A NORWEGIAN GIRL.
With a crack of the whip that must have astonished the landlord, and
caused him some misgivings for the fate of his horse and cariole, I
took my departure from Lillehammer. About half a mile beyond the town
we (the skydskaarl, myself, horse, and cariole) passed the falls--a
roaring torrent of water tumbling down from the mountain side on the
right. Several extensive saw-mills are located at this point. The
piles of lumber outside, and the familiar sounds of the saws and
wheels, reminded me of home. The scene was pretty and picturesque, but
rather disfigured by the progress of Norwegian civilization. Passing
numerous thriving farms in the full season of harvest, the road
winding pleasantly along the hill-side to the right, the foaming
waters of the Logen deep down in the valley to the left, we at length
reached the entrance of the Gudbransdalen--that beautiful and fertile
valley, which stretches all the way up the course of the Logen to the
Dovre Fjeld, a distance of a hundred and sixty-eight miles from
Lillehammer. It would be an endless task to undertake a description of
the beauties of this valley. From station to station it is a continued
panorama of dashing waterfalls, towering mountains, green slopes, pine
forests overtopping the cliffs, rich and thriving farms, with
innumerable log cottages perched up among the cliffs, and wild and
rugged defiles through which the road passes, sometimes overhung by
shrubbery for miles at a stretch. Flying along the smoothly-graded
highway at a rapid rate; independent of all the world except your
horse and boy; the bright sunshine glimmering through the trees; the
music of the wild waters falling pleasantly on your ear; each turn of
the road opening out something rich, new, and strange; the fresh
mountain air invigorating every fibre of your frame; renewed youth and
health beginning to glow upon your cheeks; digestion performing its
functions without a pang or a hint of remonstrance; kind, genial,
open-hearted people wherever you stop--is it not an episode in life
worth enjoying? The valley of the Logen must surely be a paradise (in
summer) for invalids.
At each station the traveler is furnished with a stunted little boy
called the skydskaarl, usually clothed in the cast-off rags of his
great-grandfather; his head ornamented by a flaming red night-cap, and
his feet either bare or the next thing to it; his hair standing out in
every direction like a mop dyed in whitewash and yellow ochre, and his
face and hands freckled and sunburned, and not very clean, while his
manners are any thing but cultivated. This remarkable boy sits on a
board behind the cariole, and drives it back to the station from which
it starts. He is regarded somewhat in the light of a high public
functionary by his contemporary ragamuffins, having been promoted from
the fields or the barn-yard to the honorable position of skydskaarl.
His countenance is marked by the lines of premature care and
responsibility, but varies in expression according to circumstances.
The sum of four cents at the end of an hour's journey gives it an
extremely amiable and intelligent cast. Some boys are constitutionally
knowing, and have a quick, sharp look; others again are dull and
stolid, as naturally happens wherever there is a variety of boys born
of different parents. For the most part, they are exceedingly bright
and lively little fellows. Mounted on their seat of honor at the back
of the cariole, they greatly enliven the way by whistling and singing,
and asking questions in their native tongue, which it is sometimes
very difficult to answer when one is not familiar with the language.
I had at Moshuus a communicative little boy, who talked to me
incessantly all the way to Holmen without ever discovering, so far as
I could perceive, that I did not understand a single word he said.
Another, after repeated efforts to draw me out, fell into a fit of
moody silence, and from that into a profound slumber, which was only
broken off toward the end of our journey by an accident. The cariole
struck against a stone and tilted him out on the road. He was a good
deal surprised, but said nothing.
Another little fellow, not more than six or seven years of age--a
pretty fair-haired child--was sent with me over a very wild and
broken stage of the journey. He was newly dressed in a suit of gray
frieze with brass buttons, and was evidently a shining light at home.
On the road a dog ran out from the bushes and barked at us. The poor
little skydskaarl was frantic with terror, and cried so lustily that I
had to take him into the cariole, and put him under my legs to keep
him from going into fits. He bellowed all the way to the next station,
where I endeavored to make the inn-keeper understand that it was cruel
to send so small a boy on such a hazardous journey. The man laughed
and said "Ja! he is too little!" which was all I could get out of him.
I felt unhappy about this poor child all day.
On another occasion I had a bright, lively little fellow about twelve
years of age, who was so pleased to find that I was an American that
he stopped every body on the road to tell them this important piece of
news, so that it took me about three hours to go a distance of seven
or eight miles. There was a light of intelligence in the boy's face
that enabled me to comprehend him almost by instinct, and the
quickness with which he caught at my half-formed words, and gathered
my meaning when I told him of the wonders of California, were really
surprising. This boy was a natural genius. He will leave his mountain
home some day or other and make a leading citizen of the United
States. Already he was eager to dash out upon the world and see some
of its novelties and wonders.
