Decorah public opinion. (Decorah, Winneshiek County [Iowa]) 1895-1928, 1905-04-05
SCANDINAVIAN NEWS
items Of General Interest from
the Old World and
the New.
BANGS READING OF PEER GYNT
Recites Page Upon Page of the Drama
to Americans, but in the Lam
guage of Norway.

Says The Record HeraldS VCnlca-
go) dramatic critic: "Ole Bang, an in
tense young Norwegian, who loves his
Ibsen, gave a reading of Peer Gynt
before an audience that more than half
filed Music Hall Wednesday evening.
The assemblage did not seem to in
clude very large number Of Mr..
Bangs countrymen, which made its
interest in the proceeding the more re-
markable. For Mr.. Bang recited
pape upon page Of the drama in the
Norwegian tongue, which must have
been more battling than Greek to
considerable proportion Of the au-
dience. His purpose in so doing was to
illustrate to English-speaking students
of Ibsen the epic strength and beauty
of the language in which the dra-
matist's works originally were written.
One ignorant of that tongue can only
testify that it sounds strong and that,
as Mr.. Bang spoke It, seems magni-
fcent vehicle for the delivery Of
dramatic TRADE. The reading was
preceded by a brief estimate, in Eng
lish, of Ibsen's great services in vital
izing and SOLDERING the drama of mod
ern times as q means for the eXposi-
ton of grave social problems, and by
a short analysis of Peer Gynt,' which
Mr.. Bang regards as the corner stone
Of all Ibsen's dramatic productions.
This survey of Ibsen and his work by
one who is said to stand somewhat in
the relation Of disciple to the great
man was interesting and might well
have been longer. The reading proper
should, In the future, it would seem,
be given in English, If Mr.. Bang de-
sires, as he says he does. to make the
message Of the play known to English
speaking audiences. In five minutes
he can give such an audience all the
verbal atmosphere That the pronuncia-
ton Of the original Norwegian words
can convey, and after that the sounds
become, to the ear Of the alien, mere
jargon. Miss Olivia Dahl assisted Mr..
Bang by a sympathetic Interpretation
of the Peer Gynt' songs written by
Grieg, the instrumental parts being eff
fectively given by Leon Marx and Max
Oberndorfer."
A newspaper correspondent makes
the following interesting bit Of COM
ment dating back to the time when
Sweden and Russia had trouble: Ac-
cording to history Russia's present
strife with Japan Is not the first time
the bear has tried to gain a seaport
from another country by force. In
1899 Peter the Great determined to ex-
tend his dominions toward the west
and carry out long-cherished desire
to have seaport on the Baltic sea.
The eastern shores of the Baltic sea
belonged to Poland and Sweden. I'm
der a trivial preteXt Peter declared
war on Sweden. feeling quite sure of
success, as the king of Sweden. Charles
XII. was a mere boy of Is years and
had just succeeded to the throne.
Charles. although young. was prince
of remarkable talent and energy. and
the unwarranted conduct of Peter
reused him. AT Narva, city on the
Baltic. an army Of over $4,000 Rus
SLAMS was arrayed against 5000
Swedes. Notwithstanding great odds
In numbers the result was q complete
victory for the Swedes Twenty thou
sand Russians were left dead on the
field; the Swedes lost only 1000 or 81
coo. A large number of Russians
were also taken prisoners. The
Swedes not not care to retain the pris-
oners and concluded to let the COM
mon soldiers go. They resorted to an
ingenious and amusing way of render
ing the soldiers incapable Of mischief
or their homeward trip by cutting and
slashing their clothing in such way
they were obliged to hold their gar
ments with both hands to keep them
on and they were glad to do so to pro-
tect themselves from the severe cold.
In this condition they were driven off
like flock Of sheep. After about a
year the tide of fortune turned in
favor Of the Russians and consider
uDle pOTtlOn OF tue bdltlc SnOre was
Won. Possibly the present car hopes
for a similar turn in the tide.
Again the distribution Of the Nobel
prizes is being made the target for
criticism. The prize winner, Paul Paw
loft, has declared that the selections
have been unjust. Up to date, says
Mr.. Pavloff, only three Scandinavians
have been awarded prizes and this he
believes is a surprise to the rest of
the world. He even states the COM
mittee has instituted formal search
for material in foreign countries for
the deliberate purpose of excluding
Scandinavia. There are several who
should have been awarded prizes. con-
tinues Mr.. Pavloff. but they could not
come into the reckoning because they
were Scandinavians or because the
Nobel prizes originated In Sweden. So
far Mr.. Pavloff. yet" says news
paper correspondent. referring to Mr..
Pavloff's criticism, -the learned gentle
man should bear in mind that Scan
dinavia has already been awarded
three Of the Nobel prizes, whereas