|
Ⅻ
Madam Hof was expecting Peer at her
house，andnow he arrived
there．
"Now you will meet my Hof，"she said，and youwill meet my fireside corner．I never
dreamed of thiswhen I danced in Circe and The Rose Elf in Provence．Indeed，there are not many now who think of
that balletand of little Frandsen．Sic transit gloria in
the moon！-that's what my Hof，who
is a witty fellow，calls it inLatin，and he uses that phrase when I talk about my timeof glory．He likes to poke fun at me，but he does it
witha good heart．"
The"fireside corner"was an inviting room with a lowceiling，a carpet on the floor，and portraits suitable
for abookbinder to have．There were pictures of
Gutenberg，and of Franklin，of
Shakespeare，Cervantes，Molière，andthe two blind poets，Homer and Ossian．Lowest down hungone，enclosed in glass and a broad frame，of a
danseuse，cut out of paper，with
great gold spangles on a dress ofgauze，the right leg
lifted toward heaven，and with a versewritten beneath：
Who captures all hearts by her dancing？
Who wears her wreath of art entrancing？
Miss Emilie Frandsen！
It was written by Hof，who wrote charming verse，es-pecially comic verse．He had clipped the
picture out him-self and pasted and sewed it before he had married his
firstwife．For many years it had lain in a drawer；now it wasdisplayed here in the poet picture gallery-"my
firesidecorner，"as Madam Hof called her little
room．Here Peerand Hof were introduced to each other．
"Isn't he a wonderful man？"she said to Peer．"Tome he is just the most wonderful．"
"Yes，on Sunday，when I am
well bound in my newclothes，"said Herr Hof．
"You are wonderful without any binding，"shesaid，and then she tipped her head down as if she real－ized that she had spoken a little too childishly for one ofher age．
"Old love does not rust，"said Herr Hof．"An oldhouse on fire burns down to the ground．"
"It is as with the phoenix bird，"said Madam
Hof；"one rises up young again．Here is my paradise．I don'tcare to be any
other place-except for an hour or so atyour mother's and grandmother's．"
"And at your sister's，"said Herr Hof．
"No，Angel Hof；that is no
longer a paradise．I musttell you，Peer，they live in small circumstances，and amidbig complications．One doesn't know
what he dares sayin that house．One doesn't dare mention
the word'darky，'for the eldest daughter is engaged to
one whohas some Negro blood in him．One doesn't dare
say'hunchback，'for that one of the children is．Onedoesn't dare talk about 'deficit'-my brother－in－lawhas heen involved in such a mishap．One doesn't evendare say that he has been driving in the wood；wood hasan ugly sound，for Wood was the name
of the fellow whobroke his engagement with the youngest daughter．Idon't like to go out and sit and keep my mouth shut．Ifl don't dare talk，I want to be in my own
house and sitin my fireside corner．Were it not too
sinful，as theysay，I would
gladly ask our Lord to let us live as long asmy fireside corner holds out，for here one grows better．Here is my
paradise，and this my Hof has given me．"
"She has a gold mill in her mouth，" he said．
"And you have gold grains in your beard，"she
said．
Grind，grind what the bag will hold．
Emilie is as pure as gold！
He said，as she tickled him under the chin．
"He wrote that verse at this very moment！It'sgood
enough to be printed！"
"Yes，and handsomely bound！"he
said．
That's how these two old folks amused each other．
A year passed before Peer began to study a role atthe theater．He chose Joseph，but he exchanged it forthe
role of George Brown in the opera The White Lady．He
quickly learned the words and music，and from Wal－ter Scott's novel，which had furnished the
material forthe opera，he obtained a clear，full picture of theyoung，spiried officer who
visits his native hills andcomes to his ancestral castle without knowing it；an oldsong awakens recollections of his childhood；luck is withhim，and he wins a castle and a
wife．
What he read became like something he himself hadlived—a
chapter of his own life's story．The richly melo-dious
music was entirely in keeping．A long，long timepassed before the first rehearsals began．The singing masterdid not think that there was any hurry for him to
make hisappearance，but finally the day to start arrived．He was notmerely a singer；he was an actor，and his whole personalitywas thrown into the role．The chorus and the orchestra ap－plauded him
loudly at the outset，and the opening nightwas looked
forward to with the greatest expectation．
"One can be a great actor in a dressing gown athome"said a good－natured companion，"can be very greatby
daylight，but only so－so before
the footlights in a packedhouse．Time，will tell．"
Peer had no fear，but had a burning desire for
theeventful evening．The singing master，on the contrary，wasextremely nervous．Peer's mother had not the courage to goto the theater；she would be ill with fear for her dear boy．Grandmother
was sick and must stay at home，the doctorhad said；but the faithful friend，Madam Hof，promised tobring news the very same evening of how it all went．Sheshould and would be at the theater，even
if she were dy-ing．
How long that evening was！How the three or fourhours
stretched into eternity！Grandmother sang a psalmand
prayed with Mother to the good God for their littlePeer，that he might this evening also be Lucky Peer．Thehands of the clock moved slowly．
"Now Peer is beginning，"they said．"Now he is inthe middle．Now he has
finished．"The mother and grand－mother looked at each other，but they didn't
say anotherword．
In the streets there was the rumbling of carriages；people
were driving home from the theater．The two womenlooked
down from the window；the people who were passingtalked
in loud voices；they had come from the theater；what they knew would bring either gladness or sadness upinto the
garret of the merchant's house．
At last someone came up the stairs．Madam Hof burstin，followed by her husband．She flung herself
about theneck of the mother and grandmother，but didn't
say aword．She wept and sobbed．
"Lord God"said Mother and Grandmother．"Howdid
everything go for Peer？"
"Let me weep！"said Madam Hof，who was so moved，so overcome．"I cannot bear it．Ah，you dearpeople，you cannot bear it，either！"And her tearsstreamed down．
"Have they hissed him off？"cried Mother．
"No，not that！"said
Madam Hof．"They have-oh，that
I should live to see it！"
Then both Mother and Grandmother wept．
"Be calm，Emilie，"said
Herr Hof．"Peer has con-quered！He has triumphed！They clapped so much
thatthe house nearly tumbled down！I can still feel it
in myhands．It was one storm of applause from the first
row tothe gallery．The entire royal family clapped，too．Really，It was
what one may call a red－letter day in the annals ofthe
theater．It was more than talent-it was genius．"
"Yes， genius！"said
Madam Hof；"those are mywords．God bless you，Hof，because
you said them forme！You good people，never would I have believed thatone could both sing and act like
that，though I have livedthrough a theater's whole
history．"She cried again；Mother
and Grandmother laughed，while tears still randown their
cheeks．
"Now sleep well on that，"said Herr Hof．"Comealong，Emilie．Cood night，good night！"
They left the garret room and two happy peoplethere．These
two were not alone long．The door opened，and Peer，who hadn't promised to come before
the nextforenoon，stood in the room．He well knew how the oldpeople had followed him in their thoughts，how ignorant，too，they
still must be of his success，and when drivingby the
house with the singing master，he had stopped out－side；with the light still burning up in the
garret，he hadfelt he must go to them．
"Splendid，glorious，superb！All went well！"heexclaimed jubilantly，and kissed his mother and hisgrandmother．The
singing master nodded with a beamingface and pressed their hands．
"And now he must go home and have some rest，"hesaid．And the late visit was over．
"Our Father in heaven，how gracious and good Youare！"said these two poor women．They talked
far into thenight about Peer．Everywhere in the great
city peopletalked about him－the young，handsome，wonderful singer．Lucky Peer had gone that far．
|
