The Wonderful
Adventures of Nils
SELMA LAGERLOF
MARY HAMILTON FE
NY PUBLIC L BRARY THE BRANCH L BRARIES
Price, net, $2.50
WONDERFUL
ADVENTURES
OF NILS
&y SELMA LAGERLOF
Translated by
VELMA SWANSTON HOWARD
SELMA LAGERLOF'S
story of Nils, the bad
boy who turned into a tiny
elf, and 01 his adventures
in animal-land, has become
a real fairy classic. A series
of beautiful color drawings
have now been made for it
by Miss Frye. Her pictures
of Nils are very quaintly
dra\vn and the fairy story
takes on new realism in
her delightful interpretation
of it.
Seldom has such intricate weaving and
interweaving of fact and fancy, history
and tradition, fairy lore and nature craft,
been accomplished so deftly . . , the
style is simple and natural, the story
whimsical and rich in delicate humor.
- New York Sun.
Selma Lagerlof is the greatest imagina-
tive genius in modern literature. Few men
or women in the world have ever had the
right to write fairy stories, but Selma
Laserlot is one of them.
— New York American.
Illustrated by
Mary Hamilton Frye
188
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1 adventures
L
THE WONDERFUL ADVENTURES
OF NILS
By Selma Lager/of
JERUSALEM, A Novel
(Trans, from Swedish by Velma Steanston Howard)
CHRIST LEGENDS
(Trans, from Swedish by Velma Swanston Howard)
WONDERFUL ADVENTURES OF NILS
(Trans, from Swedish by Velma Swanston Howard)
FURTHER ADVENTURES OF NILS
(Trans, from Swedish by Velma Swanston Howard)
GIRL FROM THE MARSH CROFT
(Trans, from Swedish by Felma Swanston Howard)
LEGEND OF THE SACRED IMAGE
(Trans, from Swedish by Velma Swanston Howard)
MIRACLES OF ANTICHRIST
(Trans, from Swedish by Pauline Bancroft Flach)
STORY OF GOSTA BERLING
(Trans, from Swedish by Pauline Bancroft Flach)
THE EMPEROR OF PORTUGALLIA
(Trans, from Swedish by Velma Swanston Howard)
THE HOLY CITY, Jerusalem II
(Trans, from Swedish by Velma Swanston Howard)
FROM A SWEDISH HOMESTEAD
(Trans, from Swedish by Jessie Brochner)
INVISIBLE LINKS
(Trans, from Swedish by Pauline Bancroft Flach}
LILLIECRONA'S HOME
(Trans, from Swedish by Anna Harwell)
THE OUTCAST
(Trans, from Swedish by W. Woriter, M. A.)
MARBACKA
(Trans, from Swedish by Vilma Swanston Howard)
THE TREASURE
(Trans, from Swedish by Arthur G. Chaler)
CHARLOTTE LOWENSKOLD
(Trans, from Swedish by Velma Swanston Howard}
Ss'n 'rf-ii U-5
"HE GRABBED THE BOY AND TOSSED HIM . . INTO THE AIR"
THE WONDERFUL
ADVENTURES OF
NILS
FROM THE SWEDISH OF
SELMA LAGERLOF
TRANSLATED AND EDITED BY
VELMA SWANSTON HOWARD
ILLUSTRATED BY
MARY HAMILTON FKYE
Junior Books
DOUBLEDAY, DORAN & COMPANY, INC.
GARDEN CITY, NEW YORK
1936
PRINTED AT THE Country Life Press, GARDEN CITY, N. Y., u. s. A.
THE NEW YORK
PUBLIC LIBRARY
3*, IF.* JX AMD
N FOONOAI'I'.JNfi.
L_
©
COPYRIGHT, I9O7, 1913
BY DOUBLEDAY, PAGE 4 COMPANY
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
PUBLISHERS' NOTE
"THE Wonderful Adventures of Nils" was written for use
in schools as "supplementary reading," with the special
idea of introducing such subjects as would be educative as
well as entertaining to the minds of children from the ages
of nine to eleven. The book has been adopted in the public
schools of Sweden, but older people have found in it a book
of permanent value.
In so far as possible, the translator has faithfully inter-
preted the author's local and idiomatic expressions.
CONTENTS
CHAPTER PAGE
TRANSLATOR'S INTRODUCTION , xi
I. THE BOY 3
The Elf
The Wild Geese
The Big Checked Cloth
II. AKKA FROM KEBNEKAISE 24
Evening
Night
The Goose-Chase
III. THE WONDERFUL JOURNEY OF NILS .... 45
On the Farm
Vittskovle
In Ovid Cloister-Park
IV. GLIMMINGE CASTLE 69
Black Rats and Gray Rats
The Stork
h '""•>> y V:*':1,
V. THE GREA'T' CRANE DANCE ON KULLABERG . 85
VI. IN RAINY Wiufr^teE. 97
VII. THE STAIRWAY; WITH TH^J THREE STEPS . . . 105
VIII. BY RONNEBY RIVER 110
IX. KARLSKRONA 122
X. THE TRIP TO OLAND 133
• •
XI. OLAND'S SOUTHERN POINT 139
XII. THE BIG BUTTERFLY 149
vii
viii CONTENTS
CHAPTER PAGE
XIII. LITTLE KARL'S ISLAND 154
The Storm
The Sheep
Hell's Hole
XIV. Two CITIES 169
The City at the Bottom of the Sea
The Living City
XV. THE LEGEND OF SMALAND 184
XVI. THE CROWS 191
The Earthen Crock
Kidnapped by Crows
The Cabin
XVII. THE OLD PEASANT WOMAN 213
XVIII. FROM TABERG TO HUSKVARNA . . . . . . 226
XIX. THE BIG BIRD LAKE 231
Jarro, the Wild Duck
The Decoy-Duck
The Lowering of the Lake
XX. ULVASA-LADY 250
(The Prophecy)
XXI. THE HOMESPUN CEUTH' v J-^V *•;**; • • • • 257
GLOSSARY . . . -» : .;/*;;.;,.. ..... 262
« » « " *':ii' *,," ";
ILLUSTRATIONS
"HE GRABBED THE BOY AND TOSSED HIM . . . INTO
THE AIR" Frontismece
FACING PAGE
"THE ELF BEGAN TO SPEAK, AND BEGGED, OH! SO PITI-
FULLY, FOR HIS FREEDOM" 8
" 'SHUT UP, YOU PACK!' " 12
4<THE GOOSEY-GANDER GOT IN— HEAD FIRST" ... 28
"THAT WHICH HE BORE SQUEALED AND SQUIRMED" . 48
'"I DON'T WANT TO BE HUMAN,' SAID HE" ... 68
"'SEALS! SEALS! SEALS!* CRIED AKKA" . .154
" IS THERE NOT ONE AMONG YOU STRONG ENOUGH TO
CARRY ME ON HIS BACK?' " . . .200
"'YES, THAT WOULD BE SOME HELP,' SATO THE COW" . 218
"DOWN IN THE ROAD STOOD OSA, THE GOOSE-GIRL, AND
HER BROTHER, LITTLE MATS, LOOKING AT A TINY
WOODEN SHOE" 258
be
TRANSLATOR'S INTRODUCTION
THIS book, which is the latest work of Sweden's greatest
fiction writer, was published in Stockholm, December, 1906.
It became immediately the most popular book of the year in
Scandinavia.
In 1902 the author received a commission from the
National Teachers' Association to write a reader for the
public schools.
She devoted three years to Nature study and to familiar-
izing herself with animal and bird life. She has sought out
hitherto unpublished folklore and legends of the different
provinces. These she has ingeniously woven into her story.
The book has been translated into German and Danish,
and the book reviewers of Germany and Denmark,* as well
as those of Sweden, are unanimous in proclaiming this
Selma Lagerlof 's best work.
One reviewer has said: "Since the days of Hans Chris-
tian Andersen we have had nothing in Scandinavian juve-
nile literature to compare with this remarkable book."
Another reviewer wrote: "Miss Lagerlof has the keen
insight into animal psychology of a Rudyard Kipling.'
Stockholm's Dagblad said among other things: "The
great author stands as it were in the background. The
prophetess is forgotten for the voices that speak through
her. It is as though the book had sprung direct from the
soul of the Swedish nation."
*Note: "The Wonderful Adventures of Nils" has since been translated into French,
Dutch, Russian, and Finnish, etc.
xii TRANSLATOR'S INTRODUCTION
Sydsvenska Dagbladet writes: 'The significant thing
about this book is : while one follows with breathless interest
the shifting scenes and adventures, one learns many things
without being conscious of it. ... The author's
imagination unfolds an almost inexhaustible wealth in
invention of new and ever-changing adventures, told in
such a convincing way that we almost believe them. . . .
As amusement reading for the young, this book is a decided
acquisition. The intimate blending of fiction and fact is
so subtle that one finds it hard to distinguish where one ends
and the other begins. It is a classic. ... A master-
work."
From Gefle Posten: 'The author is here — as always,
the great story-teller, the greatest, perhaps, in Scandinavian
literature since the days of Hans Christian Andersen. To
children whose imaginations have been fostered by Ash-
bjornsen, Andersen, and 'A Thousand Nights and One,'
'The Adventures of Nils' will always be precious, as well
as to those of us who are older."
From G'oteborg Posten: "Selma Lagerlof has given us a
good lift onward. She is the one whom we, in these days,
place first and foremost. . . . Among the other work
which she has done for us, and for our children, she has
recreated our geography. Upon Imagination's road she
has sought to open the child-heart to an understanding of
animals, while tactfully and playfully dropping into little
knowledge-thirsty minds a comprehensive understanding
of the habits and characteristics of different animals. She
carries us with her . . . and shapes for us — old and
young — a new childhood in tune with the thought of our
time. What does she not touch upon in this wonderful
book? ... As Mowgliy who had the key to all the
TRANSLATOR'S INTRODUCTION xiii
languages of the Jungle, once found his way to all his little
brother and sister hearts in the great civilized world, so
shall the Thumbietot of Swedish fairyland lead many little
thirsting child-souls not only on the highways of adventure,
but also upon the road of seriousness and learning."
Another critic says: "Beyond all doubt, ' The Wonderful
Adventures of Nils' is one of the most noteworthy books
ever published in our language. I take it, that no other
nation has a book of this sort. One can make this or that
comment on one and another phase of it, but as a whole
it impresses one as being so masterful, so great, and so
Swedish, that one lays the book down with a sense of
gratitude for the privilege of reading such a thing. There is
a deep undercurrent of Swedish earnestness all through
this tale of Nils. It belongs to us. It is a part of us."
Ny Tid writes: "Selma Lagerlof's book contains just
as much information — no, twice as much as the old
readers. It acquaints the children with Sweden's nature;
interests them in its bird world, both tame and wild;
in its domestic and forest animals, even in its rats. It
explains its vegetation, its soil, its mountain-formations,
its climatic conditions. It gives you customs, superstitions,
and the folklore in different sections of the country. It
takes in farming industry, manors and factories, cities and
peasant-cabins, and even dog-kennels. It has a word for
everything; an interest in and for everything. For, mark
you, this book has not been patched together by the dilet-
tante, or by a school board committee. ... It was
written by a highly gifted, warm-hearted seer, to whom the
child-nature is not a murky pool in which to fish at random,
but a clear, reflecting mirror. The author has fulfilled her
mission in a wholly convincing manner. She has had
xiv TRANSLATOR'S INTRODUCTION
enough imagination and skill to blend all the dry travel and
nature material into the harmonious beauty of fable. She
knew how to combine the useful with the beautiful, as no
pedant of the practical or the sesthetic has ever dreamed it.
She has converted the absorption of knowledge into a child's
game - - a pleasure. Her style throughout is the simplest,
the most facile for children to grasp. . . . Her ut-
terances are hearty without being boisterous; most playful
and humorous without being loquacious. Her work is a
model text-book; and just, therefore, a finished work
of art."
From Goteborg Morgan Posten: "The fame of her lit-
erary greatness goes forward without a dissenting voice; it
fills her own land, and travels far and wide outside its
borders. . . . Just as modestly as she points a moral,
just so delicately and unobtrusively does she give in-
formation. Everything comes to you through the ad-
ventures, or through the concrete images of imagination's
all-compelling form. . . . No one who has retained a
particle of his child mind can escape the genuine witchery
of the poesy in 'Nils."
A new history of literature, entitled "Frauen der Gegen-
wart," by Dr. Theodore Klaiber, mentions Miss Lagerlof
as the foremost woman writer of our time, and says that
she is receiving the same affectionate homage for her art in
other lands that has been accorded her in Sweden. Dr.
Klaiber does not see in her merely "a dreaming poetess far
removed from the world." He finds her too forceful and
courageous for this.
"But she sees life with other eyes than do our up-to-date
people. All her world becomes saga and legend. . . .
More than all other modern authors, she has that all-
TRANSLATOR'S INTRODUCTION
xv
embracing love for every thing which never wanes and never
wearies," says Dr. Klaiber.
Torsten Fagelqvist, a well-known Swedish writer, ends
his review of the book with these remarks: "Our guide is
clear- visioned, many-sided, and maternal. She can speak
all languages: the language of animals, and the language of
flowers; but first and last, childhood's language. And the
best of all is, that under her spell all are compelled to become
children,"
VELMA SWANSTON HOWARD.
Comments translated from Swedish and German.
THE WONDERFUL ADVENTURES
OF NILS
CHAPTER ONE
THE BOY
THE ELF
Sunday., March twentieth.
ONCE there was a boy. He was, let us say, something
like fourteen years old; long and loose jointed and
towheaded. He wasn't good for much, that boy. His chief
delight was to eat and sleep, and after that he liked best to
make mischief.
It was a Sunday morning and the boy's parents were
getting ready for church. The boy, in his shirt sleeves,
sat on the edge of the table thinking how lucky it was that
both father and mother were going away so the coast would
be clear for a couple of hours. "Good! Now I can take
down pop's gun and fire off a shot, without anybody's
meddling interference," he said to himself.
But it was almost as if father should have guessed the
boy's thoughts, for just as he was on the threshold and ready
to start, he stopped short, and turned toward the boy:
"Since you won't come to church with mother and me,"
he said, "the least you can do is to read the service at home.
Will you promise to do so?" 'Yes, that I can do easy
enough," said the boy, thinking, of course, that he wouldn't
read any more than he felt like reading.
The boy thought that never had he seen his mother get
around so fast. In a jiffy she was over by the book shelf,
3
4 WONDERFUL ADVENTURES OF NILS
near the fireplace, taking down Luther's Commentary, which
she laid upon the table, in front of the window — opened at
the service for the day. She also opened the New Tes-
tament, and placed it beside the Commentary. Finally,
she drew up the big armchair, which was bought at the
parish auction the year before, and which, as a rule, no one
but father was permitted to occupy.
The boy sat there thinking that his mother was giving
herself altogether too much trouble with this spread, for he
had no intention of reading more than a page or so. But
now, for the second time, it was almost as if his father were
able to see right through him. He walked up to the boy,
and said in a severe tone: "Now remember that you are
to read carefully ! For when we come back, I shall question
you thoroughly; and if you have skipped a single page, it
will not go well with you."
'The service is fourteen pages and a half long," said his
mother, piling it on, as it were. 'You'll have to sit down
and begin the reading at once, if you expect to get through
with it."
With that they departed. And as the boy stood in the
doorway, watching them, he felt that he had been caught in
a trap. 'There they go congratulating themselves, I
suppose, in the belief that they've hit upon something so
good that I'll be forced to sit and hang over the sermon the
whole time that they are away," thought he.
But his father and mother were certainly not congratulat-
ing themselves upon anything of the sort; but, on the con-
trary, they were very much distressed. They were poor
farmers, and their place was not much bigger than a garden-
plot. When they first moved there, the bit of land couldn't
feed more than one p^g and a pair of chickens; but they
WONDERFUL ADVENTURES OF NILS 5
were uncommonly thrifty and capable folk — and now they
had both cows and geese. Things had turned out very well
for them ; and they would have gone to church that beautiful
morning satisfied and happy, if they hadn't had their son
to think of. Father complained that he was dull and lazy;
he had not cared to learn anything at school, and he was
such an all-around good-for-nothing that he could barely
be made to tend geese. Mother could not deny that this
was true; but she was most distressed because he was wild
and bad: cruel to animals, and ill-willed toward human
beings. "May God soften his hard heart and give him a
better disposition!" said the mother, "else he will be a mis-
fortune, both to himself and to us."
The boy stood there a long time pondering whether he
should read the service or not. Finally, he came to the
conclusion that this time it was best to be obedient. He.
seated himself in the easy chair, and began to read. But
when he had been rattling away in an undertone for a little
while, this mumbling seemed to have a soothing effect upon
him — and he began to nod.
It was the most beautiful weather outside! It was only
the twentieth of March; but the boy lived in West Vem-
menhog Parish, down in Southern Skane, where the spring
was already in full swing. It was not as yet green, but
fresh and budding. There was water in all the trenches,
and the colt's-foot at the edge of the ditch was in bloom.
All the weeds that grew in among the stones were brown
and shiny. The beech-woods in the distance seemed to
swell and grow thicker with every second. The skies were
high, and a clear blue. The cottage door stood ajar, and
the lark's trill could be heard in the room. The hens and
geese pattered about in the yard; and the cows, who felt
6 WONDERFUL ADVENTURES OF NILS
the spring air away in their stalls, lowed their approval
every now and then.
The boy read and nodded and fought against drowsiness.
"No! I don't want to fall asleep," thought he, "for then
I'll not get through with this thing the whole forenoon."
But somehow he fell asleep.
He did not know whether he had slept a short while or
a long while; but he was awakened by hearing a slight noise
back of him.
On the window-sill, facing the boy, stood a smarl looking-
glass; and almost the entire cottage could be seen in it.
As the boy raised his head, he happened to look in the glass;
and then he saw that the cover to his mother's chest had
been opened.
His mother owned a great, heavy, iron-bound oak chest,
which she permitted no one but herself to open. Here she
treasured all the things she had inherited from her mother,
and of these she was especially careful. Here lay a couple
of old-time peasant dresses, of red homespun with short
bodice and plaited skirt, and a pearl-bedecked breast-
pin. There were starched white linen headdresses, and
heavy silver ornaments and chains. Folks don't care to
go about dressed like that in these days, and several times
his mother had thought of getting rid of the old things; but
somehow, she hadn't the heart to do it.
Now the boy saw distinctly — in the glass — that the
chest-lid was open. He could not understand how this
had happened, for his mother had closed the chest before
she went. She never would have left that precious chest
open with only him here.
He became low-spirited and apprehensive. He was afraid
that a thief had sneaked his way into the cottage. He
WONDERFUL ADVENTURES OF NILS 7
didn't dare move, but sat still and stared into the looking-
glass.
While he sat there and waited for the thief to make his
appearance, he began to wonder what that dark shadow was
which fell across the edge of the chest. He stared and
stared and wouldn't believe his eyes. But the object,
which at first seemed shadowy, became more and more
clear to him; and soon he saw that it was something real.
It was nothing less than an elf that sat there — astride
the edge of the chest!
To be sure, the boy had heard stories about elves, but
he had never dreamed that they were such tiny creatures.
He was no taller than a hand's breadth — this one, who sat
on the edge of the chest. He had an old, wrinkled and
beardless face, and was dressed in a black frock coat,
knee-breeches and a broad-brimmed black hat. He was
very trim and smart, with his white laces at the throat and
wrist-bands, his buckled shoes, and the bows on his garters.
He had taken from the chest an embroidered piece, and
sat gazing at the old-fashioned handiwork with such an air
of veneration that he did not observe the boy had awakened.
The boy was somewhat surprised to see the elf, but, on the
other hand, he was not exactly frightened. It was im-
possible to be afraid of one who was so little. And since
the elf was so absorbed in his own thoughts that he neither
saw nor heard, the boy thought that it would be great fun
to play a trick on him ; to push him over into the chest and
shut the lid on him, or something of that kind.
Yet the boy was not so courageous that he dared touch
the elf with his hands, instead he glanced around the room
for something to poke him with. He let his gaze wander
from the sofa to the leaf -table; from the leaf -table to the
8 WONDERFUL ADVENTURES OF NILS
fireplace. He glanced at the kettles, then at the coffee-
urn, which stood on a shelf, near the fireplace; on the water
bucket, near the door; and on the spoons and knives and
forks and saucers and plates, which could be seen through
the half-open cupboard door. He looked up at his father's
gun, which hung on the wall beside the portrait of the
Danish royal family, and at the geraniums and fuchsias,
which blossomed in the window. And last, he caught
sight of an old butterfly-snare that hung on the window
frame. He had hardly set eyes on that butterfly-snare,
before he reached over and snatched it and jumped up and
swung it alongside the edge of the chest. He was himself
astonished at the luck he had. He hardly knew how he had
managed it — but he had actually snared the elf. The
poor little chap lay, head downward, in the bottom of the
long snare, and could not free himself.
At the first moment the boy hadn't the least idea as to
what he should do with his catch; but he was very careful to
swing the snare backward and forward, to prevent the elf
from getting a foothold and clambering up.
The elf began to speak, and begged, oh ! so pitifully, for
his freedom. He had brought them good luck these many
years, he said, and deserved better treatment. Now, if the
boy would set him free, he would give him an old penny, a
silver spoon, and a gold coin, as big as the case on his
father's silver watch.
The boy didn't think that this was much of an offer; but
it so happened that after he had got the elf into his power,
he was afraid of him. He felt that he had entered into an
agreement with something weird and uncanny, something
which did not belong to his world; and he was only too
glad to rid himself of the horrid creature.
THE ELF BEGAN TO SPEAK, AND BEGGED, OH! SO PITIFULLY, FOR HIS
FREEDOM
WONDERFUL ADVENTURES OF NILS 9
For this reason he agreed at once to the bargain, and held
the snare still, so the elf could crawl out of it. But when the
elf was almost out of the snare, the boy happened to think
that he should have bargained for large estates, and all
sorts of good things. He should at least have made this
stipulation: that the elf conjure the sermon into his head.
" What a fcol I was to let him go ! " thought he, and began to
shake the snare violently, so the elf would tumble down again.
But the instant the boy did that he received such a sting-
ing box on the ear that he thought his head would fly in
pieces. He was dashed - - first against one wall, then
against the other; finally he sank to the floor, and lay there
— senseless.
When he awoke he was alone in the cottage. There was
not a sign of the elf! The chest-lid was down, and the
butterfly-snare hung in its usual place by the window. If
he had not felt how the right cheek burned from that box
on the ear, he would have been tempted to believe the whole
thing a dream. "At any rate, father and mother will be
sure to insist that it was nothing else," thought he. 'They
are not likely to make any allowances for that old sermon,
on the elf's account. It's best for me to get at that reading
again," thought he.
But as he walked toward the table, he noticed something
remarkable. It couldn't be possible that the cottage had
grown. But why did he have to take so many more steps
than usual to get to the table? And what was wrong with
the chair? It looked no bigger than it did a while ago; but
now he had to step on the rung first, and then clamber up in
order to reach the seat. It was the same with the table.
He could not look across the top without climbing to the
arm of the chair.
10 WONDERFUL ADVENTURES OF NILS
" What in all the world is this? " said the boy. " I believe
the elf has bewitched both armchair and table — and the
whole cottage."
The Commentary lay on the table and, to all appear-
ances, it was not changed; but there must have been some-
thing queer about that too, for he could not manage to
read a single word of it without actually standing right in
the book itself.
He read a couple of lines, then happened to look up.
With that, his glance fell on the looking-glass; and then he
cried aloud: "Look! There's another one !"
For in the glass he saw plainly a little, little creature who
(was dressed in a hood and leather breeches.
"Why, that one is dressed exactly like me!" said the boy,
clasping his hands in astonishment. And then he saw
that the thing in the mirror did the same thing. There-
upon, he began to pull his hair and pinch his arms and swing
round; and instantly he did the same thing after him; he,
who was seen in the mirror.
The boy ran around the glass several times, to see if
here wasn't a little man hidden behind it, but he found no
one there; and then he began to shake with terror. For now
he understood that the elf had bewitched him, and that the
creature whose image he saw in the glass was — himself.
THE WILD GEESE
THE boy simply could not make himself believe that he
had been transformed into an eh5. "It can't be anything
but a dream - - a queer fancy," thought he. "If I wait a
few moments, I'll surely be turned back into a human
being."
WONDERFUL ADVENTURES OF NILS 11
He placed himself before the glass and closed his eyes.
He opened them again after a couple of minutes, expecting
to find that it had all passed over — but it hadn't. He was
— and remained — just as little. In other respects, he
was the same as before. The thin, straw-coloured hair;
the freckles across his nose; the patches on his leather
breeches and the darns on his stockings were all like
themselves, with this difference; they had become dimin-
ished.
No, it would do him no good to stand still and wait,
of that he was certain. He must try something else. And
he thought the wisest thing that he could do was to try to
find the elf, and make his peace with him.
He jumped to the floor and began to search. He looked
behind chairs and cupboards; under the sofa and in the
oven, and he even crawled down into a couple of ratholes
— but he simply couldn't find the elf.
And while he sought, he cried and prayed and promised
everything he could think of. Nevermore would he break
his word to any one ; never again would he be naughty ; and
never, never would he fall asleep any more over the sermon.
If he might only be a human being once more, he would be
such a good and helpful and obedient boy. But no matter
how much he promised, it did not help him the least little
bit.
Suddenly he remembered that he had heard his mother
say, all the tiny folk made their home in the cowshed; and,
at once, he decided to go there, to see if he couldn't find
the elf. It was a lucky thing that the cottage-door stood
partly open, for he never could have reached the bolt and
opened it; but now he slipped through without difficulty.
When he came out into the hallway, he looked around for
WONDERFUL ADVENTURES OF NILS
his wooden shoes; for in the house to be sure, he had gone
about in his stocking feet. He wondered how he should
ever manage with these big, clumsy wooden shoes; but just
then, he happened to see a pair of tiny shoes on the door-
step. When he observed that the elf had been so thought-
ful as to bewitch even the wooden shoes, he was more
troubled than ever. It was evidently the elf's meaning
that this affliction should last a long time.
On the old plank-walk in front of the cottage, hopped a
gray sparrow. It had hardly set eyes on the boy before it
called out: 'Teetee! Teetee! Look at Nils goosey-
boy! Look at Thumbietot! Look at Nils Holgersson
Thumbietot!"
Instantly the geese and the chickens turned and stared
at the boy; and then they set up a fearful cackling.
" Cock-el-i-coo," crowed the rooster, "good enough for him!
Cock-el-i-coo, he has pulled my comb." "Ka, ka, kada,
jerves him right!" cried the hens; and with that they kept
up a continuous cackle. The geese got together in a tight
group, stuck their heads together and asked: 'Who can
have done this? Who can have done this?"
But the strangest of all was, that the boy understood what
they said. He was so astonished that he stood there as if
rooted to the doorstep, and listened. "It must be because
I am turned into an elf," said he. "This is probably why
I understand bird-talk."
He thought it unbearable that the hens would not stop
saying that it served him right. He threw a stone at them
and shouted: "Shut up, you pack!"
But it hadn't occurred to him before that he was no longer
the sort of boy the hens need fear. The whole henyard
made a rush at him, and formed a ring around him; then
P
H
P
a
O!
WONDERFUL ADVENTURES OF NILS IS
they all cried at once: "Ka, ka, kada, served you right!
Ka, ka, kada, served you right !'!
The boy tried to get away, but the chickens ran after
him and screamed until he thought he'd lose his hearing.
It is more than likely that he never could have got away
from them if the house cat hadn't come along just then.
As soon as the chickens saw the cat, they quieted down and
pretended to be thinking of nothing else than just to
scratch in the earth for worms.
Immediately the boy ran up to the cat. 'You dear
pussy ! " he said, "you must know all the corners and hiding-
places hereabout? You'll be a good little kitty and tell
me where I can find the elf."
The cat did not reply at once. He sat down leisurely,
curled his tail into a graceful ring around his paws — and
stared at the boy. It was a large black cat with one white
spot on the chest. His fur lay sleek and soft, and shone in
the sunlight. The claws were drawn in, and the eyes were
a dull gray, with just a little narrow dark streak down the
centre. The cat looked thoroughly good-natured and in-
offensive.
"I know well enough where the elf lives," he said in a
soft voice, "but that doesn't say that I'm going to tell you
about it."
"Dear pussy, you must tell me where the elf lives!"
pleaded the boy. "Can't you see how he has bewitched
me?"
The cat opened his eyes a little, so that the green wicked-
ness began to shine forth. He spun round and purred with
satisfaction before he replied. "Shall I perhaps help you
because you have so often grabbed me by the tail?" he said
at last.
14 WONDERFUL ADVENTURES OF NILS
Then the boy was furious and forgot entirely how little
and helpless he was now. "Oh! I can pull your tail again,
I can," said he, and ran toward the cat.
The next instant the cat was so changed that the boy
could scarcely believe it was the same animal. Every sepa-
rate hair on his body stood on end. The back was bent; the
legs had become elongated; the claws scraped the ground;
the tail had grown thick and short; the ears were laid back;
the mouth was frothy; the eyes were wide open and glis-
tened like sparks of red fire.
The boy didn't want to let himself be scared by a cat so he
took a step forward. Then the cat made one spring and
landed right on the boy, knocked him down and stood over
him — his forepaws on his chest, his jaws wide apart over
his throat.
The boy felt how the sharp claws sank through his vest
and shirt into his skin; and how the sharp eyeteeth tickled
his throat. He shrieked for help as loudly as he could, but
no one came. He thought surely that his last hour had
come. Then he felt that the cat drew in his claws and let
go the hold on his throat.
"There!" he said, "that will do for now. I'll let you go
this time, for my mistress's sake. I only wanted you to
know which one of us two has the power now."
With that the cat walked away, looking as smooth and
pious as when he first appeared on the scene. The boy was
so crestfallen that he couldn't say a word, but only hurried
to the cowhouse to look for the elf.
There were not more than three cows, all told. But
when the boy came in, there was such a bellowing and such
a kick-up, that one might easily have believed there were at
least thirty.
WONDERFUL ADVENTURES OF NILS 15
"Moo, moo, moo," bellowed Mayrose. "It is well there
is such a thing as justice in this world."
"Moo, moo, moo," sang the three of them in unison.
He couldn't hear what they said, for each tried to out-
bellow the others.
The boy wanted to ask after the elf, but he couldn't make
himself heard because the cows were in full uproar. They
carried on as they used to when he would let a strange dog
in on them. They kicked with their hind legs, shook their
flanks, stretched their heads, and measured the distance with
their horns.
" Come here, you ! " said Mayrose, " and you'll get a kick
that you won't forget in a hurry!"
"Come here," said Gold Lily, "and you shall dance on
my horns!"
"Come here, and you shall taste how it felt when you
threw your wooden shoes at me, as you did last summer!"
bawled Star.
"Come here, and you shall be repaid for that wasp you
let loose in my ear!" growled Gold Lily.
Mayrose was the oldest and wisest among them, and she
was the very maddest. "Come here!'" she said, 'that I
may pay you back for the many times that you have jerked
the milk pail away from your mother, and for all the snares
you laid for her when she came carrying the milk pails
and for all the tears which she has stood here and wept
over you!"
The boy wanted to tell them how much he regretted that
he had been unkind to them; and that never, never, from
now on, should he be anything but good, if they would only
tell him where the elf was. But the cows didn't listen to
him. They made such a racket that he began to fear one
16 WONDERFUL ADVENTURES OF NILS
of them would succeed in breaking loose; so he thought that
the best thing for him to do, was to go quietly away from
the cowhouse.
When he came out again he was thoroughly disheartened.
He could understand that no one on the place wanted to
help him find the eh*. And little good would it do him,
probably, if the elf were found!
He crawled up on the broad hedge which fenced in the
farm, and which was overgrown with brier and lichen.
There he sat down to ponder how it would go with him,
were he never again to become a human being. When father
and mother got back from church, there would be a surprise
for them. Yes, a surprise — it would be all over the land ;
and people would come flocking from East Vemmenhog,
and from Torp, and from Skerup. The whole Vemmenhog
Parish would come to stare at him. Perhaps father and
mother would take him along to Kivik, and show him at
the market-place.
No, that was too horrible to think about. He would
rather that no human being should ever see him again.
His unhappiness was simply frightful ! No one in all the
world was so unhappy as he. He was no longer a human
being — but a freak.
Little by little he began to comprehend what it meant —
to be no longer human. He was separated from everything
now; he could no longer play with other boys, he could not
take charge of the farm after his parents were gone; and
certainly no girl would think of marrying him.
He sat and looked at his home. It was a little log house,
which lay as if crushed down to earth, under the high,
sloping roof. The outhouses were also small; and the
patches of tilled ground were so narrow that a horse could
WONDERFUL ADVENTURES OF NILS 17
barely turn around on them. But little and poor though
the place was, it was much too good for him now. He
couldn't hope for a better home than a hole under the
stable floor.
It was wondrously beautiful weather! It budded, and
it rippled, and it murmured, and it twittered — all around
him. But he sat there with such a heavy sorrow. He
should never be happy any more about anything.
Never had he seen the skies so blue as they were to-day.
Birds of passage were on the wing. They came from foreign
lands, having travelled over the Baltic Sea by way of
Smygahuk, and were now on their way north. They were
of many different kinds; but he was only familiar with the
wild geese, who came flying in two long lines, which met at
an angle.
Several flocks of wild geese had already flown by. They
flew very high, still he could hear how they shrieked : ' To
the hills ! Now we're off to the hills ! "
When the wild geese saw the tame geese who walked
about the farm, they sank nearer the earth, and called:
" Come along ! Come along ! We're off to the hills ! "
The tame geese could not resist the temptation to raise
their heads and listen, but they answered very sensibly:
" We're pretty well off where we are. We're pretty well off
where we are."
It was, as said, an uncommonly fine day, with an
atmosphere that it must have been a real delight to
fly in, so light and bracing. And with each new wild
goose flock that flew by, the tame geese became more
and more excited. A couple of times they flapped their
wings, as if they had half a mind to fly along. But then
an old mother-goose would always say to them: "Now
18 WONDERFUL ADVENTURES OF NILS
don't be silly. Those creatures will have to suffer both
hunger and cold."
There was a young gander whom the wild geese had fired
with a passion for adventure. "If another flock comes this
way I'll follow them," said he.
Then there came a new flock, shrieking like the others,
and the young gander answered: 'Wait a minute! Wait
a minute! I'm coming."
He spread his wings and raised himself into the air; but
he was so unaccustomed to flying that he fell to the ground
again.
At all events, the wild geese must have heard his call, for
they turned and flew back slowly to see if he was coming.
' WTait, wait!" he cried, and made another attempt to fly.
All this the boy heard, where he lay on the hedge. :'It
would be a great pity," thought he, "if the big goosey-
gander should go away. It would be a big loss to father
and mother to find him gone on their return from church."
As he thought of this, once again he entirely forgot that
he was little and helpless. He took one leap right down into
the goose-flock, and threw his arms around the neck of the
goosey-gander. "Oh, no! You don't fly away this time,
sir!" cried he.
But just about then, the gander was considering how he
should go to work to raise himself from the ground. He
couldn't stop to shake the boy off, hence he had to go along
with him — up in the air.
They bore on toward the heights so rapidly that the
boy fairly gasped. Before he had time to think that he
ought to let go his hold around the gander's neck, he was so
high up that he would have been instantly killed, had he
fallen to the ground.
WONDERFUL ADVENTURES OF NILS 19
The only thing that he could do to make himself a little
more comfortable, was to try to get upon the gander's
back. And there he wriggled himself forthwith; but not
without a mighty effort. Nor was it easy to hold himself
secure on the slippery back, between two flapping wings.
He had to dig deep into feathers and down with both hands,
to keep from tumbling to the ground.
THE BIG CHECKED CLOTH
THE boy had grown so giddy that it was a long while
before he came to himself. The winds howled and lashed
against him, and the rustle of feathers and beatings of wings
sounded like a full storm. Thirteen geese flew around him,
flapping their wings and honking. They danced before his
eyes and they buzzed in his ears. He didn't know whether
they flew high or low, or in which direction they were travel-
ling.
After a bit, he regained just enough sense to understand
that he ought to find out where the geese were taking him.
But this was not so easy, for he didn't know how he should
ever muster up courage enough to look down. He was
sure he'd faint if he attempted it.
The wild geese were not flying very high because the new
travelling companion could not breathe in the very thinnest
air. For his sake, they also flew a little slower than usual.
At last the boy just made himself cast one glance down to
earth. Then he fancied that a great big rug lay spread
beneath him, which was made up of an incredible number
of large and small checks.
'Where in all the world am I now?" he wondered.
He saw nothing but check upon check. Some were
20 WONDERFUL ADVENTURES OF NILS
broad and ran crosswise, and some were long and narrow
- all over there were angles and corners. Nothing was
round, and nothing was crooked.
"What kind of big, checked cloth is this, that I'm looking
down on?" said the boy to himself without expecting any
one to answer him.
But instantly, the wild geese who circled around him,
called out: "Fields and meadows. Fields and meadows."
Then he understood that the big, checked cloth he was
travelling over was the flat land of southern Sweden; and
he began to comprehend why it looked so checked and multi-
coloured. The bright green checks he recognized first, they
were rye-fields that had been sown in the fall, and had kept
themselves green under the winter snows. The yellowish-
gray checks were stubble-fields — - the remains of the oat-
crop which had grown there the summer before. The
brownish ones were old clover meadows : and the black ones,
deserted grazing lands or ploughed-up fallow pastures.
The brown checks with the yellow edges were surely beech-
tree forests; for in these you'll find the big trees which grow
in the heart of the forest, naked in winter; while the little
beech-trees, which grow along the borders, keep their dry,
yellowed leaves far into the spring. There were also dark
checks with gray centres: these were the large, built-up
estates encircled by the small cottages with their blackening
straw roofs and their stone-divided landplots. And then
there were checks green in the middle with brown borders:
these were the orchards, where the grass-carpets were al-
ready turning green, although the trees and bushes around
them were still in their nude brown bark.
The boy could not keep from laughing when he saw how
checked everything looked.
WONDERFUL ADVENTURES OF NILS
But when the wild geese heard him laugh, they called
out kind o' reprovingly: "Fertile and good land. Fertile
and good land."
The boy had already become serious. "To think that
you can laugh; you, who have met with the most terrible
misfortune that can possibly befall a human being! " thought
he. And for a moment he was quite solemn; but before
long he was laughing again.
Now that he had grown somewhat accustomed to the
ride and the speed, so that he could think of something
besides holding himself on the gander's back, he began to
notice how full the air was of birds flying northward. And
there was a shouting and a calling from flock to flock. "So
you came over to-day?" shrieked some. "Yes," answered
the geese. "How do you think the spring's getting on?"
"Not a leaf on the trees and ice-cold water in the lakes,"
came back the answer.
When the geese flew over a place where they saw tame,
half-naked fowl, they shouted: "What's the name of this
place? What's the name of this place? " Then the roosters
cocked their heads and answered: "Its name's Lillgarde
this year — the same as last year; the same as last year."
Most of the cottages were probably named after their
owners, which is the custom in Skane. But instead of saying
this is "Per Matsson's," or "Ola Bosson's," the roosters
hit upon the kind of names which, to their way of thinking,
were more appropriate. Those who lived on small farms
and belonged to poor cottagers cried: "This place is called
Grainscarce." And those who belonged to the poorest
hut-dwellers screamed: "The name of this place is
Little-to-eat, Little-to-eat, Little-to-eat."
The big, well-cared-for farms got high-sounding names
WONDERFUL ADVENTURES OF NILS
from the roosters — such as Luckymeadow, Eggberga and
Moneyville.
But the roosters on the great landed estates were too
high and mighty to condescend to anything like jesting.
One of them crowed and called out with such gusto that it
sounded as if he wanted to be heard clear up to the sun:
"This is Herr Dybeck's estate; the same this year as last
year, this year as last year."
A little farther on strutted one rooster that crowed:
"This is Swanholm, surely all the world knows that!"
The boy observed that the geese did not fly straight for-
ward, but zigzagged hither and thither over the whole
South country, as if they were glad to be in Skane again and
wanted to pay their respects to every single place.
They came to one place where there were a number of big,
clumsy-looking buildings, with great, tall chimneys, and
all around these were a lot of little houses. 'This is Jord-
berga Sugar Refinery," crowed the roosters. The boy shud-
dered as he sat there on the goose's back. He should have
recognized this locality, for it was not very far from his
home.
Here he had worked the year before as a watch boy; but,
to be sure, nothing was quite the same when seen like that —
from up above.
And think! Just think! Osa the goose girl and little
Mats had been his comrades last year! Indeed the boy
would have been glad to know if they were still anywhere
about here. Fancy what they would have said, had they
suspected that he was flying over their heads !
Soon Jordberga was lost to sight, and they travelled
toward Svedala and Skaber Lake and back again over
Boringe Cloister and Hackeberga. The boy saw more of
WONDERFUL ADVENTURES OF NILS 23
Skane in this one day than he had ever seen before in all the
years that he had lived.
When the wild geese happened across any tame geese,
they had the best fun! Then they flew forward very
slowly and called down: 'We're off to the hills. Are
you coming along? Are you coming along?'1
But the tame geese answered: "It's still winter in this
country. You're out too soon. Flyback! Flyback!"
The wild geese flew lower that they might be heard a
little better, and called: "Come along! We'll teach you
how to fly and swim."
Then the tame geese got mad and wouldn't answer them
with a single honk.
The wild geese sank lower and lower until they almost
touched the ground — then, quick as lightning, they rose
as if they'd been terribly frightened. "Oh, oh, oh!" they
exclaimed. "Those creatures were not geese. They were
only sheep, they were only sheep."
The ones on the ground were beside themselves with rage,
and shrieked: "May you be shot, the whole lot o' you!
The whole lot oj you!"
When the boy heard all this teasing he laughed. Then
he remembered how badly things had gone with him, and
cried. But the next second, he was laughing again.
Never before had he ridden so fast; and to ride fast and
recklessly — that he had always liked. And, of course,
he had never dreamed that it could be so fresh and bracing as
it was up in the air; or that there arose from the earth such
a fine scent of resin and soil. Nor had he ever dreamed
what it would be like to ride so high above the earth. It
was just like flying away from sorrow and trouble and
annoyances of every kind that could be thought of.
CHAPTER Two
AKKA FROM KEBNEKAISE
EVENING
THE big tame goosey -gander, that had followed them up
in the air, felt very proud of being allowed to travel
back and forth over the south country with the wild geese,
and crack jokes with the tame birds. But happy as he was
he began to grow tired as the afternoon wore on. He tried
to take deeper breaths and quicker wing-strokes, but even
so he remained several goose-lengths behind the others.
When the wild geese who flew last noticed that the tame
one couldn't keep up with them, they began to call to the
goose who flew in the centre of the wedge and led the
procession: "Akka from Kebnekaise! Akka from Keb-
nekaise!" "What do you want of me?" asked the leader.
"The white one will be left behind; the white one will be
left behind." "Tell him it's easier to fly fast than slow!"
shouted the leader, and raced on as before.
The goosey-gander certainly tried to follow the advice,
and increased his speed; but soon he became so exhausted
that he sank way down to the drooping willows that bor-
dered the fields and meadows.
"Akka, Akka, Akka from Kebnekaise!" cried those who
flew last and saw what a hard time he was having. ' What
do you want now?" asked the leader — and she sounded
awfully angry. "The white one sinks to the earth ; the white
24
WONDERFUL ADVENTURES OF NILS 25
one sinks to the earth." "Tell him it's easier to fly high
than low!" screamed the leader, and she didn't slow up the
least little bit, but raced on as before.
The goosey-gander tried also to follow this advice; but
when he attempted to rise, he became so winded that he
almost burst his breast.
"Akka, Akka!" again cried those who flew last. "Can't
you let me fly in peace?'1 snapped the leader, and she
sounded even madder than before.
"The white one is ready to collapse." 'Tell him that
he who has not the strength to fly with the flock, can go
back home ! " cried the leader. She certainly had no notion
of decreasing her speed — but raced on as before.
" Oh, is that the way the wind blows ! " thought the goosey-
gander. He understood at once that the wild geese had
no idea of taking him along up to Lapland. They had
only lured him away from home in sport.
He felt thoroughly exasperated. To think that his
strength should fail him now, so he wouldn't be able to show
these tramps that even a tame goose was good for some-
thing ! But the most provoking of all was that he had fallen
in with Akka from Kebnekaise. Tame goose that he was,
he had heard about a leader goose, named Akka, who was
more than a hundred years old. She had such a big name
that the best wild geese in the world followed her. But
none had such a contempt for tame geese as Akka and her
flock, and he would gladly have shown them that he was
their equal.
He flew slowly behind the rest, while deliberating
whether he should turn back or continue. Finally, the little
creature that he carried on his back said: 'Dear Morten
Goosey -gander, you know well enough that it is simply im-
26 WONDERFUL ADVENTURES OF NILS
possible for you, who have never flown, to go with the wild
geese all the way up to Lapland. Won't you turn back be-
fore you kill yourself?"
But the farmer's lad was about the worst thing the goosey-
gander knew of, and, as soon as it dawned on him that this
puny creature actually believed that he couldn't make the
trip, he decided to stick it out. "If you say another word
about this, I'll drop you into the first ditch we ride over!"
said he, and at the same time his fury gave him so much
strength that he began to fly almost as well as any of the
others.
It isn't likely that he could have kept up this speed very
long, nor was it necessary; for, just then, the sun sank
quickly; and at sunset the geese flew down, and before the
boy or the goosey-gander knew what had happened, they
stood on the shore of Vomb Lake.
'They probably intend that we shall spend the night
here," thought the boy as he jumped down from the goose's
back.
He stood now on a narrow beach by a fair-sized lake. It
was ugly to look upon, for it was almost entirely covered
with an ice-crust that was blackened and uneven and full of
cracks and holes - - as spring ice generally is.
The ice was already breaking up. It was loose and float-
ing with a broad belt of dark, shiny water all around it; but
there was still enough of it left to spread chill and winter
terror over the place.
On the other side of the lake there appeared to be an
open and light country, but where the geese had alighted
there was a thick pine-growth. It looked as if the forest
of firs and pines had the power to bind the winter to itself.
Everywhere else the ground was bare; but beneath the
WONDERFUL ADVENTURES OF NILS 27
sharp pine-branches lay snow that had been melting and
freezing, melting and freezing, till it was as hard as ice.
