so there isn’t much left to live on

for a large family – and in fact the entire family

lives off the vicarage and nothing

more. The man, who had told you last year that

my father had a lucrative profession should take a look at

the civil servant calendar for clergymen, then he would

see that Jölster is listed at 2.600 – two thousand

six hundred kroner – and even if the office has

increased a bit, so that it is closer to 3000 now,

it is nevertheless far from sufficient for a large family.

You have of course heard the sad news,

that our good friend Aarstad Olsen is dead.

He died like a good heathen, thank God.

Spring is late in arriving here – it [Jølster] is high up in the mountains

the snow reaches far down ~~throug~~ the sides of the mountains, and not

one bud has sprung open; but on the other hand

when the heat arrives in earnest, everything happens

so damned quickly, too quickly. One of my

friends among the farm boys here is leaving for

Bergen now and will attempt, if he is allowed to

exhibit, – he will be among the "naïf painters". I imagine I will

hear from you, whether you like him, if he is

allowed to hang his pictures up in the Art Society. Live well!

Say hello to your wife from my wife and me. Your N. Astrup

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