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The Treasure

S >> Selma Lagerlof >> The Treasure




But the thrust of the story deals with the maiden Elsalill's
painful struggle to choose between her dearest sister, who has had
to wander so long on earth "she has worn her feet to bleeding" and
can find grave's rest only if her murderer is apprehended; and Sir
Archie, the murderer himself, whom Elsalill loves with all her
heart.

Sir Archie is a subtle Prince Charming; he understands innocence
and tempts Elsalill mightily: "You are a poor orphan, so forlorn
and friendless that none will care what becomes of you. But if you
come with me, I will make you a noble lady. I am a powerful man in
my own country. You shall be clad in silk and gold, and you shall
tread a measure at the King's court."

Even after Elsalill knows that her love is the murderer of her
sister, she still hopes to escape the action this knowledge
demands: she tries to persuade herself that because he wants to
make up to Elsalill for the evil he did to her sister, she should
give him a chance to save his soul. She thinks that her sister
does not know he will atone for his sin and become a good man; her
sister could not wish her unhappiness; how can she ask that
Elsalill betray the man she loves?

But she hears her sister weep and she sees her sister's blood on
the snow, and she turns him in quickly, hoping that will be
enough. It isn't. Her choice requires that she give her life.

At the book's end Sir Archie, still clinging to his belief in
money-power, still trying to use her saintliness to save his own
soul, says he will erect a grand monument to her memory. He
believes that if he leaves her body in Marstand she will have only
a pauper's grave and be soon forgotten. An exactly opposite event
occurs. A long procession walks out across the ice toward the
ship; all the women of Marstand, young and old, are coming to
retrieve Elsalill's body and carry her back "with all the honor
that is her due."

The Treasure is a fable, a fairytale, an allegory of sisterhood
itself. There is good reason that this book has been out of print
for two generations. Daughters, Inc. is proud to retrieve Selma
Lagerlof and publish her in English once again--with all the honor
that is her due.

June Arnold Plainfield, Vermont 1973

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