Sandalstrand 1ste juledag

Kjære Kramer og frùe

Ja nù har jeg og Engel og börnene meget 

at takke Dere for, – og jeg har intet magtet at faa

istand til Eder – ikke saapas som et lidet træ-

snit i sort og hvidt engang, – men nù skal

det bli, – de to selvportrait skal straks bli

trykt, – havde jeg bare vidst för, at dù önsked

dig dem – "Marz-stemning" faar jeg vist vente

lidt med til det blir lidt lysere, og jeg blir lidt

bedre af asthmaen. Ja tusend tak da kjære

Kramer og frùe for alt; – flödeskeen var Engel

meget begeistret for, – (hùn havde ingen för – deri-

mod the-sil, som frùen nævnte). Og tak da

for den gjilde foræring af æpler til börnene, –

noget bedre kùnde Dere ikke have sendt dem. 

Nù ja, jeg veed ikke, hvor jeg skal begynde og

slùtte, – jeg har været meget nervös om dage-

ne, – min gjæld holdt paa at bli katastrofal,

men nù er det da lysnet; – ja tak for

salget af billedet til Urdahl: – jo jeg er

meget fornöiet, – bare det ikke var formeget, –

dù talte om tùsend (1000) kroner i sommer, og

jeg tænkte, at jeg skùlde slaaet lidt af paa

grùnd af tidernes pinagtighed, – men saa har

jeg jo arbeidet paa det en del siden, – og jeg

synes selv jeg havde naaet lidt mere af mystik-

ken, – men samtidig var det ogsaa bleven lidt

mörkt, – (jeg nævnte vist min "raptùs af gam-

meldagshed"). Saa kom jeg ogsaa til at fernisere

det lidt vel meget i hasten, förend det blev

sendt, saa at jeg i alt var kommen til at

tænke paa afslag i prisen, – men naar jeg intet nævn-

te derin, var det, fordi Engel ofte har bedt

mig om at faa dette billedet fra hendes födested

Sùnde, – (alt er nù forandret hùserne og trær o.s.v.)

og hvis jeg nù lod det staa til med den af dig opsatte

pris, blev det kanske ikke solgt, tænkte jeg, og da

kùnde altsaa Engel faa det. Altsaa ser

dù at jeg var ^{meget vel} fornöiet. – (Engel har isteden faaet

2 andre mindre ting – et kornstaur billede og skissen fra

"Tjernet" – i Veitebergsdalen, – det som Nyquist likte)

II

Frembring derfor min tak til Hr. Urdahl, – og

selv skal dù have tak for dit arbeide med

handelen, – dù siger, at jeg maa sige min "ærlige"

mening, og det har jeg virkelig gjort, – men nù

vil jeg ogsaa faa vide din ærlige mening om

Rabarbra billedet (og gjerne ogsaa din frùes mening)

Dù veed der er ting, som jeg gjerne vil rette paa –

særlig hænderne og det bagerste æpletræ – og

skùlde der da være andre ting, som dù og din frùe

ser, men som jeg har seet mig blind paa, (det gjör

alle malere), saa maa Dere være ærlige og sige mig

det, saa kan vi jo, naar Engel og jeg kommer

hid til Bergen lette paa sakerne; – naar jeg nù

er borte fra billedet en tid, kan jeg ogsaa kanske

se det bedre senere, hvad der skal gjöres. –

Ja mens jeg hùsker det: – Jeg fik tak i en liten

skinke – vel 7 kg. (hùsker ikke akkurat vægten)

men maatte give 5,50.) Jeg skulde faaet sendt

den för jùl, men jeg har været saa daarlig,– jeg

tror det skal være god skinke (fjorgammel, hvad

vi her anser bedst) – jeg skal nù sende den saa

snart leilighed gives, – her er saa pas sne nù, at

her er nogenlùnde före, – men jeg er ikke sik-

ker paa, om dù vil have skinken, – dù skal bare

sige din ærlige mening, – vi kan saa godt beholde

den selv, – (vi behöver den ikke, – da vi har

kjöbt over 90 kg. ferskt flesk nettop – 3 kr. pr. kg!)

