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had preserved berries and rhubarbs and mussels.
Particularly inviting was the smell of two smoked pork
sides; some smoked trout was also hanging there.
Nonetheless, the best smell of all came from the dried
mutton legs. Fru Løbner inspected the shoulders and found
one that was sufficiently furry. She untied he knot, wrapped
the greenish shoulder in a cloth, and told him not to say
another word about it. She also gave him a jar of rhubarb
jam, saying that it would undoubtedly do fru Betta some
good.
That evening the inhabitants of the Geil house ate barley
loaves and
skerpikjøt.
But no one had much of an appetite.
Martimann was unable to eat at all, only managing a couple
of spoonfuls of warm milk. He had gotten so weak that Old
Tóvó had to press the scraped off mite coat against his
molars, and Martimann tried his best to suck some strength
from the Løbner storehouse’s gift. His cough had
diminished somewhat; the sound that came from his throat
was more like a weak wheeze.
While Old Tóvó sat and watched over Martimann, he did as
he had so often done before, he hummed his homemade
rhymes. He did not know if Martimann heard him, but
Little Tóvó lay perfectly still on his bunk and listened.
Grandfather sat there and rocked with his arms crossed
over his chest. It was difficult for him, especially when it