had now many +pleasing remembrances. + +Among these people lived Petra. + + + + + CHAPTER IX. + + APPREHENSIONS. + + +One Friday, a few days before the Christmas of the third year, the two +girls were sitting together in the evening twilight, and the dean had +just come in with his pipe. The day had passed as most others during +these two years; a walk began the mornings, after breakfast an hour's +practising, next languages or other studies, and then a little +occupation in household duties. In the afternoon, each in her own room, +Signe busy to-day in writing to Odegaard, after whom Petra never +enquired, even as she never would speak of the past. Towards dusk, a +sledge drive, and now they were in, to converse or sing, or later to +read aloud. For this the dean always joined them. He read remarkably +well, and his daughter not less so; Petra learnt the style of both, and +especially their pronunciation. The tone of Signe's voice and accent +was so pleasing to her, that it rang in her ears when she was alone. +Petra held Signe in such high estimation, that the fourth part a man +would have taken for ardent love; she often made Signe blush. By the +dean or Signe reading aloud every evening, (Petra was not to be +persuaded to do it;) they had gone through the chief poets of +Scandinavia, and besides had read many of the best works in foreign +literature; the drama was preferred. Just as they were about to light +the lamps this evening to begin, the kitchen maid came in and said, +that there was some one outside who had a message for Petra. It proved +to be a sailor from her native place; her mother had enjoined him to +seek her, as he was going in that direction, he had now come seven +miles out of his way, and must hasten back, as the vessel would be +sailing. As Petra wanted to talk with him, she went part of the way +along the road, for he was a dependable man whom she knew. The evening +was rather dark, and there was no light from the windows except in the +wash house, where they were having a great wash; there was no light on +the road, and the road itself could scarcely be seen, till the moon +rose over the mountains; but Petra went boldly on into the forest, +though there were weird shadows cast among the branches. One piece of +intelligence especially had enticed her to go with him: the sailor had +told her that Pedro Ohlsen's mother was dead, whereupon he had sold the +house, and moved up to Gunlaug, where he occupied Petra's room. This +was about two years ago, yet the mother had never named a word about +it. Now, however, Petra could judge who it was that had written the +letters for her mother, a question she had often asked, but always in +vain; for every letter concluded with these words: "and a greeting from +the one that writes this letter." The sailor had it in charge to ask +her, how long she was going to stay at the deanery, and what she +intended to do afterwards. Petra replied to the first that she did not +know, and to the second that he must tell the mother, there was only +one thing she wished in the world, and if she did not get it, she would +be unhappy all her life; but just now she could not say what it was. + +While Petra was talking to the sailor, the dean and Signe were sitting +in the dining room, talking about her to whom they were both very much +attached. Then the steward came up, and after giving in his report for +the day, he asked, if either of them knew, that the young lady living +with them went up and down from her room by a rope-ladder at nights. He +had to repeat it three times before either of them could conceive what +he meant; for he might as well have told them that she went up and down +on the moonbeams. It was dark in the room, and now it became perfectly +still; not even the sound of the dean's pipe. At length, with a certain +dull clink in his voice, he asked: "Who has seen it?"--"I have; I was +up attending to the horses, it would be about one o'clock."--"She went +down by a rope ladder?"--"And up again."--Again a long silence. Petra +occupied the room above, that looked on to the farm yard; she was alone +there, no one except her had a room on that side of the house, so there +could be no mistake who it was.--"It may have been in her sleep," said +the steward about to withdraw.--"She could not make the rope-ladder in +her sleep," said the dean.--"No, that was what I thought too, +therefore I judged it was best to tell it to him, father; I have not +mentioned it to any one else."--"Is there any one that has seen it +besides you?"--"No,--but if he, father, doubts the matter, let the +rope-ladder itself be the witness; if it is not there, I must have been +wrong."--The dean rose up quickly. "Father!" begged Signe.--"Bring a +light," said the dean in a way that did not allow of any opposition. +Signe lit it herself. "Father!" she begged once more, as she gave it +him.--"Yes, I am her father too, as long as she is in my house; it is +my duty to look into it,"--he went before with the light, Signe and the +steward after. + +Everything was in order in the little room; only a whole row of books +lay open on the table in front of the bed, one on the top of the other. +"Does she read at night?"--"I don't know, but she never puts her light +out BEFORE one o'clock." The dean and Signe looked at each other,--they +separated at the deanery about ten or half-past, and they re-assembled +again in the morning at six or seven.--"Do YOU know anything about +it?" Signe did not reply. But the steward who was down on his knees in +the corner, seeking, answered from there: "She certainly is not +alone."--"What is that you are saying?"--"No, there is always some one +with her, talking to her; they often speak very loud; I have heard her +both plead for herself and threaten. She must be in the hand of some +evil power, poor thing!" Signe turned away; the dean had grown deathly +pale.--"And here is the ladder," said the steward, he pulled it out, +and got up. Two clothes lines were fastened together by a third, tied +in a hard knot, then carried across and fastened in a knot about half a +foot below, then back, and so on till the ladder was long enough. They +examined it carefully.--"Was she long away?" asked the dean.--The +steward looked at him, "How, away?"--"Was she long away, when she came +down?"--Signe stood and shivered from fear and cold.--"She did not go +anywhere, she went up again."--"Up again? Then who went away?"--Signe +turned, and burst into tears. "There was not any one with her that +evening, it was yesterday."--"Then there was no one on the ladder +except her?"--"No."--"And she went down and up again directly?"--"Yes." + +"She has been proving it then," said the dean, and drew a long breath +as if relieved.--"Yes, before she let any one else go," added the +steward. The dean looked at him: "Then do you mean this is not the +first she has made?"--"No, otherwise how could people have got up to +her?"--"Have you known a long time that some one came to her?"--"Not +before this winter, when she began to burn her lamp at night. It never +struck me before to go down there."--"Then you have known it the whole +winter," said the dean severely; "why have you not told me before?"--"I +thought it was some one belonging to the house that was with her;--but +when I saw her on the ladder last night, it struck me it might be some +one else. If it had struck me before, I should have mentioned it +before."--"Yes,--it is clear enough she has deceived us all!" Signe +looked up imploringly. "She should not have a room so far away from the +others," observed the steward, rolling up the ladder. "She should not +have a room beneath my roof," said the dean, and went; the others +followed. + +When he had gone down, and set the light away from him on the table, +Signe came and threw herself into his arms,----"Yes, my child, this is +a fearful disappointment." Shortly after, Signe was sitting in the sofa +corner, with a pocket handkerchief before her eyes, the dean had lit +his pipe, and walked quickly up and down. Suddenly there was a scream +from the kitchen, and they heard the servants run up stairs, and rush +along the passages overhead; they both hastened out: Petra's room was +on fire! A spark must have fallen from the light in the corner, for the +fire had sprung from there, and in a moment blazed along the wall-paper, +and reached the wood work of the window, when it had been observed by +some one passing by, who had run into the wash house and told them about +it. The fire was soon put out; but in the country, where everything has +its even routine from one year's end to another, any sudden interruption +causes great excitement. The fire is their worst, most dangerous enemy, +never out of their thoughts, and when he thus comes in the night, +thrusting his head up over the precipice, and licking greedily after his +prey, they tremble, and do not regain composure for weeks, some not even +for life. + +When after this, the dean and his daughter again stood together in the +dining room, the lamps having been lit, they both felt there was +something ominous in the thought, that Petra's room had thus been +destroyed, and all traces of her burnt out. At the same moment, they +heard her clear voice, calling and questioning; she sprang up and down +stairs, ran from the attic to the passage, from the passage to the +kitchen, and finally came rushing in with her things on: "Heavens! my +room is burnt!" No one answered, and in the same breath, she asked: +"Who has been there? When did it happen? How did the fire break out?" +The dean now replied, that it was they who had been there: they had +been looking for something; he gave her a penetrating look. But Petra +did not give the slightest sign of finding this anything wonderful, nor +did she betray any fear for what they could have found. She did not +even suspect anything wrong when Signe did not look up from the sofa; +she attributed it to her fright from the fire, and she never ceased +asking, how it had been discovered, put out, who had got there first, +&c., and as she got no answer quickly, she ran out as she had come in. +But she soon came rushing in again, having partly taken off her things, +and told them how she had seen the light herself, and run so fearfully, +but was so glad now to find it was no worse. So saying, she took off +the rest of her things, carried them out, and coming in again, she +seated herself at the table, talking incessantly, of what this and that +one had said and done, the whole place indeed was turned upside down, +and it was very amusing. As the others continued silent, she expressed +her regret that it had spoilt the evening for them; for she had been +looking forward with so much pleasure to "Romeo and Juliet," which they +were then reading aloud; she was going to ask Signe that very evening +to read that scene over again, that she thought the finest of all: the +parting of Romeo and Juliet on the balcony. In the midst of her +chattering, one of the girls from the wash house came and said that +they were short of clothes lines, there was one bundle missing. Petra +grew suddenly red and got up; "I know where it is, I will go for it," +she went a few steps, then remembering the fire, she stopped: +"Goodness, it will be burnt! it was in my room!" Signe had turned +towards her, the dean took a full view from the side: "What do you do +with clothes lines?" He breathed heavily, he could scarcely speak. +Petra looked at him, his fearfully grave look made her half afraid, but +the next moment it made her laugh, she strove a minute against it, but +looking at him again, she burst into such a hearty fit of laughter that +she could not stop;--there was no more of a troubled conscience in it, +than in a rippling brook. Signe heard it in her voice and sprang up +from the sofa: "What is it, what is it?"--Petra turned round, laughed +and hopped about, she ran to the door, but Signe stopped the way: "What +is it, Petra, tell me?" Petra ran behind her as if to hide, but +continued to laugh immoderately. No, guilt does not behave so, now the +dean could see that too;--he who stood on the point of bursting into a +rage, hopped down into laughter instead, and Signe after him; nothing +in the world is more catching than laughter, and especially laughter +that is entirely incomprehensible. The vain attempts which now the +dean, now Signe made to get to know what they were laughing at, only +made them laugh the more; the maid, who was standing waiting, at last +could resist it no longer, and began to roar; she had that +extraordinary laughter as though it came from a pit with hoisting and +heaving; she felt, herself, that it did not suit to fine furniture and +people, so she hastened to the door to give free vent to it in the +kitchen. Of course she took the contagion with her there; soon a whole +volley of laughter poured in from the kitchen, where they knew still +less what they were laughing at, and this made the laughter in the +dining room break out anew. + +When at last they were almost done up, Signe made a last attempt to get +to know the cause: "Now you must tell me!" she exclaimed, holding +Petra's hands.