SKETCHES FEOM S^TERSDAL. 223 



quently an instance of a labourer's son marrying a 

 farmer's daughter, and the calculating prudence of the 

 old folk being set at nought. And then abductions 

 come in, with all their romantic episodes. How old La 

 Fontaine would rejoice in his grave if he had any idea 

 that, amid the stern reality of this " steam-age," and in 

 the very heart of one of Europe's enlightened countries, 

 his theories were turned to practical purposes by shep- 

 herds and shepherdesses ! 



Let me draw a picture. " The moon is shining a 

 lonely field valley a cottage in the valley's bosom. . . 

 A shepherdess appears she is stealing out of the 

 paternal abode with a bundle under her arm, in which 

 are her few treasures, her ornaments, and the necessary 

 articles of apparel. . . The herdsman waits by ap- 

 pointment. One last tearful look at the home of her 

 fathers and she is lifted up by his strong arm, and is 

 carried off at the saddle-bow !" 



Now all this sounds excessively romantic, and yet 

 nothing can be truer. Nothing is wanting to complete 

 the picture, even to the tragical despair and fury of 

 the father, and the final pardon. Unfortunately, as far 

 as regards effect, the despair and the fury evinced are 

 completely damped by the stoical resignation (a national 

 trait among Nonvegian peasantry ! ) with which he gives 

 way when he finds it cannot be helped. It has never 

 been heard that an abduction has caused any hostilities 



