MODERN SWEDISH MASTERPIECES MODERN SWEDISH MASTERPIECES _SHORT STORIES SELECTED AND TRANSLATED_ BY CHARLES WHARTON STORK TRANSLATOR OF “ANTHOLOGY OF SWEDISH LYRICS,” “SELECTED POEMS BY GUSTAF FRÖDING,” ETC. Editor of _Contemporary Verse_ [Illustration] NEW YORK E. P. DUTTON & COMPANY 681 FIFTH AVENUE COPYRIGHT, 1923 BY E. P. DUTTON & COMPANY _All Rights Reserved_ Printed in the United States of America TO THORSTEN LAURIN FRIEND OF ARTISTS PATRON OF THE ARTS ACKNOWLEDGMENTS The special thanks of the translator are due to the American-Scandinavian Foundation of New York City for permission to include the stories by Verner von Heidenstam from the two volumes of _The Charles Men_, as well as for stories by Söderberg and Siwertz which appeared in the _American Scandinavian Review_. Three stories by Söderberg were published in _Hearst’s Magazine_, and others in _The Freeman_, _The Bookman_, _World Fiction_ and _The Wave_. Hallström’s “Out of the Dark” appeared in _The Double Dealer_. We gladly acknowledge our debt to the proprietors of these magazines for allowing us to reprint from their pages. Our chief debt is, however, to the original authors and to A. Bonnier and Co., Stockholm, for the right to translate these specimens of Swedish genius into another language. PREFACE It is curious that, despite the rapid growth of interest in Scandinavian literature through the English-speaking world, there has been up to now no book to represent one of the most brilliant fields of achievement, the Swedish short story. The work of Selma Lagerlof is well known and a volume of Per Hallström has appeared recently, but no attempt has been made to represent a group of the leading masters. The present collection, whatever its failings, will at least indicate the power and variety of the Scandinavian genius in a new and important phase of its expression.