I may say—was past: it stood full grown
like the two oak trees which spread their
shadowy branches before the gate. It was
not by any means a regularly built house.
One might know from its different portions
the different periods at which they were
erected, and thus follow the changes which
the architectural knowledge of the town
passed through, as well as the state of my
uncle's finances.

The principal erection fronting the street
consisted of two parts; of which one was
a little insignificant shop, with its counting-
house and parlour, that had formerly been
my uncle's sleeping-room. That was the
beginning of the house; it had been suffered
to remain unaltered, out of a sort of respect,
and it now stood well-satisfied between the
second part or great wing, (which contained
the sitting-room, the people's, and the guests'-
rooms,) and the great warehouse. Much in the
same way one sometimes sees a little woman
sitting in the midst of tall, powerful sons.
This wing formed an angle with a small
building, which had been erected shortly
after the Hjembek journey: at all events, I,
at a later period, connected therewith the
gloomy, mysterious style which pervaded
it. The walls were very low, and the
roof projected over so far, that, on the
brightest day, one could hardly see to read a
book in it. This building contained the
room appropriated to the shopmen, and it was
never designated otherwise than "Falstaff's
chamber." Why it bore this heroic appellation
I could never discover; the generation
which had given it this name had died out;
and, when I inquired from my uncle whether
he at that time had been an admirer of Shakespeare,
he replied that he did not know anybody
of that name. As to the name of Falstaff, he
could only give me the explanation that there
had in his time lived in the town a drunken
fellow, one Jens Jespersen, who was generally
known by the name of Falstaff. From this
circumstance, I concluded that there formerly
existed in this little seaport of Zealand a
knowledge of literature, which had now died out.
The other part of the principal building was
erected in a rich and splendid style—two
stories high, and with large window panes;
and, whilst it indicated the large dowry which
my uncle had received with his wife—for thus
lucky had he been, when after the voyage
from Lubeck he wooed the "first and the best
citizen's daughter"—it fixed also with tolerable
precision the time of its erection.

The brandy-distillery, which completed the
square of the court, was furnished with two
towers. I have an idea that these towers
had their origin in the heroic ballad of Asker
Ryg. As my uncle had not twin children, he
would at all events have twin towers.

The building which occupied the middle
court was the only part of my uncle's possessions
which, in its entirety, showed traces
of a definite and energetic plan. Here
extended lofty and airy brickwork stables with
their commodious haylofts; the whole of one
side was arranged for sleeping-rooms for the
men-servants and those employed about the
cattle; the other consisted of barns, wherefrom
the straw-chopping machine sent forth
its clappering sound daily. In the centre of
the stables was a gateway sufficiently lofty to
admit the largest packages of merchandise;
but, as the opposite gate leading into the
court had been planned in the less magnificent
times and was low and narrow, the great
gateway was merely a thing of pomp and
show, because, although large carriages might
go through it to the timber yard, they could
not return to it from the court. A small
degree of imagination, however, converted it,
with its bold arch, rather into an arch of
triumph than a common gateway; and if one
set out with this idea, one might likewise
calculate at what time this part of the
building was erected.

Some years after his marriage, my uncle
had greatly extended his sphere of action.
His wife's dowry was employed in trade,
great speculations were undertaken, extensive
expeditions were sent out. This introduced,
for a time, a slight fever into the money
affairs of the house. Large bills had to be met;
great trading speculations to be realised. At
this critical period it was that a young man
removed from Copenhagen into the town. A
great rumour preceded him: he had served
his time with one of the principal merchants
of Copenhagen. He was of a rich family;
and had come hither with the intention of
showing what could be done in the
provinces by prudence and activity.

The first Sunday after he had removed into
his great premises in the market, his wife
would not come to visit my aunt. He had
himself ballotted into the club with the
burgomaster, not with my uncle; he would
thus be placed on a par with the magistrate,
and not acknowledge any superior.

In the commencement of the summer, three
vessels came at once, laden with northern
timber, all for him; and one English ship
emptied its entire cargo of coal into his
warehouse. From this time, my uncle's shopmen
and his never exchanged a word when they
met in the street.

One day in the autumn, my uncle's first
book-keeper came up into his private counting-
house and said, " Master, all the folks of
Aagerup were here today, and they are all
gone to shopkeeper Lauge's. The vagabonds!
and they are all in our books. If master
would perhaps let them be arrested for our
debt—"

"Very good, Clausen," said my uncle.

"Shall we not arrest them? " asked the
book-keeper.

"No," replied my uncle.

"And the innkeeper from Gedstrap has
been here," continued the book-keeper, " to
ask whether we could not allow a halfpenny