Kjære Kramer

Ja jeg er den gamle ùtaknemlige, – som

ikke engang takker eller kviterer for modtagelsen

af gaver, – ja tusend tak da kjære ven for

stilleben-sakerne, desværre var plommerne

og drùerne "gaaet" paa veien, men det övrige

blev straks "stillet op" og jeg gik i gang med

studiet af belysninger og komplikationer,

men jeg var ikke kommet stort i gang med ar-

beidet, da jeg blev saa elendig, at jeg intet kùnne

gjöre paa en ùges tid, – denne gang var det dog

ikke asthmaen, men maven, som slog feil. –

Jeg vilde gjerne faa stùdere i fred for asthmaen

og tog derfor nogle vældige doser jod. natri. og 

forgiftede vistnok maven slig, at jeg troede aldrig

den skùlde blevet bra igjen, – heldigvis var

asthmaen saa hensynsfuld, at den, i betraktning

af mine frygtelige mavesmerter, afholdt sig fra

at plage mig synderlig i den tiden, – nù er jeg

bedre og den tager sit mon igjen. – Under

disse omstændigheder blev det ikke noget særligt

af stillebenet, – den ene frùgt efter den anden

er ogsaa afgaaet ved en salig död til dels i börne-

nes maver, og saa valgte jeg en slig eiendommelig

belysning, at jeg vistnok ikke klarer opgaven, – og

saa har jeg havt en meget vidtlöftig "bygning"

for mig – jeg har nemlig bygget et "tre etages" hùs

med atteliere i toppen, – og da jeg paa forhaand var

uden penge, kan dù tænke dig, at det ikke var

noget letvindt arbeide at lave noget af

intet, – det staar da ogsaa bare halvfærdigt,

og jeg maa vistnok lade det staa med det

indtil næste aar, – kanske tiderne ogsaa kunde

II

bedre sig, – jeg har været fræk nok til at tage

materialer paa kredit, ùden at jeg ahner, hvor

jeg skal faa penge fra til at betale halvdelen

med, – det er jo ogsaa ùkristelige priser paa alt.

Hùset er 11–12 alen langt og 7 alen bredt og

det er min hensigt at lægge endnù noget paa

bredden for attelierets – vedkommende, da jeg

vil indrette det slig, at jeg kan formindske eller

udvide det ved löse vægge efter behov og for at

spare opvarming e.t.c. – Underetagen er jeg

tænkt at stöpe af cement, men den er for dyr

nù, – et rùm ovenpaa skal være "standarværk" og

panelinger og pap – o.s.v. er ogsaa for dyrt nù –

(dette rùm skal være til börnene – en stùe er

tömret af flere gamle hùs som vi har plùkket

ùd det bedste af, – attelieret er af nyt tömmer –

Glastak paa atteleieret har jeg forelöbig ikke raad

til heller, men maa vel skaffe mig det til

Vaaren, hvo hvorledes tror dù jeg skulde faa det

billigst? – jeg fik engang en handelsmand til at

skaffe mig glas, og da jeg skulde have mere af

samme sort, skrev jeg til Didr. Andersen, hos

hvem hin handelsmand havde faaet det, men

stor var min forbauselse, da jeg saa, at Didr. Andersen

tog næsten dobbelt saa meget af mig, som af hin

landhandler, – men tiderne har jo forandret sig

siden den gang, og jeg veed ikke, om jeg vil kùnne

faa det billigere gjennem en landhandler nù, –

jeg har ikke ahnelse om hvad glas koster for tiden

og tör derfor ikke indlade mig paa det, – förend

jeg faa greie paa priserne, – dù veed vel heller ikke,

hvad glas koster? – da det er skraatleggende vindùer

paa svags skraanende tak (denne^{^} vinkel) saa maa det

være dobbel glastykkelse for at taale sneen, – og 

saa maa jeg brùge jernskinner at lægge glasset i 

af hensyn til tætheten, men jeg vil brùge træ ùnder

ile jernskinnerne, – jeg har allerede indlagt sprosser

III

for længde retning og er nù ùviss om jeg skal tage

bare en tversprosse eller 2; – af hensyn til lyset

var det jo bedst med bare 1 en tversprosse, og naar

jeg har sprossene 5 tommer dybe og 2 tommer brede maa

det klare sig, ^{iallefald længdesprosserne} naar de blir fastklinket flere steder

