The sun., 1913-12-13
A YOUNG CONQUEROR
WHO BEGAN ON A FARM

Martin Andersen Nexo's story OF
''Pelle the Conqueror" 10 in four parts.
The first part. translated from the Dan
ish by Jessie Muir Henry Holt and
Company, makes a volume Of the ordi-
nary size and is. as Prof. Otto Jespersen
OF the University Of Copenhagen OBJ
serves in an Introductory note. q COM
plee story in itself. The whole work
must be as ample as the French Jean
Christophe,'' of which considerable
monument II Is in the respect Of It's
episodcal and panoramic quality as well
as OF It's size "A reminder.
Prof. Jespersen tells us in his intro
duction that little 10 known about the
author of "Pelle the Conqueror." He
was born in 1859 in one OF the poorest
quarters of Copenhagen. spent his boy
hood in the Danish island Of Bornholm.
in the Baltic. where the scene OF this
part of the story is laid, and was sue
cessvely farmers boy. shoemaker's
apprentice and a school teacher. The
story Is understood to be autobiographi-
cal.
In this volume there Is plenty OF very
striking novelty for readers in this
country. The Danish farm life which
is pictured IL immensely unlike the
For positively primitive effects we have
to go to these Scandinavian and Rus
sian. these North Sea and Baltic and
Gulf of Finland tales. on the stone
Farm here We see Pele chasing the bad
COW. The lads clothes have been wet
by the rain. He has taken them off to
dry. and without clothes he chases the
errant beast. The thumps OF his cudgel
on the bony promcntories of the cow
resound painfully upon the sympathetic
ear. The merciful man who happens
along and tells Pele that God sees
everything. that he can even see in the
dark, is the little shoemaker. whose vile
drinks. Even the haliff is likely To see.
Tie shoemaker says and the frightened
boy has,ens To- resume his clothes.
The fisherman who had killed his
child was unable to bear the positive
declaration of Pelle that the child was
buried under the cairn. ut Is buried
there said Pelle. "I've seen its soul
myself burning mp on the top Of the
heap at night. That's because 1t can't
get into heaven" The guilty father
fled In the words of the story. "A hor-
rible sound came from the fisherman's
lips a hollow groan that brought Pe!le's
little heart into his mouth. He began 20
recovered his senses and stopped he saw
the fisherman running with head bent
low across the meadow until he disap-
peared among the dunes
At school the mates OF Pelle called
him blue bag. 1t was term o:
derision. To show them that ne hat
spirit Pelle jumped of the breakwater.
"The water. thick with ground up ice.
closed above his head The top Of his
head appeared again: he made two or
three strokes with his arms like a dog
and sank Henry Boedker dived,
fetched him out and thrashed him. The
thrashng brought him 10 and warmed
him. He jumped up and ran of like a
sandpiper.
While ne was a. school he learned
twenty hymns by heart and he could
name in order the principal! and some
of the minor prophets. The minister
examined him once As 10 his under
standing Of limbs. They were parts Of
the body that could /" moved. he said.
For example. ears. Could he move his
ears? He could. He d.d He was singu-
lar in this faculty, The minister
laughed The school committee, The as
sembed parents, all laughed.
Pelles father was Lasse. Tho bull
tossed him The bull was growing
and kicking up the earth. its tongue
hung out ~ one side NJ its mouth and II
tossed its head quickly, il was angry.
Then IL advauced with short steps and
all kinds Of antics; and how il stamped
pelle felt desire 10 kick il on the nose,
as he had often done before; II had no
business to threaten l.asse, even X II
meant nothing by IT," 1t seemed to us
wonderful that Iasse paid no heed 10
the bull. When presently the bull was
fully engaged upon the stnlid parent
pelle drew his knife and stabbed the
rear of the rampsgeous animal. The
hull uttered a short roar, turned l.asse
over on one side and dashed off over the
fields al gallop. tossing its head as II
ran and believing. Down by the stream
il began to tear up the bank. filling the
air with earth and grass It was hard
work pacifying the wounded bull after