Aliss at the Fire

Asle! Brita shouts

and she hears that Brita’s scream fills everything there is, the fjord, the mountain, and Asle doesn’t answer, and then a big wave comes and washes over Asle and capsizes his boat and then it’s lying there and tossing in the water and bumping against Brita and then she can’t see Asle’s head anymore and Brita grabs hold of his hair and she holds it tight and the waves hit them and Brita’s free hand hits the fjord and hits and hits and a big wave carries Brita and Asle in toward shore and then Brita is standing up a little on the underwater slope there and a wave crashes over her head and she walks heavily in onto the shore and pulls Asle with her by the hair and only his head is above water and then Brita comes more and more out of the water and her hair is hanging long and black down over her face, and then Asle’s upper body is above water, and Brita pulls Asle toward her and she puts one arm under his knee and the other behind his back, and Brita picks Asle up and with her face turned toward the rain Brita wades in onto the shore with Asle in her arms and his hands hang straight down and Brita reaches the shore and with Asle in her arms Brita starts to go up to the boathouse and she sees that Brita with Asle in her arms goes around the corner of the boathouse and then she sees Asle’s boat lying there floating so pretty in the water and she sees Asle standing there holding a stick and there is a thin line going from the stick to his boat and Asle walks along the shore and he pulls the boat carefully along with the stick and the boat is so shining and it moves so gently over the water and then he stops pulling on the stick and lets the boat glide along and then his boat is lying there and rising and falling up and down in the fjord and then Asle raises the stick and the boat makes a slow curve and then the boat glides in toward the shore and then Asle walks backward a little and then he guides the boat into a kind of cove he has made between two big stones and then he puts down the stick and then Asle starts to put mussel shells into the boat, one blue mussel shell after another, and fills up the whole boat, and then Asle gives the boat a little shove and it moves out from his bay between the two stones, and then he takes the stick and he starts to walk farther along the shore and the boat slides so slowly and steadily along and the blazing motionless water comes almost up to the edge of the boat and Asle guides the boat calmly along and then Asle turns around and he sees Kristoffer come into view around the corner of the boathouse

So, Asle, what kind of cargo are you carrying today, Kristoffer says

I’m taking my shipment to Bergen, Asle says

What kind of shipment, Kristoffer says

Different things, Asle says

You don’t want to tell, Kristoffer says

Mm no, Asle says

and Kristoffer says that’s all right, confidential trade secrets, everyone needs a few of those, he says and he asks if he’ll be staying a long time in Bergen

A few days, Asle says

Yes well once you’ve sailed to the city, why not, Kristoffer says

The trip takes a whole day, it, yes it does, Asle says

That’s true, Kristoffer says

and Kristoffer walks out onto the pier and he starts to pull his boat in toward him

Are you going out in the boat, Asle says

I’m going to do a little fishing, we need food after all, Kristoffer says

Can I go with you, Asle says

Sure you can, Kristoffer says

No never mind, Asle says

I don’t have time for that, he says

Yes I can certainly understand that, Kristoffer says

You have a full cargo and you were on your way to Bergen, weren’t you, he says

I’ll go with you later, another time, Asle says

Yes, you’re sailing to Bergen, aren’t you now, Kristoffer says

Yes I am, Asle says

and then Kristoffer’s boat comes up to the pier, and Kristoffer climbs on board, unties the mooring lines, sits down on the seat, puts the oars in the water, and rows a little way out into the bay, then he stops there and rests on his oars

Talk to you later, when you get back from Bergen, Kristoffer says

OK, Asle says

And you’ll bring back some treats with you, right, Kristoffer says

I can probably do that, Asle says