Produced by Donald Lainson THE GREAT HUNGER By Johan Bojer Translated from the Norwegian by W. J. Alexander Worster and C. Archer THE GREAT HUNGER Book I Chapter I For sheer havoc, there is no gale like a good northwester, when it roars in, through the long winter evenings, driving the spindrift before it between the rocky walls of the fjord. It churns the water to a froth of rushing wave crests, while the boats along the beach are flung in somersaults up to the doors of the grey fisher huts, and solid old barn gangways are lifted and sent flying like unwieldy birds over the fields. âMercy on us!â cry the maids, for it is milking-time, and they have to fight their way on hands and knees across the yard to the cowshed, dragging a lantern that WILL go out and a milk-pail that WONâT be held. And âLord preserve us!â mutter the old wives seated round the stove within doors--and their thoughts are far away in the north with the Lofoten fishermen, out at sea, maybe, this very night. But on a calm spring day, the fjord just steals in smooth and shining by ness and bay. And at low water there is a whole wonderland of strange little islands, sand-banks, and weed-fringed rocks left high and dry, with clear pools between, where bare-legged urchins splash about, and tiny flat-fish as big as a halfpenny dart away to every side. The air is filled with a smell of salt sea-water and warm, wet beach-waste, and the sea-pie, see-sawing about on a big stone in the water, lifts his red beak cheerily sunwards and pipes: âKluip, kluip! the spring has come!â On just such a day, two boys of fourteen or thereabouts came hurrying out from one of the fishermenâs huts down towards the beach. Boys are never so busy as when they are up to some piece of mischief, and evidently the pair had business of this sort in hand. Peer Troen, fair-haired and sallow-faced, was pushing a wheelbarrow; his companion, Martin Bruvold, a dark youth with freckles, carried a tub. And both talked mysteriously in whispers, casting anxious glances out over the water. Peer Troen was, of course, the ringleader. That he always was: the forest fire of last year was laid at his door. And now he had made it clear to some of his friends that boys had just as much right to lay out deep-sea lines as men. All through the winter they had been kept at grown-up work, cutting peat and carrying wood; why should they be left now to fool about with the inshore fishing, and bring home nothing better than flounders and coal-fish and silly codlings? The big deep-sea line they were forbidden to touch--that was so--but the Lofoten fishery was at its height, and none of the men would be back till it was over. So the boys had baited up the line on the sly down at the boathouse the day before, and laid it out across the deepest part of the fjord. Now the thing about a deep-sea line is that it may bring to the surface fish so big and so fearsome that the like has never been seen before. Yesterday, however, there had been trouble of a different sort. To their dismay, the boys had found that they had not sinkers enough to weight the shore end of the line; and it looked as if they might have to give up the whole thing. But Peer, ever ready, had hit on the novel idea of making one end fast to the trunk of a small fir growing at the outermost point of the ness, and carrying the line from there out over the open fjord. Then a stone at the farther end, and with the magic words, âFie, fish!â it was paid out overboard, vanishing into the green depths. The deed was done. True, there were a couple of hooks dangling in mid-air at the shore end, between the tree and the water, and, while they might serve to catch an eider duck, or a guillemot, if any one should chance to come rowing past in the dark and get hung up--why, the boys might find they had made a human catch. No wonder, then, that they whispered eagerly and hurried down to the boat. âHere comes Peter Ronningen,â cried Martin suddenly. This was the third member of the crew, a lanky youth with whitish eyebrows and a foolish face. He stammered, and made a queer noise when he laughed: âChee-hee-hee.â Twice he had been turned down in the confirmation classes; after all, what was the use of learning lessons out of a book when nobody ever had patience to wait while he said them? Together they ran the boat down to the waterâs edge, got it afloat, and scrambled in, with much waving of patched trouser legs. âHi!â cried a voice up on the beach, âlet me come too!â âThereâs Klaus,â said Martin. âShall we take him along?â âNo,â said Peter Ronningen. âOh yes, letâs,â said Peer. Klaus Brock, the son of the district doctor, was a blue-eyed youngster in knickerbockers and a sailor blouse. He was playing truant, no doubt--Klaus had his lessons at home with a private tutor--and would certainly get a thrashing from his father when he got home. âHurry up,â called Peer, getting out an oar. Klaus clambered in, and the white-straked four-oar surged across the bay, rocking a little as the boys pulled out of stroke. Martin was rowing at the bow, his eyes fixed on Peer, who sat in the stern in command with his eyes dancing, full of great things to be done. Martin, poor fellow, was half afraid already; he never could understand why Peer, who was to be a parson when he grew up, was always hitting upon things to do that were evidently sinful in the sight of the Lord. Peer was a town boy, who had been put out to board with a fisherman in the village. His mother had been no better than she should be, so people said, but she was dead now, and the father at any rate must be a rich gentleman, for he sent the boy a present of ten whole crowns every Christmas, so that Peer always had money in his pocket. Naturally, then, he was looked up to by the other boys, and took the lead in all things as a chieftain by right. The boat moved on past the grey rocks, the beach and the huts above it growing blue and faint in the distance. Up among the distant hills a red wooden farm-house on its white foundation wall stood out clear. Here was the ness at last, and there stood the fir. Peer climbed up and loosed the end of the line, while the others leaned over the side, watching the cord where it vanished in the depths. What would it bring to light when it came up? âRow!