i jernskinnerne, – hvis jeg bare tager en tversprosse

bliver hver rute 48 X 15 tommer (nöiagtig 51"x 14 ¾"), 

og der vil da medgaa 12 slige rùder; – jeg har indlagt 

7 længdesprosser og tænker forelöbig at indlægge træ

istedenfor glas – bedst var det jo om jeg kùnde lagt

ind glas med en gang. Kunde dù give mig en "kal-

kyle over, hvad glasset vilde koste, vilde jeg være dig

meget taknemlig (hùsk tykkeste sort glas!) – jeg vil

nemlig meget nödig selv spörge Didr. Andersen

derom, og jeg faar ikke anledning nù at faa en han-

delsmand her til at spörge derom. – Ja nù har

jeg plaget dig nok med dette hùset, siger dù vel.

Ja nù faar jeg da rùm nok her, om dù med familie

vil besöke os. Jeg bùrde kanske ventet med

attelieret og den övrige bygning, til jeg saa, 

hvorledes det gik med vor "spekulation" i Øiene,

men det ser jo lidt langtækkeligt ùd med den. –

I fölge din opfordring, har jeg ùnderhandlet igjen

med grùndeieren, og da loven (om bygselmænds

ret til at faa expropriere) er gaaet igjennem,

er der ingen, som nù "gaar paa" ham for at faa

kjöbe; – imidlertid gaar man saa meget haardere

paa bygselfolkene – Olaùs og Olina har nok

været der, og Lovisa (söster til Olaùs) og hendes far

og mor spekulerer ogsaa, – men bygselloven er end-

nù ikkje traadt i kraft, saa bygselfolkene kan

endnù intet gjöre – "Rabben" (nærmeste nabo til

bygselbruget) er ogsaa "spekulant" og har ladt bygselfolke-

ne faa bo hos sig nù, medens de pagter væk brùket – der

blev nemlig intet af auktionen eller Amerikareisen

i sommer, – ùvist om det ogsaa blir af; da "gamla"

har sat sig paa bagbenene og vil ikke afsted til

IIII

Amerika – hùn vil "graves ned her" – kanske hùn

kunde dö snart, – vir vi faar kanske haabe det, 

thi da har vi alle chanser paa haanden, – da

grùndeieren nù gaar i et sandt raseri, fordi alle

"spekulanter" ùnderhandler med bygselfolkene og ikke

med ham, – vi er de eneste, som ikke gaar bag

hans ryg, og – jeg haaber – han vil belönne os derfor,

han skal ikke sætte prisen höiere op for os ùndta-

gen ùforudseede omstændigheder skulde indtræffe, –

har han lovet mig, – og jeg skal, – ifald nogen byder

over, – faa underretning; – han vil have mig til at

pùrre paa "formynderen", at han skal faa handel

istand mellem bygselfolkene og han ^grùndeieren om deres rettigheder

og hùsene, – men "formynderen" staar magteslös overfor

"gamla", som vil "graves ned her", – ja bare hùn nù

döde förend bygsel loven træder i kraft. – da har vi alt

i orden med en gang. – Olaùs har sagt, at han

vil byde 6000 for grùndeierens ret, og "kanske" han

töier sig lidt længer ogsaa". Hvis han da vil give

over 2500 for hùsene ^{og bygselfolkenes rettigheder}, kommer han over vort bùd,

men grundeieren er saa forarget paa hans ùnderhand-

ling med bygselfolkene, at Olaùs maa nok byde

adskilligt over vort bùd, förend grundeieren sælger

til ham. Verre er det med en rig slegtning af grùndeieren

men det er paa en maade heldig for os dette med

bygselloven; – thi det gjör at folk ikke ùnderhandler

med grundeieren, – og efter min opfatning, blir det

nù til syvende og sidst han, som faar bruket igjen; –

thi "taxten" kommer til at blive saavidt höi for

bygselfolkene, at de kommer til at betænke sig og heller

sælger sine rettigheder til grùndeieren, og han har sagt

til mig (under tausheds löfte) at han vil byde 2500 for

bygselfolkenes rettigheder og hùse, – om det blir fornödent.

