Jørgen Engebretsen Moe

“ The gentleman caught Bikku Matti in his arms, lifted him high up and kissed him so heartily that the hat fell off, the sword rattled and the rest of Grandmother's pins fell out of the coat and the trousers.
"No, no, let me alone," said Bikku. "Now you have made me drop the cap, and Grandfather will be angry."
"Dear sir," said Grandmother, quite ashamed of Bikku, "be so kind as not to mind how the boy talks; he is not used to being with people."
"Don't worry about the boy's talk, he is right in guarding the soldier's cap. ”

“ But Viggo always knew that at such times Old Hans was most willing to tell about the time he served in the army, both in '88 and '89. Then he told of the battles at Kvistrum and at Lier, and first and last about the "Prince of Gustenberg"—it was Prince Christian of Augustenburg he meant.
[65]
"That was a man!" said Hans. "Such a face you never saw on any man. When he looked at you it was as if he would eat you in one bite. And such a nose between the eyes! You are looking at me, well, for a common soldier I have been specially well favored. ”

“ If you wished to become the Princess of England your wish would indeed be fulfilled, said old Anne. But there was one more thing to notice; you must not talk about it to a living soul.
"Not even to Father and Mother?" asked Beate.
"No," said Anne, "not to a living soul."
Beate could think of nothing but the island all that evening, and when she had closed her eyes she could dream of nothing else all night. Now it was covered with [54] blood-red spots—now it was green; then she thought that the loon cried "I am the Princess of England, but I have been bewitched and must stay a loon." ”

“ In the sitting-room sat an old man and his wife—well, they were really not old, but suffering and sorrow had aged them before their time. The man said to his wife, "Now spring has come again, birds are singing, flowers are peeping up everywhere, but there is no new hope of joy in our hearts. We have lost all our children, two are resting under the birch, and far [24] sadder—two are in the land of the enemy, and we shall never see them on earth. It is hard to be alone when one grows old." ”

“ But it is very difficult, for then you must learn much, oh very much."
"Mathematics, you mean?" said Viggo. "I have learned some of that already, and languages too."
[70]
"Yes, that is well enough, but you must learn much more, you must learn the commands and what is more, boy! you must learn to drill so that you don't make a mistake in a single movement; the gun must dance in your hands, and when you strike it it must sing like the dean in church when he sings 'Amen.' And you must march so stiff and straight that the balls fly past you, as soon as they see you." ”

“ But when he came to the geese, with uplifted ax, shouting his wild war cry, the old gander got angry, bent his long neck and pinched Viggo the Viking's leg so that he threw his ax down and ran screaming and howling away. The old gander knew well enough the code of the vikings, that vikings are not allowed to rob and kill in their own country, no not even on the other side of the goose pond. ”

“ Such a birthday party as Beate had now she never had before nor since. What [61] did it matter that a year's rains and snows had faded the pink of Little Beate's cheeks and bleached her brown curls? She was the guest of honor and sat on the prettiest chair. She had all the cookies and chocolate that she wanted. ”

“ There never was a hero returning from a victory half so proud as was Bikku in his first pair of trousers. The little body was lost in the big uniform, only the blue, honest eyes, the red cheeks and the important little pug-nose could be seen between the collar and the cap. The brave knight started off with the sword scraping the ground. But soon the pins began to fall out, the cap nearly upset, and it [112] looked as if our soldier would surely fall at each step he took. The old people had not laughed so heartily for a long time. ”

“ It was fortunate for the children that they did not need to sleep in the woods any longer, but could go from farm to farm. Though there were wide plains between the human dwellings and great poverty everywhere, the children were given food and shelter; all felt sorry for them.
But their birch and star they did not find. From farm to farm they looked; there were so many birches and so many stars, but not the right ones.
"Finland is so large, and we are so small," sighed the little girl, "I don't think we will ever find our home." ”

“ Part Three The Floating Island
Beate was now a year older. During that year she had never forgotten Little Beate. She had looked for her in the orchard and far away in the pasture.
When Mother had asked Viggo about Little Beate he answered that the country was full of vikings and wild beasts, and that he did not know anything about the doll.
Big Beate had many dolls given to her, but not one was like Little Beate. No one was so sweet and good natured, no one so pretty and graceful. ”

“ Far down in a hole in the snow lay Allarm. He was so bitten that he could not jump to his feet and, when Viggo lifted him, the blood dripped down on the white snow. His whole body shivered and [83] shook like an aspen leaf, but he licked Viggo's hand.
Just then Old Hans the Grenadier stood by Viggo's side. When he had gained his breath after his hurried run, the old man cried very angrily, "If I did what you deserve I should have to whip you, you little cub. Shame on you! Do you think it fit for a youngster like you to rush against a pack of wolves? ”

“ Never had Bikku had such a ride. He cried, he screamed, he scratched, he bit, and when at last he got loose, he ran as fast as he could, but he stumbled in the skirt, crawled up again, stumbled, got up again and ran on until he [106] reached Grandfather's cabin all out of breath and sobbing.
"Take off the skirt!" he cried. "I won't have any skirt, I am a man!"
"Don't cry, Bikku dear," said his grandmother, trying to comfort him. "When you grow old, you will show them that you are a man as good as any."
"Yes," said Grandfather, "and next time I will lend you my trousers." ”