â ordered Peer, and began hauling in. The boat was headed straight out across the fjord, and the long line with its trailing hooks hauled in and coiled up neatly in the bottom of a shallow tub. Peerâs heart was beating. There came a tug--the first--and the faint shimmer of a fish deep down in the water. Pooh! only a big cod. Peer heaved it in with a careless swing over the gunwale. Next came a ling--a deep water fish at any rate this time. Then a tusk, and another, and another; these would please the women, being good eating, and perhaps make them hold their tongues when the men came home. Now the line jerks heavily; what is coming? A grey shadow comes in sight. âHere with the gaff!â cries Peer, and Peter throws it across to him. âWhat is it, what is it?â shriek the other three. âSteady! donât upset the boat; a catfish.â A stroke of the gaff over the side, and a clumsy grey body is heaved into the boat, where it rolls about, hissing and biting at the bottom-boards and baler, the splinters crackling under its teeth. âMind, mind!â cries Klaus--he was always nervous in a boat. But Peer was hauling in again. They were nearly half-way across the fjord by now, and the line came up from mysterious depths, which no fisherman had ever sounded. The strain on Peer began to show in his looks; the others sat watching his face. âIs the line heavy?â asked Klaus. âKeep still, canât you?â put in Martin, glancing along the slanting line to where it vanished far below. Peer was still hauling. A sense of something uncanny seemed to be thrilling up into his hands from the deep sea. The feel of the line was strange. There was no great weight, not even the clean tug-tug of an ordinary fish; it was as if a giant hand were pulling gently, very gently, to draw him overboard and down into the depths. Then suddenly a violent jerk almost dragged him over the side. âLook out! What is it?â cried the three together. âSit down in the boat,â shouted Peer. And with the true fishermanâs sense of discipline they obeyed. Peer was gripping the line firmly with one hand, the other clutching one of the thwarts. âHave we another gaff?â he jerked out breathlessly. âHereâs one.â Peter Ronningen pulled out a second iron-hooked cudgel. âYou take it, Martin, and stand by.â âBut what--what is it?â âDonât know what it is. But itâs something big.â âCut the line, and row for your lives!â wailed the doctorâs son. Strange he should be such a coward at sea, a fellow whoâd tackle a man twice his size on dry land. Once more Peer was jerked almost overboard. He thought of the forest fire the year before--it would never do to have another such mishap on his shoulders. Suppose the great monster did come up and capsize them--they were ever so far from land. What a to do there would be if they were all drowned, and it came out that it was his fault. Involuntarily he felt for his knife to cut the line--then thrust it back again, and went on hauling. Here it comes--a great shadow heaving up through the water. The huge beast flings itself round, sending a flurry of bubbles to the surface. And there!--a gleam of white; a row of great white teeth on the underside. Aha! now he knows what it is! The Greenland shark is the fiercest monster of the northern seas, quite able to make short work of a few boys or so. âSteady now, Martin--ready with the gaff.â The brute was wallowing on the surface now, the water boiling around him. His tail lashed the sea to foam, a big, pointed head showed up, squirming under the hook. âNow!â cried Peer, and two gaffs struck at the same moment, the boat heeled over, letting in a rush of water, and Klaus, dropping his oars, sprang into the bow, with a cry of âJesus, save us!â Next second a heavy body, big as a grown man, was heaved in over the gunwale, and two boys were all but shot out the other way. And now the fun began. The boys loosed their hold of the gaffs, and sprang apart to give the creature room. There it lay raging, the great black beast of prey, with its sharp threatening snout and wicked red eyes ablaze. The strong tail lashed out, hurling oars and balers overboard, the long teeth snapped at the bottom-boards and thwarts. Now and again it would leap high up in the air, only to fall back again, writhing furiously, hissing and spitting and frothing at the mouth, its red eyes glaring from one to another of the terrified captors, as if saying: âCome on--just a little nearer!â Meanwhile, Martin Bruvold was in terror that the shark would smash the boat to pieces. He drew his knife and took a step forward--a flash in the air, and the steel went in deep between the back fins, sending up a spurt of blood. âLook out!