Mysteries

by Knut Hamsun

  9 181/221. Deleted in CW: but Dagny didn’t answer. Finally he began to laugh and make light of it.“After all, it happened eight years ago,” he said, “I didn’t experience it today. Tell me,

  10 181-82/221. The first third of the next paragraph was added, the following passage deleted, in CW:“Are you still thinking about my fairy-tale adventure?” he asked.

  “Yes,” she replied.

  He again made light of it, said it was too long ago to concern oneself with, it wasn’t immediate. Besides, it wasn’t really that uncanny, was it? Ah, she should hear people from the tropics tell fairy tales! He had, and many a time his blood had run cold with terror.

  “No, I don’t think your story was that uncanny,” she said, “simply strange, mysterious. Thank you.”

  Delighted that she again became more vivacious, he began once more to enlarge upon what the inhabitants of the tropics could relate when they felt like it. Come down to Ceylon, the ancient Taprobane, come into the mountains and forests at Mehavilla and hear fairy tales that will completely take your breath away. There one came upon one of the oldest peoples on earth, the ancient Veddas, the aborigines of Ceylon. They lived the most wretched life, were chased into the woods by the Singhalese and the European rabble; but how they could tell stories!

  11 182/221. Deleted in CW: This people [the Veddas] was one that had a destiny, with wonderful traditions; every individual felt like a descendant of their greatest fairy-tale king. Standing there in rags, they forced strangers to lower their eyes before them when they spoke. —The deleted sentences were replaced by “flying ... silver.”

  12 183/221. “Beef” replaced P’s “oatmeal porridge—oh, that Norwegian oatmeal porridge!”

  13 183/221. Dagny’s question and Nagel’s response up to this point replaced the following passage in P:Dagny laughed and contradicted him. So, oatmeal porridge wasn’t good enough, eh? But didn’t we, too, have the most beautiful fairy tales? How about those of Asbjørnsen?

  He grew excited. Of course, of course, oats were excellent fare in countries that had no sun, who could say anything else? But what if there was sun? Could she imagine a sun that shone rather extravagantly, foaming into white-crested waves of light? Oh well, there were the fairy tales of the mountains, the legends about the wood nymph, those crude phantoms of a

  14 184/221. The two preceding sentences replaced the following in P: we hadn’t managed to contrive anything finer; we had even borrowed some frills from others, stolen a bit here and there.

  15 184/221. Deleted in CW: Didn’t they produce exactly the same mood as one feels when hearing a fisherman come stomping up from the shore, his boots greased with train-oil and filled with sea water?

  16 184/222. The preceding sentence replaced the following passage in P: But in order to see something like that, one needs a bit of light, and to tell stories about it one needs brains that are rank with madness. No, the fact of the matter was that the sun didn’t shine, the Norwegian sun was a moon, a lantern that enabled the Norwegians to distinguish black from white, no more.

  17 184-85/222. From “She must have grown tired ...” to the paragraph beginning “It just occurred to me ... ,” the P text reads:“I can’t understand the way you see things,” she said, “and it really makes me laugh when I think about it. No matter what issue is raised, you always seem to be in opposition to everybody else. Whether it’s Gladstone, antirheumatic chains, or fairy tales, you are a living contradiction to everything other people think. Oh, it’s very amusing, so please go on—go on and tell me more! I’m eager to hear! What, for example, is your opinion of our national defense?”

  He turned crimson and bowed his head. How this woman with the blue eyes could make fun of him! Well, why not? But on such a beautiful night, amid such profound peace! He merely said, quite perplexed, “National defense? National defense? What do you mean?”

  18 185-86/222. Deleted in CW: “But you will forgive me, won’t you? Don’t you think, at least, that the adventure I told you about was rather beautiful? Some other time I might have been able to do a bit better, perhaps a little bit better, I don’t know; but this evening I’ve definitely been too happy to do justice to myself.”

  19 186/222. Deleted in CW: “oh, I’m so sincerely, so sincerely grateful to you, believe me”;

  20 186/222. This remark replaced the following in P: then she again rested her eyes on him and said, “And if you think that I’m not grateful to you too this evening, you’re mistaken.”

