Arne: A Sketch of Norwegian Country LifeBjørnson, Bjørnstjerne
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Arne: A Sketch of Norwegian Country Life
Bjørnson, Bjørnstjerne
Norway -- Fiction; Norwegian fiction -- Translations into English
"Now we'll find the key of Arne's room," said the mother, taking it
from under a chest where it was hidden. They went into the room; it
looked towards the ravine; and once more the awful booming of the
waterfall met their ears, for the window was open. They could see the
spray rising between the cliffs, but not the fall itself, save in one
place farther up, where a huge fragment of rock had fallen into it
just where the torrent came in full force to take its last leap into
the depths below. The upper side of this fragment was covered with
fresh sod; and a few pine-cones had dug themselves into it, and had
grown up to trees, rooted into the crevices. The wind had shaken and
twisted them; and the fall had dashed against them, so that they had
not a sprig lower than eight feet from their roots: they were gnarled
and bent; yet they stood, rising high between the rocky walls. When
Eli looked out from the window, these trees first caught her eye;
next, she saw the snowy peaks rising far beyond behind the green
mountains. Then her eyes passed over the quiet fertile fields back to
the room; and the first thing she saw there was a large bookshelf.
There were so many books on it that she scarcely believed the
Clergyman had more. Beneath it was a cupboard, where Arne kept his
money. The mother said money had been left to them twice already, and
if everything went right they would have some more. "But, after all,
money's not the best thing in the world; he may get what's better
still," she added.
There were many little things in the cupboard which were amusing to
see, and Eli looked at them all, happy as a child. Then the mother
showed her a large chest where Arne's clothes lay, and they, too,
were taken out and looked at. Margit patted Eli on the shoulder.
"I've never seen you till to-day, and yet I'm already so fond of you,
my child," she said, looking affectionately into her eyes. Eli had
scarcely time to feel a little bashful, before Margit pulled her by
the hand and said in a low voice, "Look at that little red chest;
there's something very choice in that, you may be sure."
Eli glanced towards the chest: it was a little square one, which she
thought she would very much like to have.
"He doesn't want me to know what's in that chest," the mother
whispered; "and he always hides the key." She went to some clothes
that hung on the wall, took down a velvet waistcoat, looked in the
pocket, and there found the key.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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