Jeg skal en af de förste dage træffe "formynderen" og 

faa vide bygselfolkenes planer – (om de tænker paa at 

erhverve sig eiendommen). Forelöbig er intet at gjöre.

Vi faar se tiden an, – længe kan ikke bygselfolkene

V

holde det gaaede i ùvished slig, da de taber paa

at pakte eiendommen bort, – og den sidste (yngste) datter

vil ikke gaa længer hjemme, og det blir for dyrt

at drive gaarden bare med leiet hjælp, og "gamla"

er for gammel til at drive gaarden alene – selv om

hùn har en dreng. ---

Jeg tænker at reise en tùr til östlandet, – og kanske

derfra til ùdlandet – lader saa familien være igjen

der – kanske Engel og Kari blir med en tùr – Kari

er ikke rigtig sterk – kùnde trænge et par maaneders

ophold i lidt sydligere egne. – Engel er trods al for-

sigtighed "paa veie" igjen til en ny historie, – men det

maa dù ikke skrive om til mig; thi da blir hùn 

rasende paa mig, som har sladret, – vi er rykende ù-

venner om dagene angaaende hùset, som hver vil ha

paa sin vis, – og naar man samtidig mangler penge, er

det ikke saa greit, – jeg kunde nok faa laane paa hùset,

men vil helst pröve at undgaa mere gjæld. 

Jeg takker dig for dit tilbùd om at tage Petra en tid,

men jeg er bange hùn vilde blive til plage, da hùn

er noksaa sær – tager til taarerne for alt og ingen ting. 

Dù maa ikke holde noget rùm ledigt for vor skyld,

jeg veed jo heller ikke, hvad tid det kan blive til at

vi kommer afsted, – jeg har saa meget gjæld, som maa

ordnes först, og saa er det denne bygningen, som

maa sikres lidt med forelöbigt tak, bordklædning, assù-

rance o.s.v., – saa at ikke hele vort arbeide er

lagt öde naar ^vi kommer igjen. – (en nabo har nemlig

spaaet, at vinden för vinteren er omme skal have 

blaast alt overende) – hùset rager jo en del i veiret og

vinterstormene kommer nok til at tage i hùset,

som forelöbig bare staar paa stolper – vinterstormene kan

være leie i en fjeldbygd. – "Stillebenet" skulde

jeg önske dù kunde seet og udtalt dig om, – jeg er saa

usikker, – jeg har forsöget det med nogen herlige gùle

æpler, som vi fik en del af i aar i haven – de hang

som gùle smörklùmper udenfor kjökkenvindùet og

lyste lang vei – ja endog om kveldene naar lampen var

tændt. Hylden staar helt grön endnù ùde og blomstrer

for anden gang mellem de röde bær, og rosen har sat nye

knipper, men kulden tar dem nok, förend de springer ud. En mær-

kelig mild höst her i fjeldbygden. Ja saa maa dù leve vel og hilse

din frùe frå din hengivne Engel og Nikolai Astrup

Dear Kramer

Yes I am an old ingrate, – who

does not even thank or acknowledge the receipt

of gifts, – well many thanks dear friend for

the still life objects, unfortunately the plums

and grapes had “turned” en route, but the rest

were immediately “set up” and I began to

study the different types lighting and problems,

but I had barely gotten started with the 

work, when I became so ill, that I was unable to

do anything for about a week, – this time it was 

not the asthma however, but my stomach, that rebelled. –

I wished to study in peace from the asthma

and therefore took few very large doses of sodium iodide and 

evidently contaminated by stomach, so that I thought 

it would never recover, – fortunately the

asthma was so thoughtful, that, in consideration 

of my terrible stomach pains, it refrained from

tormenting me unduly while it lasted, – I am 

better now and it has returned in full force again. – Under

these circumstances nothing much came

of the still life, – one fruit after the other

has also blissfully passed away some in the child-

rend’s stomachs, and then I chose such distinctive

lighting, that I probably won’t manage to accomplish it

and then I have an extremely complicated “building”