  21 186-87/222-23. Most of the passage from here until “Look, let me just ...” is not in P, which reads: Nagel gave her face a close look and exclaimed, “You are? Really? How happy you make me! Oh, I’ll never forget this night. Would you like me to show you a little trick I know, with a straw and a twig, whereby the straw proves stronger than the twig? I would gladly do all you could possibly desire out of sheer gratitude, to show my devotion. But let’s rather talk, that’s better. Ah, it’s Midsummer Night! Oh, my, isn’t it intoxicatingly lovely?”

  22 187/223. These two sentences were added in CW.

  23 188/223. The translation follows P in beginning a new paragraph with this question. Deleted in CW at this point: “Yes, perhaps a little, that’s quite possible.”

  24 188/223. Deleted in CW: How pure and beautiful she looked as she walked!

  25 189/223. This line replaces the following in P:She answered by changing the subject, somewhat impatiently, “Well, you don’t seem to be happy any longer. What time is it?”

  “It’s a few minutes after two.”

  26 191/224. This sentence replaces the following passage in P:“You probably read a lot in your home,” he said.

  “How do you know?” she replied.

  “I believe I’ve heard about it; I also know that your father has books by Turgenev and Garborg, and that’s a good sign.”

  “Yes, isn’t Turgenev wonderful! So, Miniman has gossiped again, you can’t have heard it from anyone else. Yes, we do read a lot; Dad is always reading, he’s got so many books. How do you like Tolstoy?”

  “A good deal, of course. Tolstoy is a great and remarkable man.”

  But now she laughed resoundingly and interrupted him: “You’re saying something you don’t mean again, I can tell from your looks. You don’t like Tolstoy at all.”

  “Hm. That Is—. No, let’s not touch on issues again, because then I’ll become more boring than ever. I’m not lucky enough to agree with everyone, you know, and I would rather not make you tired of me. How do you like Tolstoy yourself?”

  “You aren’t happy anymore; that’s it, you aren’t happy anymore. Anyway, we’ll turn around now.”

  27 192/224. This sentence replaces a fairly long passage in P:“The truth is,” he said, “that if I were to say how happy I am and why I am so happy, you would run away from me again, and that mustn’t happen. Permit me to keep it to myself—”

  Again she interrupted him: “Yes, of course-. It has certainly been a delightful evening; but you’re probably very tired by now. Thanks for walking me home! But come to think, you mustn’t take my parasol with you. Oh, what a nice state of affairs that would be, if you did that, ha-ha-ha.”

  When she had reached the gate, she turned around once more and said, “There’s also another reason why it’s good that I met you this evening”:

  28 193/225. Deleted in CW: He had a happy, smiling expression on his face. -In P, there is an extra sentence at the end: How she had charmed him, the sweet, sunny girl!

  CHAPTER IX (pp. 102-14)

  1 195/225. “Thank you” replaces the following in P:Nagel laughed and said, “Come, come, you don’t frighten me, you know!”

  2 197/227. Deleted in CW: “And if your uncle says anything, I’ll be damned if I don’t shut him up straightaway; go home and tell him this minute. Have I made everything quite clear?”“Yes, quite clear.”

  3 200/228. The beginning of Nagel’s follow-up admonition was deleted in CW:“For, as you recall, I thoroughly humiliated h
im, after all, calling him a puppy in the presence of many people. True, I have apologized for it, but nevertheless. So, when you receive the coat you just look innocent.”

  4 201/228. The P text reads up to this point of the paragraph:“No, no.”

  Pause.

  “Won’t you ever come up and see me again?” Nagel said. “Please do, my good friend! It’s not nice of you to stay away altogether. You won’t have to drink anything if you come.”

  5 202/228. P reads instead: Her face had suddenly turned crimson, and

  6 205/230. Deleted in CW: “For God’s sake, tell me if you are displeased by my looking at the chair!”

  7 211/232. Deleted in CW: “What do you take me for, a miserable swine, a rascal? Yes or no? Or do you take me for a fool you can freely make fun of? I know what an antique is worth, it’s not the first one I’ve bought.”But this trump card didn’t have any effect either.