--"No, not for the world!"--"Yes, but I know what it is!" +she said: "and my father knows as well!" Petra screamed and slipped +loose, but on reaching the door, Signe caught her again, then Petra +turned to free herself, she would get away at any price, she laughed +while she struggled, but there were tears in her eyes; then Signe left +loose,--Petra ran, and Signe after her, till they reached the room of +the latter. There they embraced each other, "Mercy! do you really +know?" whispered Petra.--"Yes, we were up in your room with the +steward, who had seen you,--and we found the ladder!"--Fresh screams, +and fresh flight, but this time only to the sofa corner, where she hid +herself Signe came, and bending over her, she whispered in her ear, all +about their journey of discovery, with its pleasing consequences;--that +which an hour ago had cost her both tears and fears, seemed now so +amusing that she told it with humour! Petra listened and stopped her +ears, looked up and hid herself by turns. When Signe had finished, and +they were sitting together in the darkness, Petra whispered: "Do you +know how it is? It is impossible to sleep at ten o'clock, when we go to +our rooms, that which we have read has far too much power over me. So I +learn it by heart, all the best pieces,--I know several scenes, and +read them aloud to myself. When we came to Romeo and Juliet, it seemed +the most delightful thing upon earth; I grew wild, I must try that with +the rope ladder, I had never thought anyone could go up and down on a +rope ladder.... I got hold of some ropes,--and there that fellow was +standing below and watching me!--Yes, but it is nothing to laugh at, +Signe, it is so boyish, I shall never be anything else than a boy,--and +now to-morrow I shall be a laughing stock for the whole neighbourhood." +But Signe, who had begun to laugh again, kissed her, gave her a +clap, and ran out, saying: "No, I must tell father!"--"Are you mad, +Signe!"--and away they rushed. The dean was just coming out to see what +had become of them, and they nearly knocked him over; Signe told him +the whole story. + +After tea where she was duly teased by the dean, Petra, by way of +punishment, was to recite what she knew by heart. It proved to be a +fact that she knew all the most celebrated scenes and not only one part +in them, but all. She recited as if she were reading, now and then she +was almost on fire, but then she would suddenly check herself. The dean +had hardly observed this, before he would have a little more +expression, but it only made her more shy. The recitation continued +several hours; she knew the comic scenes as well as the tragic, the +playful as well as the serious;--her memory both astonished and amused +them, she laughed, and told them only to try her. + +"I wish the poor actors had but the eighth part of the memory you +have!" said Signe.--"God preserve her from ever being an actress," said +the dean, at once becoming earnest.--"But father, you don't suppose +Petra has any idea of such a thing?" said Signe laughing: "I have +always observed that any one educated from youth up in the poetry of +his language, has no longing at all to go upon the stage, while those +who do not know much about poetry till they are grown up, revel in the +thought of it, it is the longing of poetry, a longing all at once +awakened in them that impels them."--"That is very true; it is not often +that a really educated person will go upon the stage."--"And still more +seldom one poetically educated," said Signe--"Yes, if it occurs there +is a want in the character, which allows vanity and levity to get the +upper hand. In my travels abroad, and also when studying, I became +acquainted with many actors, but I have never known, and I have never +heard of any one knowing an actor, who led a really Christian life. I +have seen that they have felt themselves called, but there is something +restless and unsatisfying in their occupation; they have found it +impossible to collect themselves--even long after they have left it. If +I have spoken with them about it, they have admitted and lamented it, +but yet they have at once added: 'But we may console ourselves with the +thought that we are not worse than so many others.' But this is what I +call poor consolation. A life that does not in any way build up our +spiritual manhood, is a sinful life. The Lord help them, and may He +keep pure hearts away from it!" + + * * * + +The next day, Saturday, the dean as usual was up before seven, went his +morning round among the labourers, and then going further, he returned +in daylight. As he was going past the house to the farm yard, he saw an +open exercise book, or something of the sort, which must have been +thrown out of Petra's window the evening before, and not found, because +it was the colour of the snow. He took up the book, and carried it in +with him to his study; in opening the leaves to dry them, he saw it was +an old French exercise book, in which verses were now written. He never +thought of reading the verses, but he caught sight of the word, +"Actress," written all over,--even in the verses themselves ... He sat +down to examine it. + +After repeated erasures and corrections, he came at last to the +following rhyme, which though not copied, could still be read: + + + "Come listen my love, and hear me say, + The longing that fills me from day to day, + An actress I'll be, and I'll picture true, + To the world a woman from every view,-- + How she suffers, and how she laughs, + How she prays, and loves, and chaffs, + How she is when she is sinful, + How she is when she is peaceful, + Oh God, I pray Thee, help Thou me, + To be the one that I aim to be!" + + +And a little below the following: + + + "May not I be Thy servant, Lord? + Wilt Thou not Thy help afford?" + + +Under this, was a verse, in imitation no doubt, of a poem they had read +a few months before: + + + "Oh, a river nymph to be, + Nymph to be, + Moonbeams shining full and free, + Full and free, + Glide along, and turn in glee, + Turn in glee, + Death to him who in will see, + In will see, + --No, that would be sin, lirum, larum, ba!--" + + +And after repeated corrections, marks and notes: + + + "Hop, sa, sa,--hop, sa, sa, + I'll dance with every one, but they'll never catch me, ha! + Tra, la, la,--tra, la, la, + Be always number one, but keep them all afar!" + + +Then distinctly and clearly, the following letter: + + +"Dearest Henrich, + +Don't you think you and I are the best in the whole comedy? It gives us +a great deal of annoyance, but that is nothing; I engrasserer thee to +go to the masquerade with me to-morrow night; for I have never been, +and I long for some real fun; here at home, it is so quiet and lonely. +Du est a great rascal, Henrich,--wherever are you keeping yourself? for +here sits + + Your Pernille." + + +Finally in large letters, written distinctly and several times over, +the following verse; she might have found it somewhere, and wanted to +learn it by heart: + + + "In my heart, an inward burning, + 'Tis the Great within me yearning,-- + From the hidden springs to draw,-- + Loki bind in Baldur's law, + Power to speak with power imbibe, + High and noble thoughts describe,-- + Thereto help in mercy, Thou + Who the need awakens now!" + + +There was a great deal more, but the dean did not read it. + +Then it was to be an actress that she had entered his house, and taken +instruction from his daughter. It was with this secret aim, she was so +eager to hear them read aloud, and then afterwards learn by heart. She +had been deceiving them the whole time; even yesterday, when she seemed +to be telling them everything, she was hiding something: when she +seemed to laugh so innocently, she was lying. + +O this secret purpose! That which the dean had so often condemned in +her presence, SHE embellished with the calling of God, and dared to ask +His blessing upon it! A life of appulance and frivolity, of jealousy +and passion, of idleness and sensuality, of lies and growing +unprincipledness, a life over which the vultures gather, as over a +carcase, was that to which she longed to attach herself, and prayed God +to consecrate! And it was to this life, that the dean and his daughter +had helped her forward in the quiet parsonage, under the watchful eyes +of the awakened church. + +When Signe, bright and cheerful as the winter morning, came in to greet +her father, she found the study entirely filled with tobacco smoke. +This was always a sign of trouble, but especially so early in the +morning. He did not speak a word to her, but gave her the book,--she +saw directly it was Petra's; a shadow of the mistrust and pain of +yesterday, came over her, she dared not look at it; her heart beat so +violently that she was obliged to sit down. But the same word that had +attracted the dean's attention, caught hers too; she must see more, so +she read on. Her first feeling was one of shame--not for Petra,--but +because her father had seen it too. + +But she soon experienced the deep mortification, that comes when we +find ourselves deceived by one we love. For a moment, the one who has +been able to do it, seems greater, more ingenious, wiser than we, yea, +he may even glide into the mysterious. But soon the mind is aroused in +indignation; integrity is strengthened by the powers which are not +secret, though they are unseen: we feel able to defy a hundred cunning +devices; we DESPISE, what at first caused us mortification. + +Petra had seated herself at the piano in the dining room, and now they +heard her singing: + + + "The morning has dawned, and joy to awaken, + --The forts of despondency stormed and taken,-- + Over the glowing mountain tops, + The host of the king of daylight drops. + 'Up, up, up,' little birds of the wood, + 'Up, up, up,' little children good, + And up, my hope with the sun!" + + +And then a storm swept over the instrument, and out of it burst the +following song: + + + "In vain you may plead, + For my boat I must lead, + Through the breakers rough, + To the tempest tough. + And should it be proved the last push from the shore, + I must venture what never I ventured before. + + Not for fancy or boast + Do I leave your coast;-- + I must reach the deep sea, + And the waves ride free. + I must e'en see the keel, as she cuts through the wave, + And thus prove if my vessel knows how to behave!" + + +No, this was too much for the dean, he snatched the book from Signe's +hand, and rushed to the door; this time she did not hold him back. He +went straight to Petra, threw the book on the piano before her, turned, +and strode across the room; when he came back, she had risen, and +pressing the book to her heart, she looked all round with a confused +expression. He stopped to give her his full mind, but his anger at the +thought that for more than two years he had been made use of by this +wily girl, and especially that his warm-hearted, affectionate daughter +had been duped by her, came so forcibly before him, that he did not at +once find words,--and when he did find them, he felt they were too +hard. After striding once more across the floor, and once more coming +opposite to her, his face scarlet, he turned his back, and without a +word walked into his study. When he came there, Signe was gone. + +All that day they kept to their own rooms. The dean dined alone, +neither of the girls appeared. Petra was in the housekeeper's room, +which had been alloted to her since the fire; she sought all over for +Signe to explain to her, but in vain: she could not be at home. + +Petra felt this to be a decisive moment in her life. Her most secret +thoughts had slipped from her, and they would try to exert an influence +over them, which she could not bear. She knew best herself, that if she +relinquished this object, she would be driven at the mercy of the +winds. She could be light-hearted with the light-hearted, and +confidential with the confidential, hopeful in everything, but it was +in the strength of that secret purpose,--that some time she would be +able to secure that after which her powers were yearning. To confide in +any one, after that first baulking attempt at Bergen,--no, she could +not do it, not even in Odegaard himself! She must be alone in it, until +her aim had grown so strong, that it could bear to hear the doubts that +would be breathed upon it. + +But now it had happened otherwise: the dean's fiery red face +looked continually down upon her scared conscience.--She must save +herself!--She sought for Signe more earnestly and hurriedly in the +afternoon, but still she was not to be found. The longer one whom we +seek hides from us, the greater we depict the cause of separation, and +thus it was, that at last she made herself believe it had been +treachery against Signe, secretly to use her friendship for that which +Signe thought to be a sin. The omniscient God must be her witness, that +this view of her conduct had never struck her before; she felt herself +a great sinner. + +Just as before at home, she now stood with the feeling of a great sin +upon her conscience, of which a moment before, she had no suspicion. +That that terrible experience might be repeated, augmented her vague +fear to terror; she saw before her a future of unhappiness. But in +proportion as her own guilt increased, Signe's image stood forth in +purity and disinterested attachment. + +It had grown dark, wherever Signe had been she must have got home. She +ran down the passage leading to the wing where Signe's room was; the +door was locked,--a sign that she was there. Her heart beat as she +took hold of the handle, and begged again: "Signe, let me speak to +you!