The boy thought he had struck an arctic wilderness, and
he was so miserable that he wanted to scream. He was
hungry too. He hadn't eaten a bite the whole day. But
where should he find any food? Nothing eatable grew on
either ground or tree in the month of March.
Yes, where was he to find food, and who would give him
shelter, and who would fix his bed, and who would protect
him from the wild beasts?
For now the sun was away and frost came from the lake,
and darkness sank down from heaven, and terror stole
forward on the twilight's trail, and in the forest it began to
patter and rustle.
Now the good humour which the boy had felt when he
was up in the air was gone, and in his misery he looked
around for his travelling companions. He had no one but
them to cling to now.
Then he saw that the goosey-gander was having even a
worse time of it. He was lying prostrate on the spot
where he had alighted; and it looked as if he were ready to
die. His neck lay flat against the ground, his eyes were
closed, and his breathing sounded like a feeble hissing.
"Dear Morten Goosey-gander," said the boy, ;<try to
get a swallow of water! It isn't two steps to the lake."
But the goosey-gander didn't stir.
The boy had certainly been cruel to all animals, and to
the goosey-gander in times gone by; but now he felt that
the goosey-gander was the only comfort he had left, and he
was dreadfully afraid of losing him.
All at once the boy began to push and drag him, to get
him into the water, but the goosey-gander was big and
28 WONDERFUL ADVENTURES OF NILS
heavy, and it was mighty hard work for the boy; but at last
he succeeded.
The goosey-gander got in — head first. For an instant
he lay motionless in the slime, but soon he poked up his
head, shook the water from his eyes, and sniffed. Then he
swam proudly between reeds and seaweed.
The wild geese were in the lake before him. They had
not looked around, for either the goosey-gander or his rider,
but had made straight for the water. They had bathed
and primped, and now they lay and gulped half-rotten
pond-weed and water-clover.
The white goosey-gander had the good fortune to spy a
perch. He grabbed it quickly, swam ashore with it, and
laid it down in front of the boy. " Here's a thank you for
helping me into the water," said he.
Those were the first friendly words the boy had heard that
day. He was so happy that he wanted to throw his arms
around the goosey-gander's neck, but he didn't; and he was
also thankful for the gift. At first he thought it would be
impossible for him to eat raw fish, and then he had a notion
to try it.
He felt to see if he still had his sheath-knife with him;
and, sure enough, there it hung — on the back button of his
trousers, although it was so diminished that it was hardly
as long as a match. Well, at any rate, it served to scale
and cleanse fish with; and it wasn't long before the perch
was eaten.
When the boy had satisfied his hunger, he felt a little
ashamed because he had been able to eat a raw animal.
"It's evident that I'm no longer a human being but a real
elf," thought he.
While the boy was eating, the goosey-gander stood
<'
THE GOOSEY-GANDER GOT IN- II HAD FIRST
WONDERFUL ADVENTURES OF NILS 29
quietly beside him. But when he had swallowed the last
morsel he said in a low voice: "It's a fact that we have run
across a stuck-up goose folk who despise all tame birds."
"Yes, I've observed that," said the boy.
"What a triumph it would be for me if I could follow
them clear up to Lapland, and show them that even a tame
goose can do things!"
"Y-e-e-s," said the boy, drawling it out, for he didn't
believe the goosey-gander could ever do it; yet he did not
wish to contradict him. "But I don't think I can get along
all by myself on such a journey," said the goosey-gander.
"I'd like to ask if you couldn't come along to help me?"
The boy, of course, hadn't expected anything but to return
to his home as soon as possible, and he was so surprised
that he hardly knew what he should reply. "I thought
that we were enemies, you and I," said he. But this the
goosey-gander seemed to have forgotten entirely. He
only remembered that the boy had but just saved his life.
"I suppose I really ought to go home to father and
mother," said the boy. "Oh, I'll get you back to them
some time in the fall," assured the goosey-gander. "I shall
not leave you until I can set you down on your own door-
step."
The boy thought it would be just as well for him not to
be seen by his parents yet a while. He was not disinclined
to favour the proposition, and was just on the point of say-
ing that he agreed to it — when they heard a loud rumbling
from behind. The wild geese had just come up from the
lake — all at one time — and stood shaking the water from
their backs. After that, they arranged themselves in a long
row with the leader-goose in the centre — and came toward
them.
30 WONDERFUL ADVENTURES OF NILS
As the white goosey-gander sized up the wild geese, he
felt ill at ease. He had expected that they should be more
like tame geese, and that he should feel a closer kinship
with them. They were much smaller than he, and none
of them was white. All were gray with a sprinkling of
brown. He was almost afraid of their eyes, which were
yellow and shone as if a fire had been kindled back of them.
The goosey-gander had always been taught that it was most
fitting to move slowly and with a rolling motion, but these
creatures did not walk — they almost ran. He grew most
alarmed, however, when he looked at their feet. They
were large, with torn and ragged-looking soles. It was
apparent that the wild geese never questioned what they
tramped upon. They took no by-paths. They were very
neat and well cared for in other respects, but one could tell
by their feet that they were poor wilderness-folk.
The goosey -gander only had time to whisper to the boy:
"Speak up quickly for yourself, but don't tell them who
you are!" — before the geese were upon them.
When the wild geese had stopped in front of them, they
courtesied with their necks many times, and the goosey-
gander did likewise many more times. As soon as the
ceremonies were over, the leader-goose said: "Now I
presume we shall hear what kind of creatures you are."
"There isn't much to tell about me," said the goosey-
gander. "I was born in Skanor last spring. In the fall I
was sold to Holger Nilsson of West Vemmenhog, and there
I have lived ever since." 'You don't seem to have any
pedigree to boast of," said the leader-goose. "What is it,
then, that makes you so high-minded that you wish to
associate with wild geese ?" "It may be because I want to
show you wild geese that we tame ones may also be good for
WONDERFUL ADVENTURES OF NILS 31
something," said the goosey-gander. "Yes, it would be
well if you could show us that," challenged the leader-
goose. 'We have already observed how much you know
about flying; but you are more skilled, perhaps, at other
sports. Possibly you are strong in a swimming match?"
"No, I can't boast that I am," said the goosey -gander.
It seemed to him as if the leader-goose had already made
up her mind to send him home, so he didn't much care how
he answered. "I never swam any farther than across a
marl-ditch," he retorted. 'Then I presume you're a
crack sprinter," said the goose. "I have never seen a tame
goose run, nor have I ever done so myself," said the goosey-
gander; and he made things appear much worse than they
really were.
The big white one was sure now that the leader-goose
would say that under no circumstances could they take
him along. He was very much astonished when she said:
'You answer questions courageously; and he who has
courage can become a good travelling companion, even if
he is ignorant in the beginning. What do you say to stop-
ping with us a couple of days, until we can see what you are
good for?" 'That suits me!" said the goosey -gander — •
and he was thoroughly happy.
Thereupon the leader-goose pointed with her bill and said :
"But whom have you there? I've never seen any one like
him before." 'That's my comrade," said the goosey-
gander. "He's been a goose-tender all his life. He'll be
useful, all right, to take with us on the trip." "Yes, he may
be all right for a tame goose," retorted the wild one. " What
do you call him?'! "He has several names," said the
goosey-gander hesitatingly, not knowing what he should
hit upon in a hurry, for he didn't want to reveai the fact
32 WONDERFUL ADVENTURES OF NILS
that the boy had a human name. "Oh! his name is Thurn-
bietot," he said at last. " Does he belong to the elf family ? M
asked the leader-goose. "At what hour do you wild geese
usually retire? " said the goosey -gander quickly — trying
to evade that last question. "My eyes close of their own
accord about this time."
One could easily see that the goose who talked with the
gander was very old. Her entire feather outfit was ice-gray
with no dark streaks. The head was larger than that of
the others; the legs were coarser, and the feet were more
worn. The feathers were stiff; the shoulders knotty; the
neck thin. All this was due to age. It was only upon the
eyes that time had had no effect. They shone brighter —
as if they were younger than those of the others.
She turned very haughtily toward the goosey-gander.
* Understand, Mr. Tame-goose, that I am Akka from Keb-
nekaise ! And that the goose who flies nearest me — to the
right — is Iksi from Vassijaure, and the one to the left is
Kaksi from Nuolja! Understand, also, that the second
right-hand goose is Kolmi from Sarjektjakko, and the
second, left, is Nelja from Svappavaara; and behind them
fly Viisi from Oviksfjallen and Kuusi from Sjangeli! And
know that these, as well as the six goslings, who fly last —
three to the right, and three to the left — are all high moun-
tain geese of the finest breed! You must not take us for
land-lubbers who strike up a chance acquaintance with any
and every one! And you must not think that we permit
any one to share our quarters that will not tell us who his
ancestors were."
While Akka, the leader-goose, was talking in this strain,
the boy stepped briskly forward. It distressed him that the
goosey-gander, who had spoken ug so glibly for himself,
WONDERFUL ADVENTURES OF NILS 33
should give such evasive answers when it concerned him.
"I don't care to make a secret of who I am," said he. " My
name is Nils Holgersson. I'm a farmer's son, and, until
to-day, I was a human being ; but this morning " He got
no further. As soon as he said that he was human the
leader-goose staggered three steps backward, and the rest
of them even farther back. All craned their necks and
hissed angrily at him.
"I have suspected this ever since I first saw you here on
these shores," said Akka; "and now you can clear out of
here at once. We tolerate no human beings among us."
"It isn't possible," said the goosey -gander, meditatively,
"that you wild geese can be afraid of any one who is so
tiny! By to-inorrow, of course, he'll turn back home.
You can surely let him stay with us overnight. None of
us can afford to let such a poor little creature wander off by
himself in the night — among weasels and foxes!"
The wild goose came nearer. But one could see that it
was hard for her to master her fear. "I have been taught
to fear everything in human shape — be it big or little," said
she. "But if you will answer for this one, and swear that
he will not harm us, he may stay with us to-night. But I
don't believe our night quarters are suitable for either him
or you, for we intend to roost on the broken ice out here."
She thought, of course, that the goosey -gander would be
doubtful when he heard this, but he never let on. "She
is pretty wise who knows how to choose such a safe bed,"
said he.
"You will be answerable for his return to his own to-
morrow."
"Then I, too, will have to leave you," said the goosey
gander. " I have sworn that I would not forsake him."
34 WONDERFUL ADVENTURES OF NILS
'You are free to fly whither you will," said the leader-
goose.
With this, she raised her wings and flew out over the ice,
and, one after another, the wild geese followed her.
The boy was very sad to think that his trip to Lap-
land would not come off, and, in the bargain, he was
afraid of the chilly night quarter. "It will be worse and
worse," said he. "In the first place, 'we'll freeze to death
on the ice."
But the gander was in good humour. ' There's no danger,"
he said. "Only make haste, I beg of you, and gather up
as much grass and litter as you can well carry."
When the boy had an armful of dried grass, the goosey-
gander grabbed him by the shirt-band, lifted him, and flew
out upon the ice, where the wild geese were already fast
asleep with their bills tucked under their wings.
"Now spread out the grass on the ice so there will be
something to stand on, to keep me from freezing fast. You
help me and I'll help you," said the goosey -gander.
This the boy did. And when he had finished, the goosey-
gander again picked him up by the shirt-band, and tucked
him under his wing. "I think you'll lie snug and warm
there," said the goosey-gander as he covered him with his
wing.
The boy was so imbedded in down that he couldn't
answer; and he was nice and comfy. Oh, but he was tired!
And in less than two winks he was fast asleep.
NIGHT
IT is a fact that ice is always treacherous and not to be
trusted. In the middle of the night the loosened ice-cake
WONDERFUL ADVENTURES OF NILS 35
on Vomb Lake moved about, till one corner of it touched
the shore. Now it happened that Mr. Smirre Fox, who
lived at this time in Ovid Cloister-Park — on the east side
of the lake — caught a glimpse of that one corner while
out on his night chase. Smirre had seen the wild geese early
in the evening, and hadn't even dared to hope that he might
get at one of them; but now he walked straight out on the ice.
When Smirre was very near to the geese, his claws scraped
the ice, and the geese awoke, flapped their wings, and pre-
pared for flight. But Smirre was too quick for them. He
darted forward as though he'd been shot, grabbed a goose
by the wing and ran toward land again.
But this night the wild geese were not alone on the ice,
for they had a human being among them — little as he was.
The boy had awakened when the goosey-gander spread his
wings. He had tumbled down on the ice and was sitting
there, dazed. He hadn't grasped the whys and wherefores
of all this confusion until he had caught sight of a little
long-legged dog who ran over the ice with a goose in his
mouth.
In a second the boy was after that dog, to take the goose
away from him. He must have heard the goosey-gander
call to him: "Have a care, Thumbietot! Have a care!"
But the boy thought that such a little runt of a dog was
nothing to be afraid of, so he rushed ahead.
The wild goose that Smirre Fox was tugging along heard
the clatter as the boy's wooden shoes beat against the ice,
and she could hardly believe her ears. "Does that infant
think he can take me away from the fox?" she wondered.
And in spite of her misery, she began to cackle right merrily,
deep down in her windpipe. It was almost as if she had
laughed.
36 WONDERFUL ADVENTURES OF NILS
"The first thing he knows, he'll fall through a crack in the
ice," thought she.
But dark as the night was, the boy saw distinctly all the
cracks and holes there were, and took daring leaps over
them. This was because he had the elf's good eyesight
now, and could see in the dark. He saw both lake and shore
just as clearly as if it had been daylight.
Smirre Fox left the ice where it touched the shore. And
just as he was working his way up to the land-edge, the boy
shouted to him: "Drop that goose, you sneak!'3 Smirre
didn't know who was calling to him, and wasted no time
in looking around, but increased his pace.
The fox made straight for the forest and the boy followed
him, with never a thought of the risk he was running.
On the contrary, he was thinking all the while about the
contemptuous way in which he had been received by the
wild geese that evening; and he made up his mind to let
them see that a human being was something higher than
all else created.
He shouted, again and again to that dog, to make him
drop his game. 'What kind of a dog are you, who can
steal a whole goose and not feel ashamed of yourself?
Drop her at once! or you'll see what a beating you'll get.
Drop her, I say, or I'll tell your master how you behave!"
When Smirre Fox saw that he had been mistaken for a
scary dog, he was so amused that he came near dropping
the goose. Smirre was a great plunderer who wasn't satis-
fied with hunting only rats and pigeons in the fields, but
he also ventured into the farmyards to steal chickens and
geese. He knew that he was feared throughout the district;
and anything so idiotic as this he had not heard since he was
a baby.
WONDERFUL ADVENTURES OF NILS 37
The boy ran so fast that the thick beech-trees appeared
to be running past him — backward, and he gained on
Smirre. Finally, he was so close to him that he got a hold
on his tail. "Now I'll take the goose from you anyway,"
cried he, holding on as tight as ever he could, but he hadn't
strength enough to stop Smirre. The fox dragged him
along until the dry foliage whirled around him.
But now it began to dawn on Smirre how harmless was
the creature that pursued him. He stopped short, put the
goose on the ground, and held her down with his forepaws,
so she couldn't fly away. He was just about to bite off her
neck — but he couldn't resist the desire to tease the boy
a little. " Hurry off and complain to the master, for now
I'm going to bite the goose to death!" said he.
Certainly the one who was surprised when he saw what a
pointed nose, and heard what a hoarse and angry voice
that dog which he was pursuing had, was — the boy ! But
now he was so provoked because the fox had made fun of
him that he never thought of being frightened. He took a
firmer hold on the tail, braced himself against a beech trunk;
and just as the fox opened his jaws over the goose's throat,
he pulled as hard as he could. Smirre was so astonished
that he let himself be pulled backward a couple of steps -
and the wild goose got away. She fluttered upward, feebly
and heavily. One wing was so badly wounded that she
could barely use it. Besides, she could not see in the night
darkness of the forest, but was as helpless as the blind.
Therefore she could in no way help the boy. She groped
her way through the branches and flew down to the lake
again.
Then Smirre made a dash for the boy. "If I don't get
the one, I shall certainly have the other," said he; and you
38 WONDERFUL ADVENTURES OF NILS
could tell by his voice how mad he was. "Oh, don't you
believe it!" said the boy, who was in the best of spirits
because he had saved the goose. He held himself fast by
the fox-tail, and swung with it to one side when the fox tried
to catch him.
There was such a dance in that forest that the dry beech-
leaves fairly flew! Smirre swung round and round, but
the tail swung too; while the boy kept a tight grip on it, so
the fox couldn't grab him.
The boy was so gay after his success that, in the beginning,
he only laughed and made fun of the fox. But Smirre was
persevering — as old hunters generally are — and the boy
began to fear that he would be captured in the end.
Then he caught sight of a little, young beech-tree that
had shot up as slender as a rod, that it might soon reach the
free air above the canopy of branches which the old beeches
spread over it.
Quick as a flash, he let go of the fox-tail and climbed the
beech-tree. Smirre Fox was so excited that he continued to
dance around after his tail a long time.
" Don't bother with the dance any longer!" said the boy.
But Smirre couldn't endure the humiliation of his failure
to get the better of such a little tot, so he laid down under
the tree, that he might keep a close watch on him.
The boy didn't have any too good a time of it where he
sat, astride a frail branch. The young beech did not, as
yet, reach the high branch-canopy, so the boy couldn't get
over to another tree, and he didn't dare come down. He
was so cold and numb that he almost lost his hold around
the branch; and he was dreadfully sleepy; but he didn't
dare fall asleep for fear of tumbling down.
My ! but it was dismal to sit in that way the whole night
WONDERFUL ADVENTURES OF NILS 39
through, out in the forest ! He had never before understood
the real meaning of "night." It was just as if the whole
world had become petrified, and never could come to life
again.
Then it commenced to dawn. The boy was glad that
everything began to look like itself once more; although the
chill was even sharper than it had been during the night.
When the sun finally came up, it wasn't yellow but
red. The boy thought it looked as if it was angry and he
wondered what it was angry about. Perhaps it was be-
cause the night had made it so cold and gloomy on earth
while the sun was away.
The sunbeams came down in great clusters, to see what
the night had been up to. It could be seen how all things
blushed — as if they all had guilty consciences. The clouds
in the skies; the satiny beech-limbs; the little intertwined
branches of the forest-canopy; the hoar-frost that covered
the brushwood — everything grew flushed and red. More
and more sunbeams came bursting through space, and
soon the night's terrors were driven away, and such a
marvellous lot of living things came forward. The black
woodpecker, with the red neck, began to hammer with its
bill on the branch. The squirrel glided from his nest with
a nut, sat down on a branch and began to shell it. The
starling came flying with a worm, and the bullfinch sang in
the tree-top.
Then the boy understood that the sun had said to all
these tiny creatures: 'Wake up now, and come out of
your nests! I'm here! Now you needn't be afraid of
anything."
The wild-goose call was heard from the lake, as the geese
were preparing for flight; and soon all the fourteen geese
40 WONDERFUL ADVENTURES OF NILS
came flying through the forest. The boy tried to call to them,
but they flew so high that his voice couldn't reach them.
They probably believed the fox had eaten him up; and
they didn't trouble themselves to look for him.
The boy came near crying with chagrin; but the sun
stood up there — orange-coloured and happy — and put
courage into the whole world. "It isn't worth while, Nils
Holgersson, for you to be troubled about anything, so long
as I'm here," said the sun.
THE GOOSE-CHASE
Monday, March twenty-first.
EVERYTHING remained unchanged in the forest about as
long as it takes a goose to eat her breakfast. But just as the
morning was verging on forenoon, a goose came flying, all
by herself, under the thick tree-canopy. She groped her
way hesitatingly between stems and branches, and flew
very slowly. As soon as Smirre Fox saw her, he left his
place under the beech -tree, and sneaked toward her. The
wild goose didn't avoid the fox, but flew quite close to
him. Smirre made a high jump for her but missed her;
and the goose went on her way, down to the lake.
It was not long until another goose came flying. She
took the same route as the first one, and flew still lower
and slower. She, too, flew close to Smirre Fox, and he made
such a high spring for her that his ears brushed her feet.
But she, too, got away from him unhurt, and went her way
toward the lake, silent as a shadow.
A little while passed, and then along came another wild
goose. She flew still slower and lower; and it seemed even
more difficult for her to find her way between the beech-
WONDERFUL ADVENTURES OF NILS 41
branches. Smirre made a powerful spring! He was within
a hair's breadth of catching her; but that goose also managed
to save herself.
Just after she had disappeared, there came a fourth. She
flew so slowly and so badly, that Smirre Fox thought he
could catch her without much effort, but now he was
afraid of failure and decided to let her fly past, unmolested.
She took the same direction the others had taken; and just
as she was right above Smirre, she sank down so far that he
was tempted to jump for her. He jumped so high that he
touched her with his tail. But she flung herself quickly
to one side, and saved her life.
Before Smirre was through panting, three more geese
came flying in a row. They flew just like the rest, and
Smirre made high springs for all three, but he did not suc-
ceed in catching one of them.
After that came five more geese; but these flew better
than the others. And although it appeared as if they
wanted to coax Smirre to jump, he withstood the temp-
tation. After quite a long time came one lone goose. It
was the thirteenth. This one was so old that she was gray
all over, without a dark speck anywhere on her body.
Apparently, she could use only one wing, for she flew so
wretchedly and crookedly that she almost touched the
ground. Smirre not only made a high leap for her, but he also
pursued her, running and jumping all the way down to the
lake. But not even this time did he get anything for his
trouble.
When the fourteenth goose came along, it looked very
pretty because it was white. And as the great wings
moved, it glistened like a light in the dark forest. When
Smirre Fox saw this one, he mustered all his strength and
42 WONDERFUL ADVENTURES OF NILS
jumped halfway up to the tree-canopy. But the white one
flew by unhurt like the rest.
Now it was quiet for a moment under the beeches.
It looked as if the whole wild-goose flock had flown
past.
Suddenly Smirre remembered his prisoner and raised his
eyes toward the young beech-tree. And just as he might
have expected — the boy had disappeared.
But Smirre didn't have much time to think about him;
for now the first goose came back again from the lake and
flew slowly under the canopy. In spite of all his bad luck,
Smirre was glad that she had come back, and darted after
her with high leaps. But he had been in too much of a
hurry, and hadn't taken time to calculate the distance, so he
landed at the side of the goose. Then there came still
another goose; then a third; a fourth; a fifth; and so on,
until the wedge closed in with the old ice-gray one, and the
big white one. They all flew low and slow. Just as they
circled in the vicinity of Smirre Fox, they sank down —
kind of inviting-like — for him to take them. Smirre
ran after them and made leaps a couple of metres high,
but he couldn't manage to get hold of a single one of
them.
It was the most awful day that Smirre Fox had ever
experienced. The wild geese kept right on travelling over
his head. They came and went — came and went. Great,
splendid geese, who had eaten themselves fat on the Ger-
man heaths and grain fields, circled all day through the
woods, and so close to him that he touched them many
times; yet he was not allowed to appease his hunger with
a single one.
The winter was hardly gone and Smirre recalled nights
WONDERFUL ADVENTURES OF NILS 43
and days when he had been forced to tramp around in idle-
ness, with not so much as a hare to hunt; when the rats hid
themselves under the frozen earth ; and when all the chickens
were shut up. But all the winter's hunger had not been as
hard to endure as this day's miscalculations.
Smirre was no young fox. He had had the dogs after
him many a time, and had heard the bullets whiz around his
ears. He had lain in hiding, down in the lair, while the
dachshunds crept into the crevices and all but found him.
But all the anguish that Smirre Fox had been forced to
suffer under that hot chase was as nothing in comparison
with what he suffered every time that he missed one of the
wild geese.
In the morning, when the chase began, Smirre Fox looked
so stunning that the geese were amazed when they saw
him. Smirre loved display. His coat was a brilliant red;
his breast white; his nose black; and his tail was as bushy
as a plume. But when the even of this day was come, Smirre's
coat hung in loose folds. He was bathed in sweat; his eyes
were without lustre; his tongue hung far out from his gap-
ing jaws; and froth oozed from his mouth.
Even in the afternoon Smirre was already so exhausted
that he grew delirious. He saw nothing before his eyes but
flying geese. He made leaps for sun-spots which he saw on
the ground; and for a poor little butterfly that had come
out of its chrysalis too soon.
The wild geese flew and flew, unceasingly. All day long
they continued to torment Smirre. They were not moved
to pity because Smirre was spent, fevered, and out of his
head. They continued without a let-up, although they
understood that he hardly saw them, and that he jumped
after their shadows.
44 WONDERFUL ADVENTURES OF NILS
When Smirre Fox finally sank down on a pile of dry leaves,
weak and powerless and almost ready to give up the ghost,
they stopped teasing him.
"Now you know, Mr. Fox, what happens to the one who
dares to come near Akka of Kebnekaise!" they shouted in
his ear; and with that they left him in peace.
CHAPTER THREE
THE WONDERFUL JOURNEY OF NILS
ON THE FARM
Thursday., March twenty -fourth.
JUST at that time a thing happened in Skane which
created a good deal of discussion and which even got
into the newspapers, but which many believed to be only a
fable, because they were not able to explain it.
It was about like this: A lady squirrel had been cap-
tured in the hazelbrush along the shores of Vomb Lake, and
carried to a farmhouse close by. All the folks on the
farm, both young and old, were delighted with the pretty
creature with the bushy tail, the wise, inquisitive eyes, and
the natty little feet. They were going to amuse themselves
all summer watching its nimble movements, its ingenious
way of shelling nuts, and its droll play. They immediately
made ready an old squirrel-cage, with a little green house and
a wire cylinder-wheel. The little house, which had both
doors and windows, the lady squirrel was to use as a dining-
room and bedroom. Therefore they placed therein a bed
of leaves, a bowl of milk, and some nuts. The cylinder-
wheel she was to use as a playhouse, where she could run
and climb and swing round.
The people thought they had arranged things very com-
fortably for the lady squirrel, and they were astonished
because she didn't seem to be contented; but, instead, sat
45
46 WONDERFUL ADVENTURES OF NILS
there, downcast and moody, in a corner of her room.
Every now and again, she would let out a shrill, agonized
cry. She did not touch the food; and not once did she
swing round on the wheel. "It's probably because she's
frightened," said the farmer folk. "To-morrow, when she
feels more at home, she will both eat and play."
Meanwhile, the women folk on the farm were making
preparation for a feast; and the very day the lady squirrel
was captured, they were busy with an elaborate bake.
They had had bad luck with something : either the dough
wouldn't rise, or they had been dilatory, for they were
obliged to work till long after dark.
Naturally there was a great deal of excitement and bustle
in the kitchen, and probably no one there took time to think
about the squirrel, or to wonder how she was faring. But
there was an old grandma in the house who was too aged
to take a hand in the baking; this she herself understood,
but, all the same she did not relish the idea of being left
out of the game. She felt rather downhearted; therefore
she did not go to bed but seated herself by the sitting-room
window to look out.
They had opened the kitchen door on account of the heat;
and through it a clear ray of light streamed into the yard,
which made it so light out there that the old woman could
see all the cracks and holes in the plastering on the wall
opposite. She also saw the squirrel-cage, which hung just
where the light fell clearest. And she noticed how the
squirrel ran from her room to the wheel, and from the wheel
to her room, all night long, without stopping an instant.
She thought it a strange sort of unrest that had come
over the animal; but she believed, of course, that the strong
light kept it awake.
WONDERFUL ADVENTURES OF NILS 47
Between the cowhouse and the stable there was a broad
covered carriage-gate; this too came within the light-radius.
As the night wore on, the old grandma saw a tiny creature,
no bigger than a hand's breadth, cautiously stealing his way
through the gate. He was dressed in leather breeches
and wooden shoes, like any other workingman. The old
grandma knew at once that it was the elf, and she was not
the least bit frightened. She had always heard that the elf
kept himself somewhere about the place, although she had
never seen him before; and an elf, to be sure, brought good
luck wherever he appeared.
As soon as the elf came into the stone-paved yard, he ran
straight up to the squirrel-cage. And since it hung so high
that he could not reach it, he went over to the storehouse
after a rod; placed it against the cage, and swung himself
up — in the same way that a sailor climbs a rope. When
he had reached the cage, he shook the door of the little
green house as if to open it; but the old grandma didn't
move; for she knew that the children had put a padlock
on the door, as they feared that the boys from the neigh-
bouring farms would try to steal the squirrel. The old
woman saw that when the boy could not get the door open
the lady squirrel came out to the wire wheel, where they
held a long conference. And when the boy had listened to
all that the imprisoned animal had to say to him, he slid
down the rod to the ground, and ran out through the carriage-
gate.
The old woman didn't expect to see anything more of
the elf that night, nevertheless, she remained at the
window. In a few moments he returned. He was in
such a hurry that it seemed to her as if his feet hardly
touched the ground; and he rushed right over to the
48 WONDERFUL ADVENTURES OF NILS
squirrel-cage. The old woman, with her far-sighted eyes,
saw him distinctly; and she also saw that he carried some-
thing in his hands; but what it was she couldn't imagine.
That which he carried in his left hand he laid down on the
pavement; but that which he held in his right hand he took
with him to the cage. He kicked so hard with his wooden
shoes on the little window that the glass broke. And he
pushed toward the lady squirrel that which he held in his
hand. Then he slid down, took up what he had laid upon the
ground, and climbed to the cage with that also. The next
instant he ran off again with such haste that the old woman
could hardly follow him with her eyes.
But now the old grandma could no longer sit still in the
cottage, but very slowly went out to the backyard and
stationed herself in the shadow of the pump, to await the
elf's return. And there was another who had also seen him
and had become curious. This was the house cat. He crept
along slyly, and stopped close to the wall, just two steps
away from the stream of light. The two of them stood wait-
ing long and patiently, on that chilly March night, and the
old woman was just beginning to think about going in
again when she heard a clatter on the pavement, and saw the
little mite of an elf come trotting along once more, carrying
a burden in each hand, as he had done before. That which
he bore squealed and squirmed. And now a light dawned
on the old grandma. She understood that the elf had
hurried down to the hazel-grove and had brought back the
lady squirrel's babies, and that he was carrying them to her
so they shouldn't starve to death.
The old grandma stood very still, so as not to disturb
them; and it appeared as if the elf had not noticed her. He
was just about to lay one of the babies on the ground so that
"THAT WHICH HE BORE SQUEALED AND SQUIRMED
WONDERFUL ADVENTURES OF NILS 49
he could swing himself up to the cage with the other one —
when he saw the house cat's green eyes glisten close beside
him. He stood there, bewildered, with a young one in
each hand.
He turned and looked in all directions; presently he
became aware of the old grandma's presence. He did
not hesitate long but walked forward, stretched his arms
as high as he could reach for her to take one of the baby
squirrels.
The old grandma did not wish to prove herself unworthy of
the confidence, so she bent down and took the baby squirrel
and stood there and held it until the boy had swung himself
up to the cage with the other one. Then he came back for
the one he had entrusted to her care.
The next morning, when the farm folk came together
for breakfast, it was impossible for the old woman to refrain
from telling them of what she had seen the night before.
They all laughed at her, of course, and said that she had
been only dreaming. There were no baby squirrels this
early in the year.
But she was sure of her ground, and begged them to take
a look into the squirrel-cage, which they did. And there,
on the bed of leaves, lay four tiny half-naked, half-blind
baby squirrels, who were at least two days old.
When the farmer himself saw the young ones, he said:
"Be it as it may with this; but one thing is certain, we,
on this farm, have behaved in such a manner that we are
shamed before both animals and human beings." And,
thereupon, he took the mother squirrel and all her young
ones from the cage, and laid them in the old grandma's lap.
"Go thou out to the hazel-grove with them," said he, "and
let them have their freedom back again!"
50 WONDERFUL ADVENTURES OF NILS
It was this event that was so much talked about, and
which even got into the newspapers, but which the majority
would not credit because they were not able to explain how
anything like that could have happened.
VITTSKOVLE
Saturday, March twenty-sixth.
Two days later, another strange thing happened. A
flock of wild geese came flying one morning, and lit on a
meadow down in Eastern Skane not very far from Vittskovle
Manor. In the flock were thirteen wild geese of the usual
gray variety, and one white goosey-gander, who carried
on his back a tiny lad dressed in yellow leather breeches,
green vest, and a white woollen toboggan hood.
They were now very near the Baltic Sea; and on the
meadow where the geese had alighted the soil was sandy, as
it usually is on the seacoast. It looked as if, formerly,
there had been flying sand in this vicinity which had to be
held down; for in several directions large, planted pine-
woods could be seen.
When the wild geese had been feeding a while, some
children came walking along at the edge of the meadow. The
goose on guard at once rose into the air with noisy wing-
strokes, so the whole flock should hear that there was danger
afoot. All the wild geese flew upward; but the white one
waddled along on the ground unconcerned. When he saw
the others flying he raised his head and called after them:
'You needn't fly away from these! They are only a
couple of children!"
The little creature, who had been riding on his back, sat
down upon a knoll on the outskirts of the wood and picked a
WONDERFUL ADVENTURES OF NILS 51
pine-cone to pieces, that he might get at the seeds. The
children were so close to him that he did not dare run across
the meadow to the white one, but concealed himself under
a big, dry thistle-leaf, and at the same time he gave a
warning cry. The white one had evidently made up his
mind not to let himself be scared. He waddled along on the
ground all the while; and not once did he look to see in
which direction they were going.
Meanwhile, they turned from the path and walked across
the field, getting nearer and nearer the goosey-gander.
When he finally did look up, they were right upon him. He
was so dumbfounded, and became so confused that he forgot
that he could fly, and tried to get out of their reach by
running. But the children followed, chasing him into a
ditch, where they caught him. The larger of the two
children stuck him under his arm and carried him off.
When the boy, who lay under the thistle-leaf, saw this, he
sprang up as if to take the goosey-gander away from them;
then he must have remembered how little and powerless he
was, for he threw himself on the knoll and beat the ground
with his clenched fists.
The goosey -gander cried with all his might for help:
'Thumbietot, come and help me! Oh, Thumbietot, come
and help me!" The boy began to laugh in the midst of his
distress. "Oh, yes! I'm just the right one to help any-
body, I am!" said he.
Anyhow he got up and followed the goosey -gander. "I
can't help him," he said, "but I shall at least find out where
they are taking him."
The children had a good start; but the boy had no diffi-
culty in keeping them within sight until they came to a
hollow where a brook gushed forth. But here he was
52 WONDERFUL ADVENTURES OF NILS
obliged to run alongside it for some little time, before he
could find a place narrow enough for him to jump over.
When he came up from the hollow the children had dis-
appeared. He could see their footprints on a narrow path
which led to the woods, and these he continued to follow.
Soon he came to a crossroad. Here the children must
have separated, for there were footprints in two directions.
The boy looked now as if all hope had fled. Then he saw a
little white down on a heather-knoll, and understood that
the goosey-gander had dropped this by the wayside to let
him know in which direction he had been carried; and there-
fore he continued his search. He followed the children
through the entire wood. The goosey-gander he did not
see; but wherever he was likely to miss his way, lay a little
white down to put him right.
The boy continued faithfully to follow the bits of down.
They led him out of the wood, across a couple of meadows,
into a road, and finally through the entrance of a broad
avenue. At the end of the avenue there were gables and
towers of red tiling, decorated with bright borders and other
ornamentations that glittered and shone. When the boy saw
that this was some great manor, he thought he knew what
had become of the goosey-gander. "No doubt the children
have carried the goosey-gander to the manor and sold him
there. By this time he's probably butchered," he said to
himself. But he did not seem to be satisfied with anything
less than proof positive, and with renewed courage he ran
forward. He met no one in the avenue — and that was well,
for such as he are generally afraid of being seen by human
beings.
The mansion which he came to was a splendid, old-time
structure with four great wings which inclosed a courtyard.
WONDERFUL ADVENTURES OF NILS 53
On the east wing, there was a high arch leading into the
courtyard. Thus far the boy had run without hesitation, but
when he was there he stopped. He dared not venture
farther, but stood still and pondered what he should do
next.
There he stood, with his finger on his nose, thinking, when
he heard footsteps behind him ; and as he turned around he
saw a whole company march up the avenue. Hastily
he stole behind a water-barrel which stood near the arch,
and hid himself.
Those who came up were some twenty young men from a
folk high-school, out on a pedestrian tour. They were
accompanied by one of the instructors. When they were
come as far as the arch, the teacher requested them to wait
there a moment, while he went in and asked if they might
see the old castle of Vittskovle.
The newcomers were warm and tired, as if they had been
on a long tramp. One of them was so thirsty that he went
over to the water-barrel and bent down to drink. He
had a tin box, such as botanists use, suspended from his
neck. He evidently thought it was in his way, for he
threw it down on the ground. With that the lid flew open,
and one could see that there were a few spring flowers inside.
The botanist's tin dropped just in front of the boy; and
he saw that here was his opportunity to get into the
castle and find out what had become of the goosey-gander.
He quickly smuggled himself into the tin and concealed
himself as well as he could under the anemones and colt's-
foot.
He was barely hidden when the young man picked up
the tin, hung it around his neck, and slammed down the
cover.
54 WONDERFUL ADVENTURES OF NILS
Then the teacher came back, and said that they had been
given permission to enter the castle. At first he conducted
the students only as far as the courtyard, where he stopped
and began to talk to them about this ancient structure.
He told them of how the first human beings who had
inhabited this country, had been obliged to live in mountain-
grottoes and earth-caves; in the dens of wild beasts, and in
the brushwood; and that a very long period had elapsed
before they learned to build themselves huts from the
trunks of trees; and afterward, how long they had been
forced to labour and struggle before they advanced from
the log cabin, with its single room, to the building of a
castle with a hundred rooms — like Vittskovle.
It was about three hundred and fifty years ago that the
rich and powerful built such castles for themselves, he said.
It was obvious that Vittskovle was erected at a time when
wars and robbers made it unsafe in Skane. All around
the castle was a deep trench filled with water; and across this
there had been a bridge in bygone days that could be hoisted.
Over the gate-arch there was a watch-tower which stands
there even to this day; and all along the sides of the
castle ran sentry-galleries, and in the corners stood towers
with walls a metre thick. Yet this castle was not erected
in the most savage war times; for Jens Brahe, who built
it, had taken pains to make of it a beautiful and decora-
tive ornament. If they could see the big, solid stone
structure at Glimminge, which was built only a generation
earlier, they would readily see that Jens Holgersen Ulf stand,
the builder, hadn't figured upon anything else than to
build big and strong and secure — without bestowing a
thought upon making it beautiful and comfortable. If
they visited such castles as Marsvinsholm, Snogeholm, and
WONDERFUL ADVENTURES OF NILS 55
Ovid Cloister — which were erected a hundred years or so
later — they would find that the times had become less war-
like. The gentleman who built these places had not fur-
nished them with fortifications; but had only taken care to
provide themselves with great, splendid dwelling houses.
The teacher talked at length - - and in detail ; and the boy
who lay shut up in the tin grew pretty impatient; but he
must have lain very still, for the owner of the tin hadn't the
least suspicion that he was carrying him along.
Finally the company went into the castle. But if the
boy had hoped for a chance to crawl out of that tin he was
mistaken ; for the student carried it upon him all the while,
and the boy was obliged to accompany him through all the
rooms. It was a tedious tramp. The teacher stopped
every other minute to explain and instruct.
In one room he found an old fireplace, and before this
he stopped to talk about the different kinds of fireplaces
that had been used in the course of time. The first indoors
fireplace was a big, flat stone on the floor of the hut,
with an opening in the roof which let in both wind and rain.
The next was a big stone hearth with no opening in the
roof. This must have made the hut very warm, but it also
filled it with soot and smoke. When Vittskovle was built,
the people had advanced far enough to open the fireplace,
which, at that time, had a wide chimney for the smoke; but
it also took most of the warmth up in the air with it.
If that boy had ever in his life been cross and impatient,
he was given a good lesson in patience this day. It must
have been a whole hour now that he had lain perfectly
still.
In the next room they came to, the teacher paused before
an old-time bed with its high canopy and rich curtains.
56 WONDERFUL ADVENTURES OF NILS
Immediately he began to talk about the beds and bed
places of olden days.
The teacher didn't hurry himself; but then, he did not
know, of course, that a poor little creature lay shut up in a
botanist's tin only waiting for him to get through. When
they came to a room with gilded leather hangings, he talked
to them of how the people had dressed their walls and ceilings
ever since the beginning of time. And when he came upon
an old family portrait, he told them all about the different
changes in dress. And in the banquet hall he described
ancient customs of celebrating weddings and funerals.
Thereupon, the teacher talked a little about the excellent
men and women who had lived in the castle: about the old
Brahes, and the old Barnekows; of Christian Barnekow,
who had given his horse to the king to help him escape; of
Margareta Ascheberg who had been married to Kjell
Barnekow and who, when a widow, had managed the estates
and the whole district for fifty -three years; of banker Hager-
man, a farmer's son from Vittskovle, who had grown so rich
that he had bought the entire estate; of the Stjernsvards,
who had given the people of Skane better ploughs, which
enabled them to discard the ridiculous old wooden ploughs
that three span of oxen were hardly able to drag. During
all this, the boy lay still. If he had ever been mischievous
and shut the cellar door on his father or mother, he under-
stood now how they had felt; for it was hours and hours
before that teacher got through.
At last the teacher went out into the courtyard again.
And there he discoursed upon the tireless labour of mankind
to procure for themselves tools and weapons, clothes and
houses and ornaments. He said that an old castle like
Vittskovle was a mile-post on time's highway. Here one
WONDERFUL ADVENTURES OF NILS 57
could see how far the people had advanced three hundred
and fifty years ago; and one could judge for one's self if
things had gone forward or backward since their time.
But this dissertation the boy escaped hearing; for the
student who carried him was thirsty again and stole into the
kitchen to ask for a drink of water. Now that the boy had
been brought to the kitchen, he should have tried to look
around for the goosey-gander. He had begun to move;
and in so doing he happened to press too hard against the lid
— and it flew open. Botanists' tin-lids are always flying
open so the student paid no special heed to this, but pressed
it down again. Then the cook asked him if he had a snake
in the box.
"No, I have only a few plants," the student replied. "It
was certainly something that moved there," insisted the
cook. The student threw back the lid to show her that she
was mistaken. "See for yourself • — if "
But he got no further, for now the boy dared not stay
in the box any longer, but with a bound he was on the
floor, and out he rushed. There was hardly time for the
maids to see what it was that ran, but they hurried after it,
nevertheless.
The teacher still stood and talked when he was interrupted
by shrill cries. "Catch him, catch him!'3' shrieked those
who had come from the kitchen ; and all the young students,
also, raced after the boy, who scurried away faster than a
rat. They tried to intercept him at the gate, but it was not
easy to get hold of such a little creature, so, luckily, he got
out into the open.
The boy did not dare to run down toward the open avenue
but turned in another direction. He rushed through the
garden into the backyard. All the while the people raced
58 WONDERFUL ADVENTURES OF NILS
after him, shrieking and laughing. The poor little thing
ran as hard as ever he could to get out of their way ; but still
it looked as if the crowd would catch up with him.
As he was hurrying along past a labourer's cottage, he
heard a goose cackle, and saw a white down lying on the
doorstep. There, at last, was the goosey -gander ! He had
been on the wrong track before. He thought no more of
housemaids and men who were hounding him, but climbed
up the steps into the hallway. Farther he couldn't come,
for the door was locked. He heard how the goosey -gander
cried and moaned inside, but he couldn't get the door
open. The hunters that were pursuing him came nearer and
nearer, and, in the room, the goosey -gander cried more and
more pitifully. In this direst of needs the boy finally plucked
up courage and pounded on the door with all his might.
A child opened it, and the boy looked into the room. In
the middle of the floor sat a woman who held the goosey-
gander tight - - to clip his quill-feathers. It was her
children who had found him, and she didn't want to do him
any harm. It was her intention to let him in among hei
own geese as soon as his wings were clipped, so he couldn't
fly away. But a worse fate could hardly have happened
to the goosey -gander, and he shrieked and moaned at the
top of his voice.
And a lucky thing it was that the woman hadn't started
the clipping sooner. Now only two quills had fallen under
the shears when the door opened and the little pigmy
stood on the threshold. But a creature like that the woman
had never seen before. She couldn't believe but that it
was Goa-Nisse himself; and in her terror she dropped the
shears, clasped her hands — and forgot to hold on to the
goosey-gander.
WONDERFUL ADVENTURES OF NILS 59
As soon as he felt himself freed, he ran toward the door.
He didn't give himself time to stop; but, as he ran he
grabbed the boy by the neckband and carried him along
with him. On the stoop he spread his wings and rose up
into the air; at the same time he made a graceful sweep with
his neck and seated the boy on his smooth, downy back.
And off they flew — while all Vittskovle stood and stared
after them.
IN OVID CLOISTER-PARK
ALL that day, while the wild geese played with the fox,
the boy lay and slept in a deserted squirrel nest. When he
awoke, toward evening, he felt very anxious. "Well, now
I shall soon be sent home! Then, after all, I'll have to
exhibit myself before father and mother," thought he. But
when he looked up and saw the wild geese, who lay bathing
in Vomb Lake, not one of them said a word about his going.
'They probably think the white one is too tired to travel
home writh me to-night," thought the boy.
The next morning the geese were awake at daybreak, long
before sunrise. Now the boy felt sure that he'd have to go
home; but, curiously enough, both he and the white goosey-
gander were permitted to follow the wild ones on their
morning jaunt. The boy couldn't comprehend the reason
of the delay, but he figured it out in this way, that the wild
geese did not care to send the goosey-gander on such a long
journey until both had eaten their fill. Come what might,
he was only glad for every moment that should pass before
he must face his parents.
The wild geese travelled over Ovid Cloister estate, which
was situated in a beautiful park east of the lake, and which
looked very imposing with its great castle; its well-planned
60 WONDERFUL ADVENTURES OF NILS
court surrounded by low walls and pavilions; its fine old-time
garden with covered arbours, streams, and fountains; its
wonderful trees, trimmed bushes, and its evenly mown
lawns with their beds of beautiful spring flowers.
As the wild geese flew over the estate in the early morning
hour there was no human being about. When they had
carefully assured themselves of this, they sank toward the
dog kennel, and shouted: "What kind of a little hut is
this? What kind of a little hut is this? "
Instantly the dog came out of his kennel — furiously
angry — and barked at the air.