Her er vanskeligt om flesk i bygden, da alle har 

solgt i höst, hvad sælges kùnde af frygt for

nedgang, – og nù siden bilerne kom, er man be-

gyndt at sende hele grisene til byen ogsaa. 

Vi er mange folk i hùset nù, da Engels mor og

bror bor hos os, og mad skal der til, – men vi

var heldige og fik baade fersk söfisk og örret

og flesk nù til jùl, – og saa fik vi fat i en fjerding

"Islandsk kryddersild", – jeg har aldrig seet make

til stor sild för, – det er rene smaa laks, – ja

vi har ogsaa rökt noget af den, og da smager

den virkelig som rökelaks, – vi har det altsaa

rigtig godt, – det manglede bare jùleöllet, som

jeg endnù ikke har vovet mig i færd, med da

jeg stadig plages af asthmaen, – tak for gjær

og hùmle, – jeg har endnù ikke vovet at aabne

III

pakken af frygt for explosionen, – (kikket bare

saa vidt ind i den, at jeg saa den var omgivet

af homle, som holdt paa at ville komme ùd. –

en eller anden nysgjærrig postfùnctionær har

nok ùndersögt pakken – i haab om at finde

drikkevarer). Pakken kom i forgaards, og maa

vel eftersees, – kan den tape sig hùrtigt? I dag

fik jeg dit brev med pengene fra Hr. Urdahl,

og da jeg for et par dage ^siden fik 1200 for "Tùnjölet",

som Meyer har solgt for mig til en Wiese Hansen,

saa skulde jeg jo komme et stykke paa vei

med gjælden, – den har trykket mig næsten

lige meget som asthmaen i det sidste; – denne

adrenalinen virker vist ogsaa paa nerver og hù-

mör, – jeg har paa doktorens raad brùkt mindst

mùligt af den og isteden brùkt alkohol, som

jeg har faaet 2 fl. af hver ùge nù i længere tid. 

Ja nù er det afgjort, – (desværre – havde jeg nær sagt)

med reisen – hele stipendiet har jeg nù – mellem

os sagt – faaet omsat i pesetas til 96,50 for 100 p.

ja dagen efter var pesetas yderligere gaaet ned i 95 –

altsaa et tap for mig paa ca. 140 kr., – men velvillige

sjæle har <rodet> saa længe i mine afairer, – ja

dette maa endelig være mellem os; at jeg nù

var kommen ùnder press, slig, at jeg noget maatte

gjöre, – jeg var ogsaa bange, at pesetas gik op

igjen paa grùnd af disse afholdsmændenes

fornærmelser mod Spanien: – men for hver krone

peseta’en nù gaar ned taper jeg altsaa ca. 140 kr. 

gaar den derimod op tjener jeg jo. Det var jo

sörgeligt, at jeg ikke vexlede i fjor, – da var

pesetaen i 71 (i janùar maaned), nù har jeg intet

andet at önske, end at den maa stige grùelig, 

saa jeg slipper at ærgre mig for meget: – jeg tjener

jo ikke paa at den gaar op heller; thi normal kùrs

för krigen var ca. 60–65. – og da er jo en trediedel

af værdien tabt for mig i alle tilfælde. Men

som sagt: lad dette være mellem os, – jeg skal

forklare dig nærmere engang – alt sammen. –

Var jeg nù bare gjældfri her, reiste jeg straks en tùr,

men min familie maa have noget at leve af, –

og penge forslaar jo intet i disse tider, – – ja

hvad syntes dù ærlig talt: Forlangte jeg formeget

for "Tùnjölet"? Hörte siden af Meyer, at Eie tænkte

IIII

paa at kjöbe det, men syntes vist ikke han hadde

plads som passede; – men at han virkelig tænkte

paa det, viser den omstændighed, at han (efter

hvad Meyer fortæller) tog maal af billedet; – (ja

dette skùlde vel kanske ikke været repeteret); –

havde jeg vidst, at Eie tænkte paa det, saa

havde jeg gjerne slaaet af paa de 1200 (til ham).

