Lögberg-Heimskringla - 01.05.2015, Blaðsíða 7

Lögberg-Heimskringla • 1. maí 2015 • 7
ONLINE MAGAZINE: WWW. HEIMSKRINGLOG.COM
on the island, no doubt pointed
to an old shack beside the mill,
where he and his family had
spent their first winter in this
country upon his arrival in 1876.
To the north, the visitor
saw a picturesque little church,
glistening white in the summer
sun. There was what looked like
a newly built house just up the
road beyond it. He decided he
would begin his visit to the island
there. Soon he was standing at
the door. He knocked. He was
greeted warmly. He introduced
himself. He explained his
mission. He was invited in for
coffee. He soon learned he was
in the home of Malli and Villa
Brynjolfson. He had never
encountered such names before.
He asked them to spell them
out as he dutifully filled out a
form attached to the clipboard
he pulled from his bag. Soon
he was engaged in a vigorous
discussion about anything and
everything with one of the most
engaging characters he had
ever met on the many journeys
that had taken him into many
kitchens in many places.
This was not going to be
an easy sale. He was grilled
for what seemed like hours on
everything imaginable. His
host had many views and many
questions. What did he think
was the biggest cause of wars?
What was causing the drought?
When he was unable to offer
any answers, his host confronted
him with: “Will these books be
able answer these questions?”
The stranger extolled on the hot
brown bread and butter with
his coffee. That brought out
another question “Do you eat
white bread?” The host pursued
the point, energetically offering
his opinion that it was white
because of a “chemical scrub”
and that chemicals would be the
ruin of us all. His wife, Villa,
challenged him. “Where do you
get all this information from
Malli?” – adding in a sarcastic
tone that she often baked white
bread and had never seen him
turn it down. His host seemed to
be confusing the fact that it was
the books that were the source
of all knowledge, not him. He
persisted sensing this was all
a prelude to the sale he could
already sniff like the sweet smell
of baking bread that filled the
room. The questions continued.
“Who are these people who
wrote this?” Yet, at the end of it
all, he finally concluded his first
sale on the island. The stranger
left, no doubt with boundless
enthusiasm at the prospect of
selling a set of books in every
home. He was off to a good start.
My Afi was a learned
man, not as the term is
conventionally understand
but in the purest sense of this
ancient recognition. His formal
schooling ended in grade two
– not long, but long enough to
inspire an unquenchable thirst
for knowledge and a relentless
passion for debate that he
wrapped in deep life experience
as a boy who quickly had
become a man. Afi’s portal into
the world of book learning
had arrived unexpectedly with
the stranger’s arrival this day.
Perhaps Afi received some
inspiration from the Sermon on
the Mount, but I doubt it. He
had his own mission in mind,
and while the dollars were few
and every dollar counted, to
this fisherman hungry to feed
his mind, those books was no
less basic than food or clothes.
The pleasure he took in owning
those books repaid him many
times for any sacrifices they
entailed.
But, to the best of Mom’s
knowledge, the only set the
stranger sold on the island at
the time was to Afi. That did
not constrain their use. The
Eggertson boys lived next door,
avid readers and good students.
One at a time, each returned
before another made its way,
they made their way across the
yards. Knowing how important
they were to Afi made it all
the more important to handle
them with utmost care. Their
mother prepared a special cloth
carrying bag.
As a boy, I remember well
the arrival of the encyclopedia
salesman to our door. Mom
listened respectfully to the
sermon but, like her dad, made
her own mind up. Not one but
two encyclopedias would enter
our home in Riverton. First,
it was the World Book, and
then the mighty Encyclopedia
Britannica – no doubt named to
remind us that the empire was
lord and master not only over
the lands and seas, but over
knowledge itself. Britannia’s
imprint was everywhere, even
on the very waters surrounding
Hecla. Lake Winnipeg was
a key transportation artery
through which the commercial
empire based on the beaver
fur and oil of the Company
of Adventurers of England
trading into Hudson’s Bay
held sway through the mighty
trading monopoly granted by
the British Crown to manage its
dominion over the vast lands in
the heartland of a vast continent
for two and a half centuries.
... continued on page 10
GENERAL MANAGER LANCE FRIDFINNSON
www.mymidtownford.com
100-1717 WAVERLEY STREET
WAVERLEY AUTO MALL
WINNIPEG, MANITOBA R3T 6A9
1-800-665-1632
204-284-7650
Afi at left. He dreamed of making his fortune selling The Book of Knowledge to
Icelanders on Hecla Island