Bjørnstjerne Martinus Bjørnson, Mindre Fortellinger: En Livsgåte [Small Stories: A Problem of Life]

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This short story opens in a mountain setting, where a tense scene unfolds between two lovers, Botolf and Aasta. The couple met during an ocean voyage: Aasta’s ship ran against that of Botolf, and she fell in love with him when he took command of the crisis. Botolf has become suspicious because Aasta will not divulge her past, but he knows that during her recent journey from America, she had been very fearful of a certain foreign skipper. Her refusal to explain the reason for this makes Botolf mistrustful: “I am too proud to be the keeper of something I do not know – and which may perhaps belong to another!” (187). The tension between them mounts until, without warning, Aasta runs past him, and hurls herself over a precipice: “a kerchief that floated up, got loose, and fluttered…

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Citation: Rees, Kathy. "Mindre Fortellinger: En Livsgåte". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 22 April 2017 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=35904, accessed 28 March 2024.]

35904 Mindre Fortellinger: En Livsgåte 3 Historical context notes are intended to give basic and preliminary information on a topic. In some cases they will be expanded into longer entries as the Literary Encyclopedia evolves.

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