Sign on Ship

After being expelled from his lodging in Vaterland and wandering the streets in a state of extreme hunger and mental collapse, the protagonist reaches the railway wharf. There he catches a glimpse of a man at the rail of the Copégoro, a barque flying the Russian flag that is discharging coal. The red lantern slung at the port shines down upon the man's head. Without any clear object, the protagonist gets up and talks over to him, not expecting a reply.

The Exchange and the Decision

He asks the man, who speaks Swedish, if the ship sails that night and whether they need a man. The captain replies that they are in ballast for Leith, to fetch coal for Cadiz, and that he might take on a young fellow. The protagonist, utterly indifferent to refusal, pulls himself together, furtively removes his glasses and thrusts them into his pocket, steps up the gangway, and strides on deck. He declares he has no experience but can do anything he is put to, insisting it is all the same to him where he goes. The captain hesitates, but the protagonist, having already taken keenly into his head that he is to sail this voyage, dreads being hounded on shore again. He presses his case, claiming he can take two watches at a stretch if it comes to that. The captain agrees: "All right, have a try at it. If it doesn't work, well, we can part in England."

The Work and the Farewell

The captain sets him to work. Out in the fjord, wet with fever and exhaustion, the protagonist drags himself up once and gazes landwards. He bids farewell for the present to the town, to Christiania, where the windows gleam so brightly in all the homes. This is the final scene of the novel, marking the protagonist's departure from the city that has been the site of his prolonged suffering and his last, desperate act of survival.