Garman And Worse A Norwegian Novel - Alexander Lange Kielland (best way to read ebooks txt) 📗
- Author: Alexander Lange Kielland
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Beyond The Dean In His Need, He Sought Her Who Was Really The Cause Of
His Standing Where He Did. He Was Not Disappointed, For The Moment His
Eyes Met The Calm And Determined Face, A Change Seemed To Come Over Him.
Her Eye Rested Upon Him With An Inquiring And Almost Anxious Expression,
Which He Well Understood.
She Should Not Be Disappointed Of Her Trust In Him, And With Renewed
Strength, And Without A Tremor In His Voice, He Began Upon The Last Part
Of His Discourse. Ever Higher And Fuller Rang His Voice, Until Its
Sonorous Tone Filled The Church, And Was Re-Echoed From The Vaulted
Roof. The Congregation Followed Him With Attention, While Some Of The
Old Women Were Moved To Tears. And Now A Sensation Of Uneasiness Seemed
To Pass Through Those Who Composed The Great Assembly. It Was Indeed An
Chapter 11 Pg 81Extraordinary Sermon, With Its Earnest Entreaties To Be Thoroughly
Upright And Sincere, And With Its Reckless Condemnation Of All Forms And
Ceremonies, All Of Which Were But Of Secondary Consideration. It Seemed
Too Bold, Too Exaggerated.
He Seemed Anxious To Confess His Sceptical Opinions, In Holding Which He
Did Not Stand Alone. He Was Only Alone In confessing Them. He Knew Only
Too Well That Fine Web Of Soothing Compromise, With Which People Were In
The Habit Of Deadening Their Consciences. He Knew It Still Better, Too,
From His Own Point Of View As A Clergyman, Who Even More Than Others Was
Bound To Live In The Full Glare Of Truth, Even Though He Might Be
Despised, Hated, And Persecuted By An Unreasoning World. If He Followed
The Beaten Track, Whither Would It Lead? To A Position Of Comfort And
Respectability, In Which The First Duty Was To Throw A Veil Over One'S
Own Heart And Those Of Others: To Suppress All Doubt And Inquiry, And To
Deaden All Real Life In The Individual, So That The Whole Machine Might
Continue Its Regular Movements Without Noise Or Friction. But Truth Was
A Two-Edged Sword, Sharp And Shining As Crystal. When The Light Of Truth
Broke Into The Heart Of Man, It Caused An Agony As Piercing As When A
Woman Brings Her Child Into The World.
But, Instead Of This, Was A Man To Lead A Life Of Slumber, Shut In by
Falsehood And Form, Without Force Or Courage; Giving No Sign Of Firmness
Or Power, But Stuffed And Padded Like The Hammers Of A Piano?
He Was So Carried Away By His Thoughts That He Forgot His Notes And Said
Many Things He Would Never Have Dared To Write; And After The Last
Thundering Outburst, He Concluded With A Short And Burning Prayer For
Himself And For All, To Have Power To Defy The Falsehood By Which Man
Was Bound, And To Live A Life Of Sincerity.
He Then Went On In an Entirely Changed Voice With The Rest Of The
Service; But Rachel Particularly Noticed That He Left Out The Prayer For
The Arms Of The Country, By Land And Sea; And Now, As He Read The
Prayers In a Calm, Quiet Voice, The Assembly Seemed To Breathe More
Freely, As If After A Storm.
Among The Men Could Be Heard Whispers, And The Prevailing Idea Seemed To
Be That The Sermon Was A Complete Scandal; While Those Who Had To Do
With The Law Were Of Opinion That He Would Be Cited Before The
Consistorial Court. Among The Women The Feeling Seemed Rather Undecided,
And Many Inquiring Glances Were Thrown Towards Where The Men Were
Sitting, In The Hope Of Divining What The Opinion Would Be, Either Of A
Husband, Or A Brother, Or, In Fact, Of That Particular Person Of The
Opposite Sex, According To Whose Decision Each Woman Was In The Habit Of
Forming Her Own.
Most Eyes, However, Sought The Dean, Who Sat As He Had Done During The
Whole Sermon, Slightly Leaning Back On His Seat, And Holding A Large
Hymn-Book, Which Was A Gift From His Previous Congregation, Between His
Hands. From The Upper Windows On The Other Side Of The Church A Subdued
Light Fell On His Form. The Face Had The Same Exalted And Peaceful
Expression; Not A Sign Of Uneasiness Or Annoyance Had Passed Over It
During The Whole Sermon, Which Was Not Without A Soothing Effect Upon
The Congregation. The Feeling Of Restlessness And Excitement Was
Universal, But Most People Seemed Inclined To Defer, Their Final
Judgment.
Chapter 11 Pg 82
Pastor Martens Had Left The Pew Immediately After The Sermon, For He Had
To Conduct The Communion Service. While He Performed It, His Somewhat
Unmusical Voice Trembled With Inward Emotion. There Could Be No Doubt
Whatever As To What Were The Inspector'S Real Opinions.
The Chaplain Could Not Help Being Rather Pleased At The Satisfaction The
Dean Would Now Be Obliged To Render Him, For It Had Been Quite Against
The Chaplain'S Wish And Advice, That Johnsen Was Allowed To Preach At
The Morning Service. It Would Have Been More Advisable To Have Given Him
A First Trial Either At A Bible-Reading, Or At Most At The Evening
Service. But Now The Murder Was Out, And He Had Shown His Feeling Of
Antagonism To The Church Before The Whole Congregation. What Would The
Dean Do? The Affair Would Naturally Have To Be Reported.