--Signe, I cannot bear it!"--Not a sound; Petra bent down to +listen, and knocked again: "Signe, oh Signe, you don't know how unhappy +I am." No reply; long listening, still none. If one gets no answer, one +doubts at last if anyone is there, even if one knows there is someone, +and if it is dark, one gets afraid. "Signe,--Signe! if you are there, +be merciful,--answer me,--Signe!" All was silence; a cold shiver came +over her. The kitchen door opened, and quick steps were heard in the +court yard below. This gave her a thought, she would go out herself, +get up on the ledge on the wall of the wing, and go round the whole +building to get to the other side where it was very high. She would see +Signe. + +It was a bright starlight night, the mountains stood in sharp outline, +the snow sparkled, the dark footpaths only increased the sharpness of +the light; from the road the sledge bells were sounding, she felt +inspirited, and sprang up on the ledge. She tried to hold fast by the +outside boarding of the house, but she lost her balance and fell. Then +she rolled an empty cask against the wall and got up from it on to the +ledge. By moving hands and feet together, she could get about half a +foot at a time; it required a strong hand to keep fast; she could not +get well hold for the boards were scarcely an inch thick. She was +afraid lest any one should see her, for they would naturally connect it +with the rope ladder. If she could but get away from this side that +faced the farm, and out on to the cross wall; but when at last she did +get there, a new danger awaited her; there was nothing before the +windows, and she had to stoop down, in great fear of falling, every +time she passed them. The long wall was very high, but there was a +gooseberry hedge to receive her if she fell; she was not afraid. Her +fingers tingled, her muscles quivered, but on she went. A few steps +more and she would reach the window. There was no light in Signe's +room, and the blind was not drawn down; the moon was shining full in, +so she would be able to see into the farthest corners. This gave her +fresh courage, she reached the window ledge, and at last could get a +full hold and rest; as she got near, her heart began to beat so that it +almost took her breath, but as it only grew worse by waiting, she must +make haste--so she suddenly leaned right against the window. A sharp +cry answered from the room. Signe had been sitting in the sofa corner, +she sprang on to the floor, and with both arms warding off the fearful +apparition, she rushed out of the room. + +In a moment Petra realised what her unfortunate freak had done;--this +figure against the window, this thoughtless repulsive boldness--; her +image henceforth would be a constant terror to Signe; she lost +consciousness, and fell with a piercing shriek. + +The people in the house had run out on hearing Signe's scream, but +found nothing,--another scream,--the whole farm was astir; they sought, +they called, but in vain; it was purely accidental that the dean came +to look out of the window in Signe's room, and in the moonlight saw +Petra buried in the bushes. It was with great difficulty they could get +her extricated and carried up; she was taken into Signe's room, as the +housekeeper's was cold, she was undressed and put to bed. Some of them +bathed her hands and neck, while others made the room warm, light and +comfortable. When she came to herself, and looked about, she begged to +be left alone. + +The quiet comfort of the room, the fine white dimity that draped the +window, dressing table, chairs and bed, reminded her at once of Signe. +She thought of her pure loveliness, her mild voice that flowed milk +white, her delicate feeling for the thoughts of others, her gentle +benevolence. She had shut herself out from all this; she must soon +leave the room, and probably the house. And where to then? She could +not expect a third time to be taken up from the highway, and if she +could, she would not; for it would end only in the same way. No human +being could have confidence in her; whatever the cause, she felt that +it was so. She had not got a step further, she never could get further; +for without the confidence of her fellow creatures, she could not +succeed. How she prayed, how she wept! She fell back and wrung her +hands in an agony of mind, till she was fairly exhausted and slept. + +In her sleep, everything became snow white, and by-and-by lofty; she +had never before seen so high and so brilliant a glitter of millions of +stars. + + + + + CHAPTER X. + + IS MUSIC LAWFUL? + + +On awaking she was still in the skies. The thoughts that day poured in +upon her would follow, but were caught and carried away by something +which filled the whole air,--it was the Sabbath bells. She sprang up +and dressed herself, got something to eat in the breakfast room, +wrapped herself warmly up, and hastened away;--never before had she +been so thirsty for the Word of God! + +When she arrived, they had just begun, and the door was shut. The dean +was standing in front of the altar, she waited by the door till he had +concluded, and the assistant had removed his gown; she then went up to +the so-called bishop's pew, that stood in the choir, hung with +curtains. The special pew for the minister's family was higher up; but +if there was any one who felt a desire for seclusion, they retired to +the bishop's pew. As Petra reached it, and glided in, she saw Signe +seated at the farthest corner. She retreated a step out, but just then +the dean turned to go from the altar to the vestry; she hastened back +into the pew, and sat as near the door as possible; Signe had put down +her veil. This grieved Petra. She looked over the congregation, crowded +together in the high wooden pews, the men on the right hand, the women +on the left; their breath lay above them like mist in the air; the ice +was inches thick upon the windows, the rudely carved wooden images, the +heavy drawling singing, the people muffled up,--it was all in unison, +harsh and distant,--she thought of the impression nature made upon her +that afternoon she left Bergen; here she was also only a timid +wayfarer. + +The dean ascended the pulpit, he too looked severe. His prayer was: +"Lead us not into temptation." We knew that the talents God had given +us, contained in themselves the elements of temptation; but He would be +merciful and not suffer us to be tempted above that we were able to +bear, for this we should always remember to pray;--for only by laying +our talents at His feet, could they be of any real service to us. The +minister enlarged upon the theme, setting forth our double duty--on the +one hand to work out our life's calling according to our talents and +position, and on the other to develope the spiritual life in ourselves, +and in those committed to our care. One must be careful in the choice +of a vocation, for there may be a vocation sinful in itself, and there +may be one that would become so for us,--either because it did not suit +us, or because it suited our lusts and passions. Again: as surely as +everyone should choose a vocation according to his talents, so truly +may a choice both right and good in itself, become a snare to us, if we +allow it to take up all our time and thoughts. Our spiritual life must +not be neglected any more than our duty as parents to our children. We +must be collected in ourselves, that the Holy Spirit may have its +constant work in us; we must plant and guard the good seeds of +Christian life in our children. There is no duty, no pretext, that can +liberate us from this, though the opportunities may vary. And now he +went further--into THEIR calling that sat there, their houses, their +conduct, their opinions. Then he drew examples from other conditions +and nobler occupations, that cast their side rays down upon us. + +From the moment the dean waxed warm in the pulpit, he was an entirely +new man to those who knew him only in daily life. Even in appearance, +he was changed; his reserved and powerful face had opened, revealing +the play of thought within; his glance was full, and he looked +earnestly as he set forth the glad tidings of salvation. The shaggy +head stretched itself up like a lion. His voice rolled in thunder, or +struck in short earnest variations, sometimes falling to a gentle tone, +but only again to take new heights. Indeed he could never speak except +in a great room, and with eternity over his thoughts; for his voice had +no harmony till it rose, his countenance no clearness, his thoughts no +striking perspicuity, till they burned with enthusiasm. Not that the +material was first found then, no, if affliction had enriched his soul, +reflection had done so too; he was a diligent worker. But he was not +adapted to general conversation, he must have it to himself, at all +events he must be able to inflect his voice. To open a discussion with +him, was almost like attacking a defenceless man, but dangerous +nevertheless; for his convictions were quickly expressed and with such +force that reasons were left in the back ground; if at last he was +pressed to give them, one of two things happened, either he completely +overset the opposing party, or he became suddenly silent, because he +was afraid of himself. No one could more easily be brought to silence +than this powerful, eloquent man. + +Petra had trembled as soon as the dean began his prayer; she felt +whereto it tended. The further he got in his sermon, the more she felt +he was true to himself; she crept together, and she saw Signe do the +same. But he proceeded unrelentingly; the lion was out after his prey, +she felt herself pursued from all quarters, shut in, and captured;--but +that which was seized so vigourously was gently held in the hand of +mercy. It was as if without a word of condemnation, she was simply +folded in the embrace of Divine love. And there she prayed and wept; +Signe did the same,--and she loved her for it! + +As the dean descended from the pulpit, to go past into the vestry, the +reflection of his communion with the Most High still overspread his +countenance. His gaze fell directly and inquiringly upon Petra; and as +she looked right up to meet it, a ray of mildness shone forth: he +glanced quickly into the corner at his daughter as he passed on. + +Signe rose soon after; her veil was down, so Petra did not venture to +go with her; she therefore waited longer. But at dinner they all three +met together; the dean spoke a little, but Signe was reserved. If the +dean--who was evidently about to bring the recent events into +conversation,--gave the slightest allusion to it, Signe turned his +remarks in a shy delicate way, reminding him at once of her mother;--he +became silent, and by degrees sorrowful. + +There is nothing more painful than an unsuccessful attempt at +reconciliation. They rose without being able to look at each other, to +return thanks for the meal. In the dining room it became at last so +oppressive, that all three would willingly have left the room, but no +one wished to go first. Petra for her part, felt that if she went, it +would be for ever. She could not see Signe again, if she might not love +her, she could not bear to see the dean sorrowful for her sake. But if +she was to go away, she must go without taking leave; for how could she +take leave of these people? The mere thought of it agitated her so, +that she could with the greatest difficulty suppress it. + +An oppressive silence like this, when each is waiting for the other, +becomes more insupportable every moment. We cannot move, because we +feel it will be noticed, every sigh is heard, and if we are quite still +it is heard too, for it is heard as harshness. We are kept in suspense +because no one says anything, and we tremble lest any one should +begin.--They all felt this to be a moment that would never return.--The +walls that we build up between each other rise higher, our own guilt +and that of the others increases with every breath; now we are in +desperation, now in wroth; for the one that behaves so to us is +unmerciful, wicked, we don't tolerate THAT, we don't forgive THAT! +Petra could not bear it longer, she must either escape or scream. + +But just then sledge bells were heard on the road, a man with a wolf +skin coat dashed by, and turned in at the farm.