might just as well say that she herself was nothing but a conglomeration of protein
compounds that had suddenly come to life one day in a “hot little pool.” But she was
more than that. She was Hilde Moller Knag.
She had to admit that the ring binder was a fantastic present, and that her father
had touched the core of something eternal in her. But she didn’t care for the way he
was dealing with Sophie and Alberto.
She would certainly teach him a lesson, even before he got home. She felt she
owed it to the two of them. Hilde could already imagine her father at Kastrup Airport,
in Copenhagen. She could just see him running around like mad.
Hilde was now quite herself again. She rowed the boat back to the dock, where
she was careful to make it fast. After breakfast she sat at the table for a long time with
her mother. It felt good to be able to talk about something as ordinary as whether the
egg was a trifle too soft.
She did not start to read again until the evening. There were not many pages left
now.
Once again there was a knocking on the door.
“Let’s just put our hands over our ears,” said Alberto, “and perhaps it’ll
go away.”
“No, I want to see who it is.”
Alberto followed her to the door.
On the step stood a naked man. He had adopted a very ceremonial
posture, but the only thing he had with him was the crown on his head.
“Well?” he said. “What do you good people think of the Emperor’s new
clothes?”
Alberto and Sophie were utterly dumbfounded. This caused the naked
man some consternation.
“What? You are not bowing!” he cried.
“Indeed, that is true,” said Alberto, “but the Emperor is stark naked.”
The naked man maintained his ceremonial posture. Alberto bent over
and whispered in Sophie’s ear:
“He thinks he is respectable.”
At this, the man scowled.
“Is some kind of censorship being exercised on these premises?” he
asked.
“Regrettably,” said Alberto. “In here we are both alert and of sound mind
in every way. In the Emperor’s shameless condition he can therefore not
cross the threshold of this house.”
Sophie found the naked man’s pomposity so absurd that she burst out
laughing. As if her laughter had been a prearranged signal, the man with the
crown on his head suddenly became aware that he was naked. Covering his
private parts with both hands, he bounded toward the nearest clump of trees
and disappeared, probably to join company with Adam and Eve, Noah, Little
Red Riding-hood, and Winnie-the-Pooh.
Alberto and Sophie remained standing on the step, laughing.
At last Alberto said, “It might be a good idea if we went inside. I’m going
to tell you about Freud and his theory of the unconscious.”
They seated themselves by the window again. Sophie looked at her
watch and said: “It’s already half past two and I have a lot to do before the
garden party.”
“So have I. We’ll just say a few words about Sigmund Freud.”