[Illustration: STATION-BOY.]
At Laurgaard I was favored with a small urchin who must have been
modeled upon one of Hogarth's pictures. He was a fixed laugh all over.
His mouth, nose, ears, eyes, hair, and chin were all turned up in a
broad grin. Even the elbows of his coat and the knees of his trowsers
were wide open with ill-concealed laughter. He laughed when he saw me,
and laughed more than ever when he heard me "_tale Norsk_." There was
something uncommonly amusing to this little shaver in the cut of a
man's jib who could not speak good Norwegian. All the way up the hill
he whistled, sang lively snatches of song, joked with the horse, and
when the horse nickered laughed a young horse-laugh to keep him
company. It did me good to see the rascal so cheery. I gave him an
extra shilling at Braendhagen for his lively spirit, at which he
grinned all over wider than ever, put the small change in his pocket,
and with his red night-cap in one hand made a dodge of his head at me,
as if snapping at a fly, and then held out his spare hand to give me
a shake. Of course I shook hands with him.
[Illustration: GOOD-BY--MANY THANKS!]
Shaking hands with small boys, however, is nothing uncommon in Norway.
Every boy on the entire route shook hands with me. Whenever I settled
the fare the skydskaarl invariably pulled off his cap, or, if he had
none, gave a pull at the most prominent bunch of hair, and holding
forth a flipper, more or less like a lump of raw beef, required me, by
all the laws of politeness, to give it a shake. The simplicity with
which they did this, and the awkward kindliness of their manner, as
they wished me a pleasant trip, always formed an agreeable episode in
the day's travel. I have shaken a greater variety of boys' hands in
Norway--of every size, kind, and quality, fat, lean, clean, and dirty,
dry and wet--than ever I shook all over the world before.
Notwithstanding the amount of water in the country, I must have
carried away from Trondhjem about a quarter of a pound of the native
soil. Between the contortions of body and limb acquired by a brief
residence in Paris, the battering out of several hats against my knee
in the process of bowing throughout the cities of Germany, and the
shaking of various boys' hands on my trip through Norway, I consider
that my politeness now qualifies me for any society.
[Illustration: NORWEGIAN PEASANT FAMILY.]
It must not be understood, however, that I was always favored with the
society of little boys. At one of the stations, which, for obvious
reasons, it would be indiscreet to name, there was no boy visible
except the ragamuffin who had accompanied me. He, of course, was
obliged to return with the horse and cariole. Three white-headed old
men were sitting on a log near the stable basking in the sun, and
gossiping pleasantly about by-gone times or the affairs of state, I
could not understand which. Each of these venerable worthies wore a
red night-cap, which in this country answers likewise for a day-cap,
and smoked a massive wooden pipe. It was a very pleasant picture of
rural content. As I approached they nodded a smiling "_God Aften!_"
and rose to unharness the horse. An elderly lady, of very neat
appearance and pleasing expression, came to the door and bade me a
kindly welcome. Then the three old men all began to talk to me
together, and when they said what they had to say about the fine
weather, and the road, and the quality of the horse, and whatever else
came into their antiquated heads, they led the horse off to the
stable and proceeded to get me a fresh one. While they were doing that
the elderly lady went back into the house and called aloud for some
person within. Presently a fine buxom young girl, about seventeen
years of age, made her appearance at the door. I flattered myself she
wore rather a pleased expression when she saw me; but that might have
been the customary cast of her features, or vanity on my part. At all
events, there was a glowing bloom in her cheeks, and a penetrating
brilliancy in her large blue eyes, wonderfully fascinating to one who
had not recently looked upon any thing very attractive in the line of
female loveliness. She was certainly a model of rustic beauty--I had
rarely seen her equal in any country. Nothing could be more lithe and
graceful than her form, which was advantageously set off by a tight
bodice and a very scanty petticoat. A pair of red woolen stockings
conspicuously displayed the fine contour of her--ankles I suppose is
the conventional expression, though I mean a great deal more than
that. As she sprang down the steps with a light and elastic bound, and
took hold of the horse, which by this time the three old men were
fumbling at to harness in the cariole, I unconsciously thought of
Diana Vernon. She had all the daring grace and delicacy of the Scotch
heroine--only in a rustic way. Seizing the horse by the bridle, she
backed him up in a jiffy between the shafts of the cariole, and
pushing the old gray-heads aside with a merry laugh, proceeded to
arrange the harness. Having paid the boy who had come over from the
last station, and put my name and destination in the day-book,
according to law, I refreshed myself by a glass of ale, and then came
out to see if all was ready. The girl nodded to me smilingly to get in
and be off.
