第18章

ClarawasprovingamuchbetterhostthanOlaf，who，oncethesupperwasover，seemedtofeelnointerestinanythingbutthelanterns。Hehadbroughtalocomotiveheadlightfromtowntolighttherevels，andhekeptskulkingaboutasifhefearedthemerelightfromitmightsethisnewbarnonfire。

Hiswife，onthecontrary，wascordialtoeveryone，wasanimatedandevengay。Thedeepsalmoncolourinhercheeksburnedvividly，andhereyeswerefulloflife。ShegavethepianoovertothefatSwedishheiress，pulledherfatherawayfromthecornerwherehesatgossipingwithhiscronies，andmadehimdanceaBohemiandancewithher。InhisyouthJoehadbeenafamousdancer，andhisdaughtergothimsolimberedupthateveryonesataroundandapplaudedthem。Theoldladieswereparticularlydelighted，andmadethemgothroughthedanceagain。Fromtheircornerwheretheywatchedandcommented，theoldwomenkepttimewiththeirfeetandhands，andwheneverthefiddlesstruckupanewairoldMrs。Svendsen’swhitecapwouldbegintobob。

ClarawaswaltzingwithlittleEricwhenNilscameuptothem，brushedhisbrotheraside，andswungheroutamongthedancers。

“Rememberhowweusedtowaltzonrollersattheoldskatingrinkintown？Isupposepeopledon’tdothatanymore。Weusedtokeepitupforhours。Youknow，weneverdidmoonaroundasotherboysandgirlsdid。Itwasdeadseriouswithusfromthebeginning。

Whenweweremostinlovewitheachother，weusedtofight。Youwerealwayspinchingpeople；yourfingerswerelikelittlenippers。

Aregularsnappingturtle，youwere。Lord，howyou’dlikeStockholm！Sitoutinthestreetsinfrontofcafesandtalkallnightinsummer。justlikeareception——officersandladiesandfunnyEnglishpeople。Jolliestpeopleintheworld，theSwedes，onceyougetthemgoing。Alwaysdrinkingthings——champagneandstoutmixed，half-and-half，serveitoutofbigpitchers，andserveplenty。Slowpulse，youknow；theycanstandalot。Oncetheylightup，they’reglowworms，Icantellyou。“

“Allthesame，youdon’treallylikegaypeople。“

don’t？“

“No；Icouldtellthatwhenyouwerelookingattheoldwomentherethisafternoon。They’rethekindyoureallyadmire，afterall；womenlikeyourmother。Andthat’sthekindyou’llmarry。“

“Isit，MissWisdom？You’llseewhoI’llmarry，andshewon’thaveadomesticvirtuetoblessherselfwith。She’llbeasnappingturtle，andshe’llbeamatchforme。Allthesame，they’reafinebunchofolddamesoverthere。Youadmirethemyourself“No，Idon’t；Idetestthem。“

“Youwon’t，whenyoulookbackonthemfromStockholmorBudapest。Freedomsettlesallthat。Oh，butyou’retherealBohemianGirl，ClaraVavrika！“Nilslaugheddownathersullenfrownandbeganmockinglytosing:

“Oh，howcouldapoorgypsymaidenlikemeExpecttheproudbrideofabarontobe？“

Claraclutchedhisshoulder。“Hush，Nils；everyoneislookingatyou。“

“Idon’tcare。Theycan’tgossip。It’sallinthefamily，astheEricsonssaywhentheydivideuplittleHilda’spatrimonyamongstthem。Besides，we’llgivethemsomethingtotalkaboutwhenwehitthetrail。Lord，itwillbeagodsendtothem！Theyhaven’thadanythingsointerestingtochatteraboutsincethegrasshopperyear。It’llgivethemanewleaseoflife。AndOlafwon’tlosetheBohemianvote，either。They’llhavethelaughonhimsothatthey’llvotetwoapiece。They’llsendhimtoCongress。

They’llneverforgethisbarnparty，orus。They’llalwaysrememberusaswe’redancingtogethernow。We’remakingalegend。

Where’smywaltz，boys？“hecalledastheywhirledpastthefiddlers。

Themusiciansgrinned，lookedateachother，hesitated，andbegananewair；andNilssangwiththem，asthecouplesfellfromaquickwaltztoalong，slowglide:

“WhenotherlipsandotherheartsTheirtaleofloveshalltell，InlanguagewhoseexcessimpartsThepowertheyfeelsowell。“

Theoldwomenapplaudedvigorously。“Whatagayoneheis，thatNils！“AndoldMrs。Svendsen’scaplurcheddreamilyfromsidetosidetotheflowingmeasureofthedance。

Ofdaysthathaveasha-a-p-pybeen，Andyou’llrememberme。“

Themoonlightfloodedthatgreat，silentland。Thereapedfieldslayyellowinit。Thestrawstacksandpoplarwindbreaksthrewsharpblackshadows。Theroadswerewhiteriversofdust。