â cried the others, but Martin had already sprung back out of reach of the black tail. And now the dance of death began anew. The knife was fixed to the grip in the creatureâs back; one gaff had buried its hook between the eyes, and another hung on the flank--the wooden shafts were flung this way and that at every bound, and the boatâs frame shook and groaned under the blows. âSheâll smash the boat and weâll go to the bottom,â cried Peer. And now HIS knife flashed out and sent a stream of blood spouting from between the shoulders, but the blow cost him his foothold--and in a moment the two bodies were rolling over and over together in the bottom of the boat. âOh, Lord Jesus!â shrieked Klaus, clinging to the stempost. âSheâll kill him! Sheâll kill him!â Peer was half up now, on his knees, but as he reached out a hand to grasp the side, the bruteâs jaws seized on his arm. The boyâs face was contorted with pain--another moment and the sharp teeth would have bitten through, when, swift as thought, Peter Ronningen dropped his oars and sent his knife straight in between the beastâs eyes. The blade pierced through to the brain, and the grip of the teeth relaxed. âC-c-cursed d-d-devil!â stammered Peter, as he scrambled back to his oars. Another moment, and Peer had dragged himself clear and was kneeling by the forward thwart, holding the ragged sleeve of his wounded arm, while the blood trickled through his fingers. When at last they were pulling homeward, the little boat overloaded with the weight of the great carcase, all at once they stopped rowing. âWhere is Klaus?â asked Peer--for the doctorâs son was gone from where he had sat, clinging to the stem. âWhy--there he is--in the bottom!â There lay the big lout of fifteen, who already boasted of his love-affairs, learned German, and was to be a gentleman like his father--there he lay on the bottom-boards in the bow in a dead faint. The others were frightened at first, but Peer, who was sitting washing his wounded arm, took a dipper full of water and flung it in the unconscious oneâs face. The next instant Klaus had started up sitting, caught wildly at the gunwale, and shrieked out: âCut the line, and row for your lives!â A roar of laughter went up from the rest; they dropped their oars and sat doubled up and gasping. But on the beach, before going home, they agreed to say nothing about Klausâs fainting fit. And for weeks afterwards the four scampsâ exploit was the talk of the village, so that they felt there was not much fear of their getting the thrashing they deserved when the men came home. Chapter II When Peer, as quite a little fellow, had been sent to live with the old couple at Troen, he had already passed several times from one adopted home to another, though this he did not remember. He was one of the madcaps of the village now, but it was not long since he had been a solitary child, moping apart from the rest. Why did people always say âPoor child!â whenever they were speaking about his real mother? Why did they do it? Why, even Peter Ronningen, when he was angry, would stammer out: âYou ba-ba-bastard!â But Peer called the pock-marked good-wife at Troen âmotherâ and her bandy-legged husband âfather,â and lent the old man a hand wherever he was wanted--in the smithy or in the boats at the fishing. His childhood was passed among folk who counted it sinful to smile, and whose minds were gloomy as the grey sea-fog with poverty, psalm-singing, and the fear of hell. One day, coming home from his work at the peat bog, he found the elders snuffling and sighing over their afternoon meal. Peer wiped the sweat from his forehead, and asked what was the matter. The eldest son shoved a spoonful of porridge into his mouth, wiped his eyes, swallowed, and said: âPoor Peer!â âAye, poor little chap,â sighed the old man, thrusting his horn spoon into a crack in the wall that served as a rack. âNeither father nor mother now,â whimpered the eldest daughter, looking over to the window. âMother? Is she--â âAy, dearie, yes,â sighed the old woman. âSheâs gone for sure--gone to meet her Judge.â Later, as the day went on, Peer tried to cry too. The worst thing of all was that every one in the house seemed so perfectly certain where his mother had gone to. And to heaven it certainly was not. But how could they be so sure about it? Peer had seen her only once, one summerâs day when she had come out to see the place. She wore a light dress and a big straw hat, and he thought he had never seen anything so beautiful before. She made no secret of it among the neighbours that Peer was not her only child; there was a little girl, too, named Louise, who was with some folks away up in the inland parishes. She was in high spirits, and told risky stories and sang songs by no means sacred. The old people shook their heads over her--the younger ones watched her with sidelong glances. And when she left, she kissed Peer, and turned round more than once to look back at him, flushed under her big hat, and smiling; and it seemed to Peer that she must surely be the loveliest creature in all the world. But now--now she had gone to a place where the ungodly dwell in such frightful torment, and no hope of salvation for her through all eternity--and Peer all the while could only think of her in a light dress and a big straw hat, all song and happy laughter. Then came the question: Who was to pay for the boy now? True, his baptismal certificate said that he had a father--his name was Holm, and he lived in Christiania--but, from what the mother had said, it was understood that he had disappeared long ago. What was to be done with the boy? Never till now had Peer rightly understood that he was a stranger here, for all that he called the old couple father and mother. He lay awake night after night up in the loft, listening to the talk about him going on in the room below--the good-wife crying and saying: âNo, no!