I .HaRan Brunberg :

T}'~ arc}, for 8uitabl mul· rial for tad. wauII's IIhorl story of the /lalio'l4 iifUII of 11i~ F:dilor'if InO t pleet/wnt taJlkJl. }-fowfWer, tojind a wedishs},orl slory provedto be qu jle diffcult urprilfi/l(Jly 110, cO'Midcrillg that Swedw U1(111 Ih6 home of A Il{lU.yt

, "rilldb rg u"d lma LaYlSrllif. lVII ha~ read do:emt of modern 'wedish storielf.bill we halle "ot been able to ji'ld (I lIill(Jle 0'«: worth tra'l4la.ting. P rhaps th ... "e·jlect8 Swedell'lI elldwllQl' to keep away, all far all pollsible, frolll the ;SINIe8 of 0/11' tillle.'j'1i e world is i/l jkvnu and the duti'li!J of m(mkind 1:/1 the balance. Yet S wede" tl' iesto live a.y if thue were f10t the "roaring forliu" but 19/0.

111 order not to omit Swedll7l from our seriu. we have had 10 seek beyond herf1'01l1i6r8. HakU11 B"1.mberg is a "F'inlander," i.e., a Swede from Finland. DuringIhe last few decadu, Filllalld hall lakell (/It adive and courageoUil pelrt in tM life ofaur aut, (HId her writera-whethcr af Finnillh or Swedish stock-have outranJ.-edth~)/Ie of Swedts/l. 7'Ms dou 1Iot mea,. that the following story ill political ill allY8e1186. It ill humoro'l/.8 arid light with an 1l11111islukable p11/1ch.-K.M.

T HE Gronfeldt family had bought adog. ActuaUy, it was Mrs. Gr(}n­feldt who bad bought him. Mr.

(;;Ji)nJeldt did11 t like dog., but he hadthe privilege of paying f r th bea't. Heco t a tidy SUDl, for he was a noble dogwith genealogical table anti tree. HiAofficial name wa~ Rudolf von Aspenii ofBy, but Mrs. Gronicldt called him "dar­ling," "my little angel," and quite a fewotlaer nice attribute.. The neighbor.call d him a mongrel anti a ba tard; Ml'.Gr(}nleldt just "you h II of a clog."

Of all (,tIC e pretty name. he obeyednono. R.lIdolf, as we shall take theliberty of plautl)' calling him, rescmbledn, bottle brush. Alld those parts of hilllwhioh didn't look like a bottle brushdidn't look like a dog anyway. Aregards his character, there wa n't muchto brag about. In spite of hiB di tin­guished an ostors and blue blood la wasa real tyke Ul his way of going aboutthings, and he badn t the faintest idea ofproper dog manners. He "went out fOJ'a walk" on the parquet floor of thedruwing room. He was po os ed of aninextinguishable love for dunghills andgal'lmge heups; he would wuLlow in themand later pick out some comfortablarmchair where he would doze off. Inthi way he provided the GrOnfeldt homewith som fine outdoor odors.

After a fortnight or 0 in tbe bo~ulll

of the family, he had eOllslUned anincredible amount of divers items notusually considered part of a dog s diet,cratched boles in the brocade of the

uphol ter d furniture, gnawed orne ma­hogany chairs asunder, and done It fewother thUlg in the same line.

A well-developed inclination for anger.coupled with f~ magnificent lust formurder, was a pronounced feature illRudolf. He specialized in cats, whosenecks he crushed before they had timc'to blink their eye. When the town hadbeen entu'ely cieansed of them, he tuokto postmen and m . engel's, whom, laow­ever, he was content just to ta te inpas Ulg. He would even chew parts of~lr. GrOnfeldt.

Mr. Gronfeldt hated the hound pas­sionately. He would have given muchto get rid of him, but as he was notmuster of his own hou e he dared notlay hands on the creature. Howeverstrange it may seem, Mrs. Gr(}nIeldtworshiped tbe dog, so Mr. Gronfeldtbad to put up with things and suffer insilence.

Rudolf proved an expensive pet. ~lr.

Gr()nfeldt soon found himself obliged topay the majority of doctor's and tailor'llbill in town. The office me senger bad

GRONFELDT'S DOG 3115

found in Rudolf a good, cheap met,hod ofgetting new clothes: it required onJyenergy and a little courage.

Once Mr. Gronfeldt nearly succeededin getting rid of the monster. One daywhen he came home from office the parishconstable was waiting for him. He was,curiuusly enough, waiting on the roof ofthe house. Beneath him, the "darling"patrolled on still legs, snarling. "Ta keaway your damned dog," sputtered theconstable, crimson with anger. "or I'llshoot!" Mr. Gronfeldt quickly soughtprotection behind the nearest tree, forhe had no de 'ire to be shot. "Ta,keIlW~ty the dog, or I'll shoot him!" re­peated the constable. l\fr. Gronfeldtdrew a sigh of relief when he heard thatthe threat was aimed at the dog. "Pleasedo," he said mildly and crawled out fromhis hiding place. The constable waitedno longer but took aim and fired. Therewas a bang and, although the dog wasnot hit, Mr. GrOnfeldt was. He got thebullet through his foot. As for thedog he rushed up with his hair bristling,for he was an intelligent animal.

