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Dear Relatives, I have always wondered how the emigrants felt about leaving their country. For the last couple of weeks I have been reading the emigrant novels by the Swedish author Vilhelm Moberg and I think they are so incredible. I read this part, that I made a transcript of below, and I wanted to share it. Read it and Feel it! Victoria
Transcript: "Unto a good land" by author Vilhelm
Moberg Chapter: “...To survive with the help of his
hands”, page 212 During
the journey their hands had rested. Often they had wished to have something to do. Now all
at once the settler’s innumerable chores crowded upon them; all were important, but
all were not equally important; all could not be performed at one time, some must be put
off. To find shelter, warmth, and food for the winter at hand – these were the most
urgent tasks and took precendence over all others. For
the time being they settled in their shanty, much smaller than Anders Månson’s
cabin, but now they were only six people instead of sixteen, and this hut was their own.
In the center of the earth floor sat the large clothes chest, half as long as the shanty
itself and occupying much of the space. At home it had been called the America chest, here
it was called the Swedish chest. It was their one piece of furniture in their first
American home. The chest bore the scars of
it’s emigration adventure; it had been used roughly in the journey, in New York one
corner had been smashed in, it was marred and scratched all over. But within it’s oak
planks, held together with heavy iron bands, it had protected it’s owner’s
indispensable belongings. Men who had had to handle the chest, lifting it by it’s
clumsy iron handles, had beeb surprised by it’s weight, and cursed and complained
about what it might contain. The
clothes chest contained exactly the articles which the owners could not be without if they
were to survive in the wilderness – so thought Kristina as she now unpacked them all.
How could they withstand the winter’s cold without the woolen garments she now lifted
from the chest? Camphor and lavender had protected them against moths and mildew; she
found to her satisfaction that all the pieces of clothing were unharmed, though they had
been packed this long time, from spring to autumn. Carefully Kristina handled woolen
jackets, wadmal coats, linen sheets. She could have caressed the well-known piece of
clothing from home, in gratefulness that they had followed her out here, that they were
ready for her now that she would need them. And it seemed almost incredible that they
could be here with her in these foreign surroundings, so far away from home, in another
country. It
was so long since she had packed the chest, she could not remember what was in it, and now
she found objects she had not expected; she made discoveries, many times she was
pleasantly surprised: did she pack that? Had she brought along this also?
What luck! She
found her carding combs, her woolshears, her sewing basket with balls of yarn, knitting
needles, tallow candles which she herself had dipped last Christmas, her tablecloth of
whole linen, woven by herself as part of her dowry, the small bottle of Hoffman’s Heart-Aiding Drops, children’s playthings.
All these came now as unexpected gifts, at a moment when she needed them. She was most
pleased when she found the swingletree which Karl Oskar had decorated with red tulips
– his betrothal gift to her: through this her youth was brought back to her, such a
long time ago, she thought-her betrothal time. In
the Swedish chest were also Karl Oskar’s carpenter tools; without them he could not
have attempted to build a house for his family. Had he known how expensive tools were out
here, he would have brought along much more edge iron: planes, augers, chisels, more axes.
He also regretted not having more powder and shot, for it was costly to load a gun here.
For once Robert had shown foresight- his hooks, fish traps, nets, and other fishing gear
would come in handy for them, living as they did on the shores of a lake. The
odor of the camphor and lavender that had kept the packed clothing in good condition
filled the shanty as the lid of the chest was thrown open. It was pleasing to Kristina-it
smelled like home. It
had been in late March that she packed the American chest-it was in early September that
she unpacked the Swedish chest. During all the months in between she had been moving; she
had travelled from spring to autumn, and she had experienced so much during this time that
seemed more like years than months since she had left home. Was it only last spring that
she had packed her possessions? To Kristina it seemed the packing had taken place in
another life, in another world. And
it was indeed true-they were living a new life, in a new world. Many
were the memories awakened in her as she unpacked the chest; every object was linked with
some happening at home, some experience with people close to her, friends or relatives.
The wool cards had been given to her by her mother when she moved into her own home, the
sewing basket she had bought at the fair the first spring she was married, the knitting
needles had occupied her hands during winter evenings in company of friends around the
fire. So many intimate things were here thrust upon her; from the old clothes chest she
now unpacked Sweden. And
with these objects came many thoughts of little value to her-rather, they annoyed her. She
knew that nothing could be more futile than to let her thoughts wander back and dwell on
what once had been and never could be again. Her family must begin anew, they could not
bury themselves in memories of the past. She had taken it as a warning when Karl Oskar had
said: If their thoughts were to wander too much on their old homeland, on things they had
once and for all given up, this would hinder their success in the new country. From
that point of view, it had been disturbing to open the lid of the America chest-now the
Swedish chest: their old home and their life there had thrust itself upon her; yet, it was
as distant as ever. But
the chest was the only piece of furniture in the hut. And now she used it as a
table; she spread food on the lid, and it became the family gathering place at every meal.
And the old homeland odor remained; the chest occupied the center of the shanty and
smelled of Camhpor and lavender-a lingering reminder of Sweden.” |
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