Part 1 (2/2)
”No maid by the name of Kerstin was ever handy with her needle,” she objected. ”It has always been a great trial to your mother that I have not the patience to st.i.tch endless seams and make rainbow skirts. Our son shall be Birger; but we must think of a better name for the little daughter.”
”It is plain that we shall never find two names to suit everyone,”
replied the father, laughing so heartily that both babies opened their big blue eyes and puckered up their lips for a good cry.
”Hush, Birger! Hush, little daughter!” whispered their mother; and she rocked the cradle gently, singing softly:--
”Hist, hist!
Mother is crooning and babies list.
Hist, hist!
The dewdrop lies in the flower's cup, Mother snuggles the babies up.
Birdie in the tree-top, Do not spill the dewdrop.
Cat be still, and dog be dumb; Sleep to babies' eyelids come!”
Nils and Ebba Jorn tiptoed across the room and closed the door carefully behind them. Anders Ekman took up some wood-carving and went quietly to work; while Grandmother Ekman selected a well-worn book from the book-shelf, and seated herself in the big chair by the window to look over the Norse legends of the G.o.ds and giants.
She turned the pages slowly until she found the pleasant tale of Frey, who married Gerd, the beautiful daughter of one of the frost giants. This was her favorite story, and she began reading it aloud in a low voice, while the fire burned cheerfully on the hearth, and the cradle swayed lightly to and fro.
”Njord, who was the G.o.d of the sea, had a son, Frey, and a daughter, Freyja. Frey was the G.o.d of the seed-time and harvest, and he brought peace and prosperity to all the world.
”In summer he gathered gentle showers and drove them up from the sea to sprinkle the dry gra.s.s; he poured warm suns.h.i.+ne over the hills and valleys, and ripened the fruits and grains for a bountiful harvest.
”The elves of light were his messengers, and he sent them flying about all day,--shaking pollen out of the willow ta.s.sels, filling the flower-cups with nectar, sowing the seeds, and threading the gra.s.s with beads of dew.
”But in the winter, when the frost giants ruled the earth, Frey was idle and lonely; and he rode up and down in Odin's hall on the back of his boar, Golden Bristles, longing for something to do.
”One morning, as he wandered restlessly through the beautiful city of Asgard, the home of the G.o.ds, he stood before the throne of Odin, the All-father, and saw that it was empty. 'Why should I not sit upon that throne, and look out over all the world?' he thought; and although no one but Odin was ever allowed to take the lofty seat, Frey mounted the steps and sat upon the All-father's throne.
”He looked out over Asgard, s.h.i.+ning in the morning light, and saw the G.o.ds busy about their daily tasks. He gazed down upon the earth, with its rugged mountains and raging seas, and saw men hurrying this way and that, like tiny ants rus.h.i.+ng out of their hills.
”Last of all he turned his eyes toward distant Jotunheim, the dark, forbidding home of the frost giants; but in that gloomy land of ice and snow he could see no bright nor beautiful thing. Great black cliffs stood like sentinels along the coast, dark clouds hung over the hills, and cold winds swept through the valleys.
”At the foot of one of the hills stood a barren and desolate dwelling, alone in all that dark land of winter; and as Frey gazed, a maiden came slowly through the valley and mounted the steps to the entrance of the house.
”Then, as she raised her arms to open the door, suddenly the sky, and sea, and all the earth were flooded with a bright light, and Frey saw that she was the most beautiful maiden in the whole world.”
Kerstin looked up at her husband and spoke quickly. ”That is like the coming of our two babies,” she said. ”In the days of ice and snow they brought light and gladness to our hearts. Let us call the sweet daughter 'Gerda' after the G.o.ddess of suns.h.i.+ne and happiness.”
So the two babies were named at last. When the children of the neighborhood heard of it, they flocked to the house with their hands full of gifts, dancing round and round the cradle and singing a merry song that made the rafters ring. The wheels of thin Swedish bread that hung over the stove shook on their pole, the tall clock ticked louder than ever, and the twins opened their blue eyes and smiled their sweetest smile at so much happiness.
But they were not very strong babies, so Anders Ekman went off to his work in Stockholm and left them in Dalarne with their mother and grandmother, hoping that the good country air would make them plump and st.u.r.dy.
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