Pelle the Conqueror, Vol. 1

oor fellow, Long Ole; for after all it was for his sake that Ole's misfortune had come upon him. But did he do it? No, he began to amuse himself. It was drinking and dissipation and

ft in him would find s

than he had any claim to, and enough at any rate to take him home and let him try something or other. There were many kinds of work that at a pinch could be p

he bailiff did to get him away. At last they had to put his things out, to the west of the farm; and there they lay most of the summer

t the cold, too, in spite of her fat, and as the proverb says: It's easier for two to keep warm than one; but whateve

ey were always changing at Stone Farm when they could. Karna, poor soul, was bound to stay, as she had set her mind upon youth, and would absolutely be where Gustav was! Gustav stayed because Bodil stayed, so unnaturally

or them to go to. All through the year they made plans for making a change, but

r a man of his age; you became old and worn out before your time, when you hadn't a wife and a house. On the heath near Brother Kalle's, t

, but let that be as it might, if only she was good-natured. Karna would have suited in all respects, both Lasse and Pelle having always had a liking for her ever since the day she freed Pelle

n bed on Sunday mornings!

rse, and invite Brother Kalle for a dr

Pelle was now standing at the stable-door with a beating heart and the slate under his arm. It was a frosty October

be seen; it might very well have been Lasse himself over again, from the big ears and the "cow's-lick" on the forehead, to the way the boy walked and wore out the bottoms of his trouser-legs. But this was something strikingly new. Neither Lasse nor any of his family had ever gone to school; it was something

ecially if you hit hard; he who hits first hits twice, as the old proverb says. And then you must listen well, and keep in mind all that your teacher says; and if anyone tries to entice you into playing and larking behind his back, don't do it. And remember that you've got a pocket-handkerchief,

trembled whi

o that," said Pelle,

wanting, you must say we'll get it at once, for we aren't altogether paupers!" And Lasse slapped his pocket; but it d

went to his work of crushing oilcakes. He put them into a vessel to s

e stable-door, and Lasse went t

is Majesty from the quarries!" He waddled in upon his bow legs, and

e we had with you th

g his brothe

one evening soon. Grandmother looks upon both of you wit

? Has she at all got o

her day and told me th

put a stick into her

have the do

ts, and then I forgot to put it back in its place. Then when she was going to stoop down to pick up something from the floor, the spindle went

hetically. "And she got ove

r wrong, and she lost

at him with

ss of that eye, I ought to have said. Isn't that all wrong, too? You put somebody's eye out, and she begins t

-? Now you're too merry! You oug

phet said when his wife scratched him

a little while before he yielded. "Wh

just as easily have taken the other direction. Yes, we had the doctor to her three times; it was no use bei

ot of money,

times are better.' 'We come off easily, even if we get rid of the cow,' I said. 'How so?' he asks, as we go out to the carriage -it was the farmer of Kaase Farm that was driving for me. So I told him that Maria and I had been thinking of selling everything so that grandmother might go over and be operated. He said nothing to that, but climbed up into the carriage; but while I was standing like this, buttoning up his foot-bag, he seizes me by the collar and says: 'Do you

Lasse had brought out a little gin. "Drink, brother!" he said aga

at it. So that's what that looks like, and that! She's forgotten what the things look like, and when she sees a thing, she goes to it to feel it afterward -to find out what it is, she a

ttle ones?"

all, it's the young pigs you ought to breed with. By the bye"-Kalle took out his purse-"

"You may have a lot to go through yet. How many mo

d if things became difficult, one's surely man enough to wring a few pence out of one's nose?" He

rd and forward between them. "Well, well!" said Kalle at last, keeping the note; "thank you very mu

ou up very soon," he call

Kalle must have seen his opportunity to put it there, conjurer that he was.

earisome, now that he was used to having the boy about him from morning till nigh

oint, "Well, what can you do?" the master had asked, taking him by the ear-quite kindly, of course. "I can pull the

, but can

ng. "It was a good thing you didn't answer that," said Lasse; "but what more then?" Well, the

know the

m, and wrote them with chalk on the posts. He had not learned to write, but his hand could imita

em repeated to him endlessly; but they would not stick pr

? Have you forgotten it already? I knew t

s! I can't think whe

s M! Now what can th

he word 'empty,' of course!

dn't find that out for your

nd it out

ome clever-if only you don't be

ate for Pelle that his father was so slow, for he did not get on very fast himself, when once he had mastered all that was capable of being picked up spontaneously by a

en; and he did so. But there was no awe-inspiring man, who looked at them affectionately through gold-rimmed spectacles while he told them about the sun and the moon and all the wonders of the world. Up and down the middle passage walked a man in a dirty linen coat and with gray bristles projecting from his nostrils. As he walked he swung the cane and smoked his pipe; or he sat at the desk and read the newspaper. The children were noisy and res

last he tired of it. It was not his nature to remain long passive to his surroundings, and one

re were the thousands of knavish tricks to tell about. And father Lasse