AltoI' this unfortunate accident Mr.GronIeldt was forced to spend quit,esome time in hospital. The parish con­stable had to stand the expensel:l, and that.of course, was a little balm on the wound.

SOME time after l\fr. Gronfeldt hadrecovered, a great event was totake place in the town. A world­

famous artist, who wasvisiting the country, hadnotified the municipalityof his intention of honor­ing the place with aconcert. I t was indeedan occurrence of ma.jorproportions. For dayl:lbeforehand arrangementswere made to welcomet he famous man in a\rot·thy manner. At pub­lic expense, the houses ont hose streets down whichhe was to pass werefreshly painted; gates ofhonor were erected; and

tlags, flowers, and garlands adorned streetsand squares.

People by the thousands thronged thetown to hear the famous artist. Specialtrains were run, for the stream of travelerswas enormous.

When the time set for the opening ofthe concert approached, the hall waspacked to the last seat with an expectant,festively ill·e. sed audience. When t,lledivine personage appeared on the stage.[t roaring wave of applause 1'0. e towardhim which would not be calmed down.Dark, taU, and impressive, he stood therebowing-the man who had brought awhole world to it.s knees. \Vhen theapplause finally died away it was re­pla,ced with a few minutE'» of utter :::ilenec.Then he raised his violin to his sllOulder,Ilnd a cascade of notes filled the air.

The bewitched auclience held its breathin ecstasy. There was something ill­tangible, something supernatural in hisplaying. But suddenly a strangely dis­cordant, jarring note minglcd with themelody. It was a moaning that rose andfell, ending at last in a long-drawn-out,abysmal howl. Then it stopped as sud­denly as it had started-only to startagain in another key. l\1r. GrOnfeldtbegan to perspire. There was somethingominous, foreboding, something all toofamiliar in the sound. He had heard ittoo often not to be able to recognize it.There could be no doubt that it was theunspeakable Rudolf ~itting somewhere in

the hall competing withthe violinist. It was notonly Mr. Gronfeldt whorecognized the sound.Everywhere ill the hallpeople whispered: "That'sGrtJnfeld fs beal:lt uf adog!" Night after nightthey had been forced toljst~n to the same diabol­icn I concert.

The violinist had notimmediately heard hiscompetitor's efforts, butwhen the latter struckup an thale in a minor

3M THE XXth CENTURY

key with a scream that sounded like asiren, he coulon't help hea.ring it. Hisplaying first grow a littlo vague and thentopped completely. GrOnioldt's d g, on

the contrary dio not stop but carriedon with the Nude to tho bitter end.Great commotion ... explcLnatiow ...apolo >ies ... and then a fc\-erish searchfor the dog. It could not be found '-Lny­wher. It mURt have .. neokcd out of thohaU. The coneor\' could continue.

The \'iolini t s ·med omewhat agitatedand nervous but began to play. Every­thing went fine for a while, but then thetrouble st,ul'ted ll,gain only with thecliff rene that thi time it was twice asbad. The artii topped Ili performancefor the secant! time, and now he wasseriously angry. They all did their bestto soothe him und act hold of the doer.Th v ucceeded more or I ill the formerbut ~ failed campi tely ill the latt 1': thedog was as jf ,wallowed up by the earth.

For the third time the interruptedcone rt was re umed while the audi neesat on tenterhooks. Th l' it was again!This time the virtuoso flung his fiddleaway and rushed out. Mr. GrOnfeldtalso ru hed out: he wa afraid of beinglynched. Thus ended the c ncert.Ruoolf got the last \'lord-or rather I.lote.(H 0 was found later, by the way, sleepingon 11 druJU under the tage floor.)

MR. Gr'l'lI1feldt ha,d been out oftown for a fow duj's, a circum­stance whi h p rmilted M.1'. >ron­

feldt to lead fl freer life. He p nt hisevenings in joUy company in the variuuspuhs of the town. On the last night offreedom he taggered home somewhatovermuch refrhed. Aftcr llndre. ing heturn d to hi,' bed onlv to find it occupied:Rudolf lay th re snoring. Mr. GrOnfeldtsworo. for he knew there wu. going to hctrouble. To di turb the brute when itplea ed him to sleep wa exee dinglydangerous. If it hadn't been for thefn.et tha,t J\1.r. OrOnfeldt hUll a considerablequantity of alcohol in him, ho would1110 t certainly have refmined fr III anyattempt at conquering the bed. Now,howov('r, he felt couragoous and, what

wa more, he was furious. "Get up, youinfernal beast!" he shouted. "Get outof my bed, or I'll teach you a lesson!"