â, the others saying how hard the times were, and that Peer was quite old enough now to be put to service as a goat-herd on some up-country farm. Then Peer would draw the skin-rug up over his head. But often, when one of the elders chanced to be awake at night, he could hear some one in the loft sobbing in his sleep. In the daytime he took up as little room as he could at the table, and ate as little as humanly possible; but every morning he woke up in fear that to-day--to-day he would have to bid the old foster-mother farewell and go out among strangers. Then something new and unheard of plumped down into the little cottage by the fjord. There came a registered letter with great dabs of sealing-wax all over it, and a handwriting so gentlemanly as to be almost unreadable. Every one crowded round the eldest son to see it opened--and out fell five ten-crown notes. âMercy on us!â they cried in amazement, and âCan it be for us?â The next thing was to puzzle out what was written in the letter. And who should that turn out to be from but--no other than Peerâs father, though he did not say it in so many words. âBe good to the boy,â the letter said. âYou will receive fifty crowns from me every half-year. See that he gets plenty to eat and goes dry and well shod. Faithfully your, P. Holm, Captain.â âWhy, Peer--heâs--heâs--Your fatherâs a captain, an officer,â stammered the eldest girl, and fell back a step to stare at the boy. âAnd weâre to get twice as much for him as before,â said the son, holding the notes fast and gazing up at the ceiling, as if he were informing Heaven of the fact. But the old wife was thinking of something else as she folded her hands in thankfulness--now she neednât lose the boy. âProperly fed!â No need to fear for that. Peer had treacle with his porridge that very day, though it was only a week-day. And the eldest son gave him a pair of stockings, and made him sit down and put them on then and there; and the same night, when he went to bed, the eldest girl came and tucked him up in a new skin-rug, not quite so hairless as the old one. His father a captain! It seemed too wonderful to be true. From that day times were changed for Peer. People looked at him with very different eyes. No one said âPoor boyâ of him now. The other boys left off calling him bad names; the grown-ups said he had a future before him. âYouâll see,â they would say, âthat father of yours will get you on; youâll be a parson yet, ay, maybe a bishop, too.â At Christmas, there came a ten-crown note all for himself, to do just as he liked with. Peer changed it into silver, so that his purse was near bursting with prosperity. No wonder he began to go about with his nose in the air, and play the little prince and chieftain among the boys. Even Klaus Brock, the doctorâs son, made up to him, and taught him to play cards. But--âYou surely donât mean to go and be a parson,â he would say. For all this, no one could say that Peer was too proud to help with the fishing, or make himself useful in the smithy. But when the sparks flew showering from the glowing iron, he could not help seeing visions of his own--visions that flew out into the future. Aye, he WOULD be a priest. He might be a sinner now, and a wild young scamp; he certainly did curse and swear like a trooper at times, if only to show the other boys that it was all nonsense about the earth opening and swallowing you up. But a priest he would be, all the same. None of your parsons with spectacles and a pot belly: no, but a sort of heavenly messenger with snowy white robes and a face of glory. Perhaps some day he might even come so far that he could go down into that place of torment where his mother lay, and bring her up again, up to salvation. And when, in autumn evenings, he stood outside his palace, a white-haired bishop, he would lift up his finger, and all the stars should break into song. Clang, clang, sang the anvil under the hammerâs beat. In the still summer evenings a troop of boys go climbing up the naked slopes towards the high wooded ranges to fetch home the cows for the milking. The higher they climb, the farther and farther their sight can travel out over the sea. And an hour or two later, as the sun goes down, here comes a long string of red-flanked cattle trailing down, with a faint jangle of bells, over the far-off ridges. The boys halloo them on--âOhoo-oo-oo!â--and swing their ringed rowan staves, and spit red juice of the alder bark that they are chewing as men chew tobacco. Far below them they see the farm lands, grey in shadow, and, beyond, the waters of the fjord, yellow in the evening light, a mirror where red clouds and white sails and hills of liquid blue are shining. And away out on the farthest headland, the lonely star of the coast light over the grey sea. On such an evening Peer came down from the hills just in time to see a gentleman in a carriole turn off from the highway and take the by-road down towards Troen. The horse balked suddenly at a small bridge, and when the driver reined him in and gave him a cut with his whip, the beast reared, swung about, and sent the cart fairly dancing round on its high wheels. âOh, well, then, Iâll have to walk,â cried the gentleman angrily, and, flinging the reins to the lad behind him, he jumped down. Just at this moment Peer came up. âHere, boy,â began the traveller, âjust take this bag, will you? And--â He broke off suddenly, took a step backward, and looked hard at the boy. âWhat--surely it canât be--Is it you, Peer?