412 FARTHEST NORTH 



shining over them with his cheering beams. In the 

 middle Hes the Frani, hemmed in immovably. When, 

 my proud ship, will you float free in the open water 

 again } 



" ' Ich schau dich an, und Wehmuth, 

 Schleicht mir ins Herz hinein.' 



Over these masses of ice, drifting by paths unknown, a 

 human pondered and brooded so long that he put a 

 whole people in motion to enable him to force his way in 

 among them — a people who had plenty of other claims 

 upon their energies. For what purpose all this to-do } 

 If only the calculations were correct these ice - floes 

 would be clorious — nav, irresistible auxiliaries. But if 

 there has been an error in the calculation — well, in that 

 case they are not so pleasant to deal with. And how 

 often does a calculation come out correct } But were I 

 now free .f* Why, I should do it all over again, from the 

 same starting-point. One must persevere till one learns 

 to calculate correctly. 



" I laugh at the scurvy ; no sanatorium better than 

 ours. 



" I laugh at the ice ; we are living as it were in an im- 

 pregnable castle. 



" I laugh at the cold ; it is nothing. 



" But I do not laugh at the winds ; they are every- 

 thing ; they bend to no man's will. 



" But why always worry about the future.'' Why dis- 

 tress yourself as to whether you are drifting forward or 



