Growth of the Soil by Knut Hamsun (chromebook ebook reader txt) 📕

the advocate. “Goes off and buries the body all by himself in the wood⁠—looks bad, very bad.”

“He wanted to have it buried properly, I suppose,” said Geissler. “It hadn’t been really buried at all at first.”

“Well, of course a woman hadn’t the strength of a man to go digging. And in her state⁠—she must have been done up already. Altogether,” said the advocate, “I think we’ve come to take a more humane view of these infanticide cases generally, of late. If I were to judge, I should never venture to condemn the girl at all; and from what has appeared in this case, I shall not venture to demand a conviction.”

“Very pleased to hear it,” said Geissler, with a bow.

The advocate went on: “As a man, as a private person, I will even go further, and say: I would never condemn a single unmarried mother for killing her child.”

“Most interesting,” said Geissler, “to find the advocate for the Crown so entirely in agreement with what Fru Heyerdahl said before the court.”

“Oh, Fru Heyerdahl!⁠ ⁠… Still, to my mind, there was a great deal in what she said. After all, what is the good of all these convictions? Unmarried mothers have suffered enough beforehand, and been brought so low in every human regard by the brutal and callous attitude of the world⁠—the punishment ought to suffice.”

Geissler rose, and said at last: “No doubt. But what about the children?”

“True,” said the advocate, “it’s a sad business about the children. Still, all things considered, perhaps it’s just as well. Illegitimate children have a hard time, and turn out badly as often as not.”

Geissler felt perhaps some touch of malice at the portly complacency of the man of law; he said:

“Erasmus was born out of wedlock.”

“Erasmus⁠ ⁠… ?”

“Erasmus of Rotterdam.”

“H’m.”

“And Leonardo the same.”

“Leonardo da Vinci? Really? Well, of course, there are exceptions, otherwise there would be no rule. But on the whole.⁠ ⁠…”

“We pass protective measures for beast and bird,” said Geissler; “seems rather strange, doesn’t it, not to trouble about our own young?”

The advocate for the Crown reached out slowly and with dignity after some papers on the table, as a hint that he had not time to continue the discussion. “Yes.⁠ ⁠…” said he absently. “Yes, yes, no doubt.⁠ ⁠…”

Geissler expressed his thanks for a most instructive conversation, and took his leave.

He sat down in the courthouse again, to be there in good time. He was not ill-pleased, maybe, to feel his power; he had knowledge of a certain piece of wrapping, a man’s shirt cut across, to carry⁠—let us say twigs for a broom; of the body of a child floating in the harbour at Bergen⁠—ay, he could make matters awkward for the court if he chose; a word from him would be as effective as a thousand swords. But Geissler had doubtless no intention of uttering that word now unless it were needed. Things were going splendidly without; even the advocate for the Crown had declared himself on the side of the accused.

The room fills, and the court is sitting again.

An interesting comedy to watch in a little town. The warning gravity of the advocate for the Crown, the emotional eloquence of the advocate for the defence. The court sat listening to what appeared to be its duty in regard to the case of a girl named Barbro, and the death of her child.

For all that, it was no light matter after all to decide. The advocate for the Crown was a presentable man to look at, and doubtless also a man of heart, but something appeared to have annoyed him recently or possibly he had suddenly remembered that he held a certain office in the State and was bound to act from that point of view. An incomprehensible thing, but he was plainly less disposed to be lenient now than he had been during the morning; if the crime had been committed, he said, it was a serious matter, and things would look black indeed if they could with certainty be declared so black as would appear from the testimony of the witnesses already heard. That was a matter for the court to decide. He wished to draw attention to three points: firstly, whether they had before them a concealment of birth; whether this was clear to the court. He made some personal remarks on this head. The second point was the wrapping, the piece of a shirt⁠—why had the accused taken this with her? Was it in order to make use of it for a certain purpose preconceived? He developed this suggestion further. His third point was the hurried and suspicious burial, without any notification of the death to either priest or Lensmand. Here, the man was the person chiefly responsible, and it was of the utmost importance that the court should come to the right conclusion in that respect. For it was obvious that if the man were an accomplice, and had therefore undertaken the burial himself, then his servant-girl must have committed a crime before he could be an accomplice in it.

“H’m,” from someone in court.

Axel Ström felt himself again in danger. He looked up without meeting a single glance; all eyes were fixed on the advocate speaking. But far down in the court sat Geissler again, looking highly supercilious, as if bursting with his own superiority, his underlip thrust forward, his face turned towards the ceiling. This enormous indifference to the solemnity of the court, and that “H’m,” uttered loudly and without concealment, cheered Axel mightily; he felt himself no longer alone against the world.

And now things took a turn again for the better. This advocate for the Crown seemed at last to think he had done enough, had achieved all that was possible in the way of directing suspicion and ill-feeling towards the man; and now he stopped. He did more; he almost, as it were, faced round, and made no demand for a conviction. He ended by saying, in so many words, that after the testimony of the witnesses