“Watch out! I might insult the warden, too!”
“Before you speak to our clergy you should wash out your mouth!”
“How? With parsonage brännvin or priest piss?”
“Shut up, you old whore!”
“Whore? Did you call me a whore?”
Ulrika jumped up so abruptly her chair overturned with a great clatter. Her whole body shook, her eyes flashed with rage, and she screamed at the warden: “A whore? To you, Per Persson? You call me a whore, you old son of a bitch?”
“What are you talking about, woman?”
“A whore to you, Warden? What was it you used to say in the old days, when you came with a daler in one hand and your cock in the other?”
“Shut up! Insane creature!” roared Per Persson with the full strength of his lungs.
“What was it you said then? When you wanted me to lie on my back for you — for just a little while? Then you came crawling, then you asked, and begged, and fawned! Then I was good enough for you! Then the whore was good enough!”
By now words stuck in the throat of the churchwarden, and he could no longer answer Ulrika. But she drew breath to gather new strength.
Complete silence ensued after this exchange of words. The soldier Pihl and Sissa Svensdotter looked at the dean in malicious joy. The dean and assistant pastor looked at each other in bewilderment, and the sheriff stood open-mouthed and looked from the Åkerby warden to the fuming woman.
Danjel remained quiet and stared at the floor, waiting for the foul weather to pass.
Someone began to weep — it was Ulrika’s daughter; Inga-Lena moved her chair closer and comforted Elin.
Ulrika’s shrill voice was heard again: “That whoring son of a bitch Per Persson is not denied the sacrament in church. Why? Because he is a good friend of the God-damned priests — those black devils who darken the light for us! Those lazy potbellies who live in their fat flesh!”
The dean and his assistant were still silent and irresolute, shocked by Ulrika’s explosion. Per Persson shook his fisted hands as though he would grab her throat.
Sheriff Lönnegren did not interfere in the exchange of words between Ulrika and the churchwarden; experience gained from many hard years in office had taught him not to argue with whores; it led nowhere. And he felt no sympathy for Per Persson, whose lust for power made him difficult. He did not begrudge the warden this humiliation. And he experienced a great relief as he stood here and recalled a happening of many years ago, in his youth. One evening while drunk and reckless he had been on his way to Ulrika’s cottage — on the same errand as Per Persson and many other men; the devil must have guided his steps. But Ulrika had not been at home; she had accompanied some caller a bit on his way, and he had had to return without having effected his purpose. An act of providence had averted his undertaking and sent the woman away at the right moment. Now he could bless this act of providence, he could thank God he didn’t have to suffer disgrace from the mouth of the harlot here this evening.
The dean felt Ulrika had spoken the truth about his warden. He knew already that she had misled many honest and upright men, and with her body enticed them into her nest of sin, but this was not the right time or place to divulge the truth and lay bare Per Persson’s debaucheries, his much-to-be-regretted youthful dissipations. Here the truth was not used in its right place; it became a raw insult to a trusted and well-thought-of man. But nothing could excuse or forgive the rude words (to say the least) which the sinful woman had used.
Brusander went over to the sheriff. “You must put a stop to this painful and shameful scene.” By the strength of his office Lönnegren must disperse the gathering and send those present on their way.
The sheriff did not ask for anything better than to conclude his unpleasant mission here tonight. Danjel Andreasson had admitted his offense, the names of his accessories were inscribed, and he had nothing more to do in this house.
“In the name of the law I now order this meeting to disperse. Each go quietly to his own house!”
The bailiff said the neighbors had already left after giving their names and places of residence. Those remaining here belonged to the farm. In the words of the law the meeting was already dispersed.
But before Brusander left he had something to say still to the master of the house: “I strictly forbid you to continue Communions at this table.”
“You cannot forbid the Lord Jesus my house, Mr. Dean,” said Danjel.
“Who has told you that the Lord is here?”
“He has shown Himself to me in my heart.”
“You think all your whims are inspirations from God. I assure you they are from the devil!”
The warden Per Persson interrupted, still red-faced from anger: “We’ll throw out the Kärragärde devil, we’ll get rid of him when you, Danjel, are in prison on bread and water!”
Danjel had spoken to Ulrika in a fatherly way, silencing her. His words had power over her. But now the fiery woman could contain herself no longer. “Get out, you God-damned priests!”
And Soldier Pihl added in a rasping voice: “Leave the house of the righteous and repair yourselves to the sinners’ den!”
Pastor Krusell had a more easily disturbed temper than the dean, and he now exclaimed: “This is enough! Are we to accept such insults?”
It looked as if a new row were to ensue. Danjel admonished his people to keep quiet. To make sure, he reached for the psalmodikon and began singing a hymn:
“Let me live in peace and stillness
Giving to no soul offense;
Pain or pleasure, health or illness
Take I from Thy providence.
Never wounding, ever healing,
Thus a Christly life revealing.”
And all the Åkians joined in:
“Here my cross with patience bearing,
I will go where Jesus leads,
All enduring, all forbearing. .”
Danjel and his flock continued the hymn, verse after verse, as if no outsider were present in the room. Dean Brusander several times attempted unsuccessfully to make himself heard above the singing. He said to his assistant, for these hardened people nothing could be done. Lönnegren had performed his duty and was ready to leave with his men, who, he thought, might as well have stayed at home; vaguely it seemed to him that Danjel in his unshakable belief was in some way beyond the reach of the secular authorities.
All the intruders had left before the psalm was ended.
Danjel went outside on the porch: both the dean’s and the sheriff’s sleighs were gone. He locked his door for the second time this night; then he went back to his place at the upper end of the table. With sadness he gazed on the four empty chairs at the Communion table, lately vacated by his neighbors. Fear of worldly authority had been too much for them; they had not been steadfast in their faith; they had deserted their Lord and Master. As Peter once denied Jesus to the servant of the High Priest, in like manner Danjel’s neighbors had denied him to Sheriff Lönnegren.
Danjel Andreasson comforted the devoted followers who still remained with him: the time of persecution was upon them; they should thank the Lord Jesus that they were chosen, thank Him for the joy of suffering for His sake.
So the farmer of Kärragärde once more reached for the tin mug which served as chalice, and which had remained in front of Ulrika of Västergöhl; he held it to her mouth: “Jesus Christ, Whose blood you drink. .”
Christ was still there, they felt His presence, and this was a holy place.
— 3—
At Konga County spring court, 1849, homeowner Danjel Andreasson of Kärragärde was fined two hundred daler in silver for transgressing the sacrament law and the ordinance pertaining to unlawful meetings. Those who had received the Holy Communion in his house were fined one hundred daler silver each. As most of the offenders were without funds and unable to pay, the fines were changed to prison sentences and each one served twenty-eight days on bread and water.