{40} A translation of this poem will be found in the Appendix.
[Not included in this Gutenberg eText - DP]
{41} In Iceland, as in Denmark, it is the custom to keep the dead a
week above ground. It may be readily imagined that to a non-
Icelandic sense of smell, it is an irksome task to be present at a
burial from beginning to end, and especially in summer. But I will
not deny that the continued sensation may have partly proceeded from
imagination.
{42} Every one in Iceland rides.
{43} I cannot forbear mentioning a curious circumstance here. When
I was at the foot of Mount Etna in 1842, the fiery element was
calmed; some months after my departure it flamed with renewed force.
When, on my return from Hecla, I came to Reikjavik, I said jocularly
that it would be most strange if this Etna of the north should also
have an eruption now. Scarcely had I left Iceland more than five
weeks when an eruption, more violent than the former one, really
took place. This circumstance is the more remarkable, as it had
been in repose for eighty years, and was already looked upon as a
burnt-out volcano. If I were to return to Iceland now, I should be
looked upon as a prophetess of evil, and my life would scarcely be
safe.
