“Karl Ove”

Once there was a man who lived in a country made almost entirely of rock, pristine glacial pools, and the type of lichen favored by reindeer. He had no wife, so he lived with his mother for convenience. His mother, however, was growing old, and as Kúnt had no wish to care for her in her dotage and would rather die than put his own mother on the toilet, he began to think he might as well leave home. . . .