Robert had this to add: They must all realize that when the world was destroyed, then the whole globe would be destroyed in one moment. That little part of the earth’s surface called Sweden could not fall out by itself and disintegrate.
Ulrika said: “I wouldn’t send a letter to that hellhole, whether it has sunk below or not!”
She continued in bitterness as her memories rose within her: To whom would she write? To the dean in Ljuder who had chased her away from the Lord’s altar and forbidden her the Sacrament, and who many times had called her a child of Satan? She had always answered him: “Yes, dear Father, I hear you calling me!”—Or should she write the sheriff and thank him for putting her in prison? Or the judge of the county court who sentenced her to bread and water? Or should she send a letter to the prison guard who gave her this fine fare, who brought her the dirty water and the mildewed bread? Should he receive an epistle of love from her, was he worth it? And all those in the home parish who had spit at her and thrown filth after her — should she remember them with a letter? Was any single creature among that damned packet worth a letter? All they did was to serve the devil every moment of their lives.
Only one person in Sweden would Ulrika like to honor with a letter — the King himself. She would like to thank His Majesty for the feast she had enjoyed in the royal prison, and she would like to tell him that she daily thanked her Creator for having liberated her from being a subject of His Majesty. She would also like to ask the royal person on his high throne how his conscience could let him rule a kingdom where little children were sold at auction, their whole childhood through to be mistreated by greedy, cruel peasants. She would like to tell the King how happy she now was to have escaped from his kingdom, to have arrived in a country where neither he nor any of the lordships at home had any power, a country where she was considered one of God’s own creatures.
Yes, indeed, next time she got hold of paper and writing tools she would send the King of Sweden a farewell letter from one of his former subjects. And before she put this letter into an envelope addressed to the “King by God’s Grace” at Stockholm Castle, they could guess what she would do with it!
They all laughed at the Glad One’s letter to the King — they all knew she couldn’t write.
Karl Oskar said: “Forget the old! It’s over.”
What purpose could be served by harboring grudges against Sweden? Now that they had arrived in a new, young country, it was better to forget all that old stuff, throw it away as they threw away old rags. They must not keep their homeland so much in their minds that it depressed and irritated them; this would only hinder their success in America.
Ulrika agreed on this point, as did Danjel and Jonas Petter, But Kristina sat silent the whole time and let no one know how she felt about the danger of thinking too much of her homeland.
— 2—
Every day Robert read in his language book, every day he practiced the new forms and positions indicated for his lips and tongue. The most useful sentences he learned by heart: how to ask one’s way to inns and lodging places, to food stores and eating places; how to ask the price of food and quarters; how to find work, and above all — the salary paid for work: How much wages do you pay? He must be sure to ask the right question in each instance. He also learned the numbers in English, as he considered these of the greatest importance to avoid being cheated when receiving change or pay.
Not only was it important to ask rightly; it was equally important to answer correctly when the Americans asked questions. He studied the exercises on getting a job: What can you do? In Sweden he had been a farm hand. But he didn’t like the English word farm hand. Farm hand! It sounded too lowly an occupation, as if he were one hand of the farmer, a piece of his master’s body, another farm tool used by the master. In Sweden he had actually felt that he was nothing more than a tool, a most insignificant and helpless tool, used by the masters as they saw fit. But here the servant was as good as the master, and he had emigrated to America because he didn’t wish to be a tool used by masters; he didn’t want to have any masters, he wanted to be free.
No, he wanted to tell the Americans what he could do: I can plow and tend cattle! It sounded more like a man talking, inspiring more confidence than to say, I am a farm hand; it sounded more capable and grown-up, as if he worked with his own hands and not with the master’s.
The Americans were polite and considerate and always asked a stranger how he was. Robert wanted to be equally polite and he had learned by heart the reply: Thank you! I am feeling very well! True enough, he wasn’t quite well, his ear still bothered him, but he wasn’t going to admit that, not even if he were worse than he was. He didn’t want to cause the friendly Americans anxiety in any way. He didn’t want them to go about worrying over his health; they had so many other things to worry about, and so much to do.
If he were offered some food that was spoiled or tasted bad (for in America, too, he had discovered such dishes), then he would be courteous, like a man of the world; he would say that he didn’t have time to eat and drink just now, he had a few things to attend to. The Americans, themselves so industrious and thrifty, would hardly blame him for attending to his business.
The language book gave advice about conversations with people of different trades and positions: Conversation with an Innkeeper, Conversation with a Watchmaker, Conversation with a Hatmaker, Conversation with a Shoemaker, Conversation with a Laundress, Conversation When Purchasing a Country Place, Conversation When Building a Log House. Each conversation listed a dozen questions and answers, and as soon as one knew the person concerned, it was merely a matter of opening the book and starting off. Under different headings were lists of words most frequently used: Time, Nature and the World, Man, Mental Qualities, Bodily Attributes, Plants and Flowers, Metals and Stones, Animals — Wild and Tame. If Robert wanted to report to the police that he had found a corpse in the street, he would only have to look under Man. And if he wanted to compliment someone on his great intelligence, he would look under Mental Qualities; if he wished to tell a girl how beautiful she was, he must turn to the heading Bodily Attributes. And when he had become rich and wanted to buy a riding horse, a thoroughbred stallion, he must choose the words for this transaction under Animals — Wild and Tame. Having bought the stallion, he might also wish to buy a golden watch, and instruction for this purchase might be obtained under Stones and Metals, or perhaps under Conversation with a Watchmaker.
Robert had written down on a list the names of all the dishes he liked: veal, mutton, pork sausage, rice porridge, pancakes. He had learned to name forty-three different dishes and twelve kinds of drinks. He wanted to have everything in order for the day when his riches were accumulated so that he could order anything he liked and finish up the order with this sentence from his book: Put all the dishes on the table!
He had heard stories of immigrants who in a short time had accumulated immense fortunes but had been unable to handle their riches. Greed had eaten them up or dried them up, or gluttony had made their stomachs swell to abnormal proportions. Some rotted away in unmentionable vices. Money was their destruction. Robert felt a warning in this for himself. Ever since entering the portals of the New World in New York, he had pondered his ambition in America and how best to effectuate it. He would neither become puffed-up and haughty in prosperity, nor would he worry in adversity, like a weakling. He would not wish for everything he saw, he would be satisfied with sufficient possessions, a small fortune, easy to handle; moderate riches would not be dangerous, would not tempt him to destroy himself.