The Icelandic Canadian - 01.12.1971, Qupperneq 45

THE ICELANDIC CANADIAN
43
A VISION
Translated from Swedish in Heims-
kringla, September 4, 1890, and
translated from the Icelandic by
Kristine Kristofferson.
★
In the summer of 1873 when I was
30 years of age, I was travelling alone
over a lonely prairie, with my horse,
gun and dog. I followed the trail
made by oxen and camped one night
near a bush where I could see over the
plain. Tethering my horse, I ate the
rabbit I had caught, wrapped myself
in my blanket and went to sleep. The
night was far advanced when I awoke
in bright moonlight that made every-
thing as clear as day. I saw something-
far off that moved slowly nearer.
When I looked closely I saw it was a
covered wagon. It looked as if the
wagon were headed straight for my
resting place and I became very cur-
ious. I couldn’t understand why any-
one would be travelling so late at
night and why anyone would be using-
such a contrivance. They went very
slowly as if the horses were exhaust-
ed and the man who walked beside
them was ready to give up. Twenty
minutes went by. The wagon stopped
thirty feet from where I sat and the
man began to look about as if decid-
ing that here he should stop. Sudden-
ly I realized that the wagon had ap-
proached without making any sound.
There was no creaking of wheels, no
sound of the hoofs of the horses or
the man’s footsteps. The man ap-
peared not to take any notice of me
though he must have seen me as c1 ear-
ly as I saw him. How could this be?
Was I dreaming? No, I was wide
awake. Was it an hallucination? No it
was not, because my dog faced the
man and began to growl. I put my
hand on his head and ordered him to
be quiet.
The man stood in front of ithe front
wheel and looked into the flap-open-,
ing and though I could hear no words
spoken I was sure he was talking to
someone inside. A woman’s head ap-
peared at the opening, looked around
and nodded as if in agreement with
the man’s decision. The man un-
hitched the horses and let them graze.
He looked back over the trail uneas-
ily, then he helped the woman des-
cend from the wagon.
Then something happened that ab-
solutely astonished me. They walked
back and forth as if they were look-
ing for something particular in that
desolate prairie. Finally the woman
pointed to a spot between two trees
and when the man had looked there
he went back to the wagon and came
back with a shovel. He marked a small
square on the ground about 2 feet
wide and 5 feet long and began to
dig what was obviously a grave.
This took place in absolute silence.
I was looking at living people work-
ing there a few feet from me and yet
I did not hear a sound. Now my curios-
ity had become wonder. Here was
something contrary to natural laws.
These people were shades, not real.
Yet the dog beside me was shivering,
as attentive and wide awake as I my-
se'f, as burning with curiou.sity as I
was. 1 held him fast.
The man kept on digging the grave
until it was about 5 feet deep then
he threw the shovel down. While he