The Washington herald., 1915-12-05
'VRiTE


music Of the ancient sages of her ooun-
try, which sang to her In the iansling
of the sleigh bells. in the music Of the
jolly. old-fashioned Christmas parties,
the signing Of the spring breezes and
the falling of the leaves in autumn. Civ
ing her no peace until she had put them
into words. For years in odd moments
and in secret she had tried to shape
those fanciful and evasive thoughts into
permanent form and she was somewhat
disgusted with the result
The prize offered by Iduna tempted her
and with many misgivings she sent on
her manuscript under the title Of COSTA
Behring'S Saga" When she received the
telegram announcing her success she
was the most surprised girl in Sweden
and when she realized she was famous
she took the advice Of friends and Raye
up her teaching to devote her whole at
tention to literature.
A gentle sadness that is characteristic
Of the northern countries and a mys-
ticism and skill in allegory combined
with simple and direct style, make the
charm Of her writings. She possesses a
keen insight into human nature and in
one OF her short stories called "A Fallen
King" she pillories the loud mouthed
martyr who glories in his wrongs. The
hero becomes a noted Salvation Army
prcdCuoT on t0e strength OF certain
wrongs Of which he believes himself the
victim.
Later he is nonplussed by finding that
they have been ina ginary and this is the
way Miss Lagerlof describes his state of
mind:
He was a painter without hands. a
singer who had lost his voice He had
only spoken of his SORROW What should
he speak of now?
He prayed: oh, God. since honor is
dumb, but sorrow speaks, give me sorrow
once more
But the crown had been removed
from him. There he sat, more miserable
than the most wretched, for he had fallen
from great height. He was a fallen
king"
In her skillful treatment of sort of
mystical allegory she is supreme She
tells the tragic story of a Young married
couple whose adopted ard somewhat neg
lected daughter dies. Jcfrid. the young
wife. feels that she has been to blame
for the death of the child, and as she
stands in the doorway at night looking
out on carn that is supposed TO mark
the grave OF an ancient king raulorse-
fully thinking of the child's death she
seems to recognize in the cairn the stone
face of the king. The situation is de-
scribed thus:
He WAS watching her with calm in
difference. The strange unfathomabls
look which is found in large stone faces
had taken possession Of his features.
There he sat, sOmber and mighty, and
Jefrid had vague, indistinct impression
that he was the representation of some
thing that was To he found in herself
and in all human beings. something that
has been buried for many centuries
weighed down with many stones. ard is
not yet dead. She saw him, the old
king, sitting in the center of the human
heart. He had spread his royal mantle
over its unfrIitful soil. There pleasure
seeking held sway. vanity and Eridc dis
ported themselves. He was tho great
stone giant whose heart was not touched
when want and poverty passed him by.
He was a strong stone man who could
bear the load of unrepented sin without
betraying himself. lie always said:
Wherefore sorrow over that which thou
hast done, predestined by the Immor-
tals?'
"Jefrid's breast heaved with deep
sigh. There was a feeling within her
which she could not express in words.
feeling that she, too. would have to fight
with the stone man il she was ever to be
happy But at the same time she real
lied her utter helplessness.
Her impenitence and the stone giant
out on the heath seem to her to be one
and the same, and IL she were not able to
conquer them first they would be sure
sooner or later to obtain the victory over
her."
Knowing that confession will mean
loss of liberty, and unable to struggle
longer with her remorse. Jefrid ends her
struggle by dashing herself desperately
against the jagged rocks Of the cairn.