Ja der er vist mangt og meget, som jeg har

forsömt at svare paa, af det, som dù har spùrgt

om, – bl. andet var det de violinstrengene nù

i höst, – dù skrev, at de skùlde være til han –

som eiede violinen, – og spùrgte vistnok siden, om

jeg havde hùsket at levere dem til spillemanden; 

da havde jeg nettop leveret dem til ham, som eiede

violinen, – men da dù altsaa senere nævnte spille-

manden, – saa har jeg nok misforstaaet din mening.

 – dette har jeg nok glemt at omtale; – violinens

eier skröt af strengene og spurgte, om de var af

sölv, – de var nemlig ùlike de alm. staalqùinter, –

da kom jeg rigtignok til at tænke paa, at de

isaafald jo var for gode til violinens eier, som

bare er en maadelig spillemand, – og at det

var til Johannes Bendiksen – (vor gode spillemand),

dù havde betænkt strengene, – isaafald maa jeg

bede dig paa min regning faa fat i samme sort

strenge og sende dem til Johannes Bendiksen

Nedrebö Jölster

men da bör dù bemærke, at det er sölvstrenger;

thi ellers kan han blive fornærmet over at faa

almindelige quinter, som han selvfölgelig har

stort forrad af. Fond beder mig stadig hilse –

han er her af og til; – motoren er sat i dokk for vinteren.

Zakarias blev meget glad over at faa hilsen fra

Dere og beder mig hilse igjen, – han skjælder stadig paa

vor herre, som sörger saa daarlig for sine skabninger med

veiret "naar han vilde skape noke, so kunde han

skapt det alt til gagns" sier han, – ret som det er 

glider han paa holsken og slaar sig i baken, – da blir

han sint "naar han vilde sende kulde, kùnde han

sende lidt sne og", – saa rimelig var han i gamle

dage – mente Zakris, – men nù bler han verre efter

hvert, nù laver han det saa glatt, som han bare klarer.

Her har forresten været et frygtelig uföre med regn, sne

kulde og regn og kulde igjen – fleire gange paa dagen ofte.

Det er ikke godt for asthmaen og börnene er slemt for-

kjölede – særlig Petra. Lille Eva er frisk og vokser bra.

Engel ber om Dere vil sende et mùndspil – Eva er saa glad i

musik – dù maa före det paa min regning. Ja saa maa Dere leve

vel i Jùlen og Vi alle her önsker Dere et godt aar med tak for det

gamle. Eders Astrup

P.S

Undskyld mit blæksölede brev – jeg har været

meget nervös – har arbeidet hardt for at faa

færdig et par–tre træsnit, som jeg havde faaet penge

for tidlig i höst, og som skulde være færdige til

jùl. Fra Beyer fik jeg rigtig pengene for det træsnit,

han skulde ha til sin frù <Ranner> – han har nævnt 

noget pr. brev om et træsnit til mùsikeren –

Desværre nù regner det igjen, og alle sneen gaar sin

vei, – men inden jeg faar dit svar, om dù vil ha

skinken, kan her jo komme sne og godt före igjen.

Zakarias blir stadig mere forbitret paa "vorherre": –

"Han kunde late da rigne, naar da skùlde rigne – 

men vaaranne, naar ta trængst, daa er han tùrre". –

Og saa er han mere og mere forbitret paa afholds-

mændene, som "lùrte" ham til at stemme for forbùd. 

De havde fortalt ham, at alle folk inde i byn

holdt paa at drikke sig ihjæl, – derfor maatte man

faa samlagene omlagt og overflyttet til apothekene

paa landet, – hvor folk var mere maadeholdne, –

og det var ikke til skade for landsbefolkningen,

syntes nok baade han og andre her. Havde man enda

ladt os faa et aars betænkningstid – siger Zakarias,

saa havde mest ingen her "stemt forbùd" – det var

den rene overrùmpling, mener Zakarias, og deri har 

han visselig ret. – En af afholdsprædikanterne, 

som agiterede den gang, havde ogsaa indbildt baade

ham og andre, at det kostede staten mange millioner

om aarett at holde hùs til alle, som sad i fylle-

aresten i byerne, – ja det blev snart ùmùligt at skaffe

hùs nok til dem. – Flùge bad mig og hilse Dere; – han

har faaet lidt hjælp fra sin sön i Amerika, saa han

kanske klarer braserne dennegang og, – jeg forærede ham

en halv kognak til jùl, og han var meget lykkelig

derover og vilde absolut forære mig noget smalekjöd

– noget som jeg dog afslog, – værre var det med "flekken"

