Mysteries - Knut Hamsun [164]
16 184/222. The preceding sentence replaced the following passage in P: But in order to see something like that, one needs a bit of light, and to tell stories about it one needs brains that are rank with madness. No, the fact of the matter was that the sun didn’t shine, the Norwegian sun was a moon, a lantern that enabled the Norwegians to distinguish black from white, no more.
17 184-85/222. From “She must have grown tired ...” to the paragraph beginning “It just occurred to me ... ,” the P text reads:
“I can’t understand the way you see things,” she said, “and it really makes me laugh when I think about it. No matter what issue is raised, you always seem to be in opposition to everybody else. Whether it’s Gladstone, antirheumatic chains, or fairy tales, you are a living contradiction to everything other people think. Oh, it’s very amusing, so please go on—go on and tell me more! I’m eager to hear! What, for example, is your opinion of our national defense?”
He turned crimson and bowed his head. How this woman with the blue eyes could make fun of him! Well, why not? But on such a beautiful night, amid such profound peace! He merely said, quite perplexed, “National defense? National defense? What do you mean?”
18 185-86/222. Deleted in CW: “But you will forgive me, won’t you? Don’t you think, at least, that the adventure I told you about was rather beautiful? Some other time I might have been able to do a bit better, perhaps a little bit better, I don’t know; but this evening I’ve definitely been too happy to do justice to myself.”
19 186/222. Deleted in CW: “oh, I’m so sincerely, so sincerely grateful to you, believe me”;
20 186/222. This remark replaced the following in P: then she again rested her eyes on him and said, “And if you think that I’m not grateful to you too this evening, you’re mistaken.”
21 186-87/222-23. Most of the passage from here until “Look, let me just ...” is not in P, which reads: Nagel gave her face a close look and exclaimed, “You are? Really? How happy you make me! Oh, I’ll never forget this night. Would you like me to show you a little trick I know, with a straw and a twig, whereby the straw proves stronger than the twig? I would gladly do all you could possibly desire out of sheer gratitude, to show my devotion. But let’s rather talk, that’s better. Ah, it’s Midsummer Night! Oh, my, isn’t it intoxicatingly lovely?”
22 187/223. These two sentences were added in CW.
23 188/223. The translation follows P in beginning a new paragraph with this question. Deleted in CW at this point: “Yes, perhaps a little, that’s quite possible.”
24 188/223. Deleted in CW: How pure and beautiful she looked as she walked!
25 189/223. This line replaces the following in P:
She answered by changing the subject, somewhat impatiently, “Well, you don’t seem to be happy any longer. What time is it?”
“It’s a few minutes after two.”
26 191/224. This sentence replaces the following passage in P:
“You probably read a lot in your home,” he said.
“How do you know?” she replied.
“I believe I’ve heard about it; I also know that your father has books by Turgenev and Garborg, and that’s a good sign.”
“Yes, isn’t Turgenev wonderful! So, Miniman has gossiped again, you can’t have heard it from anyone else. Yes, we do read a lot; Dad is always reading, he’s got so many books. How do you like Tolstoy?”
“A good deal, of course. Tolstoy is a great and remarkable man.”
But now she laughed resoundingly and interrupted him: “You’re saying something you don’t mean again, I can tell from your looks. You don’t like Tolstoy at all.”
“Hm. That Is—. No, let’s not touch on issues again, because then I’ll become more boring than ever. I’m not lucky enough to agree with everyone, you know, and I would rather not make you tired of me. How do you like Tolstoy yourself?”
“You aren’t happy anymore; that’s it, you aren’t happy anymore. Anyway, we’ll turn around now.”
27 192/224. This sentence replaces a fairly long passage in P:
“The truth is,” he said, “that if I were to say how happy