Pelle the Conqueror, vol 4 | Page 6

and set out at a good pace.
The active movement set his pulses beating. The sky had never before
been so bright as it was to-day; the sun shone right into his heart. There
was a smiling greeting in it all--in the wind that threw itself into his
very arms, in the fresh earth and in the running water in the ditches.
Welcome back again, Pelle!
How wide and fair the world looks when you've spent years within four
bare walls! Down in the south the clouds were like the breast of a great
bright bird, one of those that come a long way every year with summer
in the beat of their strong wings; and on all sides lay the open, white
roads, pointing onward with bright assurances.
For the fourth time he was setting out to conquer the world, and this
time it was in bitter earnest. There had always before proved to be
something more behind, but now he felt that what he should now set
out upon would be decisive; if he was victorious now, he would
conquer eternity. This time it must be either for weal or woe, and all
that he possessed he was now bringing into the field. He had never
before been so heavily equipped. Far off he could still make out the
dome of the prison, which stood there like a huge mill over the descent
to the nether world, and ground misery into crime in the name of
humanity. It sucked down every one who was exposed to life's
uncertainty; he had himself hung in the funnel and felt how its whirling
drew him down.
But Pelle had been too well equipped. Hitherto he had successfully
converted everything into means of rising, and he took this in the same
way. His hair was no longer fair, but, on the other hand, his mind was
magically filled with a secret knowledge of the inner nature of things,
for he had sat at the root of all things, and by listening had drawn it out
of the solitude. He had been sitting moping in the dark mountain like
Prince Fortune, while Eternity sang to him of the great wonder. The
spirits of evil had carried him away into the mountains; that was all.
And now they had set him free again, believing that he had become a
troll like all his predecessors. But Pelle was not bewitched. He had

already consumed many things in his growth, and this was added to the
rest. What did a little confinement signify as compared with the slow
drip, drip, of centuries? Had he not been born with a caul, upon which
neither steel nor poison made any impression?
He sat down on an elevation, pulled off his cap, and let the cool breeze
play upon his forehead. It was full of rich promises; in its vernal
wandering over the earth it had gathered up all that could improve and
strengthen, and loaded him with it. Look around you, Pelle!
On all sides the soil was being prepared, the plough-teams nodded up
the gentle inclines and disappeared down the other side. A thin vapor
rose from the soil; it was the last of the cold evaporating in the
declining spring day. Some way down a few red cottages smilingly
faced the sunset, and still farther on lay the town with its eternal cloud
of smoke hanging over it.
What would his future be like down there? And how did matters stand?
Had the new made its way to the front, or would he once more have to
submit to an extortioner, get only the bare necessaries of life out of his
work, and see the rest disappear into some one else's pocket? A number
of new factories had grown up, and now formed quite a belt about the
city, with their hundreds of giant chimneys stretching up into the sky.
But something must be going on, since they were not smoking. Was it a
wages conflict?
He was now going to lay plans for his life, build it up again upon the
deep foundation that had been laid in his solitude; and yet he knew
absolutely nothing of the conditions down in the town! Well, he had
friends in thousands; the town was simply lying waiting to receive him
with open arms, more fond of him than ever because of all he had
suffered. With all his ignorance he had been able to lead them on a little
way; the development had chosen him as its blind instrument, and it
had been successful; but now he was going to lead them right into the
land, for now he felt the burden of life within him.
Hullo! if he wasn't building castles in the air just as in