Growth of the Soil Knut Hamsun (summer books .txt) đ
- Author: Knut Hamsun
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âHo!â said Isak, and fell to boxing up long planks as hard as he could.
Off hurries Geissler to Sivert once more: âThatâs rightâ âkeep at itâ âdidnât I say he was a sturdy sort? Follow these stakes, you understand, where Iâve marked out. If you come up against heavy boulders, or rock, then turn aside and go round, but keep the levelâ âthe same depth; you see what I mean?â
Then back to Isak again: âThatâs one finishedâ âgood! But we shall want moreâ âhalf a dozen, perhaps. Keep at it, Isak; you see, weâll have it all green by tomorrowâ âweâve saved your crops!â And Geissler sat down on the ground, slapped his knees with both hands and was delighted, chattered away, thought in flashes of lightning. âAny pitch, any oakum, or anything about the place? Thatâs splendidâ âgot everything. These thingsâll leak at the edges you see, to begin with, but the woodâll swell after a while, and theyâll be as taut as a bottle. Oakum and pitchâ âfancy you having it too!â âWhat? Built a boat, you say? Where is the boat? Up in the lake? Good! I must have a look at that too.â
Oh, Geissler was all promises. Light come, light goâ âand he seemed more giving to fussing about than before. He worked at things by fits and starts, but at a furious rate when he did work. There was a certain superiority about him after all. True, he exaggerated a bitâ âit was impossible, of course, to get all green by this time tomorrow, as he had said, but for all that, Geissler was a sharp fellow, quick to see and take a decision; ay, a strange man was Geissler. And it was he and no other that saved the crops that year at Sellanraa.
âHow many have you got done? Not enough. The more wood you can lay, the quicker itâll flow. Make them twenty feet long or twenty-five, if you can. Any planks that length on the place? Good; fetch them alongâ âyouâll find itâll pay you at harvest-time!â
Restless againâ âup and off to Sivert once more. âThatâs the way, Sivert man; getting on finely. Your fatherâs turning out culverts like a poet, thereâll be more than I ever thought. Run across and get some now, and weâll make a start.â
All that afternoon was one hurrying spell; Sivert had never seen such a furious piece of work; he was not accustomed to see things done at that pace. They hardly gave themselves time to eat. But the water was flowing already! Here and there they had to dig deeper, a culvert had to be raised or lowered, but it flowed. The three men were at it till late that night, touching up their work, and keenly on the look out for any fault. But when the water began to trickle out over the driest spots, there was joy and delight at Sellanraa. âI forgot to bring my watch,â said Geissler. âWhatâs the time, I wonder? Ay, sheâll be green by this time tomorrow!â said he.
Sivert got up in the middle of the night to see how things were going, and found his father out already on the same errand. Oh, but it was a thrilling timeâ âa day of great events!
But next day, Geissler stayed in bed till nearly noon, worn out now that the fit had passed. He did not trouble to go up and look at the boat on the lake; and but for what he had said the day before, he would never have bothered to look at the sawmill. Even the irrigation works interested him less than at firstâ âand when he saw that neither field nor meadow had turned green in the course of the night, he lost heart, never thinking of how the water flowed, and flowed all the time, and spread out farther and farther over the ground. He backed down a little, and said now: âIt may take timeâ âyou wonât see any change perhaps before tomorrow again. But itâll be all right, never fear.â
Later in the day Brede Olsen came lounging in; he had brought some samples of rock he wanted Geissler to see. âAnd something out of the common, this time, to my mind,â said Brede.
Geissler would not look at the things. âThat the way you manage a farm,â he asked scornfully, âpottering about up in the hills looking for a fortune?â
Brede apparently did not fancy being taken to task now by his former chief; he answered sharply, without any form of respect, treating the ex-Lensmand as an equal: âIf you think I care what you sayâ ââ âŠâ
âYouâve no more sense than you had before,â said Geissler. âFooling away your time.â
âWhat about yourself?â said Brede. âWhat about you, Iâd like to know? Youâve got a mine of your own up here, and what have you done with it? Huh! Lies there doing nothing. Ay, youâre the sort to have a mine, arenât you? He he!â
âGet out of this,â said Geissler. And Brede did not stay long, but shouldered his load of samples and went down to his own mĂ©nage, without saying goodbye.
Geissler sat down and began to look over some papers with a thoughtful air. He seemed to have caught a touch of the fever himself, and wanted now to look over that business of the copper mine, the contract, the analyses. It was fine ore, almost pure copper; he must do something with it, and not let everything slide.
âWhat I really came up for was to get the whole thing settled,â he said to Isak. âIâve been thinking of making a start here, and that very soon. Get a lot of men to work, and run the thing properly. What do you think?â
Isak felt sorry for the man, and would not say anything against it.
âItâs a matter that concerns you as well, you know. Thereâll be a lot of bother, of course; a lot of men about the place, and a bit rowdy at times, perhaps. And blasting up in the hillsâ âI donât know how youâll like that. On the
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