“ Four or five years ago a young and hard-working couple lived with the old people. Then they all had enough and to spare. But one Sunday morning, the large church boat that carried the people of the parish to church was overturned by a sudden squall, and both the young man and his wife, with many others, were lost in the waves. The old people had stayed at home that day, the old man because he was blind and his wife in order to take care of a little baby. ”

“ Most of the boys he knew, for he had raced with them before and knew he could beat every one of them. But there was one boy who skated about by himself and seemed not to care about the others. He was much bigger than Viggo, almost half grown, and Viggo saw immediately that it would not be easy to beat him in a race. The boys called him Peter Lightfoot and the name fitted him. Peter crossed his arms and swung around on one leg. He could do the corkscrew, skate backwards [87] as easily as forwards, and lie so low and near the ice that he might have kissed it. ”

“ Bikku had cheeks as red and round as an apple, clear, blue eyes and hair as yellow as gold, the only gold to be found in the cabin. It was Bikku's round face which often filled the cottage window when anything passed on the road.
If you happen to come that way in Summer, you will see a gate across the road close to the cottage. You will have to stop your carriage, unless some one comes to open the gate. ”

“ Viggo understood well enough that it was no use to discuss such a matter with the old Grenadier, so he sat silent a little while.
"Have you never known a little boy to become a general?" he asked at last. "No, I haven't but I have known a drummer boy who became a sergeant. He was not much bigger than you; but that was a lively youngster! He could do everything [67] you can think of. He could beat the drum equally well standing on his head or on his legs. ”

“ Hans went to his old chest and came back with his uniform. Viggo looked rather queer, the yellow knee trousers reached to his ankles, and the red coat with yellow cuffs and lapels hung on him like a bag. But he was wearing a real uniform! Hans looked at him. "Well," he said, "I won't say much about the fit of the clothes, but who knows you may wear a better looking [95] uniform some day. The heart is of the right kind, and the nose—well it is doing better."
—From the Norwegian by Jörgen Moe.
[97]
Bikku Matti
On a wooded hillside stood a little cabin. ”

“ The Prince of Augustenburg never swore, I'm sure," said Viggo.
"You think so, you little cub? But it is true, he never did," said Hans. "But that is because a general does not need to, it does not become him, but for the [66] common man it is just as necessary as to drink whiskey."
This did not prove anything to Viggo, on the contrary he said it was a shame to do either. ”

“ It is a habit she has of always lifting her eyebrow a little when she looks closely at anyone. She only wants to find out if you are a good little girl."
"Yes, yes, and now she knows, for now that eyebrow is just like the other one," said Beate.
Oh, how Beate grew to love that doll, almost more than she loved Marie and Louise, and they were her best friends.
One day Beate was walking in the yard with her doll in her arms. The doll had a name now, and they had become fast friends. She had called her Beate, her [33] own name, and the name of her old aunt who had given her the doll. ”

“ Don't you think I saw that she pushed my horse so that he fell down and broke his left hind leg? If I did what she deserves, I should cut her head off," said the viking, and he tried the edge of his little ax with his fingers.
"Oh! you are a terrible boy," said Beate, "but I know well how to hide Little Beate, so that you shall never touch her."
Then she went straight to her little friend and told her sorrowfully what a [44] naughty boy Viggo was, that he intended to kill her, and that she, Big Beate, didn't dare to have her inside the house. ”

“ Children need the realistic story side by side with the purely imaginative fairy tale, for the story true to human experience serves to bring about a proper balance between the ideas created by a world of fancy and those of the world of reality. ”

“ Viggo had a holiday that day so he was allowed to go along. He put his rubber boots on and whistled for Allarm. The puppy jumped and barked when he noticed that they were off for the woods, for Allarm's father was a hound, so Allarm wanted to hunt too. But Viggo's father said it would be best to leave Allarm at home, for there were packs of wolves in the woods and their tracks had been seen even in the field close to the farm. Viggo did not like to leave Allarm behind, but when his father said so of course he must do it. He took the strap and tied Allarm to the leg of the sofa. ”

“ Again the little girl asked, "How shall we cross the rapid rivers and the great [19] lakes?"
... and he rowed across the rivers and
lakes
The boy answered, "We shall row across," and he rowed across the rivers and lakes; for wherever they came, they found boats, which seemed to be there just for their sakes. Sometimes the brother swam with his little sister across the rivers and they floated easily on the waves. At their side flew the two little birds. One evening when they were very tired, the children came upon the ruins of burned down buildings. Close by stood a large new farm house. ”

“ Now both of them ran over to the well, and Big Beate helped her little friend to get her legs firmly fixed between the logs that were around the well, so that she might sit in comfort and watch the [35] little goslings swim about on the water. Then gosling after gosling was dropped down, and as soon as each one reached the water it seemed to become alive and it moved about. Oh, what fun! Big Beate clapped her hands to the pretty little downy birds, and when she helped Little Beate a bit, she too could clap her hands. ”

“ It had but one window and this was so small that, when the round, fair, curly head of a little boy appeared in it, the whole window was filled. Some years ago there had been a brick chimney and the walls had been painted red. At that time the cabin and a little potato field were fenced in neatly. But now it all looked poor, very poor. The smoke escaped through a hole in the turf roof and the fence had fallen to pieces long ago. In this place lived an old blind soldier and his wife. They could not work in the field to make their living ”