Arne

“ Winter set in early, and it was always a relief to Arne to get out of school. He liked to get his skis and go flying down the steep slopes behind the town with Nels and Oscar and Torger and some of the other boys. Evart was away at school this year, and sometimes Arne took Bergel with him coasting. She knew how to steer the long sled almost as well as he did.
He would stop at home in the kitchen first, for he was sure to find Mother and Besta having a cup of afternoon coffee. Sometimes Aunt Tina would be there, too, and Signe and Margret. Sometimes one of the neighbors would come in. ”

“ Arne felt every one looking at him, and therefore he could not raise his eyes.
"It is, as I have said," put in the first speaker; "nothing can be buried so deep [66] down in night that it will not find its way into daylight!"
"Well, now I will tell about a son who beat his own father," said a fair, heavily-built man, with a round face. Arne knew not where he was sitting.
"It was a bully of a powerful race, over in Hardanger; he was the ruin of many people. His father and he disagreed about the yearly allowance, and the result of this was that the man had no peace at home or in the parish. ”

“ Arne opened the door and looked at him.
"Is that you, my clever boy? Come and help your father up!"
He was raised up and helped in toward the bench. Arne took up the fiddle-case, carried it in, and closed the door.
[46] "Yes, look at me, you clever boy. I am not handsome now; this is no longer tailor Nils. This I say—to you, that you—never shall drink brandy; it is—the world and the flesh and the devil—He resisteth the proud but giveth grace unto the humble.—Ah, woe, woe is me!—How far it has gone with me!"
He sat still a while, then he sang, weeping,—
"Merciful Lord, I come to Thee ”

“ Arne, the composer of “Rule, Britannia,” offers to the reader and to the music student an interesting and instructive story, showing that natural ability, even when combined with genius, is not sufficient to ensure a triumphant and successful career. Morality and conscientious rectitude in the affairs of life are essential, and had Arne exercised these, his exceptional gifts might have enabled him to surpass his great contemporary, Handel. ”

“ Baard looked up at Arne, and Arne looked down on Baard; then Baard smiled.
"He who has to howl when he talks had much better keep silent, I am sure."
Now it often happens that words haunt us long after they were uttered, especially when they were the last ones heard. So these words haunted Arne when he crept down in the cold from the roof, and were still with him in the evening when he entered the family room. Eli was standing, in the twilight, by a window, gazing out over the ice which lay glittering beneath the moon's beams. Arne went to the other window and looked out as she was doing. ”

“ His musical progress was so marked that he was soon able to lead a chamber band of amateurs, and it was when so engaged that young Arne was one day found by his astonished father. The discovery of his son's musical talents Was at first met with a considerable display of wrath on the part of Thomas Arne, but eventually he had the good sense to recognise that the boy was more fitted for a musician than a lawyer, and after some hesitation to allow him to cultivate the talents which he so decidedly displayed. ”

“ Later, when they had supped and said good-bye to the mother, Eli and Arne walked together along the road to the parsonage. It was one of those light summer nights when all things seem to whisper and crowd together, as if in fear. Even he who has from childhood been accustomed to such nights, feels strangely influenced by them, and goes about as if expecting something to happen: light is there, but not life. Often the sky is tinged with blood-red, and looks out between the pale clouds like an eye that has watched. ”

“ And Eli went on.
Then Margit began to talk about Arne. "I do not know if you are very well acquainted with him. He can teach you something about everything. Bless me! how much that boy has read!"
Eli confessed that she was aware he had read a great deal.
"Oh, yes; that is really the least that can be said of him. Why, his conduct to his mother all his days is something far beyond that. If the old saying is true, that one who is good to his mother is sure to be good to his wife, the girl Arne chooses will not have very much to grumble about. What is it you are looking for, child?" ”

“ Darkness has great power over those who are sitting in it and dare not speak; they are never so near each other as then. If Eli only turned, only moved her hand on the bed-cover, only breathed a little more heavily than usual, Arne heard it. [144] "Arne, could not you teach me to make songs?"
"Have you never tried?"
"Yes, these last few days I have; but I have not succeeded."
"Why, what did you want to have in them?"
"Something about my mother, who cared so much for your father." ”