I looked around for the boy who was to accompany me. Nobody in the
shape of a boy was to be seen. The three old men had returned to their
log by the stable, and now sat smoking their pipes and gossiping as
usual, and the good-natured old landlady stood smiling and nodding in
the doorway. Who was to take charge of the cariole? that was the
question. Was I to go alone? Suppose I should miss the road and get
lost in some awful wilderness? However, these questions were too much
for my limited vocabulary of Norsk on the spur of the moment. So I
mounted the cariole, resolved to abide whatever fate Providence might
have in store for me. The girl put the reins in my hand and off I
started, wondering why these good people left me to travel alone. I
thought that they would naturally feel some solicitude about their
property. Scarcely was I under way, when, with a bound like a deer,
the girl was up on the cariole behind, hanging on to the back of the
seat with both hands. Perfectly aghast with astonishment, I pulled the
reins and stopped. "What!" I exclaimed, in the best Norsk I could
muster, "is the _Jomfru_ going with me?" "_Ja!_" answered the laughing
damsel, in a merry, ringing voice--"_Ja! Ja! Jeg vil vise de
Veien!_--I will show you the way!"
Here was a predicament! A handsome young girl going to take charge of
me through a perfectly wild and unknown country! I turned to the old
lady at the door with something of a remonstrating expression, no
doubt, for I felt confused and alarmed. How the deuce was I, a
solitary and inexperienced traveler from California, to defend myself
against such eyes, such blooming cheeks, such honeyed lips and pearly
teeth as these, to say nothing of a form all grace and ability, a
voice that was the very essence of melody, and the fascinating smiles
and blandishments of this wild young creature! It was enough to puzzle
and confound any man of ordinary susceptibility, much less one who had
a natural terror of the female sex. But I suppose it was all right.
The old lady nodded approvingly; and the three old men smoked their
pipes, and, touching their red night-caps, bid me--_Farrel! meget god
reise!_--a pleasant trip! So, without more ado, I cracked the whip,
and off we started. It was not my fault, that was certain. My
conscience was clear of any bad intentions.
We were soon out of sight of the station, and then came a steep hill.
While the pony was pulling and tugging with all his might, the girl
bounced off, landing like a wood-nymph about six feet in the rear of
the cariole; when, with strides that perfectly astonished me, she
began to march up the hill, singing a lively Norwegian ditty as she
sprang over the ruts and ridges of the road. I halted in amazement.
This would never do. Respect for the gentler sex would not permit me
to ride up the hill while so lovely a creature was taking it on foot.
Governed by those high principles of gallantry, augmented and
cultivated by long residence in California, I jumped out of the
cariole, and with persuasive eloquence begged the fair damsel to get
in and drive up the hill on my account; that I greatly preferred
walking; the exercise was congenial--I liked it. At this she looked
astonished, if not suspicious. I fancied she was not used to that
species of homage. At all events, she stoutly declined getting in; and
since it was impossible for me to ride under the circumstances, I
walked by her side to the top of the hill. A coolness was evidently
growing up between us, for she never spoke a word all the way; and I
was too busy trying to keep the horse in the middle of the road and
save my breath to make any farther attempts at conversation.
Having at length reached the summit, the girl directed me to take my
place, which I did at once with great alacrity. With another active
bound she was up behind, holding on as before with both hands to the
back of the seat. Then she whistled to the horse in a style he seemed
to understand perfectly well, for away he dashed down the hill at a
rate of speed that I was certain would very soon result in utter
destruction to the whole party. It was awful to think of being pitched
out and rolling down the precipice, in the arms perhaps of this
dashing young damsel, who, being accustomed to the road, would
doubtless exert herself to save me.
"_Nu! Reise! Reise!_--travel!" cried this extraordinary girl; and
away we went, over rocks, into ruts, against roots and bushes;
bouncing, springing, splashing, and dashing through mud-holes; down
hill and still down; whirling past terrific pits, jagged pinnacles of
rock, and yawning gulfs of darkness; through gloomy patches of pine,
out again into open spaces, and along the brinks of fearful
precipices; over rickety wooden bridges, and through foaming torrents
that dashed out over the road, the wild girl clinging fast behind, the
little pony flying along madly in front, the cariole creaking and
rattling as if going to pieces, myself hanging on to the reins in a
perfect agony of doubt whether each moment would not be our last. I
declare, on the faith of a traveler, it beat all the dangers I had
hitherto encountered summed up together. Trees whirled by, waterfalls
flashed upon my astonished eyes, streaks of sunshine fretted the gloom
with a net-work of light that dazzled and confounded me. I could see
nothing clearly. There was a horrible jumble in my mind of black rocks
and blue eyes, pine forests and flaming red stockings, flying clouds
and flying petticoats, the roar of torrents and the ringing voice of
the maiden as she cried "_Flue! Gaae! Reise!_--Fly! Go it! Travel!"