--All breathed easier, +and listened for the liberation. They heard the stranger in the hall, +he put off his travelling coat and boots, and talked with the servant +who assisted him; the dean rose to meet him, but turned so as not to +leave the two girls alone,--they heard the stranger talking again, and +this time nearer, so that his voice made all three look up, and Petra +rose, fixing her eyes on the door,--there was a knock,--"Come in!" said +the dean in an agitated tone; a tall gentleman with a light complexion +and spectacles appeared in the doorway, Petra gave a scream, and +fainted--it was Odegaard. He was expected at the deanery at Christmas, +although no one had told Petra, but that he should come just at this +juncture, must have been in the ordering of Providence; this was felt +at once, and by them all. + +When Petra recovered consciousness, he was standing beside her, and +held her hand. He continued to hold it, but said nothing, nor did she; +she was powerless even to rise. But while she continued looking at him, +two tears rolled down her cheeks. He was very pale, but quite calm and +kind; he withdrew his hand, and walked across the floor; then he went +to Signe, who had crouched down among her mother's flowers in the +furthest window. + +Petra longed to be alone, and so withdrew. Domestic matters required +Signe's attention, so the dean and Odegaard repaired to the study, to +take a glass of wine, of which the traveller stood in need. Here he was +briefly told the events of the last few days, it made him very +thoughtful but he said nothing. They were interrupted in a singular +way. + +Two women and three men came past the windows, following one after the +other; as soon as the dean caught sight of them, he sprang up: "There +they are again!--now for a trial of patience."--In they came, first the +women, then the men, slowly, silently. They placed themselves along the +wall under the book shelves, opposite the sofa where Odegaard was +seated. The dean set chairs, and brought others from the next room; +they all took seats with the exception of a young man in a modern suit +who declined, and leaned against the door post, not without a defiant +expression and with both hands in his pockets. + +After a long silence, during which the dean filled his pipe, and +Odegaard who did not smoke surveyed the visitors, the conversation was +at length opened by a pale light-haired woman of about forty. Her +forehead was rather narrow, her eyes large, but shy; they did not +know exactly which way to turn. "The father gave an excellent sermon +to-day," she said, "it touched upon what we were just thinking +about;--for up at Oygarene we have been talking much about temptation +lately."--She sighed; a man with a small face and large forehead sighed +also: "'Take away mine eyes from beholding vanity, O Lord, and quicken +thou me in thy way.'" Then Else, she who had first spoken, sighed again +and said: "Lord, wherewithal shall a young man cleanse his way? by +taking heed thereto according to Thy word."--It seemed rather strange, +for she was no longer young. But a middle aged man who sat with his +head to one side, rocking backwards and forwards, his eyelids never +really lifted, said as if half asleep: + + + "Temptation, Satan's fiery dart, + None is exempt from sharing-- + Who taketh part in Jesu's death, + The name of Christ thus bearing." + + +The dean knew them too well not to be aware that this was only the +introduction, so he waited as if nothing had been said, although there +was again a long silence with repeated sighs. + +A little woman, who became still less by stooping, and was enveloped in +such a manifold number of shawls that she looked like a parcel,--her +face almost lost,--now began to move uneasily in her chair, and at last +a "hm, hm!" was heard. The light-haired woman was at once frightened +up, and said: "There is an end to all music and dancing in Oygarene +now;----but----" She stopped again, whereupon Lars, he with the great +forehead and the short face, continued:--"But there is one man, Hans +the musician, who WILL NOT give it up."--While Lars was thinking of the +rest, the young man came out with it: "Because he knows that the dean +has an instrument to which they both dance and sing at the deanery +here."--"It certainly cannot be greater sin for him than it is for the +dean," said Lars.--"And the music must be a temptation at the deanery +too," said Else cautiously, as if to help the matter forward. But the +young man added more strongly: "It is a stumbling block to the young, +as it is written: 'And whosoever shall offend one of these little ones, +it were better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck, and +he were cast into the sea.'" And Lars continued: "We request therefore +that you will send away the instrument, or burn it up, that it may +cease to be a stumbling block--" "To your parishioners," added the +young man. The dean smoked vigorously, and at last with an evident +struggle for self command, he said: "To me music is not a temptation, +it is refreshing and elevating. Now you know that that which can make +our spirits free, makes us better able to receive and understand high +things; therefore I believe most assuredly that music is of service to +me."--"And I know there are pastors," said the young man, "who +following the words of Paul, will nevertheless give it up for the sake +of their parishioners."--"It may be that I understood his words so +once," replied the dean, "but I do not now. One may well give up a +custom or a pleasure; but one must with reluctance make oneself +narrow-minded or foolish with those that are such. I should not be +acting wrongly towards myself only, but also towards those to whom I +should be a guide; for I should be giving an example against my +convictions." It was seldom that the dean gave so long an explanation +out of the pulpit. He added: "I will neither send away my piano, nor +burn it; I will hear it often for I often feel the need of it,--and I +wish that in all innocence you also could now and then refresh your +spirits by song, and music and dancing; for I believe these things to +be right and proper." + +The young man bent his head to one side: "Twi!" spat he. + +The dean's face grew scarlet, and deep silence ensued. Then the man +rocking, with a loud voice struck in: + + + "O Lord, my God, I can testify, + His cross in patience bearing, + With poor and rich, with women and men, + 'Tis a cause of anxious wearing; + For flesh and blood as frail and weak, + We all alike are sharing.----" + + +Then Lars said in a mild tone: "So you say that music and singing and +dancing are right, do you? then it is right to rouse Satan through the +senses; hm!--so that is what our pastor says; very well then, we know +it now!--that all these things connected with idleness and sensuality +are elevating and helpful, ... that that which is a temptation is +right!" But now Odegaard,--who saw by the dean's face that things were +going wrong,--hastened to interpose: "Tell me, my good man, what there +is, that is NOT a temptation?" + +All looked at him from whom these pointed and terse words came. The +question was in itself so unexpected, that Lars could not at once tell +what to reply; nor could the others. Then it sounded up as from a well, +or out of a cellar: "Labour is not."--The voice came from the bundle of +shawls, it was Randi, who spoke for the first time. An exulting smile +came over Lars' face, the light-haired woman looked at her with a +satisfied air, even the young man leaning against the door post for a +moment lost the sneering curl of his lip. Odegaard understood that this +was the head, although it was not to be seen. He therefore turned +himself to her: "What can that labour be, that is without temptation?" +She would not answer this, but the young man replied: "The curse says: +'In the sweat of thy brow, shalt thou eat thy bread;' labour then that +brings us toil and trouble." "And nothing but toil and trouble? No +profit for example?"--To this neither would he reply; but the short +face felt a calling: "Yes, as much profit as one can get!"--"Then there +must be temptation in work also, temptation to too much gain." In this +strait, succour came again from the depths: "Then the gain is the +temptation and not the work."--"Well, but how is it when the work is +carried to excess for the sake of the gain?" She crept in again; +but Lars went on: "What do you mean by the work being carried to +excess?"--"Why, when it makes you like animals and binds you in +thraldom."--"Thraldom it has to be!" said the advocate of the +toil.--"But can it as thraldom lead to God?"--"Labour IS the worship +of God!" shouted Lars.--"Dare you say that of ALL your labour?" Lars +was silent. "No, be reasonable and admit that for the sake of gain, +labour may be carried to excess, as if we lived only for it. Therefore +labour also has its temptation."--"Yes, there is temptation in +everything, children,--there is temptation in everything!" said the +dean as he rose, and put out his pipe as if in conclusion! Sighs issued +from the bundle of shawls, but no reply. + +"Listen," began Odegaard again,--and the dean filled himself a new +pipe--"now if labour yields fruit, i.e. profit, then we have certainly +liberty to enjoy that fruit? If it should become riches, have we then +liberty to enjoy these riches?"--This set them thinking, they looked +from one to the other. "I shall answer, while you are thinking," said +he; "God must have permitted us to try to make a blessing of his curse, +for HE HIMSELF led the patriarchs, led His people to the enjoyment of +riches."--"The apostles were to possess nothing," exclaimed the young +man triumphantly.--"Yes, that is true; for God would place them +beyond and above all human conditions, that they should look only to +Him;--they were called!"--"We are all called!"--"But not in the same +way;--are YOU called to be an apostle?"--The young man turned deadly +pale, his eyes retreated under the wall of forehead above them: he must +have his reasons for taking it so to heart. + +"But the rich must also work," observed Lars; for work is God's +command.--"Certainly he must, although his aim and method may be +different, each one has his own task. But tell me: shall a man be +ALWAYS at work?"--"He must also pray!" chimed in Else, and folded her +hands, as if she remembered that she had too long neglected it.--"Then +whenever a man is not working; he must pray? Is any man able to do +this? What kind of prayer would it be, and what kind of work? Shall he +not also rest?"--"We must rest only when we can do no more; for then we +shall not be tempted by evil thoughts,--ah! then we shall not be +tempted!" said Else again,--and Erik joined in: + + + "If ye are weary seek and find + In Jesu's name a peaceful mind, + How sweet is rest! + There comes a time when also ye + To the last resting place will flee, + An earthy nest!----" + + +"Be quiet, Erik, and listen to this," said the dean. And Odegaard +knitted his eyebrows: "See here: labour has its fruit, and requires its +rest: and it is my opinion respecting society, music, singing, and the +rest, that they are not only the sweet fruit of our labours, but they +also give rest and strength to the soul." + +Here there was restlessness in the camp; all looked at Randi; she +rocked and rocked, and at last it sounded slowly and quietly: "Worldly +song, and music and dancing, afford no rest, for such excite the lust +and desires of the flesh. THAT certainly cannot be the fruit of labour, +which wastes and enervates."--"Ah! such things are full of temptation!" +said Else with a sigh. This put Erik in mind of the verse of a hymn:-- + + + "We see with shame and sorrow, + From virtue fain to borrow + The vices that abound + Increasingly are found; + They craftily ensnare + And with a pompous air----" + + +"Be quiet Erik!" said the dean; "you are only rambling."--"Oh well, +that may be," said Erik--and began again:-- + + + "If one will work upon you so + With ticing words that you shall go + In the broad, cursed way of sin, + Be strong, permit him not to win--" + + +"No, do give over Erik! The hymn is nice enough, but everything in its +own time."--"Yes, yes, father, that is true,--everything in its own +time:-- + + + "Oh I every minute, every hour + Is Thine, it is Thy due, + Our hearts must beat to own Thy power, + And call to prayer anew--" + + +"No, no, Erik, or prayer itself would lead into temptation; you might +become a Catholic, and go into the monastery--"--"God forbid!" said +Erik, and opened his eyes wide, then shutting them, he began: + + + "As earth and dust to pure gold, + Are Catholics--" + + +"Now Erik if you can't be quiet, you must go out with the rest of it. +Where was it we left off?" But Odegaard, much to his amusement had been +following Erik, and could not remember. Then it came peacefully from +the shawls: "I was saying that THAT cannot give rest or be the fruit +of our labours, that--"--"Now I remember: that there was temptation +in,--and then Erik came and proved that there may also be temptation in +prayer. Let us therefore see, what these things may lead to. Have you +ever observed that cheerful men work better than the dejected? Why?" + +Lars caught the drift of this: "It is religion that makes us cheerful," +he said.