Theskywasadeep，crystallineblue，andthestarswerefewandfaint。Everythingseemedtohavesuccumbed，tohavesunktosleep，underthegreat，golden，tender，midsummermoon。Thesplendourofitseemedtotranscendhumanlifeandhumanfate。Thesensesweretoofeebletotakeitin，andeverytimeonelookedupattheskyonefeltunequaltoit，asifoneweresittingdeafunderthewavesofagreatriverofmelody。Neartheroad，NilsEricsonwaslyingagainstastrawstackinOlaf’swheatfield。Hisownlifeseemedstrangeandunfamiliartohim，asifitweresomethinghehadreadabout，ordreamed，andforgotten。Helayverystill，watchingthewhiteroadthatraninfrontofhim，lostitselfamongthefields，andthen，atadistance，reappearedoveralittlehill。Atlast，againstthiswhitebandhesawsomethingmovingrapidly，andhegotupandwalkedtotheedgeofthefield。“Sheispassingtherowofpoplarsnow，“hethought。Heheardthepaddedbeatofhoofsalongthedustyroad，andasshecameintosighthesteppedoutandwavedhisarms。Then，forfearoffrighteningthehorse，hedrewbackandwaited。Clarahadseenhim，andshecameupatawalk。Nilstookthehorsebythebitandstrokedhisneck。

“Whatareyoudoingoutsolate，ClaraVavrika？Iwenttothehouse，butJohannatoldmeyouhadgonetoyourfather’s。“

“Whocanstayinthehouseonanightlikethis？Aren’tyououtyourself？“

“Ah，butthat’sanothermatter。“

Nilsturnedthehorseintothefield。

“Whatareyoudoing？WhereareyoutakingNorman？“

“Notfar，butIwanttotalktoyoutonight；Ihavesomethingtosaytoyou。Ican’ttalktoyouatthehouse，withOlafsittingthereontheporch，weighingathousandtons。“

Claralaughed。“Hewon’tbesittingtherenow。He’sinbedbythistime，andasleep——weighingathousandtons。“

Nilsploddedonacrossthestubble。“Areyoureallygoingtospendtherestofyourlifelikethis，nightafternight，summeraftersummer？Haven’tyouanythingbettertodoonanightlikethisthantowearyourselfandNormanouttearingacrossthecountrytoyourfather’sandback？Besides，yourfatherwon’tliveforever，youknow。Hislittleplacewillbeshutuporsold，andthenyou’llhavenobodybuttheEricsons。You’llhavetofastendownthehatchesforthewinterthen。“

Claramovedherheadrestlessly。“Don’ttalkaboutthat。I

trynevertothinkofit。IfIlostFatherI’dloseeverything，evenmyholdovertheEricsons。“

“Bah！You’dloseagooddealmorethanthat。You’dloseyourrace，everythingthatmakesyouyourself。You’velostagooddealofitnow。“

“Ofwhat？“

“Ofyourloveoflife，yourcapacityfordelight。“

Claraputherhandsuptoherface。“Ihaven’t，NilsEricson，Ihaven’t！Sayanythingtomebutthat。Iwon’thaveit！“shedeclaredvehemently。

Nilsledthehorseuptoastrawstack，andturnedtoClara，lookingatherintently，ashehadlookedatherthatSundayafternoonatVavrika’s。“Butwhydoyoufightforthatso？Whatgoodisthepowertoenjoy，ifyouneverenjoy？Yourhandsarecoldagain；whatareyouafraidofallthetime？Ah，you’reafraidoflosingit；that’swhat’sthematterwithyou！Andyouwill，ClaraVavrika，youwill！WhenIusedtoknowyou——listen；

you’vecaughtawildbirdinyourhand，haven’tyou，andfeltitsheartbeatsohardthatyouwereafraiditwouldshatteritslittlebodytopieces？Well，youusedtobejustlikethat，aslender，eagerthingwithawilddelightinsideyou。ThatishowIrememberedyou。AndIcomebackandfindyou——abitterwoman。Thisisaperfectferretfighthere；youlivebybitingandbeingbitten。Can’tyourememberwhatlifeusedtobe？Can’tyourememberthatolddelight？I’veneverforgottenit，orknownitslike，onlandorsea。“

Hedrewthehorseundertheshadowofthestrawstack。

Clarafelthimtakeherfootoutofthestirrup，andsheslidsoftlydownintohisarms。Hekissedherslowly。Hewasadeliberateman，buthisnervesweresteelwhenhewantedanything。Somethingflashedoutfromhimlikeaknifeoutofasheath。Clarafelteverythingslippingawayfromher；shewasfloodedbythesummernight。Hethrusthishandintohispocket，andthenhelditoutatarm’slength。“Look，“hesaid。Theshadowofthestrawstackfellsharpacrosshiswrist，andinthepalmofhishandshesawasilverdollarshining。“That’smypile，“hemuttered；“willyougowithme？“

Claranodded，anddroppedherforeheadonhisshoulder。

Nilstookadeepbreath。“Willyougowithmetonight？“

“Where？“shewhisperedsoftly。

“Totown，tocatchthemidnightflyer。“

Claraliftedherheadandpulledherselftogether。“Areyoucrazy，Nils？Wecouldn’tgoawaylikethat。“