"He will not say, Good-night, good-night. All night, alway. Her hopes of love are small and few. Nobody knew. Nobody knew. "With him time drags so slow, so slow; He comes to see how it may go. Her love is sure; His love is pure; Their thoughts of love are fresh and new. Nobody knew. Nobody knew." "A very pretty little chanson," said Fanny Stirling. "And if John would not say good-night to you, Emilie, and was unkind, what would you do?" "He cannot be unkind," replied Emilie. "There is also an authoress that might interest you," said the Amtmand, "and that is Magdalene Thoresen. There is a good deal of imagery and pathos in her books, and some pretty things, too. In her Solen i Siljedalen is a specimen of the improvisation occasionally yet found in Norway. You will see there is much repetition and fancy, but little depth, in the following, called 'The Lovers': "They wandered through the grassy dells, The fairy bells. How soft, how sweet the blue hare-bell! "Bright hours like these for lovers made, Tender yet sweet, the maiden fair; "A full-blown rose the maiden grows; A bird is singing on a tree; He cheers his mate with song so free. A full-blown rose the maiden grows; The youth has wed his full-blown rose, "A good improvisation," said Fanny Stirling. "There is nothing in it, but it is full of song." "There are a great many other authors," said the Amtmand. "But Emilie is acquainted with the literature of Norway, and can suggest many books to you, which, when you can read, you will find fresh and new." CHAPTER XXII. Ej, Iwàn, Iwànuschka, Du min taabelige Kjærest. Oh, John, dear John, You are a stupid lover. Kiss me not among many folk; Kiss where folk are fewest. DANISH RENDERING OF A RUSSIAN SONG. "We "KRISTOFER reports that there is a good Ryper terrain about twenty-four English miles to the south of this," said John Stirling, one day after dinner at Vange. have had little sport close to this, and, if it were not for the varying scenery on these lower Fjelds, we should have found it monotonous. A walk on the Fjelds always interests. No one day is like another. There is not only the change of prospect, but also its shifting light and colour." "It is passing strange to me, Stirling," said Tyssen, "that you should have your head full of scenery and landscapes, when it might be supposed you had the subject of Emilie Nordal to think about-say occasionally." "I do think of her very often," said Stirling. "But I was early taught to attend to the matter before me, and I have acquired the habit, when out shooting, of observing everything closely, and not allowing my mind to wander from keeping a watch for what might suggest something. It is necessary when shooting on the Fjelds, where game is spread over such an extent of country." "That accounts for an experienced Jæger like Kristofer being always ready to beat any line of country you think fit to try," said Tyssen. "He knows you are a good finder." "When we left Nordal, Emilie told me her father would like some Dalryper," said Stirling. "It is now Monday. The path to the terrain that Kristofer mentions is rough, and it will take us all Tuesday to walk there. The nights are getting dark, and we cannot travel over the Fjelds at night." "But where shall we sleep?" asked Tyssen. "It is too cold to sleep on the Fjelds now." "There is the choice of two Sæters. Jacob Oppedal is, as usual, related to the people in some distant way, and can arrange about our sleeping in either, with leave to shoot. It is possible the people may have left the Sæters for the season; but we shall pass by a Gaard (farm-house). The owner is the proprietor of the Sæters, and Jacob Oppedal will settle everything after the usual two hours' palaver, which is inevitable." The next day, at daybreak, John Stirling, Tyssen, Kristofer, and Jacob Oppedal crossed the Vange Elv, and ascended the steep Fjeld on the other side, taking a southerly course, and walking slowly, as they knew the hard walk that was before them. They climbed up three Fjeld ranges, descended their respective valleys, and on reaching the last Dal, Jacob Oppedal pointed out the Gaard they were bound for. Kristofer's experienced sight observed a cow or two tethered close to the Gaard. "Kreaturene (literally, the creatures, meaning the cattle) are at home. said. They have left the Sæters," he "Then we can get some milk and Fladbrød," said Stirling, "while the palaver is going on. We will get As they approached the Gaard, Jacob Oppedal recognised the Gaardmand, and began a discursive conversation. The snow-fall last winter and the weather during the spring and summer were discussed. Their respective ages and the ages of their families severally were minutely inquired into and ascertained. The state of each other's health and that of their relatives went through the same process, and many general topics were started at random. |