Full resolution (JPEG) - On this page / på denna sida - Part I - I
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after the death of Charles XV, and the beginning of the
reign of Queen Sophia of Nassau. There were plenty of
reasons, therefore, to account for an enlightened
pessimism, reasons other than personal ones....
The dust caused by the rearrangement of the books was
choking me. I opened the window for a breath of fresh
air and a look at the view beyond. A delicious breeze
fanned my face, a breeze laden with the scent of lilac and
the rising sap of the poplars. The lattice-work was
completely hidden beneath the green leaves of the
honeysuckle and wild vine; acacias and plane trees, well
acquainted with the fatal whims of a northern May, were
still holding back. It was spring, though the skeleton
of shrub and tree was still plainly visible underneath the
tender young green. Beyond the parapet with its Delft
vases bearing the mark of Charles XII, the masts of the
anchored steamers were rising, gaily decorated with flags
in honour of the May-day festival. Behind them glittered
the bottle-green line of the bay, and from its wooded
shores on either side the trees were mounting higher and
higher, gradually, like steps, pines and Scotch firs on one
side and soft green foliage on the other. All the boats
lying at anchor were flying their national colours, more
or less symbolic of the different nations. England with
the dripping scarlet of the blood of her famous cattle;
Spain striped red and yellow, like the Venetian blinds of
a Moorish balcony; the United States with their striped
bed-tick; the gay tricolour of France by the side of the
gloomy German flag with its sinister iron cross close to the
flagstaff, ever reminiscent of mourning; the jerkinet of
Denmark; the veiled tricolour of Russia. They were all
there, side by side, with outspread wings, under the blue
cover of the northern sky. The noise of carriages,
whistles, bells and cranes lent animation to the picture;
the combined odours of oil, leather, salt herrings and
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