Letter

Astrup, Nikolai to Kramer, Per
1923-11-14

Transcription:

Tor Martin Leknes

Translation:

Francesca Nichols

Page

  • 1,
  • 2,
  • 3,
  • 4,
  • 5,
  • 6
Transcription
Translation

Letter

Astrup, Nikolai to Kramer, Per
1923-11-14
ubb-ms-1808-h-12, MARCUS – Spesialsamlingene ved Universitetsbiblioteket i Bergen

6 Pages

Transcription: Tor Martin Leknes

Translation: Francesca Nichols

Transcription

Kjære ven! 

Hjærtelig tak for sidst! Hils din sympathiske

ùnge nevö, og tak ham fra mig for visitten; – vi

blev alle saa glade i ham, – og det var bare

kjedeligt, at vi ikke kùnde gjort noget mere ud

af toùren, – men veiret og aarstiden og hans daarlige

fod gjorde jo længere ùdflùgter umùlige. –––

Ja saa maa dù have tùsend tak for dit stræv med

ùhrene, – jeg blir skyldig dig meget nù, – og saa tak for

aparatet til telefonen, som Olaùs kom med, – han

var i en meget animeret tilstand, – havde "gaaet paa

fyld" i 14 dages tid, sa han og – mellem os sagt – havde

han glemt igjen baade et og andet af sit "habengùt" ùnder-

veis, og telefonaparatet havde nok faaet en slem medfart,

saa alt, som var af "kaùtsjuk", – eller "gùmmi", var knùst:

"taletrakten" – hörerörene o.s.v – (særlig det rör som var löst, 

og som jeg ikke veed hvad det skal brùges til; – dette "re-

serverör" (?) har jeg nù limet sammen, – saa jeg antager , det

kan brùkes, – værre er det, at den tynde metalplate i 

det faste hörerör har faaet en styg bùle efter en skarp

gjenstand). Ja jeg har intet sagt til ham om det; thi

han kùnde jo ikke saa godt hjælpe for det i den tilstand,

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hvori han da var; – han er jo ellers en ganske hyggelig

kar, – og han havde rigelig "sjænk" med sig til os. 

