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13  1 “I Grew Up on Simple Fare” • The School of Life, by Cicelia Chapter 1 In the forest, by a beautiful lake, lay the so-called castle. That was not its proper name, but it was called so since it was larger than the other crofter cottages. It was actually a place where old workers lived after they had worn themselves out working for the company and there was no room for them anywhere else.1 Many different families lived here during the course of the years. There were over six families there. Each had only one large room. For the most part it was old people, but young families with children also lived there. Sons of some of the old parents, if they married, were sometimes allowed to stay there if there was no space for them at the ironworks or any cottage available. Here lived Glaad [meaning glad] who was appropriately named, and his angry wife.2 Rolig [meaning funny], who also deserved his name, could tell stories that could make the worst sourpuss laugh. In the upper rooms lived a couple of widows, who often came to blows with each other. An old torpare [crofter] couple with their daughter also lived there—they were decent and kind folk. Another family also lived there; the father was unable to work. They had many children and the mother was often away working. They were very poor and since the mother never had time to be home, the children were both dirty and ragged, and most of the time, hungry. All who lived there were poor, but they helped each other. In illness and poverty they helped each other. If someone was ill they shared their meager supply of food with that person. If one family was without, there were always some of the others who shared what they had. The women sat up until late at night and spun or knitted for their better-situated neighbors. To keep themselves awake they used to walk together. They 14  g   sang songs, told stories, and boiled coffee if they had any. There was always much to do before Christmas, with stockings and mittens for Christmas presents. There were many [residents] who died and a few of the younger [occupants] were lucky enough to be given space at the ironworks or to be given a cottage. [When a resident moved out of the castle] there was always somebody ready to move in again. There were never any empty rooms. It was a diverse group of people who lived there. Some of them were quarrelsome; others accepted everything with patience. Some swore so that you could smell sulfur far away [Satan’s smell]; others were God-fearing, read their morning and evening prayers, and sought to live an orderly life. Nobody drank strong drink; they were too poor for that. They worked with anything, the younger ones working for the company; one made baskets, another cobbled shoes or played the violin for dances for a few öre’s pay [the smallest denomination of Swedish coin]. Thus, although they lived in the castle, it was not so royal. Chapter 2 In this environment, I first saw the light of day. My father had moved to the castle with his parents. When he married, there was no housing at the foundry where he worked, so he and his family were allowed to live on at the castle for many years. I grew up on simple fare and became a strong and cheerful girl. Of course it wasn’t the best environment for an impressionable and gifted child to grow up in. And there were many edges that were formed that later had to be ground down in the hard school of life. My father was quiet, and like other workers at the time he was, after a ten- or twelve-hour workday and three-kilometer walk, so tired that he went to bed immediately after supper. My mother was a witty and cheerful person who did not so easily lose her courage. My cheerful disposition is an inheritance from my mother; my good health is an inheritance from both father and mother. Mother taught me early on to work; she also taught me to read so that I could read fluently before I began school. And she taught me also to be, above all, honest and always to tell the truth. She was strict but fair, at all times happy and merry. And she...

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