Expression, Which Seems To Cling To Those Who Have Not Paid Their Debts.
Meanwhile Pastor Martens'S Sonorous Voice Echoed Over The Cemetery As He
Was Approaching The End Of His Discourse. "The Six Feet Of Earth" Was
Repeated Again And Again, Like The Refrain Upon Which A Good Composer
Will Hang A Whole Symphony; And Each Time It Seemed To Make A Deeper
Impression. The Account In The Evening Papers Might Perhaps Be Slightly
Exaggerated, When It Said That Not An Eye Was Dry; But Certain Is It
That Many Wept, And Not Only Women, But Men Also. Some Even Of The
Merchants, Who Had Carried The Coffin, Were Seen Using Their
Pocket-Handkerchiefs.
It Was Really An Extraordinary Address. Just At The Commencement It Had
Caused An Uneasy Feeling, When Martens Began To Speak About The Great
Riches Of The Deceased. There Was Some Apprehension Lest He Should Make
Some Ill-Timed Application Of The Parable Of The Camel And The Needle'S
Eye; But The Speaker Had Just Managed To Say The Right Thing. There Is
Nothing Which Gives The Poor So Much Pleasure, As To Hear How Little
Power Really Belongs To Earthly Wealth, And How Little There Is To
Grudge When It Comes To The Last. And So This Allusion To "The Six Feet
Of Earth" Had A Good Effect Throughout.
When The Funeral Discourse Was Over, Abraham Came Forward With The Box
Which Was To Hold The Earth To Be Thrown On The Coffin.
Struggling With His Inmost Feelings, The Pastor Seized The Box, Filled
It With Mould, And Uncovered His Head. Off In a Moment Came All The
Various Hats, And Just As Many Various Heads Were Disclosed To View.
Some Were Smooth, Some Were Rough, Some Had Long Hair, And On Others The
Hair Was Clipped As Close As The Top Of A Hair Trunk, While Here And
There Appeared A Skull As Smooth As A Billiard Ball.
The Clergyman Threw The Earth Into The Grave, Deeply Moved, And Almost
Mechanically, As If The Task Were Too Much For Him. The Loose Mould
Could Be Heard Rustling Down On The Flowers And Silk Ribbons. One More
Short And Thrilling Prayer Was Heard; The Service Was Over, And The Hats
Chapter 23 Pg 150
Appeared Again.
The Bandsmen, Who Had Been Standing In a Group Among The Mourners,
Keeping Their Instruments Under Their Coats, So That They Might Not Get
Cold, Suddenly Broke Out Into Music, At A Mysterious Sign From The
Bandmaster. The Effect Was Striking. Just As When A Stone Is Thrown Into
The Water, And The Ripples Roll Outwards In an Ever-Widening Circle, So
Did The Mighty Waves Of Sound Drive Back The Bystanders In all
Directions, Until There Was Quite An Open Place Around The Players. The
Undertaker Turned The Opportunity To Advantage, And Took His Place At
The Head Of The Procession, Which Returned In The Same Order As It Came.
At A Short Distance Behind The Musicians, Came The Precentor With His
Choristers. He Was Terribly Annoyed By The Band, And In a Great State Of
Anxiety, Lest The Sorrowing Relatives Of The Deceased Should Not Notice,
How Much Extra Trouble He Had Taken With The Singing.
The Undertaker, On The Contrary, Was Extremely Pleased With The Band,
Which Had Made Such A Nice Clear Space For Him, And When He Got Home To
His Wife He Said, "Even If The Drums Of My Ears Are Nearly Broken, I
Must Say I Fully Appreciate The Effect Of A Brass Band. Nothing Can Be
More Opportune, When One Has To Lead A Procession Through A Large Crowd
At A Respectable Funeral."
At A Short Distance From The Grave, The Clergyman Left The _Cortege_ And
Went In a Different Direction Across The Cemetery. As Soon As He Was Out
Of Sight Of The Crowd, He Took A Short Cut Over The Graves, Which In
That Part Of The Cemetery Were Low And Overgrown With Grass, And Every
Now And Then He Held Up His Cassock, And Stepped Over One Which Lay In
His Path.
Abraham The Sexton Had Got An Extra Lurch On, In Honour Of The Grand
Funeral, And Came Stumbling Along After The Pastor, Carrying The Black
Box, Which Was The Same That Was Used For All Burials, Without
Distinction.
When The Pastor Arrived At Marianne'S Grave, He Found Anders Begmand And
Some Others From The West End, Who Had Already Been In The Consul'S
Procession. The Chaplain Took Off His Hat And Wiped His Brow, As He
Stood Looking Round For Abraham. The Others Also Uncovered Their Heads.
At Length Abraham Came Up, And The Three Handfuls Of Earth Fell,
Hurriedly And Mechanically, On The Simple Coffin. "Of Earth Thou Art, To
Earth Thou Shalt Return, And From The Earth Thou Shalt Rise Again.
Amen."
The Pastor Went Scrambling Along Farther Over The Graves. There Were
Still Some Other Poor People To Be Buried, And It Was Getting Late.
Chapter 24 Pg 151
The Young Consul'S Death Did Not Bring With It Any Great Changes, Either
In The Household Or In The Business. Everything Was In Such A Solid And
Well-Regulated Condition, That It Kept On Going Like A Good Machine. The
New Driver Had As Much As He Could Manage, And There Were Some Who
Thought That The More Delicate Parts Of The Complicated Mechanism Would
Be Likely To Suffer Under His Hands.
At The Same Time, No One Could Say Of Morten That He Did Not Bring Great
Energy To Bear On His New Duties. Now, Indeed, It Was Almost Impossible
To Find Him; He Was Continually On The Go Between The Town And
Sandsgaard. His Carriage Might Be Seen Waiting At The Most Unlikely
Corners, Or All Of A Sudden He Would Pop Up Out Of A Boat At The Quay,
Tear Off To The Office, Call Out Something To The Bookkeeper, And Flash
Out Of The Door Again. But When The Bookkeeper Hurried After Him, To Ask
What The Instructions Were, All He Saw Was A Glimpse Of The Dogcart As
It Turned The Corner.
The Business Men In The Town Used To Say, Quietly Among Themselves, That
It Was Easier To Work Against Morten Than With Him. Garman And Worse'S
Predominance Began To Grow Weaker, And What Had Been The Central Power
Was Now Distributed In Several Hands. The Year Which Followed Was Not A
Prosperous One For Shippers; Most Of The Ships Belonging To The Firm Had
Been Working Either At A