og hans kone, som har foræret os 3 liter flöde til jùl,

uden nogen grùnd, – skal jeg sende ind penge for de

3 liter efter meieriets takst, blir de nok fornærmede,

da de altid forlanger höiere pris for sine varer, – ja dere

hùsker melken i sommer, – og skal jeg regne höiere

pris er det ùmùligt at være sikker paa, naar det er til-

strækkelig meget, – og nogen gave fra de folk tager jeg

ikke imod. – Kari er endnù ikke kommen længer

med sine breve til dere end "kladdene", hvoraf der snart

er en helt bùnke i "skrivekassen", – nù har hùn bedt

saa pent om at faa trykke det lille selvportræt (det

gamle fra 1904) til dere, – og jeg har lovet, at hùn skal

faa lov at forsöke det. Hùn og de andre börnene beder

hilse hjærteligst og takke tùsende gange for æplene (i nat havde

der været en tyv i kjælderen og forsynet sig af dem). Ja atter tak og den

bedste hilsen fra os alle her. D.S.

Sandalstrand Christmas Day

Dear Kramer and Mrs.

Well Engel and I and the children have a lot 

to thank You for, – and I have not had the strength to 

complete for You – even something as simple as a little wood-

cut in black and white, – but now it 

will happen, – the two self-portraits will soon be

printed, – had I only know before, that you wished

to have them – “March atmosphere” I will have to wait

a little with until it is a bit lighter outside, and I am a little 

recovered from the asthma. Well many thanks dear

Kramer and wife for everything; – the cream spoon Engel was

very enthused about, – (she did not have one from before – on 

the other hand a tea strainer, as You mentioned Mrs.). And then thank you

for the kind gift of apples for the children, –

You could not have sent them anything better. 

Well let’s see, I don’t know which end is up or 

down, – I have been very nervous of

late, – my debts had begun to be catastrophic

but now things have become brighter; – well thank you for

the sale of a picture to Urdahl: – yes I am

very satisfied, – I only hope it was not too much, –

you spoke of a thousand (1000) kroner this summer, and

I thought, that I should reduce the price a little because

of the shortages of the times, – but then

I have worked on it some since then, – and I

I think that I have achieved a little more of the mys-

que, – but at the same time it had also become slightly

dark, – (I guess I mentioned my “old-

fashioned rapture”). And then I ended up varnishing

it a bit too much in my haste, before it was

sent, so that I had already come to

think of a discount on the price, – but since I did not men-

tion anything, it was because Engel has often asked

me to give her this picture from her birthplace

Sùnde, – (everything has changed now the houses and trees etc.)

and if I were to leave the price as it was fixed by

you, perhaps it wouldn’t be sold, I thought, and then

Engel might have it. In other words you

see that I was ^{very well} satisfied. – (Engel has instead got

2 other smaller things – a grain pole picture and the sketch from

“The pond” – in Veitebergsdalen, – the one Nyquist liked)

II

Relay therefore my thanks to Mr. Urdahl, – and

thanks to you for your work in connection with 

the transaction, – you say, that I must express my “honest”

opinion, and that I have truly done, – but now

I also wish to have your honest opinion about

the Rhubarb picture (and preferably your wife’s opinion as well)

You know there are things, that I would prefer to correct –

especially the hands and the trees in the background – and

and should there be other things, which you and your wife

see, but which I have become blind to, (all

painters do), then You must be honest and tell me

what, then we can, when Engel and I come

here to Bergen lighten it up; – since I am

now separated from the picture for a while, I may also

be able to see better later, what has to be done. –

Well before I forget; – I got hold of a little

ham – over 7 kg. (don’t remember the exact weight)

but had to pay 5.50.) I should have had it sent

before Christmas, but I have been so ill, – I

believe it’s supposed to be a good ham (last year’s, what 

we consider best) – I will send it now at

the first opportunity, – there is so much snow now, that

the road conditions are passable, – but I am not cer-

tain, whether you want the ham, – you must 

give your honest opinion, – we can very well keep

it ourselves, – (we don’t need it, – as we have

just purchased over 90 kg. fresh ham – 3 kr. per kg!)