--"Yes, when it is not desponding; but have you never seen that +there is a religion that makes everything so gloomy, that the world +itself is like a prison?" + +Else was sighing so, that the shawls began to move, Lars also looked +sharply at her, and she gave over.--Odegaard continued: "Always the +same, whether it is work, prayer, or play, makes you stupid and gloomy. +You may grovel in the earth till you become an animal, pray till habit +makes you a monk, and play till you are nothing better than a doll. But +combine them and the mind is strengthened; work prospers, and religion +becomes more cheerful."--"Then we have to be cheerful now!" said the +young man, and smiled.--"Yes, and then you too would win sympathy: for +it is only when we are cheerful, that we can see and admire the good in +others, and only by loving others that we can love God." + +As no one at once contradicted this, Odegaard made a second attempt to +bring the bundle to the point; "Those things that disenthral, so that +the Holy Spirit can work in us, (for in bondage He cannot work) those +things that assist us, must have a blessing in them,--and that this +does." The dean rose, he had again a pipe to put out. + +In the silence which followed, unbroken by sighs, one could see the +shawls working, and at last there issued softly: "It is written: +'Whatsoever thou doest, do all to the glory of God,'---but is worldly +song, and music and dancing to the glory of God?" "Directly, no;--but +may we not ask the same when we eat and sleep and dress? And yet these +MUST be done. The meaning therefore can only be, that we shall do +nothing that is sinful."--"Yes, but is not this sinful?" + +For the first time Odegaard grew a little impatient, and he merely +replied: "We see in the bible, that both singing and music and dancing +were used."--"Yes, to the glory of God."--"Very well,--to the glory of +God. But the reason why the Jews named GOD in everything, was because, +like children, they had not learnt to make distinctions. To children, +every man they do not know is 'the man,'--to the child's question, +'Where does, this come from, where that?' we answer always: 'from God'; +but as men to men we name the intermediate as well, and not God the +giver alone. So, for example, a beautiful song may relate to God, or +lead to Him, even if His name never occurs in it; for there is much +that points thither, although not directly. Our dancing, when it is the +pure healthful enjoyment of the innocent, is, even if not directly, to +the praise of Him who has given us health, and loveth the child in our +hearts." + +"Hear that, hear that!" said the dean; he knew that he himself had long +misunderstood these things, and misrepresented them to others. + +All this time, Lars had been sitting and thinking, now he was ready; +the corn had fallen from the high forehead, to the short peevish face; +there it had been crushed and ground, and now fell out: "Then all sorts +of stories, tales, and nonsense,--all the fiction and invention that +they fill the books with now-a-days, are they also allowable? Is it not +written: 'Every word that proceedeth out of thy mouth shall be truth?'" + +"I really thank you for this. You see it is with the mind as with the +house you dwell in. If it was so narrow that you could scarcely get +your head in and your legs stretched out, you would be obliged to widen +it. And fiction elevates the mind and enlarges it. If those ideas were +falsehood that are above absolute necessity, then those which ARE +absolute necessity would surely become falsehood too. They would thus +press you down in your house of clay that you would never reach +eternity, and yet it was just there you wished to be, and it was these +very same thoughts, that in faith should bear you thitherward."--"But +fiction is something that has verily never been, and so it must surely +be falsehood?" said Randi thoughtfully.--"No, it has often greater +truths for us than that which we see," answered Odegaard. Here they all +looked at him doubtfully, and the young man threw out: "I never knew +before that the story of Askeladden was truer than that which I see +before my eyes."--They all tittered.--"Then tell me if you always +understand that which you see before your eyes?"--"I am not learned +enough for that!"--"Oh, the learned certainly understand it still less! +I mean those things in daily life that give us sorrow and trouble, and +that 'worry us sore,' as the saying is. Are there not such things?" +He did not reply, but from the bundle it sounded earnestly: "Yes, +often."--"But if you heard a fictitious history, that resembled +your own in such a way, that as you heard it, you understood your +own,--would you not say of this story,--which gave you the comfort and +encouragement that understanding gives--would you not say that it had +greater truth for you than your own?"--"I once read a story," said +Else, "that helped me so in a great sorrow, that that which had long +been a trouble seemed almost a joy." It coughed from the bundle;--"Yes, +that is true," she added timidly. + +But the young man would not agree to this; "Can the story of Askeladden +be a comfort to any one?"--"Everything has its own use. The amusing has +great power, and this story proves in an amusing way, that that which +the world thinks the least of may often be the best,--that everything +assists him who is of good cheer, and that that man gets on, who +makes up his mind to do so. Do you not think that it does many children +good to remember it;--and many grown people with them?"--"But to +believe in hobgoblins and trolls is surely superstitious?"--"Who said +you must believe in them? They are figures of speech."--"But we are +forbidden to use figures and images; for they are the wiles of the +devil"--"Indeed;--where do you find that?"--"In the Bible."--Here the +dean interposed: "No, that is a mistake, for the Bible itself uses +imagery."--All looked at him, "It employs imagery on all sides, as the +Eastern people abound in such. We ourselves use it in our churches, in +wood, on canvas, in stone, and we cannot conceive of the Godhead except +through imagery. And not this alone: Jesus uses figures, and did not +the Lord Himself appear in varied forms, when He made Himself known +unto the prophets; was it not in the form of a traveller that he came +to Abraham in Mamre, and ate at his table? Now if GOD HIMSELF appears +in varied forms, and uses imagery, surely man may do the same," They +were about to assent, but Odegaard rose and gently tapping the dean on +the shoulder: "Thank you! you have shewn most conclusively from the +Bible, that the drama is allowable!"--The dean started in surprise; the +smoke which he had in his mouth coursed slowly out of itself. + +Odegaard went across to the bundle of shawls, and bent over to try to +catch a glimpse of her face, but in vain, "Is there anything more you +would like to ask," said he, "for you seem to have thought over several +things?"--"Oh, the Lord help me, I do not think always right."--"Well; +at first after the grace of conversion, one is so absorbed by its +wonders, that other things appear useless and wrong; one is like a +lover, desiring only the beloved."--"Yes, but look at the early +Christians, we must still follow their example."--"No, their difficult +position among the heathen is no longer ours; we have other duties; we +must bring Christianity into the life that now is."--"But there is so +much in the Old Testament against the whole spirit of what you say," +said the young man, for the first time without bitterness.--"Yes, but +those commands are now dead, they are 'done away,' as Paul says: 'We +are the ministers of the New Testament; not of the letter, but of the +spirit':--again: 'Where the spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty.' +And:----'All things are needful unto me,' says Paul further, 'but,' he +adds, 'all things are not expedient.'--Now we are fortunate in having a +man's life before us, that shows us what Paul meant. That is Luther's. +Of course you believe that Luther was a good enlightened Christian?" +Yes, they believed that.--"Luther's religion was cheerful, IT was the +religion of the new testament. His idea of a gloomy faith was, that the +devil was always on the watch behind it; and as for fear of temptation, +those that fear the least are the least tempted. He used all the powers +God had given, the powers of enjoyment too. Shall I give you a few +examples? The pious Melancthon once sat so closely at a defence of the +true doctrines, that he did not take time to eat; Luther snatched the +pen from his hand: 'One does not serve God by work alone,' said he, +'but also in rest and quietness; therefore God gave us the third +commandment and instituted the Sabbath.'--Again, Luther used figures of +speech, the facetious as well as the serious, and he was full of good, +often merry ideas. He also translated some excellent old popular tales +into his mother tongue, and said in the preface, that next to the +Bible, he scarcely knew any better admonitions than these. He played +the lute, as perhaps you may know, and sang with his children and +friends,--not psalms only, no, but lively old songs too; he was fond of +social games, played at chess, let the young people dance at his house; +he desired only that all should be modestly and well conducted.--A +simple old disciple of Luther's, pastor Johan Mathesius wrote this +down, and gave it to his parishioners from the pulpit. He prayed that +it might be a guide to them,--and let us pray for the same." + +The dean rose: "Dear friends, now we will conclude for to day." All +rose up. "Many words have been spoken for our edification; may God +grant His grace upon the seed sown! Dear friends, your homes are in +remote parts; you live high up, where the frost more often cuts down +the corn than the sickle. Such desolate mountain places ought not to be +cultivated, and ought now to be left to tradition, and the grazing +cattle. Spiritual life can scarcely flourish up there, it becomes +gloomy like the surrounding vegetation. Life is overshadowed by +prejudice,--as by the mountains under which they grow up. The Lord +gather, the Lord enlighten!--I thank you for this day my friends, it +has been a day of enlightenment for me also." He shook hands with each +of them, and even the young man gave his cordially, yet without raising +his eyes. + +"You go over the mountain,--when will you reach home?" asked the dean +when they were ready to go.--"Oh, to-night sometime," said Lars; "a +good deal of snow has fallen now, and where it has blown off, there are +ice-banks."--"Well, my friends, it is worthy of all honour to come to +church under such difficulties.--I trust you will get home safely now!" +Erik answered in a low tone: + + + "Is God for me, whate'er there is + That will against me fall, + I can with prayer, and joyfully, + Tread under foot it all!" + + +"That is true, Erik, this time you have hit the mark!"--"Yes, but wait +a moment," said Odegaard just as they were going; "it is not strange +that you do not know me;--but I should have relations up at +Odegardene." They all turned to him, even the dean, who had known, +it is true, but quite forgotten it. "My name is Hans Odegaard, +son of Pastor Knud Hansen Odegaard, who once left you, long ago, with +his knapsack on his back."--Then it sounded from the shawls: +"Goodness,--that is my brother, that."-- + +They had all gathered round him, but no one was able to say anything. +At last Odegaard asked: "Then it was with you I was staying when I was +once up there with my father?"--"Yes, it was with me."--"And a little +while with me," said Lars; "your father is my cousin."--But Randi +said sorrowfully: "So this is little Hans;--yes, time goes."--"How is +Else?" asked Odegaard.--"This is Else," said Randi, pointing to the +fair-haired woman.--"Are YOU Else!" he exclaimed; "you were in trouble +about a love affair then; you wanted to have the musician; did you get +him?" No one replied. Although it was beginning to darken, he could see +that Else turned very red, and the men looked either away or down--with +the exception of the young man, who looked fixedly at Else. Odegaard +saw that he had put an unfortunate question, the dean came to his +assistance, "No, Hans the musician is unmarried; Else married Lars' +son, but now she is free again, she is a widow."--Again she blushed +scarlet, the young man saw it, and smiled haughtily. + +Then Randi said: "Well, I suppose you have travelled far? you have +learnt a good deal I can hear."--"Yes, hitherto I have been either +reading or travelling; but now I mean to settle down to work."--"Well, +well; that is the way:--some go out and get light and wisdom; others +remain at home." And Lars added: "It is often hard to make a living at +home; if we help one forward, whom we hope may be of service to us, he +goes and leaves us."--"There are different callings; each must follow +his own," said the dean.--"And the Lord sums up our work," said +Odegaard; "my father's labours will yet tend hither again, if God +will."