"It was, therefore, not easy to guess instantly what kind of foul weather would be served up next; and it might happen that one evening there was frost and clear weather, stars in a blue sky and a moon, if it was the right time by the almanack. The Creator took thought. And next day a drift wind set in, and snow fell thickly all that day and the following day as well; and then came frost, and a storm followed which collected the snow in drifts; and existence, such as it was in the place, had thus got its teeth well set in its own tail. The Creator could go on like this quite indefinitely -- how could it amuse Him?And life in this place was like a kind of accompaniment to this absurd weather; its inhabitants went round in circles, toiling and moiling through one cycle of bad weather after another, without its leading to anything at all. They seemed to be the victims of an enchantment; they had to go far out to the sea to catch the silly fish, whenever the weather made it at all possible, cut their heads off, split them, clean and salt them, and pile them in stacks till summer. But however hard they toiled in the unending race with the weather roundabout, the result was just as invisible; everything vanished again into the sea from which it was caught, whether the men fished in partnership or for fixed wages; the accounts at Johann Bogesen's swallowed everything up. No money was ever to be seen.The dogma "account at Johann Bogesen's" was as essentially abstract as the belief in the Revelation of Our Lord and redemption through Jesus Christ, but nevertheless its results were real and visible enough, like, let us say, the Sacraments and the means of grace; it meant continuous credit in years when there was no fish, safety even if the fishing trade was depressed, tarboard, paint, currants, cardamoms and candied lemon-peel, as well as little painted tin pails for the children at Christmas. And last but not least, this unique religion provided a guarantee against anyone having to be buried at the expense of the parish, which was regarded locally as almost the greatest scandal and abomination that could happen to a human being -- while on the other hand, to leave enough to pay for one's own funeral was regarded as a sign of true greatness and unbelmished honour, in life and death.
As soon as one of these ruthless mornings had opened its unpitying eyes upon the penniless life of the place, Salka Valka was sent out into the snow-slush to distribute the milk, wearing waterproof cowskin shoes with hay in the toes. She had the milk portioned out in five small cans which she carried over her shoulder, three behind and two in front, and delivered at five doors of poverty-stricken appearance. The milk was debited to the seller and credited to the buyer in the accounts at Johann Bogesene's, for this was the trading system of the place. Every transaction involving as much as the value of a needle has to make a detour via the ship, where sums of five ore were deducted from Peter's account and credited to Paul's. This divine book-keeping settled everything between men and women at Oseyri on the Axlarfjord. All deals were done in elusive numbers, but every real asset in the place lay firm and fast in Johann Bogesen's hands. "
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