professor, that he had read it in German before he knew any English.
What are the equivalents in High German for "right smart" and "dog-on" I
cannot imagine.

Several years after the publication of "The Hoosier School-Master" it
occurred to Mr. H. Hansen, of Kjöge, in Denmark, to render it into
Danish. Among the Danes the book enjoyed a popularity as great, perhaps,
as it has had at home. The circulation warranted Mr. Hansen and his
publisher in bringing out several other novels of mine. The Danish
translator was the only person concerned in the various foreign
editions of this book who had the courtesy to ask the author's leave.
Under the old conditions in regard to international copyright, an author
came to be regarded as one not entitled even to common civilities in the
matter of reprinting his works--he was to be plundered without
politeness. As I look at the row of my books in the unfamiliar Danish, I
am reminded of that New England mother who, on recovering her children
carried away by the Canadian Indians, found it impossible to communicate
with a daughter who spoke only French and a son who knew nothing but the
speech of his savage captors. Mr. Hansen was thoughtful enough to send
me the reviews of my books in the Danish newspapers; and he had the
double kindness to translate these into English and to leave out all but
those that were likely to be agreeable to my vanity. Of these I remember
but a single sentence, and that because it was expressed with felicity.
The reviewer said of the fun in "The Hoosier School-Master:" "This is
humor laughing to keep from bursting into tears."

A year or two before the appearance of "The Hoosier School-Master," a
newspaper article of mine touching upon American dialect interested Mr.
Lowell, and he urged me to "look for the foreign influence" that has
affected the speech of the Ohio River country. My reverence for him as