LILIECRONA’S HOME LILIECRONA’S HOME A NOVEL BY SELMA LAGERLÖF WINNER OF THE NOBEL PRIZE FOR LITERATURE. AUTHOR OF “GÖSTA BERLING,” “JERUSALEM,” “THE ADVENTURES OF NILS,” “THE GIRL FROM THE MARSHCROFT,” ETC. ETC. TRANSLATED FROM THE SWEDISH BY ANNA BARWELL [Illustration] NEW YORK E. P. DUTTON & COMPANY MCMXIV _All rights reserved_ CONTENTS CHAPTER I PAGE THE STORM-WIND 1 CHAPTER II THE SPINNING-WHEELS 19 CHAPTER III THE BLACK LAKE 29 CHAPTER IV SNOW-WHITE 38 CHAPTER V THE PASTOR OF SVARTSJÖ 81 CHAPTER VI THE MAGIC PANCAKE 87 CHAPTER VII THE BRIDE’S DANCE 95 CHAPTER VIII THE FOX-PIT 117 CHAPTER IX THE SILVER THALER 126 CHAPTER X THE PASTOR FROM FINLAND 143 CHAPTER XI THE SMITH FROM HENRIKSBERG 160 CHAPTER XII ENSIGN ORNECLOU 174 CHAPTER XIII THE DAILY ROUND 191 CHAPTER XIV A SPRING EVENING 202 CHAPTER XV THE ACCUSATION 218 CHAPTER XVI THE REST STONE 242 CHAPTER XVII THE WATER SPIRITS IN LÖVDALA 250 CHAPTER XVIII THE HOME 256 Liliecrona’s Home CHAPTER I THE STORM-WIND On Christmas Day, 1880, a pitiless storm raged over Lövsjö (Green Lake) District in Värmland. It seemed as though the heavens meant to tear up everything on earth and make a clean sweep of it all. Now, do not say that no doubt there have been storms as bad both before and since, and, above all, do not let any of the Lövsjö dwellers hear you, for they have known from their earliest childhood that the like of this storm could never even be imagined. They can still count up all the fences that were torn down, all the thatched roofs snatched off, all the cow-houses blown over, so that for days the poor beasts lay buried in the ruins. And they can point to all the places where fire broke out and was fanned by the wind until the whole village was in ashes. And they have been on all the heights and mountain-tops where tree after tree fell, until they stood naked and bare as they are to-day. We know, indeed, the common proverb that it is an ill wind that blows nobody good, but no one could believe that it was true of this Christmas storm, for, indeed, it was plainly to be seen that it only brought with it one misfortune after another.