" Do you call this a hut, you tramps! Can't you see that
this is a great stone castle? Can't you see what fine terraces,
and what a lot of pretty walls and windows and great
doors it has, bow, wow, wow, wow? Don't you see the
grounds, can't you see the garden, can't you see the conser-
vatories, can't you see the marble statues? You call this a
hut, do you? Do huts have parks with beech-groves and
hazel-bushes and trailing vines and oak trees and firs and
hunting-grounds filled with game, wow, wow, wow? Do
you call this a hut? Have you seen huts with so many
outhouses around them that they look like a whole village?
You must know of a lot of huts that have their own church
and their own parsonage, and that rule over the district
and the peasant homes and the neighbouring farms and
barracks, wow, wow, wow? Do you call this a hut? To
this hut belong the richest possessions in Skane, you beg-
gars! You can't see a bit of land, from where you hang in
the clouds, that does not obey commands from this hut,
wow, wow, wow!"
All this the dog managed to cry out in one breath; while
the wild geese flew back and forth over the estate, and Us-
WONDERFUL ADVENTURES OF NILS 61
tened to him until he was winded., But then they cried:
"What are you so mad about? We didn't ask about the
castle; we only wanted to know about your kennel, stupid!"
When the boy heard this joke, he laughed; then a thought
stole in on him which at once made him serious. 'Think
how many of these funny things you would hear, if only you
could go with the wild geese through the whole country,
all the way up to Lapland!" he said to himself. "And just
now, when you are in such a bad fix, a trip like that would
be the best thing you could hit upon."
The wild geese flew over to one of the wide fields, east of
the estate, to eat grass-roots, and this they kept up for
hours. In the meantime, the boy wandered in the great
park which bordered the fields. He hunted up a beech-
nut grove and began to look up at the bushes, to see if a
nut from last fall still hung there. But again and again the
thought of the trip came over him, as he walked in the park.
He pictured to himself what a fine time he would have if he
went with the wild geese. To freeze and starve: that he
believed he should have to do often enough; but as a reward
he would escape both work and study.
As he walked there, the old gray leader-goose came up to
him and asked if he had found anything eatable. No, that
he hadn't, he replied, and then she tried to help him. She
couldn't find any nuts either, but she discovered a couple of
dried blossoms that hung on a brier-bush. These the boy
ate with a good relish. But he wondered what mother
would say, if she knew that he had lived upon raw fish and
old winter-dried blossoms.
When the wild geese had finally eaten all they could hold,
they bore off toward the lake again, where they amused
themselves with games until almost dinner time.
62 WONDERFUL ADVENTURES OF NILS
The wild geese challenged the white goosey-gander to
take part in all kinds of sports. They had swimming races,
running races, and flying races with him. The big tame
one did his level best to hold his own, but the clever wild
geese beat him every time. All the while, the boy sat on
the goosey-gander's back and encouraged him, and he had
as much fun as the rest. They laughed and screamed and
cackled, and it was remarkable that the people on the estate
did not hear them.
When the wild geese were tired of play, they flew out on
the ice to rest a few hours. The afternoon they spent
in much the same way as the forenoon. First, a couple
of hours feeding, then bathing and play in the water, near
the ice-edge, until sunset, when they immediately arranged
themselves for sleep.
'This is just the life for me," thought the boy as he
crept in under the gander's wing. "But by to-morrow, I
suppose I'll be sent home."
Before he fell asleep, he lay thinking that if only he
might go along with the wild geese he would escape all
scoldings because he was lazy. Then he could cut loose
every day, and his only worry would be to get something to
eat. But he needed so little nowadays; and there would
always be a way to get that.
So he pictured the whole scene to himself; what he would
see, and all the adventures that he would be in on. Yes,
it would be something different from the wear and tear at
home. "If I could only go with the wild geese on their
travels, I shouldn't grieve because I'd been transformed,"
thought the boy.
He wasn't afraid of anything — except being sent home;
but not even on Wednesday did the geese say anything
WONDERFUL ADVENTURES OF NILS 63
to him about going. That day passed in the same way as
Tuesday; and the boy grew more and more contented with
the outdoor life. He was thinking that here he had the
lovely Ovid Cloister-Park, which was as large as a forest,
all to himself; and he wasn't anxious to go back to the
stuffy cabin and the little patch of ground there at home.
On Wednesday he firmly believed that the wild geese
thought of keeping him; but on Thursday he lost hope
again.
Thursday began just like the other days; the geese fed
on the broad meadows, and the boy hunted for food in the
park. After a while Akka came to him, and asked if he
had found anything to eat. No, he had not; and then she
looked up a dry caraway herb, which had kept all its tiny
seeds intact.
When the boy had finished eating, Akka said that she
thought he ran around in the park altogether too recklessly.
She wondered if he knew how many enemies he had to
guard against — he, who was so little. No, he didn't know
anything at all about that. Then Akka began to enumerate
them.
Whenever he walked in the park, she said that he must
look out for the fox and the marten; when he came to the
shores of the lake, he must think of the otters; when seated
on the stone wall, he must not forget the weasels, who can
crawl through the smallest holes; and if he wished to lie
down and sleep on a pile of leaves, he must first find out if
the adders were not sleeping their winter sleep in the same
pile. As soon as he came out into the open fields, he was to
keep an eye out for hawks and buzzards; for eagles and
falcons that soar in the air. In the bramble-bush he could
be captured by the sparrow-hawk; magpies and crows were
64 WONDERFUL ADVENTURES OF NILS
to be found everywhere, and in these he mustn't place too
much confidence. As soon as it was dusk, he must keep
his ears open and listen for the big owls, who flew along with
such soundless wing-strokes that they could come right
upon him before he was aware of their presence.
When the boy heard that there were so many who were
after his life, he comprehended that it would be well-nigh
impossible for him to escape. He was not especially afraid
to die, but he didn't like the idea of being eaten up, so he
asked Akka what he should do to protect himself from
carnivorous animals.
Akka answered at once that the boy should try to get on
good terms with all the smaller animals in woods and fields :
with the squirrel folk, and the hare family; with bull-
finches and titmice and woodpeckers and larks. If he
made friends with them, they could warn him against
dangers, find hiding-places for him, and protect him.
But, later in the day, when the boy tried to profit by this
counsel and turned to Sirle Squirrel to ask for his protection,
it was plain that he did not care to help him. "You surely
can't expect anything from me, or the rest of the small
animals!" said Sirle. "Don't you think we know that you
are Nils the goose boy, who tore down the swallow's nest
last year, crushed the starling's eggs, threw baby crows in the
marl-ditch, caught thrushes in snares, and put squirrels in
cages? You just help yourself as best you can; and you
may be thankful that we do not form a league against you,
and drive you back to your own kind!'3
This was just the sort of answer the boy would not have
let go unpunished, in the days when he was Nils, the goose
boy. But now he was only fearful lest the wild geese, too,
had found out how wicked he could be. He had been so
WONDERFUL ADVENTURES OF NILS 65
anxious lest he shouldn't be permitted to stay with the wild
geese that he hadn't dared to get into the least little mis-
chief since joining their company. It was true that he
didn't have the power to do much harm now, but, little as
he was, he could have destroyed many birds' nests and
crushed many eggs, if he'd been a mind to. Now he had
been good. He hadn't pulled a feather from a goose-wing,
or given any one a rude answer; and every morning when
calling upon Akka, he had always removed his cap, and
bowed.
All day Thursday he kept thinking it was surely on
account of his wickedness that the wild geese did not care
to take him along up to Lapland. And that evening, when
he heard that Sirle Squirrel's wife had been stolen, and her
children were starving to death, he made up his mind to help
them. We have already been told how well he succeeded.
When the boy came into the park on Friday, he heard the
bullfinches sing in every bush, of how Sirle Squirrel's wife
had been carried away from her children by cruel robbers,
of how Nils, the goose boy, had risked his life among
human beings in taking the little squirrel children to
her.
"And who is so honoured in Ovid Cloister-Park now, as
Thumbietot!" sang the bullfinch; "he, whom all feared when
he was Nils the goose boy. Sirle Squirrel will give him nuts;
the poor hares are going to play with him; the small wild
animals will carry him on their backs, and fly away with him
when Smirre Fox approaches. The titmice are going to warn
him against the hawk, and the finches and larks will sing of
his valour."
The boy was absolutely certain that both Akka and the
wild geese had heard all this. And yet, the whole Friday
66 WONDERFUL ADVENTURES OF NILS
passed without one word said as to his remaining with
them.
Up until Saturday the wild geese had fed in the fields
around Ovid, undisturbed by Smirre Fox.
But Saturday morning, when they came out into the
meadow, he lay in wait for them, and chased them from one
field to another, so that they were not allowed to eat in
peace. When Akka understood that he didn't intend that
they should be left in peace, she quickly came to a decision,
rose into the air, and off she flew with her flock over Ears'
plains and Linderod's hills. They did not stop until they
had arrived in the district of Vittskovle.
But at Vittskovle the goosey-gander was stolen, and how
it happened has already been related. If the boy hadn't
used all his wits to help him, he would never again have
been found.
On Saturday evening, when the boy returned to Vomb
Lake with the goosey-gander, he thought that he had done
a good day's work, and wondered much what Akka and
the wild geese would say to him. The wild geese were not
at all sparing in their praises, but they did not speak the
word he was longing to hear.
Then Sunday came around again. A whole week had
gone by since the boy had become bewitched, and he was
still just as little.
But he didn't appear to be giving himself any extra worry
because of this. Sunday afternoon he sat huddled up
in a big, fluffy osier-bush, down by the lake, and blew on a
reed-pipe. All around him there sat as many finches and
bullfinches and starlings as the bush could well hold — who
sang songs which he tried to teach himself to play. But the
boy was not at home in this art. He blew so false that the
WONDERFUL ADVENTURES OF NILS 67
feathers raised themselves on all the little music-masters,
who shrieked and fluttered in their despair. The boy
laughed so heartily at their excitement that he dropped
his pipe. He tried it again, and this time too it went just as
badly. Then all the little birds wailed: 'To-day you play
worse than usual, Thumbietot? You don't take one true
note! Where are your thoughts, Thumbietot?'1
"They are elsewhere," said the boy — and that was true.
He sat there and pondered how long he should be allowed
to remain with the wild geese; or if he would be sent home
perhaps to-day.
Finally the boy threw down his pipe and jumped from
the bush. He had seen Akka and all the other wild geese
coming toward him in a long row. They walked so uncom-
monly slow and dignified-like that the boy immediately
understood that now he should learn what they intended to
do with him.
When they finally paused Akka said: 'You may well
have reason to wonder at me, Thumbietot, who have not
said thanks to you for saving me from Smirre Fox. But I
am one of those who would rather give thanks in deeds than
in words. I have sent word to the elf that bewitched you.
At first he didn't want to hear anything about curing you;
but I have sent message upon message to him, telling him
how well you have conducted yourself among us. He
greets you, and says that as soon as you turn back home
you shall be human again."
But think of it! Just as happy as the boy had been
when the wild goose began to speak, just that miserable
was he when she had finished. He didn't say a word, but
turned away and wept.
"What in all the world does this mean?" said Akka.
68 WONDERFUL ADVENTURES OF NILS
'It appears as though you were expecting more of me than
I have offered you."
But the boy was thinking of the carefree days and the
banter; of adventure and freedom and travel, high above
the earth, that he should miss, and he actually bawled
with grief. " I don't want to be human," said he. " I want
to go with you to Lapland." "I'll tell you something,"
said Akka. 'That elf is very touchy, and I'm afraid that
if you do not accept his offer now, it will be difficult for you
to coax him another time."
It was a strange thing about that boy — as long as he
had lived, he had never cared for any one. He had not
cared for his father or mother; not for the school teacher;
not for his schoolmates; nor for the boys in the neighbour-
hood. All that they had wished to have him do — whether
it had been work or play — he had only thought tiresome.
Therefore there was no one whom he missed or longed for.
The only ones that he had come anywhere near agreeing
with, were Osa, the goose girl, and little Mats — a couple
of children who had tended geese in the fields, like him-
self. But he didn't care particularly for them either.
No, far from it! "I don't want to be human," bawled the
boy. "I want to go with you to Lapland. That's why
I've been good for a whole week ! " "I don't want to forbid
you to come along with us as far as you like," said Akka,
:'but think first if you wouldn't rather go home again. A
day may come when you will regret this."
"No," said the boy, "that's nothing to regret. I have
never been so well off as here with you."
'Well then, let it be as you wish," said Akka.
'Thanks!" said the boy, and he felt so happy that he had
to cry for very joy — just as he had cried before with sorrow.
H
M
O
H
E-i
r\
K
O
O
CHAPTER FOUR
GLIMMINGE CASTLE
BLACK RATS AND GRAY RATS
IN SOUTHEASTERN SKANE, not far from the sea,
there is an old castle called Glimminge. It is a big
substantial stone structure; and can be seen over the plain
for miles around. It is not more than four stories high;
but it is so ponderous that an ordinary farmhouse, which
stands on the same estate, looks like a little children's play-
house by comparison.
The big stone house has such thick ceilings and walls
that there is scarcely room in its interior for anything but
the thick walls. The stairs are narrow, the entrances
small, and the rooms few. That the walls might retain their
strength, there are only the fewest number of windows in the
upper stories, and none at all are to be found in the lower
ones. In the old war times, the people were just as glad
that they could shut themselves up in a strong and massive
house like this as one is nowadays to be able to creep into
furs in a snapping cold winter. But when the time of peace
came, they did not care to live in the dark and cold stone
halls of the old castle any longer. They have long since
deserted the big Glimminge Castle, and moved into dwelling
places where light and air can penetrate.
At the time that Nils Holgersson wandered around with
the wild geese, there were no human beings in Glimminge
69
70 WONDERFUL ADVENTURES OF NILS
Castle; but for all that, it was not without inhabitants.
Every summer there lived a stork couple in a large nest on
the roof. In a nest in the attic lived a pair of gray owls,
in the secret passages hung bats ; in the kitchen oven lived
an old cat; and down in the cellar there were hundreds of
old black rats.
Rats are not held in very high esteem by other animals;
but the black rats at Glimminge Castle were the exception.
They were always mentioned with respect, because they
had shown great valour in battle with their enemies, and
great endurance under the terrible misfortunes which had
befallen their kind. They nominally belonged to a rat
folk that at one time had been very numerous and powerful
but were now dying out. During a long period of time, the
black rats owned Skane and the whole country. They
were to be found in every cellar; in every attic; in larders
and cowhouses and barns; in breweries and flour-mills;
in churches and castles; in every man-constructed building.
But now they were banished from all this — and were almost
extinct. Only in one and another old and secluded spot
could one run across a few of them ; and nowhere were they
to be found in such large numbers as in Glimminge Castle.
When an animal folk die out, it is generally the human
kind who are the cause of it; but such was not the case in
this instance. The people had certainly struggled with the
black rats, but they had not been able to do them any harm
worth mentioning. Those who had conquered them were
an animal folk of their own kind, called gray rats.
These gray rats had not lived in the land from time im-
memorial, like the black rats, but were descended from a
couple of poor immigrants who had landed in Malmo from a
Libyan sloop about a hundred years ago. They were
WONDERFUL ADVENTURES OF NILS 71
homeless, starved-out wretches that stuck close to the har-
bour, swam in among the piles under the bridges, and ate
refuse that had been thrown in the water. They never
ventured into the city, which was owned by the black rats.
But gradually, as the gray rats increased in number, they
grew bolder. At first they moved over to some waste
places and condemned old houses which the black rats had
abandoned. They hunted their food in gutters and dirt
heaps, and made the most of all the rubbish which the black
rats did not deign to take care of. They were hardy, con-
tented and fearless; and within a few years they had become
so powerful that they undertook to drive the black rats
out of Malmo. They took from them attics, cellars, and
storerooms, starved them out or bit them to death, for
they were not at all afraid of fighting.
When Malmo was captured, they marched forward in
small and large companies to conquer the whole country. It
is almost impossible to comprehend why the black rats did
not muster themselves into a great, united war-expedition
to exterminate the gray rats, while these were still few in
number. But the black rats were so certain of their power
that they could not believe it possible for them to lose it.
They sat still on their estates, and, in the meantime, the
gray rats took from them farm after farm, city after city.
They were starved out, forced out, rooted out. In Skane
they had not been able to maintain themselves in a single
place except Glimminge Castle.
The old castle had such secure walls and such few rat
passages led through these that the black rats had managed
to protect themselves, and to prevent the gray rats from
crowding in. Night after night, year after year, the struggle
had continued between the aggressors and the defenders;
72 WONDERFUL ADVENTURES OF NILS
but the black rats had kept faithful watch, and had fought
with the utmost contempt for death, and, thanks to the
fine old house, they had always conquered.
It will have to be acknowledged that so long as the black
rats were in power they were as much shunned by all other
living creatures as the gray rats are in our day — and for
just cause; they had thrown themselves upon poor, fettered
prisoners, and tortured them; they had ravished the dead;
they had stolen the last turnip from the cellars of the poor;
bitten off the feet of sleeping geese; stolen eggs and chicks
from the hens ; and had committed a thousand depredations.
But since they had come to grief, all this seemed to have been
forgotten ; and no one could help but marvel at the last of a
race that had held out so long against its enemies.
The gray rats that lived in the courtyard at Glimminge
and in the neighbourhood, kept up a continuous warfare and
were always on the watch for every possible chance to cap-
ture the castle. One should think that they would have
allowed the little company of black rats to occupy Glim-
minge Castle in peace, since they themselves had acquired
all the rest of the country; but you may be sure this thought
never occurred to them. They were wont to say that it was
a point of honour with them to conquer the black rats at
some time or other. But those who were acquainted with
the gray rats must have known that it was because the
human kind used Glimminge Castle as a storehouse for
grain that the gray ones could not rest until they had
gained possession of the place.
THE STORK
Monday, March twenty -eighth.
EARLY one morning the wild geese, who stood and slept
on the ice in Vomb Lake, were awakened by long calls from
WONDERFUL ADVENTURES OF NILS 73
the air. 'Trirop, Trirop!" it sounded. 'Trianut, the
crane, sends greetings to Akka, the wild goose, and her flock.
To-morrow will be the day of the great Crane Dance on
Kullaberg."
Akka raised her head and answered at once: "Greetings
and thanks! Greetings and thanks!'5
With that, the cranes flew farther; and the wild geese
heard them for a long time, while they travelled and called
out over every field, and every wooded hill: "Trianut
sends greetings. To-morrow will be the day of the great
Crane Dance on Kullaberg."
The wild geese were very happy over this invitation.
"You're in luck," they said to the white goosey -gander, "to
be permitted to attend the great Crane Dance on Kulla-
berg!" "Is it then so remarkable to see cranes dance?"
asked the goosey-gander. "It is something that you have
never even dreamed about!" replied the wild geese.
"Now we must think out what we shall do with Thum-
bietot to-morrow, so that no harm will come to him while
we run over to Kullaberg," said Akka. 'Thumbietot shall
not be left alone!" said the goosey -gander. "If the cranes
won't let him see their dance, then I'll stay here with him."
"No human being has ever been permitted to attend the
Animals' Congress, at Kullaberg," said Akka, "and I
shouldn't dare to take Thumbietot along. But we'll discuss
this more at length later in the day. Now we must first
and foremost think about getting something to eat."
With that Akka gave the signal to adjourn. On this
day she also sought her feeding-place a good distance away,
on Smirre Fox's account, and she didn't alight until she
came to the swampy meadows a little to the south of Glim-
minge Castle.
74 WONDERFUL ADVENTURES OF NILS
All that day the boy sat on the shores of a little pond,
and blew on reed-pipes. He was out of sorts because he
shouldn't see the Crane Dance, and he just couldn't say a
word, either to the goosey-gander or to any of the
others.
It was mighty hard that Akka should still doubt him.
When a boy had given up being human, just to travel around
with a few miserable wild geese, they surely ought to under-
stand that he had no desire to betray them. Then, too,
they ought to realize that when he had renounced so much to
follow them, it was their duty to let him see all the wonders
they could show him.
"I'll have to speak my mind right out to them," thought
he. But hour after hour passed by still he hadn't come
round to it. It may sound remarkable — but the boy had
actually acquired a kind of respect for the old leader-goose.
He felt that it was not easy to pit his will against hers.
On one side of the swampy meadow, where the wild
geese fed, there was a broad stone hedge. Toward evening,
when the boy finally raised his head to speak to Akka, his
glance happened to rest on this hedge. He uttered a little
cry of surprise, and instantly all the wild geese looked up,
and stared in the same direction. At first, both the geese
and the boy thought that all the round, gray stones in the
hedge had acquired legs and had started on a run; but soon
they saw that a company of rats was running there. They
moved very rapidly, and ran forward packed tightly, line
upon line, and they were so many that, for some time, they
covered the entire stone hedge.
The boy had been afraid of rats, even when he was a big,
strong human being. Then what must his feelings be now,
when he was so tiny that two or three of them could over-
WONDERFUL ADVENTURES OF NILS 75
power him! One shudder after another travelled down his
spinal column as he stood and stared at them.
But strangely enough, the wild geese seemed to feel the
same aversion toward the rats that he did. They did not
speak to them ; and when they were gone, they shook them-
selves as if their feathers had been mud-bespattered.
"So many gray rats abroad!" said Iksi from Vassijaure.
'That's not a good omen."
The boy meant to take advantage of this opportunity to
say to Akka that he thought she ought to let him go with
them to Kullaberg, but he was prevented anew, for all of a
sudden a big bird came down among the geese.
One could think, when looking at this bird, that he
had borrowed body, neck, and head from a little' white
goose. But in addition, he had procured for himself large
black wings, long red legs, and a thick bill, which was too
large for the little head, and weighted it down until it gave
him a sad and worried look.
Akka at once straightened out the folds of her wings, and
courtesied many times as she approached the stork. She
wasn't especially surprised to see him in Skane so early in
the spring, because she knew that the male storks always
come over in good season to have a look at the nest, to
make sure that it has suffered no damage during the winter,
before the female storks go to the trouble of flying over the
Baltic. But she very much wondered what could be the
meaning of his seeking her out, since storks prefer to asso-
ciate with members of their own family.
"I can hardly believe that there is anything amiss with
your house, Herr Ermenrich," said Akka.
Now it was apparent that the old saying is true: A
stork seldom opens his bill without complaining. But that
76 WONDERFUL ADVENTURES OF NILS
which made the things he said sound all the more doleful
was, that it was difficult for him to speak up. He stood
a long time and only clattered with his bill; afterward he
spoke in a hoarse and feeble voice. He complained about
everything: the nest, which was situated at the very top
of the roof-tree at Glimminge Castle, had been totally
destroyed by winter storms; and no food could he get any
more in Skane. The people of Skane were appropriating
all his possessions. They dug out his marshes and laid
waste his swamps. He intended to move away from this
country, and never return to it again.
While the stork grumbled, Akka, the wild goose, who had
neither home nor protection, could not help thinking to her-
self: "If I had things as comfortable as you have, Herr
Ermenrich, I should be above complaining. You have
remained a free and wild bird; and yet you stand so well
with human beings that none will fire a shot at you, or steal
an egg from your nest." But all this she kept to herself.
To the stork she only remarked that she couldn't believe
he would be willing to move from a house where storks had
resided ever since it was built.
Then the stork suddenly asked the geese if they had seen
the gray rats who were marching toward Glimminge Castle.
When Akka replied that she had seen the horrid creatures,
he began to tell her all about the brave black rats who, for
years, had defended the castle. "But this night Glim-
minge Castle will fall into the gray rats' power," sighed the
stork.
"And why just this night, Herr Ermenrich?" asked
Akka.
'Well, because nearly all the black rats went over to
Kullaberg last night," said the stork, "since they counted
WONDERFUL ADVENTURES OF NILS 77
on all the rest of the animals also hurrying there. But
you see that the gray rats have stayed at home; and now
they are mustering to storm the castle to-night, when it will
be defended by only a few old creatures who are too feeble
to go over to Kullaberg. They'll probably accomplish
their purpose. But I have lived there in harmony with the
black rats so many years that the idea of living in a place
inhabited by their enemies is not agreeable to me."
Akka understood now that the stork had become so
enraged over the gray rats' mode of action that he had
sought her out as an excuse to complain about them. But
after the manner of storks, he had certainly done nothing
to avert the disaster. "Have you sent word to the black
rats, Herr Ermenrich?'! she asked. "No," replied the
stork, "that would be of no use. Before they can get back,
the castle will be taken." "You mustn't be so sure of
that, Herr Ermenrich," said Akka. "I know an old wild
goose, I do, who would gladly prevent outrages of this kind."
When Akka said that, the stork raised his head and
stared at her. And it was not surprising, for Akka had
neither claws nor bill that were fit for fighting; and, in the
bargain, she was a day bird, and as soon as it grew dark
she fell helplessly asleep, while the rats did their fighting at
night.
But Akka had evidently made up her mind to help the
black rats. She called Iksi from Vassijaure, and ordered
him to take the wild geese over to Vomb Lake; and when
the geese made excuses, she said authoritatively: :'I
believe it will be best for us all that you obey me. I must
fly over to the big stone house, and if you follow me, the
people on the place will be sure to see us, and shoot us down.
The only one that I want to take with me on this trip is
78 WONDERFUL ADVENTURES OF NILS
Thumbietot. He can be of great service to me because he
has good eyes, and can keep awake at night."
The boy was in his most contrary mood that day. And
when he heard what Akka said, he raised himself to his full
height and stepped forward, his hands behind him and his
nose in the air; for he intended to say that he most
decidedly did not wish to take a hand in the fight with gray
rats. She might look around for assistance elsewhere.
But the instant the boy was seen, the stork began to
move. He had stood before, as storks generally stand,
with head bent downward and the bill pressed against the
neck. But now a gurgle was heard deep down in his
windpipe, as though he would have laughed. Quick as a
flash, he lowered his bill, grabbed the boy, and tossed him a
couple of metres into the air. This feat he performed seven
times, while the boy shrieked and the geese shouted:
' What are you trying to do, Herr Ermenrich? That's not a
frog. That's a human being, Herr Ermenrich.lf
Finally the stork put the boy down, entirely unhurt.
Thereupon he said to Akka: "Now I'll fly back to Glim-
minge Castle, Mother Akka. All who live there were very
much worried when I left. You may be sure they'll be
very glad when I tell them that Akka, the wild goose, and
Thumbietot, the human elf, are on their way to rescue
them." With that the stork craned his neck, spread his
wings, and darted off like an arrow when it leaves a well-
drawn bow. Akka understood that he was making fun of
her, but she didn't let it bother her. She waited until the
boy had found his wooden shoes, which the stork had shaken
off; then she put him on her back and followed the stork.
On his own account, the boy made no objection, and said
not a word about not wanting to go along. He had become
WONDERFUL ADVENTURES OF NILS 79
so furious with the stork that he actually sat and puffed.
That long, red-legged thing believed he was of no account
just because he was little; but he would show him what
kind of a man Nils Holgersson from West Vemmenhog
was.
A couple of moments later Akka stood in the storks' nest
at Glimminge Castle. It was a fine, large nest. It had a
wheel as foundation, and over this lay several grass mats,
and some twigs. The nest was so old that many shrubs and
plants had taken root up there; and when the mother stork
sat on her eggs in the round hole in the middle of the nest,
she not only had the beautiful outlook over a goodly portion
of Skane to enjoy, but she had also the wild brier-blossoms
and house-leeks to look upon.
Both Akka and the boy saw immediately that something
was going on here, which turned up and down in the most
regular order. At the edge of the stork-nest sat two gray
owls, an old, gray -streaked cat, and a dozen old, decrepit
rats with protruding teeth and watery eyes. They were
not exactly the sort of animals one usually finds living
peaceably together.
Not one among them turned to look at Akka, or to bid
her welcome. They thought of nothing except to sit and
stare at some long, gray lines, which hove into sight here
and there - - on the winter-naked meadows.
All the black rats were silent. It was plain that they
were in deep despair, and probably knew that they could
defend neither their own lives nor the castle. The two
owls sat and rolled their big eyes, and twisted their great,
encircling eyebrows, as they talked in hollow, ghost-like
voices about the awful cruelty of the gray rats, and of how
they would have to move away from their nest, since they
80 WONDERFUL ADVENTURES OF NILS
had heard it said of them that they spared neither eggs nor
baby birds. The old gray-streaked cat was sure that the
gray rats would bite him to death, since they were coming
into the castle in such great numbers, and he kept scolding
the black rats all the while. "How could you be so idiotic
as to let your best fighters go away?" said he. "How
could you trust the gray rats? It is absolutely unpar-
donable!"
The twelve black rats did not say a word. But the
stork, despite his misery, could not refrain from teasing the
cat. "Don't worry so, Tommy House-cat!" said he.
"Can't you see that Mother Akka and Thumbietot have
come to save the castle? You may be certain that they'll
succeed. Now I must stand up to sleep — and I do so
with the utmost calm. To-morrow, when I awaken, there
won't be a single gray rat left in Glimminge Castle."
The boy winked at Akka, and made a sign — as the stork
stood at the very edge of the nest, with one leg drawn up for
sleep — that he wanted to push him down to the ground ;
but Akka restrained him. She did not seem to be the least
bit angry. Instead, she said in a confident tone of voice:
'It would be pretty poor business if one who is as old as I
am could not manage to get out of worse difficulties than
this. If only Mr. and Mrs. Owl, who can stay awake all
night, will fly off with a couple of messages for me, I think
that all will go well."
Both owls were willing. Then Akka bade the gentleman
owl go seek the black rats who had gone off, and counsel
them to hurry home immediately. The lady owl he sent
to Flammea, the steeple owl, who lived in Lund Cathedral,
with a commission which was so secret that Akka dared
confide it to her only in a whisper.
WONDERFUL ADVENTURES OF NILS 81
THE RAT CHARMER
IT was drawing on toward midnight when the gray rats,
after a diligent search, succeeded in finding an open air-hole
which led to the cellar. This was rather high upon the
wall; but the rats formed a rat-ladder and it wasn't long
before the most daring among them sat in the air-hole, ready
to force its way into Glimminge Castle outside whose walls
so many of its forebears had fallen.
The gray rat sat still a moment in the hole, awaiting an
attack from within. The commanders of the defenders
was surely away, but she took for granted that the black
rats who were still in the castle would not surrender without
a struggle. With thumping heart, she listened for the
slightest sound, but all was still. Then the leader of the
gray rats plucked up courage and jumped down into the
coal-black cellar.
One after another the gray rats followed the leader.
They all kept very quiet; and all expected to be ambushed
by the black rats. Not until so many of them had crowded
into the cellar that the floor could hold no more, did they
venture farther.
Although they had never before been inside the building,
they had no difficulty in finding their way. They soon
found the passages in the walls which the black rats had
used to get to the upper floors. Before they began to
clamber up these narrow and steep steps, they listened
again with great attention. They felt more frightened at
the black rats holding themselves aloof in this way than
if they had met them in open battle. They could hardly
believe their luck when they had reached the first story
without mishaps.
82 WONDERFUL ADVENTURES OF NILS
Immediately upon their entrance the gray rats scented
the grain, which was stored in great bins on the floor. But
it was not yet time for them to enjoy their conquest.
They searched first, with the utmost caution, through the
sombre, empty rooms. They ran up into the fireplace,
which stood on the floor in the old castle kitchen, and they
almost tumbled into the well, in the inner room. Not one
of the narrow peep-holes did they leave uninspected, but
they found no black rats. When this floor was wholly in
their possession, they began, with the same caution, to
acquire the next. Then they had to venture on a bold and
dangerous climb through the walls, while, with breathless
anxiety, they awaited an assault from the enemy. And
although they were tempted by the most delicious odour
from the grain bins, they forced themselves most systemati-
cally to inspect the old-time warriors' pillar-propped kitchen;
their stone table and fireplace; the deep window-niches,
and the hole in the floor — which in olden times had been
opened to pour down boiling pitch on the intruding enemy.
All this time the black rats were invisible. The gray ones
groped their way to the third story, and into the lord of the
castle's great banquet hall, which stood there cold and empty
like all the other rooms in the old house. They even groped
their way to the upper story, which had but one big, barren
room. The only place they did not think of exploring was
the big stork-nest on the roof — where, just at this time,
the lady owl awakened Akka, and informed her that Flam-
mea, the steeple owl, had granted her request, and had sent
her the thing she wished for.
Since the gray rats had so conscientiously inspected the
entire castle, they felt at ease. They took for granted that
the black rats had fled, and that they would offer no
WONDERFUL ADVENTURES OF NILS 83
resistance. So with light hearts, they ran up into the grain
bins.
But the gray rats had hardly swallowed the first wheat-
grains, when the sound of a little shrill pipe was heard from
the courtyard. The gray rats raised their heads, listened
anxiously, ran a few steps, as if to leave the bin, then they
turned back and began to eat once more.
Again the pipe sounded a sharp and piercing note — and
now something wonderful happened. One rat, two rats -
yes, a whole lot of rats left the grain, jumped from the bins
and hurried down cellar by the shortest cut, to get out of
the house. Still there were many gray rats left. These
thought of all the toil and trouble it had cost them to win
Glimminge Castle, and they did not want to leave it. But
again they caught the tones from the pipe, and had to follow
them. Wildly excited, they rushed up from the bins, slid
down through the narrow holes in the walls, tumbling over
each other in their eagerness to get out.
In the middle of the courtyard stood a tiny creature, who
blew upon a pipe. All around him was a whole circle of
rats who listened to him astonished and fascinated; and
each moment brought more. Once he took the pipe from
his lips — only for a second — put his thumb to his nose
and wiggled his fingers at the gray rats; and then it looked
as if they were ready to throw themselves on him and bite
him to death ; but as soon as he blew on his pipe they were
in his power.
When the tiny creature had played all the gray rats out
of Glimminge Castle, he began to wander slowly from the
courtyard out into the highway ; and all the gray rats followed
him, because the tones from that pipe sounded so sweet to
their ears that they could not resist them.
84 WONDERFUL ADVENTURES OF NILS
The tiny creature walked before them and charmed them
along on the road to Vallby. He led them into all
sorts of crooks and turns and bends — on through hedges
and down into ditches — and wherever he went, they had
to follow. He blew continuously on his pipe, which
appeared to be made from an animal's horn, although the
horn was so small that there were no animals in our day
from whose foreheads it could have been broken. Nor did
any one know who had made it. Flammea, the steeple
owl, had found it in a niche, in Lund Cathedral. She had
shown it to Bataki, the raven; and the two of them had
figured out that this was the kind of horn that was used in
former times by those who wished to gain power over rats
and mice. But the raven was Akka's friend; and it was from
him she had learned that Flammea owned such a treasure.
And it was true that the rats could not resist the pipe.
The boy walked before them and played as long as the star-
light lasted — and all the while they followed him. He
played at daybreak; he played at sunrise; and the whole
time the entire procession of gray rats followed him, and
were enticed farther and father away from the big grain
loft at Glimminge Castle.
CHAPTER FIVE
THE GREAT CRANE DANCE ON KULLABERG
Tuesday, March twenty-ninth.
\ I/THOUGH there are many magnificent structures
JL\. in Skane, it must be granted that not one among
them has such pretty walls as old Kullaberg.
Kullaberg is low and rather long. It is by no means a big
or imposing mountain. On its broad summit you'll find
woods and grain fields, and one and another heather-
heath. Here and there, round heather-knolls and barren
cliffs rise up. It is not especially pretty up there. It
looks very much like all the other upland places in Skane.
He who walks along the road which runs across the middle
of the mountain can't help but feel a little disappointed.
Then mayhap he turns from the path, wanders off
toward the mountain's sides and looks down over the
bluffs; and then, all at once, he discovers so much
that is worth seeing he hardly knows how he'll find time
to take in the whole of it. For it happens that Kulla-
berg does not stand on the land, with plains and valleys
around it, like other mountains; but it has plunged into the
sea, as far out as it can get. Not even the tiniest strip of
land lies below the mountain to protect it against the
breakers; for these reach all the way up to the mountain
walls, and can polish and mould them to suit themselves.
This is why the walls stand there as richly ornamented as the
sea and its helpmeet, the wind, have been able to effect.
85
86 WONDERFUL ADVENTURES OF NILS
You'll find steep ravines deeply chiselled in the mountain's
sides; and black crags that have become smooth and shiny
under the constant lashing of the winds. There are solitary
rock-columns that spring straight up out of the water,
and dark grottoes with narrow entrances; there are barren,
perpendicular precipices, and soft, leaf -clad inclines; there
are small points, and small inlets, and small rolling stones
that are rattlingly washed up and down with every dashing
breaker; there are majestic cliff-arches which project over
the water; there are sharp stones that are constantly being
sprayed by a white foam ; and others that mirror themselves
in unchangeable dark-green still water. There are also
giant troll-caverns shaped in the rock, and great crevices
that tempt the wanderer to venture into the mountain's:
depths, all the way to Kullman's Hollow.
And over and around all these rocky steeps creep
entangled tendrils and weeds. Trees grow there also, but
the wind's power is so great that the trees have to transform
themselves into clinging vines, that they may get a firmer
hold on the steep precipices. The oaks creep along on the
ground, while their foliage hangs over them like a low ceiling;
and long-limbed beeches stand in the ravines like great
leafy tents.
These remarkable mountain walls, with the blue sea
beneath them and the clear penetrating air above them,
are what make Kullaberg so dear to the people that great
crowds haunt the place every day as long as the summer lasts.
But it is more difficult to tell what it is that makes the place
so attractive to animals that every year they gather there
for a big play-meeting. This is a custom which has been
observed from time immemorial; and one should
have been there when the first sea-wave was dashed into
WONDERFUL ADVENTURES OF NILS 87
foam against the shore, to be able to explain why just
Kullaberg was chosen as a meeting ground in preference to
all other places.
When the meeting is to take place, the stags and roe-
bucks and hares and foxes and all the other four-footers
make the journey to Kullaberg the night before, so as not
to be observed by the human kind. Just before sunrise
they all march up to the playground, which is a heather-
heath on the left side of the road, and not very far from the
mountain's outermost point. The playground is inclosed
on all sides by round knolls, which conceal it from any and
all who do not happen to come right upon it. And in the
month of March it is not at all likely that any pedestrian
will stray off up there. All strangers who at other times
stroll around on the rocks and clamber up the mountain
side, the fall storms have driven away these many months.
The lighthouse keeper out there, on the point; the oldfru
on the mountain farm, and the mountain peasant and his
house folk go their accustomed ways, and do not run about
on the desolate heaths.
When the four-footers have arrived on the playground,
they take their places on the round knolls. Each animal
family keeps to itself, although it is understood that on a
day like this universal peace reigns, and none need fear
attack. On this day a little hare might wander over to the
foxes' hill, without losing so much as one of its long ears.
All the same the animals arrange themselves into separate
groups. This is an old custom.
After all have taken their places, they begin to look
around for the birds. It is always beautiful weather on
this day. The cranes are good weather prophets, and
would not call the animals together if rain was expected.
88 WONDERFUL ADVENTURES OF NILS
Although the air is clear and nothing obstructs the vision,
the four-footers see no birds. This is strange. The sun
is high in the heavens, and the birds should already be
on their way.
However, what the animals do observe is one and another
little dark cloud slowly advancing over the plain. And
look ! one of these clouds comes suddenly along the coast of
Oresund, and up toward Kullaberg. When the cloud has
come just above the playground it stops, and all of a sudden
the entire cloud begins to ring and chirp, as if it were made
up of nothing but tone. It rises and sinks, rises and sinks,
but all the while it rings and chirps. At last the whole
cloud falls down over a knoll — all at once — the next
instant the knoll is entirely covered with gray larks, pretty
red-gray-white bullfinches, speckled starlings and greenish-
yellow titmice.
Soon after that, another cloud conies over the plain.'
This stops over every bit of land : over peasant cottage and
palace; over towns and cities; over farms and railway
stations; over fishing hamlets and sugar refineries. Every
time it stops, it draws to itself a little whirling column of
gray dust-grains from the ground. Thus it grows and
grows. And at last, when it is all gathered up and
heads for Kullaberg, it is no more a cloud but a whole mist
which is so big that it throws a shadow on the ground all the
way from Hoganas to Molle. WTien it stops over the play-
ground it hides the sun; and for a long while it had to rain
gray sparrows on one of the knolls before those who had
been flying in the innermost part of the mist could again
catch a glimpse of the daylight.
But still the biggest of these bird-clouds is the one which
now appears. This is formed of birds who have travelled
WONDERFUL ADVENTURES OF NILS 89
from every direction to join it. It is dark bluish-gray, and
no sun-ray can penetrate it. And it is full of the ghastliest
noises, the most frightful shrieks, the grimmest laughter,
and most ill-luck-boding croaking! All on the playground
are glad when it finally resolves itself into a storm of flutter-
ing and croaking: of crows and jackdaws and rooks and
ravens.
Thereupon not only clouds are seen in the heavens, but
also a variety of stripes and figures. Then straight, dotted
lines appear in the East and Northeast. These are forest-
birds from the Goinge districts: black grouse and wood
grouse come flying in long lines a couple of metres apart.
Swimming-birds that live around Maklappen, just out of
Falsterbo, now come floating over Oresund in many
extraordinary figures: in triangular and long curves; in
sharp hooks and semicircles.
To the great reunion held the year that Nils Holgersson
travelled around with the wild geese, came Akka and her
flock — later than all the others. And that was not to be
wondered at, for Akka had to fly over the whole of Skane to
get to Kullaberg. Besides, as soon as she awoke, she was
obliged to go out and hunt for Thumbietot, who, for many
hours, had gone and played to the gray rats, and lured
them far away from Gliniminge Castle. Mr. Owl had
returned with the news that the black rats would be at
home immediately after sunrise; and now it was quite safe
to let the steeple owl's pipe be hushed, and to give the gray
rats the liberty of going where they pleased.
It was not Akka who discovered the boy, where he walked
with his long following, and quickly sank down over him
and caught him up with the bill and swung into the air; but
Herr Ermenrich, the stork! For Herr Ermenrich had also
90 WONDERFUL ADVENTURES OF NILS
gone out to look for him. And after he had borne him up to
the stork-nest, he begged his forgiveness for having treated
him with disrespect the evening before.
This pleased the boy immensely, and the stork and he
became good friends. Akka, too, showed that she felt very
kindly toward him; she stroked her old head several times
against his arms, and commended him because he had
helped those who were in trouble.
But this much must be said to the boy's credit: he did not
want to accept praise which he had not earned. "No,
Mother Akka," he said, "y°u mustn't think that I lured the
gray rats away to help the black ones. I only wanted to
show Herr Ermenrich that I was of some consequence."
No sooner had he said this than Akka turned to the
stork and asked if he thought it advisable to take Thum-
bietot along to Kullaberg. "I mean, that we can rely on
him as upon ourselves," said she. The stork at once
insisted most enthusiastically that Thumbietot be per-
mitted to come along. "Of course you shall take Thum-
bietot along to Kullaberg, Mother Akka," said he. "It is
our good fortune that we can repay him for all that he has
endured this night for our sakes. And since it still grieves
me to think that I did not conduct myself in a becoming
manner toward him the other evening, it is I who will
carry him on my back — all the way to the meeting place.'
There isn't much that tastes better than praise
from those who are wise and capable; and the boy had
certainly never felt so happy as when the wild goose and
the stork talked about him in this way.
Thus the boy made the trip to Kullaberg, riding stork-
back. Although he knew that this was a great honour, it
caused him much anxiety, for Herr Ermenrich was a master
WONDERFUL ADVENTURES OF NILS 91
flyer, and started off at a pace very different from that of the
wild geese. While Akka flew her straight way with even
wing-strokes, the stork amused himself by performing a lot
of flying tricks. First he lay still in an immeasurable height,
and floated in the air without moving his wings, then he
flung himself downward with such sudden haste that it
seemed as if he would fall to the ground, helpless as a stone;
and then he had heaps of fun flying all around Akka, in
great and small circles, like a whirlwind. The boy had
never before been on a ride of this sort; and though he sat
there all the while in terror, he had to admit to himself that
never before had he known what a good flight meant.
Only a single pause was made during the journey, and
that was at Vomb Lake, where Akka joined her travelling
companions and called out to them that the gray rats had
been vanquished. After that, the travellers flew straight
on to Kullaberg.
There they descended to the knoll reserved for the wild
geese; and as the boy let his glance wander from knoll to
knoll, he noticed on one the many -pointed antlers of the
stags; and on another, the gray herons' neck-crests. One
knoll was red with foxes, one was gray with rats; one was
covered with black ravens who shrieked continually; and
one with larks who simply couldn't keep still, but kept
bounding into the air and singing for very joy
As has ever been the custom on Kullaberg, it was the
crows that began the day's games and frolics with their fly-
ing dance. They divided themselves into two flocks, that
flew toward each other, met, turned, and then began all over
again. This dance had many repetitions, and appeared to
the spectators who were not familiar with the dance as
altogether too monotonous. The crows were very proud
92 WONDERFUL ADVENTURES OF NILS
of their dance, but all the others were glad when it was over.
It appeared to the animals to be about as gloomy and mean-
ingless as the winter storms' play with the snowflakes. It
depressed them to watch it, and they waited eagerly for
something that should give them a little pleasure.
Nor did they not have to wait in vain. For as soon as
the crows had finished, the hares came running. They
dashed forward in a long row, with no marked order. In
some of the figures came one single hare; in others, they
ran three and four abreast. All had risen on two legs, and
were rushing forward with such rapidity that their long ears
flapped in all directions. As they ran, they spun round,
made high leaps, and beat their fore-paws against their
hind-paws so that they rattled. Some performed a
long succession of somersaults, others doubled themselves
up and rolled over like wheels; one stood on one leg and
swung round; one walked on his fore-paws. There was no
regulation whatever, yet there was much that was droll in
the hares' play; and the many animals who looked on
began to breathe faster. Now it was spring; joy and rap-
ture were advancing. Winter was over; summer was
coming. Soon it was only play to live.
When the hares had romped themselves out, it was the
great forest birds' turn to perform. Hundreds of wood
grouse in shining dark-brown array, and with bright red
eyebrows, shot up into a great oak that stood in the centre
of the playground. The one who sat upon the topmost
branch fluffed up his feathers, lowered his wings, and lifted
his tail so that the white covert-feathers were seen. There-
upon he stretched his neck and sent forth a couple of deep
notes from his thick throat. 'Tjack, tjack, tjack," it
sounded. More than this he could not utter. There were
WONDERFUL ADVENTURES OF NILS 93
only a few gurgles way down in the throat. Then he
closed his eyes and whispered: "Sis, sis, sis. Hear how
pretty! Sis, sis, sis." At the same time he fell into such
an ecstasy that he no longer knew what was going on
around him.
