A Happy Boy by Bjørnstjerne Bjørnson

A Happy Boy

By

Description

Oyvind grew and became a clever boy; he was among the first scholars at school, and at home he was faithful in all his tasks. This was because at home he loved his mother and at school the school-master; he saw but little of his father, who was always either off fishing or was attending to the mill, where half the parish had their grinding done.
What had the most influence on his mind in these days was the school-master's history, which his mother related to him one evening as they sat by the hearth. It sank into his books, it thrust itself beneath every word the school-master spoke, it lurked in the school-room when all was still. It caused him to be obedient and reverent, and to have an easier apprehension as it were of everything that was taught him.
The school-master's name was Baard, and he once had a brother whose name was Anders. They thought a great deal of each other; they both enlisted; they lived together in the town, and took part in the war, both being made corporals, and serving in the same company. On their return home after the war, every one thought they were two splendid fellows. Now their father died; he had a good deal of personal property, which was not easy to divide, but the brothers decided, in order that this should be no cause of disagreement between them, to put the things up at auction, so that each might buy what he wanted, and the proceeds could be divided between them. No sooner said than done. Their father had owned a large gold watch, which had a wide-spread fame, because it was the only gold watch people in that part of the country had seen, and when it was put up many a rich man tried to get it until the two brothers began to take part in the bidding; then the rest ceased. Now, Baard expected Anders to let him have the watch, and Anders expected the same of Baard; each bid in his turn to put the other to the test, and they looked hard at each other while bidding. When the watch had been run up to twenty dollars, it seemed to Baard that his brother was not acting rightly, and he continued to bid until he got it almost up to thirty; as Anders kept on, it struck Baard that his brother could not remember how kind he had always been to him, nor that he was the elder of the two, and the watch went up to over thirty dollars. Anders still kept on. Then Baard suddenly bid forty dollars, and ceased to look at his brother. It grew very still in the auction-room, the voice of the lensmand one was heard calmly naming the price. Anders, standing there, thought if Baard could afford to give forty dollars he could also, and if Baard grudged him the watch, he might as well take it. He bid higher. This Baard felt to be the greatest disgrace that had ever befallen him; he bid fifty dollars, in a very low tone. Many people stood around, and Anders did not see how his brother could so mock at him in the hearing of all; he bid higher. At length Baard laughed.

More Bjørnstjerne Bjørnson Books

  • The Complete Harvard Classics - 71 Volumes

    The Complete Harvard Classics - 71 Volumes

    Charles W. Eliot, Benjamin Franklin, John Woolman, William Penn, Plato, Epictetus, Marcus Aurelius, Francis Bacon, John Milton, Thomas Browne, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Robert Burns, Saint Augustine, Thomas à Kempis, Aeschylus, Sophocles, Euripides, Aristophanes, Cicero, Pliny the Younger, Adam Smith, Charles Darwin, Plutarch, Virgil, Miguel de Cervantes, John Bunyan, Izaak Walton, Aesop, The Brothers Grimm, Hans Christian Andersen, John Dryden, Richard Brinsley Sheridan, David Garrick, Oliver Goldsmith, Percy Bysshe Shelley, Robert Browning, George Gordon Byron, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, Christopher Marlowe, Dante Alighieri, Alessandro Manzoni, Homer, Richard Henry Dana, Edmund Burke, John Stuart Mill, Thomas Carlyle, Pedro Calderón de la Barca, Pierre Corneille, Jean Racine, Molière, Gotthold Ephraim Lessing, Friedrich von Schiller, Philip Sidney, Ben Jonson, Abraham Cowley, Joseph Addison, Richard Steele, Jonathan Swift, Daniel Defoe, Samuel Johnson, Sydney Smith, Samuel Taylor Coleridge, William Hazlitt, Leigh Hunt, Charles Lamb, Thomas De Quincey, Thomas Babington Macaulay, William Makepeace Thackeray, John Ruskin, Robert Louis Stevenson, Edgar Alan Poe, Henry David Thoreau, James Russell Lowell, Michael Faraday, Hermann Ludwig Ferdinand von Helmholtz, Simon Newcomb, Archibald Geikie, Benvenuto Cellini, Michel de Montaigne, Charles Augustin Sainte-Beuve, Ernest Renan, Immanuel Kant, Giuseppe Mazzini, Herodotus, Tacitus, Francis Drake, Philip Nichols, Francis Pretty, Walter Bigges, Edward Haies, Walter Raleigh, René Descartes, Voltaire, Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Thomas Hobbes, Jean Froissart, Thomas Malory, William Henry Harrison, Niccolò Machiavelli, William Roper, Thomas More, Martin Luther, John Locke, George Berkeley, Hippocrates, Ambroise Pare, William Harvey, Oliver Wendell Holmes, Joseph Lister, Louis Pasteur, William Shakespeare, Thomas Dekker, Francis Beaumont, John Fletcher, John Webster, Philip Massinger, Blaise Pascal, William A. Neilson, Henry Fielding, Laurence Sterne, Jane Austen, Walter Scott, Charles Dickens, George Eliot, Nathaniel Hawthorne, Washington Irving, Bret Harte, Mark Twain, Edward Everett Hale, Henry James, Victor Hugo, Honoré Balzac, George Sand, Alfred de Musset, Alphonse Daudet, Gottfried Keller, Guy de Maupassant, Theodor Storm, Theodor Fontane, Leo Tolstoy, Fyodor Dostoyevsky, Ivan Turgenev, Juan Valera, Bjørnstjerne Bjørnson & Alexander L. Kielland