Telefonen er nù i orden til Myklebùst; – Dvergsdal gaar

nordover med sin telefon – og har "kabel" over Kjösnesfjorden –

til Skei, og vi gaar til Vasenden altsaa; – men der er altsaa

ingen forbindelse mellem de to linjer; – stivhed, bygdepolitik

og fornærmelser gjör, at der nù altsaa staar igjen ca 3–4

kilometer, som mangler paa, at vi har telefon langs hele syd-

siden. Stationen her i Sandal er hos Kristoffer (posthùset) og

det blir langt for mig at faa ledning did – der er ca 3 eller

iallefald 2½ kilometer did, og da jeg maa have to ledninger

(en frem og en tilbake), og to kroker og to isolatorer for hver

stolpe, saa blir det saa dyr historie, at jeg faa betænke mig

en tid paa at anskaffe det. Fond og aktionererne paa

Myklebùst har {…} bestemt sig imellem, at jeg skal

faa tilknytte ledning direkte, – men Sandal gaar ikke med

paa det, og det er desùden ikke lovligt, – da rikstele-

fonen forlanger, at vi for at faa tilknytning til rikstelefonen

maa have samme slags aparater, som de brùker, og det koster

140 kr. forùden nogen extra smaating; – og saa vil ikke riks-

telefonen give tilladelse til mere end 4 aparater paa denne

linje, og disse fire er allerede indstallerede; – men jeg kan

mùligens i "smùg" indskyde en "isolationstraad"; – her staar

nemlig en stolpe i tætteste skogen nedenfor nyhùset her, 

og det vilde da let lade sig gjöre, ùden at nogen op-

dagede det, at tilknytte eller indskyde i ledningen et par

isloationstraade, som da enten kùnde gaa fra gren til

gren i trærene like op til hæggen og derfra ind i ny-

hùset, – eller jeg kùnde lede dem ned langs stolpen og lade

dem gaa gjennem et vandledningsrör op til hùset, – det sid-

ste vilde dog lettere opdages. Det kùnde jo være ganske

bekvemt at have sin telefon slik helt hemmelig, –

man havde fordelene ved en telefon og kùnde ùndgaa

ùlemperne: – man slap at staa til tjeneste for hver mand

med sin telefon, – man slap unödige opringninger og den

stadige alarm, – men saa maate jeg vel have et "sig-

nal", som kùn Nilsen paa Vasenden kjendte, saa han

kùnde faa tak i mig, om dù eller andre venner ùdenfor

bygden vilde have tak i mig, – men skùlde dette signal

fùngere, blev jeg nödt at höre paa alle de andre signaler

hele dagen; – det lod sig ogsaa kanske ordne med

Kristoffer Sandal slig, at han heiste flag eller lignende

naar nogen vilde have tak i mig, saa at jeg da kùnde

"koble ledningen". I et hvert fald maatte jeg have en sær-

lig tyk isolationstraad, – lige saa tyk som selve ledningen,

saa der ikke blev nogen "modstand" paa linjen. –––

Kùnde dù skaffe mig en slig isolationstraad? Jeg skal

i saafald opgive tykkelsen paa "strengen", som er brukt

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her paa "linjen" – (den er ikke saa tyk som rikstelefonens

ledninger). Tror dù ikke, at en god isolationstraad

vil "staa sig" ùde i alskens veir, hvis man af og til

giver den en overstrykning med tjære eller kanske

maling. Jeg tror, at en lysledningstraad vilde være

af passende tykkelse, men jeg veed ikke om "isolatio-

nen" er sikker nok paa en slik til taale regn; – en

lysledningstraad har jo ogsaa den fordel, at de to traade

er tvùnde sammen. –––

Ja saa var det "St. Hansbaalet". – Tak for din omtale til

Kreyberg af det, – men jeg synes det blir en lidt vel

"grov lögn", – at lade det gaa for "skissen til Griegs billede",

det er jo et helt andet motiv, – noget som Kreyberg

selv vil have anledning til at overbevise sig om. –

Men for at lade "lögnen" blive til sanhed, saa har jeg, som

dù kanske hùsker, staaende en skisse (adskillig större) hos

Kristoffer Sandal af samme motiv som Griegs billede; –

det er jo svært ùfærdig, – jeg fik jo "pösregn" – de to tre gange,

jeg skulde stùdere "priselden" paa "Bjönnahammaren"; –

men jeg faar kanske pröve at gjöre noget ùd av det, – men

rigtig i en hast gaar det ikke, da jeg er slemt plaget af

sting om dagene eller særlig nætterne, og asthmadjævelen

stikker ogsaa hovedet frem, – jeg frös nemlig frygtelig en

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nat og har været daarlig siden; – dette rùmmet er jo

koldt som et hùndehùs, fordi det staar aabent hele

loftet ovenpaa, – det blir ikke varmt, förend jeg faar

færdigbygget attelieret ovenpaa; – det er af hensyn til

Arnold jeg ligger her, for at jeg skal kùnne vække ham

om natten, og det har jeg rigelig anledning til, da det er 

daarligt med min nattesövn. ––– Ja dù taler

om Kjött, – vi har slagtet 10 skrotter, – jeg gjorde saa daarlig

handel i fjor (eller forfjor rettere), saa at Lovisa Stranden

tjente ca 100 kr. paa mig, – og det har jeg stadig faaet höre

af Engel, – derfor har jeg fraskrevet mig alt ansvar og

stræv med kjöt-forsyningen; og iaar har Engel faaet styre

og raade, som hùn vilde, – men hùn maatte give 1,80 pr.

kilo, – saa det blev nok mere en 1,50 , som dù mener vi

maatte kunde faa det for her; – nei det er nok i mange

maater dyrt at bo i en fjeldbygd, – selv veden, som vi

brùker en masse af, maa vi betale dyrere end i Förde

35 – 40 kr. pr. favn: (28–30 kr. i Gloppen og Förde) –

meierierne her "byder den op". Naar jeg faar atteliere o.s.v.

i orden, vil jeg indrette mig paa udelukkende at brùke sten-

kùl. – Nù skal jeg fortælle dig noget, – som dù ikke maa

misforstaa. Fond er nok lidt fornærmet paa mig for tiden.

Engel havde nemlig fortalt ham, at jeg havde solgt mit

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hùs paa Myklebùst til Kramer for kr. 1000 –. Fond

sa da til Engel, at han havde bùdt mig 2000 for det, –

men det har eg aldrig hört – han har kanske tænkt

at byde mig det, men han har aldrig gjort det, – jeg

holdt en gang paa at sælge det til Hildùr Hoskildsen, som

böd mig 1500 – (ùnder forudsætning af at grùndeieren gik

med paa at lade min bygselkontrakt gaa over paa hende)

men P.C. Hoskildsen forpùrrede handelen, da han gjerne

vilde give det samme, og saa blev der intet af det hele.

Jeg maatte love at holde ham hùset til haande for 1500,

men da jeg mellem os sagt – i sommer bad ham om at laane

mig kr. 100 i den værste nöd; svarede han mig ikke en gang.

