The Road Leads On

The Road Leads On

The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Road Leads On, by Knut
Hamsun #2 in our series by Knut Hamsun
Copyright laws are changing all over the world. Be sure to check the
copyright laws for your country before downloading or redistributing
this or any other Project Gutenberg eBook.
This header should be the first thing seen when viewing this Project
Gutenberg file. Please do not remove it. Do not change or edit the
header without written permission.
Please read the "legal small print," and other information about the
eBook and Project Gutenberg at the bottom of this file. Included is
important information about your specific rights and restrictions in how
the file may be used. You can also find out about how to make a
donation to Project Gutenberg, and how to get involved.
**Welcome To The World of Free Plain Vanilla Electronic Texts**
**eBooks Readable By Both Humans and By Computers, Since
1971**
*****These eBooks Were Prepared By Thousands of
Volunteers!*****
Title: The Road Leads On
Author: Knut Hamsun
Release Date: February, 2005 [EBook #7536] [Yes, we are more than
one year ahead of schedule] [This file was first posted on May 14,
2003]
Edition: 10

Language: English
Character set encoding: ISO-Latin-1
*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE ROAD
LEADS ON ***

Produced by Eric Eldred, Robert Connal and the Online Distributed
Proofreading Team.

[Note from the etext preparer: The final chapters in this book (after 31)
are wrongly numbered.]

THE ROAD LEADS ON
BY
KNUT HAMSUN

TRANSLATED FROM THE NORWEGIAN BY
EUGENE GAY-TIFFT

PUBLISHED IN NEW YORK BY
COWARD-MCCANN, INC.
IN THE YEAR 1934

Original Title MEN LIVET LEVER
COPYRIGHT, 1934, BY
COWARD-McCANN, INC.
All Rights Reserved

THE ROAD LEADS ON

CHAPTER ONE
The third generation now guides the destiny of Jensen's great store in

Segelfoss. Originally founded by one Per Jensen, dubbed Per paa Bua,
it continued under the direction of his son Theodore, also "paa Bua,"
who traded far and wide, stood forth as a true son of progress and was
rain or blue sky to all who crossed his path. Nor was that so very long
ago, either; people in town do not have to strain their minds to
remember him, for he was contemporary with the old Lieutenant's son,
Willatz, who simply went bothering his head about music and came to
nought in this world.
Theodore, on the contrary, came to a very great deal. His achievements
could be listed at length: village burgomaster, heavy tax-payer, a
merchant trading in a grand manner hitherto unknown, once even with
a commercial traveler to take in the towns of northern Norway, three
men in the store itself, and an office manager to keep his books for him.
An active fellow, that Theodore paa Bua, aspiring, waxing ever more
prosperous, owner of a fish-sloop and two herring-seines, each with its
boat and full equipment, growing more and more kindly with the years,
taking a paternal interest in those who were feeling life's pinch, and in
time becoming well-liked. In bad years for both sea and soil, many a
one was compelled to go to Theodore paa Bua for the bread to keep
him alive, and this could not be denied. But, as a matter of course, they
would first have to pay him extravagant homage, or, at least, to wag
their heads, overwhelmed by all his power and wealth. "A single sack
of flour?" he might ask. "How long do you think that will last that
family of yours?" Then, hearing the poor wretch reply that he dared not
think of going into him for more, Theodore might turn to one of his
clerks and say: "Let him have two sacks!" And, after issuing such an
order, it was only right and proper that he should inwardly swell to the
bursting point.
He had cast eyes in the direction of Frøken Holmengraa, the
mill-owner's daughter, but nothing ever came of that. No, in that
particular Theodore paa Bua's vanity had overshot its mark and, since
his office manager had been merely a bauble to flash in the fair one's
eyes, his first move was to let the poor chap go. There was more to it
than that, however: though he continued to maintain his balance and
promptly saw the error of his ways, he shortly took advantage of the

situation and, one fine day, married the sexton's juvenile daughter who
had by no means spurned his courtship. Thus, in spite of his folly in
certain directions, Theodore proved that he had a remarkably level head
on his shoulders, for he gained a delightful wife, ardent and handsome
as a young filly, and if it happened that she was no more than seventeen,
she was really