Mysteries - Knut Hamsun [157]
234 Orion, one of the most conspicuous constellations, has a nebula that can be seen with the naked eye. It is located just below the belt of the hunter for whom the constellation is named.
234 Carl Frederik Fearnley (1818-90), Norwegian astronomer, was director of the Oslo Observatory from 1861 onward.
237 “Think of the day ... ”: a hymn written in 1841 by Wilhelm Andreas Wexels (1797-1866), Norwegian pastor, author, and editor of hymnals, to a melody composed in 1833 by the Italian-Swedish Mathilda B. V. M. Gyllenhaal, b. Orozco (1796-1863).
238 Ola Olsen from Lista: The name is a moniker for the average Norwegian. Lista is a coastal township in West Agder County. Fjære is a parish in the county of East Agder, not Ryfylke; it is located near the coastal town of Grimstad and not far from Lillesand, the probable setting of Mysteries.
239 Pontus Wikner (1837-88), professor of philosophy in Kristiania (now Oslo) 1884-88, was a religious idealist; he developed a personalist doctrine that was quite influential. His collected sermons were published in 1889.
240 When completed, the Hallingdal Railroad became known as the Bergen Railroad, between Oslo and Bergen. It was opened in 1909.
241 “Behold the congregations saved ... ”: from another hymn by Wexels, written to a tune of 1554 by the German cantor and composer Nikolaus Herman (1500-61).
TEXTUAL NOTES
The language of the first edition of Mysteries looks very much like Danish. The text was revised several times as the novel was reissued. In addition to Norwegianizing the spelling, grammar, and vocabulary and thoroughly overhauling the punctuation, these revisions entailed quite radical changes in style and substance. The diction of the original, whose emotional stridency occasionally approached the grotesque, was considerably muted, especially in the dialogue. Repetitions, expletives, and hyperbolic sallies were reduced, contributing, along with the deletion of many exclamations, of ah’s and oh’s, to a more sober tone in a work that still may seem to some readers to teeter on the brink of the hysterical. In particular, the extensive cuts in Nagel’s speeches and interior monologues help make the principal character, who in the original version comes across as excessively loquacious and verbose, more readily believable.
While the noted revisions are numerous, they account for only a fraction of the total; most minor changes have not been listed.
The first edition, published by P. G. Philipsen (Copenhagen, 1892) and, in facsimile, by Gyldendal (Oslo, 1994), will in these notes be indicated by “P”; the source text for the translation, Knut Hamsun’s Collected Works, vol. 1 (Samlede verker [Oslo: Gyldendal, 1992]), by “CW.” The page references to P are listed first.
CHAPTER I (pp. 1-8)
1 8/146. Deleted in CW: as if it didn’t concern him.
2 10/147. In P, the last clause reads: “and I like to have a good view.”
3 14/149. The P text reads: “What affectation!”
CHAPTER II (pp. 9-17)
1 20/152. In P, the word is “hotheaded.”
2 21/152. Deleted in CW: “But you have no discretion, none at all, though you are a splendid fellow.”
3 22/153. This exclamation is not in P.
CHAPTER III (pp. 18-27)
1 34/159. Sentence deleted in CW: “I hope you don’t think my hesitation had anything to do with the money.”
2 35/159. Deleted in CW: “It sounds funny, but I really landed on my right shoulder, after tumbling over several times.”
3 38/160. The last clause of this sentence is not in P.
4 38/160. The preceding clause is not in P.
5 39/161. Here CW omits