Kjære Kramer!

Ja jeg skulde jo længst skrevet og takket

Eder for all venlighed mod os i Bergen.  

Dere maa rigtig undskylde min ùmù-

lighed, som blir værre og værre; – reisens

nærhed og nervösitet og asthma; – flere

aarsaker vil jeg ikke tage med. –––

Ja saa, Holm har boet hos Eder, – ja

Dù giver mig vel ikke skylden for at 

han mùligens har plaget Eder, – han 

er jo en meget begavet ùng mand, men 

meget nervös, og hans nervösitet har

den evne at smitte paa andre; – ja han 

spurgte mig, om der var noget at faa se af

mig i Bergen, – og jeg nævnte da dig, – og

at dù sikkert ikke havde noget imod, 

at han fik se de ting, dù havde af mig, 

men jeg troede jo ikke, at han, som Engel

siger "skùlde lægge sig ind paa Eder", – 

jeg haaber i det længste, at det er Eders

gjæstfrihed og ikke hans paatrængenhed, som 

er aarsak i, at han boede hos Eder. –––

Vi fik brev fra ham for et par dage siden, 

og han fortæller, at han havde det saa 

storartet hos Eder. –––

Ja det gik forbandet skitt med det

"hùset", – manden havde lovet mig at

vente den ùken, för han rev ned hùset; – 

men da han intet telegram fik fra dig, 

og det var bleven kjendt, at han vilde

sælge det mærkelige gamle hus, saa

kom der straks flere, som vilde kjöpe det. 

II

En skolelærer, som forpligtede sig til 

at opföre det nöiagtig, som det stod, 

fik da efter ùgens udlöb kjöbe hùset

for 600 Kr. – Jeg ærgrer mig endnù

over, at vi ikke fik kjöbe hùset enten

dù eller jeg, – det var mellem 3 – og 400

aar gammelt (og ùdmærket materiale – 

saa nær som den ene stok, som jeg omtalte). 

Slike rùndtömmer hùs findes her ikke fler

af, tror jeg, – det loftet inde paa Myklebust

skal komùnen kjöbe, – det var vel desuden 

for dyrt (3000 Kr.), – jeg fik en snedker at

taxere det, og han mente, at material vær-

dien kom næsten op i mod det belöp, – nù

blir det vel til bygdemùseùm. Nù veed jeg 

bare et eneste rùndtömmer hùs igjen i bygden, 

og det er paa Sögnesand inderst i Kjösnesfjorden

(der er ogsaa et i Sandal, men det er sammen bygget med andet slags)

Vi faar tage os en tur ind til vaaren og se paa

det ^{paa Sögnesand}; – men det er lang vei og lang transport, – 

dù kommer ikke saa billigt til det, som dù

kùnde kommet til det huset paa Strand, – 

og nù havde det passet at faa det op kjört

i vinterens löb, – saa man kùnde faaet det

opfört til vaaren. – Ja nù maa vi ikke

lade det gamle hùset paa Sögnesand 

slippe fra os, – vil ikke dù have det, – 

saa vil jeg. – Dù maa komme hid til vaaren. 

Ja nù træffes vi jo snart og kan tales nær-

mere ved om dette og andet. Vi reiser

antagelig omkring den 15^de ds. Roùten blir

over Köln og langs Rinnen i smaa dagsreiser – derfra

til Wien, – saa til Italien og videre til Rivieraen 

Marseille og Barcelona – Taragona – Valencia og 

mùligens de baleariske öer – saa til Madrid og sydover

til Granada og Sevilla og Malaga og Cadix (Europas ældste by) 

Kanske over til Afrika – Lev vel! Paa gjensyn! Bedste hilsen! Eders Astrup

Dear Kramer!

Well I should have written long ago to thank

You for all your kindness towards us in Bergen. 

You must truly pardon my impos-

sible behaviour, which gets worse by the day: – the proximity

of the trip and anxiety and asthma; – further

reasons I will not add. –––

Well so Holm has stayed with You, – well

You won’t blame me if 

he has been a nuisance towards You, – he 

is a very talented young man, but 

quite anxious, and his anxiety has

the ability to infect others; – well he 

asked me, whether there was anything of

mine to see in Bergen, – and I thus mentioned you, – and

that you probably wouldn’t mind, 

if he was to see what you have of mine, 

but I did not think, that he would, as Engel

says “impose himself on You”, – 

I sincerely hope, that it is Your

hospitality and not his intrusiveness, that 

is the reason, why he stayed with You. –––

We received a letter from him a few days ago, 

and he writes, that he had a 

magnificent time with You. –––

Well the matter of that “house” ended pretty 

shittily, – the man had promised me that

he would wait out this week, before tearing down the house; - 

but when he did not receive a telegram from you, 

and it became known, that he wanted to

sell that peculiar old house, then a number

of others who wanted to buy it immediately appeared. 

II

A schoolteacher, who committed himself 

to erecting it exactly as it stood

got the house at the end of the week

for 600 kr. – I am still annoyed

that we did not get to buy the house neither 

you nor I, – it was between 3 – and 400

years old (and made of excellent materials – 

nearly all but the one log, which I mentioned). 

It is the last of such round log buildings to be found

here, I think, – the [historic] loft in Myklebust

is being purchased by the municipality, – it was probably 

too expensive anyway (3000 kr.), – I had a carpenter 

appraise it, and he believed the value of the

materials was close to that sum, – now

it will probably become part of a folk museum. I know 

of only one remaining round log house in the village, 

and it is in Sögnesand at the head of Kjösnesfjorden

(there is also one in Sandal, but it is attached to another type)

We should take a trip there in the spring and look at

the one ^{in Sögnesand}; – but it is a long way and a long transport, – 

you will not get hold of it as cheaply, as you

might have got the house in Strand, – 

and it would have been convenient to have it transported now

during the winter, – so that one might have it

erected in the spring. – Well now we must not

let the old house in Sögnesand 

get away from us, – if you do not want to have it, – 

then I do. – You must come here in the spring. 

Well we will see each other soon and can talk

more about this and more. We are probably leaving

around 15^th Dec. The route will be

via Cologne and on short day trips along the Rhine – from there

to Vienna, – then to Italy and further to the Riviera 

Marseille and Barcelona – Taragona – Valencia and 

perhaps the Balearic islands – then to Madrid and southward

to Granada and Seville and Malaga and Cadiz (Europe’s oldest city) 

Perhaps across to Africa – Live well! See you soon! Best wishes! Your Astrup