Pelle the Conqueror Page #2

I'll be damned! That's nice.

It's a birthday gift.

Yes, I thought you looked like a birthday boy.

Happy birthday. Congratulations.

They say that...

Is it true you want to run away to America?

Run away? Run away, Pelle?

Do I look like a complete idiot?

Did you think I would risk losing my wages

and live outside the law? No.

I want to be free. A free man.

That's what I'm waiting for.

A free man.

Pelle.

Come here. I'll show you something.

Look at this.

This... is the ship for America.

In two years I'll have earned enough

on this damned Stengrden.

Then I'll have money for the fare.

As soon as the foreman pays me,

I'll go off and conquer the world.

Right across this sea.

First to America.

And then to China, Spain, Negroland.

The whole goddamned world, Pelle.

It's just out there waiting for us.

It's almost too easy. Don't you see?

I'll go with you.

Yes.

Today is your birthday so I'll let you come along.

Remember. In two years,

when the snow is starting to melt,

then we'll set off and conquer the world.

The damned, repulsive, great and wonderful world.

Now.

Here you go.

We've always had wood strawberries on your birthday.

Imagine that. Real, Swedish wood strawberries.

How far is it to America, Dad?

America?

It's far. There's an awfully big sea in between.

Erik says that the sea is stronger

than anything else.

Even though it's soft, it can support everything.

Stone and iron and such.

I wonder if those countries, America, China...

do they stand on the bottom of the sea

or do they float on the water?

Then they might be difficult to find.

No, I'd imagine that they stand on the bottom.

Kongstrup!

Come out here, Kongstrup. I want to talk to you.

- Your boy is hungry, Kongstrup.

- Here comes the Sow and the Cabbage.

Kongstrup, your bastard needs money for food.

Stay here, cabbage boy.

We have to talk to your father.

Your bastard is hungry.

That lecher has kids everywhere.

But he never had any with his wife.

- Your boy is hungry.

- They say she's a witch.

Allowance for the bastard, or have you forgotten it?

I told you not to come here.

He has the right to see his father.

- Get out, you slut.

- Allowance for the bastard.

Kongstrup!

- You'll never get rid of my son.

- Go away!

You'll never get rid of us!

Kongstrup!

Mind the slate, Pelle, so it doesn't break.

Avoid the big boys as long as you can't beat them.

But if they will not leave you alone,

then you throw the first punch.

Then they'll lose heart.

Especially if you hit them hard.

Listen to what the teacher says.

And don't make any trouble.

And remember the handkerchief.

Don't use your fingers.

But go easy on the handkerchief

when no one is watching.

It'll last longer that way.

Be careful with your shirt.

And if the teacher's wife invites you

for coffee, you just take one cookie.

- But she won't.

- No?

He has never been married.

Well, then... Hurry.

SCHOOL:

P-A says pa. P-E says pe.

P-A says pa.

P-E says pe.

P-I says pi. P-O says po.

P-U says pu. P-Y says py.

P-U says pooh!

Wretched little bastards. Be quiet!

Silence! Wretched brats.

Should we meet the new pupil?

Can you stand up?

- What is your name then?

- Pelle Karlsson.

And what can you do?

I can hit a cow with a stone from 100 paces.

Try it with that boor.

I can make the cows stand still

by buzzing like a botfly.

- I can make Bismarck--

- Can you read?

No, otherwise I wouldn't be here.

You had better not be so impertinent.

B-A says ba. B-E says be.

B-I says bi.

What's this one? The top one.

I haven't seen that before.

Have you already forgotten that?

I got it after seeing it just once.

It's an

Of course it is. I don't know

what's wrong with my head today.

It's an "F." I wonder what that's for.

It's the first letter in afternoon. F-ternoon.

Of course. The teacher must have told you that.

No. I figured that out on my own.

Did you now? You've become so clever, Pelle.

What will become of a person with so much learning?

Imagine if they serve roast pork.

Roast pork with raisins.

Or apples. Some people make it

with apples instead of raisins.

Well, let's wait and see.

Get out! I don't want any trouble with you.

Christ! Herring on Christmas Eve. That's a first.

If the food doesn't agree with you,

go somewhere else!

Herring every damn day.

How about roast pork for Christmas Eve?

You always have to complain!

Go home to Sweden, if you're so unhappy.

Are you so damned stingy? Don't we earn our bread?

That's rich coming from you, you lazy cad.

Go over to your room.

Shame!

Shame on Stengrden! Shame!

Any more complaints?

- Scram, you oaf.

- Stay with your own kind, coward.

Don't get too close, Pelle. The water is wet.

You might get wet, you coward.

Get out of here, Pelle!

You might get dizzy and fall in the water.

Go home, Pelle.

- Get back to your own kind.

- Scram, Pelle, you coward.

- Coward!

- I'm no more of a coward than you.

You don't even dare jump in the water!

Daft fool. Jumping in the water

like a lovestruck woman!

You damn scoundrel.

You deserve a good whipping, Pelle.

If you had drowned,

I would have beaten you to a pulp.

What kind of damned kid did I father?

Wouldn't it be a good idea to do a bloodletting?

Here you go. It's good for colds.

Don't be afraid, Pelle. I'm not a witch.

I'm just very unhappy sometimes.

Oh, Lord...

You don't even have a mother, you poor thing.

Ma Bengta died three years ago.

Now she's in the left-hand corner of the churchyard.

Do you miss her a lot?

Lasse mends my clothes.

I'm sure she was a good mother.

In the end she was so ill and cross.

Then it's better to pass away.

But Lasse will get married again

if he can find someone who'll have him.

And then you'll leave this place.

This place isn't good for you, I guess.

Stengrden is not good for anyone.

Everything turns into misery here.

It's probably an old curse.

Is that what they say?

Oh, Well.

What do they say about me then?

That you are allied with the devil

and become a werewolf at night.

All this just because you love just one person.

Why does he do this to me?

He's gone to the town again, that fornicator.

I married him and made a gentleman farmer out of him.

I gave him my love. I've given him all I have.

- If only he had given me a child.

- I have to go back to Lasse Pa.

Now you're afraid of me again.

You're a good boy, Pelle.

If I had had a son he should have been just like you.

Come.

Lasse Pa. The mistress is coming

with the young family.

God damn it.

Pelle, go over to them.

Hello, Pelle. Where is your father?

This is our cowman, Lasse Karlsson,

and his son, Pelle.

How do you do?

And this is Miss Sine, my niece from Copenhagen.

Miss Sine will be staying here

at the farm from now on.

I've forgotten how much two times two is.

Even though I'm more historically

inclined, I'll try and help you.

Two multiplied by two equals five.

Which is lighter,

a pound of feathers or a pound of lead?

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