Garman And Worse A Norwegian Novel - Alexander Lange Kielland (best way to read ebooks txt) 📗

Was Carried On In The Town,  And Which

Was Regarded As A Kind Of Offshoot From Garman And Worse,  Had To Be Most

Carefully Examined On Account Of A Large Amount Of Private Business And

Debts,  Which The Son Had Incurred During The Past Year. His Housekeeping

Account,  Which His Father Always Wished To See,  Had Also To Be Worked

Out Carefully By Itself. But The Worst Of It All Was,  That When They

Were Sitting Together In The Consul'S Office,  Morten Could Never Get Rid

Of The Feeling,  That However He Might Twist And Wriggle,  The Clear Blue

Eyes Still Seemed To Pierce Through His Every Manoeuvre; And The Part He

Had To Play Was Very Painful To Him. As Soon As They Had Reckoned Up The

Result Of The Year,  The Consul Put His Finger On The Gross Receipts And

Said,  "These Are Far Too Small."

 

"Times Have Been Very Bad," Answered Morten. "I Feel Sure That By Next

Year--"

 

"The Times Have Not Been So Bad," Interrupted The Father,  "But That A

House With The Capital With Which We Have To Work Ought To Have Managed

To Earn Double. In My Father'S Time We Earned Twice As Much With Half

Our Present Capital."

 

"Yes; But Times Were Quite Different In Those Days,  Father."

 

"And People Were Quite Different Too," Answered The Consul,  Severely.

"In Those Days We Were Contented To Move With Caution And Foresight,

Without Ruining Our Credit By Mixing With A Lot Of Speculators In all

Kinds Of Doubtful Undertakings."

 

Morten Felt The Rebuke,  And Answered,  "I Did Not Think Garman And Worse

Set Such Store By Its Credit In Those Days."

 

"The House Is No Longer What It Has Been," Said The Young Consul Dryly,

Closing The Thick Ledger. He Then Held Out His Hand To Morten Over The

Table,  And Said,  "Best Wishes For The New Year."

 

"The Same To You,  Father," Said Morten,  As Their Eyes Met For A Moment.

 

The Young Consul Thought Upon The Time When He Himself Stood Where

Morten Was Now Standing,  And When The Old Consul Sat In The Armchair.

How Utterly Different Everything Was In The Old Days! However,  The

Year'S Account Was Over,  And Morten Was Glad Of It.

 

After Christmas There Was A Succession Of Balls And Parties In The Town.

At Sandsgaard Only One Large Ball Was Given Every Year,  And That Was On

The Old Consul'S Birthday,  Which Fell On The 15Th Of May.

 

Madeleine Did Not Go Out That Winter,  Neither Did She Pay Any More

Chapter 15 Pg 104

Visits To Fanny. Rachel Was,  As Usual,  Quite Incomprehensible. Sometimes

She Would Answer Her Well-Known "No,  Thanks," And Sometimes She Would

Take It Into Her Head To Make Herself Smart,  Go To A Dance,  And Be

Either Pleasant Or The Contrary,  Just As The Fit Took Her.

 

The Disappointment She Had Experienced At The Hands Of Mr. Johnsen Made

Her More Bitter Than Ever; But She Never Gave Him Another Thought. She

Had Done Her Best For Him,  As She Said To Herself,  And Now That It Was

Over,  She Heard With The Greatest Indifference That His Bible

Explanations At The Prayer-Meeting Were So Wonderfully Successful; But

In Her Innermost Heart Rachel Often Felt A Void,  Which Sometimes Made

Her Uneasy. It Seemed As If She Was Indifferent To Everything. She Felt

No Pleasure In anything; And It Was Generally When She Was In This Mood

That She Felt Most Inclined To Go To A Ball.

 

In February There Was A Dance Given At The Club,  At Which Both Rachel

And Fanny Were Present. Fanny Was Dressed Entirely In blue,  Even To Her

Shoes,  Fan,  And Blue Flowers In Her Hair; But Her Eyes Were Bluer Than

All.

 

     "Ein Meer Von Blauen Gedanken

     Ergiesst Sich Ueber Mein Herz,"

 

As Delphin Said When He Came Into The Room. The Pleasure Caused Her By

This Compliment Had To Suffice Her For The Whole Evening. She Could No

Longer Hide From Herself That Delphin Was In danger Of Slipping Out Of

Her Hands; But She Never Reproached Him,  For She Felt Instinctively That

As Soon As Anything Of The Kind Arose Between Them,  All Would Be Over,

And Part From Him She Could Not.

 

Jacob Worse Danced A Waltz With Rachel,  And During The Pauses He Tried

Several Times To Lead The Conversation On To The Injustice She Had Done

Him In calling Him A Coward. At First She Avoided The Subject,  Which

Was,  Indeed,  Too Serious A One For The Ballroom; But Worse Was

Persistent--It Was Not Very Often That He Had The Opportunity Of

Speaking With Her--And At Last Rachel Promised Him Half Jestingly To

Give Him An Answer When The Dance Was Over.

 

As They Were Sitting By Themselves In a Corner Of One Of The Rooms

Leading Off The Ballroom,  And While The Dancing Was Still Going On,  She

Said,  "I Must Beg Your Pardon For What I Said The Other Day. You Are Not

A Bit More Cowardly Than The Rest Of Them."

 

"If We Could Manage To Define Exactly What You Mean By Cowardice," Said

Jacob Worse.

 

"But You Know Perfectly Well."