Only one thought was uppermost--the fear of being dashed to pieces.
Great heavens, what a fate! If I could only stop this infernal little
pony, we might yet be saved! But I dared not attempt it. The slightest
pull at the reins would throw him upon his haunches, and cariole and
all would go spinning over him into some horrible abyss. All this time
the wild damsel behind was getting more and more excited. Now she
whistled, now she shouted "_Skynde pa!_--Faster! faster!" till, fairly
carried away by enthusiasm, she begged me to give her the whip, which
I did, with a faint attempt at prayer. Again she whistled, and shouted
"_Skynde pa!_--Faster! faster!" and then she cracked the most
startling and incomprehensible Norwegian melodies with the whip,
absolutely stunning my ears, while she shouted "_Gaae! Flue!
Reise!_--Go it! Fly! Travel!" Faster and still faster we flew down the
frightful hill. The pony caught the infection of enthusiasm, and now
broke into a frantic run. "Faster! faster!" shrieked the wild girl in
a paroxysm of delight.
By this time I was positively beside myself with terror. No longer
able to distinguish the flying trees, waterfalls, and precipices, I
closed my eyes and gasped for breath. Soon the fearful bouncing of the
cariole aroused me to something like consciousness. We had struck a
rock, and were now spinning along the edge of a mighty abyss on one
wheel, the other performing a sort of balance in the air. I looked
ahead, but there was neither shape nor meaning in the country. It was
all a wild chaos of destructive elements--trees, precipices, red
stockings, and whirling petticoats--toward which we were madly flying.
But there is an end to all troubles upon earth. With thanks to a kind
Providence, I at length caught sight of a long stretch of level road.
Although there were several short turns to be made before reaching it,
there was still hope that it might be gained without any more serious
disaster than the breaking of a leg or an arm. Upon such a casualty as
that I should have compromised at once. If this extraordinary creature
behind would only stop whistling and cracking the whip, and driving
the little pony crazy by her inspiring cries, I might yet succeed in
steering safely into the level road; but the nearer we approached the
bottom of the hill the wilder she became--now actually dancing on the
little board with delight, now leaning over to get a cut at the pony's
tail with the whip, while she whistled more fiercely than ever, and
cried out, from time to time, "_Flue! Gaae! Reise!_" Already the poor
animal was reeking with sweat, and it was a miracle he did not drop
dead on the road.
[Illustration: THE POST-GIRL.]
However, by great good fortune, aided by my skill in driving, we made
the turns, and in a few minutes more were safely jogging along the
level road. Almost breathless, and quite bewildered, I instinctively
turned round to see what manner of wild being this girl behind was. If
you believe me, she was leaning over my shoulder, shaking her sides
laughing at me, her sparkling blue eyes now all ablaze with
excitement, her cheeks glowing like peonies, her lips wide apart,
displaying the most exquisite set of teeth I ever beheld, while her
long golden tresses, bursting from the red handkerchief which served
as a sort of crowning glory to her head, floated in wavy ringlets over
her shoulders. Hermosa! it was enough to thaw an anchorite! She was
certainly very pretty--there was no doubt of that; full of life,
overflowing with health and vitality, and delighted at the confusion
and astonishment of the strange gentleman she had taken in charge.
Can any body tell me what it is that produces such a singular
sensation when one looks over his shoulder and discovers the face of a
pretty and innocent young girl within a few inches of his own, her
beautiful eyes sparkling like a pair of stars, and shooting magic
scintillations through and through him, body and soul, while her
breath falls like a zephyr upon his cheek? Tell me, ye who deal in
metaphysics, what is it? There is certainly a kind of charm in it,
against which no mortal man is proof. Though naturally prejudiced
against the female sex, and firmly convinced that we could get along
in the world much better without them, I was not altogether insensible
to beauty in an artistical point of view, otherwise I should never
have been able to grace the pages of HARPER with the above likeness of
this Norwegian sylph. After all, it must be admitted that they have a
way about them which makes us feel overpowered and irresponsible in
their presence. Doubtless this fair damsel was unconscious of the
damage she was inflicting upon a wayworn and defenseless traveler. Her
very innocence was itself her chiefest charm. Either she was the most
innocent or the most designing of her sex. She thought nothing of
holding on to my shoulder, and talked as glibly and pleasantly, with
her beaming face close to my ear, as if I had been her brother or her
cousin, or possibly her uncle, though I did not exactly like to regard
it in that point of view. What she was saying I could not conjecture,
save by her roguish expression and her merry peals of laughter.
