"If Norway's all right, that's enough for me!"

I took my staff, therefore, slung a rucksack over my shoulders, and headed for the mountains. It was the time when the Germans were forcing their way into Norway and fighting to subjugate it.

One midday I heard a savage voice high above me as I was traversing the foot of Psiloriti.

"Hey, neighbor, wait a minute! I want to ask you something!"

Lifting my head, I perceived a man draw away from a boulder and come tumbling down. He descended with giant strides from rock to rock; the stones rolled away under his feet, a great clamor began, the entire mountain seemed to be tumbling down with him. Now I could distinctly see that he was an immense, elderly shepherd. I stopped and waited for him. What could he want with me, I asked myself, and why such eagerness?

He came close to me, halting on a rock. His uncovered chest was hairy and steaming.

"Hey, neighbor, how is Norway getting on?" he asked with panting breath.

He had heard that a country was in danger of being enslaved. He had no real idea what Norway was, where it was located or what kind of people lived there. The one thing he clearly understood was that liberty was in danger.

"Better, grandpa, better. No need to worry," I answered.

"Thank God," roared the old shepherd, making the sign of the cross.

"Want a cigarette?" I asked him.

"Bah! What do I want with a cigarette? I don't want anything. If Norway's all right, that's enough for me!"

Saying this, he swung out his crook and climbed up again to find his flock.

excerpt from "Report to Greco", by Nikos Kazantzakis, translated by Peter A. Bien