The ground-floor living room at Polhøgda. Photo: Maryanne Rygg [1]Towards the end of September, Amundsen went to Polhøgda ("The Polar Heights"), Nansen's home in Lysaker. Liv, Nansen's daughter, later wrote, "[Nansen] could not make up his mind and when the day came and Amundsen stood downstairs in the hall and waited, [mother] was unable to hide her distress either. She stood in the bedroom and heard Fridtjof's slow footsteps above her on the attic floor. With raised eyebrows she looked at him as he entered. 'I know what it's going to be,' was all she said. Without a word Fridtjof went out again and continued down the stairs to the hall. There he met another pair of tensed eyes. 'You shall have Fram,' said father." [2]
Notes:
[1] "Polhøgda", Fridjof Nansens Institutt.
[2] Liv Nansen Høier, Eva og Fridtjof Nansen (Oslo : Cappelens, 1954), p.303, quoted by Roland Huntford in Scott and Amundsen (New York : Putnam, 1980, c1979), p.202.
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