  8 211/233. Deleted in CW: “indeed, I ought to fall down on my knees and thank you, Miss Gude.”

  9 211-12/233. Deleted in CW: “Can’t you understand that the price matters, that the article’s value can often be enhanced if its acquisition has entailed such and such great efforts and so and so many expenses?”

  10 213/233. P reads: “the most shrewdly contrived offer.”

  CHAPTER X (pp. 115-30)

  1 217-18/235. Deleted in CW: “Oh yes! But people have been wonderful to me and given me many a good used suit of clothes to wear. And this evening I’m as happy as when I was a child. Can you understand that? All because of this new coat; thank you so much. But come to think,”

  2 219/236. Deleted in CW: “That’s the whole reason; but forgive me if I say it straight out.”

  3 220/236. Deleted in CW: “Ha-ha-ha! Forgive me for laughing, for heaven’s sake, forgive me!”

  4 221/337. What follows the dash was added in CW.

  5 223/238. This sentence was added in CW.

  6 226/239. The item about free treatment is found only in CW.

  7 227/240. Deleted in CW: “my using an expression like the ‘human soul’ and talking about it must surely make you realize that I’m terribly drunk, huh? Well, but to explain it to you to the best of my ability”:

  8 228/240. Deleted in CW: “... Listen! If you were willing to take a glass with me now, everything would be just fine; I don’t understand how you can sit there so dry.”

  9 235/243. Deleted in CW: “What is one to do with such thoughtlessness as mine in this instance? Pardon me for asking.”

  10 239/245. In P, the parenthetical element reads: “let me tell you plainly, but come a little closer so I can whisper it to you, because the walls of this building are very thin and one must be careful”

  CHAPTER XI (pp. 131-42)

  1 255/252. Deleted in CW: “Wading about in tall boots where it’s necessary to flit from one nuance to the other!”

  2 256/253. In P, this line reads: “Dear me, remove it altogether, it’s making me so nervous; I’m afraid you’ll lose it.”

  3 257/253. Sentence added in CW.

  4 259/254. Deleted in CW: “at that time we were talking about antirheumatic chains or whatever it might be, perhaps it was about the Norwegian fairy tales.”

  5 263/256. Deleted in CW:They began to walk.

  “Dagny, Dagny!” he said suddenly. And before she realized it, he threw himself on his knees, threw himself down in the middle of the road and kept lying there like that for a minute, cap in hand and his head bowed, as if he expected a blow. She looked about her in the utmost fright; in her perplexity she even made a move to raise him up, but abandoned the attempt.

  “No, get up, will you!” she cried just above his head, “this minute, do you hear! What’s the matter with you? In the middle of the road to boot!”

  When he did get up, she even made him aware that he had to brush the sand off his knees. They didn’t walk any farther, but kept standing in the same spot. Then she said,

  6 266/257. From here on to the end of the paragraph, P reads: “But one doesn’t dare, alas, no, one doesn’t have the courage; one wastes one opportunity after another without daring to, until the day comes when one can’t resist any longer.... Forgive me, Miss Kielland, I’ve been talking so much, I beg you to forgive me! Shall we go? Oh, Dagny, I love you so very dearly; I’m grateful just because I’ve been permitted to tell you so!”

  7 266-67/257. From here to the end of the paragraph, P reads: “He is handsome, he is an officer, whereas you yourself are an agronomist, nobody; besides, he is already her fiance, and that’s the end of it. The heart doesn’t yield to anything, not even to the utmost impossibility. Miss Kielland, for my love’s sake put some kindness into your answer! I do not want to love you, but I can’t help myself. So, is there no hope? Are you completely lost to me forever? Oh, not yet, to be sure? Please, please, not yet!”

  8 267/257. From here to the beginning of the next sentence, P reads: “If you knew how anxious I am! You will do me a great favor if you go back to your room and try to resign yourself. You won’t make me unhappy, will you?”

  9 268/258. Deleted in CW: “Soon someone might come....”

  10 269/258. Deleted in CW: He wouldn’t see her anymore; in fact, she hadn’t even wanted to make the promise as a joke, though he begged her to do so as a favor.

