The Icelandic Canadian - 01.06.1967, Blaðsíða 50

48
THE ICELANDIC CANADIAN
Summer 1967
youngster, reacted to this great obstacle
which fate had placed in his path.
“When I was in ViSimyrarsel” (in
Sk agaf jarSarsysla), he wrote, “I had a
strong desire to embark upon an edu-
cational career. From those years I can
particularly recall one windy and chilly
day on which I happened to see three
young men as they rode past our farm.
I knew that these young men were stu-
dents who were on their way to a
school in Reykjavik. . . This sight did
not make me envious, but I was filled
with a sense of depression and sorrow.
I could not help shedding a few tears
and, to avoid making a display of my
emotions, I sought out a hiding place
some distance away from our farm
buildings. Soon my absence was
noticed by my mother. She came out
of the house and called my name, but
I remained silent, since I did not want
her to discover me in such a con-
dition. However, she almost immedi-
ately discovered my hiding place, and
noticing the depressed mood I was in,
She naturally wanted to know what
had upset me. Reluctanly I told her
the truth. Many years later I heard my
mother say that never in her life had
she sensed the stifling effect of povert
as keenly as on this occasion. Her
words made me deeply regret that I
could ever have allowed myself to lose
control of my emotions.” (4,93)
This incident from Stephansson’s
youth not only reveals the difficult
circumstances he had to contend with
—it also shows his ability to cope with
them. On this and many other occasions
later in life, Stephansson was able t
draw on his reserves of inner strength
and to accept adversity as a challenge.
He lived by the rule aS lata ekki baslifi
smaekka sig (‘not to let the bitter
struggle of life make him a lesser per-
son’, III, 87).
Since Stephansson had little op-
portunity to attend school, he made
use of whatever informal education
was available to him in the private
homes of his district. This kind of
education consisted mainly of the read-
ing of literature, and young Stephan.s-
son read everything he came across.
In his own home there was a collection
of religious books; other literature he
borrowed from neighboring farms
(4, 84-85).
Memorial to Stephan G. Stephansson, at
VatnsskarSi, Iceland.
Just before leaving Iceland in 1873,
Stephansson received some private
tutoring from a minister. Among the
subjects which he studied was English.
Later in life Stephansson greatly in-
creased his knowledge of languages as
is borne out both by his poems and