Growth of the Soil Knut Hamsun (summer books .txt) đ
- Author: Knut Hamsun
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âAy, Lord be thanked, âtis surely so,â she answered.
They were both equally astonished. Not that Inger was past the age, of course; to Isakâs mind, she was not too old in any way. But still, another childâ ââ ⊠well, well.â ââ ⊠And little Leopoldine going to school several times a year down at Breidablikâ âthat left them with no little ones about the place nowâ âbesides which, Leopoldine herself was grown up now.
Some days passed, and Isak resolutely threw away a whole weekendâ âfrom Saturday evening till Monday morningâ âon a trip down to the village. He would not say what he was going for when he set out, but on his return, he brought with him a girl. âThis is Jensine,â he said. âCome to help.â
âââTis all your nonsense,â said Inger, âIâve no need of help at all.â
Isak answered that she did need a helpâ âjust now.
Need or notâ âit was a kind and generous thought of his; Inger was abashed and grateful. The new girl was a daughter of the blacksmith, and she was to stay with them for the present; through the summer, anyhow, and then they would see.
âAnd Iâve sent a telegram,â said Isak, âafter him Eleseus.â
This fairly startled Inger; startled the mother. A telegram? Did he mean to upset her completely with his thoughtfulness? It had been her great sorrow of late that boy Eleseus was away in townâ âin the evil-minded town; she had written to him about God, and likewise explained to him how his father here was beginning to sink under the work, and the place getting bigger all the time; little Sivert couldnât manage it all by himself, and besides, he was to have money after his uncle one dayâ âall this she had written, and sent him the money for his journey once for all. But Eleseus was a man-about-town now, and had no sort of longing for a peasantâs life; he answered something about what was he to do anyway if he did come home? Work on a farm and throw away all the knowledge and learning he had gained? âIn point of fact,ââ âthat was how he put itâ ââIâve no desire to come back now. And if you could send me some stuff for underclothes, it would save me getting the things on credit.â So he wrote. And yes, his mother sent him stuffâ âsent him remarkable quantities of stuff from time to time for underclothes. But when she was converted, and got religion, the scales fell from her eyes, and she understood that Eleseus was selling the stuff and spending the money on other things.
His father saw it too. He never spoke of it; he knew that Eleseus was his motherâs darling, and how she cried over him and shook her head; but one piece of finely woven stuff went after another the same way, and he knew it was more than any living man could use for underclothes. Altogether, it came to this: Isak must be Man and Leader againâ âhead of the house, and step in and interfere. It had cost a terrible lot of money, to be sure, getting the storekeeper to send a telegram; but in the first place, a telegram could not fail to make an impression on the boy, and alsoâ âit was something unusually fine for Isak himself to come home and tell Inger. He carried the servant-girlâs box on his back as he strode home; but for all that, he was proud and full of weighty secrets as he had been the day he came home with that gold ring.â ââ âŠ
It was a grand time after that. For a long while, Inger could not do enough in the way of showing her husband how good and useful she could be. She would say to him now, as in the old days: âYouâre working yourself to death!â Or again: âââTis more than any man can stand.â Or again: âNow, youâre not to work any more; come in and have dinnerâ âIâve made some wafers for you!â And to please him, she said: âI should just like to know, now, what youâve got in your mind with all that wood, and what youâre going to build, now, next?â
âWhy, I canât say as yet,â said Isak, making a mystery of it.
Ay, just as in the old days. And after the child was bornâ âand it was a little girlâ âa great big girl, fine-looking and sturdy and soundâ âafter that, Isak must have been a stone and a miserable creature if he had not thanked God. But what was he going to build? It would be more news for Oline to go gadding about withâ âa new building again at Sellanraa. A new wing of the houseâ âa new house it was to be. And there were so many now at Sellanraaâ âthey had a servant-girl; and Eleseus, he was coming home; and a brand-new little girl-child of their own, just comeâ âthe old house would be just an extra room now, nothing more.
And, of course, he had to tell Inger about it one day; she was so curious to know, and though maybe Inger knew it all beforehand, from Sivertâ âthey two were often whispering togetherâ âshe was all surprised as anyone could be, and let her arms fall, and said: âââTis all your nonsenseâ âyou donât mean it?â
And Isak, brimming over with greatness inside, he answered her: âWhy, with you bringing I donât know how many more children on the place, âtis the least I can do, it seems.â
The two menfolk were out now every day getting stone for the walls of the new house. They worked their utmost together each in his own way: the one young, and with his young body firmly set, quick to see his way, to mark out the stones that would suit; the other ageingâ âtough, with long arms, and a mighty weight to bear down on a
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