“ He began to go about fiddling as in former days, and took the boy with him to carry the fiddle-case. Thus Arne saw a great deal. The mother wept because he had to go along, but dared not say so to the father. "Hold faithfully to God, and learn nothing evil," she begged, and tenderly caressed her boy. But at the dances there was a great deal of diversion; at home with the mother there was none at all. Arne turned more and more from her and to the father; she saw this and was silent. [36] At the dances Arne learned many songs, and he sang them at home to his father ”

“ It shook whenever the wind was high, as though it wished to turn; and Arne stood looking at it so long that he felt at last he must climb up to unloose it. It was not frozen fast, as he thought: but a stick was fixed against it to prevent it from turning. He took the stick out and threw it down; Baard was just passing below, and it struck him.
"What are you doing?" said he, looking up.
"I'm loosening the vane."
"Leave it alone; it makes a wailing noise when it turns."
"Well, I think even that's better than silence," said Arne, seating himself astride on the ridge of the roof. ”

“ Mrs. Arne survived her husband about seventeen years, dying in 1795. It must not be forgotten that Dr. Arne was the first introducer of female voices into oratorio choruses; which he did at Covent Garden Theatre on Feb. 26, 1773, in a performance of his own 'Judith.' Dr. Arne was author as well as composer of 'The Guardian outwitted,' 'The Rose,' 'The Contest of Beauty and Virtue,' and 'Phoebe at Court,' and the reputed author of 'Don Saverio' and 'The Cooper.' A fine portrait of him by Zoffany is in the possession of the Sacred Harmonic Society. ”

“ Beneath it was a cupboard, where Arne kept his money. The mother said money had been left to them twice already, and if everything went right they would have some more. "But, after all, money's not the best thing in the world; he may get what's better still," she added.
There were many little things in the cupboard which were amusing to see, and Eli looked at them all, happy as a child. Then the mother showed her a large chest where Arne's clothes lay, and they, too, were taken out and looked at. Margit patted Eli on the shoulder. ”

“ Arne’s a pretty big boy now, and he could be a lot of help. I know that’s one of the reasons they want me to go.”
“They want you because everyone wants to have you around,” said Arne, his voice still muffled. But the heavy feeling in his chest lightened a little, and he turned half around, looking hopefully at his brother. Gustav was pretty good at finding a way out of things.
Gustav said, “Lutfisk could be baled tonight as well as tomorrow. Father wants to have the shipment ready to send off day after tomorrow, that’s all. We can work down there tonight. ”

“ Arne's hands trembled so much that the burning ashes of the splinter fell upon the father's clothes and set them on fire; but the boy did not perceive it, neither did the mother at first, for she was weeping. But soon she became aware of it through the bad smell, and she cried out in fear. When now the boy looked, it seemed to him as though the father himself was burning, and he dropped the splinter upon him, sinking down in a swoon. Up and down, and round and round, the room moved with him; the table moved, the bed moved; the axe hewed; the father rose and came to him ”

“ Next day, Arne came into the room and said he had heard in the yard that the clergyman's daughter, Mathilde, had just gone to the town; as she thought, for a few days, but as her parents intended, for a year or two. Eli had heard nothing of this before, and now she fell down fainting. Arne had never seen any one faint, and he was much frightened. He ran for the maids; they ran for the parents, who came hurrying in; and there was a disturbance all over the house, and the dog barked on the barn steps. ”

“ Gustav laughed. “This isn’t man’s work,” he declared. “This is just fun.”
“You’re getting anxious to sail off,” said Evart. “When do you go?”
“The Laks arrives in a few days. Then it will go up the fjord with me on it,” said Gustav. He sounded happy at the prospect, but Arne’s heart sank. He didn’t like to think of Gustav going away again.
“Wish I could go,” said Arne, with a gusty sigh. “I haven’t even been on a boat and bicycle trip yet like some of the boys.”
“You’re too young,” said Bergel in her practical way. “And you haven’t a bicycle.” ”

