A STORY FROM THE SAND-HILLS [9]
cooked and ready for him by the time
he comes back to the hut tired and hungry. Besides this the managers
bring up the fish from the boats, cut them open, prepare them, and
have generally a great deal to do.
Jurgen, his father, and several other fishermen and their managers
inhabited the same hut; Martin lived in the next one.
One of the girls, whose name was Else, had known Jurgen from
childhood; they were glad to see each other, and were of the same
opinion on many points, but in appearance they were entirely opposite;
for he was dark, and she was pale, and fair, and had flaxen hair,
and eyes as blue as the sea in sunshine.
As they were walking together one day, Jurgen held her hand very
firmly in his, and she said to him:
"Jurgen, I have something I want to say to you; let me be your
manager, for you are like a brother to me; but Martin, whose
housekeeper I am- he is my lover- but you need not tell this to the
others."
It seemed to Jurgen as if the loose sand was giving way under
his feet. He did not speak a word, but nodded his head, and that meant
"yes." It was all that was necessary; but he suddenly felt in his
heart that he hated Martin, and the more he thought the more he felt
convinced that Martin had stolen away from him the only being he
ever loved, and that this was Else: he had never thought of Else in
this way before, but now it all became plain to him.
When the sea is rather rough, and the fishermen are coming home in
their great boats, it is wonderful to see how they cross the reefs.
One of them stands upright in the bow of the boat, and the others
watch him sitting with the oars in their hands. Outside the reef it
looks as if the boat was not approaching land but going back to sea;
then the man who is standing up gives them the signal that the great
wave is coming which is to float them across the reef. The boat is
lifted high into the air, so that the keel is seen from the shore; the
next moment nothing can be seen, mast, keel, and people are all
hidden- it seems as though the sea had devoured them; but in a few
moments they emerge like a great sea animal climbing up the waves, and
the oars move as if the creature had legs. The second and third reef
are passed in the same manner; then the fishermen jump into the
water and push the boat towards the shore- every wave helps them-
and at length they have it drawn up, beyond the reach of the breakers.
A wrong order given in front of the reef- the slightest
hesitation- and the boat would be lost,
"Then it would be all over with me and Martin too!"
This thought passed through Jurgen's mind one day while they
were out at sea, where his foster-father had been taken suddenly
ill. The fever had seized him. They were only a few oars' strokes from
the reef, and Jurgen sprang from his seat and stood up in the bow.
"Father-let me come!" he said, and he glanced at Martin and across
the waves; every oar bent with the exertions of the rowers as the
great wave came towards them, and he saw his father's pale face, and
dared not obey the evil impulse that had shot through his brain. The
boat came safely across the reef to land; but the evil thought
remained in his heart, and roused up every little fibre of
bitterness which he remembered between himself and Martin since they
had known each other. But he could not weave the fibres together,
nor did he endeavour to do so. He felt that Martin had robbed him, and
this was enough to make him hate his former friend. Several of the
fishermen saw this, but Martin did not- he remained as obliging and
talkative as ever, in fact he talked rather too much.
Jurgen's foster-father took to his bed, and it became his
death-bed, for he died a week afterwards; and now Jurgen was heir to
the little house behind the sand-hills. It was small, certainly, but
still it was something, and Martin had nothing of the kind.
"You will not go to sea again, Jurgen, I suppose," observed one
he comes back to the hut tired and hungry. Besides this the managers
bring up the fish from the boats, cut them open, prepare them, and
have generally a great deal to do.
Jurgen, his father, and several other fishermen and their managers
inhabited the same hut; Martin lived in the next one.
One of the girls, whose name was Else, had known Jurgen from
childhood; they were glad to see each other, and were of the same
opinion on many points, but in appearance they were entirely opposite;
for he was dark, and she was pale, and fair, and had flaxen hair,
and eyes as blue as the sea in sunshine.
As they were walking together one day, Jurgen held her hand very
firmly in his, and she said to him:
"Jurgen, I have something I want to say to you; let me be your
manager, for you are like a brother to me; but Martin, whose
housekeeper I am- he is my lover- but you need not tell this to the
others."
It seemed to Jurgen as if the loose sand was giving way under
his feet. He did not speak a word, but nodded his head, and that meant
"yes." It was all that was necessary; but he suddenly felt in his
heart that he hated Martin, and the more he thought the more he felt
convinced that Martin had stolen away from him the only being he
ever loved, and that this was Else: he had never thought of Else in
this way before, but now it all became plain to him.
When the sea is rather rough, and the fishermen are coming home in
their great boats, it is wonderful to see how they cross the reefs.
One of them stands upright in the bow of the boat, and the others
watch him sitting with the oars in their hands. Outside the reef it
looks as if the boat was not approaching land but going back to sea;
then the man who is standing up gives them the signal that the great
wave is coming which is to float them across the reef. The boat is
lifted high into the air, so that the keel is seen from the shore; the
next moment nothing can be seen, mast, keel, and people are all
hidden- it seems as though the sea had devoured them; but in a few
moments they emerge like a great sea animal climbing up the waves, and
the oars move as if the creature had legs. The second and third reef
are passed in the same manner; then the fishermen jump into the
water and push the boat towards the shore- every wave helps them-
and at length they have it drawn up, beyond the reach of the breakers.
A wrong order given in front of the reef- the slightest
hesitation- and the boat would be lost,
"Then it would be all over with me and Martin too!"
This thought passed through Jurgen's mind one day while they
were out at sea, where his foster-father had been taken suddenly
ill. The fever had seized him. They were only a few oars' strokes from
the reef, and Jurgen sprang from his seat and stood up in the bow.
"Father-let me come!" he said, and he glanced at Martin and across
the waves; every oar bent with the exertions of the rowers as the
great wave came towards them, and he saw his father's pale face, and
dared not obey the evil impulse that had shot through his brain. The
boat came safely across the reef to land; but the evil thought
remained in his heart, and roused up every little fibre of
bitterness which he remembered between himself and Martin since they
had known each other. But he could not weave the fibres together,
nor did he endeavour to do so. He felt that Martin had robbed him, and
this was enough to make him hate his former friend. Several of the
fishermen saw this, but Martin did not- he remained as obliging and
talkative as ever, in fact he talked rather too much.
Jurgen's foster-father took to his bed, and it became his
death-bed, for he died a week afterwards; and now Jurgen was heir to
the little house behind the sand-hills. It was small, certainly, but
still it was something, and Martin had nothing of the kind.
"You will not go to sea again, Jurgen, I suppose," observed one