While the first wood grouse was sissing, the three nearest
— under him — began to sing; and before they had finished
their song, the ten who sat lower down, joined in; and thus
it continued from branch to branch, until the entire hundred
grouse sang and gurgled and sissed. They all fell into the
same ecstasy during their song, and this affected the other
animals like a contagious transport. Lately the blood had
flowed lightly and agreeably; now it began to grow heavy
and hot. 'Yes, this is surely spring," thought all the ani-
mal folk. ' Winter chill has vanished. The fires of spring
burn over the earth."
When the black grouse saw that the brown grouse were
having such success, they could no longer keep quiet. As
there was no tree for them to light upon, they rushed down
to the playground, where the heather stood so high that
only their beautifully turned tail-feathers and their thick
bills were visible — and they began to sing: "Orr, orr, orr."
Just as the black grouse started to compete with the
brown grouse, something unprecedented happened. While
all the animals were thinking of nothing but the grouse-
game, a fox stole slowly over to the wild geese's knoll.
He glided very cautiously, and was far up on the knoll
before any one noticed him. Suddenly a goose caught sight
of him ; and as she could not believe that a fox had sneaked
in among the geese for any good purpose, she began to cry :
"Have a care, wild geese! Have a care!" The fox struck
her across the throat — mostly, perhaps, because he wanted
94 WONDERFUL ADVENTURES OF NILS
to make her keep quiet — but the wild geese had already
heard the cry, so they all rose into the air. When they had
flown, the animals saw Smirre Fox standing on the wild
geese's knoll, with a dead goose in his mouth.
But because he had thus broken the play-day's peace,
such a punishment was meted out to Smirre Fox, that for
the rest of his days he must regret that he had not been
able to control his thirst for revenge, but had attempted to
approach Akka and her flock in this manner.
He was immediately surrounded by a crowd of foxes and
doomed in accordance with an old custom, which demands
that whosoever disturbs the peace on the great play-day
must go into exile. Not a fox wished to lighten the sen-
tence, since they all knew that the instant they attempted
anything of the sort, they would be driven from the play-
ground, and would nevermore be permitted to enter it.
Banishment was pronounced upon Smirre without opposi-
tion. He was forbidden to remain in Skane. He was ban-
ished from wife and kindred; from hunting grounds, home,
resting places, and retreats, which he had hitherto owned;
and he must tempt fortune in foreign lands. So that all
foxes in Skane should know that Smirre was outlawed in the
district, the oldest of the foxes bit off his right earlap. As
soon as this was done, all the young foxes began to yowl
with blood-thirst, throwing themselves on Smirre. For
him there was no way out but to take to his feet; and with
all the young foxes in hot pursuit, he rushed from Kullaberg.
All this happened while black grouse and brown grouse
were going on with their games. But these birds lose them-
selves so completely in their song that they neither hear
nor see. Nor had they permitted themselves to be dis-
turbed.
WONDERFUL ADVENTURES OF NILS 95
The forest birds' contest was barely over, when the stags
from Hackeberga came forward to show their wrestling
game. There were several pairs of stags who fought at the
same time. They rushed at each other with tremendous
force, struck their antlers dashingly together, so that their
points were entangled, trying to force each other back-
ward. The heather-heaths were torn up beneath their
hoofs; the breath came like smoke from their nostrils; out
of their throats strained hideous bellowings, and the froth
oozed down on their flanks.
On the knolls round about there was breathless silence
while the skilled stag-wrestlers clinched. In all the ani-
mals new emotions were awakened. Each and all felt
courageous and strong; enlivened by returning powers;
born again with the spring; sprightly, and ready for all
kinds of adventures. They felt no enmity toward each
other, although, everywhere, wings were lifted, neck-
feathers raised, and claws sharpened. If the stags from
Hackeberga had continued another instant, a wild struggle
would have arisen on the knolls, for all had been gripped
with a burning desire to show that they, too, were full of
life because the winter's impotence was over and strength
surged through their bodies.
But the stags stopped wrestling just at the right moment,
and instantly a whisper went from knoll to knoll: 'The
cranes are coming!"
And then came the gray, dusk-clad birds with plumes in
their wings, and red feather-ornaments on their necks. The
big birds with their tall legs, their slender throats, their
small heads, came gliding down the knoll with an abandon
that was full of mystery. As they glided forward they
swung round — half flying, half dancing. With wings
96 WONDERFUL ADVENTURES OF NILS
gracefully lifted, they moved with an inconceivable rapidity.
There was something marvellous and strange about their
dance. It was as though gray shadows had played a game
which the eye could scarcely follow. It was as if they had
learned it from the mists that hover over desolate swamps.
There was witchcraft in it. All those who had never
before been on Kullaberg understood now why the whole
meeting took its name from the cranes' dance. There was
wildness in it; but yet the feeling which it awakened was a
delicious longing. No one thought any more about strug-
gling. Instead, both the winged and those who had no
wings, all wanted to raise themselves eternally, lift them-
selves above the clouds, seek that which was hidden beyond
them, leave the oppressive body that dragged them down to
earth and soar away toward the infinite.
Such longing after the unattainable, after the hidden
mysteries back of this life, the animals felt only once a year;
and this was on the day when they beheld the Great Crane
Dance.
CHAPTER Six
IN RAINY WEATHER
Wednesday, March thirtieth.
IT WAS the first rainy day of the trip. So long as the
wild geese had remained in the vicinity of Vomb Lake
they had had beautiful weather; but on the day they set
out to travel farther north, it began to rain, and for several
hours the boy had to sit on the goose-back, soaking wet,
and shivering with the cold.
In the morning, when they had started, it was clear and
mild. The wild geese had flown high up in the air, steadily,
and without haste — with Akka at the head maintaining
strict discipline, and the rest in two oblique lines behind her.
They had not taken time to shout any cutting remarks to
the animals on the ground; but, as it was simply impossible
for them to keep perfectly silent, they sang out continually
in rhythm with the wing-strokes their usual coaxing call:
'Where are you? Here am I. Where are you? Here
am I."
All took part in this persistent calling, only stopping,
now and then, long enough to show the goosey-gander the
landmarks they were travelling over.
It was a monotonous trip, and when the rain-clouds made
their appearance the boy thought it a real diversion. In
the old days, when he had seen rain-clouds only from below,
he had thought them gray and disagreeable; but it was a
very different thing to be up amongst them. Now he saw
98 WONDERFUL ADVENTURES OF NILS
distinctly that the clouds were enormous carts, which drove
through the heavens with sky-high loads. Some were piled
up with huge, gray sacks, some with barrels; others were so
large that they could hold a whole lake ; and a few were filled
with big utensils and bottles which were piled up to an
immense height. And when so many of them had driven
forward that they filled the whole sky, it appeared as if
some one had given a signal, for all at once, water began to
pour down over the earth, from utensils, barrels, bottles,
and sacks.
Just as the first spring showers pattered against the ground
there arose such shouts of joy from all the small birds in
groves and pastures that the whole air rang with them,
and the boy leaped high where he sat. :'Now we'll have
rain. Rain gives us spring; spring gives us flowers and
green leaves; green leaves and flowers give us worms and
insects; worms and insects give us food; and plentiful, and
good food is the best thing there is," sang the birds.
The wild geese, too, were glad of the rain which came to
awaken the growing things from their long sleep, and to
drive holes in the ice-roofs on the lakes. They were not
able to keep up that seriousness any longer, but began to
send merry calls over the neighbourhood.
When they flew over the big potato patches, which are
so plentiful in the country around Christianstad and which
still lay bare and black — they screamed: 'Wake up and
be useful! Here comes something that will awaken you.
You have idled long enough now."
When they saw people running to get out of the rain,
they reproved them saying: 'What are you in such a
hurry about? Can't you see that it's raining rye-loaves and
cookies?"
WONDERFUL ADVENTURES OF NILS 99
A big, thick mist was moving swiftly northward follow-
ing close upon the geese. They seemed to think that they
were dragging the mist along with them; and, just now,
when they saw great orchards beneath them, they called
out proudly: "Here we come with crocuses; here we come
with roses; here we come with apple blossoms and cherry
buds; here we come with peas and beans and turnips and
cabbages. He who wills can take them. He who wills
can take them."
Thus it had sounded while the first showers fell, and when
all were still glad of the rain. But when the rain continued
to fall the whole afternoon, the wild geese grew impatient,
and cried to the thirsty forests around Ivo Lake: "Haven't
you got enough yet? Haven't you got enough yet? >:
The heavens were growing grayer and grayer and the sun
hid itself so well that one couldn't imagine where it was.
The rain fell faster and faster, and beat harder and harder
against the wings, as it tried to find its way between the oily
outside feathers, into their skins. The earth was hidden
by fogs; lakes, mountains, and woods floated together in an
indistinct maze, and the landmarks could not be distin-
guished. The flight became slower and slower; the joyful
cries were hushed ; and the boy felt the cold more and more
keenly.
But he had kept up his courage as long as he had ridden
through the air. And in the afternoon, when they had
alighted under a little stunted pine in the middle of a large
swamp, where all was wet, and all was cold; where some
knolls were covered with snow, and others stood up naked
in a puddle of half-melted ice-water, even then, he had not
felt discouraged, but had run about in fine spirits, hunting
for cranberries and frozen whortle-berries. But then came
100 WONDERFUL ADVENTURES OF NILS
the evening, and darkness sank down on them so close
that not even such eyes as the boy's could see through it;
and all the wilderness became so strangely grim and awful.
The boy lay tucked in under the goosey-gander's wing, but
could not sleep because he was cold and wet. He heard
such a lot of rustling and rattling and stealthy steps and
menacing voices, that he became terror-stricken and didn't
know where he should go. He must go somewhere where
there was light and heat, if he didn't want to die of fright.
"Suppose I venture where there are human beings, just
for this one night " thought the boy, "only to sit by
a fire for a moment, and to get a little food. I could get
back to the wild geese before sunrise."
He crept from under the wing and slid down to the
ground. He didn't awaken the goosey -gander or any of the
other geese, but stole silently and unobserved, through
the swamp.
He didn't know exactly where on earth he was: if he was
in Skane, in Smaland, or in Blekinge. But just before
reaching the swamp he had glimpsed a large village,
and thither he directed his steps. Nor was it long before
he discovered a road. Soon he was in the village street,
which was long, and had trees on both sides, and was
bordered with garden after garden.
The boy had come to one of the big cathedral towns, which
are so common on the uplands, but which can hardly be
seen at all down on the plain.
The houses were of wood, and very prettily constructed.
Most of them had gables and fronts, edged with carved
mouldings, and glass doors — with here and there a coloured
pane — opening on verandas. The walls were painted in
light colours; the doors and window-frames shone in blues
WONDERFUL ADVENTURES OF NILS 101
and greens, and even in reds. While the boy walked about
and viewed the houses, he could hear, all the way out to the
road, how the people who sat in the warm cottages chat-
tered and laughed. He could not distinguish their words
but all the same he thought it was just lovely to hear human
voices. "I wonder what they would say if I knocked and
begged to be let in," thought he.
This of course had been his intention all along, but now
that he saw the lighted windows his fear of the darkness
was gone. Instead, he felt again that sense of shyness
which always came over him now when he was near human
beings. "I'll try to see a little more of the town," thought
he, "before I ask any one to take me in."
One house he came to had a balcony. And just as the
boy walked by, the doors were thrown open, and a yellow
light streamed through the fine, sheer curtains. Then a
pretty young lady came out upon the balcony and leaned
over the railing. "It's raining; now we shall soon have
spring," said she. When the boy saw her he felt a strange
longing. It was as though he wanted to weep. For the
first time he was a bit sorry that he had shut himself out
from the human kind.
Shortly after, he came to a shop outside of which stood
a red corn-drill. He stopped and looked at it, and finally
crawled upto the seat, and made believe he was driving. He
was thinking what fun it would be to drive such a pretty
machine over a grainfield. For the moment he had forgotten
what he was like now; then he remembered, and quickly
jumped down from the machine. Then an even greater
unrest came over him. After all human beings were very
wonderful and clever!
As he walked by the post-office, he thought of all the
102 WONDERFUL ADVENTURES OF NILS
newspapers that came every day with news from the four
corners of the earth. He saw the apothecary's shop and the
doctor's home, and marvelled at the power of human beings,
who could battle against sickness and death. He came to
the church. Then he thought of how human beings had
built it, that they might hear about another world than the
one in which they lived; of God and the resurrection and
eternal life. And the longer he walked there, the better he
liked human beings.
It is thus with children: they never think any furthei
ahead than the length of their tiny noses. That which lie&
nearest them they want promptly, with never a thought
as to what it may cost them. Nils Holgersson had not
understood what he was losing when he chose to remain an
elf; but now he began to be dreadfully afraid that perhaps
he should never again get back his right form.
How in all the world should he go to work in order
to become human? This he wanted, oh! so much, to
know.
He crawled upon a doorstep, seated himself in the pour-
ing rain, and meditated. He sat there one whole hour —
two whole hours, and he thought so hard that his forehead
lay in furrows; but he was none the wiser. It seemed as if
the thoughts only rolled round and round in his head. The
longer he sat there, the more impossible it seemed to him
to find any solution.
'This thing is certainly much too difficult for one who
has learned so little as I have," he thought at last. "It will
probably end in my having to go back among human beings
after all. I must ask the minister and the doctor and the
schoolmaster and others who are learned, and may know of
a cure for such things."
WONDERFUL ADVENTURES OF NILS 103
This he determined to do at once, and shook himself
— for he was as wet as a dog that has been in a
pool.
Just then he saw a big owl come flying! It lit in one of
the trees that bordered the village street. The next in-
stant a lady owl, who sat under a cornice of the house,
began to call out: "Kivitt, Kivitt! Are you at home
again, Mr. Gray Owl? What kind of a time did you have
abroad?''
"Thank you, Lady Brown Owl, I had a delightful time,"
said the gray owl. "Has anything out of the ordinary
happened here at home during my absence ?':
"Not here in Blekinge, Mr. Gray Owl; but in Skane a
marvellous thing has happened! A boy has been trans-
formed by an elf into a goblin no bigger than a squirrel;
and since then he has gone to Lapland with a tame
goose."
'That's a remarkable bit of news, a remarkable bit of
news. Can he never be human again, Lady Brown Owl?
Can he never be human again ?'!
'That's a secret, Mr. Gray Owl; but you shall hear it just
the same. The elf has said that if the boy watches over the
goosey -gander, so that he comes home safe and sound,
and "
"What more, Lady Brown Owl? What more? What
more?'!
"Fly with me up to the church tower, Mr. Gray Owl, and
you shall hear the whole story ! I fear there may be some
one listening down here in the street." With that, the
owls flew their way; but the boy flung his cap in the air,
and shouted: "If I only watch over the goosey-gander,
so that he gets back safe and sound, then I shall become a
104 WONDERFUL ADVENTURES OF NILS
human being again. Hurrah! Hurrah! Then I shall become
a human being again!"
He shouted "hurrah" until it was strange that they did
not hear him in the houses — but they didn't, and he hurried
back to the wild geese, out in the wet morass, as fast as his
legs could carry him.
CHAPTER SEVEN
THE STAIRWAY WITH THE THREE STEPS
Thursday, March thirty-first.
THE following day the wild geese were to travel
northward through Allbo district, in Smaland. They
sent Iksi and Kaksi to spy out the land. But when they
returned, they said that all the water was frozen, and all the
land was snow-covered. "We may as well remain where
we are," said the wild geese. "We cannot travel over a
country where there is neither water nor food."
"If we remain where we are, we may have to wait here
until the next moon," said Akka. "It is better to go east-
ward, through Blekinge, and see if we can't get to Smaland
by way of More, which is near the coast, and has an early
spring."
Thus the boy came to ride over Blekinge that day. Now
that it was light again, he was in a merry mood once more,
and couldn't imagine what had come over him the night
before. He certainly didn't want to give up the journey
and the outdoor life now.
There was a thick fog over Blekinge, so the boy couldn't
see how it looked out there. "I wonder if it is a rich or a
poor land that I'm riding over," thought he, and tried to
search his memory for the things he had heard about the
country at school. But at the same time he knew well
enough that this was useless, since he had never been in
the habit of studying his lessons.
105
106 WONDERFUL ADVENTURES OF NILS
Suddenly the boy seemed to see the school before him —
the children sitting at their little desks with raised hands;
the teacher on the lectern looking displeased, and he himself
before the map to answer some question about Blekinge;
but he hadn't a word to say. The schoolmaster's face grew
darker and darker for every second that passed, and the boy
thought the teacher was more particular that they should
know their geography than anything else. Now he came
down from the lectern, took the pointer from the boy, and
sent him back to his seat. 'This won't end well," the
boy had thought then.
But the schoolmaster had gone over to a window, and
had stood there a moment looking out, and then he whistled
to himself. He went back to the lectern saying that he
would tell them something about Blekinge. And that
which he then told was so amusing that the boy had
listened. Now as he stopped to think for a moment, he
remembered every word.
"Sm aland is a tall house with spruce trees on the roof,"
said the teacher, "and leading up to it is a broad stairway
with three big steps; this stairway is called Blekinge. It is
a stairway that is well constructed, and stretches forty -two
miles along the frontage of Smaland house, and any one
who wishes to go all the way down to the Baltic Sea by
way of the stairs, has twenty-four miles to climb.
"A good long time must have elapsed since the stairway
was built. Both days and years have passed since the
steps were hewn from gray stones and laid down evenly
and smoothly, for a convenient track between Smaland and
the Baltic Sea.
"Since the stairway is so old, one can understand that it
doesn't look quite the same now as when it was new. I
WONDERFUL ADVENTURES OF NILS 107
don't know how much they troubled themselves about such
matters at that time; but big as it was, no broom could have
kept it clean. After a couple of years, moss and lichen
began to grow on it and in the autumn dry leaves and
dry grass blew down over it; and in the spring it was
littered over with falling stones and gravel. And since
all these things were left there to mould, they finally
gathered so much soil on the steps that not only herbs
and grass, but even bushes and trees could take root
there.
"But, meantime, a great disparity has arisen between the
three steps. The topmost step, which lies nearest Smaland,
is mostly covered with poor soil and small stones, and no
trees except birches and bird-cherry and spruce — which
can stand the cold on the heights, and are satisfied with little
— can thrive there. One understands best how poor and
dry it is there, when one sees how small the field-plots
are, and how tiny the numerous cabins. But on the mid-
dle step the soil is better and does not lie bound down
under such severe cold. This, one can see at a glance,
since the trees here are both higher and of finer quality.
Here you'll find maple and oak and linden and weeping-
birch and hazel trees growing, but no cone-trees to speak of.
And it is still more noticeable because of the amount of
cultivated land to be found here; and also because the people
have great and beautiful houses. On the middle step there
are many churches, with large towns around them; and
in every way it makes a better and finer appearance than the
top step.
" But the very lowest step is the best of all. It is covered
with good rich soil; and, where it lies and bathes in the sea,
it hasn't the slightest feeling of the Smaland chill. Beeches
108 WONDERFUL ADVENTURES OF NILS
and chestnut and walnut trees thrive down here; and they
grow so big that they tower above the church roofs. Here
lie also the largest grainfields; the people have not
only timber and farming to live by, but they are also
occupied with fishing and trading and seafaring. For this
reason you will find the most costly residences and the
prettiest churches here; and the parishes have developed
into villages and cities.
"But this is not all there is to be said of the three steps.
For one must realize that when it rains on the roof of the big
Smaland house, or when the snow melts up there, the water
has to go somewhere; and then, naturally, a lot of it is spilled
over the big stairway. In the beginning it probably oozed
over the whole stairway, big as it was; then cracks appeared
in it, and, gradually, the water accustomed itself to flow
alongside of it, in well dug-out grooves. And water is
water, whatever one does with it. It never has any rest.
In one place it cuts and files away, and in another it adds
to. These grooves it has dug into vales, and the walls of
the vales it has decked with soil; and bushes and trees and
vines have clung to them ever since — so thick, and in such
profusion that they almost hide the streams they border.
But when the streams come to the landings between the
steps, they hurl themselves headlong over them; this is why
the water comes with such a seething rush that it gathers
strength with which to move millwheels and machinery —
these, too, have sprung up by every waterfall.
"But this is not all there is to tell of the land with the
three steps. Once upon a time up in the big house in
Smaland there lived a giant, who had grown very old. And
it fatigued him, in his extreme age, to be forced to walk
down that long stairway in order to catch salmon from the
WONDERFUL ADVENTURES OF NILS 109
sea. To him it seemed much more suitable that the salmon
should come up to him, where he lived.
"Therefore, he went up on the roof of his great house;
and there he stood and threw stones down into the Baltic
Sea. He threw them with such force that they flew over
the whole of Blekinge and dropped into the sea. And when
the stones came down, the salmon got so scared that they
came up from the Baltic and fled toward the Blekinge
streams; ran through the rapids; flung themselves with high
leaps over the waterfalls, and stopped.
"How true this is, one can see by the many islands and
points that lie along the coast of Blekinge, and which are
nothing in the world but the big stones that the giant threw.
"One can also tell because the salmon always go up in the
Blekinge streams and work their way through rapids and
still water, all the way to Smaland.
"That giant is worthy of great thanks and much honour
from the Blekinge people; for salmon in the streams, and
stone-cutting on the islands — that means work which gives
food to many of them even to this day."
CHAPTER EIGHT
BY RONNEBY RIVER
Friday, April first.
NEITHER the wild geese nor Smirre Fox had thought
that they should ever run across each other after leav-
ing Skane. But as it turned out the wild geese happened
to take the route over Blekinge, and thither Smirre Fox had
also gone.
So far he had kept himself in the northern parts of
the province; and since he had not as yet seen any
manor parks, or hunting grounds filled with game and
dainty young deer, he was more disgruntled than he
could say.
One afternoon, while Smirre tramped around in the
desolate forest district of Mellanbygden, not far from
Ronneby River, he saw a flock of wild geese fly through
the air. Instantly he observed that one of the geese
was white and then he knew, of course, with whom he had
to deal.
Smirre began immediately to hunt the geese — as much
for the pleasure of getting a good square meal, as for the
desire to be avenged for all the humiliation they had heaped
upon him. He saw that they flew eastward until they came
to Ronneby River. Then they changed their course, and
followed the river toward the south. He understood that
they intended to seek a sleeping-place along the river-bank,
and he thought that he should be able to get at a pair of
no
WONDERFUL ADVENTURES OF NILS 111
them without much trouble. But when Smirre finally dis-
covered the place where the wild geese had taken refuge, he
observed they had chosen such a well-protected spot that
he couldn't get near to them.
Ronneby River isn't any big or important body of water;
nevertheless, it is just as much talked of, because of its
pretty shores. At several points it forces its way forward
between steep mountain walls that stand straight out of
the water, and are entirely overgrown with honeysuckle and
bird-cherry, mountain-ash and osier; and there isn't much
that can be more delightful than to row out on the little
dark river on a pleasant summer day, and look upward at
all the soft green that fastens itself to the rugged mountain*
sides.
But now, when the wild geese and Smirre came to the
river, it was cold and blustery spring-winter; all the trees
were nude, and there was probably no one who thought the
least little bit about the shore being ugly or pretty. The
wild geese thanked their good fortune that they had found a
sandstrip wide enough for them to stand upon, on a steep
mountain wall. Before them rushed the river, which
is strong and turbulent in snow-melting time ; behind them
they had an impassable mountain-rock wall, and overhang-
ing branches screened them. They couldn't have had it
better.
The geese were asleep instantly ; but the boy couldn't get
a wink of sleep. As soon as the sun had disappeared he was
seized with a fear of the darkness, and a wilderness-terror,
and he began to long for human beings. Where he lay —
tucked in under the goose- wing -- he could see nothing,
and hear only a little ; and he thought if any harm were to
come to the goosey-gander, he couldn't save him.
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He heard noises and rustlings from all directions, and he
grew so uneasy that he had to creep from under the wing
and seat himself on the ground, beside the goose.
Long-sighted Smirre stood on the mountain summit and
looked down upon the wild geese. 'You may as well give
this pursuit up first as last," he said to himself. " You can't
climb such a steep mountain; you can't swim in such a wild
torrent; and there isn't the tiniest strip of land below the
mountain which leads to the sleeping-place. Those geese
are too wise for you. Don't ever bother yourself again to
hunt them!"
But Smirre, like all foxes, found it hard to give up an
undertaking already begun, and so he laid down on the
extremest point of the mountain edge, and never took his
eyes off the wild geese. While he lay and watched them,
he thought of all the harm they had done him. Yes, it was
their fault that he had been driven from Skane, and had
been obliged to move to poverty-stricken Blekinge. He
worked himself up to such a pitch, as he lay there, that he
wished the wild geese were dead, even if he himself should
not have the satisfaction of eating them.
When Smirre's resentment had reached this height, he
heard rasping in a large pine close to him, and saw a squirrel
come down from the tree hotly pursued by a marten.
Neither of them noticed Smirre; and he sat quietly and
watched the chase, which went from tree to tree. He
looked at the squirrel, who moved among the branches as
lightly as though he'd been able to fly. He looked at the
marten, who was not so skilled at climbing as the squirrel,
but who still ran up and along the branches just as securely
as if they had been even paths in the forest. "If I could
only climb half as well as either of them," thought the fox,
WONDERFUL ADVENTURES OF NILS 113
"those creatures down there wouldn't sleep in peace very
long!"
As soon as the squirrel had been captured, and the chase
was at an end, Smirre walked over to the marten, but
stopped two steps away from him, to signify that he did not
wish to cheat him of his prey. He greeted the marten in a
very friendly manner, and washed him good luck with his
catch. Smirre chose his wTords well — as foxes always do.
The marten, on the contrary, who, with his long and slender
body, his fine head, his soft skin, and his light brown neck-
piece, looked like a little marvel of beauty, but in reality was
nothing but a crude forest dweller — hardly answered him.
"It surprises me," said Smirre, "that such a fine hunter as
you should be satisfied with chasing squirrels when there is
much better game within reach." Here he paused; but
when the marten only grinned impudently at him, he con-
tinued: "Can it be possible that you haven't seen the
wild geese that stand under the mountain wall? or are you
not a good enough climber to get down to them?"
This time he didn't have to wait for an answer. The
marten rushed up to him with back bent, and every sepa-
rate hair on end. "Have you seen wild geese?" he hissed.
"Where are they? Tell me instantly, or I'll bite your neck
off!" "But you must remember that I'm twice your
size — so be a little polite. I ask nothing better than to
show you the wild geese," returned Smirre.
The next instant the marten was on his way down the
steep ; and while Smirre sat and watched how he swung his
snake-like body from branch to branch, he thought: "That
pretty tree-hunter has the wickedest heart in all the forest.
I believe that the wild geese will have me to thank for a
bloody awakening."
114 WONDERFUL ADVENTURES OF NILS
But just as Smirre was waiting to hear the geese's death-
rattle, he saw the marten tumble from branch to branch —
and plump into the river so the water splashed high. Soon
thereafter, wings beat loudly and strongly and all the geese
went up in a hasty flight.
Smirre intended to hurry after the geese, but he was so
curious to know how they had been saved that he sat there
until the marten came clambering up. The poor beast was
soaked in mud, and stopped every now and then to rub his
head with his fore-paws. "Now wasn't that just what I
thought - - that you were a booby, and would go and
tumble into the river?" said Smirre, contemptuously.
'I'm no booby. You don't have to scold me," said
the marten. * I sat - - all ready — on one of the lowest
branches thinking how I should manage to tear a whole
lot of geese to pieces, when a little creature, no bigger
than a squirrel, jumped up and threw a stone at my head
with such force that I fell into the water; and before I had
time to pick myself up -
The marten didn't have to say any more. He had no
audience. Smirre was already a long way off in pursuit of
the wild geese.
In the meantime Akka had flown southward in search of a
new sleeping-place. There was still a little daylight; and,
besides, the half moon hung high in the heavens, so that
she could see a little. Luckily, she was well acquainted in
these parts, because it had happened more than once that
she had been wind-driven to Blekinge when travelling over
the Baltic in the spring.
She followed the river as long as she could see it winding
through the moon-lit landscape, like a black, shining snake.
In this way she came down to Djupafors — where the river
WONDERFUL ADVENTURES OF NILS 115
first hides itself in an underground channel and then, clear
and transparent, as though it were made of glass, rushes down
in a narrow cleft, and breaks into bits against the bottom
in glittering drops and flying foam. Below the white falls
lay a few stones, between which the water rushed away in a
wild torrent cataract. Here Mother Akka alighted. This
was another good sleeping-place — especially thus late in
the evening, when no human beings moved about. At sun-
set the geese would hardly have been able to camp there,
for Djupafors does not lie in any wilderness. On one side of
the falls is a paper factory; on the other, which is steep and
tree-grown, is Djupadal Park, where people always stroll
about on the steep and slippery paths to enjoy the wild
stream's rushing movement down in the ravine.
It was about the same here as at the former place; none
of the travellers in the least realized that they had come to a
pretty and well-known place. They thought rather that it
was ghastly and dangerous to stand and sleep on slippery,
wet stones, in the middle of a rumbling waterfall. But they
had to be content, if only they were protected from car-
nivorous animals.
The geese fell asleep instantly, while the boy could find
no rest in sleep, but sat beside them that he might watch
over the goosey-gander.
After a while, Smirre came running along the river-shore.
He spied the geese immediately where they stood out in the
foaming whirlpools, and understood that he couldn't get
at them here, either. Still he couldn't make up his mind
to abandon them, but sat down on the shore and looked at
them. He felt very much humbled, and thought that his
entire reputation as a hunter was at stake.
All of a sudden, he saw an otter come creeping up from
116 WONDERFUL ADVENTURES OF NILS
the falls with a fish in his mouth. Smirre approached him
but stopped within two steps of him, to show that he didn't
wish to take his game from him.
"You're a remarkable one, who can content yourself with
catching a fish while the stones are covered with geese!"
said Smirre. He was so eager, that he hadn't taken time
to choose his words with his usual care. The otter didn't
turn his head once in the direction of the river. He was a
vagabond — like all otters — and had fished many times
by Vomb Lake, and probably knew Smirre Fox. "I know
very well how you act when you want to coax away a salmon
trout, Smirre," said he.
"Oh! is it you, Gripe?" said Smirre, and was delighted;
for he knew that this particular otter was a quick and ac-
complished swimmer. "I don't wonder that you do not
care to look at the wild geese, since you can't manage to
get out to them." But the otter, who had swimming- webs
between his toes, and a stiff tail, which was as good as an
oar, and a skin that was waterproof, didn't wish to have it
said of him that there was a waterfall that he wasn't able
to manage. He turned toward the stream; as soon as he
caught sight of the wild geese, he threw the fish away,
rushed down the steep shore and into the river.
If it had been a little later in the spring, so that the night-
ingales in Djupafors had been at home, they would have
sung for many a day of Gripe's struggle with the rapid.
For the otter was thrust back by the waves many times,
and carried down river; but he fought his way steadily up
again. He swam forward in still water; he crawled over
stones, and gradually came nearer the wild geese. It was
a perilous trip, which might well have earned the right to be
sung by the nightingales.
WONDERFUL ADVENTURES OF NILS 117
Smirre followed the otter's course with his eyes as well
as he could. Presently he saw that the otter was in the act
of climbing up to the wild geese. But just then it shrieked
shrill and wild. The otter tumbled backward into the
water, and was carried away as if he had been a blind kitten.
An instant later, there was a great crackling of geese's
wings. They rose and flew away to find another sleeping-
place.
The otter soon came ashore. He said nothing, but com-
menced to lick one of his fore-paws. When Smirre sneered
at him because he hadn't succeeded, he burst out: 'It was
not the fault of my swimming-art, Smirre. I had raced all
the way over to the geese and was about to climb up to
them when a tiny creature came running, and jabbed me
in the foot with something sharp. It hurt so, I lost my
footing, and then the current took me."
He didn't have to say any more. Smirre was already
far off, on his way to the wild geese.
Once again Akka and her flock had to take a night fly.
Fortunately, the moon had not gone down; and with the aid
of its light, she succeeded in finding another of those sleeping-
places which she knew of in that neighbourhood. Again
she followed the shining river toward the south. Over
Djapadal's manor, and over Ronneby's dark roofs and white
waterfalls she flew forward without alighting. But a little
south of the city and not far from the sea, lies Ronneby
health-spring, with its bath house and spring house; with
its big hotel and summer cottages for the spring's guests.
All these stand empty and desolate in winter — which the
birds know perfectly well; and many are the bird-companies
that seek shelter on the deserted buildings' balustrades and
balconies during hard storm-times.
118 WONDERFUL ADVENTURES OF NILS
Here the wild geese lit on a balcony, and, as usual, they
fell asleep at once. The boy, on the contrary, could not
sleep because he hadn't cared to creep in under the goosey-
gander's wing.
The balcony faced south, so the boy had an outlook over
the sea. And since he could not sleep, he sat there and saw
how pretty it looked when sea and land meet, here in
Blekinge.
It so happens that sea and land can meet in many different
ways. In some places the land comes down toward the sea
with flat, tufted meadows, and the sea meets the land with
flying sand, which it piles up into mounds and drifts. It
appears as if both disliked each other so much that they
only wished to show the poorest they possess. But it
can also happen that when the land comes toward the sea
it raises a wall of hills in front of it — as though the sea were
something dangerous. When the land acts like that, the
sea conies up to it with fiery wrath, and beats and roars
and lashes against the rocks, and looks as if it would tear
the land-hill to pieces.
But in Blekinge it is altogether different when sea and
land meet. There the land breaks itself up into points and
islands and islets; and the sea divides itself into fiords and
bays and sounds; and it is perhaps this which makes it
appear as if they must meet in happiness and harmony.
Think now first and foremost of the sea! Far out it
lies desolate and empty and big, and has nothing to do but
to roll its gray billows. When it comes toward the land, it
happens across the first islet. This it immediately over-
powers; tears away everything green, and makes it as gray
as itself. Then it meets still another islet; this it treats in
the same way. And still another — yes, the same thing.
WONDERFUL ADVENTURES OF NILS 119
happens to this also. It is stripped and plundered, as if it
had fallen into robbers' hands. Then the islets come nearer
and nearer together, and now the sea must understand that
the land sends toward it her littlest children, in order to
move it to pity. It also grows more friendly the farther in
it comes; rolls its waves less high; moderates its storms; lets
the green things stay in cracks and crevices; separates itself
into small sounds and inlets, and becomes at last so harmless
in the land that little boats dare venture out on it. It
hardly knows itself — so mild and friendly has it become.
And then think of the hillside ! It lies uniform, and looks
the same almost everywhere. It consists of flat grain-
fields, with one and another birch-grove between, or of long
stretches of forest ranges. It appears as if it had thought
of nothing but grain and turnips and potatoes and spruce
and pine. Then along comes a fiord that cuts far into it.
It doesn't mind that, but borders it with birch and alder,
just as if it were an ordinary fresh-water lake. Then still
another wave comes driving in. Nor does the hillside
bother to cringe to this, but it also gets the same dousing
as the first one. Then the fiords begin to broaden and
separate; they break up fields and woods and then the hill-
side cannot help but notice them. "I believe it is the sea
itself that is coming," says the Hillside, and then it begins to
adorn itself. It wreathes itself with blossoms, travels up
and down in hills, and throws islands into the sea. It no
longer cares about pines and spruces, but casts them off like
old everyday clothes, parading later with big oaks and
lindens and chestnuts, and with blossoming leafy bowers,
and it becomes as gorgeous as a manor-park. And when it
meets the sea, it is so changed that it doesn't know itself.
All this cannot be seen very well until summertime; but,
120 WONDERFUL ADVENTURES OF NILS
at any rate, the boy observed how mild and friendly nature
was; and he began to feel calmer than he had felt before
that night. Then, suddenly, he heard a sharp and ugly
yowl from the bath-house park; and when he stood up he
saw, in the pale moonlight, a fox standing on the pavement
under the balcony. For Smirre had followed the wild geese
once more. But on finding the place where they were
quartered, he understood that it was impossible to get at
them in any way; therefore he had not been able to keep
from yowling with chagrin.
When the fox yowled like that, old Akka, the leader-goose,
was awakened. Although she could see nothing, she thought
she recognized the voice. "Is it you who are out to-night,
Smirre?" said she. 'Yes," said Smirre, "it is I; and I want
to ask what you geese think of the night I have brought
you?"
:'Do you mean to say that it is you who have sent the
marten and otter against us?" asked Akka. "A good turn
shouldn't be denied," retorted Smirre. 'You once played
the goose-game with me, now I have begun to play the fox-
game with you; and I'm not inclined to let up on it so long
as a single one of you still lives, even if I have to follow you
the world over!"
'You, Smirre, ought at least to think whether it is right
for you, who are weaponed with both teeth and claws, to
hound us in this way; we, who are defenceless," said Akka.
Smirre thought that Akka sounded scared, and he
promptly said: "If you, Akka, will take that Thumbietot,
who has so often opposed me, and throw him down to me,
I'll promise to make my peace with you. Then I'll never
more pursue you or any of yours." "I'm not going to give
you Thumbietot," said Akka. "From the youngest of us
WONDERFUL ADVENTURES OF NILS 121
to the oldest, we would willingly give our lives for his sake!"
"Since you're so fond of him," said Smirre, "I promise
you that he shall be the first among you that I will wreak
vengeance upon."
Akka said no more, and after Smirre had sent up a few
more yowls, all was still. The boy lay all the while awake.
Now it was Akka's words to the fox that prevented his
sleeping. Never had he dreamed that he should hear any-
thing so great as that some one was willing to risk life for
his sake. From that moment, it could no longer be said of
Nils Holgersson that he cared for no one.
CHAPTER NINE
KARLSKRONA
Saturday, April third.
IT WAS a moonlight evening in Karlskrona — calm and
beautiful. But earlier in the day there had been rain
and wind; and the people must have thought that the bad
weather still continued, for hardly a soul had ventured out
into the streets.
While the city lay there so desolate, Akka, the wild goose,
and her flock, came flying toward it overVemmon and Pantar-
holmen. They were out in the late evening to seek a sleeping-
place on the islands. They couldn't remain inland because
they were disturbed by Smirre Fox wherever they lighted.
As the boy rode along, high up in the air, and looked
,at the sea and the islands which spread before him, he
thought that everything appeared so strange and spooky.
The heavens were no longer blue, but encased him like a
globe of green glass. The sea was milk-white, and as far
as he could see rolled small white waves tipped with silver
ripples. In among all this white lay numerous little islets,
coal black. Whether they were big or little, whether they
were even as meadows, or full of cliffs, they looked just as
black. Even dwelling-houses and churches and windmills,
which at other times are white or red, were now outlined in
black against the green sky. The boy thought it was as
if the earth had been transformed, and he was come to
another world.
122
WONDERFUL ADVENTURES OF NILS 123
He felt that just for this one night he wanted to be
brave, and not afraid — when he saw something that really
frightened him. It was a high cliff island, covered with
big, angular blocks; and between the dark blocks glittered
specks of bright, shining gold. He couldn't keep from
thinking of Maglestone, by Trolle-Ljungby, which the
trolls sometimes raised upon high golden pillars; and he
wondered if this wasn't something of the same sort.
It would have been well enough with the stones and the
gold if there hadn't been so many fiendish things all around
the island. They looked like whales and sharks and other
big sea-monsters. But the boy understood that these were
sea-trolls, who had gathered around the island and intended
to crawl up on it, to fight with the land-trolls who lived
there. And those on the land were probably afraid, for he
saw how a big giant stood on the highest point of the island
and raised his arms, as if in despair over all the misfortune
that was to come to him and to his island.
The boy was not a little terrified when he noticed that
Akka began to descend right over that particular island!
" No, for pity's sake ! We must not light there," gasped he.
But the geese continued the descent and soon the boy
was astonished that he could have seen things so awry. In
the first place, the big stone blocks were nothing but houses.
The whole island was a city; and the shining gold specks
were street lamps and lighted window-panes. The giant
standing on the topmost point of the island with his arms
raised was a church with two cross-towers ; all the sea-trolls
and monsters, which he thought he had seen, were boats
and ships of every description, lying at anchor all around
the island. On the land side they were mostly row-boats
and sail-boats and small coast steamers; but on the side
124 WONDERFUL ADVENTURES OF NILS
that faced the sea lay armour-clad battleships; some were
broad, with thick, slanting smoke-stacks; others were long
and narrow and so constructed that they could glide
through the water like fishes.
Now what city might this be? That, the boy could guess
because he saw all the battleships. All his life he had loved
ships, although he had had nothing to do with any, except
the galleys which he had sailed in the road ditches. He
knew well that this city, where so many battleships lay,
could only be Karlskrona.
The boy's grandfather had been an old marine; and all
his life, he had talked of Karlskrona — of the great warship
dock, and of all the other things to be seen in that city.
The boy felt perfectly at home, and was glad that he was
going to see all of which he had heard so much.
But he had only had a glimpse of the towers and forti-
fications which barred the entrance to the harbour, and the
many buildings, and the shipyard, when Akka sank down to
one of the flat church-towers.
This was a pretty safe place for those who wanted to get
away from a fox, and the boy began to wonder if he couldn't
venture to crawl in under the goosey-gander's wing for this
one night. Yes, that he might safely do. It would do
him good to get a little sleep. He would try to see more of
the dock and the ships at daybreak.
It seemed strange to the boy that he could keep still and
wait until morning to see the ships. He certainly had not
slept five minutes before he slipped out from under the
wing and slid down the lightning-rod and the water-spout
all the way to the ground.
Presently he stood on a big square in front of the church.
It was paved with round stones, and for him it was just as
WONDERFUL ADVENTURES OF NILS 125
hard to walk there as it is for big people to walk on a tufted
meadow. Those who are accustomed to live in the open,
or far out in the country, always feel uneasy when they come
into a city, where the houses stand straight and forbidding,
and the streets are open, so that every one can see who goes
there. And it happened in the same way with the boy.
When he stood on the big Karlskrona square, and looked
at the German church, the town hall, and the cathedral
from which he had just descended, he wished himself back
on the tower with the geese.
It was a lucky thing that the square was entirely deserted.
There wasn't a human being about — unless a statue
on its high pedestal could be counted in. The boy stared
long at the statue, which represented a big, brawny man in
a three-cornered hat, long waistcoat, knee-breeches, and
coarse shoes — and wondered who he was. The man held
a long stick in his hand, and he looked as if he would know
how to make use of it, too — for he had an awfully severe
countenance, with a big, hooked nose and an ugly mouth.
"What is that long-lipped thing doing here?" the boy
cried at last. Never had he felt so small and insignificant
as he did that night. He tried to jolly himself up a bit by
saying something audacious. Then he thought no more
about the statue, but betook himself to a wide street which
led down to the sea.
The boy hadn't gone far when he heard some one follow-
ing him. Somebody was walking behind him, who stamped
on the stone pavement with heavy footsteps and pounded on
the ground with a hard stick. It sounded as if the big
bronze man up in the square had started on a tramp.
The boy listened for the steps as he ran down the street,
and he became more and more convinced that it was the
126 WONDERFUL ADVENTURES OF NILS
bronze man. The ground trembled, and the houses shook.
It couldn't be any one but he who walked so heavily. The
boy became panic-stricken as he thought of what he had
just said to him. He did not dare turn his head to find out
if it really was he.
''Perhaps he is only out for a walk," thought the boy.
''Surely he can't be angry at me for the words I spoke.
They were not at all badly meant."
Instead of going straight on, and trying to get down to the
dock, the boy turned into a side street leading east. First
and last he wanted to get away from the one who tramped
after him.
But the next instant the bronze man turned down the
same street; and then the boy was so scared that he didn't
know what to do with himself. And how hard it was to
find any hiding-places in a city where all the gates were
closed ! Then to the right, a short distance from the street,
he saw an old frame church, in the centre of a large grove.
Not an instant did he pause to consider, but hurried on
toward the church. "If I can only get there, then I'll
surely be shielded from all harm," thought he.
As he ran on he suddenly caught sight of a man standing
on a gravel path beckoning to him. ' There is certainly
some one who will help me!" thought the boy. Oh, how
relieved he felt ! And he hurried off in the man's direction.
He was actually so frightened that the heart of him fairly
thumped in his breast.
But when he got up to the man, who stood at the edge of
the gravel path, upon a low pedestal, he was absolutely
thunderstruck. "Surely, it can't be that one who beckoned
to me!" he thought; for he saw that the entire man was
made of wood
WONDERFUL ADVENTURES OF NILS 127
The boy stood there and stared at him. He was a thick-
set man on short legs, with a broad, ruddy countenance,
shiny, black hair and full black beard. On his head he
wore a wooden hat; on his body, a brown wooden coat;
around his waist, a black wooden belt; on his legs he had
wide wooden knee-breeches and wooden stockings; and on
his feet black wooden shoes. He was newly painted and
newly varnished, so that he glistened and shone in the moon-
light. He looked so good-natured that the boy at once
placed confidence in him.
In his left hand he held a wooden slate, and there the
boy read:
Most humbly I beg you,
Though voice I may lack:
Come drop a penny, do;
But lift my hat!
Oho ! so the man was only a poor-box. The boy felt that
he had been fooled. He had expected this to be something
really remarkable. And now he remembered that grandpa
had also spoken of the wooden man, and had said that all the
children in Karlskrona were very fond of him. And that
must have been true, for he, too, found it hard to part with
the wooden man. He had something so old-timey about
him, that one could well take him to be many hundred years
old; and at the same time, he looked so strong and bold,
and spirited — just as one might imagine that folks looked
in olden times.
The boy had so much fun gazing at the wooden man,
that he entirely forgot the one from whom he was fleeing.
But now he heard him turning from the street into the
churchyard. So he had followed him here, too! Where
could the boy go?
128 WONDERFUL ADVENTURES OF NILS
Just then he saw the wooden man bend down to him and
stretch forth his big, brown hand. It was impossible to
think anything but good of him; and with one jump, the
boy stood in his hand. The wooden man lifted him to his
hat — and stuck him under it.
The boy was just hidden, and the wooden man had just
got his arm back to its right place again, when the bronze
man stopped in front of him and banged the stick on the
ground so that the wooden man shook on his pedestal.
Thereupon the bronze man said in a strong and resonant
voice: "Who might you be?"
The wooden man's arm went up, so that it creaked in the
old woodwork, and he touched his hat-brim as he replied:
"Rosenbom, by Your Majesty's leave. Once upon a time
boatswain on the man-of-war, Audacity; after completed
service, sexton at the Admiral's Church — and, lately,
carved in wood and exhibited in the churchyard as a poor-
box."