--"Well, I suppose they will;" said Randi sadly; "but it is often +hard to wait." + +They departed; the dean placed himself in one window, and Odegaard in +the other to look after them, as they went over the mountain; the young +man went last. Odegaard learnt that he was from the town, where he had +begun with several things, but had always some misunderstanding with +the people. He thought himself called to be something great, an apostle +in sooth; but strangely enough he remained up at the hamlet of +Odegaard,--some thought from love to Else. He was a passionate soul, +who had passed through many disappointments, and had many more to come. + +They were now to be seen on the mountain; the roof of the barn hid them +no longer. They laboured on, the trees hid them, they came forth again, +ever higher and higher. There was no track in the deep snow, the trees +were the way-marks in the waste, and far away to the side the snow +mountains indicated the direction of their home. + +In from the dining room sounded a lively prelude, and then: + + + "My song I give to the spring, + Though she scarce is on the wing, + My song I give to the spring, + As longing on longing laid. + So the two unite their aid + To lure and tice the sun, + That old winter overcome, + May slip a choir of brooks;-- + Then with their merry looks + They'll chase him out of the air + With the perfume of flowers rare,-- + My song I give to the spring." + + + + + CHAPTER XI. + + RECONCILIATION. + + +From that day the dean was very little with his family; for one thing, +he was occupied with Christmas, and for another, he had not arrived at +any conclusion, whether or not the drama was lawful for the Christian; +if Petra but showed herself, he fell into a revery. + +While the dean therefore was sitting in his study either with his +sermons or some work on Christian ethics before him, Odegaard was with +the ladies, whom he was constantly comparing. Petra was versatile, +never alike; he who would follow her, must study as in a book. Signe, +on the contrary, was so winning in her unvarying cordiality, her +movements were never unexpected; they were the reflection of her +being. Petra's voice had all colours, sharp and mild, and every +intermediate grade. Signe's possessed a peculiar harmony, but was not +changing--except to the father, who understood to distinguish its +tones. Petra was with one at a time; if she were with more, it was to +observe, certainly not to help. Signe had an eye to all and everybody, +and divided her attention without its being observed. If Odegaard spoke +about Signe with Petra, he heard a hopeless lover's complaint; but if +he talked about Petra with Signe, the words were very few. The girls +often talked together, and without constraint; but it was only upon +indifferent subjects. + +To Signe, Odegaard owed a debt of gratitude; for it was to her he owed, +what he called his "new self." The first letter he received from her in +his great distress, was like a gentle touch upon his forehead. So +carefully she told how Petra had come to them, misunderstood and +persecuted, so delicately she added, that the accident of her arrival +might be the guidance of God, "that nothing should be rent in pieces;" +it sounded like a distant horn in the forest, as one stands and wonders +which direction to take. + +Signe's letters followed him where he travelled, and were the thread he +held by. She thought in every line to lead Petra straight to his +embrace, but in reality she was doing just the opposite; for through +these letters, Petra's taste for art rose up before him; the key note +to her talents, which he had sought for himself in vain, Signe, without +knowing it, had constantly in view,--and as soon as he understood this, +he saw both his own and her mistake, and thereby became as a new man. + +He watched himself narrowly in writing to Signe about that which her +letters had taught him. The first word must not come from Petra's +friends, but from Petra herself, that nothing should be hastened before +its time. But now he also saw Petra in a new light. These moments +constantly chasing one another, each one individually felt in full +power, but regarded ad infinitum, opposed to each other, what could +they be but the foreshadowing of an artist life? And the work must be +to unite them into a complete whole; otherwise it would be only +patchwork, and life itself unreal. Therefore: not too early to enter +upon her career! Reticence as long as possible, yes even opposition. + +Thus occupied, before he was aware of it, Petra had once more become +the constant occupation of his mind, but with a DIFFERENT object. He +studied art from every point of view, and especially artists, most of +all, the artists of the stage. He saw much to appall a Christian, he +saw the enormous abuses, but did he not see the same around him, even +in the church itself? Though there were hypocritical ministers, the +calling was still the same, great, eternal. If the search after truth +wherever begun, gains power in life and poetry, should it not also +reach the stage? Having assured himself on this point, he was glad to +see from Signers letters, that Petra was developing her mind, and that +Signe was the right one to help her. And now he had returned to see and +thank the gentle guide, who knew not herself what she was to him. + +But he had also come to see Petra again. How far had she got now? The +word had been spoken, he could therefore talk freely with her about it; +this was a relief to both, for thus they spoke not of the past. + +In the meantime they were interrupted by guests from town, invited and +uninvited! The affair was already so far advanced, that a single well +employed opportunity must make all clear,--and this the guests brought +with them. A large party was invited to meet them, and when after +dinner, the gentlemen were together in the study, the conversation +turned upon the stage; for a chaplain had seen a work on Christian +ethics open upon the dean's table, and his eye had caught the appalling +word: Theatre. This led to a hasty discussion, in the midst of which +the dean entered; he had not been present at dinner, having been called +away to a dying bed; he was very serious, and neither ate, nor took any +part in the conversation; but he filled his pipe and listened. As soon +as Odegaard observed this, he joined in the conversation himself, but +for a long time he tried in vain to explain his views, for the chaplain +had a habit of exclaiming every time a link in the chain of evidence +was about to be adduced: "I deny it!" and then that which was about to +be a proof, must itself be proved; consequently the matter was always +going backwards; from the theatre, they had already passed to +navigation, and now to get something proved in that, they were just +going over to agriculture. + +This was too much, so Odegaard elected himself chairman. There were +several ministers present besides the chaplain, there was also a +captain, a little swarthy man, with an immense abdomen, and a pair of +small legs that went stumping one after the other. Odegaard called upon +the chaplain to state his objections to the theatre. He began: + +"Good men of even heathen times were opposed to the drama, Plato, +Aristotle, because it was ruinous to morals. Socrates it is true, +sometimes visited the theatre, but if any one concludes from that, that +he approved of it, I deny it; one must see much of which one does not +approve. The early Christians were expressly warned against the play, +vide Tertullian, and since the revival of the drama in later times, +earnest Christians have spoken and written against it, I name such men +as Spener and Francke; I name a writer on Christian ethics, as Schwarz, +I name Schleiermacher. ('Hear! hear!' cried the captain, for this name +he knew.) The two latter admit dramatic representations to be +allowable, and Schleiermacher even thinks that in a private company and +by amateurs, a good play may be performed, but he condemns the actors +on the stage. As a profession, it presents so many temptations to the +Christian, that he MUST avoid it. And is it not also a temptation to +the spectator? To be moved by fictitious suffering, to be elevated by a +fictitious paragon of virtue, such (which in reading one can better +defend oneself from,) entice us to believe, that we are ourselves what +we see before us, our energy and force of will are weakened by it, it +drags us down into the mere wish to see and hear, making us visionary. +Is it not so? Who are the frequenters of the theatre? Idlers in search +of amusement, voluptuaries who will be stimulated, vain people who wish +to be seen, visionaries who flee hither to escape the actual life +against which they dare not contend. Sin behind the curtain, sin before +it! I have never heard sincere Christians say anything else." + +The Capt.: "I am beginning to tremble for myself; if I have been in +such a den of wolves each time I have attended the theatre, the +devil----" "Fie captain," said a little girl who had come in with them, +"you mustn't swear, or else you'll go to hell!"--"Aye my child, yes, +yes."--Then Odegaard rose to speak: + +"Plato raised the same objections against poetry as against the stage, +and Aristotle's opinion is doubtful,--therefore I will leave them +alone. The early Christians did well to abstain from the HEATHEN +play,--I will also leave them alone. That earnest Christians in modern +times should have their scruples about the theatre, I can well +understand; I have had them myself. But if one admits that a poet has +liberty to write a drama, then an actor has liberty to play it, for in +writing, what other does a poet do than play it--in his thoughts, with +ardour, with passion, and 'whosoever looketh after a woman to lust +after her,' &c.--you know the words of Christ Himself. When +Schleiermacher says, that the drama may only be played privately and by +amateurs, it is the same as to assert, that the talents God has given +us, shall be neglected, whereas the meaning really is, that they shall +be developed to the highest possible perfection; and to this end have +we received them. We are all acting every day, when we imitate others +in joke or earnest. Where, in any single instance these powers outweigh +all others, I really wonder if such a one ceased to cultivate them, if +it would not soon be shown that THIS was sin. For he who does not +follow his proper calling, becomes unfit for another, leads an +unsettled wavering life,--in short becomes a far easier prey to +temptation. Where work and inclination fall together, much temptation +is locked out. Now if you say the calling is in itself too full of +temptation, well, every one feels it differently. To ME that +calling possesses the greatest temptation that dupes one to believe +he is righteous himself, because he bears the commands of the +Righteous,--dupes him to believe he himself is believing, because he +speaks to the belief of others, or more plainly said: 'To me the +ministerial calling has the greatest temptation of all.'" (Great uproar: +I deny it! Yes! Silence! I deny it! It's true! Silence!) The Captain: +"Well I never heard before that the pulpit was worse than the stage!" +Laughter and cries from all: "No, he never said it was." Captain: "Yes, +the deuce----" "No, no, captain, the devil will be coming!"--"Well, my +child, well, well!" And Odegaard took up the thread: + +"All the temptation of being excited in a moment, of sinking down into +the mere wish to see and hear, of taking the models of virtue, and +without trouble appropriating their life as ours, this verily is also +present in the church!" (The same clamour again.) + +The ladies could no longer hear this uproar, without finding out what +it was. Now the door was open. Odegaard seeing Petra among them, said +with emphasis: "It is true there are actors who get excited upon the +stage, then rush to church, and get excited there,--and still they are +the same. But in general actors, in common with seamen, are so often +placed in the direst extremity, (for the moment before they enter must +be awful!) and so often come face to face with the great, the +unexpected, are so often called to be instruments in the hands of the +Lord, that they bear in their hearts a fear and longing, a strong +feeling of unworthiness; and this we know, that Christ preferred to be +with publicans and penitent women. I give them no charter; verily the +greater their work, the greater their guilt if their work leads them +into rashness, or degenerates into loose frivolity. But as there is no +actor, who has not learnt, by a series of disappointments how worthless +applause and flattery is, although the most behave as though believing +in it,--in the same way we see their mistakes and faults, but we +do not know so well their own relation to them, and on that it +depends--considered from a Christian point of view." + +Several rose, and began to speak all together, but-- + + + "Fourteen years surely I must have been--" + + +sounded in from the piano, and they streamed into the room; for it was +Signe who was singing, and Signe's Swedish melodies and the way in +which she sang them, were most delightful. One song followed another, +and as the first melodies of the land, faithful messages from the heart +of a great people, had had an elevating effect, and they were now +standing in anticipation, Odegaard rose and asked Petra to recite a +poem. She must have been conscious of it, for her face was crimson. She +stepped forward at once,--though she trembled so that she was obliged +to hold fast by the back of a chair,--turned very pale and began:-- + + + He could not get leave to go to sea, + His mother was weak, his father was old, + The farm was increasing a hundred fold:-- + "Why should he with the Vikings roam? + Here he has all he can wish for at home." + + But the youth in the clouds, as they onward sped, + Saw armed hosts to the battle led; + And the youth would pine when he saw the sun, + 'Twas the King in state after victories won. + He pondered the sagas of ancient days, + He forgot his work in the Vikings' praise. + + There came a morning, away went he, + To the outermost isle by the open sea, + To see the breakers come dashing in, + And list to the distant battle's din. + It was a day in the early spring, + When the voice of the storm is on the wing: + "Earth shall not ice-bound slumber longer!"