While Ola Serka deliberated, Osa, the goose girl, and Aslak, the young Lapp boy who had stared so hard at her the night before, sat on the ground in front of the tent and chatted.
Aslak had been to school and could speak Swedish. He was telling Osa about the life of the "Saméfolk," assuring her that they fared better than other people.
Osa thought that they lived wretchedly, and told him so.
"You don't know what you are talking about!" said Aslak curtly5. "Only stop with us a week and you shall see that we are the happiest people on earth."
"If I were to stop here a whole week, I should be choked by all the smoke in the tent," Osa retorted.
"Don't say that!" protested the boy. "You know nothing of us. Let me tell you something which will make you understand that the longer you stay with us the more contented6 you will become."
Thereupon Aslak began to tell Osa how a sickness called "The Black Plague" once raged throughout the land. He was not certain as to whether it had swept through the real "Saméland," where they now were, but in Jämtland it had raged so brutally7 that among the Saméfolk, who lived in the forests and mountains there, all had died except a boy of fifteen. Among the Swedes, who lived in the valleys, none was left but a girl, who was also fifteen years old.
The boy and girl separately tramped the desolate8 country all winter in search of other human beings. Finally, toward spring, the two met. Aslak continued: "The Swedish girl begged the Lapp boy to accompany her southward, where she could meet people of her own race. She did not wish to tarry longer in Jämtland, where there were only vacant homesteads. I'll take you wherever you wish to go,' said the boy, 'but not before winter. It's spring now, and my reindeer9 go westward10 toward the mountains. You know that we who are of the Saméfolk must go where our reindeer take us.' The Swedish girl was the daughter of wealthy parents. She was used to living under a roof, sleeping in a bed, and eating at a table. She had always despised the poor mountaineers and thought that those who lived under the open sky were most unfortunate; but she was afraid to return to her home, where there were none but the dead. 'At least let me go with you to the mountains,' she said to the boy, 'so that I sha'n't have to tramp about here all alone and never hear the sound of a human voice.'
"The herd12 yearned13 for the good pastures there, and every day tramped long distances to feed on the moss14. There was not time to pitch tents. The children had to lie on the snowy ground and sleep when the reindeer stopped to graze. The girl often sighed and complained of being so tired that she must turn back to the valley. Nevertheless she went along to avoid being left without human companionship.
"When they reached the highlands the boy pitched a tent for the girl on a pretty hill that sloped toward a mountain brook15.
"In the evening he lassoed and milked the reindeer, and gave the girl milk to drink. He brought forth16 dried reindeer meat and reindeer cheese, which his people had stowed away on the heights when they were there the summer before.
"Still the girl grumbled17 all the while, and was never satisfied. She would eat neither reindeer meat nor reindeer cheese, nor would she drink reindeer milk. She could not accustom18 herself to squatting19 in the tent or to lying on the ground with only a reindeer skin and some spruce twigs20 for a bed.
"After a few days, the girl went up to the boy when he was milking and asked if she might help him. She next undertook to make the fire under the kettle, in which the reindeer meat was to be cooked, then to carry water and to make cheese. So the time passed pleasantly. The weather was mild and food was easily procured23. Together they set snares24 for game, fished for salmon-trout in the rapids and picked cloud-berries in the swamp.
"When the summer was gone, they moved farther down the mountains, where pine and leaf forests meet. There they pitched their tent. They had to work hard every day, but fared better, for food was even more plentiful25 than in the summer because of the game.
"When the snow came and the lakes began to freeze, they drew farther east toward the dense26 pine forests.
"As soon as the tent was up, the winter's work began. The boy taught the girl to make twine27 from reindeer sinews, to treat skins, to make shoes and clothing of hides, to make combs and tools of reindeer horn, to travel on skis, and to drive a sledge28 drawn29 by reindeer.
"When they had lived through the dark winter and the sun began to shine all day and most of the night, the boy said to the girl that now he would accompany her southward, so that she might meet some of her own race.
"Then the girl looked at him astonished.
"'Why do you want to send me away?' she asked. 'Do you long to be alone with your reindeer?'
"'I thought that you were the one that longed to get away?' said the boy.
"'I have lived the life of the Saméfolk almost a year now,' replied the girl. I can't return to my people and live the shut-in life after having wandered freely on mountains and in forests. Don't drive me away, but let me stay here. Your way of living is better than ours.'
"The girl stayed with the boy for the rest of her life, and never again did she long for the valleys. And you, Osa, if you were to stay with us only a month, you could never again part from us."
