Letter
2 Pages
Transcription: Turid Hagelsteen
Translation: Francesca Nichols
Transcription
Kjære frù Höst!
Kùn et par ord i all hast. Har nettop
modtaget Deres brev, om, at De har
solgt træsnit for mig og at penge Kr. 700
er sendt. Tusend tak! Her er endnù
ingen penge ankommen, – men jeg skal
skrive straks, de kommer, og rekoman-
dere bevet; – jeg troede forresten, at jeg
altid havde skrevet og varslet, naar jeg
fik penge – lige siden dengang, De for
ca. 3 aar siden bestemt bad mig om det.
Det gjorde mig ondt at höre, at De
har havt ubehageligheder i Bergen
for min skyld – paa grùnd af det
elendige billedet (det var forresten et godt
billede), – det havde da bare uheld med sig
– det var paa begyndt paa en daarlig dag.
Og det var da et sörgeligt uheld, jeg
altid skal ha med at paaföre mine
bedste venner ùbehageligheder. – Hvad er
aarsagen? Skylden er jo min, men hvor-
for gaar det slig med mig. Jeg bùrde
være hængt. Kjære kan De tilgive
min forsömmelighed? Jeg var syg i den
tiden ahnede heller ikke, at De gjorde no-
gen henvendelser til Bergen. – Det var heller
ikke min mening, at De skùlde gjöre
det for min skyld, – naar jeg skrev til
Dem, var det kùn for at höre, om det
var beleiligt for Dem at modtage billedet
til salg; – da jeg i modsat fald ikke vilde
plage Dem med det.
Ja jeg maa nok slutte for at faa dette
i posten idag. – Har nogen sagt Dem, at jeg
troede at kunne faa höiere priser andensteds,
saa har de löiet, – det maa De aldrig tro, – jeg
synes tvertimod altid, at De faar höiere priser
end jeg venter: – 300 for Kverngang, synes jeg er
stridt meget – ligesaa 75 for fiskeren, – men
nærmere derom senere. Alt, hvad De
tror vil være vanskeligt at sælge; kan
De bare retournere Jeg kan udstille det hos Didr. Andersen?. Men er der ikke
noget, som jeg kan faa lov at trykke til Dem
selv, eller vil De heller, at jeg skal sende
et af mine ùmulige billeder – de er nem-
lig alle ùmùlige efter folks mening.
Undskyld hasten! I haab om at
De kan tilgive mig, er jeg Deres hengivne
Translation
Dear Mrs. Höst!
Just a few words in haste. Have just
received Your letter, stating, that You have
sold woodcuts for me and that money Kroner 700
has been sent. Many thanks! No money has
arrived yet, – but I will
write immediately, when it arrives, and regis-
ter the letter; – incidentally I thought, that I
had always written and notified You, when I
received money – ever since that time, approximately
3 years ago You specifically asked me to.
It pained me to hear, that You
have experienced unpleasantness in Bergen
on my account – because of that
terrible picture (it was by the way a good
picture), – it only brought bad luck
– it was begun on a bad day.
And it is a sad coincidence, that I
always seem to cause my
best friends unpleasantness. – What is
the reason? The fault is mine, but why
does it happen to me. I should
be hanged. My dear can You forgive
my negligence? I was sick at the
time and had no idea that You made
any inquiries in Bergen. – Nor was it
my intention, that You should do
it for my sake, – when I wrote to
You, it was merely to hear, if it
was convenient for You to receive the picture
for sale; – because if the opposite were true I did not wish
to bother You with it.
Well I must end here in order to get this
in the mail today. – If anyone has told You, that I
thought I might get higher prices elsewhere,
then they have lied, – You must never believe that, – I
on the contrary always feel, that You get higher prices
than I expect: – 300 for Milling weather, I think is
extremely high – likewise 75 for the fisherman, – but
more about that later. Everything, that You
think will be difficult to sell; You
can just return I can exhibit it at Didr. Andersen’s?. But is there not
something, which I may be permitted to print for You
yourself, or would You rather, that I send
one of my impossible pictures – they are
impossible according to most people.
Forgive the hurry! In the hope that
You can forgive me, I remain Your devoted