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Mysteries

Page 38

by Knut Hamsun


  14 305/274. Instead of the rest of this sentence, P contains the following passage: “from you. I don’t know you, of course, but as far as I can tell, in several respects you are a more extreme radical than any of us, whereas here you’re completely off.”

  15 305-06/274. So far this paragraph is new; the following long passage from P was deleted in CW:“What if we suppose, Doctor, that to hold an opinion directly contrary to our loudmouthed liberalism is also radical, when all is said and done? Well, we’ll skip that! But I don’t agree with what you said about the criticism either. A critic takes a metaphysical problem on his fork and ‘cuts it up.’ By the way, have you ever visited a horse fair, witnessed a horse swap? No? Well, anyway, we were supposed to talk about criticism, those sharp, pointed, extremely talented stabs by the fork at the metaphysical realm. What do you think? I find it rather cheap, it’s vulgar hair-splitting, peasant logic. On page 34 Pastor Hjelm says such and such, but, on the other hand, on page 108 Pastor Hjelm says so and so; this shows Pastor Hjelm’s way with logic! It seems to me this is exceedingly short on tolerance, anything but highbrow. For we understood what the man meant in both instances, but we have to catch him in a formal contradiction, to entrap him with his own words. But despite this Chinese nitpicking, people still are attending that farce of Christ’s blood....”

  “Which is all right?”

  “Which is a fact! And”

  16 307/274. Deleted in CW: “... Obviously this is not radical enough for you-unless it should happen to be all too radical. Well, as you like! ... Am I boring you, Doctor?”

  17 311-12/276. The following two words (“like Maupassant”) were added in CW; the P text goes on: “who served bitter drinks. Oh sure, it was the amount—the quantity-and the pungent taste that determined the value of the brew.... Well, he-Nagel-was no connoisseur, he was only a simple agronomist with ordinary horse sense, and consequently he didn’t lay claim to having fifty people on his side. He had at one time happened to make the mistake of expressing his view on the topic of Shakespeare. It was at an evening party. Yes, indeed, he had read Shakespeare; he had decided to ascend to the pinnacle of culture, that was his ambition, and so he read Shakespeare. But he had found Shakespeare to be deplorably dull and his devotees very, very easily satisfied. Then an expert got up from his chair, a connoisseur, an aesthete, who told him indignantly: “Well,” he said, ”this is your little opinion, but that doesn’t mean it is the opinion of people the world over!” Heh-heh, it was not the opinion of people the world over, he said! Good grief, what a funny man! No, indeed, it was not all the world’s opinion, but so what? What concern was it of his-Nagel’s-whether the fifty thousand who had received the seal were of another opinion? What was it to him that humankind bet on red, while he bet on black? ... And now they even came rushing along with Maupassant. Oh, dear!

  18 313/277. In P, “this silly line” is “this single line by Victor Hugo.”

  19 313-14/277. Long passage deleted in CW:“But that verse isn’t all that impossible, is it?” the student objected.

  Nagel let himself go once more: So, it wasn’t that impossible, eh? However poorly it had been recited, it had produced the desired effect ? Well, there you see. No, then it would have to be read differently ! He really ought to have gotten up, positioned himself by the door, and from there spewed this wonderful line of poetry on the gentlemen’s heads. Oh yes; for if Victor Hugo were to show to advantage, he had to be recited with wet, slavering chops, or his spirit abandoned the poem, so to speak.... Well, they had better not talk about Victor Hugo anymore. Blessed be his memory! Skoal.

  They drank.

  20 315/277. Deleted in CW: must first of all be able to grip a penholder without kid gloves; he

  21 315/277-78. Up to this point of the sentence, P reads: Had the gentlemen ever heard canvas being rent? Heh-heh-heh, a quite impressive sound! ... Oh well, come to that, perhaps one sound was no worse than another,

  22 315/278. In P, the rest of the sentence reads: reeking virtue, and his propaganda for his slobbering god.

  23 316/278. In P, the sentence continues as follows: which Tolstoy had never been in his earthly life.

  24 316/278. In P, the rest of the sentence reads: but Tolstoy hadn’t risen even to their level.

  25 316/278. The rest of this sentence was added in CW.

  CHAPTER XIV (pp. 169-81)

  1 328/284. The three preceding sentences were added in CW. Instead, P reads: “I’m really so poor at it, even if I try. And some excuse can be made for me too, if you consider everything. What shall I do?”

  2 328/284. Deleted in CW: “It has always worked before, when I really willed something, but now I find it very difficult.”

  3 331/285. The “windbag” comparison was added in CW.

  4 331/285. Dagny’s answer is deleted in CW: “I’m not at all angry with you, but you sadden me again and again. You don’t do it on purpose, but ...”

  CHAPTER XVI (pp. 194-217)

  1 375/306. P uses the word “delusion,” not “cotton wool.”

  2 392/314. The last clause was added in CW.

  3 393/314. P reads: His face was exceptionally pale. -In starting a new section at this point, I am following the P text.

  4 396/316. In P, the last clause reads: “and that makes me go too far.” Different reflexive verbs are used in the two texts: forivre and forvirre; the discrepancy could be due to a composition error.

  5 399/317. In P, the last two sentences read: He speaks very softly: Oh, they would surely make a go of it.

  CHAPTER XVII (pp. 218-24)

  1 408/322. Deleted in CW: He would be good to her in every way he knew; indeed, she only had to tell him how, and he would gladly do her bidding. He had been so hopeful he would succeed in this.

  2 410—11/323. Deleted in CW: “I’m a stranger to you, no doubt about it, that’s the way it is; but I’m not lying to you. For that, too much is at stake for me. And when I explain it all to you sometime, perhaps already tomorrow, if I may come then—”

  3 413/324. Deleted in CW:Yes, he was going to overcome her scruples, he would put his heart into it. He would explain himself better to her tomorrow, be completely open with her, not hiding anything; she was going to believe him, all right. Who knows, perhaps she might even get to love him a little sometime, love him very much, perhaps! You could never tell.—At this point P begins a new section.

  CHAPTER XVIII (pp. 225-42)

  1 425/330. The rest of this sentence was added in CW.

  2 428/331. The rest of this sentence was added in CW.

  3 441/337. Here a new section starts in P.

  4 443/338. Deleted in CW: flee the countries, so that the Atlantic itself can simply become a Norwegian lake.... Flimflam, call it flimflam!

  5 444/339. P reads “restless” instead of “calm.”

  CHAPTER XX (pp. 253-62)

  1 479/356. P reads “Jesuit” instead of “counterfeiter.”

  2 481/356. P uses the phrase “cunning Jesuitry” instead of “sanctimonious depravity.”

  CHAPTER XXI (pp. 263—72)

  1 499/365. The beginning of the next paragraph was deleted in CW: Just like before, almost just like once before: you seemed to sigh, don’t sigh!

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