-- + A sight he saw,--his will grew stronger. + They lay a ship, in a steel grey cove, + Resting after a stormy raid,-- + In sooth she seemed better inclined to rove, + Though her sail was bound and her anchor laid, + For the sail and the mast were going to and fro, + And the vessel was frothing scum with her bow. + + On board they were having a little rest, + To eat and to sleep was their present behest;-- + Up from the cliff they heard one calling, + --The words of a fool they seemed, thus falling,-- + "Dare no one steer in a storm so strong, + Then give me the rudder;--ah! I long!" + + Some looked up to the rocky brow, + Others nor cared to see just now; + None of them rose from the mid-day fare, + Down came a stone and felled two men there. + Up they sprang from deck and cheer, + Threw down the platters,--seized bow and spear; + Up whizzed the arrows,--while unprepared + He stood on the cliff and his will declared: + "Chieftain with grace wilt yield thy vessel, + Or longest thou first to strive and wrestle?" + + To listen to such was but time to waste, + In answer a spear was hurled in haste, + It hit him not; and calmly he said: + "None wait for me in the halls of the dead, + But thou who afar the sea hast ploughed + Canst hasten home, or hie thee thither.-- + All that under thee thou hast bowed + Must pass to me; so came I hither! + For me thou gatheredst, to me it falleth; + My time hath come, for me it calleth." + The other laughed from his height in scorn: + "Verily if thou indeed so longest, + Come prove thee to be my warrior strongest!" + "That can I not, I'm a _chieftain_ born. + I must command for I know my way; + The new can never the old obey." + But for the answer in vain he listened + Then down he sprang, his eyes they glistened: + "Ye warriors! your chieftain the duty owes + To prove to whom Odin his favour shows. + Then heroes! serve ye the one he aideth. + Shame to him that his yoke evadeth!" + + Red in wroth grew the chieftain's face; + Sprang in the sea and swam to land; + The other leapt hastily down to the strand + And took him up in his strong embrace. + + But the chieftain saw in the light of his eyes, + That his soul was of noble and lofty guise. + "Throw him arms across for none he weareth," + On board he cried;--"if the day beareth + Thee victory, say that himself he gave + The sword that brought him a hasty grave." + + The struggle waxed warm on the mountain side, + Each blow fell back with an echoing bomb;-- + The wrothful "Dragon" snuffed in her fume, + Felled was her champion in his pride. + + There rent a scream the mountains o'er, + Each man would revenge the mighty wrong; + From stem to stem there rose a throng, + And soon they stood on the rocky shore. + Then up the dying man swung his hand + To give amongst them his last command: + "A man must fall when his work is done; + The end of a hero song is grand; + Make him your chieftain,--a worthy one." + His lips grew white, his strength was past, + They hastened up as he breathed his last; + For him was a place of honour stored, + Thereto he pointed,--at Odin's board. + + The new commander made no delay, + He sprang on a stone and the order gave: + "First raise a mound o'er the hero's grave, + And mind ye the noble deeds of his day. + But e'er the night shall the anchor be weighed, + Nor e'en by the dead must our journey be stayed." + + The beacon was raised, the sail was spread, + The Dragon soon over the waters sped; + A song of remembrance clang o'er the wave + To him they had left in the island grave,-- + An ode of welcome rang in the ear + Of the youth who stood at the helm to steer. + + And just as his home was near in view, + And all were rushing down to the strand, + With cries of wonder to see the hand + That was steering Oger's sea-worthy shoe,-- + Fell the evening sun upon sail and shield, + And red o'er the height by the battle field. + + The vessel he steered so near the land, + That frightened they cried: "The ship will strand!" + He turned her round with a lurch and heave, + And he smiled upon them: "_Now_ have I leave?" + + +The poem was said tremblingly, solemnly, without a trace of +affectation. They stood as if a ray had shot up among them from the +earth, in all the splendours of the rainbow. No one spoke, no one +moved;--but the captain could no longer control himself, he sprang +up, puffed, stretched himself, and said: "Well I don't know how +it is with you; but when I am taken in this way, the deuce take me +if--"--"Captain, there you swore again," said the little girl, and held +up her finger threateningly; "the devil will come this very hour and +take you!"--"Well, it is all the same my child, let him come, for now I +must, the deuce take me, must have a patriotic song!" And so he began +with a voice so terrific, that one would have thought the great stomach +gave pressure as organ bellows--and the rest with him:-- + + + I will watch our land, + I will build up our land + I will further its cause in my prayers, in my home, + I will increase its gains, + And its wants seek with pains + From the boundary out to the driving sea foam. + + There is sunlight enough, + There are corn fields enough, + If we pull but together there's plenty of stuff. + Midst the labour and strife + There's poetical life + To raise up our land if our love's strong enough. + + To search and to save + We went far o'er the wave, + In the countries around rise our watch towers of yore; + But our ensign to-day + Waveth further away, + And it waveth in vigour as never before. + + And our future is great, + For the three cloven state + Shall be joined again, shall herself be once more. + Then whate'er you can spare + Let the neediest share, + And a gathering river shall treasure the store. + + Scandinavia's ours, + And we'll value her powers, + What she was, what she is, what she shall be again, + And as love has its birth + In the dear homely earth, + From the seed corn of love shall she spring up again. + + +Signe came and put her arm round Petra, and drew her into the study +where no one was. "Really," she said, "you have so captivated me that I +must:----Petra, shall we be friends again!"--"Oh, Signe, then at last +you forgive me!"--"Yes, now I can, however things turn! Petra, do you +not love Odegaard?"--"Heavens, Signe!"--"Petra! I have thought it from +the very first day,--and now at last he has come to----All that I have +thought and done for you in these two and a half years has been with +this in view, and father has thought the same; I believe he has already +spoken to Odegaard about it."--"But Signe----!" "Hush," she put her +hand to Petra's lips and ran away, there was some one calling; it was +tea time. + +There was wine on the table, as the dean had been absent from dinner; +he had been very grave all the afternoon, and now sat as though no one +were present, till they were about to leave the table, when he tapped +on his wine glass, and said: "I have a betrothal to announce!"--Every +one looked at the young girls who were sitting together, and these +neither of them knew whether to fall from their chairs or remain +seated. + +"I have a betrothal to announce," repeated the dean, as though he found +it difficult to proceed. "I must confess that at first it was not just +what I wished."--All the guests looked at Odegaard in astonishment, and +their amazement knew no bounds when they saw him sitting quietly +looking at the dean.--"To speak plainly, I thought that he was not +worthy of her."--The guests here became so embarrassed that no one dare +longer look up, and as the girls had not ventured to do so at all, the +dean had but one face to talk to, and that was Odegaard's, who +meanwhile was enjoying perfect composure. "But now," continued the +dean, "now, when I have learnt to know him better, it has ended in my +doubting whether she is worthy of HIM, so noble does he appear to me; +for it is Art, the great dramatic Art betrothed to Petra, my foster +daughter, my dear child; may it go well with you! I tremble at the +thought, but that which belongs together must go together. God be with +you, my daughter!" In a moment she was in his arms. + +As no one sat down again, the whole company naturally left the table. +Petra went up to Odegaard, who drew her into the furthest window; he +had something to say to her now, but she must first say: "I owe it all +to you!"--"No, Petra; I have been only a kind brother; it was a great +sin of mine that I wished to be more; for if it had happened it would +have hindered your whole career."--"Odegaard!" They held each other's +hands, but did not look up; a moment after, he left her. + +The day following Odegaard left the deanery. + + * * * + +Just after Christmas, Petra received a letter with a large official +seal; she felt quite nervous and took it in to the dean to open. It was +from the magistrate in her native town, and read thus: "Whereas Pedro +Ohlsen, who yesterday departed this life, has left a will as follows: + + +'That which I leave behind me, which is exactly noted down in the +account book, that is in the blue chest, standing in my room at Gunlaug +Aamund's on the bank, and of which the said Gunlaug has the key, even +as she alone knows the whole matter,--I wish,--if she, Gunlaug Aamund, +gives her mind thereto, which she need not do unless she likes, to +fulfil the condition which I have named, which she alone who is the +only one who knows it, can fulfil,--that it should pass to Miss Petra, +daughter of the said Gunlaug Aamund, that is to say, if Miss Petra +thinks it worth while to remember a decrepit old man, to whom she has +done good though she did not know it, as she could not do, and who has +been his only comfort in his last years, wherefore he has thought to +give her a little joy in return, which she must not despise. God be +merciful to me a sinner. + + Pedro Ohlsen.' + + +I beg to ask if you will communicate with your mother respecting it, or +you wish me to do it." + +The next mail brought a letter from the mother, written by Pastor +Odegaard, the only one in whom she dare now confide; it contained the +information that she was willing to fulfil the requirement, namely to +inform Petra who Pedro was. + +This information and the legacy gave Petra a peculiar feeling; it +seemed as if everything were now putting itself to rights; it was +another reminder of her departure. + +Then it was for her artist life that old Peer Ohlsen had fiddled his +money together at weddings and dances, and son and grandson in +different ways, by little and little added thereto. The sum was not +great but it was sufficient to bring her further out into the world, +and thus more quickly forward. + +The thought rose as sunshine before her, that now she could repay her +mother, her mother should come to her, every day she could give her +some happiness. She wrote a long letter to her every post day, she +could scarcely wait for the answer, and when it came it was a bitter +disappointment, for Gunlaug thanked her, but observed, "that each was +best in his own place." Then the dean promised to write, and when +Gunlaug got his letter, she could no longer contain herself, she must +tell her sailors and other acquaintances, that her daughter was going +to be something great, and wanted her to go to her. Thus the matter +became a very important topic in the town, it was discussed on the +quay, in the boats, and in all kitchens. Gunlaug, who up to this time +had never named her daughter, now spoke of nothing but "my daughter +Petra," even as no one spoke of anything else to her. + +But still though it grew near to the time of Petra's departure, Gunlaug +had not given her consent, which grieved the daughter much. It was +expressly promised her on the contrary, both by the dean and Signe, +that they would be present when she should make her first appearance. + +The snow began to disappear from the mountains, the fields to grow a +little green. She had only