With these words, Aslak, the Lapp boy, finished his story. Just then his father, Ola Serka, took the pipe from his mouth and rose.
Old Ola understood more Swedish than he was willing to have any one know, and he had overheard his son's remarks. While he was listening, it had suddenly flashed on him how he should handle this delicate matter of telling Jon Esserson that his daughter had come in search of him.
Ola Serka went down to Lake Luossajaure and had walked a short distance along the strand30, when he happened upon a man who sat on a rock fishing.
The fisherman was gray-haired and bent31. His eyes blinked wearily and there was something slack and helpless about him. He looked like a man who had tried to carry a burden too heavy for him, or to solve a problem too difficult for him, who had become broken and despondent32 over his failure.
"You must have had luck with your fishing, Jon, since you've been at it all night?" said the mountaineer in Lappish, as he approached.
The fisherman gave a start, then glanced up. The bait on his hook was gone and not a fish lay on the strand beside him. He hastened to rebait the hook and throw out the line. In the meantime the mountaineer squatted33 on the grass beside him.
"There's a matter that I wanted to talk over with you," said Ola. "You know that I had a little daughter who died last winter, and we have always missed her in the tent."
"Yes, I know," said the fisherman abruptly34, a cloud passing over his face—as though he disliked being reminded of a dead child.
"It's not worth while to spend one's life grieving," said the Laplander.
"I suppose it isn't."
"Now I'm thinking of adopting another child. Don't you think it would be a good idea?"
"That depends on the child, Ola."
"I will tell you what I know of the girl," said Ola. Then he told the fisherman that around midsummer-time, two strange children—a boy and a girl—had come to the mines to look for their father, but as their father was away, they had stayed to await his return. While there, the boy had been killed by a blast of rock.
Thereupon Ola gave a beautiful description of how brave the little girl had been, and of how she had won the admiration35 and sympathy of everyone.
"Is that the girl you want to take into your tent?" asked the fisherman.
"Yes," returned the Lapp. "When we heard her story we were all deeply touched and said among ourselves that so good a sister would also make a good daughter, and we hoped that she would come to us."
The fisherman sat quietly thinking a moment. It was plain that he continued the conversation only to please his friend, the Lapp.
"I presume the girl is one of your race?"
"No," said Ola, "she doesn't belong to the Saméfolk."
"Perhaps she's the daughter of some new settler and is accustomed to the life here?"
"No, she's from the far south," replied Ola, as if this was of small importance.
The fisherman grew more interested.
"Then I don't believe that you can take her," he said. "It's doubtful if she could stand living in a tent in winter, since she was not brought up that way."
"She will find kind parents and kind brothers and sisters in the tent," insisted Ola Serka. "It's worse to be alone than to freeze."
The fisherman became more and more zealous36 to prevent the adoption37. It seemed as if he could not bear the thought of a child of Swedish parents being taken in by Laplanders.
"You said just now that she had a father in the mine."
"He's dead," said the Lapp abruptly.
"I suppose you have thoroughly38 investigated this matter, Ola?"
"What's the use of going to all that trouble?" disdained39 the Lapp. "I ought to know! Would the girl and her brother have been obliged to roam about the country if they had a father living? Would two children have been forced to care for themselves if they had a father? The girl herself thinks he's alive, but I say that he must be dead."
The man with the tired eyes turned to Ola.
"What is the girl's name, Ola?" he asked.
The mountaineer thought awhile, then said:
"I can't remember it. I must ask her."
"Ask her! Is she already here?"
"She's down at the camp."
"What, Ola! Have you taken her in before knowing her father's wishes?"
"What do I care for her father! If he isn't dead, he's probably the kind of man who cares nothing for his child. He may be glad to have another take her in hand."
The fisherman threw down his rod and rose with an alertness in his movements that bespoke40 new life.
"I don't think her father can be like other folk," continued the mountaineer. "I dare say he is a man who is haunted by gloomy forebodings and therefore can not work steadily41. What kind of a father would that be for the girl?"
While Ola was talking the fisherman started up the strand.
"I'm going to have a look at your foster-daughter, Ola."
"Good!" said the Lapp. "Come along and meet her. I think you'll say that she will be a good daughter to me."
The Swede rushed on so rapidly that the Laplander could hardly keep pace with him.
After a moment Ola said to his companion:
"Now I recall that her name is Osa—this girl I'm adopting."
The other man only kept hurrying along and old Ola Serka was so well pleased that he wanted to laugh aloud.
