Автор литература - Njal's Saga

Hrut laughed when he heard that, and went away; after that he

came before the king and thanked him; and the king spoke kindly

to him, and bade him “farewell.” Hrut went straight to his ship,

and they had a fair wind all the way until they ran into

Borgarfirth.

As soon as the ship was made fast to the land, Hrut rode west

home, but Auzur stayed by the ship to unload her and lay her up.

Hrut rode straight to Hauskuldstede, and Hauskuld gave him a

hearty welcome, and Hrut told him all about his travels. After

that they send men east across the rivers to tell Fiddle Mord to

make ready for the bridal feast; but the two brothers rode to the

ship, and on the way Hauskuld told Hrut how his money-matters

stood, and his goods had gained much since he was away. Then

Hrut said, “The reward is less worth than it ought to be, but I

will give thee as much meal as thou needst for thy household next

winter.”

Then they drew the ship on land on rollers, and made her snug in

her shed, but all the wares on board her they carried away into

the Dales westward. Hrut stayed at home at Hrutstede till winter

was six weeks off, and then the brothers made ready and Auzur

with them, to ride to Hrut’s wedding. Sixty men ride with them,

and they rode east till they came to Rangriver plains. There

they found a crowd of guests, and the men took their seats on

benches down the length of the hall, but the women were seated on

the crossbenches on the dais, and the bride was rather downcast.

So they drank out the feast and it went off well. Mord pays down

his daughter’s portion, and she rides west with her husband and

his train. So they ride till they reach home. Hrut gave over

everything into her hands inside the house, and all were pleased

at that; but for all that she and Hrut did not pull well together

as man and wife, and so things went on till spring, and when

spring came Hrut had a journey to make to the Westfirths, to get

in the money for which he had sold his wares; but before he set

off his wife says to him, “Dost thou mean to be back before men

ride to the Thing?”

“Why dost thou ask?” said Hrut.

“I will ride to the Thing,” she said, “to meet my father.”

“So it sball be,” said he, “and I will ride to the Thing along

with thee.”

“Well and good,” she says.

After that Hrut rode from home west to the Firths, got in all his

money, and laid it out anew, and rode home again. When he came

home he busked him to ride to the Thing, and made all his

neighbours ride with him. His brother Hauskuld rode among the

rest. Then Hrut said to his wife, “If thou hast as much mind now

to go to the Thing as thou saidst a while ago, busk thyself and

ride along with me.”

She was not slow in getting herself ready, and then they all

rode to the Thing. Unna went to her father’s booth, and he gave

her a hearty welcome, but she seemed somewhat heavy-hearted, and

when he saw that he said to her, “I have seen thee with a merrier

face. Hast thou anything on thy mind?”

She began to weep, and answered nothing. Then he said to her

again. “Why didst thou ride to the Thing, if thou wilt not tell

me thy secret? Dost thou dislike living away there in the west?”

Then she answered him, “I would give all I own in the world that

I had never gone thither.”

“Well!” said Mord, “I’ll soon get to the bottom of this.” Then

be sends men to fetch Hauskuld and Hrut, and they came

straightway; and when they came in to see Mord, he rose up to

meet them and gave them a hearty welcome, and asked them to sit

down. Then they talked a long time in a friendly way, and at

last Mord said to Hauskuld, “Why does my daughter think so ill of

life in the west yonder?”

“Let her speak out,” said Hrut, “if she has anything to lay to my

charge.”

But she brought no charge against him. Then Hrut made them ask

his neighbours and household how he treated her, and all bore him

good witness, saying that she did just as she pleased in the

house.

Then Mord said, “Home thou shalt go, and be content with thy lot;

for all the witness goes better for him than for thee.”

After that Hrut rode home from the Thing, and his wife with him,

and all went smoothly between them that summer; but when spring

came it was the old story over again, and things grew worse and

worse as the spring went on. Hrut had again a journey to make

west to the Firths, and gave out that he would not ride to the

Althing, but Unna his wife said little about it. So Hrut went

away west to the Firths.

7. UNNA SEPARATES FROM HRUT

Now the time for the Thing was coming on. Unna spoke to Sigmund,

Auzur’s son, and asked if he would ride to the Thing with her; he

said he could not ride if his kinsman Hrut set his face against

it.

“Well!” says she, “I spoke to thee because I have better right to

ask this from thee than from any one else.”

He answered, “I will make a bargain with thee: thou must promise

to ride back west with me, and to have no underhand dealings

against Hrut or myself.”

So she promised that, and then they rode to the Thing. Her

father Mord was at the Thing, and was very glad to see her, and

asked her to stay in his booth while the Thing lasted, and she

did so.

“Now,” said Mord, “what hast thou to tell me of thy mate, Hrut?”

Then she sung him a song, in which she praised Hrut’s liberality,

but said he was not master of himself. She herself was ashamed

to speak out.

Mord was silent a short time, and then said, “Thou hast now that

on thy mind I see, daughter, which thou dost not wish that any

one should know save myself, and thou wilt trust to me rather

than any one else to help thee out of thy trouble.”

Then they went aside to talk, to a place where none could

overhear what they said; and then Mord said to his daughter,

“Now, tell me all that is between you two, and don’t make more of

the matter than it is worth.”

“So it shall be,” she answered, and sang two songs, in which she

revealed the cause of their misunderstanding; and when Mord

pressed her to speak out, she told him how she and Hrut could not

live together, because he was spellbound, and that she wished to

leave him.

“Thou didst right to tell me all this,” said Mord., “and now I

will give thee a piece of advice, which will stand thee in good

stead, if thou canst carry it out to the letter. First of all,

thou must ride home from the Thing, and by that time thy husband

will have come back, and will be glad to see thee; thou must be

blithe and buxom to him, and he will think a good change has come

over thee, and thou must show no signs of coldness or ill-temper,

but when spring comes thou must sham sickness, and take to thy

bed. Hrut will not lose time in guessing what thy sickness can

be, nor will he scold thee at all, but he will rather beg every

one to take all the care they can of thee. After that he will

set off west to the Firths, and Sigmund with him, for he will

have to flit all his goods home from the Firths west, and he will

be away till the summer is far spent. But when men ride to the

Thing, and after all have ridden from the Dales that mean to ride

thither; then thou must rise from thy bed and summon men to go

along with thee to the Thing; and when thou art “allboun,” then