to deal with – I have built a house with “three floors”

with a studio on top, – and because to begin with I

had no money, you can imagine, that it was 

not an easy job to create something out of

nothing, – it remains only half-finished,

and I will most likely have to let it remain so

until next year, – perhaps the times might also

II

improve, – I have been cheeky enough to buy

the materials on credit, without any idea, where

I will get the money to pay the half

of it, – the prices for everything are also barbaric. 

The house is 11–12 alen long and 7 alen wide and

it is my intention to add even more to 

the width for the sake – of the studio, as I

wish to design it in such a way, that I can compress it or 

widen it with the help of detachable walls according to need and to 

save on heating, etc. – I have planned to lay the foundation

of the ground floor in cement, but it is too expensive

now, – one room above will be of timber framing and

panelling and cardboard – etc. are also too expensive now –

(this room shall be for the children – the one cabin is

built of timber from several old cabins which we have plucked

the best [materials] from, the studio is built with new timber –

Nor can I afford a skylight for the studio 

at the moment, but will have to acquire it 

in the spring, how where do you think I might get it

cheapest? – I once had a merchant 

obtain glass for me, and when I needed more of

the same type, I wrote to Didr. Andersen, from

whom this merchant had obtained it, and

great was my astonishment, when I saw that Didr. Andersen

took nearly twice as much from me, as from the

merchant, – but the times have changed

since then, and I don’t know whether I will be able

to get it cheaper through a local merchant now, –

I have no idea what glass currently costs

and for that reason I dare not get involved, – before

I find out the prices, – you don’t happen to know either,

what glass costs? – they are windows that lie at a slant

on a slightly sloping roof (^illustration this angle) so it has to

be glass of double thickness in order to bear [the weight of] the snow, – and 

then I will have to use metal runners to fit the glass into in 

order to make it close fitting, but I will use wood beneath

{…} the metal runners, – I have already inserted mullions

III

in the vertical direction and am now uncertain whether I should make

only one horizontal transom or 2; – for the sake of the light

it would be best with only 1 one transom, and when

I have made the mullions and transoms 5 inches deep and 2 inches in width it

should be enough ^{at least the mullions}, when they become tightly latched in several places

to the metal runners, – if I just make one transom

each pane will be 48 X 15 inches (precisely 51 “x 14 ¾”), 

and that would require 12 such panes; – I have inserted 

7 mullions and am thinking of temporarily inserting wood

instead of glass – it would be best of course if I could in-

stall the glass right away. If you could give me a “cal-

culation of what the glass would cost, I would be 

very grateful to you (remember the thickest type of glass!) – because I

am very reluctant to ask Didr. Andersen about it

myself, and I won’t have the opportunity to have a mer-

chant from here ask about it. – Well now I

have bothered you enough with this cabin, you are probably saying.

Well now I will have enough rooms here, if you and your family

wish to visit us. I probably should have waited with

the studio and the other building, until I saw, 

how things developed with our “speculation” in the Øiene,

but it looks as though it will be a drawn-out affair.–

In keeping with your request, I have negotiated again

with the landowner, and since the law (regarding the cottars’

right to expropriation) has been passed,

there is no one “pressuring” him to let them

buy; – however people are putting much harder pressure

on the cottars –– Olaùs and Olina have surely

been there, and Lovisa (Olaùs’ sister) and her father

and mother are speculating as well, – but the cottar ruling has not

yet gone into effect, so they are unable to do

anything as yet – “Rabben” (the closest neighbour to the

cottars’ smallholding) is also a “speculator” and has allowed the cot-

tars to stay at his place, while they lease out the smallholding – nothing

came of the auction or the departure to America

this summer, – and it’s uncertain whether anything will come of it; since “the old woman”