 

"Well,  Then,  Is Not This About Your Idea? When A Man,  Either In

Politics,  Or In Religion,  Or In any Other Serious Matter,  Is Not At All

In Accordance With The General Tone Of The Society In Which He

Lives--Then,  If He Holds His Tongue,  It Can Be From No Other Cause Than

From What You Are Pleased To Call Cowardice."

 

"That Is Exactly My Opinion,  And I Maintain It Is Correct."

 

Chapter 15 Pg 105

"But,  On The Other Hand,  I Am Sure You Must Allow," Continued Jacob

Worse,  "That All Opposition Has Not The Same Weight. In Many Cases It

Might Do More Harm--"

 

"Oh,  I Know That Miserable,  Cowardly Excuse!" Broke In Rachel,  Abruptly.

"'What Is The Good,' You Say,  'Of Even My Best Endeavours When I Work

Alone?' And Then You Lie Down And Go To Sleep. That Is Indeed Cowardice

_Par Excellence_."

 

"I Must,  However,  Tell You,  Miss Rachel," Answered Jacob Worse,  Who Was

Beginning To Lose His Self-Control,  "That There Is Many A Man Who During

His Whole Life Is Painfully Conscious That He Has Not The Power Of

Making His Views Felt,  Or Has Even The Opportunity Of Bringing Them

Before The World. But It Is Not In courage That Such A Man Is

Wanting--Far From It."

 

"I Could Almost Believe That You Were Speaking Of Yourself," Said

Rachel,  With Indifference.

 

"Yes,  And So I Am!" Answered He,  Hurriedly. "I Have Always Been One Of

Those Heavy,  Slow-Thinking People,  But I Have A Quality Which That Kind

Of Person Would Be Better Without. I Am Hasty. From My Boyhood I Have

Known It,  And Have Kept It Under To The Best Of My Ability. But,

Notwithstanding My Efforts,  This Hastiness Sometimes Gets The Better Of

Me,  Just When I Am Most In Want Of A Little Cool Reflection. I Lose My

Head,  The Words Begin To Flow Like A Torrent,  And I Listen To Them

Myself Almost With Terror. Yes,  You Have Heard Me Yourself On One

Memorable Occasion,  Miss Rachel," He Added With A Smile,  "And I Am Sure

You Will Confess That A Man Of My Nature Is But Little Suited To Engage

In A Struggle With Prejudice. For,  For Such A Struggle,  Patience And

Coolness Are Imperative."

 

"It Is Quite Possible That The Attributes Of Which You Speak Are Most

Desirable," Answered Rachel,  "But Still It Seems Quite Clear To Me That

Every Man Who Has A Conviction Is Bound To Act Up To It. How Much He Can

Accomplish Is Not The Question He Must Ask Himself,  But He Is Bound To

Make The Attempt."

 

"I Will Just Tell You How My First Attempt Turned Out," Said Jacob

Worse. "When I Came Home,  Which Is Now About Two Or Three Years Ago,

Still Breathing The Comparative Freedom Of Other Lands,  The First Thing

In Our Own Country Which Attracted My Attention Was The Exceptionally

Bad Social Condition Of Our Labourers And Mechanics. Their Houses And

Food,  The Bringing-Up Of Their Children,  Their Teaching And Education,

In Fact,  Everything Which Belonged To Them,  Fell Far Short Of What I

Thought It Ought To Be."

 

"I Have Often Thought Upon The Same Subject," Rejoined Rachel. "But

Father Says It Is The Fault Of The People Themselves; They Are So

Greatly Opposed To Change."

 

"That Is One Of Your Most Excellent Father'S Worst Prejudices. However,

I Began By Getting Up A Society,  Which With Us Is No Easy Matter. All

Went Well At First,  And Then A President Had To Be Chosen. Some One

Suggested Myself,  A Proposition To Which All The Others Agreed,  Which

Was Quite Natural. I Thus Became President,  And Took No Little Trouble

Chapter 15 Pg 106

In Instructing The People As To What Questions Were Important For Them,

And What Were Their Requirements. Then I Began To Hear A Whisper Here

And There That It Was A Curious Thing That The President Of The Society

Had Never Been Properly Elected. I Did Not Take Much Notice Of These

Whispers,  But Still I Suggested That There Should Be An Election. The

Day Came,  And Some One Else Was Chosen In My Place."

 

"It Was Mr. Martens,  Was It Not?" Asked Rachel.

 

"Yes; You Are Quite Right. I Was Greatly Astonished,  And Did Not Attempt

To Conceal My Feelings. Martens Had Not Attended A Single One Of Our

Meetings Before The Afternoon On Which He Was Elected. I Found The Whole

Thing Quite Incomprehensible. However,  In Our State Of Society,  It Is

Not Difficult To Get To Know Anything If You Only Give Yourself The

Trouble To Make A Few Inquiries; And So I Soon Got A Clear Knowledge

That The Person Who Had Got Up The Whole Thing Was The Dean. So One Day

I Called Upon Him."

 

"No! I Never Heard Of That!" Cried Rachel. "What Did The Dean Say?"

 

"Nothing. The Answer He Gave Me Amounted To Nothing. Not That I Wish You

To Understand That He Held His Tongue. On The Contrary,  He Talked

Incessantly In His Best-Modulated Voice,  And Was Smiling,  Friendly,  In

Fact,  Almost Appreciative,  But Not A Single Word Fell From His Lips That

Was Really To The Point. Do What I Would,  I Could Not Get Him To Discuss

A Single Question,  Or To Give Me A Reason As To Why He Had Got Me Turned

Out Of The Workman'S Society,  And Put His Chaplain In My Place. He

Denied Nothing And Confessed