The boy gave a start when he heard the wooden man
say "Your Majesty." For now, as he thought about it,
he knew that the statue on the square represented the one
who founded the city. It was probably no one less than
Charles the Eleventh himself that he had encountered.
"You give a good account of yourself," said the bronze
man. "Can you also tell me if you have seen a little brat
who runs around in the city to-night? He's an impudent
rascal, and if I get hold of him, I'll teach him manners!"
With that, he again pounded on the ground with his stick,
and looked fearfully angry.
'By Your Majesty's leave, I have seen him," said the
wooden man; and the boy was so scared that he commenced
to shake where he sat under the hat and looked at the bronze
WONDERFUL ADVENTURES OF NILS 129
man through a crack in the wood. But he calmed down
when the wooden man continued: 'Your Majesty is on
the wrong track. That youngster certainly intended to run
into the shipyard, to hide there."
'You don't tell me, Rosenbom? Well then, don't
stand on the pedestal any longer but come with me
and help me find him. Four eyes are better than two,
Rosenbom."
But the wooden man answered in a doleful voice: "I
would most humbly beg to be permitted to stay where I am.
I look well and sleek because of the paint, but I'm old and
mouldy, and cannot stand moving about."
The bronze man was not one who liked to be contradicted.
'What sort of notions are these? Come along, Rosen-
bom!" Then he raised his stick and gave him a resound-
ing whack on his wooden shoulder. "Does Rosenbom not
see that he holds together ?':
With that the two set out together — big and mighty —
on the streets of Karlskrona — till they came to a high
gate, which led to the shipyard. Just outside and on guard
walked one of the navy's jacktars, but the bronze man
strutted past him and kicked the gate open without the
jacktar's pretending to notice it.
As soon as they got into the shipyard, they saw before
them a wide, expansive harbour separated by pile-bridges.
In the different harbour basins lay the warships, which
looked bigger, and more awe-inspiring than when the boy
had seen them from above. 'Then it wasn't so crazy
after all to imagine that they were sea-trolls," thought
he.
' Where does Rosenbom think it most advisable for us to
begin the search?" said the bronze man.
130 WONDERFUL ADVENTURES OF NILS
" One like him could very easily conceal himself in the
hall of models," replied the wooden man.
Ancient structures lay all along the harbour on a narrow
strip of land which stretched to the right from the gate.
The bronze man walked over to a building with low walls,
small windows, and a conspicuous roof. He pounded on
the door with his stick until it burst open ; then tramped up a
pair of worn-out steps. Soon they came into a large hall
which was filled with tackled and full-rigged little ships.
The boy understood without being told that they were
models for the ships which had been built for the Swedish
navy. There were many different varieties. Some were
old men-of-war, whose sides bristled with cannon, and had
high structures fore and aft — their masts weighed down
with a network of sails and ropes. There were small
island-boats with rowing-benches along the sides ; there were
undecked cannon sloops and richly gilded frigates, which
were models of the ones the kings had used on their travels.
Finally, there were also the heavy, broad armour-plated
ships with towers and cannon on deck — such as are in use
nowadays; and narrow, shining torpedo boats which
resembled long, slender fishes.
While the boy was being carried around among all this,
he was awed. "Fancy that such big, splendid ships have
been built here in Sweden!" he thought to himself.
He had plenty of time to see all that was to be seen. For
when the bronze man saw the models, he forgot everything
else, and examined them from the first to the last, and asked
about them. Rosenbom, the boatswain on the Audacity,
told as much as he knew of the ships' builders, and of those
who had manned them; and of the fates they had met.
He told of Chapman and Puke and Trolle; of Hoagland
WONDERFUL ADVENTURES OF NILS 131
and Svensksund — all the way along until 1809 — after
that he had not been there.
Both he and the bronze man had the most to say about
the fine old wooden ships. The new battleships they
didn't exactly appear to understand.
"I can see that Rosenbom doesn't know anything about
these new-fangled things," said the bronze man. "There-
fore, let us go and look at something else; for this amuses me,
Rosenbom."
By this time he had entirely given up his search for the
boy, who felt calm and secure where he sat in the wooden
hat.
Thereupon both men wandered through the big estab-
lishment: sail-making shops, anchor smithy, machine and
carpenter shops. They saw the mast sheers and the docks;
the large magazines, the arsenal, the rope-bridge and the big
discarded dock, which had been blasted in the bed-rock.
They went out upon the pile-bridges, where the naval
vessels lay moored, stepped on board and examined them
like two old sea-dogs; wondered; disapproved; approved;
and became indignant.
The boy sat in safety under the wooden hat, and heard all
about how they had laboured and struggled in this place to
equip the navies which had gone out from here. He heard
how life and blood had been risked ; how the last penny had
been sacrificed to build the warships; how men of genius had
strained all their powers, in order to perfect these ships
which had been their Fatherland's safeguard. A couple of
times the tears came to the boy's eyes, as he heard all this.
And last, they went into an open court where the
galley models of old men-of-war were grouped; and a
more curious sight the boy had never beheld; for these
132 WONDERFUL ADVENTURES OF NILS
models had inconceivably powerful and terror-striking faces.
They were big, fearless and savage: filled with the same
proud spirit that had fitted out the great ships. They were
from another time than his. He fancied that he shrivelled
up before them.
But when they came in here, the bronze man said to the
wooden man : ' Take off thy hat, Rosenbom, for those that
stand here ! They have all fought for the Fatherland."
And Rosenbom, like the bronze man, had forgotten why
they had begun this tramp. Without thinking, he lifted
the wooden hat from his head and shouted :
"I take off my hat to the one who chose the harbour and
founded the shipyard and recreated the navy; to the mon-
arch who has awakened all this into life!"
"Thanks, Rosenbom! That was well spoken. Rosen-
bom is a fine man. But what is this, Rosenbom? "
For there stood Nils Holgersson, right on the top of
Rosenbom's bald pate. He was no longer afraid but doffed
his white toboggan hood, and shouted: "Hurrah for you,
Longlip!"
The bronze man struck the ground hard with his stick;
but the boy never learned what he had intended to do to him,
for now the sun ran up, and straightway both the bronze
man and the wooden man vanished — as if they had been
made of mists. While he still stood staring after them, the
wild geese flew from the church tower, and circled back and
forth over the city. Presently they caught sight of Nils;
and then the big white one darted down from the sky and
fetched him.
CHAPTER TEN
THE TRIP TO OLAND
Sunday, April third.
wild geese went out on a wooded island to feed.
A There they happened to run across a few gray geese
who were surprised to see them — since they knew very
well that their kinsmen, the wild geese, usually travel over
the interior of the country.
They were curious and inquisitive, and wouldn't be satis-
fied with less than the wild geese telling them all about the
hounding which they had to take from Smirre Fox.
When they had finished, a gray goose, who appeared to be
as old and as wise as Akka herself, said: :'It was a great
misfortune for you that Smirre Fox was declared an outlaw
in his own land. He'll be sure to keep his word, and follow
you all the way up to Lapland. If I were in your place, I
shouldn't travel north over Smaland. I should take the
outside route over Oland instead, to throw him off the
track entirely. To really mislead him, you must remain
for a couple of days on Gland's southern point. There
you'll find lots of food and lots of company. I don't think
you'll regret it, if you go over there."
This was certainly sensible advice, and the wild geese
concluded to take it. As soon as they had eaten all they
could hold, they started on the journey to Oland. None of
them had ever been there before, but the gray goose had
given them careful directions. They only had to travel
133
134 WONDERFUL ADVENTURES OF NILS
straight south until they came to a large bird-track, which
extended all along the Blekinge Coast. All the birds who
had winter homes by the West Coast and were now on their
way to Finland and Russia flew forward there — and, in
passing, they were always in the habit of stopping at Oland
to rest. The wild geese would have no trouble in finding
guides.
That day it was perfectly still and warm, like a summer's
day — the best weather in the world for a sea trip. The
only drawback was that it was not quite clear, for the
skies were gray and veiled. Here and there were enormous
clouds which hung far down to the sea's outer edge, ob-
structing the view.
When the travellers had passed beyond the rock-islands,
the sea spread out so smooth and mirror-like that, as the boy
looked down, he thought the water had disappeared. There
was no longer any earth under him. He had only mist and
sky around him. He grew very dizzy, and held himself
tight on the goose-back — more frightened than when he
sat there for the first time. It seemed as if he couldn't pos-
sibly hold on, but must fall in some direction.
It was even worse when they reached the big bird-track,
of which the gray goose had spoken. Flock after flock
came flying in exactly the same direction. They seemed to
follow a fixed route. There were ducks and gray geese,
surf-scoters and guillemots, loons and pin-tail ducks and
mergansers and grebes and oyster-catchers and sea-grouse.
But now, when the boy leaned forward and looked in the
direction where the sea ought to lie, he saw the entire bird
procession reflected in the water. But he was so dizzy that
he didn't understand how this had come about: he thought
that all the birds flew with their bellies upside down. Still
WONDERFUL ADVENTURES OF NILS 135
he didn't wonder so much at this, for he did not himself
know which was up and which was down.
The birds were tired out and impatient to get on. Not
one of them shrieked or said a funny thing, and this made
everything seem peculiarly unreal.
"Think, if we have travelled away from the earth!" he
said to himself. "Think, if we are on our way up to
heaven!"
He saw nothing but mists and birds around him, and
began to look upon it as reasonable that they were travelling
heavenward. He was glad, and wondered what he should
see up there. The dizziness passed all at once. He was so
exceedingly happy in the thought that he was on his way to
heaven and was leaving this earth.
Just about then he heard a couple of loud shots, and saw
two white smoke-columns rise.
There was a sudden awakening and an unrest among
the birds. "Hunters! Hunters!" they cried. "Fly high!
Fly away!"
Then the boy finally saw that they were travelling all the
while over the seacoast and that they were certainly not in
heaven. In a long row lay small boats filled with hunters,
who fired shot upon shot. The nearest bird-flocks hadn't
noticed them in time. They had flown too low. Several
dark bodies sank down toward the sea; and for every one
that fell there arose cries of anguish from the living.
It was strange for one who had but lately believed him-
self in heaven to wake up suddenly to such fear and lamen-
tation. Akka shot toward the heights and the flock
followed with the greatest possible speed. The wild geese
got safely out of the way, but the boy couldn't get over his
amazement. "To think that any one could wish to shoot
136 WONDERFUL ADVENTURES OF NILS
at such as Akka and Yksi and Kaksi and the goosey -gander
and the others! Human beings had no conception of what
they did."
So it bore on again, in the still air, and all was as quiet as
before, but for some of the tired birds calling out every now
and then: "Are we not there soon? Are you sure we're
on the right track?'3 Whereupon, the leaders answered:
"We are travelling straight to Oland; straight to Oland."
The gray geese wrere tired out, and the loons circled
around them. :' Don't be in such a rush!" cried the ducks.
" You'll eat up all the food before we get there." "Oh!
there'll be enough for all of us," answered the loons.
Before they had gone far enough to sight Oland, a light
wind blew against them. It brought with it something that
looked like immense clouds of white smoke — as if there
was a big fire somewhere.
When the birds saw the first white spiral haze, they be-
came uneasy and increased their speed. But that wrhich
resembled smoke blew thicker and thicker, and at last it
enveloped them altogether. There was no odour of smoke ;
and this smoke was not dark and dry, but white and damp.
Suddenly the boy realized that it was only a mist.
When the mist became so thick that they couldn't see
a goose-length ahead, the birds began to carry on like real
lunatics. All who before had travelled forward in such per-
fect order now began to play in the mist. They flew hither
and thither to entice one another astray. "Be careful ! " they
cried. "You're only travelling round and round. Turn
back, for pity's sake ! You'll never get to Oland that way."
They all knew perfectly well where the island was, but
they tried their best to lead each other astray. "Look at
those wagtails!" rang out in the mist. "They are going
WONDERFUL ADVENTURES OF NILS 137
back toward the North Sea!'3 "Have a care, wild geese!"
shrieked some one from another direction. ''If you con-
tinue like this, you'll get clear up to Rtigen."
There was of course no danger that the birds who were
accustomed to travel here would permit themselves to be
lured in a wrong direction. But the ones who had a hard
time of it were the wild geese! The jesters observed that
they were uncertain as to the way, and did all they could to
confuse them.
"Where are you bound for, good people?" called a swan.
He came right up to Akka, looking sympathetic and se-
rious.
"We are travelling to Oland; we have never been there
before," said Akka. She thought that here was a bird to
be trusted.
" It's too bad," said the swan, "they have lured you in the
wrong direction. You're on the road to Blekinge. Now
come with me, and I'll put you right!"
So he flew off with them, and when he had taken them so
far away from the track that they could hear no calls, he
disappeared in the mist.
They flew around a while at random. They had barely
succeeded in tracking the birds when a duck approached
them. "You'd better lie down on the water until the mist
clears," said the duck. "It is evident that you are not
accustomed to looking out for yourself on journeys."
Those rogues succeeded in making Akka's head swim.
As near as the boy could make out, the wild geese circled
round and round for a long time.
"Be careful! Can't you see that you are flying up and
down?" shouted a loon as he rushed by.
The boy positively clutched the goosey-gander around
138 WONDERFUL ADVENTURES OF NILS
the neck. This was something which he had feared for a
long time.
If they had not heard a rolling and muffled sound in the
distance, no one could have told when they would have
arrived.
Then Akka craned her neck, snapped hard with her
wings, and rushed on at full speed. Now she had something
to go by. The gray goose had told her not to light on
Oland's southern point, because there was a cannon there,
which the people used to shoot at the mist. Now she
knew the way, and now no one in the world could lead her
astray.
CHAPTER ELEVEN
GLAND'S SOUTHERN POINT
April, third to sixth.
ON THE most southerly part of Oland lies a royal
demesne, called Ottenby. It is a rather large estate
which extends from shore to shore, straight across the
island; and it is remarkable in that it has always been a
haunt for large bird-companies.
In the Seventeenth Century, when the kings used to go
over to Oland to hunt, the entire estate was simply a deer
park. In the Eighteenth Century there was a stud there,
where blooded race-horses were bred; and a sheep farm,
where hundreds of sheep were maintained. In our day
you'll find neither blooded horses nor sheep at Ottenby,
but great herds of young horses, which are to be used by
the cavalry. And in all the land there could be no better
abode for animals.
Along the extreme eastern shore lies the old sheep meadow
which is a mile and a half long, and the largest meadow in
all Oland. There animals can graze and play and run
about as free as if they were in a wilderness. And there you
will find the celebrated Ottenby Grove with the hundred-
year-old oaks, which give shade from the sun, and shelter
from the severe Oland winds. And we must not forget the
long Ottenby wall, which stretches from shore to shore and
separates Ottenby from the rest of the island, so that the
animals may know how far the old royal demesne extends
139
140 WONDERFUL ADVENTURES OF NILS
and be careful about getting in on other ground, where they
are not so well protected.
You'll find plenty of tame animals at Ottenby, but that
isn't all. One could almost believe that the wild ones also
felt that on an old crown property both wild and tame
creatures can count upon shelter and protection — since
they venture there in such great numbers.
Besides, there are still a few stags of the old stock left;
and burrow-ducks, and partridges love to live there, and it
offers a resting place in spring and late summer for thou-
sands of migratory birds. Above all, it is on the swampy
eastern shore below the sheep meadow where the migratory
birds alight to rest and feed.
When the wild geese and Nils had finally found their way
to Oland, they came down, like all the rest, on the shore
near the sheep meadow. The mist lay thick over the island >
as well as over the sea. But still the boy was amazed at
all the birds which he discovered only on the little narrow
stretch of shore which he could see.
It was a low sand-shore with stones and pools, and heaps
of cast-up seaweed. If the boy had been allowed to choose,
it isn't likely that he would have thought of alighting there;
but the birds probably looked upon this as a veritable para-
dise. Ducks and geese walked about and fed on the meadow;
nearer to the water ran snipe, and other coast-birds. The
loons lay in the sea and fished, but the greatest life and
movement was upon the seaweed banks along the coast.
There the birds stood side by side close together and
gobbled grub-worms which must have been found there in
limitless numbers, for it was very evident that there was
never any complaint over a lack of food.
The great majority were going to travel farther, and had
WONDERFUL ADVENTURES OF NILS 141
only alighted to take a short rest; and as soon as the
leader of a flock thought his comrades sufficiently re-
freshed he said: "If you are ready now, we may as well
move on."
" No, wait, wait ! We haven't had anything like enough,"
cried the company.
'You surely don't believe that I intend to let you eat so
much that you will not be able to move?" said the leader,
flapping his wings and starting off. Along the outermost
seaweed banks lay a flock of swans. They didn't bother
to go on land, but rested themselves by lying and rocking
on the water. Now and then they would thrust their
necks under the water and bring up food from the sea-
bottom. When they got hold of anything very good, they
indulged in loud shouts that sounded like trumpet calls.
When the boy heard that there were swans on the shoals,
he hurried out to the seaweed banks. He had never
before seen wild swans at close range. He had the good
luck to get quite close to them.
The boy was not the only one who had heard the swans.
WTild geese, gray geese and loons swam out between the
banks, formed a ring around the swans and stared at them.
The swans ruffled their feathers, raised their wings like
sails, and stretched their necks high in the air. Occasion-
ally one and another of them swam up to a goose, or a
great loon, or a diving-duck, and said a few words. And
then it appeared as though the one addressed hardly dared
raise his bill to reply.
But there was a little loon — a tiny mischievous
baggage — that couldn't stand all this ceremony. He
made a quick dive, and disappeared. Soon after that, one
of the swans let out a scream, and swam off so quickly that
142 WONDERFUL ADVENTURES OF NILS
the water foamed. Then he stopped and began to look
majestic once more. Presently another one shrieked in the
same way as the first one, and then a third.
The little loon wasn't able to stay under water any longer,
but bobbed up to the water's edge, little and black and
venomous. The swans rushed toward him; but when they
saw what a poor little wretch it was, they turned abruptly
- as if they considered themselves too good to quarrel with
him. Then the little loon dived again, and pinched their
feet. It certainly must have hurt; but the worst was that
they could not maintain their dignity. At once they took a
decided stand. They began to beat the air with their wings
so that it thundered, came forward a bit — as if running
on the water — finally they got wind under their wings, and
rose.
When the swans were gone they were greatly missed ; and
those who had but lately been amused by the little loon's
antics scolded him for his thoughtlessness.
The boy walked back toward firm land again, where he
stationed himself to watch the pool-snipe play. They re-
sembled small storks, and like these, had small bodies, tall
legs, long necks, and light, swaying movements; only they
were not gray, but brown. They stood in a long row on the
shore where it was washed by waves. As soon as a wave
rolled in, the whole row ran backward; as soon as it receded,
they followed it. And they kept this up for hours.
The showiest of all the birds were the burrow-ducks.
They were undoubtedly related to the ordinary ducks; for,
like these, they too had a thick-set body, a broad bill, and
webbed feet; but they were much more elaborately gotten
up. The feather dress itself was white; around the neck
they wore a broad gold band; the wing-mirror shimmered
WONDERFUL ADVENTURES OF NILS 143
in green, red, and black; the wing-tips were black, the head
was a dark green and shone like satin.
As soon as any of these appeared on the shore, the others
would say: "Now just look at those freaks! They know
how to tog themselves out." "If they were not so con-
spicuous, they wouldn't have to dig their nests in the earth,
but could lie above ground, like any one else," said a brown
mallard-duck. "They may try as much as they please,
but they'll never get anywhere with such noses," remarked
a gray goose. And this was actually true. The burrow-
ducks have a big knob at the base of the bill, which spoils
their appearance.
Close to the shore, sea-gulls and sea-swallows moved for-
ward in the water, and fished. ' What kind of fish are you
catching?'5 asked a wild goose. "Stickleback !-- Oland
stickleback. It's the best stickleback in the world," said
a gull. "Won't you taste of it?" And he flew up to the
goose with his mouth full of the little fishes, and wanted
to give her some. "Ugh! Do you think that I eat such
filth?" said the wild goose in disgust.
The next morning it was just as cloudy. The wild geese
walked about on the meadow and fed ; but the boy had gone
to the seashore to gather mussels. There were plenty of
them; and when he thought that the next day, perhaps, they
would be in some place where they couldn't get any food at
all, he determined that he would try to make himself a little
bag, which he could fill with mussels. He found an old
sedge on the meadow which was strong and tough ; and out
of this he began to braid a knapsack. He worked at it
for several hours, but when finished he was well satisfied
with it.
144 WONDERFUL ADVENTURES OF NILS
At dinner time all the wild geese came running and asked
him if he had seen anything of the white goosey-gander.
"No, he has not been with me," said the boy. 'We had
him with us all along until just lately," said Akka,"but now
we no longer know where he's to be found."
The boy jumped up, and was terribly frightened. He
asked if any fox or eagle had put in an appearance, or if any
human being had been seen in the neighbourhood. But no
one had noticed anything dangerous. The goosey-gander
had probably lost his way in the mist.
But to the boy the misfortune was just as great no matter
how the white one had been lost, and he started off
immediately to hunt for him. The mist shielded him, so
that he could run wherever he wished without being seen,
but it also prevented him from seeing. He ran southward
along the shore — all the way down to the lighthouse and
the mist cannon on the island's extreme point. There was
the same bird confusion everywhere, but no goosey-gander.
He ventured over to Ottenby estate, and he searched every
one of the old, hollow oaks in Ottenby grove, but he found
no trace of the goosey-gander.
He searched until it began to grow dark. Then he had to
turn back to the eastern shore. He walked with heavy steps
and was fearfully blue. He didn't know what would be-
come of him if he couldn't find the goosey-gander. There
was no one whom he could spare less.
But what was that big, white object coming toward him
in the mist if it wasn't the goosey-gander? He was all
right, and very glad that at last he had been able to find his
way back to the others. The mist had made him so dizzy,
he said, that he had wandered around on the big meadow all
day long. The boy threw his arms around his neck, for
WONDERFUL ADVENTURES OF NILS 145
very joy, and begged him to take care of himself and not
to wander away from the others. And he promised, posi-
tively, that he never would do so again. No, never again.
But next morning, when the boy was walking along the
beach looking for mussels, the geese came running and asked
if he had seen the goosey-gander. No, of course he hadn't.
'Well, then, the goosey-gander was lost again. He had
gone astray in the mist, just as on the day before."
The boy ran off in great alarm and began to search. He
found one place where the Ottenby wall was so tumble-
down that he could climb over it. Later he went about
on the shore — which gradually widened and became
so large that there was room for fields and meadows and
farms — then up on the flat highland, which lay in the
middle of the island, where there were no buildings except
windmills, and where the turf wTas so thin that the white
cement shone through it.
Meanwhile, he could not find the goosey-gander; and as
it was drawing on toward evening and the boy must return
to the beach, he couldn't believe anything but that his
travelling companion was lost. He was so depressed, he
did not know what to do with himself.
He had already clambered over the wall again, when he
heard a crash close beside him. As he turned to see what
it was that had fallen, he distinguished something that
moved on a stone-heap close to the wall. He stole nearer,
and saw the goosey-gander come trudging wrearily over the
stone-heap, with several long fibres in his mouth. The
goosey-gander did not see the boy, and the boy did not call
to him, but thought it advisable to find out first wrhy the
goosey-gander time and again disappeared in this manner.
And he soon learned the cause of it. Up in the stone-heap
146 WONDERFUL ADVENTURES OF NILS
lay a young gray goose, who cried with joy when the goosey-
gander came. The boy crept near to them, so that he
heard what they said. Then he found out that the gray
goose was wounded in one wing, so that she could not fly,
and that her flock had flown away and had left her all alone.
She was near death's door with hunger, when the white
goosey-gander heard her call, the other day, and sought her
out. Ever since, he had been carrying food to her. Both
of them hoped that she would be well before his flock left
the island, but, as yet, she could neither fly nor walk. She
was very much worried over this, but he comforted her
with the thought that he shouldn't travel for a long time.
At last he bade her good-night, and promised to come the
next day.
The boy let the goosey-gander go; and as soon as he was
gone, he, in turn, stole up to the stone-heap. He was angry
because he had been deceived, and now he wanted to say
to that gray goose that the goosey -gander was his property.
He was going to take the boy up to Lapland, and there
would be 110 talk of his staying here on her account. But
now, when he saw the young gray goose close to, he under-
stood not only why the goosey -gander had gone and carried
food to her for two days, but also why he had not wished to
mention the fact that he had helped her. She had the
prettiest little head; her feather-dress was like soft satin,
and her eyes were mild and pleading.
When she saw the boy, she wanted to run away; but the
left wing was out of joint and dragged on the ground, so
that it interfered with her movements.
'You mustn't be afraid of me," said the boy, and didn't
look nearly so angry as he had intended to appear. 'I'm
Thurnbietot, Morten Goosey-gander's comrade," he an-
WONDERFUL ADVENTURES OF NILS 147
nounced. Then he stood there, and didn't know what he
wanted to say.
Occasionally one finds something among animals which
makes one wonder what sort of creatures they really are.
One is almost afraid that they may be transformed human
beings. It was something like this with the gray goose.
As soon as Thumbietot said who he was, she lowered her
neck and head very charmingly before him, and said in
a voice so sweet that he couldn't believe it was a goose
that spoke: "I am very glad that you have come here
to help me. The white goosey-gander has told me that
no one is so wise and so good as you."
She said this with such dignity that the boy grew really
embarrassed. "This surely can't be any bird," thought
he. "It is certainly some bewitched princess."
He was filled with a desire to help her, and ran his hand
under the feathers, and felt along the wing-bone. The
bone was not broken, but there was something wrong with
the joint. He put his finger down into the empty socket.
" Be careful, now ! " he said, as he got a firm grip on the bone-
pipe and fitted it into the place where it ought to be. He
did it rather quickly and well, considering it was the first
time that he had attempted anything of the sort. But it
must have hurt very much, for the poor young goose uttered
a shrill cry, then sank down among the stones without show-
ing a sign of life.
The boy was terribly frightened. He had only wished to
help her, and now she was dead. He made a big jump from
the stone-heap, and ran away. He thought it was as though
he had murdered a human being.
The next morning the air was clear and free from mist,
and Akka said that now they should continue their journey.
148 WONDERFUL ADVENTURES OF NILS
All the others were willing to go, but the white goosey-
gander made excuses. The boy understood well enough
that he didn't care to leave the gray goose. Akka did not
listen to him, but started off.
The boy jumped upon the goosey-gander's back, and the
white one followed the flock — albeit slowly and unwill-
ingly. The boy was mighty glad that they could fly away
from the island. He was conscience-stricken on account of
the gray goose, and didn't want to tell the goosey-gander
what had happened when he had tried to cure her. It would
probably be best if Morten Goosey-gander never found out
about this, he thought, though he wondered, at the same time,
how the white one had the heart to leave the gray goose.
But suddenly the goosey-gander turned. The thought
of the young gray goose had overpowered him. It could
go as it would with the Lapland trip: he couldn't go with
the others when he knew that she was alone and ill, and
would starve to death. A few wing-strokes and he was
over by the stone-heap, but now there lay no young gray
goose between the stones. "Dunfin! Dunfin! Where art
thou?" called the goosey -gander.
'The fox has probably been here and taken her," thought
the boy. But at that moment he heard a sweet voice an-
swer the goosey-gander. "Here am I, goosey-gander; here
am I! I have only been taking a morning bath." And
up from the water came the little gray goose — fresh and
in good trim — and told how Thumbietot had pulled her
wing into place, and how she was entirely well, and ready
to go with them on the journey.
The drops of water lay like pearl-dew on her shimmery
satin-like feathers, and again Thumbietot thought that she
was a real little princess.
CHAPTER TWELVE
THE BIG BUTTERFLY
x
Wednesday, April sixth.
THE geese flew ahead over the long island which lay
distinctly visible under them. The boy felt happy
and light of heart during the trip. He was just as pleased
and contented now as he had been glum and depressed the
day before, when he roamed around on the island hunting
for the goosey-gander.
He saw now that the interior of the island consisted of a
barren high plain, with a wreath of fertile land along the
coast; and he began to comprehend the meaning of some-
thing which he had heard the other evening.
He had just seated himself by one of the many windmills
on the highland to rest a bit, when a couple of shepherds
came along with their dogs beside them, and a large flock of
sheep in their train. The boy was not afraid since he was
well hidden under the windmill steps. But it so happened
that the shepherds came and seated themselves on the same
steps, and then there was nothing for him to do but keep
perfectly still.
One of the shepherds was young, and looked about as
folks do mostly ; the other was an old queer one. His body
was large and knotty, but the head was small, and the face
had sensitive and delicate features It appeared as though
the body and head didn't belong together.
He sat silent a while, gazing into the mist with an unutter-
149
150 WONDERFUL ADVENTURES OF NILS
ably weary expression. Then he began to talk to his conv
panion. Presently the other took from his knapsack some
bread and cheese, to eat his evening meal. He answered
almost nothing, but listened very patiently, as if he were
thinking: "I may as well give you the pleasure of chat-
tering a while."
"Now I shall tell you something, Eric," said the old shep-
herd. "I have figured out that in former days, when both
human beings and animals were much larger than now,
that the butterflies, too, must have been uncommonly
large. And there was once a butterfly that was many
miles long, and had wings as wide as seas. Those wings
were blue, and shone like silver, and so gorgeous that, when
the butterfly was out flying, all the other animals stood still
and stared at it. It had this drawback, however, that it
was too large. The wings had hard work to carry it. But
probably all would have gone very well if the butterfly
had been wise enough to remain on the hillside. But it
wasn't; it ventured out over the Baltic Sea. And it hadn't
got very far before the storm came along and began to tear
at its wings. Well, it's easy to understand, Eric, how things
would go when the Baltic Sea storm began to wrestle with
frail butterfly-wings. It wasn't long before they were torn
away and scattered; and then, of course, the poor butter-
fly fell into the sea. At first it was tossed back and
forth on the billows, and then stranded upon a few cliff-
foundations just beyond Smaland. And there it lay — large
and long as it was.
"Now I think, Eric, that if the butterfly had dropped on
land, it would soon have rotted and fallen apart. But since
it fell into the sea, it was soaked through and through with
lime, and became as hard as a stone. You know, of course,
WONDERFUL ADVENTURES OF NILS 151
that we have found stones on the shore which are nothing
but petrified worms. Now I believe that it went the same
way with the big butterfly-body. I believe that it turned
where it lay into a long, narrow mountain out in the Baltic
Sea. Don't you? "
He paused for a reply, and the other nodded to him.
"Go on, so I may hear what you are driving at," said
he.
"And mark now, Eric, that this very Oland, where you
and I live, is nothing else than the old butterfly-body. If
one only stops to think one can see that the island is a
butterfly. Toward the north, the slender fore-body and
the round head can be seen, and toward the south the
lower body, which first broadens out and then narrows
down to a sharp point."
Here he paused once more and looked rather quizzically
at his companion to see how he took this assertion. But the
young man kept right on eating and nodded to him to
continue.
"As soon as the butterfly had been changed into a lime-
stone rock, many different kinds of seeds of herbs and trees
came travelling along with the winds, and wanted to take
root on itc It was a long time before anything but sedge
could grow there. Then came sheep-sorrel, the rock-rose
and the thorn-brush. But even to-day there is not so much
that grows on Alvaret that the mountain is well covered, for
it is barren here and there. And no one would think of
ploughing and sowing up here, where the earth-crust is so
thin. But if you will grant that Alvaret and the strong-
holds around it are made of the butterfly-body, then you
may well have the right to ask what that land which lies
beneath the strongholds is."
152 WONDERFUL ADVENTURES OF NILS
"Yes, it is just that," said he who was eating. 'That I
should indeed like to know."
"Well, you must remember that Oland has lain in the sea
a good many years, and meantime all the things which
tumble around with the waves - - seaweed and sand and
clams • — have gathered around it, and have stayed there.
Then, too, stone and gravel have fallen down from both the
eastern and the western strongholds. In this way the island
has acquired wide shores, where grain and flowers and trees
can grow.
"Up here, on the hard butterfly-back, only sheep and
cows and ponies go about. The only birds that live here
are humble lapwings and plover, and there are no buildings
except windmills and a few stone huts, where we shepherds
crawl in. But down on the coast lie big villages and
churches and parishes and fishing hamlets and a whole
city."
He looked searchingly at his comrade, who had finished
his meal, and was tying up the food-sack. "I wonder
where you will end with all this," said he.
"It is only this that I would know," insisted the shepherd,
lowering his voice so that he almost whispered the words,
and peering into the mist with his small eyes, which ap-
peared to be worn out from spying after all that which does
not exist — "Only this: If the peasants who live on the
built-up farms below the strongholds, or the fishermen who
take the small herring from the sea, or the merchants in
Borgholm, or the bathing guests who come here every
summer, or the tourists who wander around in Borgholm's
old castle ruin, or the sportsmen who come here in the fall
to hunt partridges, or the painters who sit here on Alvaret
and paint the sheep and windmills — I should like to know
WONDERFUL ADVENTURES OF NILS 153
if any of them understand that this island has been a
butterfly which once flew about with great shimmery wings."
"Surely it must have occurred to some of them," the
young shepherd put in, "as they sat at the edge of the
stronghold of an evening, and heard the nightingales trill in
the groves below them, and looked over Kalmar Sound, that
this island could not have come into existence in the same
way as the others."
"I want to ask," said the old one, "if no one has felt a
desire to give wings to the windmills — so large that they
could reach to heaven ; so large that they could lift the whole
island out of the sea, and let it fly like a butterfly among
butterflies."
"It may be possible that there is something in what you
say," returned the young man; "for on summer nights when
the heavens widen and open over the island, I have some-
times thought that it was as if it wanted to raise itself from
the sea, and fly away."
But when the old man had finally got the young man to
talk, he didn't listen to him very much. :'I should like to
know," resumed the old man in a low tone, "if any one can
explain why one feels such a sense of longing up here on
Alvaret. I have felt it every day of my life ; and I think it
preys upon each and every one who must go about here.
I want to know if no one else has understood that all this
wistfulness is due to the fact that the whole island is a
butterfly that longs for its wings."
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
LITTLE KARL'S ISLAND
THE STORM
Friday, April eighth.
THE wild geese had spent the night on Oland's northern
point, and were now on their way to the continent.
A strong south wind blew over Kalmar Sound, and they had
been swept northward. Still they worked their way toward
land with good speed. But when they were nearing the
first islands a powerful rumbling was heard, as if throngs of
strong-winged birds were approaching; and all at once the
water under them became perfectly black. Akka drew in
her wings so suddenly that she almost stood still in the air.
Thereupon, she sank down to light on the surface of the
sea. But before the geese reached the water, the storm
had caught up with them. It drove before it fogs, salt
scum, and small birds; it also caught the wild geese, threw
them on end, and cast them out to sea.
It was a rough storm. The wild geese tried time and again
to turn back, but couldn't do it, instead they were driven far-
ther and farther out. The storm had already blown them
past Oland, and the sea lay before them — empty and
desolate. There was nothing for them to do but keep out
of the water.
When Akka observed that they were unable to turn back,
she thought it needless to let the storm drive them over the
154
O
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H^
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O
CC
i-3
K
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WONDERFUL ADVENTURES OF NILS 155
entire Baltic. Therefore she sank down to the water.
Now the sea was raging, and increasing in violence every
second. The sea-green billows rolled forward with seeth-
ing foam on their crests. Each surged higher than the
last. It was as if they raced with each other to see which
could foam the wildest. But the wild geese were not
afraid of the swells. On the contrary, these seemed to afford
them much pleasure. They did not strain themselves
swimming, but lay and let themselves be washed up with
the swells and down in the water-dales, and had just as
much fun as children in a swing. Their only anxiety was
that the flock might be separated. The few land-birds
who drove by, up in the storm, cried with envy: 'There is
no danger for you who can swim."
But the wild geese were certainly not out of all danger.
In the first place, the rocking made them helplessly sleepy.
Time and again they wanted to turn their heads, poke
their bills under their wrings, and go to sleep. Nothing
can be more dangerous than to fall asleep in that way ; and
Akka kept calling out all the while: "Don't go to sleep,
wild geese! He that falls asleep will get away from the
flock. He that gets away from the flock is lost."
Despite all attempts at resistance one after another fell
asleep; and Akka herself came pretty near dozing off, when
she suddenly saw something round and dark rise to the top
of a wave. "Seals! Seals! Seals!" cried Akka in a high,
shrill voice, and rose into the air with resounding wing-
strokes. It was just at the crucial moment. Before the
last wild goose had time to come up from the water, the
seals were so close to her that they made a grab for her feet.
Then the wild geese were once more up in the storm which
drove them before it out to sea. No rest did it allow either
156 WONDERFUL ADVENTURES OF NILS
itself or the wild geese; and no land did they sight — only
desolate sea.
They lit on the water again, as soon as they dared ven-
ture. But after rocking upon the waves for a while, they
grew sleepy again. And when they fell asleep, the seals
came swimming. If old Akka had not been so wakeful,
not one of the geese would have escaped.
All day the storm raged; and it caused fearful havoc
among the crowds of little birds, which at this time of year
were migrating. Some were driven from their course to
foreign lands, where they died of starvation; others became
so exhausted that they sank down to the sea and were
drowned. Many were crushed against the cliff-walls, and
many became a prey to the seals.
The storm continued all day, and, at last, Akka began to
wonder if she and her flock would perish. They were now
dead tired, and nowhere did they see any place where they
might rest. At the approach of evening she no longer dared
lie down on the sea, for now it filled up all of a sudden with
large ice-cakes, which struck against each other, and she
feared they would be crushed between the floes. A couple
of times the wild geese tried to stand on the ice-crust; but
the first time the wild storm swept them into the water; the
second time, the merciless seals came creeping up on the ice.
At sundown the wild geese were once more up in the air.
They flew on — fearful of the night. The darkness seemed
to come upon them much too quickly this night — which
was so full of danger.
It was terrible. As yet they could see no land. How
would it go with them if they were forced to stay out on the
sea all night? They would either be crushed between ice-
floes or devoured by seals, or else separated by the storm.
WONDERFUL ADVENTURES OF NILS 157
The heavens were cloud-bedecked, the moon hid itself,
and the darkness came suddenly. At the same time all
nature was filled with a horror which caused the most
courageous hearts to quail. Distressed bird-travellers'
cries had sounded over the sea all day long without any one
having paid the slightest attention to them; but now, when
those who uttered them were no longer seen, they seemed
mournful and terrifying. Down on the sea, the ice-drifts
crashed against each other with a loud rumbling noise.
The seals tuned up their wild hunting songs. It was as
though heaven and earth were about to clash.
THE SHEEP
THE boy sat for a moment looking down into the sea.
Suddenly he thought it began to roar louder than ever. He
glanced up. Right in front of him — only a couple of
metres away — loomed a rugged and bare mountain-wall.
At its base the waves dashed into a foam-like spray. The
wild geese flew straight toward the cliff, and the boy did not
see how they could avoid being dashed to pieces against it.
No sooner had he wondered that Akka hadn't seen the dan-
ger in time than they were over by the mountain. Then
he also noticed that before them was the arched entrance to
a grotto, into which the geese steered. The next moment
they were safe.
The first thing the wild geese thought of — before they
gave themselves time to rejoice over their safety — was
to see if all their comrades were also harboured. Yes,
there were Akka, Iksi, Kolmi, Nelja, Viisi, Kuusi, all
the six goslings, the goosey-gander, Dunfin and Thum-
bietot; but Kaksi from Nuolja, the first left-hand goose,
158 WONDERFUL ADVENTURES OF NILS
was missing — and none knew anything about her
fate.
When the wild geese discovered that no one but Kaksi
had been separated from the flock, they took the matter
lightly. Kaksi was old and wise. She knew all their ways
and habits, and she, of course, would know how to find her
way back to them.
Now the geese began to look around in the cave. Enough
daylight came in through the opening so that they could
see the grotto was both deep and wide. They were
congratulating themselves on having found such a fine
night harbour, when one of the flock caught sight of
some shining, green dots, that glittered in a dark corner.
'Those are eyes!" cried Akka. 'There are big animals in
here." They rushed toward the opening, but Thumbietot
called to them: 'There is nothing to run away from! It's
only a few sheep lying alongside the grotto wall."
When the wild geese had accustomed themselves to the
dim daylight in the cave, they could see the sheep very dis-
tinctly. The grown-up sheep might be about as many as
there were geese; but beside these there were a few little
lambs. An old ram, with long, twisted horns, appeared to
be the most lordly one of the flock. The wild geese stepped
up to him with much bowing and scraping. "Well met in
the wilderness!" they greeted, but the big ram lay still,
and did not speak a word of welcome.
Then the wild geese thought that the sheep were dis-
pleased because they had taken shelter in their grotto.
"Our coming here is not agreeable perhaps?" said Akka.
"But we cannot help it, for we are wind-driven. WTe have
wandered about in uie storm all day, and it would be very
good to be allowed to stop here to-night." After that
WONDERFUL ADVENTURES OF NILS 159
there was a long pause before any of the sheep answered
with words; but, on the other hand, it could be heard dis-
tinctly that one or two of them heaved deep sighs. Akka
knew, to be sure, that sheep are always shy and peculiar; but
these seemed to have no idea as to how they should conduct
themselves. Finally an old ewe, who had a long and
pathetic face and a doleful voice, said: 'There isn't one
among us that would refuse to let you stay; but this is a
house of mourning, and we cannot receive guests, as in
former days." "You needn't let that worry you/' said
Akka. "If you knew what we have endured this day, you
would surely understand that we are satisfied if we only
get a safe spot to sleep on."
When Akka said that, the old ewe raised herself. "I be-
lieve it would be better for you to fly about in the worst
kind of storm than to stop here. But, at least you shall not
go from here before we have had the privilege of offering
you the best hospitality which the house affords."
She conducted them to a hollow in the ground, which was
filled with water. Beside it lay a pile of bait and husks
and chaff; and she bade them make the most of these.
'This year we have had a severe snow- winter on the
island," said she. 'The peasants who own us came out to
us with hay and oaten straw, so we shouldn't starve to
death. And this trash is all there is left of the good cheer."
The geese promptly made a rush for the food. They
thought they had fared well, and were in their best humour.
They must have observed, however, that the sheep were
anxious ; but they knew how easily scared sheep always are,
and didn't believe there was any actual danger on foot. As
soon as they had eaten, they meant to stand up to sleep as
usual. But presently the big ram got up and walked over to
160 WONDERFUL ADVENTURES OF NILS
them. The geese thought they had never seen a sheep with
such big and coarse horns. In other respects, also, he was
noticeable. He had a high, rolling forehead, intelligent
eyes, and a good bearing — as if he were a proud and coura-
geous animal.
"I cannot assume the responsibility of letting you geese
remain, without telling you that it is unsafe here," he said.
4 We cannot receive night guests just now." At last Akka
began to comprehend that this was serious. 'We will go
away, since you really wish it," said she. "But won't you
tell us first, what it is that troubles you? We know nothing
about it. We do not even know where we are." 'This
is Little Karl's Island!" said the ram. "It lies outside of
Gottland, and only sheep and sea-birds live here." "Per-
haps you are wild sheep ?': said Akka. 'We're not far
removed from it," replied the ram. 'We have nothing to
do with human beings. It's an old agreement between us
and some peasants on a farm in Gottland, that they shall
supply us with fodder in case we have snow-winter; and as
a recompense they are permitted to take away those of us
who become superfluous. The island is small, so it cannot
feed very many of us. But otherwise we take care of our-
selves all the year around, and we do not live in houses with
doors and locks, but in grottoes like these."
"Do you stay out here in the winter as well?'1 asked
Akka, surprised. " We do," answered the ram. ' We have
good fodder up here on the mountain throughout the year."
"It sounds as if you were better off than other sheep," said
Akka. "But what is the misfortune that has befallen you? "
"It was bitter cold last winter. The sea froze, and then
three foxes came ^ver the ice, and here th^y have been
ever since. Otherwise, there are no dangerous animals on
WONDERFUL ADVENTURES OF NILS 161
the island." "Oho! do foxes dare to attack such as you?'
"Oh, no! not during the day, when I can protect myself
and mine," said the ram, shaking his horns. :<But they
sneak upon us at night when we sleep in the grottoes.
We try to keep awake, but one must sleep some of the time;
and then they come upon us. They have already killed
every sheep in the other grottoes, and there were herds
that were just as large as mine."
"It isn't pleasant to tell that we are so helpless," said the
old ewe. "We cannot defend ourselves any better than if
we were tame sheep." "Do you think that they will come
here to-night ?': asked Akka. 'There is nothing else in
store for us," answered the old ewe. 'They were here last
night, and stole a lamb from us. They'll be sure to come
back, as long as there are any of us alive. That is what
they have done in the other places." ;'But if they are
allowed to keep this up, you'll become entirely extinct,"
said Akka. "Oh! it won't be long before it's all over with
the sheep on Little Karl's Island," sighed the ewe.
Akka stood there hesitatingly. It was by no means a
pleasant prospect to venture out in the storm again, nor was
it well to remain in a house where such guests were expected.
When she had pondered a while, she turned to Thumbietot.
"I wonder if you will help us, as you have done so many
times before," said she. Yes, that he would love to do, he
replied. "It is a pity for you not to get any sleep!" said
the wild goose, "but I wonder if you are able to keep awake
until the foxes come, and then to awaken us, so we may fly
away." The boy was not very glad of this; but anything
was better than going out in the storm again — so he
promised to keep awake.
He went over to the grotto opening, crawled in behind a
162 WONDERFUL ADVENTURES OF NILS
stone that he might be sheltered from the storm, and sat
down to watch.
When the boy had been sitting there a while, the storm
abated, the sky grew clear and the moonlight began to
play on the waves. The boy stepped to the opening to
look out. The grotto was rather high up on the mountain.
A narrow and steep path led to it. It was probably here
that he must await the foxes.
As yet he saw no foxes; but, on the other hand, there was
something which, for the moment, terrified him much more.
On the land-strip below the mountain stood some giants,
or other stone-trolls • — or perhaps they were actual human
beings. He thought at first that he was dreaming, but now
he was positive that he had not fallen asleep. He saw the
big men so distinctly that it could be no illusion. Some
stood on the land-strip, others right on the mountain- wall
as if about to climb it. Some had big, thick heads; others
had no heads at all. Some were one-armed, and some had
humps both before and behind. He had never seen any-
thing so extraordinary.
The boy stood there and worked himself into a state
of panic because of those trolls, and he almost forgot to
keep his eye peeled for the foxes. But now he heard
the scraping of claws and saw three foxes coming up the
steep. As soon as he knew that he had something real
to deal with, he was calm again, and not the least bit
scared. It occurred to him that it would be a pity to
awaken only the geese, and leave the sheep to their fate.