Here it is difficult to get ham in the village, as everyone has 

sold in autumn, what could be sold for fear of a

drop in price, – and now that the motorcar has come, one has be-

gun to send the whole pigs to the city as well. 

There are many of us living in the house now, since Engel’s mother and

brother live with us, and food is needed, – but we 

were fortunate and obtained both fresh fish from the sea and trout

and pork now for Christmas, – and then we got hold of a small barrel of

“Icelandic pickled herring”, – I have never seen the likes

of such large herring before, – it is as big as a small salmon, – well

we have also smoked some of it, and then it 

actually tastes like smoked salmon, – in other words we are

doing quite fine, – the only thing lacking is Christmas beer, which

I have not yet ventured to begin with, as

I am still bothered by the asthma, – thank you for the yeast

and hops, – I have not yet dared to open

III

the package for fear of an explosion, – (only took

a peek in it, so I saw it was enveloped 

in hops, which was on the verge of seeping out. –

some inquisitive postal functionary has 

probably examined the package – in the hope of finding

liquor). The package arrived the day before yesterday, and should

probably be inspected, – will it go flat quickly? Today I

received your letter with the money from Mr. Urdahl,

and since I received a few days ^ago 1200 for “Farm(yard) in a ravine”,

which Meyer has sold for me to a certain Wiese Hansen,

I should be able to make some headway 

with my debts, – it has weighed down on me nearly

as much as the asthma lately; – this

adrenaline evidently affects the nerves and me-

mory as well, – I have per the doctor’s advice used as little

as possible of it and instead used alcohol, which

I have received 2 bottles of every week now over a long period. 

Well it has been decided now, – (unfortunately – I nearly said)

the trip, that is – I now have the entire grant – just between

us – have had it exchanged to pesetas at 96.50 for 100 p.

well the following day the pesetas has sank even more[,]down to 95 –

that is a loss for me of approx. 140 kr., – but helpful

souls have <meddled> in my affairs for so long, – well

this must truly remain between us; that I had now

come under pressure, so that I was forced to do

something, – I was also afraid, that the pesetas would rise 

again because of these teetotallers’

insults towards Spain: but for each krone

the peseta falls I lose approx. 140 kr. 

if it rises however I of course gain. It was a

shame , that I did not exchange last year, – the 

peseta was worth 71 (in the month of January), now my greatest

wish is, that it should rise enormously, 

so that I can avoid being aggravated about it: – I do not

gain anything if it rises either; because the normal rate

before the war was approx. 60–65. – and thus one third

of the value is lost to me in any case. But

as I said: let this remain between us, – I will

explain it in detail to you some time – the whole story. –

If only I were free of debt here, I would depart immediately,

but my family must have something to live off, –

and money does not suffice during these times, – – well

what do you think honestly: Did I demand too much

for “Farm(yard) in a Ravine”? I since heard from Meyer, that Eie thought

IIII

about buying it, but didn’t think he had

a spot that was appropriate; – but that he actually thought

about it, shows that there was a instance when (according

to what Meyer says) he took measurements of the picture; – (well

perhaps this should not be repeated); –

had I known, that Eie thought about it, then

I would have gladly given a discount on the 1200 (to him).

Well there is clearly quite a lot, that I have

neglected to respond to, amongst the things you have asked

about, – among other things the violin strings now

this autumn, – you wrote, that they were for the person –

who owned the violin, – and then later asked, whether

I had remembered to deliver them to the fiddler; 

I had just delivered them to the man, who owned

the violin, – but when you later mentioned the fid-

dler, – then I must have misunderstood your intention. 