The dog, UJlaccu tamed to such rough.language, looked at him in astonishment.Then he snarled threateningly. Mr.Gr nieldt's courage fell a few degree,and he looked round for some weapon.Hi eye \va aught by the t,ongs in frontof the fireplace and, armed with these,he made an attack. The bedside lampsuffered from the first blow; the secondmaneuver hit the chamber pot. It neverCltme to a ren.! battle, however, a Rudolfhad slippecl under the bed, wuenee hemade a well-aimed attack on hi enemy.~[r. GrOnfeklt, found himself forced toretl'cat hast,ily, and at the last minute hefound refuO'~ on a table. Rudol.f, theWI' t.eh. returned to th b d, where he laydOl nand re umed his interrupted leep.

Mr. GrOnfeldt now deeid d to employanother method. "Don't be naughty,laddy' own doggie, that's dadd '8 bed "he coaxed. Usele s: whichever way hetried, it was as if he spoke to the wall.He began again: "Little darling, come todaddy, and you shall have a little-alittle-brandy." (That was the onlything he could think of in such a hurry.)Rudolf did not seem interested in brandy,or in Mr. GrOnfeldt either, for he wentright on sleeping. This was too muchfor Mr. Gr n.feldt. and he completely losthis temper. :Mad with ra.ge h· flung his~hoe a,t the dog. Crash!-the big mirrorhad cracked. The dog ba.rked. Theneighbor up tairs stamped on the floorin a frenzy.

Mr. GrOnfeldt, however, did not yetconsider the game 10 t. Where the lionskin doe not. uffice one mu t resort tothe fox skin, he thought, and decided tocHpture the bed by cunning. He had abrilliant kleu.. If he rang tbe doorbellthe bastard would urely rush out to eewho it was. Then tLe thing was to bequick about it and hurry in and bangthe door while the dog was still outside.

Everything went according to MJ'.OI'Onfeldt's calculations np till the mo­ment when he was to hurry in. For some

Some days later the Gronfeldt familywent abroad. The dog was left in thecare of LI. neighbor who promised to lookafter him and not let him strny.

The GronIeldts were away for somemonths. When they camo back theywere greeted by the astonishing newsthat their dog Rudolf had given birth toeven puppies.

"'ith Rudolf past the-station warehou e heespied a dog which exactly re embled hisown. Alike as two peas, he thought.I t was tied to a po t and had a lab Iattached. to its collar proving that itwas going to be ent to some otherplace.

Then the devil got into Mr. GrOnfeldt.Why not change the dog ? he th ugh t.Nothin lY could be war e than Rudolf.He looked around and, nobody being insight, quickly trans'ormcd his idea intoaction. Scarcely had he committed hiscrime 1hllJ1 his cQnscience haunted him.What if it were found out? What wouldhis wife say when she knew that herdarling pet had di appeared into the un­known depths of fate? And the police?What if the threw him into pri on?The cold sweat of fear ran down Mr.CrOnIeldt's body. He was terribly afraid.II he had had the chn.nce he would havechanged back his Rudolf, but now itwas too late. A railway porter wasalready dragging him away.

Gradually he calmed down. When hecame to think of it. it was ab olu Iyimpossible to tell the ilifJerence betwoonthe two creatures. He was wilJing towear that the dog he now had was

Rudolf. And the longer he looked athim the more convinced he became thathis little trick would never be detected.

GRONFELDT'S DOG

inexplioable reMon, he happened in hisnervousnes to pu h the door in a littletoo vi lently with the result that it sprangba k and licked in it I ck, leaving himoutside. Rudolf however, succeeded inLipping in at the In t econo. During

the succeeding minutes l\fr. Gr<>nfeldt'language was quite unprintable. Thenhe dived into the raspberry bu he in thega.rden be au e some girls from the tele­ph ne m pany walking home after theirni yht's duty, passed his hous. Not un­naturally, he eli liked the idea of appea,r­ing before them in his scanty attire.

The hours which now followed werenc\'er forgotten by Mr. Gron1eldt. Thedo. wn hnd grown so old that the factoriesstarted work. There wa.".! a oonstant, tream of people on the road lea,ding po. tMr. GronIeldt's villa. A if that werenot enough, hi only hidjng place consi tedin these same ra pberry bushes, and itwas around and between them that l\:lr.Gron1eldt r tated. He had to drop hiplan of dllShing up to the villa andSill hing a window to gain an entranceinto the house because there was alwayomebody walking by on the road. In

the end, however he was forced to do it.for after all, he couldn't very well crawlabout in the bu hes for ever.

A little while later the Gr<>nfeldt homewas surrounded by the town's policecorp, whi h had been ordered to theplace to catch a burglar who had forcedhi way into the house. Naturallyenough, no thief was found, and the co. ewas oleared up. That the episode oameto figure in the local press wa not Mr.GronIeldt's idea, of course.

O~E day Mr. Cronfeldt went outfor a walk to air the mon ter.When 1\1r. Gronleld t came walking

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