Trafika Europe 1 - Northern Idyll

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

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