â âYe-es,â said Peer, gaping a little, and took off his cap. âWell, now, thatâs funny. My name is Holm. Well, well--well, well!â The lad in the cart had driven off, and the gentleman from the city and the pale country boy with the patched trousers stood looking at each other. The newcomer was a man of fifty or so, but still straight and active, though his hair and close-trimmed beard were sprinkled with grey. His eyes twinkled gaily under the brim of his black felt hat; his long overcoat was open, showing a gold chain across his waistcoat. With a pair of gloves and an umbrella in one hand, a light travelling bag in the other, and his beautifully polished shoes--a grand gentleman, thought Peer, if ever there was one. And this was his father! âSo thatâs how you look, my boy? Not very big for your age--nearly sixteen now, arenât you? Do they give you enough to eat?â âYes,â said Peer, with conviction. The pair walked down together, towards the grey cottage by the fjord. Suddenly the man stopped, and looked at it through half-shut eyes. âIs that where youâve been living all these years?â âYes.â âIn that little hut there?â âYes. Thatâs the place--Troen they call it.â âWhy, that wall there bulges so, I should think the whole affair would collapse soon.â Peer tried to laugh at this, but felt something like a lump in his throat. It hurt to hear fine folks talk like that of father and motherâs little house. There was a great flurry when the strange gentleman appeared in the doorway. The old wife was kneading away at the dough for a cake, the front of her all white with flour; the old man sat with his spectacles on, patching a shoe, and the two girls sprang up from their spinning wheels. âWell, here I am. My nameâs Holm,â said the traveller, looking round and smiling. âMercy on us! the Captain his own self,â murmured the old woman, wiping her hands on her skirt. He was an affable gentleman, and soon set them all at their ease. He sat down in the seat of honour, drumming with his fingers on the table, and talking easily as if quite at home. One of the girls had been in service for a while in a Consulâs family in the town, and knew the ways of gentlefolk, and she fetched a bowl of milk and offered it with a curtsy and a: âWill the Captain please to take some milk?â âThanks, thanks,â said the visitor. âAnd what is your name, my dear? Come, thereâs nothing to blush about. Nicoline? First-rate! And you? Lusiana? Thatâs right.â He looked at the red-rimmed basin, and, taking it up, all but emptied it at a draught, then, wiping his beard, took breath. âPhu!--that was good. Well, so here I am.â And he looked around the room and at each of them in turn, and smiled, and drummed with his fingers, and said, âWell, well--well, well,â and seemed much amused with everything in general. âBy the way, Nicoline,â he said suddenly, âsince youâre so well up in titles, Iâm not âCaptainâ any more now; theyâve sent me up this way as Lieutenant-Colonel, and my wife has just had a house left her in your town here, so we may be coming to settle down in these parts. And perhaps youâd better send letters to me through a friend in future. But we can talk about all that by and by. Well, well--well, well.â And all the time he was drumming with his fingers on the table and smiling. Peer noticed that he wore gold sleeve-links and a fine gold stud in his broad white shirt-front. And then a little packet was produced. âHi, Peer, come and look; hereâs something for you.â And the âsomethingâ was nothing less than a real silver watch--and Peer was quite unhappy for the moment because he couldnât dash off at once and show it to all the other boys. âThereâs a father for you,â said the old wife, clapping her hands, and almost in tears. But the visitor patted her on the shoulder. âFather? father? Hâm--thatâs not a thing any one can be so sure about. Hahaha!â And âhahahaâ echoed the old man, still sitting with the awl in his hand. This was the sort of joke he could appreciate. Then the visitor went out and strolled about the place, with his hands under his coat tails, and looked at the sky, and the fjord, and murmured, âWell, well--well, well,â and Peer followed him about all the while, and gazed at him as he might have gazed at a star. He was to sleep in a neighbourâs house, where there was a room that had a bed with sheets on it, and Peer went across with him and carried his bag. It was Martin Bruvoldâs parents who were to house the traveller, and people stood round staring at the place. Martin himself was waiting outside. âThis a friend of yours, Peer? Here, then, my boy, hereâs something to buy a big farm with.â This time it was a five-crown note, and Martin stood fingering it, hardly able to believe his eyes. Peerâs father was something like a father. It was a fine thing, too, to see a grand gentleman undress. âIâll have things like that some day,â thought Peer, watching each new wonder that came out of the bag. There was a silver-backed brush, that he brushed his hair and beard with, walking up and down in his underclothes and humming to himself. And then there was another shirt, with red stripes round the collar, just to wear in bed. Peer nodded to himself, taking it all in. And when the stranger was in bed he took out a flask with a silver cork, that screwed off and turned into a cup, and had a dram for a nightcap; and then he reached for a long pipe with a beaded cord, and when it was drawing well he stretched himself out comfortably and smiled at Peer. âWell, now, my boy--are you getting on well at school?