65° - 01.09.1967, Blaðsíða 36

65° - 01.09.1967, Blaðsíða 36
not, and her eleven year old daughter speeds up her “getting ready for school” preparations, knowing that school will really be held and most everyone will be there. It could happen. (This article appeared in Vikan in 1965.) ICELANDERS Continued from page 24 to the fact that mental illness is looked upon as a crime or the work of the devil, but by no means as any other illness. 49. Reykjavikans’ keys to happiness are a) good health b) a good spouse, and well-fed, well- dressed, well-behaved children c) a comfortable home to live in, and d) good economic security. It seems to the researcher that Icelandic society today is characterized by one word: Materialism. Despite all talk about the literary spirit in Ice- land, Icelanders are intelligent people, well-in- formed and industrious, but far from being in- tellectual. It would not be so bad if materialism were the only large problem here; what is worse is the absence of stratification within the society. A laborer feels the same pressure on him to own his house, his own car, buy his wife dresses, go to Mallorca every other year, etc. as, say, the well-to-do-businessman. This creates tremendous tensions and worries within the society simply because the laborer has to do more in order to fulfill the pressure exerted on him. This, the re- searcher believes, is the greatest problem in Ice- land today: everything has to be standardized, and there is little room for individual freedom in this super-egoistic society. This problem is believed to be the most destructive force in family compositions and marital relations, and must be coped with very soon. On the researcher’s return to the United States this autumn, the above-mentioned data will be fed into a computor and analyzed, but the results will probably not be published until next year in their finished form. Since this study was made only of Reykjavik, it cannot be said that it re- presents the country in total, hence the researcher’s future plans to conduct a similar study in the countryside where the results will undoubtedly, hopefully, be different. HORSE Continued from page 28 immediately heartily ashamed of himself for having done so. Not that Faxi-Bleikur faltered in the least, let alone changed course, at the blow. He just twitched his ears slightly, incredulously, as if to say — ‘What, you strike me! Can it be possible?’ — then mended his pace to a still sharper trot ■— in the wrong direction. Though Jon would probably not admit it, even to himself, at this point he must have realised that he was up against a will stronger than his own. All he knew was that he was aware of an overwhelming reluctance to dominate and com- mand; a deeply rooted respect for the independ- ence of a self-sufficient, autonomous personality. Had he read Gulliver’s Travel he might have re- called Swift’s noble race of horses, with their base, ignoble human servants; but perhaps it is as well for his self-esteem that he had not. However, it became clear to him that so long as he con- tinued to ride this horse, their relationship would involve either a continual moral battle, or com- plete humiliation. He telephoned from the Ski-hotel, the horse waiting patiently outside while he did so, and then proceeded on his way to Hveragerdi, where he sold Faxi-Bleikur for a song to a passing farmer from near Selfoss. When Sigga came to fetch him in the car, he told her that he made up his mind to buy a speed- boat. JUPITER Continued from page 31 I close this report prematurely for the follow- ing reason: It has just occurred to me that through our marvellous IED machines and our Psychical Research efforts, even my own unique though half-completed experiences on Earth could be programmed into any other Jupiterian em- missary to Earth. By Jupiter, my antennae almost ache with ad- miration for our greatness! Respectfully, B. U. G. The wind the wind the mighty wind, It blew the girl’s dress high, But God was just And sent some dust Into the young man’s eye. 34 65

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