is sitting on her hind legs and refuses to leave for

IIII

America – she wants to “be put in the ground here” – maybe she

will die soon, – wer we can hope so, 

because then we will have the best of chances at hand, – 

the landowner is seething with anger now, because all

“the speculators” are negotiating with the cottars and not

with him, – we are the only ones, who are not going behind

his back, and – I hope – he will reward us for that reason,

he will not raise the price for us un-

less unforeseen circumstances should occur, –

he has promised me, – and I will, – in the event that someone bids

higher, – be informed; – he wants me to

remind the “guardian”, that he should get the negotiations

going between the cottars and him ^{the landowner} regarding their rights

and the buildings, – while “the guardian” is powerless with regard to

“the old lady”, who wishes to be “put in the ground here”, – oh if only she would

die now before the leaseholder ruling goes into effect. – then we would have everything 

in order straightaway. – Olaùs has said, that he

will bid 6000 for the landowner’s rights, and “maybe” he

will stretch himself a little longer as well”. If he then wishes to offer

more than 2500 for the buildings ^{and the cottars’ rights}, he will exceed our bid,

but the landowner is so resentful about his negotiat-

ing with the cottars that Olaùs will have to bid

considerably above our bid, for the landowner to sell

to him. A rich relative of the landowner is a more worrisome matter

but in a way we are fortunate due to the

leaseholder ruling; – because as a consequence people do not negotiate

with the landowner, – and in my opinion, it will

ultimately be him, who will get the smallholding back; –

because “the tariff” is going to be so high for

the cottars, that they will reconsider and rather

sell their rights to the landowner, and he has told

me (after promising confidentiality) that he will bid 2500 for

the cottars’ rights and buildings, – if it will be necessary.

I am going to meet “the guardian” any day now and 

will find out the cottars’ plans – (if they are planning to 

purchase the property). In the meantime there is nothing to do.

We will have to wait and see, – the cottars cannot continue

in uncertainty like this for long, as they lose 

by leasing out the property, – and the last (youngest) daughter

no longer wishes to live at home, and it will be too expensive

to run the farm with only hired help, and “the old woman”

is too old to run the farm alone – even though

she has a farmhand. –––

I am thinking of making a trip to East Norway, – and perhaps

from there abroad – leaving the family 

there – perhaps Engel and Kari will join me for a while – Kari

is not very strong – could use a couple of months’

sojourn in a more southern environment. – Engel is despite every pre-

caution “in a family way” again, – but you

must not write about this to me; because then she will be 

furious with me, for having tattled, – we have become enraged with

each other these days because of the cabin, each wanting to have

our own way, – and when one also lacks money it

is not so easy, – I might be able to borrow on the house,

but would prefer to avoid more debts. 

I thank you for your offer to take Petra for a while,

but I’m afraid she would be a bother, as she

is pretty sensitive – takes to crying for the slightest thing. 

You must not reserve a room for our sake,

I don’t know, when we will find the time to

get away, – I have considerable debts, which have

to be taken care of first, and then there is the matter of this cabin, which

must be secured a bit with a temporary roof, weatherboards, insur-

ance etc., – so that all the work has not been

laid waste when ^we return. – (a neighbour has

predicted, that before the winter is over, the wind will have 

blown everything to the ground) – the cabin is rather high and

the winter storms will surely have a go at the house,

which at present only rests on pilings – the winter storms can

be troubling in a mountain village. – I wish that you could

see and give your opinion about the “Still life”, – I am very

uncertain, – I have supplemented it with some lovely yellow

apples, which we have had a few of this year in the garden – they hung

like yellow lumps of butter outside the kitchen window and

glowed from a distance – in fact even in the evenings when the lamp was

lit. The elder still stands out there entirely green and blooming

for the second time between its red berries, and the rosebush has produced new

buds, but the cold will surely take them, before they bloom. A strange-

ly mild autumn here in this mountain village. Well may you live well then and say

hello to your wife from your devoted Engel and Nikolai Astrup