For about a year, Niels Lyhne had lived at Lön-borggaard, managing the farm as well as he knew how. He had learned to know the joy found in purely physical labor. He found joy in seeing the pile growing under his hand and in being able to get through with what he was doing so that he really was through. He also knew that the work would stand and not be eaten up by doubt in the night or dispersed by criticism on the morning after. There were no Sisyphus stones in agriculture.
What joy it was, too, when he had worked till he was tired, to go to bed and gather strength in sleep and to spend it again, as regularly as day and night followed one upon the other. He was never hindered by the caprices of his brain and did not have to handle himself gingerly like a tuned guitar with loose pegs.
He was really happy in a quiet way, and often he would sit, as his father had sat, on a stile or a boundary stone, staring out in a strange, vegetative trance.
As yet he had not begun to seek the society of the neighboring families, except Councillor Skinnerup's in Varde, whom he visited quite frequently.
The Skinnerups had come to town while his father was still living, and as the Councillor was an old university friend of Lyhne's, the two families had seen much of each other. Skinnerup, a mild, baldheaded man with sharp features and kind eyes, was now a widower, but his house was more than filled by his four daughters, the eldest seventeen, the youngest twelve years old.
The Councillor had read much, and Niels enjoyed a chat with him on various subjects. Though Niels had learned to use his hands, that, of course, did not turn him into a country bumpkin all at once. He was rather amused sometimes at the almost absurd care he had to exercise whenever the conversation turned to a comparison between Danish and foreign literature. Caution was absolutely necessary, however, for the mild-mannered Councillor was one of the fierce patriots. He might grudgingly admit that Denmark was not the greatest of the world powers, but would not tolerate anyone saying anything that might place his country anywhere but in the lead.
These conversations had another charm, in the look of delighted admiration with which seventeen-year-old Gerda's eyes followed him as he spoke. She always managed to be present when he came, and would listen so eagerly when he said something that seemed to her especially beautiful.
The truth was, he had unwittingly become this young lady's ideal. This was at first chiefly because he often rode into town wearing a gray mantle of a very foreign and romantic cut, then because he always said Milano instead of Milan, and finally because he was alone in the world and had rather a sad expression. There were certainly a great many ways in which he differed from the rest of the people in Varde and in Ringkjöbing too.
7
Select all the correct answers.
Based on the passage, what will most likely happen between Niels and Gerda?
Niels will pursue a relationship with one of Gerda's sisters.
Niels will stop visiting Councillor Skinnerup in order to avoid Gerda.
Gerda will become interested in someone besides Niels.
Niels will admire Gerda as she admires him.
Councillor Skinnerup will approve of a marriage between Niels and Gerda.