Free The Emigrants by Vilhelm Moberg Page A

geysers and volcanoes. Arvid learned about all the amazing objects and phenomena which existed on the globe but which he had never seen. And when Robert closed the book, Arvid said what a pity he couldn’t read as much as he wanted to, because of his poor eyes; his sight was good otherwise, but it was of little value when it came to words in a book.
    Now, among all the foods in the world, Arvid liked rice porridge best. Rice porridge he could enjoy only once a year—at Yuletide. One Sunday Robert was reading about rice in the History of Nature. As he finished, Arvid said: “Read it again!”
    Robert read:
“About Rice:
“Rice is a grain which is grown in unbelievable quantities in warm countries. The shelled seeds are shipped to us and are then called rice grains. From them is cooked with milk the white and delicious sweet porridge. The best rice comes from Carolina in North America. . . .”
    Arvid listened with open mouth, dreaming his thoughts of sweet porridge. It was almost half a year to Christmas; between now and the plate of rice porridge were many hundred salt herrings which he must eat; Aron had lately been to Karlshamn and had brought home a barrel of herring, and they were expected to reach the bottom of it before the sweet white porridge would be cooked.
    Robert went on with a new chapter:
“About Sugar Cane:
“Nearly all sugar consumed in our country is made from sugar cane; this is a tall grass, eight to ten feet high, which grows in warm countries like the East Indies and America. . . .”
    The elder farm boy scratched the back of his neck where there were a few fresh bites from last night’s bedbugs. Then he looked out through the window, thoughtfully. A land existed where both rice and sugar grew, both the grain and the sweetening for the porridge. But he knew this was far away in the world, separated from his country by a great water. Neither he nor Robert had seen any greater bodies of water than the tarns here in the parish, and these were so small that a man could row around the shores in an hour. Arvid began to wonder about the sea which separated this country from America.
    Suddenly, as if he had spoken to himself, he asked: “I wonder how broad the ocean might be?”
    Robert looked up, startled. He could have answered the question, he could have told Arvid many things pertaining to the ocean. But he carried a secret which he guarded well; he must act wisely and carefully, he must not confide in anyone, not even his comrade in service.
    Thus, on Sundays, Arvid and Robert sat there, looking out through the single window of their stable room. The small panes were spotted and unwashed, in the corners were cobwebs filled with dead flies, the whitewash on the sash had long ago disintegrated. A dirty, small, poor window let in the light to the hired men in Nybacken. But through this window they could see out into the world, they could look across the stable yard and see the farmland beyond, they could see the village road that passed by. And beyond their eyes’ reach their thoughts struggled further, their thoughts ventured on roads never traveled, down to a sea never seen, and across the waters of the ocean.
    One of them had made his decision, and he was the first in the parish to do so.
    —3—
    Arvid drew part of his pay in brännvin from the farm’s still. One Saturday evening as the boys were sitting in their stable room after the day’s toil Arvid brought out his keg, which had just been filled by Aron, and offered a drink to his friend. Robert had not yet learned to drink brännvin alone; he still dunked bread in it. In order to please Arvid he accepted a mug and drank it, and afterward he felt as if a juniper twig was stuck in his throat.
    Aron had today mentioned that the yearly catechism examination would be held at Nybacken, and Arvid, who last year had been strongly reprimanded by the dean because he was unable to recite the Fourth Commandment, anticipated this day with