KATRINA AND JAN

Jan of Ruffluck had never had so many things to think about and
ponder over as now, that he had become an emperor.

In the first place he had to be very guarded, since greatness had
been thrust upon him, so as not to let pride get the upper hand. He
must bear in mind continually that we humans were all made from the
same material and had sprung from the same First Parents; that we
were all of us weak and sinful and at bottom one person was no
better than another.

All his life long he had observed, to his dismay, how people tried
to lord it over one another, and of course he had no desire to do
likewise. He found, however, that it was not an easy matter for one
who had become exalted to maintain a proper humility. His greatest
concern was that he might perhaps say or do something that would
cause his old friends, who were still obliged to pursue their
humble callings, to feel themselves slighted and forgotten.
Therefore he deemed it best when attending such functions as
dinners and parties--which duty demanded of him--never to mention
in the hearing of these people the great distinction that had come
to him. He could not blame them for envying him. Indeed not! Just
the same he felt it was wisest not to make them draw comparisons.

And of course he could not ask men like Börje and the seine-maker
to address him as Emperor. Such old friends could call him Jan, as
they had always done; for they could never bring themselves to do
otherwise.