 – this I have forgotten to mention; – the violin’s

owner admired the strings and asked, whether they were made of

silver, – they were in fact different from common steel e-strings, –

then it occurred to me, that they 

were too good for the violin’s owner, who

was only a mediocre fiddler, – and that it

was Johannes Bendiksen – (our good fiddler),

you had intended the strings for, – in that case I must

ask you to get hold of the same type of

string at my expense and send them to Johannes Bendiksen

Nedrebö Jölster

But then you should mention, that they are silver strings;

for otherwise he may be insulted to get

common e-strings, which he of course has

a large supply of. Fond always asks me to send his greetings –

he is here now and then; – the motor has been docked for the winter. 

Zakarias was very pleased to receive greetings from

You and asks me to return them, – he is constantly reprimanding

Our Lord, who is so poor at taking care of His humans when it comes to

the weather “since He wishes to create something, He might

as well do a thorough job of it” he says, – as it were 

he slid and fell on <the ice> and hurt his backside, – then

he becomes enraged “when He wants to send the cold, He might

send a little snow as well”, – He was reasonable like that in the old

days – according to Zakris, – but now He has become increasingly

worse, now He makes it as slippery as he possibly can.

The conditions here have been terrible with rain, snow

cold and rain and cold again – often several times a day.

It is not good for the asthma and the children have terrible

colds – especially Petra. Little Eva is healthy and growing nicely.

Engel asks if You might send a harmonica – Eva is so fond of

music – you must put it on my account. Well may You be

well during Christmas and all of Us here wish You a prosperous [new] year and thanks for [all 

we shared during] the old one. Your Astrup

P.S

Forgive my ink-smeared letter – I have been

very nervous – have worked hard to

complete two or three woodcuts, which I had received payment

for early this autumn, and which should have been finished by

Christmas. From Beyer I received the correct amount for the woodcut,

he wanted to have for his Mrs. <Ranner> – he has mentioned 

something in a letter about a woodcut for the musician –

Unfortunately it is raining again now, and all the snow is 

disappearing, – but by the time I receive your reply, whether you want

the ham, the snow and good conditions can return.

Zakarias becomes increasingly bitter towards “Our Lord”: –

“He might well let it rain, when it should rain – 

but during spring sowing, then he is dry”. –

And then he is more and more bitter towards the tee-

totallers, who “tricked” him into voting for prohibition.

They had told him, that all the people in the city

were drinking themselves to death, – therefore one had to

have the state liquor stores diverted and moved to the pharmacies

in the countryside, – where people were more temperate, –

and it wasn’t harmful for the rural population,

both he and others here believed. If only we had been

allowed to have a year of deliberation – says Zakarias,

then hardly anyone would have “voted for prohibition” – we

were caught off guard, in Zakarias’ opinion, and in that 

he is surely right. – One of the prohibition preachers, 

who agitated back then, had convinced both

him and others, that it costs the government millions

every year to accommodate all those in police custody for public

intoxication in the cities, – indeed it was nigh impossible to obtain

enough room for all of them. – Flùge asked me to send You his greetings; – he

has got a little help from his son in America, so he

will probably pull through this time as well, – I gave him

half a cognac for Christmas, and he was very happy 

for that and wanted absolutely to give me some mutton

– which I nevertheless declined, – it did not go as well with “the Mole”

and his wife, who has given us 3 litres of cream for Christmas,

for no reason, – if I send them money for the

3 litres based on the dairy’s rate, they will surely be insulted,

as they always demand higher prices for their wares, – well you

remember the milk this summer, – and if I calculate a higher

price it is impossible to be sure, when it is suf-

ficient enough, – and any gift from those people I will

not accept. – Kari has not come any further

with her letter to you than “drafts”, of which there is soon

a whole pile in the “writing box”, – now she has asked

nicely to be given permission to print the little self-portrait (the

old one from 1904) for you, – and I have promised, that she can

try to do it. She and the other children send their

warmest greetings and thank you profusely for the apples (last night there

was a thief in the cellar who helped himself to them.). Well again thanks and 

best wishes from all of us here D.S.