When they came in sight of the tents, Ola said a few words more.
"She came here to us Saméfolk to find her father and not to become my foster-child. But if she doesn't find him, I shall be glad to keep her in my tent."
The fisherman hastened all the faster.
"I might have known that he would be alarmed when I threatened to take his daughter into the Lapps' quarters," laughed Ola to himself.
When the man from Kiruna, who had brought Osa to the tent, turned back later in the day, he had two people with him in the boat, who sat close together, holding hands—as if they never again wanted to part.
They were Jon Esserson and his daughter. Both were unlike what they had been a few hours earlier.
The father looked less bent and weary and his eyes were clear and good, as if at last he had found the answer to that which had troubled him so long.
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1
distinguished
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| adj.卓越的，杰出的，著名的 | |
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huddled
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| 挤在一起（huddle的过去式与过去分词形式） | |
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diplomacy
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| n.外交；外交手腕，交际手腕 | |
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melancholy
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| n.忧郁，愁思；adj.令人感伤（沮丧）的，忧郁的 | |
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curtly
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| adv.简短地 | |
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6
contented
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| adj.满意的，安心的，知足的 | |
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brutally
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| adv.残忍地，野蛮地，冷酷无情地 | |
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8
desolate
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| adj.荒凉的，荒芜的；孤独的，凄凉的；v.使荒芜，使孤寂 | |
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reindeer
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| n.驯鹿 | |
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westward
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| n.西方，西部；adj.西方的，向西的；adv.向西 | |
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assented
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| 同意，赞成( assent的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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herd
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| n.兽群，牧群；vt.使集中，把…赶在一起 | |
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13
yearned
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| 渴望，切盼，向往( yearn的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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14
moss
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| n.苔，藓，地衣 | |
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15
brook
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| n.小河，溪；v.忍受，容让 | |
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16
forth
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| adv.向前；向外，往外 | |
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17
grumbled
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| 抱怨( grumble的过去式和过去分词 )； 发牢骚； 咕哝； 发哼声 | |
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18
accustom
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| vt.使适应，使习惯 | |
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19
squatting
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| v.像动物一样蹲下( squat的现在分词 )；非法擅自占用（土地或房屋）；为获得其所有权；而占用某片公共用地。 | |
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twigs
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| 细枝，嫩枝( twig的名词复数 ) | |
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21
woes
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| 困境( woe的名词复数 )； 悲伤； 我好苦哇； 某人就要倒霉 | |
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22
kindly
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| adj.和蔼的，温和的，爽快的；adv.温和地，亲切地 | |
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23
procured
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| v.（努力）取得， （设法）获得( procure的过去式和过去分词 )；拉皮条 | |
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24
snares
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| n.陷阱( snare的名词复数 )；圈套；诱人遭受失败（丢脸、损失等）的东西；诱惑物v.用罗网捕捉，诱陷，陷害( snare的第三人称单数 ) | |
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plentiful
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| adj.富裕的，丰富的 | |
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26
dense
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| a.密集的，稠密的，浓密的；密度大的 | |
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twine
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| v.搓，织，编饰；（使）缠绕 | |
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sledge
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| n.雪橇，大锤；v.用雪橇搬运，坐雪橇往 | |
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29
drawn
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| v.拖，拉，拔出；adj.憔悴的，紧张的 | |
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strand
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| vt.使（船）搁浅，使（某人）困于（某地） | |
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31
bent
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| n.爱好，癖好；adj.弯的；决心的，一心的 | |
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32
despondent
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| adj.失望的，沮丧的，泄气的 | |
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33
squatted
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| v.像动物一样蹲下( squat的过去式和过去分词 )；非法擅自占用（土地或房屋）；为获得其所有权；而占用某片公共用地。 | |
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34
abruptly
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| adv.突然地，出其不意地 | |
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35
admiration
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| n.钦佩，赞美，羡慕 | |
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36
zealous
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| adj.狂热的，热心的 | |
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37
adoption
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| n.采用，采纳，通过；收养 | |
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38
thoroughly
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| adv.完全地，彻底地，十足地 | |
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39
disdained
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| 鄙视( disdain的过去式和过去分词 )； 不屑于做，不愿意做 | |
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40
bespoke
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| adj.（产品）订做的；专做订货的v.预定( bespeak的过去式 )；订（货）；证明；预先请求 | |
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41
steadily
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| adv.稳定地；不变地；持续地 | |
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42
queried
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| v.质疑，对…表示疑问( query的过去式和过去分词 )；询问 | |
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