    Fiction & Literature

  • The Harvard Classics - All 284 Works in 71 Volumes

    The Harvard Classics - All 284 Works in 71 Volumes

    Adam Smith, Aeschylus, Aesop, Alessandro Manzoni, Alexander L. Kielland, Alfred de Musset, Alphonse Daudet, Aristophanes, Francis Beaumont, John Fletcher, Ben Jonson, Benjamin Franklin, Bjørnstjerne Bjørnson, Blaise Pascal, Bret Harte, Miguel de Cervantes, Charles Darwin, Charles Dickens, Christopher Marlowe, Dante Alighieri, David Hume, Edgar Allan Poe, Edmund Burke, Edward Everett Hale, Epictetus, Euripides, Francis Bacon, Friedrich von Schiller, Fyodor Dostoevsky, George Berkeley, George Eliot, George Sand, Gottfried Keller, Gotthold Ephraim Lessing, Guy de Maupassant, Hans Christian Andersen, Henry Fielding, Henry James, Hermann von Helmholtz, Homer, Honoré Balzac, Ivan Turgenev, Izaak Walton, Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm, Jane Austen, Jean Froissart, Jean Jacques Rousseau, Jean Racine, Johann Wolfgang Goethe, John Bunyan, John Dryden, John Locke, John Milton, John Stuart Mill, John Webster, John Woolman, Juan Valera, Laurence Sterne, Leo Tolstoy, Lord Byron, Lord Kelvin, Marcus Aurelius, Marcus Tullius Cicero, Mark Twain, Martin Luther, Michael Faraday, Molière, Nathaniel Hawthorne, Niccolò Machiavelli, Oliver Goldsmith, Pedro Calderón de la Barca, Percy Bysshe Shelley, Philip Massinger, Pierre Corneille, Plato, Pliny the Younger, Plutarch, Ralph Waldo Emerson, René Descartes, Richard Brinsley Sheridan, Richard Henry Dana, Robert Browning, Robert Burns, Saint Augustine, Simon Newcomb, Sir Archibald Geikie, Sir Thomas Browne, Sir Thomas Malory, Sir Thomas More, Sir Walter Scott, Sophocles, Theodor Fontane, Theodor Storm, Thomas à Kempis, Thomas Carlyle, Thomas Dekker, Thomas Hobbes, Eirikr Magnusson, William Morris, Francis B. Gummere, John O'Hagan, Sir Edwin Arnold, Whitley Stokes, Victor Marie Hugo, Virgil, Voltaire, Washington Irving, William Harrison, William Makepeace Thackeray, William Penn, William Roper & William Shakespeare