He thought he would like to arrange things some other
way.
He ran quickly ^ the other end of the grotto, shook the
big ram's horns until he awoke, and at the same time swung
WONDERFUL ADVENTURES OF NILS 163
himself upon his back. ''Get up, daddy, and we'll try to
frighten the foxes a bit!" said the boy.
He had tried to be as quiet as possible, but the foxes must
have heard some noise ; for when they came up to the mouth
of the grotto they stopped and deliberated. "It was cer-
tainly some one in there that moved," said one. "I wonder
if they are awake." "Just you go ahead!" said another.
"At all events, they can't do anything to us."
When they came farther into the grotto, they stopped and
sniffed. ' Whom shall we take to-night ? " whispered the one
in the lead. 'To-night we will take the big ram," said the
last. "After that, we'll have easy work with the rest."
The boy sat on the old ram's back and saw how they
sneaked along. "Now butt straight ahead!" whispered the
boy. The ram butted, and the first fox was thrust — top
over tail — back to the opening. "Now butt to the left!"
said the boy, turning the big ram's head in that direction.
The ram measured a terrific assault that caught the second
fox in the side. He rolled over several times before he
got to his feet again and made his escape. The boy had
wished that the third one, too, might have got a bump,
but this one had already skedaddled.
"Now I think that they've had enough for to-night," said
the boy. "So do I," agreed the big ram. :<Now lie
down on my back, and creep into the wool! You deserve
to have it warm and comfortable, after all the wind and
storm that you have been out in."
HELL'S HOLE
THE next day the big ram went around with the boy on his
back, and showed him the island. It consisted of a single
164 WONDERFUL ADVENTURES OF NILS
massive mountain. It was like a large house with perpen-
dicular walls and a flat roof. First the ram walked up on
the mountain roof and showed the boy the good grazing
lands there; and he had to admit that the island seemed to
be especially created for sheep. There wasn't much else
than sheep-sorrel and such little spicy growths as sheep
are fond of that grew on the mountain.
But indeed there was something beside sheep-fodder to
look at, for one who was well up on the cliff. To begin with,
the large expanse of sea — which now lay blue and sunlit,
and rolled forward in glittering swells — was visible. Only
upon one and another point did the foam spray up. To
the east lay Gottland, with its even and long-stretched coast;
and to the southwest lay Great Karl's Island, which was
built on the same plan as the little island. When the ram
walked to the very edge of the mountain roof, so the boy
could look down the mountain walls, he noticed that they
were simply filled with birds' nests; and in the blue sea be-
neath lay surf-scoters and eider-ducks and kittiwakes
and guillemots and razor-bills — so pretty and peaceful —
busying themselves with fishing for small herring.
'This is really a favoured land," said the boy. 'You
live in a pretty place, you sheep." "Oh, yes! it's pretty
enough here," said the big ram. It was as if he wished to
add something; but he didn't, he only sighed. "If you go
about here alone you must watch out for the crevices which
run all around the mountain," he cautioned after a pause.
And this was a good warning, for there were deep and broad
crevices in several places. The largest of them was called
Hell's Hole. That crevice was many fathoms deep and
nearly six feet wide. "If one were to fall down there, it
would certainly be the last of him," said the big rani. The
WONDERFUL ADVENTURES OF NILS 165
boy thought it sounded as if he had a special meaning in
what he said.
Then he conducted the boy down to the narrow strip
of shore. Now he could see those giants that had fright-
ened him the night before, at close range. They were
nothing but tall rock-pillars. The big ram called them
"boulders." The boy couldn't see enough of them. He
thought that if there had ever been any trolls who had
turned into stone they ought to look just like that.
Although it was pretty down on the shore, the boy liked
it even better on the mountain height. It was ghastly
down here; for everywhere they came across dead sheep. It
was here that the foxes held their orgies. He saw skele-
tons whose flesh had been eaten, and bodies that were half-
eaten, and others that they had scarcely tasted. It was
heart-rending to see how the wild beasts had thrown them-
selves upon the sheep just for sport — only to hunt them
and tear them to death.
The big ram did not pause in front of the dead, but
walked by them in silence. But the boy, meanwhile, could
not help seeing all the horror.
Then the big ram started up the mountain again. When
he was there he stopped and said: "If some one who
is capable and wise could see all the misery which prevails
here he surely would not be able to rest until these foxes had
been punished." 'The foxes must live, too," said the boy.
'Yes," admitted the big ram, "those who do not tear in
pieces more animals than they need for their sustenance,
they may as well live. But these are felons." 'The peas-
ants who own the island ought to come here and help you,"
declared the boy. 'They have rowred over a number of
times," replied the ram, "but the foxes always hid them-
166 WONDERFUL ADVENTURES OF NILS
selves in the grottoes and crevices, so they could not
shoot at them." 'You surely cannot mean, daddy, that
a poor little creature like me should be able to get at
them, when neither you nor the peasants have succeeded
in getting the better of them." "One that is little
and spry, can put many things to rights," said the big
ram.
They talked no more about this, and the boy went over
and sat down among the wild geese, who were feeding on the
highland. Although he had not cared to show his feelings
before the ram, he was very sad on the sheep's account, and
he would have been glad to help them. "I can at least
talk with Akka and Morten Goosey-gander about the
matter," thought he. "Perhaps they can help me with a
good suggestion."
A little later the white goosey-gander took the boy on his
back and crossed the mountain plain, in the direction of
Hell's Hole at that!
He wandered, carefree, on the broad mountain roof —
apparently unconscious of how large and white he was. He
didn't seek protection behind tufts, or any other protuber-
ances, but went straight ahead. It was singular that he
was not more careful, for it was obvious that he had fared
badly in yesterday's storm. He limped on his right leg,
and his left wing hung and dragged as if it were broken.
He acted as if there were no danger, pecked at a grass-
blade here and another there, and did not look about him in
any direction. The boy lay stretched out full length on the
goose-back, and looked up toward the blue sky. He was
so accustomed to riding now that he could both stand up
and lie down on tne goose-back.
While the goosey-gander and the boy were so carefree,
WONDERFUL ADVENTURES OF NILS 167
they did not observe, of course, that the three foxes had
come up on the mountain plain.
And the foxes, who knew that it was well-nigh impossible
to take the life of a goose on an open plain, thought at first
that they wouldn't chase after the goosey-gander. But
since they had nothing else to do, they finally sneaked down
into one of the long cracks, and tried to steal up to him.
They went about it so cautiously that the goosey-gander
couldn't see a shadow of them.
They were not far off when the goosey-gander made an
attempt to raise himself into the air. He spread his wings,
but he did not manage to lift himself. When the foxes
seemed to grasp the fact that he couldn't fly, they hurried
forward with greater eagerness than before. They no longer
concealed themselves in the cleft, but came out on the high-
land. They hurried as fast as they could, behind tufts
and hollows, coming nearer and nearer to the goosey-gander
— without his seeming to notice that he was being hunted.
At last the foxes were so near that they could make the final
leap. Simultaneously, all three threw themselves with one
long jump at the goosey-gander.
But yet at the last moment he must have noticed something,
for he ran out of the way, and the foxes missed him. This,
at any rate, didn't mean very much, for the goosey-gander
only had a couple of metres headway, and, in the bargain,
he limped. Anyhow, the poor thing ran ahead as fast as
he could.
The boy sat upon the goose-back — backward — and
shrieked and called to the foxes. "You have eaten your-
selves too fat on mutton, foxes. You can't catch up with a
goose even." He teased them so that they became crazed
with rage and thought only of rushing forward.
168 WONDERFUL ADVENTURES OF NILS
The white one ran right straight to the big cleft. When
he was there, he made one stroke with his wings and was
over. Just then the foxes were almost upon him.
The goosey-gander hurried on wTith the same haste ah
before, even after he had got across Hell's Hole. But he
had hardly run two metres when the boy patted him on the
neck, and said: "Now you can stop, goosey -gander."
At that instant they heard wild howls behind
them, and a scraping of claws, and heavy falls. But
of the foxes they saw nothing more.
The next morning the keeper of the lighthouse on Great
Karl's Island found a bit of bark poked under the en-
trance-door, and on it was carved in slanting, angular
letters: 'The foxes on the little island have fallen down
into Hell's Hole. Take care of them!"
And this the keeper of the lighthouse did, too.
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
TWO CITIES
THE CITY AT THE BOTTOM OF THE SEA
Saturday, April ninth.
IT WAS a calm and clear night. The wild geese did not
bother to seek shelter in any of the grottoes, but stood
and slept on the mountain top; and the boy had lain down
in the short, dry grass beside the geese.
It was bright moonlight that night; so bright that it was
difficult for the boy to go to sleep. He lay there wondering
how long he had been away from home and figured
out that it was three weeks since he had started on the trip.
At the same tune he remembered that this was Easter-eve.
"It is to-night that all the witches come home from
Blakulla," thought he, laughing to himself. For he was
just a little afraid of both the water-sprite and the elf, but
he didn't believe the least little bit in witches.
If there had been any witches out that night, he should
have seen them, to be sure. It was so light in the heavens
that not the tiniest black speck could move in the air with-
out his seeing it.
As the boy lay there with his nose in the air thinking
about this, he caught sight of something lovely ! The moon's
disc was whole and round, and rather high, and over it a
big bird came flying. It did not fly past the moon, but
moved as if it might have flown out from it. The bird
169
170 WONDERFUL ADVENTURES OF NILS
looked black against the light background, and the wings
extended from one rim of the disc to the other. It flew
on evenly, in the same direction, and the boy thought that
it was painted on the moon. The body was small, the
neck long and slender, the legs hung down, long and thin.
It couldn't be anything but a stork.
A couple of seconds later Herr Ermenrich, the stork, lit
beside the boy. He bent down and poked him with his
bill, to awaken him.
Instantly the boy sat up. "I'm not asleep, Herr
Ermenrich," he said. :'How does it happen that you are
out in the middle of the night, and how is everything at
Glimminge Castle? Do you want to speak with Mother
Akka?"
:'It's too light to sleep to-night," answered Herr Ermen-
rich. 'Therefore I decided to fly over here to Karl's
Island to hunt you up, friend Thumbietot. I learned
from the seamew that you were spending the night here.
I have not as yet moved over to Glimminge Castle, but am
still living at Pommern."
The boy was simply overjoyed to think that Herr Ermen-
rich had sought him out. They chatted about all sorts of
things, like old friends. At last the stork asked the boy if
he wouldn't like to go out riding for a while on this beautiful
night.
Oh, yes! that the boy wanted to do, if the stork would
manage to get him back to the wild geese before sunrise.
This he promised, so off they went.
Again Herr Ermenrich flew straight toward the moon.
They rose and rose; the sea sank deep down, but the flight
went so light and easy that to the boy it seemed almost as
if he were lying still in the air.
WONDERFUL ADVENTURES OF NILS 171
When Herr Ermenrich began to descend, the boy thought
that the flight had lasted an unreasonably short time.
They landed on a desolate bit of seashore that was
covered with fine, even sand. All along the coast ran a row
of sand-dunes with lyme-grass on their tops. They were not
very high, but they prevented the boy from seeing any of
the island.
Herr Ermenrich stood on a dune, drew up one leg, and
bent his head backward, so he could stick his bill under his
wing. 'You can roam around on the shore for a while,"
he said to Thumbietot, " while I rest myself. But don't go
so far away that you can't find your way back to me!"
To start with, the boy intended to climb a sand-dune to
see how the land behind it looked. But when he had
gone a couple of paces, he stubbed the toe of his wooden
shoe against something hard. He stooped down, and saw
a small copper coin lying on the sand. The coin was so
worn with verdigris that it was almost transparent; and so
poor that he didn't even bother to pick it up, but only
kicked it out of the way.
When he straightened up he was perfectly astounded, for
two paces away from him stood a high, dark wall with a
big, turreted gate.
The moment before the boy had bent down, the sea lay
there — shimmering and smooth, while now it was hidden
by a long wall with towers and battlements. Directly in
front of him, where before there had been only a few sea-
weed banks, the big gate of the wall opened.
The boy probably understood that it was a spectre-play
of some sort; so this was nothing to be afraid of, thought he.
It wasn't any dangerous witch or troll, or any other evil —
such as he always dreaded to encounter at night. Both
172 WONDERFUL ADVENTURES OF NILS
the wall and the gate were so beautifully constructed thai
his only desire was to see what there might be back of them.
"I must find out what this is," he thought, and went in
through the gate.
In the deep archway were guards, dressed in brocaded
and puffed suits, their long-handled spears beside them —
who sat and threw dice. They thought only of the game,
and took no notice of the boy who hurried past them.
Just within the gate he found an open space, paved with
large, even stones. Round about were rows of high and mag-
nificent buildings, between which opened long, narrow
streets. On the square — facing the gate — it fairly
swarmed with human beings. The men wore long, fur-
trimmed capes over satin suits; plume-bedecked hats sat
obliquely on their heads; on their chests hung superb
chains. They were all so regally attired that the whole lot
of them might have been kings.
The women went about in high headdresses and long
robes with tight-fitting sleeves. They, too, were beauti-
fully dressed, but their splendour was not to be compared
with that of the men.
This was exactly like the old story-book, which mother
took from the chest — only once — and showed to him.
The boy simply couldn't believe his eyes.
But that which was even more wonderful to look at
than the men or the women, was the city itself. Every
house was built with a gable that faced the street. And
the gables were so highly ornamented that one would
think they were trying to compete with each other as to
which could sho,/ the most beautiful decorations.
When suddenly seeing so much that is new, one cannot
manage to treasure it all in one's memory. But at least the
WONDERFUL ADVENTURES OF NILS 173
boy could recall having seen stairway gables on the
various landings which bore images of the Christ and his
Apostles; gables where there were images in niche after
niche all along the wall; gables that were inlaid with multi-
coloured bits of glass, and gables that were striped and
checked in white and black marble. As the boy was admir-
ing all this, a sudden sense of haste came over him. "Any-
thing like this my eyes have never seen before. Anything
like this they would never see again," he said to himself.
And he ran into the city — up one street, and down an-
other.
The streets were straight and narrow, but not empty
and gloomy, as they were in the cities with which he was
familiar. There were people everywhere. Old women
sat by their open doors and spun without a spinning-wheel
— only with the help of a shuttle. The merchants' shops
were like market-stalls — opening onto the street. All the
handicraftsmen did their work out of doors. In one place
they were boiling crude oil; in another tanning hides; in a
third there was a long rope-walk.
If only the boy had had time enough he could have
learned how to make all sorts of things. Here he saw how
armourers hammered out thin breast-plates; how jewellers
set precious stones in rings and bracelets; how turners
tended their irons ; how the shoemakers soled soft, red shoes ;
how the gold-wire drawers twisted gold thread, and how the
weavers inserted silver and gold into their cloth.
But the boy did not have time to stay. He only rushed
on, that he might see as much as possible before all would
vanish again.
The high wall ran clear round the city and fenced it in, as
a hedge shuts in a field. He saw it at the end of every
174 WONDERFUL ADVENTURES OF NILS
street — gable ornamented and crenulated. On top of the
wall walked warriors in shining armour; and when he had
run from one end of the city to the other, he came to still an-
other gate hi the wall. Beyond this wall lay the sea and har-
bour. The boy saw olden-time ships, with rowing-benches
straight across, and high structures fore and aft. Some
lay and took on cargo, others were just casting anchor.
Carriers and merchants hurried past each other. All over
there was life and bustle.
But not even here did he have the time to linger.
He rushed into the city again; and now he came up to the
big square. There stood the cathedral with its three high
towers and deep vaulted arches filled with images. Its
walls had been so richly decorated by sculptors that there
was not a stone without its own special ornamentation.
And what a magnificent display of gilded crosses, and gold-
trimmed altars, and priests in golden vestments shimmered
through the open gate! Directly opposite the church there
was a house with a notched roof and a single, slender, sky-
high tower. That was probably the courthouse. And
between the courthouse and the cathedral, all around
the square, stood the beautiful gabled houses, with their
multiplicity of adornments.
The boy had run himself both warm and tired. He
thought that now he had seen the most remarkable things,
and therefore he began to walk more leisurely. The street
into which he now turned was surely the one where
the inhabitants purchased their fine clothing. He saw
crowds of peopTe standing before the little stalls where the
merchants spread brocades, stiff satins, heavy gold cloth,
shimmery velvet, delicate veiling, and laces as sheer as a
spider's web.
WONDERFUL ADVENTURES OF NILS 175
Before, when the boy ran so fast, no one paid any
attention to him. The people must have thought it was
only a little gray rat that darted by them. But now, as
he walked down the street, very leisurely, one of the salesmen
caught sight of him, and began to beckon to him.
At first the boy was uneasy and wanted to hurry out of
the way, but the salesman only beckoned and smiled, and
spread out on the counter a lovely piece of satin damask, as
if to tempt him.
The boy shook his head. "I will never be so rich that I
can buy even a yard of that cloth," thought he.
But now they had caught sight of him in every stall, all
along the street. Wherever he looked stood a salesman
beckoning to him. They left their costly wares, and
thought only of him. He saw how they hurried into the
most hidden corner of the stall to fetch the best they
had to sell, and how their hands trembled with eagerness
and haste as they laid it upon the counter.
When the boy kept on going, one of the merchants
jumped over the counter, caught hold of him, and spread
before him silver cloth and woven tapestries, which shone
in brilliant colours.
The boy could only laugh at him. The salesman must
surely understand that a poor little creature like him couldn't
buy such things. He stood still and held out his two empty
hands so they would understand that he had nothing, and
let him go in peace.
But the merchant raised a finger and nodded and pushed
the whole pile of beautiful things over to him.
"Can he mean that he will sell all this for a gold piece?"
wondered the boy.
The merchant brought out a tiny worn and poor coin —
176 WONDERFUL ADVENTURES OF NILS
the smallest there was — and showed it to him. And he
was so eager to sell that he increased his pile with a pair of
large, heavy, silver goblets.
Then the boy began to dig down in his pockets. He knew,
of course, that he didn't possess a single coin, but he couldn't
help feeling for it.
All the other merchants stood by to see how the
sale would come off, and when they observed that the boy
began to search in his pockets, they flung themselves over
the counters, took up handfuls of gold and silver orna-
ments, and offered them to him. And they all showed him
that what they asked in payment was just one little penny,
The boy turned both vest and breeches pockets inside
out, so they should see that he owned nothing. Then tears
filled the eyes of all these regal merchants, who were so
much richer than he. At last he was moved because they
looked so distressed and pondered if he could not in some
way help them. And then he happened to think of the
rusty coin, which he had but lately seen on the strand.
He started to run down the street, and luck was with
him, so that he came to the self-same gate that he had
happened upon first. He dashed through it, and com-
menced to search for the little green copper penny that lay
on the strand a while ago.
He found it, too, very promptly ; but when he had picked
it up, and wanted to run back to the city with it — he saw
only the sea before him. No city wall, no gate, no sentinels,
no streets, no houses were now visible — only the sea.
The boy couldn't help that the tears came to his eyes.
He had believed, in the beginning, that that which he
had seen was only an illusion; but this he had already
forgotten. He only thought how beautiful it all was.
WONDERFUL ADVENTURES OF NILS 177
He felt a genuine, deep sorrow because the city had van-
ished.
That moment Herr Ermenrich awoke, and came up to
him. But he didn't hear him, and the stork had to poke the
boy with his bill to attract attention to himself. "I be-
lieve that you stand here and sleep the way I do," said
Herr Ermenrich.
" Oh, Herr Ermenrich ! " the boy exclaimed. "What was
that city which stood here just now?"
"Have you seen a city?" questioned the stork. 'You
have slept and dreamt I say."
"No! I have not dreamt," said Thumbietot, and he
told the stork all that he had experienced.
Then Herr Ermenrich said: "For my part, Thumbietot,
I believe that you fell asleep here on the strand and dreamed
all this. But I will not conceal from you that Bataki,
the raven, who is the most learned of all birds, once told
me that in former times there was a city on this shore, called
Vineta. It was so rich and so fortunate that no city has
ever been more glorious; but its inhabitants, unluckily,
gave themselves up to arrogance and love of display. As a
punishment, says Bataki, the city of Vineta was overtaken
by a flood, and sank into the sea. But these inhabitants
cannot die, nor is their city destroyed. And one night
in every hundred years, it rises in all its splendour up
from the sea, and remains on the surface just one hour."
"Yes; it must be so," said Thumbietot, "for this I have
seen.53
"But when the hour is up, it sinks again into the sea, if,
during that time, no merchant in Vineta has sold anything
to a single living creature. If you, Thumbietot, had only
had ever so tiny a coin to pay the merchants, Vineta might
178 WONDERFUL ADVENTURES OF NILS
have remained up here on the shore; and its people could
have lived and died like other human beings."
"Herr Ermenrich," said the boy, "now I understand why
you came and fetched me in the middle of the night. It was
because you believed that I should be able to save the old
city. I am so sorry it didn't turn out as you wished, Herr
Ermenrich."
He covered his face with his hands and wept. It was
hard to tell which looked the more disconsolate — the boy
or Herr Ermenrich.
THE LIVING CITY
Monday, April eleventh.
On Easter Monday, the wild geese and Thumbietot were
on the wing. They travelled over Gottland.
The large island lay smooth and even below them.
The ground was checked just as in Skane, and there were
many churches and farms.
The wild geese had taken the route over Gottland on
account of Thumbietot. He had not been himself for two
days, and had not spoken a cheerful word. This was be-
cause he had thought of nothing but that city which had
appeared to him in such a strange way. He had never seen
anything so beautiful and he could not be reconciled with
himself for having failed to save it. He was not usually
soft-hearted, but now he actually mourned for the beautiful
buildings and the stately people.
Both Akka and the goosey-gander had tried to convince
Thumbietot that he was the victim of a dream or an illu-
sion, but the boy wouldn't listen to anything of the sort.
He was so positive that he had really seen what he had seen
WONDERFUL ADVENTURES OF NILS 17<j
that no one could move him in his conviction. He went
about so disconsolate that his travelling companions became
uneasy for him.
Just as the boy was most depressed, old Kaksi came back
to the flock. She had been blown toward Gottland, and
compelled to travel over the whole island before she learned
from some crows that her comrades were on Little Karl's
Island. When Kaksi found out what was wrong with
Thumbietot, she said impulsivly:
"If Thumbietot is grieving over an old city, we'll soon be
able to comfort him. Come along, and I'll take you to a
place that I saw yesterday! He'll get over his distress
before long."
The geese were soon on their way to the place which Kaksi
wished to show Thumbietot. Blue as he was, he couldn't
keep from looking down at the land over which he travelled,
as usual.
He thought it looked as if the whole island had in the
beginning been just such a high, steep cliff as Karl's Island
— though much bigger of course. But afterward, it had
in some way been flattened out. Some one must have
rolled a big rolling-pin over it, as if it had been a lump of
dough. Not that the island had become altogether flat
and even, like a bread-cake, for it wasn't like that. While
travelling alongside the coast, he had seen, here and there,
white lime walls with grottoes and crags but in most places
the ground was level, and the shores sank modestly down
toward the sea.
In Gottland they had a pleasant and peaceful holiday
afternoon. It turned out to be mild spring weather; the
trees had big buds; spring blossoms dressed the ground in
the leafy meadows; the poplars' long, thin pendants swayed;
180 WONDERFUL ADVENTURES OF NILS
and in the little gardens, which are to be found around every
cottage, the gooseberry bushes were green.
The warmth and the budding of spring had tempted the
people out into gardens and roads, and wherever a number
of them had come together, they played games. Not
only the children played but the grown-ups also. They
threw stones at a given point, and they sent balls so high
into the air that they almost touched the wild geese. It
looked cheerful and pleasant to see big folks at play; and
the boy certainly would have enjoyed it had he only been
able to forget his grief and disappointment because of his
failure to save the ancient city.
But anyhow, he had to admit that this was a lovely trip.
The air was so full of joy and melody. Little children
played ring games, and sang as they played. The Salva-
tion Army was out. He saw a lot of people dressed in black
and red sitting upon a wooded hill, playing on guitars and
brass instruments. Down a road came a great crowd of
people. They were Good Templars who had been on a
pleasure trip. He recognized them by the big banners,
with the gold inscriptions, which waved above them. They
sang song after song as long as he could hear them.
After that the boy could never think of Gottland with-
out thinking of the games and songs at the same time.
He had been sitting, looking down a long while, when
he happened to raise his eyes. His amazement was inde-
scribable. Before he was aware of it, the wild geese had
left the interior of the island and gone westward — toward
the seacoast. Now the wide, blue sea lay before him.
However, it was not the sea that was remarkable, but a
city which appeared on the shore.
The boy was coming from the east, and the sun had just be-
WONDERFUL ADVENTURES OF NILS 181
gun to sink in the west. As he drew nearer the city, its
walls and towers and high, gabled houses and churches stood
there quite black against the light evening sky. There-
fore, he couldn't see what it was really like, and for a
moment or two he believed that this city was just as
beautiful as the one he had seen on Easter-eve.
When he came right up to it, he saw that it was both like
and unlike that city from the bottom of the sea. There was
the same contrast between these two cities as there is be-
tween a man whom one sees arrayed in purple and jewels one
day, and another day dressed in rags.
Yes, once upon a time, this city had probably been like
the one of which he sat dreaming. This one was also
enclosed by a wall with towers and gates. But the towers
in this city, which had been allowed to remain on land, were
roofless, hollow, and empty. The gates were without doors;
sentinels and warriors had disappeared. All the glittering
splendour was past and gone. There was nothing left but
the naked, gray stone skeleton.
As the boy came farther into the city, he saw that the
larger part of it was made up of small, low houses; but here
and there stood a few high gabled houses and cathedrals
which were from the olden time. The walls of the gabled
houses were painted white, and entirely without ornamen-
tation; but because the boy had so lately seen the buried
city, he seemed to understand how they once had been
decorated: some with statues, and others with black and
white marble. And it was the same with the old cathe-
drals; they were mostly roofless with bare interiors. The
window openings were empty, the floors grass-grown, and
ivy clambered along the walls. But now he knew how they
had looked once upon a time : they had been covered with
182 WONDERFUL ADVENTURES OF NILS
paintings and images; the chancel had been adorned with
altars and gilded crosses, and there priests had moved,
arrayed in golden vestments.
The boy saw also the narrow streets, which were almost
deserted on this holiday afternoon. He knew, he did, what
throngs of stately people had once upon a time swarmed
there !
But that which Nils Holgersson did not see was, that the
city even to-day is both beautiful and quaint. He saw
neither the cozy cottages on the side streets, with their
white-trimmed black walls, the red geraniums behind the
shining window-panes, nor the many pretty gardens and
avenues, nor the beautv of the vine-clad ruins. His
* */
mind was so filled with the preceding splendour that he
could see no beauty in the present.
The wild geese flew back and forth over the city several
times, so that Thumbietot might see everything. Finally,
they sank down on the grass-grown floor of a cathedral
ruin, to spend the night.
Long after they had gone to sleep, Thumbietot was still
awake and sat gazing up through the open arches at the
evening sky. When he had sat there a while, he made up
his mind not to grieve any more because he hadn't been
able to save the buried city.
No, that he shouldn't do, now that he had seen this one.
If the other city had not sunk into the sea again, then per-
haps in time it would have become as dilapidated as this
one. Perhaps it could not have resisted time and decay,
but would have stood there with roofless churches and
bare houses and desolate, empty streets — just like this
one. Then it was better that it should remain in all its
glory down in the deep.
WONDERFUL ADVENTURES OF NILS 183
"What happened was best," thought he. "If I had
the power to save the city, I don't believe that I should care
to do it." Then he no longer grieved over that matter.
And there are doubtless many among the younger
generation who think in the same way. But when people
are old, and have accustomed themselves to being satisfied
with little, then they are more happy over the Visby that
lives, than over a magnificent Vineta at the bottom of the
sea.
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
THE LEGEND OF SMALAND
Tuesday, April twelfth.
THE wild geese had made a good trip over the sea, and
had alighted in Tjust Parish in northern Smaland.
That parish seemed unable to make up its mind whether
it wanted to be land or sea. Bays ran in everywhere,
and cut the land up into islands and peninsulas and
points and capes. The sea was so forceful that the only
things which could hold themselves above it were hills and
mountains. All the lowlands were hidden away, under the
water.
It was evening when the wild geese came in from the sea;
and the land with the little hills lay prettily between the
shimmering bays. Here and there, on the islands, the boy
saw cabins and cottages; and the farther inland he travelled,
the bigger and better became the dwelling houses, till,
finally, they grew into large, white manors. Along the
shores was a border of trees; and beyond lay field-plots,
and on the tops of the little hills there were more trees.
He could not help but think of Blekinge. Here again was
a place where land and sea met in a charming and peace-
ful way, trying, as it were, to show each other the best and
loveliest thev possessed.
The wild geese alighted upon a barren rock island in
Goose Bay. The first glance at the shore assured them
that spring had made rapid strides while they were on the
184
WONDERFUL ADVENTURES OF NILS 185
islands. The big, fine trees were not as yet leaf-clad, but
the ground under them was brocaded with white anemones,
gagea, and blue anemones.
When the wild geese saw the flower-carpet they feared
that they had lingered too long in the southern part of the
country. Akka immediately remarked that there was no
time in which to look up any of the stopping places in
Smaland. By the next morning they must travel north-
ward, over Ostergotland.
The boy should then see nothing of Smaland, which
grieved him. He had heard more about Smaland than
about any other province, and he had longed to see it with
his own eyes.
The summer before, when he served as goose-boy with a
farmer in the neighbourhood of Jordberga, he used to meet
almost every day two Smaland children, who also tended
geese. These children had irritated him terribly with their
Smaland.
It wouldn't be fair to say that Osa, the goose-girl, had
annoyed him. She was much too wise for that. But the
one who could be aggravating with a vengeance was her
brother, little Mats.
"Have you heard, Nils Goose-boy, what happened when
Smaland and Skane were created?'' he would ask, and if
Nils Holgersson said no, he promptly began to relate the
old joke-legend.
'Well, it happened at the time when Our Lord was
creating the world. While he was doing his best work,
Saint Peter came along. He stopped and looked on, and
then he asked if it was hard wrork. 'Well, it isn't exactly
easy,' said Our Lord. Saint Peter stood there a while
longer, and when he noticed how easy it appeared to lay
186 WONDERFUL ADVENTURES OF NILS
out one landscape after another, he too wanted to try his
hand at it. * Perhaps you need to rest yourself a little,' said
Saint Peter, 'I could attend to the work in the meantime
for you.' But this Our Lord did not wish. 'I do not know
if you are so much at home in this art that I can trust you
to take hold where I leave off,' he answered. Then Saint
Peter was angry, and said that he believed he could create
just as fine countries as Our Lord himself.
"It so happened that Our Lord was just then creating
Smaland. It wasn't even half ready but it looked as if it
would become an indescribably beautiful and fertile land. It
was difficult for Our Lord to say no to Saint Peter, and,
besides, he thought very likely that a thing so well begun no
one could spoil. Therefore he said : * If you like, we will
prove which of us understands this sort of work the better.
You, who are only a novice, shall go on with this, which I
have begun, and I will create a new land.' To this Saint
Peter agreed at once; so they went to work — each in his
place.
" Our Lord moved southward a bit, where he undertook to
create Skane. And it wasn't long before he was through
with it, and asked if Saint Peter had also finished, and
would come to look at his work. 'Mine was ready long ago,'
said Saint Peter; and from the sound of his voice it was
plain how pleased he was with what he had accomplished.
"When Saint Peter saw Skane, he had to acknowledge
that there was nothing but good to be said of that country.
It was a fertile land and easy to cultivate, with wide plains
wherever one looked, and with hardly a sign of hills. It
was evident that Our Lord had really contemplated making
it such that people would feel at home there. 'Yes, this
is a good country,' said Saint Peter, 'but I think that
WONDERFUL ADVENTURES OF NILS 187
mine is better.5 'Then we'll take a look at it,' said Our
Lord.
"The land was already finished in the north and east
when Saint Peter began the work, but the southern and
western parts, and the whole interior, he had created all by
himselfo Now when Our Lord came up there, where Saint
Peter had been at work, he was so horrified that he stopped
short and exclaimed: 'What on earth have you been doing
to this land, Saint Peter?'
"Saint Peter, too? stood looking around — perfectly
astonished. He had had the idea that nothing could be so
good for a land as a great deal of heat. Therefore he had
gathered together an enormous mass of stones and moun-
tains, and had erected a highland, and this he had done so
that it might be near the sun, and receive much help from
the sun's heat. Over the stone-heaps he had spread a thin
layer of soil, and then he had thought that everything was
well arranged.
"But while he was down in Skane, a couple of heavy
showers had come up, and more was not needed to show
what his work amounted to. When Our Lord came to
inspect the land, all the soil had been washed away, and
the naked rock foundation shone forth all over. Where it
was about the best, lay clay and heavy gravel over the rocks,
but it looked so poor that it was plainly to be seen that
little else than spruce and juniper and moss and heather
could grow there. But what there was plenty of was
wrater! It covered all the clefts in the mountain; and lakes
and rivers and brooks were everywhere, to say nothing
of swamps and morasses, which spread over large areas.
And the most exasperating of it all was, that while some
tracts had too much water, it was so scarce in others that
188 WONDERFUL ADVENTURES OF NILS
whole fields lay like dry moors, where sand and earth whirled
up in clouds with the least little breeze.
'What can have been your meaning in creating such a
land as this?' said Our Lord. Saint Peter made excuses,
and declared he had wished to build up a land so high that
it should have plenty of warmth from the sun. 'But then
you will also get much of the night chill,' said Our Lord,
'for that too conies from heaven. I am very much afraid
the little that can grow here will freeze.'
' This to be sure, Saint Peter hadn't thought about.
'Yes, here it will be a poor and frost-bound land,' said
Our Lord. 'It can't be helped.' "
When little Mats had got this far in his story, Osa, the
goose-girl, protested: "I cannot bear, little Mats, to hear
you say that it is so miserable in Smaland, You forget
entirely how much good soil there is there. Only think
of More district, by Kalmar Sound! I wonder where
you'll find a richer grain region. There are fields upon
fields, just like here in Skane. The soil is so good that I
cannot imagine anything that couldn't grow there."
"I can't help that," little Mats insisted. "I'm only
relating what others have said before."
"And I have heard many say that there is not a more
beautiful coast land than Tjust. Think of the bays and
islets; of the manors and the groves!" said Osa. "Yes,
that's true enough," little Mats admitted, "And don't you
remember," continued Osa, :'the school teacher said that
such a lively and picturesque district as that bit of Smaland
which lies south of Lake Vettern is not to be found in all
Sweden? Think of the beautiful lake and the yellow coast-
mountains, and of Grenna and Jonkoping, with its match
factory, and think of Huskvarna, and all the big establish-
WONDERFUL ADVENTURES OF NILS 189
ments there!'3 'Yes, that's true enough," said little Mats
once again. "And think of Visingso, little Mats, with the
ruins and the oak forests and the legends! Think of the
valley through which Em River flows, with all the villages
and flour-mills and sawmills and carpenter shops!" "Yes,
that is true enough," said little Mats, and seemed troubled.
All of a sudden he looked up and said: "Now we are
pretty stupid! All this, of course, lies in Our Lord's
Smaland, in that part of the land which was already finished
when Saint Peter undertook the job. It's only natural that
it should be pretty and fine there. But in Saint Peter's
Smaland it looks as it says in the legend. And it wasn't
surprising that Our Lord was distressed when he saw it,"
continued little Mats, picking up the thread of his story.
"Saint Peter didn't lose his courage, at all events, but tried
to comfort Our Lord. * Don't be so grieved over this!' he
said. 'Only wait until I have created people who can till
the swamps and break up fields from the stone hills.'
'That was the end of Our Lord's patience — and he said:
%No! you can go down to Skane and make the Skaninge,
but the Smalander I shall create myself.* And so Our Lord
created the Smalander, and made him quick-witted and
contented and happy and thrifty and enterprising and cap-
able, that he might be able to get his living in his poor
country."
Then little Mats was silent; and if Nils Holgersson had
also kept still, all would have gone well; but he couldn't
possibly refrain from asking how Saint Peter had succeeded
in creating the Skaninge.
'Well, what do you think yourself?" said little Mats,
and he looked so scornful that Nils fell upon him, to
thrash him. But Mats was only a little chap, and Osa,
190 WONDERFUL ADVENTURES OF NILS
the goose-girl, who was a year older than he, ran for-
ward instantly to help him. Good-natured though she
was, she sprang like a lion as soon as any one touched her
brother.
Nils Holgersson did not care to fight a girl, so turned his
back; and he didn't look at those Smaland children for the
rest of the day.
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
THE CROWS
THE EARTHEN CROCK
IN THE southwest corner of Smaland lies a parish called
Sonnerbo — a rather smooth and even country. And
one who sees it in winter, when it is covered with snow, can-
not imagine that there is anything under the snow but
garden-plots, rye-fields, and clover-meadows, as is generally
the case in flat countries. But, in the beginning of April,
when the snow melts away in Sonnerbo, it becomes apparent
that under it lie only dry, sandy heaths, bare rocks, and big,
marshy swamps. There are fields here and there, to be
sure, but these are so small that they are scarcely worth
mentioning; and there are also little red or gray farmhouses
hidden away in some birch-coppice — almost as if they
were afraid to be seen.
Where Sonnerbo Parish touches the boundaries of Hal-
land, there is a sandy heath which is so far-reaching that
he who stands at one end of it cannot look across to the
other. Nothing except heather grows on the heath, and
it wouldn't be easy to coax other growths to thrive there.
To start with, one would have to uproot the heather; for
it is thus with heather : although it has only a little shrunken
root, small shrunken branches, and dry, shrunken leaves, it
fancies itself a tree. Therefore, it acts just like real trees -
spreads itself out in forest fashion over wide areas; holds
191
192 WONDERFUL ADVENTURES OF NILS
faithfully together, and causes all foreign growths that wish
to crowd in upon its territory to die out.
The only place on the heath where the heather is not all-
powerful is a low, stony ridge which crosses it. There you'll
find juniper bushes, mountain ash, and a few large, fine
oaks. At the time that Nils travelled around with the wild
geese, a little cabin stood there, with a bit of cleared ground
around it. But the people who once lived there for some
reason or other had moved away. The little cabin was
empty now, and the ground lay unused.
On leaving the cabin the tenants had closed the damper,
fastened the window-hooks, and locked the door. But no
one had thought of the broken window-pane which was
only stopped up with a rag. After the showers of a couple
of summers, the rag had moulded and shrunk, and, finally,
a crow had succeeded in poking it out.
The ridge on the heather-heath was really not so desolate
as one might think, for it was inhabited by a large crow-folk.
Naturally, the crows did not live there all the year around.
They moved to foreign lands in the winter; in the autumn
they travelled from one grain-field to another over all
Gotaland, and picked grain; during the summer, they spread
themselves over the farms in Sonnerbo Parish, and lived
upon eggs and berries and birdlings; but every spring, at
nesting time, they came back to the heather-heath.
The one who had poked the rag from the window was
a crow-cock named Garm Whitefeather; but he was never
called anything but Fumle or Drumle, or out and out Fumle-
Drumle, because he always acted awkwardly and stupidly,
and wasn't good for anything except to be made fun of.
Fumle-Drumle was bigger and stronger than any of the
other crows, but that didn't help him in the least; he was —
WONDERFUL ADVENTURES OF NILS 193
and remained — a butt for ridicule. Nor did it profit him
that he came of very good stock. By rights he should
have been leader for the whole flock, since this honour from
time immemorial had belonged to the oldest Whitefeather.
But long before Fumle-Drumle was born, the power had
gone from his family, and it was now held by a cruel wild
crow named Wind-Rush.
This transference of power was due to the fact that the
crows on crow-ridge had decided to change their manner of
living. Possibly there are many who think that everything
in the shape of crow lives in the same way; but such is not
the case. There are entire crow-folk who lead respectable
lives — that is to say, they eat only grain, worms, cater-
pillars, and dead animals; and there are others who lead a
regular bandit's life, who throw themselves upon baby
hares and small birds, and who plunder every bird's nest
they set eyes on.
The ancient Whitefeathers had been strict and temperate;
and so long as they had led the flock, the crows had been
compelled to conduct themselves in such a way that other
birds could speak no ill of them. But the crows were
numerous, and poverty was great among them. They
didn't care to go the whole length of living a strictly moral
life, so they rebelled against the Whitefeathers, and gave
the power to Wind-Rush who was the worst nest-plunderer
and robber that could be imagined — if his wife, Wind-
Air, wasn't worse still. Under their government the crows
had begun to lead such a life that now they were more
feared than pigeon-hawks and leech-owls.
Naturally, Fumle-Drumle had nothing to say in the flock.
The crows were all of the opinion that he did not in the
least take after his forefathers, and that he wouldn't do
194 WONDERFUL ADVENTURES OF NILS
as a leader. No one would have noticed him, if he hadn't
constantly committed fresh blunders. A few, who were
quite sensible, said that perhaps it was lucky for Fumle-
Drumle that he was such a bungling idiot; otherwise Wind-
Rush and Wind-Air would hardly have allowed him, who was
of the old chieftain stock, to remain with the flock.
Now, on the other hand, they were rather friendly toward
him, and willingly took him along with them on their
marauding explorations, where all could observe how much
more skilful and daring they were than he.
None of the crows knew that it was Fumle-Drumle who
had pecked the rag out of the window; for had they known
of this, they would have been very much astonished. Such
a thing as daring to approach a human habitation they had
never credited him with. He had kept this very carefully
to himself, and he had his own good reasons for doing so.
Wind and Air always treated him well in the daytime, and
when the others were around. But one dark night, when
the comrades were perched on the night branch, he was
attacked by a couple of crows and nearly murdered. After
that every night, when it was dark, he moved from his
usual sleeping quarters into the empty cabin.
Now one afternoon, when the crows on the crow-ridge
had put their nests in order, they happened upon a re-
markable find. Wind-Rush, Fumle-Drumle, and a couple
of the others had flown down into a big hollow in one
corner of the heath. The hollow was nothing but a gravel-
pit, but th i crows could not be satisfied with such a sim-
ple explanation; they flew down into it continually, turning
over every single sand-grain to get at the reason why hu-
man beings had dug it. While the crows were potter-
ing around down there, a mass of gravel fell from one
WONDERFUL ADVENTURES OF NILS 195
side. They rushed up to it, and had the good fortune to
find amongst the fallen stones and stubble a large earthen
crock, which was locked with a wooden clasp. Naturally,
they wanted to know if there was anything in it, and tried
to peck holes in the crock and to bend up the clasp, but had
no success.
They stood perplexed looking at the crock, when they
heard some one say: "Shall I come down and assist you
crows?" They glanced up quickly. On the edge of the hol-
low sat a fox blinking down at them. He was one of the
prettiest foxes as to both colour and form that they had ever
seen. The only fault with him was that he had lost an ear.
"If you wish to do us a service, we will not say nay," said
Wind-Rush, as he and the others flew up from the hollow.
Then the fox jumped down in their place, pecked at the jar
and pulled at the lock — but he couldn't open it either.
" Can you make out what there is in it? " said Wind-Rush.
The fox rolled the jar back and forth, and listened care-
fully. "It must be silver money," said he.
This was more than the crows had expected. "Do you
think it can be silver?'5 they gasped, their eyes ready
to pop out of their heads with greed; for remarkable as it
may sound, there is nothing in the world which crows love
so much as silver.
"Hear how it rattles!" said the fox, rolling the crock
around once more. "Only I can't understand how we shall
get at it." ' That will surely be impossible," said the crows.
The fox stood rubbing his head against his left fore-leg, and
pondered: Now perhaps he might succeed, with the help
of the crows, in mastering that little imp who was always
eluding him. "Oh! I know some one who can open the
crock for you," said the fox. "Then tell us! Tell us!" cried
196 WONDERFUL ADVENTURES OF NILS
the crows; and they were so excited that they tumbled down
into the pit. 'That I will do, if you'll first promise me that
you will agree to my terms," he said.
Then the fox told the crows about Thumbietot, and said
that if they could only bring him to the heath he would open
the crock for them. But in payment for this counsel, he
demanded that they should deliver Thumbietot to him as
soon as he had got the silver money for them. The crows
had no reason to spare Thumbietot, so accepted the pro-
posal at once. It was easy enough to agree to this; but it
was not so easy to find out where Thumbietot and the wild
geese were stopping.
Wind-Rush himself started away with fifty crows, and
said that he should soon return. But one day after another
passed without the crows on the crow-ridge seeing a shadow
of him.
KIDNAPPED BY CROWS
Wednesday, April thirteenth.
THE wild geese were up at daybreak, in time to get them-
selves a bite of food before starting out on their journey
toward Ostergotland. The island in Goose Bay, where
they had slept, was small and barren, but in the water all
around it were water-weeds upon which they could eat their
fill. It was worse for the boy, however. He couldn't man-
age to find anything eatable.
As he stood there, hungry and drowsy, looking around in
all direction 3, his glance fell upon a pair of squirrels play-
ing upon the wooded point, opposite the rock island. He
wondered if the squirrels had any of their winter supplies left,
and asked the white goosey-gander to take him over to the
point that he might beg them for a couple of hazelnuts.
WONDERFUL ADVENTURES OF NILS 197
The white one promptly swam across the bay with the
boy, but as luck would have it, the squirrels were having so
much fun chasing each other from tree to tree that they
didn't bother about listening to him. Instead they drew
farther into the grove. He hurried after them, and was
soon out of the goosey-gander's sight — the latter stayed
behind and waited on the shore.
The boy was wading forward between some white
crocus-stems - - which were so high that they reached to his
chin — when he felt some one from behind catch hold of
him, and try to lift him up. He faced about and saw that a
crow had gripped him by the shirt-band. He tried to jerk
himself loose, but before he could do so, another crow rushed
up, caught him by the stocking, and knocked him over.
If Nils had at once cried for help, the white goosey-
gander certainly could have saved him; but the boy prob-
ably thought that he could protect himself, unaided,
against a couple of crows. He kicked and struck out, but
the crows didn't let go their hold, and succeeded in
rising into the air with him. To make matters worse, they
flew so recklessly that his head struck a branch. He got
such a hard bump that it grew black before his eyes, and he
lost consciousness.
