Pelle the Conqueror, Vol. 1

proved to be nothing but a little shoemaker down in the village, who spoke at the meeting-house on Sundays; and it was

y that threw everything else into the background, and exercised Pelle's mind for many days; and he used this miraculous cap as a standard by which to measure everything great and desirable. But one day he gave Gustav a

h the bailiff used when he talked to the farmer? And why did the men call one another "Swede" as a term of abuse? Why, they were all Swedes! What was there away beyond the cliffs where the stone-quarry lay? The farm-lands extended as far as that on th

to the bottom at once. In the middle of the pond there was no bottom, so there you'd go on sinking forever! The old thatcher, when he was young, had had more than a hundred fathoms of rope down there with a drag, to

a long white beard li

use for Him now He wa

e!... How could the o

the young ones? A

it was the very foundation of all existence-Father Lasse. He was there, simply, he stood like a safe wall behind everything that o

hudder at, or to put on one side for a great future. Even distant trees, houses and rocks in the landscape, that he had never been up to, assumed an att

ound his world immense, and was quite willing to make it infinite. He attacked everything with insatiable appetite; his ready perceptions laid hold of all that came within their reach; they were like t

went about in it uncertainly, for there was always something that became displaced and had to be revalued or made over again; the most matter-of-fact things would change and all at once become terrifying m

le and four smaller ones round it. And then one day, one of the men comes home from the town with a pair of new trousers, the buttons of which are made of brigh

the destruction part of it; it would be something of an adventure, and somewhere within him there was a little bit of confident assurance that it would all come right as far as he was concerned. The eclipse did

, tiny things-thank goodness! But there were also anticipated pleasures that

ted them in a twinkling. They came into existence in the same way that the land had done that morning he had stood upon the deck o

ed its way like a serpent to whatever part of the body desire occupied. Old thatcher Holm had once drawn the soul like a thin thread out of the thumb of a

ood, and could tell the strangest things about it; and he cut his fingers only to see whether it was ripe. One evening he came over to the cow-stable and exhibited a bleeding finger. The

when they were drunk. The men in the stone-quarry were the strongest men in the world. One of them h

ed the little cairn, so that the place should not be forgotten; and over it the child's soul used to burn at dead of night at the time of year at which it was born. Pelle believed that the child itself was buried beneath the stones, and now and then ornamented the mound with a branch of fir; but he never played at that part of the stream. The girl was sent across the sea, sentenced to penal servitude for many years, and people wondered at the father. She had not named any one, bu

he meadow; but when he got in among the dunes, he saw a will-o'-the-wisp following in his steps, grew frightened, and began to run. It began to gain upon him, and when he leaped across the brook to put water between himself and the spirit

and late the young fisherman was to be found at their meetings, and at other times he went about like a malef

gs, and a lovesick fellow from inland had made up a ballad about it, which Gustav sang to his concertina. Then all the gi

et together in the clear air, he saw a young man standing by the cairn and putting on it

y, feeling that he was in his own do

ed in a kneeling posture. At last

to judge us all," he said

sion as that of the man the other day-the one that ha

le. "I always say my prayers under the clothes. H

nd began moving about t

d Pelle firmly, "for there's

urned upon him

y; "for the child lies up in the

Pelle, imitating his

parents that drowned

s knowledge to relinqu

en, having confidence in his legs, he laughed openly. But the other seemed no longer a

p sigh. "Is that you?" he said apathetically, witho

u may stay here if you won't hit me. And you mustn't touc

uch a lie? God hates a lie. But you're a simple-hearted child, and I'll tell you all ab

said, "considering I know the whole song by heart. I can sing it to you, if you like. It

in our childhoo

row nor sin

's nought in our p

ght into pris

e are that with

r lost happ

e pass in this

write down

y father, with

d's days cam

grown up into

l, but now wi

day and I gave

nce thought

told of my so

had cause

oved you,' he q

ll ne'er se

is heel and we

I a murd're

wicked," he said. "For then she killed her child and had to go to prison." He spoke with a certain amount of contem

that did the dreadful thing; yes, I confess that I'm a murderer! Haven't I openly enough

kill your own child? Father Lasse could never have done that! But then

xclaimed: "You do talk so queerly-'blop-blop-blop,' just as if you were from another country. And what

of tears. Pelle had never seen any one cry s

butter?" he asked, by way of offering c

rman shoo

. He was obstinate, and d

ul myself, burning up on the top of the heap at

to his mouth. He began to jump up and down in fear, and when he recovered his senses and stopped, he

that was an achievement, considering how difficult it often was only to answer "yes" or "no" to somebody you'd never seen before. But he had hardly more than begun the verses, and what made the performance remarkable was tha

that filled his mind with uncomfortable thoughts. Father Lasse's was as yet the only human voice that the boy wholly

ad, now it's too late! So he ran away when you said that to him? Well, well, it's not easy to resist the Word of God even from the lips of a child, wh

y: in the face of these his child's brain was powerless. Why did the mistress cry so much and drink secretly? What went on behind the windows in the big house? He could not comprehend it, and every

darkness lay crouching under the earth and had no power. And he pos