  11 In P, the paragraph reads up to this point:“Forgive me! It was mean of me to forget that. You mustn’t feel sad on account of me, I cannot be anything for you in any case.”

  CHAPTER XII (pp. 143-51)

  1 276/261. Deleted in CW: “You’re nodding, so you remember, don’t you? Well, there you see, I was right, wasn’t I?”

  2 279/263. Deleted in CW: “So forgive me! I shouldn’t have hurt you; but sitting here I feel all the time”

  3 285/266. The word “shamming” was added in CW.

  CHAPTER XIII (pp. 152-68)

  1 287/267. This sentence replaced the following in P: Miniman pulled Nagel aside and whispered a thank-you for the new trousers, which he had on already; they went so perfectly with the coat, his new coat, and they were likely to last for as long as he lived, his entire life, oh sure, his entire life.

  2 289/268. The counterpart to this sentence in P reads: “Anyway, I willingly recognize Tolstoy as one of the most active fools of our age. And so I say the hell with it all! ...”

  3 290/268. In P, the rest of this paragraph reads: “But if Tolstoy is a fool, where will we all end up?”

  4 290—91/268. Deleted in CW: “one only has to except his inestimable qualities as a plowman, his torn tunic, the leather belt girding his loins, that is, the man’s clumsy affectation-this one has to except. What one is left with is a gifted man, simply a highly gifted man, who writes books and missionizes. His books are both good and long, but most of them could have been both longer and better; his mission abounds in personal sacrifice and in puffery, but”

  5 291/268. Deleted in CW: “I see you’re becoming speechless with fright, and that wasn’t the idea.”

  6 291/268. Deleted in CW: “and that’s good, for otherwise you might find me rather quarrelsome for a host”

  7 292-93/269. The last two sentences replaced the following passage in P: “And he got it.... Upon my word, when I review Tolstoy’s thoughts, hear his well-meant moral boasting, and familiarize myself with the reflections of this ideal count, I have the feeling I’m eating green paint. That vociferous virtue which is never silent, the drudgery of drying up people’s sources of life, of wild and joyful life, drying them up and making the world flat like a griddle, that dirty drivel about chastity from a soul that in the olden days was so merry, that blustering morality which puffs itself up and appears at every opportunity-I assure you he fills my heart with shame.”

  8 294/269. Deleted in CW: “he gets to be so common. But by becoming common he becomes classical, turning into the well-known classic type of a common imitator, and since anything classical—absolutely everything—is so damned boring, common classic virtue also becomes boring,
ergo, Tolstoy becomes boring. Well, that’s quite another matter. So, he remains important—that is, important as a boring, common old man.” The phrase “Yes, that’s the trouble” was added in CW.

  9 294/269. Deleted in CW: “and lunatics. I’ll just say, if only we had many such common, boring benefactors in the world. People with hearts like Tolstoy aren’t usually accused of being dried up, that I’ve never heard before. As far as I can see, it is precisely because their hearts are warm and young that they can make such personal sacrifices, as you yourself mentioned.”

  10 295/270. Up to this point of the paragraph, the P text reads:“Come, come!” Nagel said, laughing. “But let’s drink first, skoal! ... You should be able to produce better objections, come up with a stronger defense. I’m not very polite, am I? No, you’re quite right, I’m not. Well, you are free to reciprocate, of course.”

  11 300-01/272. The teacher’s interruption was added in CW. The P text reads from “Bravo” to this point: “Well, we agreed, didn’t we, that we could express our opinions rather drastically—the more so as you yourself have set the tone?”“Certainly we did! And you’re right in saying I’ve jabbered too much. But what was it I wanted to say? So, Tolstoy’s worldwide fame is supposed to be proof of his great mind! Why? Tolstoy’s fame is nothing but popularity, and to win popularity requires some measure of stupidity, moral and spiritual stupidity; one simply has to ... I see you’re getting impatient, Doctor, as you have every right to bell”;

  12 304/274. In P, the rest of the paragraph reads: “If I understand you correctly, you’re not altogether contemptuous of the Salvation Army? It’s not just nonsense, is it?”

  13 304/274. In P, the rest of the paragraph reads: really meant to defend that nonsense.