Knut Hamsun

That room was Rolandsen__ world. Rolandsen was not just irresponsibility and inebriation, he was also great thinker and inventor. There was a smell of acids that permeated the corridor and came to the notice of every visitor. Rolandsen made no secret of the fact that he had all these medicaments there solely to disguise the aroma of all the brandy he consumed. But this was part of an act designed purely to give himself an air of inscrutability.

They walked away from the sea, Rolandsen in the lead. He kept to the edge of the road, in the snow, to leave room for the others. He was wearing light, fashionable shoes, but seemed unperturbed; he even had his coat unbuttoned in the chilly May wind. __o that__ the church!_ said the curate. __t looks old. I don__ suppose there__ a stove in it?_ asked his wife. __ couldn__ say,_ Rolandsen replied, __ut I don__ think so.

No, I don't admire the genius. But I admire and love the result of the genius's activity in the world, of which the great man is only the poor necessary tool, only, so to speak, the paltry awl to bore with.

And here we go creating great men out of artisans who happened to have stumbled on a way to improve electrical apparatus or pedal through Sweden on a bicycle! And we solicit great men to write books promoting the cult of other great men! It's really very funny, and worth the price of admission! It will all end up with every village having his own great man - a lawyer, a novelist, and a polar explorer of immense stature! And the world will become wonderfully flat and simple and easy to master . . .

He was quite a Casanova, no doubt about it. He was in a very good mood today and stopped longer than usual. The girls could see he was gloriously drunk. __ell, Ragna, why do you think I come here so often?_ asked Rolandsen. ____e no idea,_ Ragna answered. __ou must think I__ sent by old Laban.__he girls giggled. __hen he says Laban he really means Adam._____e come to save you,_ said Rolandsen. __ou have to beware of the fishermen around here, they__e out-and-out seducers!___here__ no greater seducer than you,_ said another girl. __ou__e got two kids already. You ought to be ashamed of yourself._ __ow can you talk like that, Nicoline? You__e always been a thorn in my flesh and you__l be the death of me, you know damned well. But as for you, Ragna, I__ going to save your soul wether you like it or not!

Well, God be with you,_ she said as she finally left him. ____ sure He is,_ he replied. She gave a start. __re you certain of that?___e has every reason to be. Obviously He__ Lord over all Creation, but it can__ be anything special to be god of animals and mountains. It__ really us human beings that make Him what He is. So why shouldn__ He be with us?__aving delivered this impressive speech, Rolandsen looked rather pleased with himself. The curate__ wife would be puzzling over him as she walked home. Ha-ha, it was not so surprising that the little dome resting on his shoulders should have made such a great invention after all! But now the cognac had arrived.