    Classics

  • The Bjørnstjerne Bjørnson Megapack

    The Bjørnstjerne Bjørnson Megapack

    Bjørnstjerne Bjørnson

    Fiction & Literature

  • Arne: A Sketch of Norwegian Country Life and Early Tales

    Arne: A Sketch of Norwegian Country Life and Early Tales

    Bjørnstjerne Bjørnson

    Literary Fiction

  • A Happy Boy

    A Happy Boy

    Bjørnstjerne Bjørnson & Rasmus B. Anderson

    Classics

  • Harvard Classics: Complete 71 Volumes Edition

    Harvard Classics: Complete 71 Volumes Edition

    Gotthold Ephraim Lessing, Bjørnstjerne Bjørnson, Thomas Carlyle, Theodor Storm, Charles Dickens, Plato, Theodor Fontane, René Descartes, Gottfried Keller, Mark Twain, Immanuel Kant, Charles Darwin, Martin Luther, Robert Louis Stevenson, William Shakespeare, Euripides, Percy Bysshe Shelley, Charles Lamb, Henry David Thoreau, Henry James, Samuel Johnson, John Stuart Mill, Victor Hugo, Joseph Addison, Jane Austen, John Locke, John Fletcher, Francis Beaumont, Leigh Hunt, Epictetus, Alphonse Daudet, Thomas De Quincey, George Eliot, Walter Scott, Laurence Sterne, Samuel Taylor Coleridge, Jonathan Swift, Christopher Marlowe, Jacob Grimm, Wilhelm Grimm, William Hazlitt, Marcus Tullius Cicero, Daniel Defoe, Aesop, Richard Henry Dana, Henry Fielding, John Dryden, Philip Massinger, Pedro Calderón de la Barca, Bret Harte, George Sand, John Ruskin, Oliver Wendell Holmes, Ernest Renan, Robert Burns, David Garrick, Ralph Waldo Emerson, John Webster, Washington Irving, Izaak Walton, John Bunyan, Juan Valera, Alfred de Musset, James Russell Lowell, Charles Augustin Sainte-Beuve, Nathaniel Hawthorne, Homer, Edmund Burke, Plutarch, Molière, Aeschylus, Michael Faraday, Sophocles, William Makepeace Thackeray, Benjamin Franklin, Edward Everett Hale, Pierre Corneille, Jean Racine, Voltaire, Robert Browning, Oliver Goldsmith, Thomas Dekker, John Milton, Aristophanes, Blaise Pascal, Virgil, Richard Brinsley Sheridan, Simon Newcomb, William Penn, Walter Bigges, Philip Sidney, Herodotus, Walter Raleigh, Francis Bacon, Giuseppe Mazzini, Francis Pretty, George Berkeley, Thomas Hobbes, Adam Smith, Alessandro Manzoni, Abraham Cowley, Ben Jonson, John Woolman, Benvenuto Cellini, Sydney Smith, Jean Froissart, William Henry Harrison, William Harvey, Marcus Aurelius, Hans Christian Andersen, Thomas Malory, George Gordon Byron, Thomas à Kempis, Ivan Turgenev, Richard Steele, Thomas Browne, Archibald Geikie, Thomas Babington Macaulay, Leo Tolstoy, Fyodor Dostoevsky, Tacitus, William Roper, Hippocrates, Miguel de Cervantes, Thomas More, Friedrich von Schiller, Philip Nichols, Louis Pasteur, Joseph Lister, Jean Jacques Rousseau, Pliny the Younger, Charles W. Eliot, Edgar Alan Poe, Saint Augustine, Hermann Ludwig Ferdinand von Helmholtz, Francis Drake, Edward Haies, Niccolò Machiavelli, Ambroise Pare, William A. Neilson, Honoré Balzac, Alexander L. Kielland, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, Dante Alighieri, Guy de Maupassant & Michel de Montaigne

    Fiction & Literature

  • Harvard Classics

    Harvard Classics

    Bjørnstjerne Bjørnson, Theodor Storm, Charles Dickens, Theodor Fontane, Gottfried Keller, Mark Twain, Edgar Allan Poe, Henry James, Victor Hugo, Jane Austen, Alphonse Daudet, Guy de Maupassant, George Eliot, Walter Scott, Laurence Sterne, Henry Fielding, George Sand, Washington Irving, Juan Valera, Nathaniel Hawthorne, William Makepeace Thackeray, Edward Everett Hale, Francis Bret Harte, Ivan Turgenev, Leo Tolstoy, Fyodor Dostoevsky, Johann Wolfgang Goethe, Honoré Balzac, Alexander L. Kielland & Alfred de Musset

    Antiques & Collectibles

  • The Heritage of the Kurts (Complete)

    The Heritage of the Kurts (Complete)

