PREFACE.


"A Happy Boy" was written in 1859 and 1860. It is, in my estimation,
Bjornson's best story of peasant life. In it the author has succeeded
in drawing the characters with _remarkable distinctness_, while his
profound psychological insight, his perfectly artless simplicity of
style, and his thorough sympathy with the hero and his surroundings are
nowhere more apparent. This view is sustained by the great popularity
of "A Happy Boy" throughout Scandinavia.

It is proper to add, that in the present edition of Bjornson's stories,
previous translations have been consulted, and that in this manner a
few happy words and phrases have been found and adopted.

This volume will be followed by "The Fisher Maiden," in which Bjornson
makes a new departure, and exhibits his powers in a somewhat different
vein of story-telling.

RASMUS B. ANDERSON.

ASGARD, MADISON, WISCONSIN,
November, 1881.