25.5.2009
ACT 2
ACT 2
http://www.netsaga.is/media/files/01%20Track%2001.mp3
John had enrolled in the Reykjavik Gymnasium right after finishing junior high school. He was industrious and always got the highest grades. Some in his family said that John did not have a very high IQ and certainly one much lower than his friend and classmate, Kalli Sandfeldt, had. However that may be, John got higher grades than Kalli Sandfeldt who just barely scraped through despite a high IQ. On the other hand, this IQ business was a little mysterious. No one had seen it on paper, and no one knew where it came from, much less how high it was. When Kalli Sandfeldt was asked what his IQ was, he smiled and said that he did not put much stock in such nonsense. Nevertheless, it was a fact that at the same time as Kalli Sandfeldt got 2 in Latin and 5 in History, John got 8 and 9. Those who speculated about IQs and such concluded that Kalli Sandfeldt goofed off in school and was, more or less, chasing here and there after girls. John, on the other hand, worked purposefully to prepare himself for life?go to university and take over the prosperity for which his father and grandfather had laid a foundation. One spring the students from the Reykjavik Gymnasium went on a school trip to the Thorsmörk recreational area. John and Kalli Sandfeldt sat together as was to be expected. In the seats in front of them were their classmates, Bertha and Joka. Bertha's actual name was Sigurfljod Elisabeth Riis, but she was generally called Bertha. Joka's name, on the other hand, was Pauline Paulsdottir, but she had gotten her nickname from being in the play Joka at school last winter.
There was a lot of chit-chat and singing and joke-telling and laughing, and soon after the bus was up in the Hellir Pass, the kids started handing around little flasks. Some flasks were passed back and forth between two individuals; others were circulated among four, or even more. About when John and Kalli Sandfeldt had polished off more than half their flask and had told some ten jokes and laughed unbelievably much, the girls in front of them had become restless. Finally Joka could not stand it, turned around and said: "You certainly are no great gentlemen." The guys stopped talking and looked at the girl who was looking back with an air of mischievous moralizing. Suddenly they burst out laughing, and Kalli Sandfeldt put his hand on the girl's shoulder: "My dear Joka. How can we be such oafs?" he said handing her the flask which she quickly raised to her lips.
"You don't have to finish it off," said John, laughing heartily.
"Bertha, dear, you take a swig too," said Kalli Sandfeldt about the time that Bertha got the flask up to her lips.
Bertha wore a white lopi sweater that reached down below her hips. She had on tight, black pants and laced hiking boots. Joka also had on laced hiking boots, but she wore a reddish brown lopi sweater with a pattern in red and green that went well with the henna color of her hair, freckles and red lipstick.
Very likely these kids' friendship began there in the bus. Anyway, it turned out that they got their diplomas from Gymnasium together and enrolled immediately next fall at the University. John and Kalli Sandfeldt went into engineering; Bertha started in business; and Joka enrolled in theology. After that she was called Rev. Pauline. As fate would have it, though, Joka, that is Rev. Pauline, never got a degree in theology. Instead she hurried off to London to study drama. Two years later she returned home and started to work in a bank. She lived by herself in a friendly, little garret up on Freyjagata. Bertha began to work for an accountant after she got her degree, but John and Kalli Sandfeldt went to America for graduate studies. John got an advanced degree in civil engineering, and Kalli Sandfeldt specialized in undersea engineering.
Before they went to the United States, they had deliberated a lot about the future. John had been the prime mover in this, and Kalli Sandfeldt's parents were grateful that their son had a friend like John. It was so strange with Kalli Sandfeldt: he had such difficulty keeping to his studies; something always interfered.
One day he came over to John's to tell him about a girl who had completely bewitched him: "Her name's Didi Stina. Just think, Didi Stina. You should see her. She is tiny and smiles with her eyes. Her toes are so beautiful that the could be in a collection. She has a high arch and heel and completely wonderful legs, strong and plump muscle below the knee, and if you go a bit above the knee, you get the impression you're doing something crude. I know you won't believe it, but although you see only a little bit of thigh, you get in a strange state: you get the feeling that looking there is banned."
"You don't say."
"I am crazy."
"So, what happened?"
"I asked her to marry me."
"Are you crazy?"
"I truly am."
"You've screwed her?"
"John, don't talk like that! I worship this woman."
"Yes, I guess so."
"I got to touch her thigh with my hand and look at it?a long time."
"Did you ask permission?"
"John, stop talking like that."
"Who is this woman?"
"She's an angel."
"I guess I knew that."
"She's an orphan."
"She's what?" said John, starting to laugh.
"Will you quit clowning."
When John looked his friend in the face, he saw how much he had on his mind: "You don't mean to tell me that you're giving up all your plans, that you're dropping out of school, just for a girl; I don't believe it."
After they had discussed the matter for a while, John was convinced that Kalli Sandfeldt was seriously in love. He had even planned for the girl to move into his parents' home; it was decided.
"Have they consented?"
"They have."
"Have they seen her yet?"
"They'll meet her tonight."
This surprised John. He could expect all sorts of things from Kalli Sandfeldt, but this took the cake.
"Are you engaged?"
"You could say that."
"Have you slept with her?"
"No."
"You've just touched her thigh, that's all, and looked at it?"
"You don't have to make such a joke of it."
"This is a joke. You peek under a woman's skirt and go crazy. I've never heard of such nonsense."
"John, I'm in love with the woman!"
"Yes, that's terrific."