When he opened his eyes once more, he found himself
high above the ground. He regained his senses slowly; at
first he knew neither where he was, nor what he saw. When
he glanced down, he noticed that under him was spread a
tremendously big woolly carpet which was woven in greens
and reds, and in large irregular patterns. The carpet was
very thick and fine, but he thought it a pity that it had been
so badly used. It was actually ragged ; long tears ran through
it and, in some places, large pieces were torn away. But
198 WONDERFUL ADVENTURES OF NILS
strangest of all, it was spread over a mirror-floor; for
under the holes and tears in the carpet shone bright and
glittering glass.
And then, the boy saw the sun come rolling up in the
heavens. Instantly, the mirror-glass under the holes and
tears in the carpet began to shimmer in red and gold. It
looked gorgeous, and the boy was charmed with the pretty
colour-scheme, although he didn't exactly understand what
it was that he saw. But now the crows descended and at
once he understood that the big carpet under him was the
earth, which was dressed in green cone-trees and brown,
naked leaf-trees, and that the holes and tears were shim-
mering bays and little lakes.
He remembered that the first time he had travelled up in
the air, he had thought that the earth in Skane looked like a
piece of checked cloth. But this landscape, which resem-
bled a torn carpet — what country might this be?
He began to ask himself a lot of questions. Why wasn't
he sitting on the goosey-gander's back? Why did a great
swarm of crows fly around him? And why was he being
pulled and knocked hither and thither so that he was
about to break in two.
Then, all at once, the whole thing dawned upon him.
He had been kidnapped by a couple of crows. The white
goosey-gander was still on the shore, waiting, and to-day
the wild geese were to travel to Ostergotland. He was
being carried southwest; this he understood because the
sun's disc was behind him. The big forest-carpet which lay
beneath him was surely Smaland.
"What will become of the goosey-gander now, when I can-
not look after him?" thought the boy; and he began to
shout at the crows to take him back to the wild geese
WONDERFUL ADVENTURES OF NILS 199
instantly. He was not at all uneasy on his own account
for he believed that they w^ere carrying him off simply in a
spirit of mischief.
The crows didn't pay the slightest attention to his ex-
hortations, but flew on as fast as they could. After a bit,
one of them flapped his wings in a manner which meant:
"Look out ! Danger ! " Soon thereafter they came down in
a spruce forest, pushed their way between prickly branches
to the ground, and put the boy down under a thick pine,
where he was so well concealed that not even a falcon could
have sighted him.
Fifty crows, with bills pointed toward him, surrounded
him. "NowT, crows, perhaps I may hear what your pur-
pose is hi carrying me off," said he. But he was hardly
allowed to finish the sentence before a big crow hissed at
him: "Keep still! or I'll bore your eyes out!"
It was plain that the crow meant what she said; and
there was nothing for the boy to do but obey. So he sat
there and stared at the crows, and the crows stared at
him.
The longer he looked at them, the less he liked them.
Their feather-dresses were shockingly dusty and unkempt — •
as if they had never come in contact with water or oil.
Their toes and claws were grimy with dried-in mud, and
the corners of their mouths were covered with food drip-
pings. These wTere very different birds from the wild geese
— that he observed. He thought they had a cruel, sneaky,
watchful, and bold appearance, just like cut-throats and
vagabonds.
"I have certainly fallen in with a real robber-band," he
remarked to himself.
Just then he heard the wild geese's call above him.
200 WONDERFUL ADVENTURES OF NILS
'Where are you? Here am I. Where are you? Here
am I."
He understood that Akka and the others were out search-
ing for him; but before he could answer them, the big crow,
who appeared to be the leader of the band, hissed in his
ear: 'Think of your eyes!" And there was nothing for
him to do but to keep still.
He heard their call once or twice more, then it died
away. The wild geese did not know he was so near them.
'Well, you'll have to get along by yourself, Nils Holgers-
son," he thought. "Now you must prove whether or not
you have learned anything during these weeks in the
open."
A moment later the crows gave the signal to break up; and
since it was still their intention, apparently, to carry him
along in such a way that one held onto his shirt-band, and
one to a stocking, the boy said: "Is there not one among
you strong enough to carry me on his back? You have
already travelled so badly with me that I feel as if I were in
pieces. Only let me ride! I'll not jump from the crow's
back, that I promise you."
"Oh! you needn't think that we mind how you fare,"
snapped the leader. But now the largest of the crows,
a dishevelled and uncouth one with a white feather in his
wing, came forward and said: "It would certainly be best
for all of us, Wind-Rush, if Thumbietot got there whole,
rather thai, in sections. Therefore, I shall carry him on my
back." "If you can do it, Fumle-Drumle, I have no objec-
tion," said Wind-Rush. "But don't lose him!"
Herewith much was already gained, and the boy actually
felt contented. 'There is nothing to be gained by losing
my grit because I have been kidnapped by the crows,"
ft-.
M
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WONDERFUL ADVENTURES OF NILS 201
thought he. "I'll surely be able to manage those poor
little wretches."
The crows continued to fly southwest, over Smaland. It
was a glorious morning — sunny and calm, and the birds
down on the earth were singing their best love songs. In a
high, dark forest sat the thrush himself, with drooping
wings and swelling throat; and he struck up a tune. "How
pretty you are! How pretty you are! How pretty you
are!" sang he. "No one is so pretty. No one is so pretty.
No one is so pretty." As soon as he had finished this song,
he began all over again.
But just then the boy rode over the forest; and when he
had heard the song a couple of times, and marked that the
thrush knew no other, he put both hands up to his mouth as
a speaking trumpet, and called down: 'We've heard all
this before. We've heard all this before." "Who is it?
Who is it? Who is it? W7ho makes fun of me?" asked the
thrush trying to catch a glimpse of the one who called. " It
is Kidnapped-by-Crows who makes fun of your song,"
answered the boy. At that, the crow-chief turned his head
and said: "Be careful of your eyes, Thumbietot!" But
the boy thought, "Oh! I don't care about that. I want to
show you that I'm not afraid of you!"
They travelled farther and farther inland with woods
and lakes everywhere. In a birch-grove on a naked bough
sat Mrs. Wood-Dove; before her stood Mr. Wood-Dove.
He blew up his feathers, cocked his head, raised and lowered
his body, until the breast-feathers rattled against the
branch. And all the while he cooed: "You, you, you are
the loveliest in all the forest. No one in the forest is so
lovely as you, you, you ! "
But up in the air the boy rode past, and when he heard
202 WONDERFUL ADVENTURES OF NILS
Mr. Dove he couldn't keep still. "Don't you believe him!
Don't you believe him!" cried he.
"Who, who, who, is it that lies about me? " cooed Mr. Dove,
and tried to get a sight of the one who shrieked at him.
"It is Caught-by-Crows that lies about you," replied the
boy. Again Wind-Rush turned to the boy and commanded
him to shut up, but Fumle-Drumle, who was carrying him,
said: :'Let him chatter, then all the little birds will think
that we crows have become quick-witted and funny birds."
"Oh! they're not such fools as that," said Wind-Rush; but
he liked the idea just the same, for after that he let the boy
call out as much as he liked.
They flew mostly over forests and woodlands. In one
place they saw a pretty old manor-house with the lake before
it, and the forest behind it. The old house had red walls and
a turreted roof; great sycamores about the grounds, and big,
thick gooseberry-bushes in the orchard. On top of the
yeathercock sat the starling, singing so loud that every note
was heard by the wife, who sat on an egg in the heart of a
pear tree. 'We have four pretty little eggs," sang the
starling. ' We have four pretty little round eggs. We have
'he whole nest filled with fine eggs."
When the starling sang the song for the thousandth time,
Jie boy rode over the place. He put his hands up to his
mouth, as a pipe, and called to the starling: 'The magpie
will get them. The magpie will get them."
4 Whc is it that wants to frighten me? " asked the starling,
and flapped his wings uneasily. "It is Captured-by-
Crows that frightens you," said the boy. This tune the
crow-chief didn't attempt to hush him up. Indeed both
he and his flock were having so much fun that they cawed
with satisfaction.
WONDERFUL ADVENTURES OF NILS 203
The farther inland they came, the larger were the lakes,
and the more plentiful the islands and points. And on a
lake-shore stood a drake bowing before the duck. "I'll be
true to you all the days of my life. I'll be true to you all the
days of my life," vowed the drake. "It won't last until
the summer's end," shrieked the boy. 'Who are you?"
called the drake. "My name's Stolen-by-Crows," shrieked
the boy0
At dinner time the crows lighted in a food-grove. They
walked about and procured food for themselves, but none
of them thought of giving the boy anything. Then Fumle-
Drumle came riding up to the chief with a dog-rose branch
with a few dried buds on it. "Here's something for you,
Wind-Rush," said he. "This is dainty food, and suitable
for you." Wind-Rush sniffed contemptuously. "Do you
think that I want to eat old, dry buds?" said he. "And I
thought you would be pleased with them!" said Fumle-
Drumle, throwing away the dog-rose branch as if in despair.
It fell right in front of the boy, and he wasn't slow in
grabbing it and eating until he was satisfied.
When the crows were done eating, they began to chatter.
"What are you thinking about, Wind-Rush? You are so
quiet to-day," said one of them to the leader. 'I'm think-
ing that once upon a time there lived in this district a hen
who was very fond of her mistress; and in order to really
please her, she went and laid a nest full of eggs, which she
hid under the storehouse floor. The mistress of the house
wondered, of course, where the hen was keeping herself such
a long time. She searched for her, but did not find her.
Can you guess, Longbill, who it was that found her and the
eggs?':
"I think I can guess it, Wind-Rush, but when you have
204 WONDERFUL ADVENTURES OF NILS
told about this, I will tell you something like it. Do you
remember the big, black cat in Hinneryd's parish house?
She was dissatisfied because they always took the new-
born kittens from her, and drowned them. Just once did
she succeed in keeping them concealed, and that was when
she had lain them in a haystack out of doors. She was pretty
well pleased with those young kittens, but I believe that I
got more pleasure out of them than she did."
Now they became so excited that they all talked at once.
'What kind of a trick is that — to steal little kittens?" said
one. "I once chased a young hare who was almost full-
grown. That meant to follow him from covert to covert."
He got no further before another took the words from him.
"It may be sport, perhaps, to annoy hens and cats, but I
find it still more remarkable that a crow can worry a human
being. I once stole a silver spoon
But now the boy thought he was too good to sit and hear
such gabble. "Now listen to me, you crows!" said he.
:<I say that you ought to be ashamed of bragging
about all your wickedness. I have lived amongst wild
geese for three weeks, and while with them I never heard
or saw anything but good. You must have a bad chief,
since he permits you to rob and murder in this way. You
should really begin life anew, for I can tell you that
human beings have grown so tired of your wickedness that
they ?re doing everything in their power to root you out.
And there will soon be an end to you."
When Wind-Rush and the crows heard this, they were
so furious that they wanted to throw themselves upon him
and tear him in pieces. But Fumle-Drumle laughed and
cawed, and stood in front of him. "Oh, no, no!" said
he, and seemed perfectly horrified. ' What think you that
WONDERFUL ADVENTURES OF NILS 205
Wind-Air will say if you tear Thumbietot in pieces before
he has got that silver money for us?" 'It has to be you,
Fumle-Drumle, that's afraid of women-folk," said Rush.
But, at any rate, both he and the others left Thumbietot in
peace.
Shortly after that the crows moved on. Until now the
boy had thought that Smaland wasn't such a poor country
after all. Of course it was woody and full of mountain-
ridges, but alongside the islands and lakes lay cultivated
grounds, and any real desolation he hadn't come upon.
But the farther inland they went the fewer became the vil-
lages and cottages. Toward the last, he thought he was
riding over a veritable wilderness of nothing but swamps
and heaths and juniper-hills.
The sun had gone down, but it was still quite light when
the crows reached the large heather-heath. Wind-Rush
sent a crow ahead to say that he had met with success; and
when it was known, Wind- Air, with several hundred crows
from crow-ridge, flew to meet the arrivals. In the midst
of the deafening cawing which the crows emitted, Fumle-
Drumle said to the boy: 'You have been so comical and
so jolly during the trip that I am really fond of you. There-
fore, I want to give you some good advice. As soon as we
light, you'll be requested to do a bit of work which may seem
very easy to you; but beware of doing it!"
Soon thereafter Fumle-Drumle put Nils down in the
bottom of a sand-pit. The boy flung himself on his back,
and lay there as though he were simply done up. Such a lot
of crows fluttered about him that the air rustled like a wind-
storm, but he didn't look up.
"Thumbietot," said Wind-Rush, "get up now! You
shall help us with a matter which will be very easy for you."
206 WONDERFUL ADVENTURES OF NILS
The boy didn't move, but pretended to be asleep. Then
Wind-Rush took him by the arm and dragged him over
the sand toward an earthen crock of old-time make that
stood in the pit. :'Get up, Thumbietot," said he, "and
open this crock!" 'Why can't you let me sleep!" yawned
the boy. "I'm too tired to do anything to-night. Wait
until to-morrow!"
"Open the crock!" said Wind-Rush, shaking him.
"How shall a poor little child be able to open such a crock?
Why, it's quite as large as I am myself." "Open it!" com-
manded Wind-Rush once more, "or it will be a sorry thing
for you." The boy got up, tottered over to the crock,
fumbled the clasp, and let his arms fall. "I'm not usually
so weak," he said. "If you will only let me sleep until
morning, I think that I'll be able to manage with that
clasp»"
But Wind-Rush was impatient, and he flew at the
boy and nipped him in the leg. The boy didn't care to
suffer that sort of treatment from a crow. He jerked
himself loose, ran a couple of paces backward, drew his
knife from the sheath, and held it threateningly in front
of him. 'You'd better be careful!" he cried to Wind-
Rush.
But Wind-Rush, too, was so enraged that he didn't dodge
the danger. He rushed at the boy, just as if he were blind,
and -an so straight against the knife that it entered through
his eye into his head. The boy quickly drew the knife
back, but Wind-Rush only struck out with his wings, then
fell dead.
'Wind-Rush is dead! The stranger has killed our chief-
tain, Wind-Rush!" cried the nearest crows. And then
there was a terrible uproar. Some wailed, others cried for
WONDERFUL ADVENTURES OF NILS 207
vengeance. They all ran or fluttered up to the boy, with
Fumle-Drumle in the lead. But Fumle-Drumle acted
badly, as usual, fluttering and spreading his wings over
the boy, and preventing the others from coming forward
and running their bills into him.
The boy thought that now things looked bad for him.
He couldn't run away from the crows, and there was
no place where he could hide. Suddenly he happened to
think of the earthen crock. He took a firm hold on the clasp
and pulled it out. Then he hopped into the crock to hide
there. But the crock was a poor hiding-place, for it was
filled almost to the brim with little, thin silver coins. The
boy couldn't get far enough down, so he stooped and began
to throw out the coins.
Until now the crows had fluttered around him in a thick
swarm, pecking at him, but when he threw out the
money they immediately forgot their thirst for vengeance,
and hurried to gather the coins. The boy threw out
handf uls and all the crows — yes, even Wind-Air herself — •
picked them up. And each one as he succeeded in picking
up a coin ran off to the nest with the utmost speed to con-
ceal it.
After the boy had thrown out all the silver pennies
from the crock he glanced up. But one crow was left
in the sand-pit. That was Fumle-Drumle, with the
white feather in his wing; he who had carried Thumb ietot.
*' You have rendered me a greater service than you yourself
understand," said the crow in a tone very different from the
one he had used hitherto, "and I want to save your life.
Sit down on my back, and I'll take you to a hiding-place
where you will be safe to-night. To-morrow, I shall arrange
it so that you can get back to the wild geese."
208 WONDERFUL ADVENTURES OF NILS
THE CABIN
Thursday, April fourteenth.
THE following morning when the boy awoke, he was ly-
ing in a bed. When he saw that he was in a house, with
four walls around him, and a roof over him, he thought
that he was at home. "I wonder if mother will come
soon with some coffee," he muttered to himself where he
lay, half awake. Then he remembered that he was in a
deserted cabin on the crow-ridge and that Fumle-Drumle
with the white feather had borne him there the night before.
The boy was sore all over after the journey he had made,
and he thought it lovely to lie still while waiting for Fumle-
Drumle, who had promised to come and fetch him.
Curtains of checked cotton hung before the bed. He
drew them aside to look out into the cabin and instantly it
occurred to him that he had never seen the mate to a cabin
like this. The walls consisted of nothing but two rows of
logs; then the roof began. There was no interior ceiling,
so he could look clear up to the roof-tree. The cabin was
so small that it appeared to be built for such as he
rather than for real people. However, the fireplace and
chimney were so large, he thought he had never seen larger.
The entrance door was in a gable-wall at the side of the fire-
place, and so narrow that it was more like a wicket than
a Joor. In the other gable-wall he saw a low and broad
window with many little panes. There was scarcely any
movable furniture in the cabin. The bench by the wall
and the table under the window were stationary — also
the big bed where he lay, and the many-coloured cupboard.
The boy could not help wondering who owned the cabin,
and why it was deserted. It certainly looked as though the
WONDERFUL ADVENTURES OF NILS 20»
people who had lived there expected to return. The coffee-
urn and the gruel-pot stood on the hearth, and there was
wood in the fireplace; in a corner stood the oven rake and
baker's peel; the spinning-wheel was raised on a bench; on
the shelf over the window lay oakum and flax, two skeins
of yarn, a candle, and a bunch of matches.
Yes, it surely looked as if the people who had lived there
intended to come back. There were bedclothes on the bed;
and the walls were hung with long strips of cloth, upon
which three riders named Kaspar, Melchior, and Balthazar
were painted. The same horses and riders were pictured
many times. They rode all around the cabin, and even up
toward the joists.
But in the roof the boy saw something which brought him
to his feet in a jiffy. Two big bread-cakes hung there upon
a spit. They looked old and mouldy, but it was bread all
the same. He gave them a knock with the oven-rake and
one cake fell to the floor. He ate some of it, then filled
his bag. It was incredible how good bread was, anyhow.
He looked around the cabin once more, trying to discover
if there was anything else he might find useful to take along.
"I may as well take what I need, since no one else cares
about it," thought he. But most everything was too big
and heavy. All that he could carry might be a few matches,
perhaps.
He clambered upon the table, and swung himself, with
the help of the curtains, onto the window-shelf. While he
stood there stuffing the matches into his bag, the crow with
the white feather came in through the window. " Well, here
I am at last," said Fumle-Drumle as he lit on the table.
"I couldn't get here any sooner because we crows have
elected a new chieftain in Wind-Rush's place." "Whom
210 WONDERFUL ADVENTURES OF NILS
have you chosen?" asked the boy. 'Well, we have chosen
one who will not permit robbery and injustice. WTe have
elected Garni Whitefeather, lately called Fumle-Drumle,"
he answered, drawing himself up until he looked absolutely
regal. "That was a good choice," said the boy, and con-
gratulated him. " You may well wish me luck ! " said Garm ;
then he told the boy about the time they had had with
Wind-Rush and Wind-Air.
During this recital the boy heard a voice outside the
window which he thought sounded familiar. " Is he here? '
inquired the fox. 'Yes, he's hidden in there," answered a
crow- voice. "Be careful, Thumbietot!" cried Garm,.
'Wind-Air stands outside with that fox who wants to eat
you." More he didn't have time to say, for just then Smirre
dashed against the window. The old, rotten window-frame
gave way. The next second Smirre stood on the window-
table and Garm Whitefeather, who had no time to
fly away, he instantly killed. Thereupon he jumped
to the floor, and looked around for the boy. Thumbietot
tried to hide behind a big oakum-spiral, but Smirre had
already spied him, and was crouched for the final spring.
Since the cabin was so small and so low, the boy realized that
the fox would have no difficulty in reaching him. But at
that moment the boy was not without weapons of defence.
Fe quickly struck a match, set it to the oakum, and when
it was aflame he threw it down upon Smirre Fox. As
the fire enveloped the fox, he was seized with mad terror.
He thought no more about the boy, but rushed wildly out
of the cabin.
But it looked as if the boy had escaped one danger only
to throw himself into a greater one. From the tuft of
oakum which he had flung at Smirre the fire had spread to
WONDERFUL ADVENTURES OF NILS 211
the bedhangings. He jumped down and tried to smother it,
but now it blazed too violently. The cabin was soon filled
with smoke, and Smirre Fox, who had remained just out-
side the window, began to grasp the state of affairs within.
'Well, Thumbietot," he called out, "which do you choose
now: to be broiled alive in there, or to come out here to me?
Of course, I should prefer to have the pleasure of eating
you; but in whichever way death meets you it will be dear
to me."
The boy could not think but that the fox was right, for
the fire was making rapid headway. The whole bed was
now ablaze; smoke rose from the floor; and along the
painted wall-strips the fire crept from rider to rider. The
boy had jumped up into the fireplace and was trying to
open the oven door, when some one inserted a key into the
keyhole and slowly turned the lock. "It must be human
beings coming," he thought. And in his dire dilemma
he was not afraid, but only glad. He was already on the
threshold when the door opened. Before him stood two chil-
dren. How they looked when they saw the cabin in flames he
took no time to find out, but rushed past them into the open.
He didn't dare run far. He knew, of course, that Smirre
Fox lay in wait for him, and he understood that he must
remain near the children. He turned to see what sort of
folk they were, but he hadn't looked at them a second
before he ran up to them and cried: "Oh, good-day,
Osa goose-girl! Oh, good-day, little Mats!'2
For when the boy saw those children he forgot entirely
where he was. Crows and burning cabin and talking ani-
mals had vanished from his memory. He was walking on
a stubble-field in West Vemmenhog tending a goose-flock;
and beside him, on the field, walked those same Smaland
WONDERFUL ADVENTURES OF NILS
children, with their geese. The instant he recognized them
he bounded to the stone-hedge and shouted: "Oh, good-
day, Osa goose-girl! Oh, good-day, little Mats!"
But when the children saw such a little creature coming
up to them with outstretched hands, they caught hold of
each other, staggered back, and looked scared to death.
When the boy observed their terror he came to and
remembered who he was. And then it seemed to him that
nothing worse could happen than that those children
should see how he had been bewitched. Shame and grief
because he was no longer a human being overpowered him,
He turned and fled — he knew not whither.
But a glad meeting awaited the boy when he came down
to the heath. For there, in the heather, he spied something
white, and toward him came the white goosey-gander.,
accompanied by Dunfin. When the white one saw the boy
running with such speed, he thought that dreadful fiends
were pursuing him. So he hastily flung him upon his back
and flew off with
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
THE OLD PEASANT WOMAN
Thursday, April fourteenth.
THREE tired wanderers were out in the late evening
in search of a night harbour0 They travelled over a
poor and desolate portion of northern Smaland. But the
sort of resting-place they wanted, they should have been
able to find; for they were no weaklings who asked for soft
beds or comfortable rooms. " If one of these long mountain-
ridges had a peak so high and steep that a fox couldn't in
any way climb up to it, then we should have a good sleeping-
place," said one. "If a single one of the big swamps was
thawed out, and so marshy and wet that a fox wouldn't
dare venture out on it, that, too, would be a right good
night harbour," said the second. "If the ice on one of the
large lakes over which we travel were only loose, so that a
fox could not come out upon it, then we should have found
just what we are seeking," said the third.
The worst of it was that when the sun went down two of the
travellers became so sleepy that every second they were
ready to fall to the ground. The third, who could keep
awake, grew more and more uneasy as night approached.
"Then it was a misfortune that we came to a land where
lakes and swamps are frozen, so that a fox can get around
everywhere. In other places the ice has melted away; but
now we're well up in the very coldest Smaland, where spring
has not as yet arrived. I don't know how I shall ever
213
214 WONDERFUL ADVENTURES OF NILS
manage to find a good sleeping-place! Unless I find some
spot that is well protected, Smirre Fox will be upon us
before morning."
He gazed in all directions, but saw no shelter where he
could lodge. It was a dark and chilly night, with wind
and drizzle. It grew more terrible and disagreeable around
him every second.
This may sound strange, perhaps, but the travellers
did not seem to have the least desire to ask for house-room
on any farm. They had already passed many parishes
without knocking at a single door. Little hillside cabins on
the outskirts of the forest, which all poor wanderers are
glad to run across, they took no notice of either. One
might almost be tempted to say they deserved to have a
hard time of it, since they did not seek help where it was
to be had for the asking.
But finally, when it was so dark that there was scarcely
a glimmer of light left under the skies and the two who
needed rest journeyed on in a kind of half -sleep, they hap-
pened upon a farmyard which was far removed from all
neighbouring farms. Not only did it lie there desolate,
but it appeared to be uninhabited as well. No smoke rose
from the chimney; no light shone through the windows; no
human being moved on the place. When the one who
could keep awake saw the place, he thought: "Now come
what may, we must try to get in here. Anything better
we are not likely to find."
Soon after that, all three stood in the houseyard. Two
of them fell asleep the instant they stood still, but the third
looked about him eagerly, to find out where they could get
under cover. It was not a small farm. Beside the dwell-
ing house and stable and smokehouse, there were long
WONDERFUL ADVENTURES OF NILS 215
ranges with granaries and storehouses and cattlesheds.
But it all looked awfully poor and dilapidated. The houses
had gray, moss-grown, leaning walls, which seemed ready to
topple over. In the roofs were yawning holes, and the
doors hung aslant on broken hinges. It was apparent
that here no one had taken the trouble to drive a nail into
a wall in a long time.
Meanwhile, he who was awake had discovered which of
the houses was the cowshed. He roused his travelling
companions from their sleep, and conducted them to the
cowshed door. Luckily, this was not fastened with any-
thing but a hasp which he could easily push up with a rod.
He heaved a sigh of relief at the thought that they should
soon be in safety. But as the cowshed door swung open
with a sharp creaking sound, he heard a cow begin to
bellow. "Are you coming at last, mistress?" said she. "I
thought you were not going to give me any supper to-night."
The one who was awake paused in the doorway, terror-
stricken, when he discovered that the cowshed was not empty.
But he soon saw that there was only one cow in the shed, and
three or four chickens; and then he took courage again.
'We are three poor travellers who want to come in some-
where, where no fox can assail us, and no human being
capture us," said he. 'We wonder if this can be a good
place for us." "I cannot believe but that it is," answered
the cow. 'To be sure the walls are wretched, but the fox
does not walk through them as yet; and no one lives here
but an old peasant woman, who isn't at all likely to make
a captive of any one. But who are you?" she continued,
as she twisted in her stall to get a sight of the newcomers.
''I am Nils Holgersson from Vemmenhog, who has been
transformed into an elf," replied the first of the incomers,
216 WONDERFUL ADVENTURES OF NILS
"and I have with me a tame goose, whom I usually ride,
and a gray goose." "Such distinguished guests have never
before been within my four walls," said the cow, "and I bid
you welcome, although I would have preferred that it had
been my mistress, come to give me my supper."
The boy led the geese into the cowshed, which was rather
large, and placed them in an empty manger, where they
fell asleep instantly. For himself, he made a little bed
of straw thinking that he, too, would drop to sleep at once.
But this was impossible, for the poor cow, who hadn't
had her supper, wasn't still an instant. She shook her
flanks, moved around in the stall, complaining all the while
of how hungry she was. The boy couldn't get a wink of
sleep, but lay there thinking over all that had happened to
him during these last days.
He thought of Osa, the goose-girl, and little Mats, whom
he had so unexpectedly encountered; and it occurred to him
that the little cabin which he had set on fire must have been
their old home in Smalaud. Now he remembered that he
had heard them speak of just such a cabin, and of the big
heather-heath which lay below it. They had wandered
back there to see their old home again, and when they
arrived, it was in flames.
It was indeed a great sorrow that he had brought upon
them, and it hurt him very much. If he ever again became
a human being, he would try to make up for all this dam-
age and miscalculation.
Then his thoughts wandered to the crows. And when he
thought of Fumle-Drumle who had saved his life, and who
had met his own death so soon after having been elected
chieftain, he was so distressed that tears filled his eyes.
He had had a pretty rough time of it these last few days.
WONDERFUL ADVENTURES OF NILS 217
But anyhow it was a rare stroke of luck that the goosey-
gander and Dunfin had found him.
The goosey-gander had said that as soon as the wild
geese discovered that Thumbietot had disappeared, they
had asked all the small animals in the forest about him.
They soon learned that a flock of Smaland crows had car-
ried him off. But the crows were already out of sight, and
whither they had directed their course no one had been able
to say. That they might find the boy as soon as possible,
Akka had commanded the wild geese to start out • — two
by two - - in different directions, to search for him. But
after a two days' hunt, whether or not they had found him,
they were to meet in northwestern Smaland on a high moun-
tain-top, which resembled an abrupt, chopped-off tower,
and was called Taberg. After Akka had given them the
best directions, as to how they should reach Taberg, they
had separated.
The white goosey-gander had chosen Dunfin as travel-
ling companion, and they had flown hither and thither
with the greatest anxiety for Thumbietot. During this
ramble they had heard a thrush, who sat in a treetop, cry
and wail that some one who called himself Kidnapped-by-
Croivs had made fun of him. They had talked with the
thrush, and he had shown them in which direction that
Kidnapped-by -Crows had travelled. Afterward, they had
met a dove-cock, a starling, and a drake who had all wailed
about a little culprit that had disturbed their song, and
who was named Caught-by-Crows, Captured-by-Crows9 and
Stolen-by -Crows. In this way, they were enabled to trace
Thumbietot all the way to the heather-heath in Sonnerbo
Parish.
As soon as the goosey-gander and Dunfin had found
218 WONDERFUL ADVENTURES OF NILS
Thumbietot, they had flown northward, in order to reach
Taberg. But it had been a long road to travel, and the
darkness was upon them before they had sighted the moun-
tain-top. " If we only get there by to-morrow, surely all our
troubles will be over," thought the boy, as he dug down into
the straw to have it warmer. All the while the cow fussed
and fumed in the stall. Then, all of a sudden, she began to
talk to the boy. "Everything is wrong with me," said the
cow. "I am neither milked nor tended. I have no night
fodder in my manger, and no bed has been made under me.
My mistress came here at dusk, to put things in order for
me, but she felt so ill that she had to go back to the cabin;
and she has not returned."
"It's distressing that I should be little and powerless,"
said the boy. "I don't believe that I am able to help you."
'You can't make me believe that you are powerless be-
cause you are little," said the cow. "All the elves that
I've ever heard of were so strong that they could pull a
whole load of hay, and strike a cow dead with one fist."
The boy couldn't help laughing at the cow. 'They were
a very different kind of elf from me," he said. "But I'll
loosen your halter and open the door for you, so that you
can go out and drink in one of the pools on the place, and
then I'll try to climb up to the hayloft and throw some
hay down to you." * Yes, that would be some help," said
the cow.
The boy did as he had said; and when the cow stood with
a full manger in front of her, he thought that at last he
should get some sleep. But he had hardly crept down into
the bed before she began anew to talk to him.
'You'll be clean put out with me if I ask one thing more
of you," said the cow. "Oh, no I won't, if it's only some-
ft-*'..
<•> 9 I
4> ^f r-
*YES, THAT WOULD BE SOME HELP,' SAID THE COW
WONDERFUL ADVENTURES OF NILS 219
thing that I'm able to do," assured the boy. "Then I
shall ask you to go into the cabin, directly opposite, to find
out how my mistress is getting along. I fear some misfor-
tune has come to her." "No! I can't do that," said the
boy. "I dare not show myself before human beings."
"Surely you're not afraid of an old and sick woman," said
the cow. "But you do not have to go into the cabin.
Just stand outside the door and peep through the crack!"
"Oh! if that is all you ask of me, I'll do it, of course," said
the boy.
With that he opened the cowshed door and went out into
the yard. It was a fearful night! Neither moon nor stars
shone; the wind blew a gale, and the rain came down in
torrents. And worst of all was that seven great owls sat in
a row under the eaves of the cabin. It was awful just to
hear them, where they sat and grumbled at the weather;
but it was even worse to think what would happen to him
if one of them should set eyes on him. That would be
the last of him.
"Pity him who is little!" said the boy as he ventured
out. And he had a right to say this, for he was blown
down twice before he got to the house : once the wind swept
him into a pool which was so deep that he came near drown-
ing. But he got there nevertheless.
He clambered up the steps, scrambled over the thresh-
old, and came into the hallway. The cabin door was closed,
but down in one corner a large piece had been cut away,
to let the cat in and out. It was no difficulty whatever for
the boy to see how things were in the cabin.
He had barely glanced in when he staggered back and
turned his head away. An old gray-haired woman lay
stretched on the floor within. She neither moved nor
220 WONDERFUL ADVENTURES OF NILS
moaned; and her face shone strangely white. It was as if
an invisible moon had cast a feeble light over it.
The boy remembered that when his grandfather had died,
his face had also become so strangely white-like. And he
understood that the old woman who lay on the cabin floor
must be dead. Death had probably come to her so sud-
denly that she didn't even have time to he down on her bed.
As he thought of being alone with the dead in the middle
of the dark night, he was terribly afraid. He threw himself
headlong down the steps, and rushed back to the cowshed.
When he told the cow of what he had seen in the cabin,
she stopped eating. "So my mistress is dead," sighed she.
"Then it will soon be over for me as well." 'There will
always be some one to look out for you," said the boy com-
fortingly. "Ah! you don't know," said the cow, "that I am
already twice as old as a cow usually is before she is laid
upon the slaughter-bench. But then, I do not wish to live
any longer, since she, in there, can come no more to care
for me."
She said nothing more for a time, but the boy observed
that she neither slept nor ate. It wras not long before she
began to speak again. "Is she lying on the bare floor? ':
she asked. "She is," said the boy. "She had a habit of
coming out to the cowshed," she continued, "and talking
about everything that troubled her. I understood what
she said, although I could not answer her. The last days
she talked of how afraid she was that there would be
no one with her when she died. She was troubled lest none
be near to close her eyes and fold her hands across her breast,
after she was dead. Perhaps you'll go in and do this?':
The boy hesitated. He remembered that when his grand-
father had died, mother had been very careful about putting
WONDERFUL ADVENTURES OF NILS 221
everything to rights. He knew this was something which
had to be done. But, on the other hand, he felt that he
did not dare go to the dead, in the ghastly night. He didn't
say no; nor did he take a step toward the cowshed door.
For a couple of seconds the old cow was silent, as if waiting
for an answer. But when the boy said nothing, she did not
repeat her request. Instead, she began to talk to him of
her mistress.
There was much to tell, first and foremost, about all the
children she had brought up. They had been in the cow-
shed every day, and in the summer chey had taken the cattle
to pasture on the swamp and in the groves so the old cow
knew all about them. They had been splendid, all of them,
and happy and industrious. A cow knew well enough what
her caretakers were good for.
There was also much to be said about the farm. It had
not always been as poor as it wras now, although the greater
part of it consisted of swamps and stony groves. There was
not much room left for fields, but there was plenty of good
fodder everywhere. At one time there had been a co\v for
every stall in the cowshed; and the oxshed, which was now
empty, had at one time been filled with oxen. And then
there was life and gayety, both in cabin and cowhouse.
When the mistress opened the cowshed door she always
hummed or sang, and all the cows mooed their gladness
when they heard her coming.
But the good man had died when the children were so
small that they could be of no assistance, and the mistress
had to take charge of the farm, and all the work and
responsibility. She had been as strong as a man; and had
both ploughed and reaped. Evenings, when she came into
the cowshed to milk, sometimes she was so tired that she
222 WONDERFUL ADVENTURES OF NILS
wept. But when she thought of her children she dashed
away her tears, and was cheerful again. "It doesn't mat-
ter. Good times are coming again for me, too, if only my
children grow up. Yes, if they only grow up."
But as soon as the children were grown, a strange long-
ing came over them. They didn't want to stay at home, so
they went away to a strange country. Their mother never
got any help from them. A couple of her children were
married before they went away, and they left their children
behind, in the old home. And now these children accom-
panied the mistress to the cowshed, just as her own had
done. They tended the cows, and were fine, good folk.
And evenings, when the mistress was so tired out that she
could have fallen asleep in the middle of the milking,
she would arouse herself again to renewed courage by think-
ing of them. "Good times are coming for me, too," said
she — and shook off sleep — "when once they are grown."
But when these children grew up, they went to their
parents in the strange land. No one came back, no one
stayed at home. The old mistress was left alone on the
farm.
Probably she had never asked them to remain with her.
"Think you, Redlinna, that I would ask them to stay here
with me, when they can go out in the world and have things
comfortable?" she would say as she stood in the stall with
the old cow. "Here in Smaland they have only poverty
to look forward to."
But when the last grandchild was gone, it was all up with
the mistress. All at once she became bent and gray, and
tottered as she walked, as if she no longer had the strength
to move about. She stopped working. She did not care
to look after the farm, but let everything go to rack and
WONDERFUL ADVENTURES OF NILS
ruin. She did not repair the houses; and she sold both cows
and oxen. The only one she kept was the old cow who now
talked with Thumbietot. Her she let live because all the
children had tended her.
She could have taken maids and farm-hands into her
service, who would have helped her with the work, but she
couldn't bear to see strangers around her, since her own
had deserted her. Perhaps she was better satisfied to let
the farm go to ruin, since none of her children were coming
back to take charge of it after she was gone. She did not
mind being poor herself for she didn't value that which
was only hers. But she was troubled lest the children
should find out how hard she had it. "If only the children
do not hear of this ! If only the children do not hear of
this!" she sighed as she tottered through the cowhouse.
The children wrote constantly, and begged her to come
to them; but this she did not wish. She didn't want
to see the land that had taken them from her. She was
angry at it. "It's foolish of me, perhaps, that I do not like
that land which has been so good for them," said she. " But,
I don't want to see it."
She thought only of the children, and of this — that
they must needs have gone. When summer came, she led
the cow out to graze in the big swamp. All day she would
sit at the edge of the swamp, her hands in her lap; and on the
way home she would say: 'You see, Redlinna, if there
had been large, rich fields here, in place of these barren
swamps, there would have been no need of their leaving."
She could become furious with the swamp which spread
out so big, and did no good. She would sit and talk of
how it was the swamp's fault that the children had left
her.
WONDERFUL ADVENTURES OF NILS
The last evening she had been more trembly and feeble
than ever. She could not even do the milking. She had
leaned against the manger and talked about two strangers
who had been to see her, and who had asked if they might
buy the swamp. They wanted to drain it, they said, to raise
grain on it. This had made her both anxious and happy.
"Do you hear, Redlinna," she had said. "Do you hear
that grain can grow on the swamp? Now I shall write to
the children to come home. They won't have to stay away
any longer; for now they can get their bread here at home.'*
It was this that she had gone into the cabin to do
The boy heard no more. He had already opened the
door, crossed the yard and gone in to the dead, of whom
he had but lately been so afraid.
The cabin was not so bare as he had expected. It was well
supplied with the sort of things one generally finds among
those who have relatives in America. In a corner there was
an American rocking chair; on the table before the window
lay a brocaded plush cover; there was a pretty spread on
the bed; on the walls, in carved-wood frames, hung the
photographs of the children and grandchildren who had
gone away; on the bureau stood high vases and a couple
of candlesticks, with thick, spiral candles in them.
The boy searched for a matchbox and lighted these
candles, not because he needed more light than he already
had, but because he thought that this was one way to
honour the dead.
Then he went up to the woman, closed her eyes, folded
her hands across her breast, and stroked back the thin gray
hair from her face.
He thought no more about being afraid of her, but he
was deeply grieved because she had been forced to live out
WONDERFUL ADVENTURES OF NILS
her old age in loneliness and longing. He, at least, would
watch over her dead body this night.
He hunted up the psalm book, and sat down to read a
couple of psalms in an undertone. But in the middle of the
reading he paused, for he had begun to think of his mother
and father.
Think, that parents can long so for their children! This
he had never known. Think, that life can be as though it
were over for them when the children are away ! Think, if
those at home longed for him in the same way that this old
peasant woman had longed !
This thought made him happy, but he dared not believe
in it. He had not been the sort that anybody could long
for.
But what he had not been, perhaps he might become.
Round about him he saw the portraits of those who were
away. They were big, strong men and women with earnest
faces. There were brides in long veils, and gentlemen in
fine clothes; and there were children with waved hair and
pretty white dresses. And he thought that they all stared
blindly into vacancy — and did not want to see.
"Poor you!" said the boy to the portraits. "Your
mother is dead. You cannot make amends now for your
leaving of her. But my mother is living!"
Here he paused, and nodded and smiled to himself.
"My mother is living," said he. "Both father and mother
are living."
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
FROM TABERG TO HUSKVARNA
Friday, April fifteenth.
THE boy sat awake nearly all night, but toward morning
he fell asleep and dreamed of his father and mother.
He could hardly recognize them. They had grown gray,
and had old and wrinkled faces. He asked how this had
come about, and they answered that they had aged so
because they had longed for him. He was both touched and
astonished, for he had never believed but that they were
glad to be rid of him.
When the boy awoke it was morning with fine, clear
weather. First, he, himself, ate a bit of the bread which he
had found in the cabin; then he gave the geese and the cow
their breakfast, and opened the shed door so that the cow
could go over to the nearest farm. When the neighbours
saw the cow coming along all by herself they would surely
understand that something was wrong with her mistress,
and would hurry over to the desolate farm to see how the
old woman was getting along. They would then find her
dead body and bury it.
The boy and the geese had barely risen into the air,
when they caught a glimpse of a high mountain, with almost
perpendicular walls, and an abrupt, broken-off top; and
they knew then that it was Taberg. On the summit stood
Akka, with Yksi and Kaksi, Kolmi and Nelja, Viisi and
Kuusi, and all six goslings — waiting for them. There was
226
WONDERFUL ADVENTURES OF NILS 227
a rejoicing, and a cackling, and a fluttering, and a calling,
which no one can describe, when they saw that the goosey-
gander and Dunfin had succeeded in finding Thumbietot.
The woods grew rather high on Taberg's sides, but her
highest peak was barren; and from there one could look
far out in all directions. If one gazed toward the east,
or south, or west, then there was hardly anything to be
seen but a poor highland with dark spruce-trees, brown
marshes, ice-clad lakes, and bluish mountain-ridges. The
boy couldn't keep from thinking it was true that the one
who had created this hadn't taken very great pains with his
work, but had thrown it together in a hurry. But if one
glanced to the north, it was altogether different. Here it
looked as if it had been worked out with the greatest care
and affection. In this direction one saw only beautiful
mountains, soft valleys, and winding rivers, all the way to
the big Lake Vettern which lay ice-free and transparently
clear, and shone as if it were not filled with water but with
blue light.
It was Vettern that lent such wondrous charm to the
landscape north of Mount Taberg. It was as if a blue
ether had risen up from the lake, and veiled the land.
Groves and hills and roofs, and the spires of Jonkoping
City, which shimmered along Vettern's shores, lay enveloped
in pale blue that caressed the eye. If there were countries
in heaven, they, too, must be blue like this, thought the
boy, believing that he had got a faint idea of how it must
look in Paradise.
Later in the day, when the geese continued their journey,
they flew up toward the blue valley. They were in holiday
humour, shrieked and made such a racket that no one with
ears could help hearing them.
228 WONDERFUL ADVENTURES OF NILS
This happened to be the first really fine spring day they
had had in this section. Until now, the spring had done its
work under rain and bluster; but with the sudden appear-
ance of fine weather, the people were filled with such long-
ing after summer warmth and green woods that they could
hardly perform their tasks. And when the wild geese flew
by, high above the ground, cheerful and free, all paused in
their work to glance at them.
The first to sight the wild geese that day were miners on
Taberg, who were digging ore at the mouth of the mine.
When they heard their cackle, they paused in their drilling
for ore, and one called up to the birds : " Where are you
going? Where are you going?'1 The geese didn't under-
stand what he said, but the boy leaned forward over the
goose-back, and answered for them: 'Where there is
neither pick nor hammer." When the miners heard the
words, they thought it was their own longing that made the
goose-cackle sound like human speech. 'Take us along
with you! Take us along with you!" they cried. "Not
this year," shrieked the boy. "Not this year."
The wild geese followed Taber River down toward Monk
Lake, and all the while they made the same racket. Here,
on the narrow land-strip between Monk and Vettern lakes,
lay Jonkoping with its great factories. First the wild
geese flew over Monk Lake paper mills. The noon rest
hour was just over, and the big workmen were streaming
down to the mill-gate. When they heard the wild geese,
they stopped a moment to listen. 'Where are you going?
Where are you going ?'! called the workmen. The wild
geese understood nothing of what they said, but the boy
answered for them: Where there are neither machines nor
steam-boxes." When the workmen heard the answer, they
WONDERFUL ADVENTURES OF NILS 229
believed it was their own longing that made the goose-
cackle sound like human speech. *' Take us along with you !"
"Not this year," answered the boy. :'Not this year."
Next, the geese flew over the well-known match factory,
which stands on the shores of Vettern — large as a fortress -
its high chimneys reaching toward the sky. Not a soul
moved out in the yards; but in a large hall young working-
women sat and filled match-boxes. They had opened a
window, on account of the beautiful weather, and through it
came the wild geese's call. The one who sat nearest the
window leaned out with a match-box in her hand, and
cried: 'Where are you going? Where are you going?"
'To that land where there is no need of either light or
matches," said the boy. The girl thought that what she
heard was only goose-cackle; but thinking that she had
distinguished a few words, she called out in answer: "Take
me along with you!" "Not this year," replied the boy.
"Not this year."
East of the factories lies Jonkoping, on the most glorious
spot that a city can occupy. The narrow Vettern has high,
steep sand-dunes, both on the eastern and on the western
sides; but straight south, the sand-walls are torn down,
as if to make room for a large gate, through which one
reaches the lake. And in the middle of the gate — with moun-
tains to the left, and mountains to the right; with Monk
Lake behind it, and Vettern before it - - lies Jonkoping.
The wild geese flew over the long, narrow city and behaved
here just as they had done in the country. But in the
city there was no one who answered them. It was not
to be expected that city folk would stop in the streets, and
call to wild geese.
The trip extended farther along the shores of Vettern;
230 WONDERFUL ADVENTURES OF NILS
and after a little they came to Sanna Sanitarium. Some of
the patients were out on the veranda enjoying the spring
air, and they too heard the goose-cackle. 'Where are
you going?" asked one in such a feeble voice that he was
scarcely heard. "To that land where there is neither
sorrow nor sickness," answered the boy. 'Take us along
with you!" said the sick ones. "Not this year," answered
the boy. " Not this year. )!