â Peer put his hands behind him and set one foot forward. âYes--he says so--teacher does.â âHow much is twelve times twelve?â That was a stumper! Peer hadnât got beyond ten times ten. âDo they teach you gymnastics at the school?â âGym--? Whatâs that?â âJumping and vaulting and climbing ropes and drilling in squads--what?â âBut isnât it--isnât that wicked?â âWicked! Hahaha! Wicked, did you say? So thatâs the way they look at things here, is it? Well, well--well, well! Hahaha! Hand me that matchbox, my boy. Hâm!â He puffed away for a while in silence. Then, suddenly: âSee here, boy. Did you know youâd a little sister?â âYes, I know.â âHalf-sister, that is to say. I didnât quite know how it was myself. But I may as well tell you, my boy, that I paid the same for you all along, the same as now. Only I sent the money by your mother, and she--well, she, poor girl, had another one to look after, and no father to pay for it. So she made my money do for both. Hahaha! Well, poor girl, we canât blame her for that. Anyhow, weâll have to look after that little half-sister of yours now, I suppose, till she grows up. Donât you think so yourself?â Peer felt the tears coming. Think so!--indeed he did. Next day Peerâs father went away. He stood there, ready to start, in the living-room at Troen, stiff felt hat and overcoat and all, and said, in a tone like the sheriffâs when he gives out a public notice at the church door: âAnd, by the way, youâre to have the boy confirmed this year.â âYes, to be sure we will,â the old mother hastened to say. âThen I wish him to be properly dressed, like the best of the other youngsters. And thereâs fifty crowns for him to give the school-teacher and the parson as a parting gift.â He handed over some more notes. âAfterwards,â he went on, âI mean, of course, to look after him until he can make his own way in a respectable position. But first we must see what he has a turn for, and what heâd like to be himself. Heâd better come to town and talk it over with me--but Iâll write and arrange all that after heâs confirmed. Then in case anything unexpected should happen to me, thereâs some money laid by for him in a savings bank account; he can apply to a friend of mine, who knows all about it. Well, good-bye, and very many thanks!â And the great man smiled to right and left, and shook them all by the hand, and waved his hat and was gone. For the next few days Peer walked on air, and found it hard to keep his footing at all on the common earth. People were for ever filling his head with talk about that savings bank account--it might be only a few thousands of crowns--but then again, it might run up to a million. A million! and here he was, eating herrings for dinner, and talking to Tom, Dick, and Harry just like any one else. A million crowns! Late in the autumn came the confirmation, and the old wooden church, with its tarred walls, nestled among its mighty tree-tops, sent its chimes ringing and ringing out into the blue autumn air. It seemed to Peer like some kindly old grandmother, calling so lovingly: âCome, come--old and young--old and young--from fjord and valley--northways and southways; come, come--this day of all days--this day of all days--come, come, come!â So it had stood, ringing out the chimes for one generation after another through hundreds of years, and now it is calling to us. And the young folks are there, looking at one another in their new clothes, and blowing their noses on clean white handkerchiefs, so carefully folded. There comes Peter Ronningen, passed by good luck this year, but forced to turn out in a jacket borrowed from Peer, as the tailor wasnât ready with his own new things. The boys say âhow-do-you-doâ and try to smile like grown-up folks. One or two of them may have some little account dating from old school-fights waiting to be settled--but, never mind--just as well to forget old scores now. Peer caught sight of Johan Koja, who stole a pencil from him last summer, but, after all, even that didnât seem worth making a fuss about. âWell, howâve you been getting on since last summer?â they ask each other, as they move together up the stone steps to the big church door, through which the peal of the organ comes rolling out to meet them. How good it seems, and how kind, the little church, where all you see bids you welcome! Through the stained-glass windows with their tiny leaded panes falls a light so soft that even poor ugly faces seem beautiful. The organ tones are the very light itself turned into sweet sound. On one side of the nave you can see all the boysâ heads, sleek with water; on the other the little mothers to be, in grown-up dress to-day for the first time, kerchief on head and hymn-book in hand, and with careful faces. And now they all sing. The elder folks have taken their places farther back to-day, but they join in, looking up now and again from the book to those young heads in front, and wondering how they will fare in life. And the young folk themselves are thinking as they sing, âTo-day is the beginning of new things. Play and frolic are over and done with; from today weâre grown-up.â But the church and all in it seemed to say: âIf ever you are in heavy trouble, come hither to me.