"You will not take service any more, Jörgen, I suppose, but will
remain among us now," said one of the old fishermen.
But Jörgen had no such intention. He was thinking, on the contrary, of
going away to see a little of the world. The eel-man of Fjaltring had
an uncle up at Gammel-Skagen; he was a fisherman, but also a thriving
trader who owned some little vessels. He was such an excellent old
man, it would be a good thing to take service with him. Gammel-Skagen
lies on the northern part of Jutland, at the other extremity of the
country from Huusby-Klitter, and that was what Jörgen thought most of.
He was determined not to stay for Elsé and Morten's wedding, which was
to take place in a couple of weeks.
"It was foolish to take his departure now," was the opinion of the old
fisherman who had spoken to him before. "Now Jörgen had a house, Elsé
would most likely prefer taking him."
Jörgen answered so shortly, when thus spoken to, that it was difficult
to ascertain what he thought; but the old man brought Elsé to him. She
did not say much; but this she did say,—
"You have now a house: one must take that into consideration."
And Jörgen also took much into consideration. In the ocean there are
many heavy seas—the human heart has still heavier ones. There passed
many thoughts, strong and weak mingled together, through Jörgen's head
and heart, and he asked Elsé,[26]—
"If Morten had a house as well as I, which of us two would you rather
take?"
No comments:
Post a Comment