Chapter I: Front Matter

The Story of Gösta Berling

The
Story of Gösta Berling

_Translated from the Swedish of_
Selma Lagerlöf
by
Pauline Bancroft Flach

Boston
Little, Brown, and Company
1898

_Copyright, 1898_,
BY LITTLE, BROWN, AND COMPANY.

_All rights reserved._

University Press:
JOHN WILSON AND SON, CAMBRIDGE, U.S.A.

TRANSLATOR’S PREFACE

“The Story of Gösta Berling” was published in Sweden in 1894 and immediately brought its author into prominence.

The tales are founded on actual occurrences and depict the life in the province of Värmland at the beginning of this century. Värmland is a lonely tract in the southern part of Sweden, and has retained many of its old customs, while mining is the principal industry of its sparse population. It consists of great stretches of forest, sloping down to long, narrow lakes, connected by rivers.

Miss Lagerlöf has grown up in the midst of the wild legends of her country, and, deeply imbued with their spirit, interprets them with a living force all her own.

Her efforts have been materially encouraged by the Crown Prince of Sweden, and there is every reason to expect that her genius has not reached its fullest development.

STOCKHOLM, May, 1898.

CONTENTS

CHAPTER PAGE

INTRODUCTION:

I THE PRIEST 1

II THE BEGGAR 12

PART I

I THE LANDSCAPE 29

II CHRISTMAS EVE 34

III CHRISTMAS DAY 49

IV GÖSTA BERLING, POET 63

V LA CACHUCHA 79

VI THE BALL AT EKEBY 84

VII THE OLD VEHICLES 106

VIII THE GREAT BEAR IN GURLITTA CLIFF 122

IX THE AUCTION AT BJÖRNE 138

X THE YOUNG COUNTESS 170

XI GHOST-STORIES 199

XII EBBA DOHNA’S STORY 214

XIII MAMSELLE MARIE 236