    Bjørnstjerne Bjørnson

    Literary Fiction

  • Three Dramas

    Three Dramas

    Bjørnstjerne Bjørnson

    Classics

  • Ovind: A Story of Country Life in Norway

    Ovind: A Story of Country Life in Norway

    Bjørnstjerne Bjørnson

    Literary Fiction

  • Poems and Songs

    Poems and Songs

    Bjørnstjerne Bjørnson

    Poetry

  • Bjørnstjerne Bjørnson - Gesammelte Werke

    Bjørnstjerne Bjørnson - Gesammelte Werke

    Bjørnstjerne Bjørnson

    Poetry

  • Der Brautmarsch

    Der Brautmarsch

    Bjørnstjerne Bjørnson

    Classics

  • Synnöve Solbakken

    Synnöve Solbakken

    Bjørnstjerne Bjørnson

    Fiction & Literature

  • Ein Tag; Ivar Bye

    Ein Tag; Ivar Bye

    Bjørnstjerne Bjørnson

    Classics

  • Mary

    Mary

    Bjørnstjerne Bjørnson

    Classics

  • Kapitän Mansana

    Kapitän Mansana

    Bjørnstjerne Bjørnson

    Fiction & Literature

  • The Bridal March and One Day

    The Bridal March and One Day

    Bjørnstjerne Bjørnson

    Action & Adventure

  • Marsz weselny

    Marsz weselny

    Bjørnstjerne Bjørnson

    Classics

  • Liput liehumassa

    Liput liehumassa

    Bjørnstjerne Bjørnson

    Fiction & Literature

  • The Heritage of the Kurts, Volume 1 (of 2)

    The Heritage of the Kurts, Volume 1 (of 2)

    Bjørnstjerne Bjørnson

    Classics

  • Ovind

    Ovind

    Bjørnstjerne Bjørnson

    Classics

  • The Heritage of the Kurts, Volume 2 (of 2)

    The Heritage of the Kurts, Volume 2 (of 2)

    Bjørnstjerne Bjørnson

    Classics

  • Marsz weselny

    Marsz weselny

    Bjørnstjerne Bjørnson

    Romance

  • Auf Gottes Wegen

    Auf Gottes Wegen

    Bjørnstjerne Bjørnson

    Action & Adventure

  • Tomasz Rendalen

    Tomasz Rendalen

    Bjørnstjerne Bjørnson

    Classics

  • Pył

    Pył

    Bjørnstjerne Bjørnson

    Literary Fiction

  • Absalomin tukka

    Absalomin tukka

    Bjørnstjerne Bjørnson

    Literary Fiction

  • Die schönsten Novellen

    Die schönsten Novellen

    Bjørnstjerne Bjørnson

    Fiction & Literature

  • Über die Kraft I

    Über die Kraft I

    Bjørnstjerne Bjørnson

    Theater

  • Isten nyomai

    Isten nyomai

    Bjørnstjerne Bjørnson

    Literary Fiction

  • Ein Tag - Ivar Bye

    Ein Tag - Ivar Bye

    Bjørnstjerne Bjørnson

    Classics

  • In God's Way: A Novel

    In God's Way: A Novel

    Bjørnstjerne Bjørnson

    Classics

  • Dziewczę ze Słonecznego Wzgórza

    Dziewczę ze Słonecznego Wzgórza

    Bjørnstjerne Bjørnson

    Classics

  • In God’s Way

    In God’s Way

    Bjørnstjerne Bjørnson

    Classics

  • Kalatyttö

    Kalatyttö

    Bjørnstjerne Bjørnson

    Fiction & Literature

  • Der Bärenjäger

    Der Bärenjäger

    Bjørnstjerne Bjørnson

    Classics

  • A Happy Boy

    A Happy Boy

    Bjørnstjerne Bjørnson

    Literary Fiction

  • Der König

    Der König

    Bjørnstjerne Bjørnson

    Classics

  • Iloinen poika

    Iloinen poika

    Bjørnstjerne Bjørnson

    Fiction & Literature

  • Synnöve Solbakken: Erzählung

    Synnöve Solbakken: Erzählung

    Bjørnstjerne Bjørnson

    Literary Fiction

  • Synnöve Solbakken

    Synnöve Solbakken

    Bjørnstjerne Bjørnson

    Classics

  • Jednożeństwo i wielożeństwo

    Jednożeństwo i wielożeństwo

    Bjørnstjerne Bjørnson

    Sociology

  • Leonarda

    Leonarda

    Bjørnstjerne Bjørnson

    Literary Criticism

  • Mary

    Mary

    Bjørnstjerne Bjørnson

    Fiction & Literature

  • Moștenirea familiei Kurt

    Moștenirea familiei Kurt

    Bjørnstjerne Bjørnson

    Literary Fiction

  • La Fille de la pêcheuse

    La Fille de la pêcheuse

    Bjørnstjerne Bjørnson

    Fiction & Literature

  • Ein Fallissement

    Ein Fallissement

    Bjørnstjerne Bjørnson

    Fiction & Literature

  • Arne

    Arne

    Bjørnstjerne Bjørnson

    Fiction & Literature

  • Three Dramas

    Three Dramas

    Bjørnstjerne Bjørnson

    Classics