Full resolution (JPEG) - On this page / på denna sida - XXIII - Søborg
<< prev. page << föreg. sida << >> nästa sida >> next page >>
Below is the raw OCR text
from the above scanned image.
Do you see an error? Proofread the page now!
Här nedan syns maskintolkade texten från faksimilbilden ovan.
Ser du något fel? Korrekturläs sidan nu!
This page has never been proofread. / Denna sida har aldrig korrekturlästs.
Chap. XXIII. VALDEMAR AND HIS DAUGHTER.
353
her family, in her husband’s affection; he only hated
her the more. She remained a prisoner within the
turrets of Søborg for twenty-one more long, weary
years, when she was released by death, in 1374. She
lay buried for many a year in the churchyard of Søborg
—“ she, a queen, among the peasants of low degree. Over
her grave was placed the trunk of a timber-tree, rudely
fashioned, as large as a coffin (such as you still may see
in the remote villages of Jutland). On this humble
memento was carved with a knife the figure of a queen,
bearing a crown upon her head, and a long veilat
which old Hvitfeldt is greatly scandalised, remarking
how in his days even burghers’ wives have monuments
of alabaster.
King Valdemar never loved his daughter Margaret any
more than his imprisoned queen. Nor did he ever set
eyes upon her until she was six years old, when, riding
through the forest of Søborg, he met a little girl with
black eyes and brown hair, busily wreathing herself a
garland of flowers. Struck by her appearance, the king
took her up and placed her upon his horse before him.
“ Now where shall we go to ? ” said the king. “ Let
us go to court,” replied the child, “to see that bad
king who so ill-treats my mother, a prisoner in the
castle of Søborg.” “ Who art thou ? ” inquired the
king. “ I am Margaret.” The king then entered the
castle gates, saw his queen for once and the last time,
and had the child, of whom he had taken no notice,
removed to Copenhagen. He used to declare that
Nature’s wits had gone a wool-gathering when she
formed his daughter Margaret,—she should, he said,
have been a “ Karl,” but somehow or other by a small
oversight she came into the world a woman. He is
vol. i. 2 a
<< prev. page << föreg. sida << >> nästa sida >> next page >>
