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University of Wisconsin Press andThe Board of Regents of the University of Wisconsin System are collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve and extend access to Contemporary Literature.This novel about the psychologically tumultuous childhood of Linda Stahl in a remote northern village is frequently reminiscent, both in tone and subject, of Sherwood Anderson. The following two chapters portray a traumatic event in Linda's relations with her puritanic father, Egron, who can neither understand nor cope with her.Linda stood at the bedroom window, looking up toward the village. At the top of the hill lay the long, red building used by Ant Viktor in winter, and behind it, the bakehouse. The barn roof, which could only just be distinguished, was so low it was a wonder that a cow could stand upright beneath it. Linda had long planned to find out about this, but whenever they went to prayers at Ant Viktor's there was so much else to see that she forgot. Further east lay a small cottage, all gray and cold looking, which belonged to Jonas and Manda, an ungodly place where no prayer meetings were ever held.The Ahls lived further down the hill, and the first thing one noticed on their farm was the manure heap, and then the barn, and then the roof of the winter cottage, the only part visible. Linda's mother had told her that this home had "luck with animals," and she once made up her mind to find out what that meant. During a drowsy part in a sermon at one of the prayer meetings she had crawled along the floor and was half way George Braziller, Inc.-from The Rain Bird by Sara Lidman reprinted with the permission of the publisher. Copyright ? 1962 by George Braziller, Inc. Translated by Elspeth Harley Schubert. XII, 3 CONTEMPORARY LITERATURE This content downloaded from 128.235.251.160 on Thu, 4 Dec 2014 02:24:12 AM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions RAIN BIRD i 263 This content downloaded from 128.235.251.160 on Thu, 4 Dec 2014 02:24:12 AM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions"Can you guess who it is who has been born twice and never christened?" Linda asked."What godless rubbish are you talking now?" her father demanded.
But Linda ignored him and knelt down and prattled to the chicks, which were cheeping and crawling about on top of each other."Where did you learn that riddle about the unchristened chicks?" Egron persisted. He was greedy to talk with her but was only able to express himself by fault-finding. "Nowhere." Linda went on idly moving the chicks about. "Is that the way to answer your father?" he shouted. Immediately regretting his anger, he got up and went into the front room. Spring was rejoicing outside the window, and there was no escape for him anywhere.Li...
