Act 1

Karl Oskar's father, Nils, inherited Korpamoen - a small, 7-acre tract of land with so many rocks embedded in the soil that it was very difficult to grow enough food for the family to eat. Nils and Marta had three children, Karl Oskar, Axel Robert, and Lydia. (Karl Oskar and Lydia write often after his emigration to share news with each other.)

Karl Oscar was a stubborn child who always insisted on doing things his way. At 14, he got in a fight with his father and left home to work as a laborer at another farm. During this time he meets Kristina, who was seeking medical help from the local "medicine woman" for her knee which was injured when she fell from a swing. He eventually asks her to marry him, but he has no place for them to live yet, so they wait.

CD 1

01. Prolog [Prologue]

02. Duvemåla Hage [Duvemala Meadow]

Kristina from Duvemala sits and swings and dreams. She sings of her fiance Karl Oskar, on his way to her, over the fences and through the groves.

03. Min Lust Till Dej [My Desire For You]

min lust till dej It is decided that Karl Oskar, who is now 18, will receive his inheritance early, when his father is in an accident that leaves him unable to work properly. He is placed in charge of Robert's inheritance as well. (Lydia is married by this time.) His parents will remain with Karl Oskar and receive "reserved rights," what we would call a "pension." Karl Oskar now has a place for he and Kristina to begin their lives together...

Then Karl Oskar comes and proposes to Kristina. Wedding celebrations in Duvemala. They start their lives together at Korpamoen.

Although Kristina would never admit it to Karl Oskar, she loves making love with him! But she knows that this carnal pleasure they share results in more mouths to feed. She reluctantly mentions this fact to Karl Oskar who answers that to deny themselves this pleasure is to deny their love for each other.

04. Ut Mot Ett Hav [Out Toward The Sea]

Karl Oskar has a brother, dreamer Robert. As a child, Robert's parents had to place a cowbell around his neck because he had a tendency to wander off into the woods in a dreamlike state. Robert could not be more different from the self-willed Karl Oskar other than the fact that both children were a challenge for their parents.

When Robert is old enough (about 16), his parents arrange for him to become a farmhand for Aron of Nybacken for a period of one year. But like a brook longs for a sea, Robert longs for freedom in the New World.

On the way to report for this year of duty (which he is dreading) Robert stops by a stream. In the book, Robert remembers a boy who disappeared a couple years earlier. All the boy's family had found was his hat caught in the branches of a riverside bush. Robert gets the idea to fake his own death. He ends up being caught, however, and delivered to Aron of Nybacken anyway.

Aron is a very demanding boss who will beat his farmhands if they make a mistake. Robert meets and becomes friends with Arvid, another Nybacken farmhand. They share accommodations in a lice infested stable. Arvid has his own troubles. When he turned down the opportunity to sleep with Aron's mother-in-law, she began to spread rumors that he had sex with cows instead, giving him the nickname "The Bull of Nybacken."

05. Missväxt [Crop Failure or Famine (literally Misgrowth)]

missvaxt For two years things go well for Kristina and Karl Oskar. On the third year, all the green is drowned by the rain and on the fourth year drought burns everything. Times are tough and the number of children grows. Karl Oskar dreams of a country where wheat sprouts, it feels like his homeland's ground is doomed. Maybe it is blessed in the New World.

They have three children at this point: Anna (born 1845), Johan (1846), and Marta (1847). Marta was a twin, but her twin brother (unnamed) died at birth. Anna is clearly her father's daughter. She follows him everywhere and is interested in everything he does. He is very proud of her. Every once in a while Karl Oskar will catch Kristina in the barn swinging on a swing.

But, there is famine in Sweden and they are barely able to scrape together enough grain to last them the winter. Karl Oskar is so frustrated that he takes a handful of it and throws it towards heaven saying, "If this is all we get, then take the rest of it." Kristina is shocked at Karl Oskar's blasphemy and begs him to ask God for forgiveness, but Karl Oskar does not have the trust in God that Kristina does. After the meager harvest, lighting strikes their barn burning it down with all their winter food inside.

They get by only through the generous gifts of Kristina's uncle Danjel.

continued...

Kristina from Duvemala