â Just look at that altar-piece there--the wood-carvings are a whole Bible in themselves--but Moses with the Tables of the Law is gentle of face to-day; you can see he means no harm after all. St. Peter, with the keys, pointing upwards, looks like a kind old uncle, bringing something good home from market. And then the angels on the walls, pictured or carved in wood, have borrowed the voice of the organ and the tones of the hymn, and they widen out the vaulted roof into the dome of heaven; while light and song and worshippers melt together and soar upwards toward the infinite spaces. Peer was thinking all the time: I donât care if Iâm rich as rich, I WILL be a priest. And then perhaps with all my money I can build a church that no one ever saw the like of. And the first couple Iâll marry there shall be Martin Bruvold and little sister Louise--if only heâll have her. Just wait and see! A few days later he wrote to his father, asking if he might come into town now and go to school. A long time passed, and then at last a letter came in a strange hand-writing, and all the grown folks at Troen came together again to read it. But what was their amazement when they read: âYou will possibly have learned by now from the newspapers that your benefactor, Colonel Holm, has met his death by a fall from a horse. I must therefore request you to call on me personally at your earliest convenience, as I have several matters to settle with you. Yours faithfully, J. Grundt, Senior Master.â They stood and looked at one another. Peer was crying--chiefly, it must be admitted, at the thought of having to bid good-bye to all the Troen folks and the two cows, and the calf, and the grey cat. He might have to go right on to Christiania, no later than to-morrow--to go to school there; and when he came back--why, very likely the old mother might not be there any more. So all three of them were heavy-hearted, when the pock-marked good-wife, and the bow-legged old man, came down with him to the pier. And soon he was standing on the deck of the fjord steamer, gazing at the two figures growing smaller and smaller on the shore. And then one hut after another in the little hamlet disappeared behind the ness--Troen itself was gone now--and the hills and the woods where he had cut ring staves and searched for stray cattle--swiftly all known things drew away and vanished, until at last the whole parish was gone, and his childhood over. Chapter III As evening fell, he saw a multitude of lights spread out on every side far ahead in the darkness. And next, with his little wooden chest on his shoulder, he was finding his way up through the streets by the quay to a lodging-house for country folk, which he knew from former visits, when he had come to the town with the Lofoten boats. Next morning, clad in his country homespun, he marched up along River Street, over the bridge, and up the hill to the villa quarter, where he had to ask the way. At last he arrived outside a white-painted wooden house standing back in a garden. Here was the place--the place where his fate was to be decided. After the country fashion he walked in at the kitchen door. A stout servant maid in a big white apron was rattling the rings of the kitchen range into place; there was a pleasing smell of coffee and good things to eat. Suddenly a door opened, and a figure in a dressing-gown appeared--a tall red-haired man with gold spectacles astride on a long red nose, his thick hair and scrubby little moustaches touched with grey. He gasped once or twice and then started sneezing--hoc-hoc-put-putsch!--wiped his nose with a large pocket-handkerchief, and grumbled out: âUgh!--this wretched cold--canât get rid of it. How about my socks, Bertha, my good girl; do you think they are quite dry now?â âIâve had them hung up ever since I lit the fire this morning,â said the girl, tossing her head. âBut who is this young gentleman, may I ask?â The gold spectacles were turned full on Peer, who rose and bowed. âSaid he wanted to speak to you, sir,â put in the maid. âAh. From the country, I see. Have you anything to sell, my lad?â âNo,â said Peer. He had had a letter. . . . The red head seemed positively frightened at this--and the dressing-gown faltered backwards, as if to find support. He cast a hurried glance at the girl, and then beckoned with a long fore-finger to Peer. âYes, yes, perfectly so. Be so good as to come this way, my lad.â Peer found himself in a room with rows of books all round the walls, and a big writing-table in the centre. âSit down, my boy.â The schoolmaster went and picked out a long pipe, and filled it, clearing his throat nervously, with an occasional glance at the boy. âHâm--so this is you. This is Peer--hâm.â He lit his pipe and puffed a little, found himself again obliged to sneeze--but at last settled down in a chair at the writing-table, stretched out his long legs, and puffed away again. âSo thatâs what you look like?â With a quick movement he reached for a photograph in a frame. Peer caught a glimpse of his father in uniform. The schoolmaster lifted his spectacles, stared at the picture, then let down his spectacles again and fell to scrutinising Peerâs face. There was a silence for a while, and then he said: âAh, indeed--I see--hâm.â Then turning to Peer: âWell, my lad, it was very sudden--your benefactorâs end--most unexpected. He is to be buried to-day.â âBenefactor?â thought Peer. âWhy doesnât he say âyour fatherâ?â The schoolmaster was gazing at the window. âHe informed me some time ago of--hâm--of all the--all the benefits he had conferred on you--hâm! And he begged me to keep an eye on you myself in case anything happened to him. And nowâ--the spectacles swung round towards Peer--ânow you are starting out in life by yourself, hey?â âYes,â said Peer, shifting a little in his seat. âYou will have to decide now what walk in life you are to--er--devote yourself to.