Jutland - Evil Dispositions

"Ours are the largest though;" said the father, "these are not at all
important-looking."

And the conversation fell on how they came there, and it was all very
intelligible and very rational. A body had been found on the beach,
and the peasants had buried it in the churchyard; then commenced a
drifting of sand—the sea broke wildly on the shore, and a man in the
parish who was noted for his sagacity advised that the grave should be
opened, to ascertain if the buried corpse lay and sucked his thumb;
for if he did that, it was a merman whom they had buried, and the sea
would force its way up to take him back. The grave was accordingly
opened, and lo! he they had buried was found sucking his thumb; so
they took him up instantly, placed him on a car, harnessed two oxen to
it, and dragged him over heaths and bogs out to the sea; then the sand
drift stopped, but the sand-hills have always remained. To all this
Jörgen listened eagerly; and he treasured this ancient legend in his
memory, along with all that had happened during the pleasantest days
of his childhood—the days of the funeral feast.

It was delightful to go from home, and to see new places and new
people; and he was to go still farther away. He went on board a ship.
He went forth to see what the world produced; and he found bad
weather, rough seas, evils dispositions, and harsh masters. He went as
a cabin-boy! Poor living, cold nights, the rope's end, and hard thumps
with the fist were his portion. There was something in his noble
Spanish blood which always boiled up, so that angry words rose often
to his lips; but he was wise enough to keep them back,[19] and he felt

pretty much like an eel being skinned, cut up, and laid on the pan.