Jeg laante ham jo flere tusend paa toùren (og blev snydt

paa noget ved tilbakebetalingen – men det var min egen

feil som oversaa det, – og jeg liker aldrig komme med

noget efterpaa et opgjör, – jeg bùrde da heller ikke nævnt

dette nù – men det "bliver jo mellem os".) – Altsaa over for

ham föler jeg mig ikke længer forpligtet, – og Fond har aldrig

nævnt noget til mig, – det er noget, han bare indbilder sig;

men han vidste om historierne med Hildùr og Hoskildsen, og

derfor sa han til Engel, at han ikke kùnne byde mig ùnder

1500 og derfor "gik over" og böd 2000. – Men som jeg antydede för – dù maa

ikke misforstaa mig, jeg sælger heller for 1000 til bortflytning end til 1500 eller

2000 paa stedet – det har ærgret mig nok at se det der efter narreriet med de 3 maal

jord o.s.v. – Jeg taber jo meget i begge tilfældene. Nù har Olaùs og jeg været der inde og har

taget maal af tomten – bygningensmand Anders Aasen fik vi med os – han tager vistnok

flytningen saa billig som mùligt – Jeg havde aftalt med "Flekken" om tomten – men nù havde 

dù talt med Olaùs – jeg tror nok han blir lidt dyrere – som fagmand. Ja de bedste hilsen da. 

Din Astrup

Translation

Dear friend! 

It was wonderful to see you again! Say hello to your sympathetic

young nephew, and thank him from me for his visit; – we

all grew very fond of him, – and it was a real

shame, that we could not make more 

of his trip, – but the weather and the season and his bad

foot made lengthier outings impossible. –––

Well and then many thanks for your efforts regarding

the clocks, – I am deeply in debt to you now, – and thank you for

the apparatus for the telephone, which Olaùs brought us, – he

was in a very animated state, – had “been on 

a bender” for a fortnight, he said and – between the two of us – he

had forgotten one or another of his “paraphernalia” along

the way, and the telephone apparatus had taken a beating,

so that, everything that was made out of “caoutchouc”, – or “rubber”, was broken:

the “mouthpiece cone” – the earpieces, etc. – (especially the loose tube

which I have no idea what is used for; – this “spare

tube” (?) I have now glued together, – so I presume, it

is usable, – but the thin metal plate in

the fixed earpiece has acquired an ugly bump from a sharp

object). Well I have not said a word to him about it; because

he could not help it in the state, 

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that he was in; – he is normally a rather nice

fellow, – and he brought a generous dose of “liquor” with him for us. 

The telephone [service] is in order as far as Myklebùst now; – Dvergsdal reaches

northward with its telephone – and has a “cable” across Kjösnesfjorden –

to Skei, and ours leads to Vasenden; – but there is

no connection between the two lines; – due to obstinacy, village politics

and insults there now remain approx. 3–4 kilometres,

that are lacking in order for us to have telephone lines along the

entire south side. The station here in Sandal is at Kristoffer’s (the postal station) and

it would be difficult for me to have a line reach that far – it is approx. 3 or

at least 2½ kilometres away, and since I must have two cables

(one there and one back), and two hooks and two insulators for each

pole, it would be such an expensive affair, that I must consider

for a while whether I will get it. Fond and the shareholders in

Myklebùst have {…} decided among themselves, that I shall

have a direct line connected, – but Sandal will not agree

to it, and in addition it is illegal, – since the national phone

company requires, that in order to be connected to the long-distance line

we must have the same type of telephone apparatuses as they use, and that costs

140 kr. in addition to some extra small components; – and then the national phone

company will not permit more than 4 telephones along this

line, and these four have already been installed; – but it’s possible

I might “secretly” insert an “insulation cord”; – since there is

a pole in the thickest part of the forest below the new cabin house here, 

and it would be easy, without anyone discov-

ing it, to connect or insert a couple of 

insulation cords to the line, which might then either extend from branch to

branch in the trees all the way up to the bird cherry and from there into

the new cabin, – or I might have them extend down along the pole 

and through a water pipe up to the cabin, – although the lat-

ter would be more easily discovered. It would be very

convenient to have a telephone of one’s own like that in total secrecy, –

one would have the benefits of a telephone while avoiding

the disadvantages: – one would avoid being at the service of everyone

with a telephone, – one would avoid unnecessary phone calls and the

constant apprehension, – but then I would have to have a “sig-

nal”, that only Nilsen in Vasenden knew, so that he

might get hold of me, if you or other friends outside

the village wanted to reach me, – but if this signal were to

work, I would be obliged to listen to all the other signals

throughout the day; – it might perhaps also be arranged with

Kristoffer Sandal in such a way, that he raised his flag or something similar

when someone wanted to reach me, so that I might then 

“hook up”. In any case I would need to have a par-

ticularly thick insulation chord, – as thick as the telephone line itself,

so that there wouldn’t be any “resistance” on the line. –––

Would you obtain an insulation chord for me? I will 

in that case inform you of the thickness of “the chord”, which is used

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here on “the line” – (it is not as thick as the national telephone

