The Icelandic Canadian - 01.06.1995, Page 50

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THE ICELANDIC CANADIAN
SPRING /SUMMER 1995
was considered eccentric, as often hap-
pened in such a case. To he sure, he was
eccentric but scarcely worthy of contempt
for that reason. I do not deny that he was a
hard man to serve, yet I feel I was lucky to
have ended up there rather than in most
other positions. It was there I first began to
think for myself somewhat, and 1 still re-
call several wise sayings and various good
advice which I benefited from. I shall al-
ways remember Jon with respect and grati-
tude.
Most people at that time thought it more
than a little unusual that Jon decided to
send me to school at Hvoll in Saurbser,
where Torfi of Olafsdalur then taught. I
studied there for three weeks. And though
this was but a brief stay, I profited from it. I
worked for Jon for two years, then returned
to my parents, where I stayed until my fa-
ther died in 1887. At that time 1 did a cer-
tain amount of doctoring, and Bryde, a
Danish merchant who traded in Borbeyri
at the time, offered to order medicine from
Copenhagen for me. I accepted the offer.
I met with no opposition from the doctors
of the districts concerned, although we did
have a bit of a run-in, the doctor at
Klambra, Halldorsson and I, thanks to
Ingimundur Jakobsson, a common ac-
quaintance who set us up against each
other. But even this affair ended in recon-
ciliation, and Julius was heard more often
than once to say that he thought I should
have become a doctor. At this time I also
bound books and did general carpenter
work, as was common in the country, and
other work, and wrote at night whenever I
got the chance (which was not always the
case). I then made the acquaintance of the
well-known man of learning, Rev.
borvaldur Melsted, who loaned me a
number of useful books which were a con-
siderable rarity, most of them in foreign
languages. Through my acquaintance with
Rev. Melsted, 1 got to know his ward,
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