Chapter I: Front Matter

_THE NOVELS OF_
_BJOeRNSTJERNE BJOeRNSON_

_Edited by EDMUND GOSSE_

_Fcap. 8vo, cloth, 3s. net_

_Synnoeve Solbakken_
_Arne_
_A Happy Boy_
_The Fisher Lass_
_The Bridal March, & One Day_
_Magnhild, & Dust_
_Captain Mansana, & Mother's Hands_
_Absalom's Hair, & A Painful Memory_

_LONDON_
_WILLIAM HEINEMANN_
_21 Bedford Street, W.C._

CAPTAIN MANSANA

&

MOTHER'S HANDS

BY

BJOeRNSTJERNE BJOeRNSON

_Translated from the Norwegian_

LONDON
WILLIAM HEINEMANN
1897

_All rights reserved_

_BIBLIOGRAPHICAL NOTE._

[_The two somewhat anomalous stories which are here published together have little in common except the difficulty of finding a place for them in the category of Bjoernson's works._

"_Captain Mansana_," _under the title of_ "_Kaptejn Mansana, en Fortaelling fra Italien_," _was originally printed, in 1875, in the Norwegian periodical_ "_Fra Fjeld og Dal_." _It did not appear in book form until August 1879, when it was published, in a paper cover with a startling illustration, in Copenhagen._ "_Captain Mansana_" _was written at Aulestad. It was almost immediately published in a Swedish, and later in a German, translation._

_A Norwegian magazine, entitled_ "_Nyt Tidsskrift_," _was started in Christiania in 1882, and continued to represent extreme liberal views in Norway until 1887, when it ceased to appear. In 1892 an attempt was made to resuscitate this periodical, under the general editorship of J. E. Sars. The first number of this new series appeared in November of that year, the opening article being the story of_ "_Mors haender_" ("_Mother's Hands_"). _It was reprinted in August 1894, in the collection called_, "_Nye Fortaellinger_." _It is now for the first time translated into English._

_E. G_.]

CAPTAIN MANSANA

AUTHOR'S PREFACE.

The following note was prefixed by the author to the first edition of "Captain Mansana: an Italian Tale":

This story was originally published, several years ago, in a Danish
Christmas Annual, "From Hill and Dale," which was edited by Mr. H.
J. Greensteen. "Captain Mansana" has already run through two
editions in German, and many friends have urged the author to
republish it, in a separate form, and in his own tongue.

The following remarks seem necessary in consequence of some
criticisms which have appeared in the Danish and Swedish press.
The narrative, in all essential particulars, is based on facts,
and those of its incidents which appear most extraordinary, are
absolutely historical, the minutest details being in some cases
reproduced. Mansana himself is drawn from life. The achievements
credited to him in these pages, are those he actually performed;
and his singular experiences are here correctly described, so far,
at least, as they bear upon his psychological development.

The causes which induced me to make him the subject of the
following sketch may be found in a few lines of Theresa Leaney's
letter, with which the story closes. The reader should compare
Theresa's observations on Mansana, with the account of Lassalle,
given contemporaneously with the original publication of this
story, by Dr. Georg Brandes in his work on the "Nineteenth
Century." Any one who studies the masterly portrait painted by
Brandes, will observe that the inner forces which shaped Lassalle's
destiny are precisely the same as those that swayed Mansana. No
doubt Lassalle, with his fertile intellect, his commanding
personality, and his inexhaustible energy, touches a far higher
level of interest. Still, the phase of character is similar in the
two cases, and it struck me at the time as curious, that both Dr.
Brandes and myself should have had our attention simultaneously
directed to it.

BJOeRNSTJERNE BJOeRNSON

CAPTAIN MANSANA