OVIND:

A Story of Country Life in Norway,

BY

BJÖRNSTJERNE BJÖRNSON.

TRANSLATED FROM THE NORWEGIAN
"EN GLAD GUT,"

BY

SIVERT AND ELIZABETH HJERLEID.

LONDON: SIMPKIN, MARSHALL, AND CO.
MIDDLESBROUGH: BURNETT AND HOOD.

1869.

TRANSLATORS' PREFACE.

In offering to the public our Translation of Ovind, we wish to say that the work was commenced simply for the pleasure of it, and without any view to publication; but having completed it, we have decided to follow the advice of many of our friends who have read the book, and who think it a pity to keep in manuscript the translation of a work so original as this. It is therefore offered to the English reader, in the hope that it will meet with the same success in this country that it has done in others; for Björnstjerne Björnson, that singular man who seemed so long destined to be distinguished for naught but foolish pranks as a boy, and inaptitude at school and college, has won for himself high literary honors, not only in his native land but throughout Northern Europe. A restless nature, wandering in a wilderness of unfixed purpose, he has repeatedly been on the point of giving himself up as good for naught, until at last the sequestered valley, and the lowly and quiet life of his home, broke upon his wondering eye, in forms he had been seeking in that dreamy half-conscious instinct, which has so often been the harbinger of greatness.

The "Bonde," that sturdy aristocrat of a northern settlement, a man of noble descent, a lord of his ground, and the mainstay of his country, covering under the rugged garb of his matter-of-fact life, a heart that beats warm with attachment to his fellow man, and an inborn pride, nurtured by Saga memories and family traditions,--is Björnson's text, and a text he handles well. His romances are true to nature, and the sombre grandeur of his land inspires him with ideas which we meet with only in his writings, and which are completely his own. There is a weird light over his whole mind, reflected in his works, which does not repel, but allures. In short, Björnson, of all men living, seems to have entered most entirely into the life of his nation as it is in its reality, the life which exists on the national traditions, customs, thought, handed down from generation to generation.

The story, which it has been our endeavour to translate as literally as possible, is one of the author's earliest works. In the original the chapters are without headings, but we have added them as more consonant with English taste and custom. As the Norwegian title, "En glad Gut," scarcely bears translation, we have given the name of the hero of the story to the book. Thinking it would be acceptable to our readers, we have added two of Björnson's shorter pieces, "The Eagle's Nest," and "The Father."

We should not feel to be doing Herr Björnson justice, if we spoke only of his romances, and omitted to mention his success as a poet and dramatist. In the drama he has mostly chosen for his subjects, scenes in old Norwegian history, but his play entitled, "Mary Stuart," and another of more general interest, "The newly-married couple," would perhaps be better suited to the English reader.

North Ormesby,

Middlesbrough, October, 1869.

CONTENTS

OVIND.

Chap. I.

The Lost Goat.

Chap. II

At School.

Chap. III

The Schoolmaster's Story.

Chap. IV

Two Bright Buttons and One Black.

Chap. V

A New Aim in Life.

Chap. VI

Not Quite Fair.

Chap. VII

A Voice from the Ridge.

Chap. VIII

Be Sure that You Burn It.

Chap. IX

Ovind Throws his Cap in the Air.

Chap. X

Turn the River Where it can Flow.

Chap. XI

Gathering Berries.

Chap. XII

The Old Man gets his Own Way.

THE EAGLE'S NEST.

THE FATHER.

CHAP. I.

THE LOST GOAT.

They called him