As Soon As The Service Was Over, Martens Left The Altar And Hurried Into
The Sacristy, Into Which He Had Already Seen The Dean Enter.
"What Do You Say To That, Sir?" He Cried Breathlessly, As He Shut The
Door After Him.
Dean Sparre Was Sitting In His Armchair, Reading The Hymn-Book He Had In
His Hand. At The Chaplain'S Question He Raised His Head With An
Expression Of Mild Reproof At The Disturbance, And Said Abstractedly,
"To What Are You Alluding?"
"Why, The Sermon; Of Course I Allude To The Sermon; It Is Perfectly
Scandalous!" Cried The Chaplain, Excitedly.
"Well, Certainly," Answered The Dean, "I Cannot Say That It Was A Good
Sermon, Taken As A Whole, But If You Take Into Consideration--"
"But Really, Sir--" Interrupted The Chaplain.
"It Appears To Me, And It Is Not The First Time I Have Noticed It, My
Dear Martens, That You Do Not Quite Get On With Our New Fellow-Worker;
But Is It Not To Us That He Ought Really To Look For Support?"
The Chaplain Cast Down His Eyes; There Was Some Extraordinary Power
About His Superior. Not An Instant Before He Had Formed His Opinion
Quite Clearly, But The Moment He Found Himself Face To Face With The
Dean'S Genial Countenance, All His Ideas Seemed To Change.
"It Grieves Me To Be Obliged To Speak To You Thus, My Dear Martens, But
I Do So With The Best Intentions; And, Then, We Are Alone."
"But Don'T You Think, Sir, That He Was Far Too Bold?" Asked The
Chaplain.
"Yes, Clearly, Clearly So," Assented The Dean, In a Friendly Tone. "He
Was Unguarded, Like All Beginners; Perhaps The Most Unguarded I Have
Heard. But Then We Know Quite Well That The Same Thing Often Occurred In
Our Own Time. It Would Be Quite Unreasonable To Expect The Spirit'S Full
Maturity In The Young."
This Remark Caused Martens Involuntarily To Think Of His Own First
Attempt. He Answered, However, "But He Maintained That We Ministers,
Above All Others, Are Living A Life Of Falsehood, Shut In by Meaningless
Chapter 11 Pg 83Forms."
"Exaggeration! A Wild And Dangerous Exaggeration! In That I Quite Agree
With You, My Dear Martens. But, On The Other Hand, Which Of Us Can Deny
That A Ceremonial, Be It Ever So Beautiful And Full Of Meaning, Still In
The Course Of Time, When It Is Frequently Repeated, Loses Something Of
Its Influence Over Us? But Who Will Dare Cast The First Stone? Is It Not
Youth, As We See, Who Has Not Yet Experienced The Wear Of That
Continuous Labour Which Strives To Be True To The End? And Then
Naturally We Get Exaggeration--Dangerous Exaggeration. But," Continued
The Dean, "Before Everything, Let Us Agree To Look Upon His Sermon In
The Right Light, For The Opinion Of Many Will Be Formed Upon Ours, And
If We Now Allow This Young Man To Slip Out Of Our Hands He Will, Likely
Enough, Be Entirely Lost For The Good Work; And I Must Say I Have Great
Hopes Of Him. I Feel Sure That In His Right Place, Which Would Be In a
Large Town--For Instance, In christiania--He Will Make A Name For
Himself In The Church, And I Venture To Think That His Labours Will Bear
Abundant Fruit."
Martens Again Looked Up At The Dean As He Pronounced These Words, And
For The First Time He Now Perceived What It Was That Made His Manner So
Irresistible. It Was The Smile, That Changing And Varying Smile, Which
Yet Never Entirely Left The Noble Features. It Seemed To Mingle In all
He Said, Like A Warm And Soothing Sunbeam; And As The Chaplain
Constrained Himself To Alter His Opinion Under Its Influence, He Felt
That The Muscles Of His Mouth Involuntarily Assumed The Dean'S
Expression.
Madame Rasmussen Could Not Conceal Her Astonishment At The Moderation
With Which The Chaplain Spoke Of Johnsen'S Sermon. She Was Herself In
The Highest Degree Shocked, And When Mr. Martens Told Her That, In His
Opinion, Mr. Johnsen Would Be Likely To Become A Clergyman Of
Considerable Note In christiania Some Day, She Almost Thought That He
Was Carrying His Forbearance Too Far. Still She Could Not But Like
Pastor Martens, Who Had Now Lived With Her For Two Years Without A
Single Ill Word Having Passed Between Them. Madame Rasmussen Was A Young
Widow, Plump, Good-Looking, And Light-Hearted. She Had No Children, And
It Was Quite A Pleasure To Her To Manage For The Chaplain--To Prepare
His Little Dishes, And To Keep His Things In Order. She Was The Only
Person In The Whole Town Who Really Knew That Martens Wore A Wig. This
Was Not, However, A Thing To Be Spoken About, And Nobody Else Was
Admitted Into The Secret.
As Mrs. Garman Drove Home From Church With Rachel And Madeleine, She
Spoke Disapprovingly Of Johnsen'S Sermon. She Considered That It Was
Highly Improper For A Young Man To Be So Forward And Daring; But It Was
Quite In accordance With The Spirit Of The Times, As Pastor Martens Had
Explained On The Previous Sunday.
"Ah, Pastor Martens Is Quite A Different Man, Is He Not?" Asked Mrs.
Garman, Addressing Madeleine, As Rachel Made No Reply.
"Yes--Oh Yes!" Answered
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