â âYes,â said Peer again, sitting up straighter. âYou would perhaps like to be a fisherman--like the good people youâve been brought up among?â âNo.â Peer shook his head disdainfully. Was this man trying to make a fool of him? âSome trade, then, perhaps?â âNo!â âOh, then I suppose itâs to be America. Well, you will easily find company to go with. Such numbers are going nowadays--I am sorry to say. . . .â Peer pulled himself together. âOh, no, not that at all.â Better get it out at once. âI wish to be a priest,â he said, speaking with a careful town accent. The schoolmaster rose from his seat, holding his long pipe up in the air in one hand, and pressing his ear forward with the other, as though to hear better. âWhat?--what did you say?â âA priest,â repeated Peer, but he moved behind his chair as he spoke, for it looked as if the schoolmaster might fling the pipe at his head. But suddenly the red face broke into a smile, exposing such an array of greenish teeth as Peer had never seen before. Then he said in a sort of singsong, nodding: âA priest? Oh, indeed! Quite a small matter!â He rose and wandered once or twice up and down the room, then stopped, nodded, and said in a fatherly tone--to one of the bookshelves: âHâm--really--really--weâre a little ambitious, are we not?â He turned on Peer suddenly. âLook here, my young friend--donât you think your benefactor has been quite generous enough to you already?â âYes, indeed he has,â said Peer, his voice beginning to tremble a little. âThere are thousands of boys in your position who are thrown out in the world after confirmation and left to shift for themselves, without a soul to lend them a helping hand.â âYes,â gasped Peer, looking round involuntarily towards the door. âI canât understand--who can have put these wild ideas into your head?â With an effort Peer managed to get out: âItâs always been what I wanted. And he--father--â âWho? Father--? Do you mean your benefactor?â âWell, he was my father, wasnât he?â burst out Peer. The schoolmaster tottered back and sank into a chair, staring at Peer as if he thought him a quite hopeless subject. At last he recovered so far as to say: âLook here, my lad, donât you think you might be content to call him--now and for the future--just your benefactor? Donât you think he deserves it?â âOh, yes,â whispered Peer, almost in tears. âYou are thinking, of course--you and those who have put all this nonsense into your head--of the money which he--hâm--â âYes--isnât there a savings bank account--?â âAha! There we are! Yes, indeed. There is a savings bank account--in my care.â He rose, and hunted out from a drawer a small green-covered book. Peer could not take his eyes from it. âHere it is. The sum entered here to your account amounts to eighteen hundred crowns.â Crash! Peer felt as if he had fallen through the floor into the cellarage. All his dreams vanished into thin air--the million crowns--priest and bishop--Christiania--and all the rest. âOn the day when you are in a fair way to set up independently as an artisan, a farmer, or a fisherman--and when you seem to me, to the best of my judgment, to deserve such help--then and not till then I place this book at your disposal. Do you understand what I say?â âYes.â âI am perfectly sure that I am in full agreement with the wishes of the donor in deciding that the money must remain untouched in my safe keeping until then.â âYes,â whispered Peer. âWhat?--are you crying?â âN-no. Good-morning--â âNo, pray donât go yet. Sit down. There are one or two things we must get settled at once. First of all--you must trust me, my good boy. Do you believe that I wish you well, or do you not?â âYes, sir.â âThen it is agreed that all these fancies about going to college and so forth must be driven out of your head once for all?â âY-yes, sir.â âYou can see yourself that, even supposing you had the mental qualifications, such a sum, generous as it is in itself, would not suffice to carry you far.â âNo-no, sir.â âOn the other hand, if you wish it, I will gladly arrange to get you an apprenticeâs place with a good handicraftsman here. You would have free board there, and--well, if you should want clothes the first year or so, I dare say we could manage that. You will be better without pocket-money to fling about until you can earn it for yourself.â Peer sighed, and drooped as he stood. When he saw the green-backed book locked into its drawer again, and heard the keys rattle as they went back into a pocket under the dressing-gown, he felt as if some one were pointing a jeering finger at him, and saying, âYah!â âThen thereâs another thing. About your name. What name have you thought of taking, my lad--surname, I mean?â âMy name is Peer Holm!â said the boy, instinctively drawing himself up as he had done when the bishop had patted his head at the confirmation and asked his name. The schoolmaster pursed up his lips, took off his spectacles and wiped them, put them on again, and turned to the bookshelves with a sigh. âAh, indeed!--yes--yes--I almost thought as much.â Then he came forward and laid a hand kindly on Peerâs shoulder. âMy dear boy--that is out of the question.â A shiver went through Peer. Had he done something wrong again? âSee here, my boy--have you considered that there may be others of that name in this same place?â âYes--but--â âWait a minute--and that you would occasion these--others--the deepest pain and distress
{'title': 'The Great Hunger by Johan Bojer', 'source': 'Project Gutenberg', 'lang': 'en'}