I began at once to go around to say good-bye, although we were not to leave for three or four months. I went to all the cottages and huts round about. One day I went by Ellef Kulaas' house up on the hill. He was standing outside of his door. He is tall, and his whole body seems to be warped, and he never looks at people, but off anywhere else.
"Good-bye, Ellef, I am going away," said I.
Ellef didn't answer; he only turned his quid in his mouth.
"We are going to Christiania," I went on.
"Yes, I was there once," said Ellef. "It's a dangerous Sodom."
"But aren't there plenty of splendid things to see, Ellef?"
"Oh, yes—I wanted most to see that big mountain Gausta. They told me I'd have to take a horse and wagon to get there; but I went to see the old dean that used to be here,—he lived high up—and when I looked out of his skylight I saw everything, Gausta and the churches and the whole kit and boodle. I saved a lot of money that way. I went up there twice and looked through the skylight, and so I saw the whole show,—for nothing too. I suppose hardly anybody sees it any better."
Humph! As if I'd be satisfied like Ellef Kulaas with seeing things through the dean's skylight!
There were many places where I said good-bye several times. At last they laughed at me, and I had to laugh too. One day I went by Madam Guldahl's house. Madam Guldahl always stands at her garden gate and talks with people who are passing.
"Good-bye, Madam Guldahl, we are going to Christiania," said I.