Mysteries - Knut Hamsun [38]
Without giving it any thought, he wandered off into the woods again; after walking back and forth, he went as far as the outbuildings of the parsonage and looked into the yard. From there he went back into the woods, boring his way in at the darkest spot he could find, and sat down on a rock. He rested his head on one hand and tapped his knee with the other. He sat like this for a long time, maybe a whole hour, and when he finally got up to leave, the sun was below the horizon. The first shade of twilight had settled on the town.
A great surprise awaited him. Once out of the woods, he discovered lots of kindled fires on the hills round about, maybe as many as twenty bonfires, blazing like miniature suns in all directions. Out on the water there was a myriad of boats, and on board the boats they were lighting sparklers, which gave off red and green flares. From one of the boats, where a quartet was singing, they were even sending up rockets. A great many people were astir, the steamship landing was black with townsfolk, sitting and strolling.
Nagel gave a brief exclamation of surprise. Turning to a man, he asked him what the bonfires and the flags were supposed to mean. The man looked at him, spat, looked at him again and replied that it was June 23, Midsummer Eve. Ah, it was Midsummer Eve! That was quite correct, of course, there was no mistaking it; it also tallied with the date. Just imagine, it was Midsummer Eve tonight—one good thing came on top of another, and it was Midsummer Eve to boot! Nagel rubbed his hands with pleasure and strolled over to the steamship landing like the rest, repeating to himself several times how incredibly lucky he was.
At a distance, he noticed Dagny Kielland’s blood-red parasol in the middle of a group of men and women, and when he also discovered Dr. Stenersen among them, he walked up to him without hesitation. Tipping his cap, he shook hands with the doctor and continued to stand bareheaded for quite a while. The doctor introduced him to the company; Mrs. Stenersen also gave him her hand, and he sat down beside her. She was pale and had a grayish complexion, which gave her a sickly look; but she was very young, hardly over twenty. She was bundled up.
Nagel donned his cap and said, addressing them all, “I beg your pardon for intruding, for joining you like this, uninvited—”
“Goodness, no, it’s a pleasure,” Mrs. Stenersen broke in amiably. “Maybe you could start up a song?”
“No, I’m afraid I can’t,” he answered, “I couldn’t be more unmusical.”
“On the contrary, it was good that you came; we were just talking about you,” the doctor remarked. “You play the violin, don’t you?”
“No,” Nagel replied again, shaking his head; he gave a smile as well. “I don’t.” But suddenly, apropos of nothing, he gets up and says, his eyes sparkling, “I’m so happy today. It has been so wonderful all day, from the moment I woke up this morning; for ten hours I’ve been walking around in a most beautiful dream. Can you imagine: I’m literally haunted by the idea of finding myself in a boat of aromatic wood with a sail of pale-blue silk, cut in the shape of a half-moon. Isn’t that pretty? I cannot describe the scent of the boat; no matter how hard I tried, or how skillful I was at finding the right words, I couldn’t do it. But just think, I feel as though I’m out fishing, that I’m fishing with a silver hook. Pardon me, ladies, but don’t you, at least, think1 it is ... Well, I don’t know.”
None of the ladies answered; they looked at one another in embarrassment, asking each other with their eyes what to do. But finally they started laughing, one after the other; showing no mercy, they burst into loud laughter at the whole thing.
Nagel looked from one to the other, his eyes still shiny; he was obviously still thinking about the boat with the blue sail. But his hands trembled, although his face remained calm.
Coming to his rescue, the doctor said, “So it was a sort of hallucination