chords). Don’t you think, that a good insulation chord

will “survive” outdoors in all kinds of weather, if one gives it a

coat of tar once in a while or perhaps of

paint. I think a lamp chord would be

a suitable thickness, but I don’t know if the “insula-

tion” on it is secure enough to withstand rain; – a

lamp chord also has the advantage that the two wires

are wound together. –––

Well and then there is the “Midsummer Eve Bonfire”. – Thank you for

mentioning it to Kreyberg, – but I feel it would be a rather

“crude lie”, – to present it as “a sketch for Grieg’s picture”,

it is a totally different motif, – which Kreyberg

himself will have ample opportunity to convince himself of.

But to allow the “lie” to become truth, I have, as 

you perhaps remember, a sketch (considerably larger) in

Kristoffer Sandal’s keeping of the same motif as Grieg’s picture;

it is quite incomplete, – I encountered “pouring rain” – the two three times,

I intended to study “Midsummer Eve bonfire” in “Bjönnahammaren”; –

but I will perhaps try to make something out of it, – although

it cannot be done in a great hurry, as I am terribly afflicted with

twinges lately or particularly at night, and the asthma devil

also raises its ugly head, – I froze terribly you see one

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night and have been unwell ever since; – this room is 

cold as a doghouse, because the entire attic upstairs

remains open, – it will not be warm, until I finish

building the studio on the second floor; – it is for 

Arnold’s sake that I lie here, so that I can wake him

at night, which I have abundant opportunities to do, as I 

sleep very poorly at night. ––– Well you speak

of Meat, – we have slaughtered 10 carcasses, – I made such a poor

business of it last year (or the year before rather), that Lovisa Stranden

made around 100 kr. off me, – and this I have been repeatedly reminded of

by Engel, – I have therefore renounced all responsibility and

efforts related to meat supplies; and this year Engel has been able to 

do as she pleases, – yet she still had to pay 1.80 per

kilo, – so it was more than the 1.50, which you thought we

should be able to get it for here; – well in many ways

it’s expensive to live in a mountain village, – even the firewood, which we

consume great amounts of, we have to pay a higher price for than in Förde

35 – 40 kr. per fathom: (28–30 kr. in Gloppen and Förde) –

the dairies here “raise the price through bidding”. When I finish building

the studio, etc., I will arrange it so that I will only use anthracite

coal. – Now I will tell you something, – which you must not

misunderstand. Fond may be a bit offended with me of late.

Engel has told him, that I had sold my

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house in Myklebùst to Kramer for kr. 1000 –. Fond

then said to Engel, that he had offered me 2000 for it, –

but I have never heard that – he has perhaps thought

of offering me that sum, but he has never done so, – I

was on the verge once of selling it to Hildùr Hoskildsen, who

offered me 1500 – (provided the landowner agreed

to transfer my leaseholder’s contract over to her)

but P.C. Hoskildsen thwarted the transaction, as he 

wanted to offer the same sum, and then nothing came of it.

I had to promise to reserve the house for him for 1500,

but just between us – when I asked him this summer to lend

me kr. 100 during our worst need; he did not even respond.

I lent him several thousand on our trip (and was cheated

of some of the repayment – but it was my own

fault for having overlooked it, – and I never like to take up

something again after settling a matter, – I should not mention

this now either – but it “will remain between us”.) – In other words

I no longer feel obligated to him, – and Fond has never

mentioned anything to me, – it is something he has merely imagined;

but he knew about the story pertaining to Hildùr and Hoskildsen, and

that’s why he told Engel, that he could not offer me less than

1500 and therefore “went above” and offered 2000. – But as I insinuated before – you must

not misunderstand me, I would rather sell it for 1000 to have it moved than for 1500 or

2000 to remain on the site – it has annoyed me enough to see it there after being deceived about the ¾ of an acre of

land, etc. – I lose a lot in both cases. Olaùs and I have been there and

measured the lot – the builder Anders Aasen came with us – he will supposedly conduct

the move as cheaply as possible – I had arranged with “The Mole” about the lot – but now 

that you have spoken with Olaùs – I believe he will be a little more expensive – as a 

professional labourer. Well best wishes then. 

Your Astrup