"_Jag kan ikke tale Norsk!_--I can't speak Norwegian"--was all I could
say, at which she laughed more joyously than ever, and rattled off a
number of excellent jokes, no doubt at my helpless condition. Indeed,
I strongly suspected, from a familiar word here and there, that she
was making love to me out of mere sport, though she was guarded enough
not to make any intelligible demonstration to that effect. At last I
got out my vocabulary, and as we jogged quietly along the road, by
catching a word now and then, and making her repeat what she said very
slowly, got so far as to construct something of a conversation.
"What is your name, _sken Jumfru_?" I asked.
"Maria," was the answer.
"A pretty name; and Maria is a very pretty girl."
She tossed her head a little scornfully, as much as to say Maria was
not to be fooled by flattery.
"What is _your_ name?" said Maria, after a pause.
"Mine? Oh, I have forgotten mine."
"Are you an Englishman?"
"No."
"A Frenchman?"
"No."
"A Dutchman?"
"No--I am an American."
"I like Americans--I don't like Englishmen," said the girl.
"Have you a lover?"
"Yes."
"Are you going to be married to him?"
"Yes, in about six months."
"I wish you joy."
"Thank you!"
At this moment a carriage drawn by two horses hove in sight. It was an
English traveling party--an old gentleman and two ladies, evidently
his wife and daughter. As they drew near they seemed to be a little
perplexed at the singular equipage before them--a small horse, nearly
dead and lathered all over with foam; a cariole bespattered with mud;
a dashing fine girl behind, with flaunting hair, a short petticoat,
and a flaming pair of red stockings; myself in the body of the
cariole, covered from head to foot with mire, my beard flying out in
every direction, and my hair still standing on end from the effects of
recent fright--a very singular spectacle to meet in the middle of a
public highway, even in Norway. The road was very narrow at the point
of meeting. It became necessary for one of the vehicles to pull up the
side of the hill a little in order to allow room for the other to
pass. Being the lighter party as well as under obligations of
gallantry, I at once gave way. While endeavoring to make a passage,
the old gentleman gruffly observed to the public generally,
"What an excessively bad road!"
"Very!" said I.
"Beastly!" growled the Englishman.
"Abominable!" said I.
"Oh, you are an Englishman?" said the elderly lady.
"No, madam--an American," I answered, with great suavity.
"Oh, an American!" said the young lady, taking out her note-book;
"dear me, how very interesting!"
"From California," I added, with a smile of pride.
"How very interesting!" exclaimed the young lady.
"A great country," said I.
"Gray," observed the elderly lady, in an under tone, looking very hard
at the girl, who was still standing on the little board at the back of
the cariole, and who coolly and saucily surveyed the traveling party,
"Gray, is that a Norwegian girl?"
"Yes, madam; she is my postillion, only she rides behind, according
to the Norwegian custom."
"Dear me!" cried the young lady, "how very interesting!"
"And dangerous too," I observed.
The lady looked puzzled. She was thinking of dangers to which I had no
reference.
"Dangerous?" exclaimed the young lady.
"Yes; she came near breaking my neck down that hill;" and here I gave
the party a brief synopsis of the adventure.
"Devilish odd!" growled the old Englishman, impatiently. "Good-day,
sir. Come, get up!"
The elderly lady said nothing, but looked suspicious.
"Dear me!" exclaimed the young lady, as they drove off; "how very--"
This was the last I heard, but I suppose she considered it
interesting. The whole affair, no doubt, stands fully recorded in her
note-book.
The way being now clear, we proceeded on our journey. In a little
while the station-house was in sight, and after a few minutes' drive I
was obliged to part from my interesting companion. At first I
hesitated about proffering the usual fee of four shillings; but, upon
reflection, it occurred to me that I had no right to consider her any
thing more than a post-boy. It was worth something extra to travel
with one so lively and entertaining, so I handed her double the usual
allowance, at which she made a very polite courtesy and greatly
relieved my embarrassment by giving a hearty shake of the hand and
wishing me a pleasant journey. This was the last I saw of my Norwegian
Diana. She is a young damsel of great beauty and vivacity, not to say
a little wild. I trust she is now happily married to the object of her
affections.