Vesleblakken
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"Vesleblakken" is a short story by Jacob Breda Bull, portrayed as an authentic childhood memory from the author's upbringing in Rendalen, a rural area in Norway. In the story, a brother is critically ill, and medical help must be fetched from Tynset, a town some distance away. The horse Vesleblakken, both the fastest horse on the farm and the children's dearest friend, is driven to death by the farmhand Ola Jonsen StyggpÄjord (a name that roughly translates to "Ola Ugly-on-Earth") in order to fetch the doctor in time. Bull wrote the story of Vesleblakken following an event at the parsonage in 1860. At that time, Bull's own brother Johannes had fallen ill with a severe case of pneumonia. Johannes fell ill again shortly after and died from what was referred to as "The Trondheim Throat Disease." Nordahl Rolfsen included the text in his "Reader for the Public School" in 1908, making it widely known. Vesleblakken is Bull's most popular story.