Chasing the Sun | Page 8

to be cast overboard. I will, therefore, cut it short with the remark that the subject is well worthy the attention of even deeper-thinking men than are ever likely to read this book.
When the three friends, Temple, Grant, and Sorrel, found themselves in the quaint old city of Bergen their first thought was supper; their second thought bed.
Now this may seem to some minds a dreadfully low and contemptible state of things. "What!" a romantic reader may exclaim, "they had arrived in that celebrated city, from which in days of old the stalwart Vikings used to issue on their daring voyages, in which the descendants of these grand fellows still dwell, and in which are interesting memorials of the past and quaint evidences of the present. Did your heroes, Temple, Sorrel, and Grant, think of supper and of bed when their feet for the first time trod the soil of Old Norway?"
Even so! Romantic reader, I am bound to tell you that romance is all very well in its way, but it has no power whatever over an empty stomach or an exhausted brain.
When our three friends landed in Bergen it was past midnight. Their admiration of the scenery had induced them to neglect supper and to defy sleep, so that when they landed they felt more than half inclined to fall upon their boatman and eat him up alive, and then to fall down on the stone pier and go off to sleep at once.
In this frame of mind and body they entered the house of Madame Sontoom, and called for supper.
Madame Sontoom was the owner of a private hotel. Moreover, she was the owner of a plump body and a warm heart. Consequently, she at once became a mother to all who were fortunate enough to dwell under her roof.
Her hotel was by no means like to a hotel in this country. It was more like a private residence. There were no hired waiters. Her amiable daughters waited; and they did not look upon you as a customer, or conduct themselves like servants. No, they treated you as a visitor, and conducted themselves with the agreeable familiarity of friends! Of course they presented their bill when you were about to leave them, but in all other respects the idea of a hotel was banished from the mind.
"Supper," cried Temple, on entering the house.
"Ya, ya," (yes, yes), in cheerful tones from two of Madame Sontoom's daughters.
Then followed a violent conversation in the Norse language, in which there was much that was puzzling, and more that was amusing, for the Norwegian ladies were talkative and inquisitive.
Fred Temple had studied the Norse language for three months before setting out on this voyage, and, being a good linguist he understood a good deal of what was said, and could make his own wants known pretty well. Grant had studied the language also, but not for so long a time, and, being an indifferent linguist, he made little headway in conversation. As to Sam Sorrel, he had no talent for languages. He hated every language but his mother-tongue, had not studied Norse at all, and did not intend to do so. It may be supposed, therefore, that he was dumb. Far from it. He had picked up a few phrases by ear, and was so fond of making use of these, and of twisting them into all shapes and out of all shape, that he really appeared to be a great talker of Norse, although in reality he could scarcely talk at all!
Supper consisted of coffee, rolls, eggs, "gamleost" (old cheese), lobster, and smoked salmon. The viands were good, the appetites were also good, so the supper went off admirably.
"Ver so goot," said one of the young ladies, handing Mr Sorrel a plate of smoked salmon.
"Tak, tak," (thanks, thanks), said our artist, accepting the salmon, and beginning to devour it.
"I say, what d'ye mean by `ver so goot'? You're never done saying it. What does it mean?"
The fair waitress laughed, and bowed politely, as much as to say, "I don't understand English."
"Can you explain it, Fred?" said Sam.
"Well, yes, I can give you a sort of explanation," replied Fred, "but it is not an easy sentence to translate. `Ver so goot' (another claw of that lobster, please. Thanks),--`ver so goot' is an expression that seems to me capable of extension and distension. It is a comfortable, jovial, rollicking expression, if I may say so. I cannot think of a better way of conveying an idea of its meaning than saying that it is a compound of the phrases `be so good,' `by your leave,' `good luck to you,' `go it, ye cripples,' and `that's your sort.' The first of these, `be so good,' is the literal translation. The others are more or less