The daily worker. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1924-1958, 1926-05-29

seed potatoes planted. On two occasions sent
my potatoes with my father to town and told him
that from the proceeds of my potatoes he should
buy me a geography and an atlas On both oc-
casions he sold my potatoes, but forgot to buy
the books, and as he was usually hardup for
money, he had used up my money for other things
before returning home.
The third time that 1 tried to get me geog-
raphy and atlas for the sale of my potato crop
the hired man went to town to transact my faith
er's business during his absence, but this time /
went along myself But woe unto me! The book
dealer did not have the books was after. On
returning home 1 asked the hired man for my
potato money, but he refused to give it to me
and said he would settle with my father first.
When my fourth potato crop was sent to town,
l went again along with it and finally l got my
books! Geography and atlas. During the Christ
mas festivities, l obtained a worlds history by
going farther up the side of the mountain than
where father got his wood, and 1 cut down two
or three birch trees, tied a rope to them 1.-THE
logs) and dragged them down the side of the
mountain to where l could get at them with a
horse and sleigh. Then cut them up into stove
wood, took it to town and sold it, 1t was not
much of a worlds history, mostly about wars,
and kings and not much about civilization. What
interested me most was the history of Greece,
and especially about Socrates, Scion and Lykor-
thing, about the Grecian slavery. What interest
ed me very much about world events at the time
that l was 16 to II years old, was the Partisan
revolts. In Norway at that time there were no
newspapers that sympathized with the Commu-
nists, at least not to my knowledge, and knew
but very little regarding the uprisings, and re
volts, but sufficient for me to know that it was
the masses against the aristocracy and there
fore attracted my entire sympathy,
l remember well once when there was some dis
cussion about the Communist uprisings that
father said to me: cola, you are not so crazy as
to take sides with snch wicked affairs are you ~
said no more about Communism within his hear
ing, but my convictions were firmly held in my
mind just the same Another important move
ment which arose during my youth were the Rus
sian-Nihilist movement which also stirred me to
intense interest, although 1 understood but lit
tie of the underlying cause. / only knew that
they desired to rid themselves of the car
My most beloved author during my youth was
BjornsOn. 1 almost idolized him! He under
went an extended process from faithful ortho-
dox Lutheran to a free thinker and all his doubts
and cogitatiOns in this regard he made public in
his writings, and L read after him all that
could find. At the age of 21 heard him lecture
on ellis Persian Majesty, the Devil" To me the
lecture was intensely interesting The effect of
move the fear of the devil among the younger
generation especially, than anything else in Nor
way.
had no more use for Bjornsen after he, like
so many other highly intelligent and accomp-
lished men, in their old age became conservative
In 1905, when the union with Sweden was dis
solved, Bjornsen worked for the installation Of
king and against republic could not un-
derstand Ibsen in my younger days. Later OBJ
served that in order to understand him one had
to read Bjornsen first. Another author, Danish,
had perhaps greater influence on my spiritual
life than Bjornsen, as he was, in many respects
Bjornsens contemporary Gruntvig died at 90
years of age when / was Is. He wrote one place
that the worlds enlightenment would be moved
to Russia. The light of liberty has now moved to
Russia, but hardly the way that Gruntvig meant
it. Since then / have always had my eyes on
Russia and expecting something to happen there.