Alexander Lange Kielland
Garman And Worse A Norwegian Novel
Chapter 1 Pg 1
Nothing Is So Boundless As The Sea, Nothing So Patient. On Its Broad
Back It Bears, Like A Good-Natured Elephant, The Tiny Mannikins Which
Tread The Earth; And In Its Vast Cool Depths It Has Place For All Mortal
Woes. It Is Not True That The Sea Is Faithless, For It Has Never
Promised Anything; Without Claim, Without Obligation, Free, Pure, And
Genuine Beats The Mighty Heart, The Last Sound One In an Ailing World.
And While The Mannikins Strain Their Eyes Over It, The Sea Sings Its Old
Song. Many Understand It Scarce At All, But Never Two Understand It In
The Same Manner, For The Sea Has A Distinct Word For Each One That Sets
Himself Face To Face With It.
It Smiles With Green Shining Ripples To The Barelegged Urchin Who
Catches Crabs; It Breaks In blue Billows Against The Ship, And Sends The
Fresh Salt Spray Far In Over The Deck. Heavy Leaden Seas Come Rolling In
On The Beach, And While The Weary Eye Follows The Long Hoary Breakers,
The Stripes Of Foam Wash Up In Sparkling Curves Over The Even Sand; And
In The Hollow Sound, When The Billows Roll Over For The Last Time, There
Is Something Of A Hidden Understanding--Each Thinks On His Own Life, And
Bows His Head Towards The Ocean As If It Were A Friend Who Knows It All
And Keeps It Fast.
But What The Sea Is For Those Who Live Along Its Strand None Can Ever
Know, For They Say Nothing. They Live All Their Life With Face Turned To
The Ocean; The Sea Is Their Companion, Their Adviser, Their Friend And
Their Enemy, Their Inheritance And Their Churchyard. The Relation
Therefore Remains A Silent One, And The Look Which Gazes Over The Sea
Changes With Its Varying Aspect, Now Comforting, Now Half Fearful And
Defiant. But Take One Of These Shore-Dwellers, And Move Him Far Landward
Among The Mountains, Into The Loveliest Valley You Can Find; Give Him
The Best Food, And The Softest Bed. He Will Not Touch Your Food, Or
Sleep In Your Bed, But Without Turning His Head He Will Clamber From
Hill To Hill, Until Far Off His Eye Catches Something Blue He Knows, And
With Swelling Heart He Gazes Towards The Little Azure Streak That Shines
Far Away, Until It Grows Into A Blue Glittering Horizon; But He Says
Nothing.
Chapter 1 Pg 2
People In The Town Often Said To Richard Garman, "How Can You Endure
That Lonely Life Out There In Your Lighthouse?" The Old Gentleman Always
Answered, "Well, You See, One Never Feels Lonely By The Sea When Once
One Has Made Its Acquaintance; And Besides, I Have My Little Madeleine."
And That Was The Feeling Of His Heart. The Ten Years He Had Passed Out
There On The Lonely Coast Were Among The Best Of His Life, And That Life
Had Been Wild And Adventurous Enough; So, Whether He Was Now Weary Of
The World, Or Whether It Was His Little Daughter, Or Whether It Was The
Sea That Attracted Him, Or Whether It Was Something Of All Three, He Had
Quieted Down, And Never Once Thought Of Leaving The Lighthouse Of
Bratvold. This Was What No One Could Have Credited; And When It Was
Rumoured That Richard Garman, The _Attache_, A Son Of The First
Commercial Family Of The Town, Was Seeking The Simple Post Of
Lighthouse-Keeper, Most People Were Inclined To Laugh Heartily At This
New Fancy Of "The Mad Student." "The Mad Student" Was A Nickname In The
Town For Richard Garman, Which Was Doubtless Well Earned; For Although
He Had Been But Little At Home Since He Had Grown To Manhood, Enough Was
Known Of His Wild And Pleasure-Seeking Career To Make Folks Regard Him
With Silent Wonder.
To Add To This, Too, The Visits He Paid To His Home Were Generally
Coincident With Some Remarkable Event Or Another. Thus It Was When, As A
Young Student, He Was Present At His Mother'S Funeral; And Even More So
When He Came At A Break-Neck Pace From Paris To The Death-Bed Of The Old
Consul, In a Costume And With An Air Which Took Away The Breath Of The
Ladies, And Caused Confusion Among The Men. Since Then Richard Had Been
But Little Seen. Rumour, However, Was Busy With Him. At One Time Some
Commercial Traveller Had Seen Him At Zinck'S Hotel At Hamburg; Now He
Was Living In a Palace; And Now The Story Was That He Was Existing In
The Docks, And Writing Sailors' Letters For A Glass Of Beer.
One Fine Day Garman And Worse'S Heavy State Carriage Was Seen On Its Way
To The Quay. Inside Sat The Head Of The Firm, Consul C.F. Garman, And
His Daughter Rachel, While Little Gabriel, His Younger Son, Was Sitting
By The Side Of The Coachman. An Unbearable Curiosity Agitated The Groups
On The Quay.
The State Carriage Was Seldom To Be Seen In The Town, And Now At This
Very Moment The Hamburg Steamer Was Expected. At Length An _Employe_ Of
The Firm Came To The Carriage Window, And, After A Few Irrelevant
Remarks, Ventured To Ask Who Was Coming.
"I Am Expecting My Brother The _Attache_, And His Daughter," Answered
Consul Garman, While With A Movement Peculiar To Himself He Adjusted His
Smoothly Shaven Chin In His Stiff Neckcloth.
This Information Increased The Excitement. Richard Garman Was Coming,
"The Mad Student," "The _Attache_" As He Was Sometimes Called; And With
A Daughter, Too! But How Could They Belong To Each Other? Could He Ever
Have Been Really Married? It Was Hardly Likely.
The Steamer Came. Consul Garman Went On Board, And Returned Shortly
After With His Brother And A Little Dark-Haired Girl, Who Doubtless Was
The Daughter.
Chapter 1 Pg 3
Richard Garman Was Soon Recognized, Although He Had Grown Somewhat
Stouter: But The Upright, Elegant Bearing And The Striking Black
Moustache Were Still The Same; While The Hair, Though Crisp And Curling
As In The Old Days, Was Now Slightly Necked With Grey At The Temples. He
Greeted Them All With A Friendly Smile As He Passed To The Carriage, And
There Was More Than One Lady Who Felt That The Glance Of His Bright
Brown Eye Rested Smilingly On Her For A Moment.
The Carriage Rolled Off Through The Town, And Away Down The Long Avenue
Which Led To The Large