When they had flown still farther on, they came to Hus-
kvarna, which lay in a valley. The mountains around it
were steep and beautifully formed. A river rushed along
the heights in long and narrow falls. Big workshops and
factories lay below the mountain walls; and scattered along
the valley-bottom were the workingmen's homes, encircled
by little gardens; and in the centre of the valley lay the
schoolhouse. Just as the wild geese came along, a bell rang,
and a crowd of school children marched out in line. They
were so numerous that the whole schoolyard was soon filled
with them. "Where are you going? Where are you
going?'1 the children shouted when they heard the wild
geese. 'Where there are neither books nor lessons to be
found," answered the boy. "Take us along!" shrieked
the children. "Not this year, but next!" cried the boy.
"Not this year, but next!"
CHAPTER NINETEEN
THE BIG BIRD LAKE
JARRO, THE WILD DUCK
ON THE eastern shore of Vettern looms Mount Omberg;
to the east of Omberg lies Dagmosse, and just east of
Dagmosse lies Lake Takern. Around the whole of Takern
spreads the wide, even Ostergota plain.
Takern is quite a large lake and in olden times it must
have been larger still. But then the people thought it
covered entirely too much of the fertile plain, so they
attempted to drain the water from it, that they might sow
and reap on the lake-bottom. But they did not succeed
in laying waste the entire lake — which was evidently
their intention — therefore it still hides a lot of land.
Since the draining, the lake has become so shallow that
K?rdly at any point is it more than a fathom deep. The
shores have become marshy and muddy; and out in the
lake little mud-islets stick up above the water's sur-
face.
Now, there is one that loves to stand with feet in the
water, if only the body and head are in the air, and that is
the reed. And it cannot find a better place to grow upon
than the long, shallow Takern shores, and around the little
mud-islets. It thrives so well that it grows taller than a
man's height, and so thick that it is almost impossible to
push a boat through it. It forms a broad green enclosure
231
232 WONDERFUL ADVENTURES OF NILS
around the whole lake, so that it is accessible only in a few
places, where the people have taken away the reeds.
But if the reeds shut the people out, they give, in return,
shelter and protection to many other creatures. For in
the reeds there are a lot of little dams and canals with green,
still water, where duckweed and pond weed run to seed; and
where gnat-eggs and blackfish and worms are hatched out in
uncountable masses. And all along the shores of these little
dams and canals, there are many well-secluded places
where seabirds hatch their eggs, and bring up their young
without being troubled by enemies or food worries.
An incredible number of birds live in the Takern reeds;
and more and more gather there every year, as they come
to know what a splendid abode it is. The first who settled
there were the wild ducks, who still live there by the
thousands. But they no longer own the entire lake, for
they have been obliged to share it with swans, grebes, coots,
loons, fen-ducks, and a lot of others.
Takern is certainly the largest and choicest bird lake in
the whole country; and the birds may count themselves
lucky so long as they own such a retreat. But it is uncer-
tain as to how long they will be in control of reeds and mud-
banks, for human beings cannot forget that the lake extends
over a considerable portion of good and fertile soil; and every
little while the proposition to drain it comes up among them.
And if these proposals were carried out, many thousands of
water-birds would be forced to move from these quarters.
At the time that Nils Holgersson travelled around with
the wild geese, there lived at Takern a wild duck named
Jarro. He was a young bird, who had only lived one
summer, one fall, and a winter; now, it was his first spring.
He had just returned from North Africa, having reached
Takern in such good season that the ice was^till on the lake.
WONDERFUL ADVENTURES OF NILS 233
One evening, while he and the other young wild ducks
were having the best fun, racing back and forth over
the lake, a hunter shot at them, and Jarro was wounded
in the breast. He thought he would surely die; but in
order that the one who had shot him shouldn't get him
into his power, he continued to fly as long as he could.
He didn't think whither he was directing his course, but
only struggled to get far away. When his strength failed
him, so that he could not fly any farther, he was no longer
on the lake. He had flown a short distance inland, when
he sank down, exhausted, before the entrance to one of the
big farms which lie along the shores of Takern.
A moment later, a young farm-hand happened along.
He saw Jarro, and came and lifted him up. But Jarro,
who asked for nothing but to be let die in peace, gathered
his weaning powers and nipped the farm-hand in the finger,
so he should let go of him.
Jarro could not free himself. The encounter had this
good in it at any rate; the farm-hand noticed that the
bird was alive. He carried him very gently into the
cottage, and showed him to the mistress of the house —
a young woman with a kindly face. At once she took Jarro
from the farm-hand, stroked him on the back, and wiped
away the blood that trickled down through the neck-
feathers. She looked him over very carefully; and when
she saw how pretty he was, wTith his dark green, shining
head, his white neck-band, his brownish-red back, and his
blue wing-mirror, she probably thought it would be a pity
for him to die. She promptly put a basket in order, and
tucked the bird into it.
All the while Jarro fluttered and struggled to get loose;
but when he understood that the people had no thought of
234 WONDERFUL ADVENTURES OF NILS
killing him, he settled down in the basket with a sense of
comfort. Now it was evident how exhausted he had become
from pain and loss of blood. The mistress carried the
basket across the floor to place it in the corner, by the
fireplace; but before she put it down Jarro was already
fast asleep.
In a little while Jarro was awakened by some one nudging
him gently. When he opened his eyes he experienced such
an awful shock that he almost lost his senses. Now he was
surely lost ! for there stood the one who was more dangerous
than either human beings or birds of prey. It was no one
less than Csesar himself ! — the long-haired dog that nosed
him inquisitively.
How pitifully scared had he not been the summer before,
when he was still a little yellow-down duckling, every time
he had heard the warning call: ''Caesar is coming! Csesar
is coming!" Whenever he had seen the brown and white
spotted dog with the teeth -filled jowls come wading through
the reeds, he believed that he had beheld death itself.
He had always hoped that he would never have to h've
through that moment when he should meet Caesar face to
face.
But, to his sorrow, he must have fallen down in the
very yard where Csesar lived, for there he stood right
over him. "Who are you?" he growled. "How did you
get into the house? Don't you belong down among the
reed banks?''
It was with great difficulty that he gained the courage to
speak. "Don't be angry with me, Csesar, because I came
into the house!" he pleaded. "It isn't my fault. I have
been wounded by a gunshot. It was the mistress herself
who laid me in this basket. '
WONDERFUL ADVENTURES OF NILS 235
" Oho ! so it was the house-folk themselves that placed you
here," said Caesar. "Then it is surely their intention to
cure you; though for my part, I think it would be more
sensible for them to eat you, since you are in their power.
But, at all events, you are safe in the house. You needn't
look so scared. Now, we're not down on Takern. ':
With that Caesar stretched himself full length before
the blazing log-fire, to sleep. As soon as Jarro understood
that this terrible danger was past, extreme lassitude crept
upon him, and he fell asleep anew.
The next time Jarro awoke, he saw that a dish with grain
and water stood before him. He was still quite ill, but he
felt hungry nevertheless, and began to eat. When the
mistress saw that he ate, she came over and petted him, and
looked pleased. After that, Jarro fell asleep again. For
several days he did nothing but eat and sleep.
One bright morning Jarro felt so well that he stepped
from the basket and wandered along the floor. But he
hadn't gone very far before he keeled over, and lay there.
Then along came Caesar, who opened his big jaws and
grabbed him. Jarro believed, of course, that the dog was
going to bite him to death ; but Caesar carried him back to
the basket without harming him. Because of that Jarro
had such confidence in the dog, Caesar, that on his next walk
in the cottage, he went over to the dog and laid down beside
him. Thus Caesar and he became good friends, and every
day, for several hours, Jarro lay and slept between Caesar's
fore-paws.
But an even greater affection than he had for Caesar,
did Jarro feel toward his mistress. Of her he had not the
least fear; but rubbed his head against her hand when she
brought him his food. Whenever she went out from the
236 WONDERFUL ADVENTURES OF NILS
cottage he sighed with regret; and when she came back he
cried welcome to her in his own language.
Jarro forgot entirely how afraid he had been of both dogs
and humans in other days. He thought now that they
were gentle and kind, and he loved them. He wished that
he were well, so he could fly down to Takern to tell the wild
ducks that their enemies were not dangerous, and that they
need not fear them.
He had observed that the human beings, as well as Caesar,
had calm eyes, which it did one good to look into. Claw-
ina, the house cat, was the only one in the cottage whose
glance he did not care to meet. She did him no harm
either, but he couldn't place any confidence in her. Then,
too, she quarrelled with him constantly, because he loved
human beings. 'You think they protect you because
they are fond of you," said Clawina. 'You just wait until
you are fat enough! Then they'll wring the neck off you.
I know them, I do. "
Jarro, like all birds, had a tender and affectionate heart;
and he was unutterably distressed when he heard this.
He couldn't imagine that his mistress would wish to wring
the neck off him, nor could he believe any such thing of her
son, the little boy who sat for hours beside his basket, and
babbled and chattered. He seemed to think that they had
the same love for him that he had for them.
One day, while Jarro and Caesar lay on their usual spot be-
fore the fire, Clawina sat on the hearth and began to tease
the wild duck.
"I wonder, Jarro, what you wild ducks will do next
year, when Takern is drained and turned into grain-fields?'1
said Clawina. "What's that you say, Clawina ? ' cried
Jarro, and jumped up — scared through and through. "I
WONDERFUL ADVENTURES OF NILS 237
always forget, Jarro, that you do not understand human
speech, like Caesar and myself ," purred the cat. "Other-
wise you surely would have heard the men who were
here yesterday say that all the water was to be drained
from Takern, and that next year the lake-bottom would
be as dry as a house-floor. And now I wonder where
you wild ducks will go." While Jarro listened to this
talk he became so furious that he hissed like a snake. * You
are just as mean as a common coot!" he screamed at
Clawina. "You only want to incite me against human
beings. I don't believe they want to do anything of
the sort. They must know that Takern is the wild
ducks' property. Why should they make so many birds
homeless and unhappy? You have certainly hit upon all
this to scare me. I hope that you may be torn in pieces by
Gorgo, the eagle! I hope that my mistress will chop off
your whiskers!"
But Jarro couldn't shut Clawina up with this outburst.
"So you think I'm lying," said she. "Ask Caesar, then!
He was also in the house last night. Caesar never lies. J!
"Caesar," said Jarro, "you understand human speech
much better than Clawina. Say that she hasn't heard
aright! Think how it would be if the people were to drain
Takern, and change the lake-bottom into fields! Then
there would be no more pondweed or duck-food for the
grown wild ducks, and no blackfish or worms or gnat-
eggs for the ducklings. Then the reed-banks would dis-
appear — where now the ducklings conceal themselves
until they are able to fly. All ducks would be compelled
to move away from here, and seek another home. But
where shall they find a retreat like Takern? Caesar, say
that Clawina has not heard aright!"
238 WONDERFUL ADVENTURES OF NILS
It was wonderful to watch Caesar's behaviour during
this altercation. He had been wide-awake the whole time
before, but now, when Jarro turned to him, he panted, laid
his long nose on his fore-paws, and was sound asleep within
the wink of an eyelid.
The cat looked down at Caesar with a knowing smile.
"I believe that Csesar doesn't care to answer you," she
said to Jarro. "It is with him as with all dogs; they will
never admit that humans can do any wrong. But you can
rely upon my word, at any rate. I shall tell you why they
wish to drain the lake just now. So long as you wild ducks
were still in power on Takern they did not wish to drain it,
for then they got some good out of you; but now
that grebes and coots, and other birds who are useless as
food, have infested nearly all the reed-banks, the people
think it needless to let the lake remain on their account. ':
Jarro didn't trouble himself to answer Clawina, but
raised his head and shouted in Caesar's ear: "Caesar!
You know that on Takern there are still so many ducks left
that they fill the air like clouds. Say it isn't true that hu-
man beings intend to make all of these homeless!"
Then Caesar sprang up with such a sudden outburst at
Clawina that she had to save herself by jumping upon a
shelf. "I'll teach you to keep quiet when I want to sleep, ''
growled Caesar. "Of course I know that there is some
talk of draining the lake this year. But there has been
talk of this many times before without anything coming of
it. And that draining business is a matter in which I
take no stock whatsoever. For how would it go with the
game if Takern were laid waste. You're a donkey to gloat
over a thing like that. What will you and I have to amuse
ourselves with, when there are no more birds on Takern? "
WONDERFUL ADVENTURES OF NILS 239
THE DECOY-DUCK
Sunday, April seventeenth,
JARRO was so well now that he could fly all about the
house. He was petted a good deal by the mistress, and
her little boy ran out into the yard and plucked for him the
first spring grass-blades. When the mistress caressed him,
Jarro thought that, although he was so strong now that he
could fly down to Takern at any time, he shouldn't care to
be separated from human beings. He had no objection to
remaining with them all his life.
But early one morning the mistress placed a halter, or
noose, over Jarro, which prevented him from using his
wings; then she turned him over to the farm-hand who had
found him in the yard. The farm-hand poked him under
his arm, and went down to Takern with him.
The ice had melted during Jarro's illness. The old, dry
fall leaves still lay scattered along the shores and islets, but
all the water-weeds had begun to take root down in the
deep; and the green stems had already reached the surface.
And now nearly all the birds of passage were at home.
The curlews' hooked bills peeped out from the reeds. The
grebes glided about with new feather-collars around their
necks; and the jacksnipe were gathering straws for their
nests.
The farm-hand got into a scow, laid Jarro in the bottom
of the boat, and began to pole out. Jarro, who had now
accustomed himself to expect only good of human beings,
said to Caesar, who was also of the party, that he felt very
grateful toward the farm-hand for taking him out on the
lake. But the man needn't keep him so tightly fet-
tered for he was not thinking of flying away. To this
240 WONDERFUL ADVENTURES OF NILS
Cuesar made no reply. He was very close-mouthed that
morning.
The only thing which struck Jarro as being a bit strange
was that the farm-hand had taken his gun along. He
couldn't believe that any of the good folk in the cottage
would want to shoot at birds. And, besides, Csesar had told
him that the people didn't hunt at this time of the year.
"It is a prohibited time," he had said, "although this
doesn't concern me, of course. "
The farm-hand rowed over to one of the little reed-enclosed
mud-islets. There he stepped from the boat, gathered
some old reeds into a pile, and laid down behind it. Jarro
was free to wander around on the ground with the halter
over his wings, and tethered to the boat with a long string.
Suddenly Jarro caught sight of some young ducks and
drakes, in whose company he had formerly raced back and
forth over the lake. They were a long way off, but Jarro
called them to him with loud shouts. They responded,
and a large and beautiful flock approached. Even before
they were there, Jarro began to tell them about his marvel-
lous rescue, and of the kindness of human beings. Just
then, bang went two shots behind him, and three ducks
sank down in the reeds — lifeless. Caesar bounded out and
captured them.
Then Jarro understood. The human beings had saved
him only that they might use him as a decoy-duck. And
they had also succeeded. Three ducks had been killed on
his account. He thought he should die of shame. He
fancied that even his friend Caesar looked contemptuously
at him; and when they got back to the cottage, he didn't
dare lie down and sleep beside the dog.
The next morning Jarro was again taken out to the
WONDERFUL ADVENTURES OF NILS 241
shallows. This time, also, he sighted some ducks. But
when he observed that they flew toward him, he called to
them: "Away! Away! Be careful! Fly in another
direction! There's a hunter hidden behind the reed-pile.
I'm only a decoy-bird!" And he actually succeeded in
preventing their coming within shooting distance.
Jarro hardly had time to taste of a grass-blade, so busy
was he keeping watch. He called out his warning as soon
as a bird drew nigh. He even warned the grebes, although
he detested them because they crowded the ducks out of
their best hiding-places. But he did not wish that any bird
should meet with misfortune on his account. And, thanks
to Jarro's vigilance, the farm-hand had to go home without
firing a single shot.
All the same, Caesar looked less displeased than on the
previous day; and when the evening was come he took Jarro
in his mouth, carried him over to the fireplace, and let him
sleep between his fore-paws.
Nevertheless, Jarro was no longer contented in the cot-
tage, but was grievously unhappy. His heart suffered at
the thought that humans never had loved him. When
the mistress or the little boy came forward to caress him,
he stuck his bill under his wing and pretended that he slept.
For several days Jarro continued his distressful watch-
service; and he was already known over the whole lake.
Then it happened one morning, while he called out as usual :
"Have a care, birds! Don't come near me! I'm only a
decoy-duck," that a grebe-nest came floating toward the
shallows where he was tied. There was nothing extraor-
dinary about this. It was a nest from the year before; and
since grebe-nests are built in such a way that they can
move on water like boats, it often happens that they drift
WONDERFUL ADVENTURES OF NILS
out on the lake. Yet Jarro stood there gazing toward
nest, which was headed so straight for the islet that it
appeared as if some one were steering its course over the
water.
As the nest came nearer, Jarro saw that a little human
being — the tiniest he had ever seen — sat in the nest and
rowed forward with a pair of sticks. And this little human
called to him: "Go as near the water as you can, Jarro,
and be ready to fly. You shall soon be freed. 91
A few seconds later the grebe-nest lay near land, yet the
little oarsman did not leave it, but sat huddled between
branches and straw. Jarro, too, held himself almost rigid.
He was actually paralyzed with fear lest the rescuer should
be discovered.
And next a flock of wild geese came flying over. Then
Jarro woke up to business, and warned them with loud
shrieks; but in spite of this they flew back and forth over the
shallows several times. They held themselves so high that
they were beyond shooting distance; still the farm-hand let
himself be tempted to shoot at them. These shots were
hardly fired when the little creature ran up on land,
drew a tiny knife from its sheath, and, with two quick
strokes, cut loose Jarro's halter. "Now fly away, Jarro,
before the man has time to load again!" cried he, while he
himself ran down to the grebe-nest and poled away from the
shore.
The hunter's gaze was fixed upon the geese, and he
hadn't noticed that Jarro had been freed; but Caesar knew
what had happened; and just as Jarro lifted his wings, he
dashed forward and grabbed him by the neck.
Jarro cried pitifully; and the boy who had freed him said
quietly to Csesar: "If you are just as honourable as you
WONDERFUL ADVENTURES OF NILS 243
look, surely you cannot wish to force a good bird to sit here
and entice others into trouble. "
When Caesar heard these words, he grinned viciously with
his upper lip, but the next second he dropped Jarro. 'Fly,
Jarro!" said he. 'You are certainly too good to be a
decoy-duck. It wasn't for this that I wanted to keep you
here; but because it will be lonely in the cottage without you.
THE LOWERING OF THE LAKE
Wednesday, April twentieth.
IT WAS indeed very lonely in the cottage without Jarro.
The dog and the cat found the time long, when they didn't
have him to wrangle over; and the housewife missed the
glad quacking with which he had welcomed her every time
she entered the house. But the one who longed most for
Jarro was the little boy, Per Ola. He was but three years
old, and the only child; and in all his life he had never had
a playmate like Jarro. When he heard that Jarro had gone
back to Takern and the wild ducks, he couldn't be recon-
ciled to this, but thought constantly of how he should get
him back again.
Per Ola had talked a good deal with Jarro, while he lay
in his basket, and he was certain that the duck had under-
stood him. He begged his mother to take him down to the
lake that he might find Jarro, and persuade him to come
back to them. Mother wouldn't listen to this; but the
little one didn't give up his plan for all that.
The day after Jarro had disappeared, Per Ola was run-
ning about in the yard. He played by himself, as usual,
while Caesar lay on the stoop ; and when mother let the boy
out, she said : "Take good care of Per Ola, Ciesar ! "
244 WONDERFUL ADVENTURES OF NILS
Now if all had been as usual, Csesar would have obeyed
the command, and the boy would have been so well
guarded that he couldn't have run the least risk. But
Caesar was not himself these days. He knew that the
farmers who lived around Takern had held frequent con-
ferences about the lowering of the lake; and that the
matter was almost settled. The ducks must leave and
Caesar would nevermore behold a glorious chase. He was
so preoccupied with the thought of this misfortune, that he
did not remember to watch over Per Ola.
The little one had scarcely been alone in the yard a minute,
before he realized that now the right moment was come to
go down to Takern and talk with Jarro. He opened the
gate, and wandered down toward the lake on the narrow
path which ran along the banks. As long as he could be
seen from the house, he walked slowly; but afterward he
quickened his stride. He was very much afraid that mother,
or some one else, should call out to him that he couldn't go.
He didn't wish to do anything naughty, only to persuade
Jarro to come home ; but he felt that the folks at home would
not have approved of the undertaking.
When Per Ola came down to the shore, he called Jarro
many times. Thereupon he stood a long while and
waited, but no Jarro appeared. He saw several birds that
resembled the wild duck, but they flew by without noticing
him, and he could understand that none among them was
the right one.
When Jarro didn't come to him, the little boy thought
that it would be easier to find him were he to go out on the
lake. There were several good craft lying along the shore,
but these were tied. The one that lay loose, and at liberty,
was an old leaky scow which was so unfit that no one thought
WONDERFUL ADVENTURES OF NILS 245
of using it. But Per Ola scrambled into it not caring that
the whole bottom was filled with water. He had not strength
enough to use the oars, but, instead, sat down and began to
rock the scow. Certainly no grown person would have
succeeded in moving a boat out on Takern in that manner;
but when the tide is high and ill-luck to the fore, little
children have a marvellous faculty for getting out to sea.
Per Ola was soon drifting around on Takern, calling for Jarro.
While the old scow was being rocked like this, out to sea,
the cracks opened wider and wider, and the water actually
streamed into it. Per Ola didn't pay the slightest attention
to this. He sat upon the little bench in front and called
to every bird he saw, and wondered why Jarro didn't appear.
At last Jarro caught sight of Per Ola. He heard that
some one called him by the name which he had borne among
human beings, and he understood that the boy had gone out
on Takern to search for him. Jarro was unspeakably happy
to find that one of the humans really loved him. He shot
down toward Per Ola like an arrow, seated himself beside
him, and let him caress him. They were very happy to
see each other again. But suddenly Jarro noticed the
condition of the scow. It was half filled with water, and
almost ready to sink. Jarro tried to tell Per Ola that he,
who could neither fly nor swim, must try to get upon land;
but Per Ola didn't understand him. Then Jarro did not
wait an instant, but hurried away to get help.
In a little* while he returned, carrying on his back a
tiny creature who was much smaller than Per Ola himself.
Had he not been able to talk and move, the boy would have
believed that it was a doll. Instantly, the little one ordered
Per Ola to pick up a long, slender pole that lay in the bottom
of the scow, and try to paddle toward one of the reed-
246 WONDERFUL ADVENTURES OF NILS
islands. Per Ola obeyed him, and he and the tiny creature
together steered the scow. With a couple of strokes they
were over by little reed-encircled island, and now Per Ola
was told that he must step ashore. And just the very mo-
ment that Per Ola set foot on land, the scow filled up with
water and sank to the bottom.
When Per Ola saw this he was sure that his father and
mother would be very angry with him. He would have
started in to cry if he hadn't just then found something
else to think of: A flock of big, gray birds suddenly
lighted on the island. The little midget took him over to
them, and told him their names, and what they said. And
this was so funny that Per Ola forgot everything else.
Meanwhile the folks on the farm had discovered that the
boy was missing, and were searching for him. They searched
the outhouses, looked in the well, and hunted through the
cellar. Then they went out into highways and by -paths;
wandered to the neighbouring farm to find out if he had
strayed over there, and they searched for him also down by
Takern. But no matter where they sought they did not
find him.
The dog Caesar understood very well that the farmer-
folk were looking for Per Ola, but he did nothing to put
them on the right track; instead he lay still, as if the matter
didn't concern him.
Later in the day, Per Ola's footprints were discovered
down by the boat-landing. Then they found that the old,
leaky scow was no longer on the strand. And now they
began to understand how it had all come about.
The farmer and his helpers immediately took out the
boats and went in search of the boy. They rowed around
on Takern until late in the evening, without seeing the
WONDERFUL ADVENTURES OF NILS 247
least shadow of him. They couldn't help believing that
the old scow had gone down, and that the little one lay dead
at the bottom of the lake.
All the evening, Per Ola's mother hunted round on the
strand. Every one else was convinced that the boy was
drowned, but she could not bring herself to believe that.
She searched all the while. She searched between reeds
and bullrushes; tramped and tramped on the muddy shore,
never thinking of how deep her foot sank, or how wet she
had become. She was unspeakably desperate. Her heart
ached in her breast. She did not weep, but wrung her
hands and called for her child in loud piercing tones.
Round about her she heard swans' and ducks' and cur-
lews' shrieks. She thought that they followed her, and
moaned and wailed — they too. "Surely, they, too, must
be in trouble, since they moan so. " Then she remembered:
these were only birds that she heard complain. They
surely had no worries.
It was strange that they did not quiet down after sunset.
She heard all these uncountable bird-throngs which lived
along Takern send forth cry upon cry. Several of them
followed her wherever she went; others came rustling past
on light wings. All the air was filled with moans and
lamentations.
But the anguish which she herself was suffering opened
her heart. She felt that she was not so far removed from
all other living creatures as people usually think. She
understood better than ever before, how birds fared. They
had their constant worries for home and children, they, as
she. There was certainly not such a great difference be-
tween them and her as she had heretofore believed.
Then she happened to think that it was as good as settled
248 WONDERFUL ADVENTURES OF NILS
that these thousands of swans and ducks and loons would
lose their homes here by Takern. "It will be very hard for
them," she thought. 'Where shall they bring up their
children now?':
She paused and pondered : It appeared to be an excellent
and agreeable accomplishment to change a lake into fields
and meadows, but let it be some other lake than Takern;
some other lake, which was not the home of so many
thousand creatures.
She remembered how on the following day the proposition
to lower the lake was to be decided, and she wondered if this
was why her little son had been lost — just to-day.
Was it God's meaning that sorrow should come to open
her heart — just to-day — before it was too late to avert
the cruel act?
She walked rapidly up to the house, and began to talk
with her husband about this. She spoke of the lake, and
of the birds, and said that she believed it was God's judg-
ment on them both. She soon found that he was of the
same opinion.
They already owned a large place, but if the lake-draining
were carried into effect, such a goodly portion of the lake-
bottom would fall to their share that their property would
be nearly doubled. For this reason they had been more
eager for the undertaking than any of the other shore owners.
The others had been worried about expenses, and anxious
lest the draining should not prove any more successful this
time than it was the last. Per Ola's father knew in his
heart that it was he who had influenced them to undertake
the work. He had exercised all his eloquence, so that he
might leave to his son a farm as large again as his father had
left to him.
WONDERFUL ADVENTURES OF NILS 249
He stood and wondered if God's hand was back of the
fact that Takern had taken his son from him on the day
before he was to have drawn up the contract to lay it waste.
The wife didn't have to say many words to him, before he
answered: "It may be that God does not want us to inter-
fere with His order. I'll talk with the others about this
to-morrow, and I think we'll decide that all may remain
as it is. "
While the farmer-folk were talking this over, Caesar lay
before the fire. He raised his head and listened very
attentively. When he thought that he was sure of the out-
come, he walked up to the mistress, took her by the skirt, and
led her to the door. "But Caesar!'3 said she, trying to
break away from him, "do you know where Per Ola is?"
she cried out. Caesar barked joyfully, and threw himself
against the door. She opened it, and the dog dashed down
toward Takern. The mistress was so positive that he knew
where Per Ola was that she rushed after him. And no sooner
had they reached the shore than they heard a child's cry
out on the lake.
Per Ola had had the best day of his life, in company with
Thumbietot and the birds; but now he had begun to cry
because he was hungry and afraid of the darkness. And
he was glad when father and mother and Caesar came for
him.
CHAPTER TWENTY
ULVASA-LADY
THE PROPHECY
Friday, April twenty -second.
ONE night, when the boy lay sleeping on an island in
Takern, he was awakened by oar-strokes. He had
hardly got his eyes open when there fell such a dazzling
light on them that it made him blink.
At first he couldn't make out what it was that shone so
brightly out here on the lake; but soon he saw that a scow,
with a big burning torch set up on a spike, aft, lay near the
edge of the reeds. The red flame from the torch was clearly
reflected in the night-dark lake ; and the brilliant light must
have tempted the fish, for in the water were seen a mass
of dark specks that moved continually, and changed places.
There were two old men in the scow. One sat at the oars,
the other stood on a bench in the stern and held in his
hand a short spear, which was coarsely barbed. The one who
rowed was apparently a poor fisherman. He was small,
dried-up, and weather-beaten, and wore a thin, threadbare
coat. It was plain that he was so used to being out in all
sorts of weather that he didn't mind the cold. The other
was well fed and well dressed, and looked like a prosperous
and self-complacent farmer.
"Stop now!" said the farmer, when they were opposite
the island where the boy lay. At the same time he plunged
250
WONDERFUL ADVENTURES OF NILS 251
the spear into the water. When he drew it out again a
long, fine eel came with it.
"Look at that!" he said as he released the eel from the
spear. 'That wasn't a bad catch, eh? Now we have so
many that I think we can turn back. ':
His comrade did not lift the oars, but sat looking around.
"It is lovely out here on the lake to-night," he said. And
so it was. The water was perfectly calm, so that its entire
surface lay in undisturbed rest, save the narrow strips where
the boat had gone forward. This lay like a path of gold,
and glittered in the firelight. The sky was a clear deep
blue, and thickly studded with stars. The shores were
hidden by the reed islands except toward the west, where
Mount Omberg loomed high and dark, cutting away a big,
three-cornered piece of the domelike sky.
The farmer turned his head to get the light out of his
eyes, then looked about him. "Yes, it is lovely here in
Ostergylln," said he. "Still the best thing about the
province is not its beauty. " "Then what is it that's best? "
-asked the oarsman. 'That it has always been a respected
and honoured province.'1 "That may be true enough."
"And then this, that one knows it will always continue to
be so. " "But how in the world can one know that?" said
the one who sat at the oars.
The farmer straightened up where he stood and braced
himself with the spear. 'There is an old legend which has
been handed down from father to son in my family; and
in it one learns what will happen to Ostergotland. " "Then
you may as well tell it to me," said the oarsman. "We do
not tell it to any one and every one, but I don't wish to keep
it a secret from an old comrade.
"At Ulvasa, here in Ostergotland," he continued (and
WONDERFUL ADVENTURES OF NILS
one could tell by the tone of his voice that he talked of some-
thing which he had heard from others, and knew by heart),
"many, many years ago, there lived a lady who had the
gift of looking into the future, and telling people what was
going to happen to them — just as certainly and accurately
as though it had already occurred. For this she became
widely noted; and it is easy to understand why people from
both far and near came to her, to find out what they
were to pass through of good or evil.
"One day, when Ulvasa-lady sat in her hall and spun, as
was the custom in former days, a poor peasant came into
the room and seated himself on the bench near the door.
"'I wonder what you are sitting and thinking about, dear
lady,' said the peasant after a little.
"'I am sitting and thinking about high and holy things,'
she answered. "Then it is not fitting, perhaps, that I ask
you about something which weighs on my heart,' said the
peasant.
"'It is probably nothing else that weighs on your heart
than that you may reap much grain on your field. But
I am accustomed to receive communications from the
Emperor, as to how it will go with his crown; and from the
Pope, as to how it will go with his keys.' 'Such things
cannot be easy to answer,' said the peasant. 'I have heard
also that no one goes from here without being dissatisfied
with what he has heard.5
"When the peasant said that, he noticed that Ulvasa-lady
bit her lip, and moved farther up on the bench. 'So this is
what you have heard of me,' she said. 'Then you may as
well tempt fortune by asking me about the thing you wish
to know; and you shall see whether or not I can answer so
that you will be satisfied.*
WONDERFUL ADVENTURES OF NILS 253
"After this the peasant did not hesitate to state his errand.
He said that he had come to ask how it would go with
Ostergotland in the future. There was nothing which was
so dear to him as his native province, and he felt that he
would be happy until his dying day if he could get a satis-
factory reply to his query.
' Oh ! ' if that is all you wish to know,' said the wise lady;
'then I think that you will be content. For here, where I
now sit, I can tell you that it will be like this with Oster-
gotland: it will always have something to boast of ahead
of other provinces.'
'Yes, that was a good answer, dear lady,' said the
peasant/ and I should now be entirely at peace if I only knew
how such a thing could be possible.'
"'Why should it not be possible?' said Ulvasa-lady.
'Don't you know that Ostergotland is already renowned?
Or think you there is any place in Sweden that can boast of
possessing, at the same time, two such cloisters as the ones in
Alvastra and Vreta, and such a beautiful cathedral as the
one at Linkoping?'
"'That may be so,' said the peasant. 'But I'm an old
man, and I know that people's minds are changeable. I
fear that there will come a time when they won't give us
any glory, for either Alvastra or Vreta, or even for the
cathedral.'
'Herein you may be right,' said Ulvasa-lady, 'but you
need not doubt prophecy on that account. I shall now
build up a new cloister on Vadstena, and this will become
the most celebrated in the North. Thither both the high
and the lowly shall make pilgrimages, and all shall sing the
praises of the province because it has so holy a place within
its confines.'
254 WONDERFUL ADVENTURES OF NILS
"The peasant replied that he was right glad to know this.
But he also knew, of course, that everything was perishable;
and he wondered much what would give distinction to the
province, if Vadstena Cloister should once fall into dis-
repute.
"'You are not easy to satisfy,' said Ulvasa-lady, 'but
surely I can see far enough ahead to tell you that before
Vadstena Cloister shall have lost its splendour there will
be a castle erected close by, which will be the most mag-
nificent of its period. Kings and dukes will be guests
there, and it shall be accounted an honour to the wThole prov-
ince that it owns such an ornament."
'"This I am also glad to hear,' said the peasant. 'But
I'm an old man, and I know how it generally turns out with
this world's glories. And if the castle goes to ruin, I wonder
much what there will be that can attract the people's at-
tention to this province?'
"'It's not a little that you want to know/ said Ulvasa-
lady, 'but, certainly, I can look far enough into the future
to see that there will be life and movement in the forests
around Finspang. I see how cabins and smithies arise
there, and I believe that the whole province shall become
renowned because iron will be moulded within its confines.'
"The peasant didn't deny that he was delighted to hear
this. 'But if it should go so badly that even Finspang's
foundry went down in importance, then it would hardly be
possible that any new thing could arise of which Oster-
gotland might boast.'
"'You are not easy to please,' said Ulvasa-lady, 'but I
can see so far into the future that I mark how, along the lake
shores, great manors, large as castles, are built by gentlemen
who have carried on wars in foreign lands. I believe that
WONDERFUL ADVENTURES OF NILS 255
the manors will bring the province just as much honour as
anything else that I have named.'
'"But if there comes a time when no one lauds the great
manors?' insisted the peasant.
'You need not be uneasy at all events,' said Ulvasa-lady.
'I see how health-springs bubble on Medevi meadows, by
Vattern's shores. I believe that the wells at Medevi will
bring the land as much praise as you can desire.'
'That is a mighty good thing to know,' said the peasant.
' But if there comes a time when people seek their health at
other springs?'
'You must not give yourself any anxiety on that
account,' answered Ulvasa-lady. ' I see how people dig and
labour, from Motala to Mem. They dig a canal right
through the country, and Ostergotland's praise is again on
every one's lips.'
"But, nevertheless, the peasant looked distraught.
' I see that the rapids in Motala stream begin to draw
wheels,' said Ulvasa-lady — and now two bright red spots
came to her cheeks, for she began to be impatient — ' I hear
hammers resound in Motala, and looms clatter in Norr-
kb'ping.'
'Yes, that's good to know,' said the peasant, 'but every-
thing is perishable, and I'm afraid that even this can be for-
gotten, and go into oblivion.'
' When the peasant was not satisfied even now, there was
an end to the lady's patience. 'You say that everything is
perishable,' said she, 'but now I shall name something which
will always be like itself; and that is that such arrogant and
pig-headed peasants as you will always be found in this
province — until the end of time.'
"Hardly had Ulvasa-lady finished speaking before the
256 WONDERFUL ADVENTURES OF NILS
peasant rose — happy and gratified — and thanked her for
a good answer. Now, at last, he was satisfied, he said.
'Then said Ulvasa-lady : ' Verily, I understand now how
you look at it.'
'Well, I look at it in this way, dear lady,' spoke the
peasant, 'that everything which kings and priests and
noblemen and merchants build and accomplish can endure
only for a few years. But when you tell me that in
Ostergotland there will always be peasants who are honour-
loving and persevering, then I know also that it will be able
to preserve its ancient glory. For it is only those who go
bent under the eternal labour with the soil, who can hold
this land in good repute and honour — from one time to
another.' "
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
THE HOMESPUN CLOTH
Saturday, April twenty-third.
boy rode forward — away up in the air. He had
A the great Ostergotland plain under him, and he sat and
counted the many white churches which towered above the
small leafy groves around them. It wasn't long until he
had counted fifty. After that he became confused and
lost track of the counting.
Nearly all the farms were built up with large, white-
painted two-story houses, which looked so imposing that
the boy couldn't help admiring them. "There can't be
any peasants in this land," he said to himself, " since I do not
see any farms."
Immediately all the wild geese shrieked: "Here the
peasants live like gentlemen ! Here the peasants live like
gentlemen!"
On the plains the ice and snow had disappeared and the
spring work had been started. "What kind of long crabs
are those crawling over the fields?'1 asked the boy.
"Ploughs and oxen. Ploughs and oxen," answered the
wild geese.
The oxen moved so slowly down on the fields, that one
could scarcely perceive they were in motion, and the geese
shouted to them: 'You won't get there before next year!
You won't get there before next year!" But the oxen were
equal to the occasion. They raised their muzzles in the
257
858 WrONDERFUL ADVENTURES OF NILS
air and bellowed: 'We do more good in an hour than such
as you do in a whole lifetime."
In a few places the ploughs were drawn by horses. They
went along with much more eagerness and haste than the
oxen; but the geese couldn't keep from teasing these either.
" Aren't you ashamed to be doing ox-duty?" they cried.
"Aren't you ashamed yourselves to be doing lazy man's
duty?" the horses neighed back at them.
But while horses and oxen were at work in the fields, the
stable ram walked about in the barnyard. He was newly
clipped and irritable; he knocked over the small boys,
chased the shepherd dog into his kennel, and then strutted
about as though he alone were lord of the whole place.
"Rammie, Rammie, what have you done with your wool?"
asked the wild geese, who rode by up in the air. 'That I
have sent to Drag's woollen mills in Norrkoping," replied
the ram with a long, drawnout bleat. " Rammie, Rammie,
what have you done with your horns?" asked the geese.
But any horns the rammie had never possessed, to his sorrow,
and one couldn't offer him a greater insult than to ask after
them. He ran around a long time, and butted at the air,
so furious was he.
Along the country road came a man driving a herd of
Skane pigs that were not more than a few weeks old, and
were to be sold up country. They trotted along bravely,
little as they were, and kept close together — as if seeking
protection. " Nuff, nuff, nuff, we came away too soon from
father and mother. Nuff, nuff, nuff, what is to become of us
poor children," squealed the little pigs. The wild geese
didn't have the heart to tease such poor little creatures.
"It will be better for you than you can ever believe," they
cried encouragingly, as they flew past them.
* V -
,_
-
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S~~~7 *'
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:DOWN IX THE ROAD STOOD OSA, THE GOOSP>CIKL, AND II KK BROTHER,
LITTLE MATS, LOOKIXG AT A TIXY WOODEN SHOE"
WONDERFUL ADVENTURES OF NILS 259
The wild geese were never so merry as when flying over a
flat country. Then they did not hurry themselves, but
flew from farm to farm, and joked with the tame animals.
As the boy rode over the plain he happened to think of a
legend which he had heard a long time ago. He didn't
remember it exactly, but it was something about a petti-
coat, half of which was made of gold-woven velvet, and
half of gray homespun. But the one who owned the petti-
coat had decorated the homespun with such heaps of
pearls and precious stones that it looked richer and more
gorgeous than the gold-cloth.
He remembered this about the homespun as he looked
down on Ostergotland, because it was made up of a large
plain, which lay wedged in between two mountainous forest-
tracts • — one to the north, the other to the south. The
two forest-heights lay there, a lovely blue, and shimmered in
the morning light, as if bedecked with golden veils; and the
plain, which spread out one winter-naked field after an-
other, was in and of itself more beautiful than the gray home-
spun.
But the people must have been contented on the plain,
because it was generous and kind, and they had tried to
decorate it in the best possible way. High up — where the
boy rode by — he thought that cities and farms, churches
and factories, castles and railway stations were scattered
over it, like large and small trinkets. The roofs and the
wTindow-panes glittered like jewels. Yellow country roads,
shining rail way -tracks and blue canals ran along between
the districts, like embroidered loops. Linkoping lay around
its cathedral like a pearl-setting around a precious stone;
and the gardens in the country were like little brooches and
buttons. There was not much regulation in the pattern,
260 WONDERFUL ADVENTURES OF NILS
but it was a display of grandeur of which one might never
tire.
The geese had left Oberg and were travelling eastward
along Gota Canal. This was also making itself ready for
the summer. Workmen were building canal-banks, and tar-
ring the huge lock-gates. They were working everywhere
to receive spring fittingly, even in the cities. There, masons
and painters stood on scaffoldings and made fine the exte-
riors of the houses while maids cleaned the windows. Down
at the harbour, sailboats and steamers were being washed
and dressed up.
At Norrkoping the wild geese left the plain, and flew up
toward Kolmarden. For a time they had been following an
old and hilly country road, which wound around cliffs and
ran forward under wild mountain-walls — when the boy
suddenly let out a shriek. He had been sitting and swinging
his foot back and forth, and one of his wooden shoes had
slipped off.
"Goosey-gander, goosey-gander, I have dropped my
shoe!" cried the boy. The goosey-gander turned about and
sank toward the ground; then the boy saw two children
walking along the road, one of whom had picked up his
shoe. " Goosey-gander, goosey-gander," screamed the boy
excitedly, "fly upward again! It is too late. I can't get
my shoe back now."
Down on the road stood Osa, the goose-girl, and her
brother, little Mats, looking at a tiny wooden shoe that had
fallen from the skies.
Osa, the goose-girl, stood silent a long while — puzzled
over the find. At last she said, slowly and thoughtfully:
"Do you remember, little Mats, that when we went past Ovid
Cloister we heard that the folks in a farmyard had seen an
WONDERFUL ADVENTURES OF NILS 261
elf who was dressed in leather breeches, and had wooden
shoes on his feet, like any other workingman? And do
you recollect that when we came to Vittskovle a girl told
us that she had seen a Goa-Nisse, with wooden shoes, who
flew away on the back of a goose? And when we ourselves
came home to our cabin, little Mats, we saw a goblin who
was dressed in the same way, and who also straddled the
back of a goose — and flew away. Maybe it was the same
one who rode along on his goose up here in the air and
dropped his wooden shoe."
"Yes, it must have been," said little Mats.
They turned the wooden shoe about and examined it
carefully — for it isn't every day that one happens across
Goa-Nisse's wooden shoe on the highway.
"Wait, wait, little Mats!" said Osa, the goose-girl,
"There is something written on one side of it."
"Why, so there is! but they are such tiny letters."
" Let me see ! It says — it says : ' Nils Holgersson from
W. Vemmenhog.' That's the most wonderful thing I've
ever heard!" said little Mats.
[Concluded in " Further Adventures of Nils."]
CENTRAL OSCULATION
CHILDRFN'3 ROOM
GLOSSARY
TABLE OF PRONUNCIATION
The final e is sounded in Skane, Sirle, Gripe, etc.
The a in Skane and Smaland is pronounced like o in ore.
j is like the English y. Nuolja, Oviksfjallen, Sjangeli,
Jarro, etc., should sound as if they were spelled like this:
Nuolya, Oviksfyellen, Shang-e-lee, Yarro, etc.
g, when followed by e, i, y, a, o, is also like y. Example
Gota is pronounced Yota.
When g is followed by a, o, u, or a, it is hard, as in go.
k in Norrkoping, Linkoping, Kivik (pronounced Chee^
veek), etc., is like ch in cheer.
Jc is hard when it precedes a, o, u, or a. Example, Kaksiv
Kolmi, etc.
a is pronounced like a in fare. Example, Fars.
There is no sound in the English language which corre*
sponds to the Swedish o. It is like the French eu in jeu.
Gripe is pronounced Greep-e.
In Sirle, the first syllable has the same sound as the sir
in sirup.
The names which Miss Lagerlb'f has given to the animals
are descriptive.
Smirre Fox, is cunning fox.
Sirle Squirrel, is graceful, or nimble squirrel.
Gripe Otter, means grabbing or clutching otter.
262
WONDERFUL ADVENTURES OF NILS
Marten gaskarl (Morten Goosey-gander) is a pet name
for a tame gander, just as we use Dickie-bird for a pet bird.
Fru is the Swedish for Mrs. This title is usually applied
to gentlewomen only. The author has used this meaning
of "fru."
A Goa-Nisse is an elf -king, and corresponds to the English
Puck or Robin Goodfellow.
TRANSLATOR
. »
Books by
SELMA LAGERLOF
CHARLOTTE LOWENSKOLD
THE EMPEROR OF
PORTUGALLIA
FURTHER ADVENTURES
OF NILS
HARVEST
THE HOLY CITY:
JERUSALEM II
INVISIBLE LINKS
JERUSALEM
MARBACKA
MEMORIES OF MY
CHILDHOOD
MIRACLES OF ANTICHRIST
THE RING
OF THE LOWENSKOLDS
THE STORY OF
GOSTA BERLING
THE WONDERFUL
ADVENTURES OF NILS
1166
THE MARBACKA EDITION
OF SELMA LAGERLOF'S BOOKS
Marbacka is the name of the home of the Lagerlbfs.
Selma Lagerlof has written of it in her autobio-
graphy, the idyllic story of life at Marbacka, told
with the sensitiveness to beauty and the charm of
style which won for for her the Nobel prize for litera-
ture. The London Times recognizes Miss Lagerlof
as "the most eminent of Swedish writers"; and the
Yale Record characterizes her as "the most beloved
vromar* in Sweden."
TH-> t*-j»rrt» <vf Vw».v sm*'***'***.! home has been fittingly
given to this new editior- of Selma Lagerlof 's books.
Four titles are pub); .tied in the Marbacka Edition,
vitli others to fo'" .w:
THF TOR'* OF GOSTA REELING
TF/ A|3&ar «FUL ADVENTURES OF NILS
FURTHER ADVENTURES olF NILS
MARBACKA
Upon receipt of ten cents the publishers will
send an illustrated biographical and biblio-
graphical booklet on Selma Lagerlof .
DOUBF.KU VY, DOBAN AJSD COMPANY, INC., GARDEN CITY, N. Y.