“ Presently Besta buttered a piece of warm lefse, spread it with brown sugar, rolled it, and handed it to Arne. Even now he did not forget the polite Norwegian “Mange tak,” “Many thanks.”
He took his lefse and wandered off to the workshop, but there was a lump in his throat as he drew the covering back and looked at his little ships. It didn’t seem to him he could work at them today, and he started to cover them again. Then he stopped and said fiercely right out loud, “Look here, Arne Dalen! Gustav wouldn’t do that. He’s [71] a great one to stick at something until he gets it done.” ”

“ They heard steps on the stairs, and let go of each other's hands. It was Eli's mother, who was bringing in a light. "You are sitting quite too long in the dark," said she, and put the candlestick on the table. But neither Eli nor Arne could bear the light; she turned toward the pillow, he held his hand up before his eyes. "Oh, yes; it hurts the eyes a little at first," said her mother; "but that will soon pass off."
Arne searched on the floor for the cap he did not have with him, and then he left the room. ”

“ To talk with the mother was more easily thought than done. Arne alluded to Kristian and the letter that never came; but the mother went away from him, and for whole days after he thought her eyes looked red. He had also another indication of her feelings, and that was that she prepared unusually good meals for him.
He had to go up in the woods to fetch an armful of fuel one day; the road led through the forest, and just where he was to do his chopping was the place where people went to pick whortleberries in the autumn. ”

“ It was now tried whether Arne would let any of his sons, King Inge's brothers, be proclaimed king. Arne replies, that Kristin's son, she was the daughter of King Sigurd the Crusader, was nearest by propinquity of descent to the crown of Norway. "And here is also a man to be his adviser, and whose duty it is to take care of him and of the kingdom; and that man is his father Erling, who is both prudent, brave, experienced in war, and an able man in governing the kingdom; he wants no capability of bringing this counsel into effect, if luck be with him." ”

“ He did not know what to answer; and he heard her weeping again in the dark. A clock that was ticking on the wall warned for striking, and then struck. Eli breathed deeply several times, as if she would lighten her breast, and then she said, "One knows so little; I knew neither father nor mother. I haven't been kind to them; and now it seems so sad to hear that hymn."
When we talk in the darkness, we speak more faithfully than when we see each other's face; and we also say more.
"It does one good to hear you talk so," Arne replied, just remembering what she had said when she was taken ill. ”

“ Eli was very weak after her illness; the mother sat over her night and day, and was never down-stairs; the father made his usual visits up to the sick-room in his stocking feet, and leaving his cap outside of the door. Arne was still at the gard; he and the father sat together of evenings; he had come to think a good deal of Baard, who was a well-educated man, a deep thinker, but seemed to be afraid of what he knew. Arne helped him to get things right in his mind and told him much that he did not know before, and Baard was very grateful. ”

“ Then the huldre laughed till it seemed to the lad the mountains sang again. He took her upon his knee; and so beautiful she was, that never in all his life he had seen any one like her: exactly like her, he thought his wife should have been. 'Ah, who are you who are so beautiful?' he asked, stroking her cheek. She blushed rosy red. 'I'm your wife,' she answered."
The girls laughed much at that tale, and ridiculed the lad. But Godfather asked Arne if he had listened well to it. ”

“ Arne was not the mildest of men, and he cried:
“I’ll pickle your roast beef, Davey, before I am done!”
The threat was no idle one. Refused an engagement at Drury Lane, which was under Garrick’s management, Arne set up his famous pupil at Covent Garden, where she had such success in The Beggar’s Opera, that all the town flocked to hear her, and Garrick was nearly ruined.
The degree of Mus. Doc. was conferred on Arne by Oxford University in July, 1759. In addition to being a great composer, he was a great teacher, laying particular stress on the importance of clear enunciation of the words. ”