218 SPORT IN NORWAY. 
between milkpans and cheeses; while the cock majesti- 
cally struts about on the tester-bed. In the same room 
which serves as dairy the Setersdal peasant sleeps with 
his family and servants, amongst pigs and goats, and 
other smaller and still more lively animals.* 
The peasant of a higher rank has an especial shelf 
under the roof for his cheese and milk, and, as is usually 
the case, this is on the tester-bed, which does not con- 
tribute to make the one more dainty, or the surface 
of the other more white and pure. When a milk- 
bowl is produced, especially in summer, it seldom fails 
to be covered with a thick coating of dust and smuts, 
which leaves the spectator in doubt as to what it 
really is. But the native Setersdalian eats it without 
even blowing the dust off, so little does it disturb his 
equanimity; for in the great vessels where he keeps 
his sour milk for a whole year, one can see worms, 
and other such trifles, running about as merrily as 
possible. It all goes down, in enviable combination ! 
It were easy to relate many a striking incident in 
corroboration of the dirtiness of the Szetersdal peasant ; 
but no description could possibly give a correct idea of 
it. To appreciate it properly you must go and visit 
* A friend of mine had, some years ago, to pass the night ina 
Seetersdal cottage—at least, a part of it; for he was so tormented by 
the “lively animals,” that he had to make a bolt of it, stark naked, 
into the river close by, before he could get rid of his company. 
Next morning he looked as if he had got the measles ! 