a few more days at the deanery, and she and +Signe went round and bade farewell to all and everything,--especially +to the places they mutually held dear. Then they were informed by a +peasant, that Odegaard was up at Oygarene, and would soon be coming +down to them. The girls both grew very shy, and ceased to go out. + +When Odegaard came, he was lighthearted and happy as never seen before. +His errand in the district was to establish a free high school, and at +first, till he got a teacher, he meant to conduct it himself; +afterwards he would carry out other plans. In this way he would repay +he said, some of the debt his father owed to the district,--and his +father had promised to come to him as soon as the house was ready. It +was to be near the deanery. The dean, as well as Signe, was exceedingly +pleased at the prospect; Petra too, but she felt it a little strange, +that he should settle down there just as she was leaving. + +The dean wished that the day before Petra's departure they should +partake of the Lord's supper together. So a quiet solemnity fell over +the last days, and when they spoke it was in a half whisper. In these +days the dean never passed by Petra without stroking her hair, and at +the holy ceremony in church, at which with the exception of an +officiating clergyman and the sexton, there were none present but +themselves, he spoke particularly to her, and spoke as he would do at +their own table on a birthday or holiday. It would now soon be shown, +he said, whether the time that in prayer for Divine grace she this day +brought to a close, had laid a good foundation. No man's life is really +perfected before he reaches his right vocation. Our work is revealed to +us, and he who comes with truth, and holds himself worthy, will reap +the greatest and most lasting harvest. It is true the Lord often makes +use of the unworthy also, even as in a higher sense we are all +unworthy. He makes use of our longings. But there is a vocation that no +man can discover from his longings alone, and that he supposed she was +aiming at; every one must strive to reach the highest. He bade her come +frequently to see them, for it is the intention of the church that +companionship in faith should help and strengthen. If she had erred, +she would here always meet with sympathy, and if she herself understood +not that she had strayed, they would most affectionately tell her. + +The next day at the parting meal, he bade her the most tender farewell, +"He was of her friend's opinion," he said, "that she ought to begin her +career ALONE. In the struggle she would meet, she would find that it +was good to know, that in one place there lived a few on whom she could +rely; only to know with certainty that they were constantly PRAYING for +her,--she would see that it would help!"--After the adieu to Petra, he +turned with a welcome to Odegaard. "To be united in love to one and the +same is the most beautiful introduction to love one another." The dean +certainly never thought in this greeting, of that which first made +Signe red, then Petra; and if Odegaard; they did not know, for neither +of them ventured to look at him. + +But when the horses were at the door, and the three friends stood +around the young girl, and all the servants round the carriage, Petra +whispered, as for the last time she embraced Signe: "I know I shall +soon hear important news from you; may God bless it!" + +An hour after she saw only the white pinnacles that showed where the +place lay. + + + + + CHAPTER XII. + + THE SCENE. + + +One evening just before Christmas the theatre of the metropolis was +sold out; a new actress was to appear, about whom there were the +greatest expectations. Sprung from the people--her mother was a poor +fisherwoman--she had reached her present position by the help of others +who had discovered her talents, and she gave great promise. In the time +before the curtain rose, all sorts of things were whispered about her; +she was said to have been a strange unruly child, and later when grown +up, to have been betrothed to six at one time, and to have kept it +going for half a year. The town was in such an uproar on her account, +that she had had to be conducted out of it by a guard of police; it was +remarkable that the director should allow such a character to appear. +Others affirmed there was not the slightest truth in the statement; she +had been educated in a clergyman's family in Bergen's shire, from the +time she was ten years old; she was a cultivated and amiable girl, they +knew her well, she must have wonderful talent; she was so handsome. + +Others were there who were better authority. First the well-known fish +merchant, Yngve Vold. He had come here accidentally on a business +journey; it was said that the brilliant Spanish lady, to whom he was +married, made the house at home so hot, that he travelled merely to +cool himself. He had taken the largest box in the house, and invited +his hotel acquaintances to go with him to see "something, devilish +something!" He was in remarkable spirits, till he suddenly caught sight +of----could it be he?----in a box in the second tier and with a whole +ship's company round him?----no! yes!----verily it was Gunnar Ask! +Gunnar Ask who through his mother's money had become owner and captain +of "The Norwegian Constitution," had in cruising out of the fiord come +to sail side by side with a ship bearing the name: "The Danish +Constitution," and as Gunnar thought he observed it trying to pass him, +such certainly could not be permitted; he put out all the sail he +possessed, the old Constitution creaked, and the consequence was, that +in his endeavour to scud before the wind as long and as far as +possible, he ran the ship aground in a most preposterous place, and was +now reluctantly detained in the town while the vessel was being patched +up. One day he met Petra in the street, and she was so thoroughly kind +both then and afterwards, that he not only forgot his grudge, but +called himself the greatest fool that ever sailed from their native +place, that he could ever have imagined himself worthy of such a girl +as Petra. To-day he had taken tickets at a premium for the whole of his +crew, and mentally resolved to treat them between each act, and the +seamen, all from Petra's native place, and familiar with the mother's +tavern, that earthly paradise, felt Petra's honour to be their own, and +sat and promised each other that they would applaud as had never been +heard before. + +Down below in the parquet one could see the dean's thick bristly hair. +He looked calm, he had entrusted her cause to a Higher Power. By his +side sat Signe, now Signe Odegaard. Her husband, herself and Petra, had +just returned from a three month's tour on the continent; she looked +happy, as she sat and smiled over to Odegaard, for between them sat an +old woman with snow-white hair, that rose above her brown face like a +crown; sitting higher than everybody, she could be seen from the whole +house, and soon every opera glass was directed towards her, for it was +said she was the young actress's mother. She who bore a man's name, now +also produced so powerful an impression, that she shed peace over the +daughter. A youthful people is full of expectancy, it possesses faith +in the inner power of its nature, and the faith was roused by the sight +of this mother? She herself saw neither anything nor anybody; she was +indifferent as to what was coming; she was there only to see whether +people were kind to her daughter or not. + +The time was almost up; conversation died away in the suspense that by +degrees pervaded all, and did them good. + +A flourish of drums, trumpets and horns, suddenly opened the overture; +Oehlenschlaeger's "Axel and Valborg" was to be played, and Petra had +herself chosen this. She was sitting behind the scenes and listening. + +Before the curtain, the small number of her countrymen that the house +could muster, were trembling on her account, as one always does when +expecting anything personally dear of one's own to be brought forward. +It was as if each were about to appear on the stage himself; at such +moments many prayers arise, even from hearts that otherwise seldom +pray. + +The overture grew softer, peace fell over the harmonies, they melted +gradually away as in sunlight. It was over,--anxious silence ensued. + + The curtain rose. + + + + FOOTNOTES: + +[Footnote 1: Norwegian idiom, to get a long nose--to be +disappointed.--Tr.] + +[Footnote 2: The farms are often built on a steep mountain side.--Tr.] + + + + * * * * * + BURNETT AND HOOD, MIDDLESBROUGH. + + + + + + OVIND: + + A STORY OF COUNTRY LIFE IN NORWAY, + + BY + + BJOeRNSTJERNE BJOeRNSON, + + TRANSLATED BY + + S. AND E. HJERLEID. + + _Elegantly bound, Crown 8vo_. + + LONDON: SIMPKIN MARSHALL AND CO. + + MIDDLESBROUGH: BURNETT AND HOOD. + + * * * + + NOTICES OF THE PRESS. + +"We drop from fairy land to one almost as attractive in _Ovind_.... +There is about it a delightful freshness."--_Athenaeum_, Nov. 20, 1869. + +"_Ovind_ is thoroughly simple and genuine, a word-painting wonderfully +like those Scandinavian pictures which most of us saw for the first +time in the Exhibition of 1862.... Its subdued harmonious tones have a +singular charm about them, and leave a very distinct impression."--_The +Spectator_, Dec. 25, 1869. + +"The tale is told in simple language with many quaint touches of +humour."--_Daily Telegraph_, Dec, 24, 1869. + +"The story relates simply, but very beautifully, the young loves of a +peasant boy and a landowners grand-daughter, and introduces in the +course of the narrative very many Norwegian customs."--_Public +Opinion_, Dec. 11, 1869. + +"The great merits of Bjoernson's literary style are his intense +originality and unfaltering simplicity. All his writings are thoroughly +true to nature, while the sombre scenery of his native land inspires +him with a diction which we meet with in no other books, and is +entirely his own."--_The Examiner and London Review_, Jan. 1, 1870. + +"One of the most winning little stories we have ever read."--_The +Literary Churchman_, Nov. 29, 1869. + +"The translators are to be congratulated upon their successful +rendering of the story, the publishers have also got up the book in a +highly creditable manner. Altogether the translation is well worthy of +all who are interested in Scandinavian literature."--_Iron and Coal +Trades Review_, Dec. 22, 1869. + +"Opens to us a field of freshness and beauty which never loses its +charm for readers of all ages."--_Standard_, Jan. 26, 1870. + +"It is not for the novelty of the story so much as for the fresh vivid +picture it presents of peasant life in Norway that we commend the book +to the English reader."--_Trubner's American and Oriental Literary +Record_, Dec. 24, 1869. + +"This is a charmingly simple and beautiful story ... It is as real as +actual life, and as poetical as Milton's Paradise, not great with +ponderous thoughts, but running over with exquisite poetry, suggesting +new worlds of beauty lying under every day things.... A pure spiritual +beauty, which the author has drawn from the simplest outward things in +peasant life, lies over all the story, and bathes everything in the +cool calm light of heaven."--_The Border Advertiser_, Dec. 19, 1869. + +"The book is indeed redolent of country pastures, of sweet smelling +pine woods, of happy, glad, unsophisticated Northern life.... It +touches chords lying hidden in the depths of the mysteries of race and +language, and moves us as, perhaps, no book of the warm but alien south +could succeed in doing."--_Northern Daily Express_. + +"The story has enough of originality, and of the foreign element, to +make it quite worthy of translation and of general acceptance."--_The +Illustrated London News_, July 23, 1870. + +"We cannot speak too highly of the excellence of this translation. It +reads as if it had been originally written in English."--_The +Manchester Weekly Times_, June 11, 1870. + + + + + THE NEWLY-MARRIED COUPLE: + + BY + + BJOeRNSTJERNE BJOeRNSON. + + TRANSLATED FROM THE NORWEGIAN + + BY S. AND E. HJERLEID. + + _Price 1s; Cloth bound 2s_. + + LONDON: TRUeBNER AND CO. + + * * * + + MUSIC. + + THE WEDDING IN HARDANGER. + + (Arranged as a Solo.) + +Words by Munch. Translated from the Norwegian, by S. and E. Hjerleid. +Music by Kjerulf. + +(The Song by which the Swedish Singers won the Prize at the Paris +Exhibition of 1867.) + +_1s. 6d. post free from the Translators, North Ormesby, Middlesbrough_. + + LONDON: F. PITMAN, 20, PATERNOSTER ROW. + + + + + * * * + BURNETT AND HOOD, PRINTERS, MIDDLESBROUGH. + + + + + + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's The Fisher Girl, by Bjoernstjerne Bjoernson + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE FISHER GIRL *** + +***** This file should be named 37725.txt or 37725.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + https://www.gutenberg.org/3/7/7/2/37725/ + +Produced by Charles Bowen, from page scans provided by the Web Archive + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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