 Section 6 of the Wonderful Adventures of Nils This is a LibriVox recording, or LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more information or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox.org. Reading by Lars Rolander The Wonderful Adventures of Nils by Selma Lagerlööf Translated by Wilma Swanson Howard In Rainy Weather Wednesday, March 30 It was the first rainy day of the trip. As long as the wild geese had remained in the vicinity of Womblake, they had had beautiful weather. But on the day when they set out to travel farther north, it began to rain. And for several hours, the boy had to sit on the gooseback, soaking wet and shivering with the cold. In the morning, when they had started, it had been clear and mild. The wild geese had flown high up in the air, evenly and without haste, with akka at the lead, maintaining strict discipline, and the rest in two oblique lines back over. They had not taken the time to shout any witty sarcasm to the animals on the ground. But as it was simply impossible for them to keep perfectly silent, they sang out continually, in rit with the wing strokes, their usual coaxing call. Where are you, here am I, where are you, here am I? They all took part in this persistent calling, and only stopped now and then to show the goose agander the landmarks they were travelling over. The places on this route included Lindrödsorsens dry hill, Oversholm's manor, Krufansdags church steeple, Beggarsgoogs royal castle on the narrow Isthmus between Oppmans lake and Evers lake, Ryss mountains steep precipice. It had been a monotonous trip, and when the rain clouds made their appearance, the boy thought it was a real diversion. In the old days, when he had only seen the rain cloud from below, he had imagined that they were grey and disagreeable. But it was a very different thing to be up amongst them. Now he saw distinctly that the clouds were enormous carts, which drove through the heavens with sky high loads. Some of them were piled up with huge grey sacks, some with barrels, some 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 immensible height. And when so many of them had driven forward that they filled the whole sky, it appeared as though someone had given a signal, for all at once water commenced to pour down over the earth from utensils, barrels, bottles, and sacks. Just as the first spring showers patted against the ground, there arose such shouts of joy from all the small birds in grooves 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 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 neighborhood. When they flew over the big potato patches, which are so plentiful in the country around Krishansta, and which still lay bare and black, they screamed, Wake up and be useful! Here comes something that will awaken you! You have idle long enough now! When they saw people who hurried to get out of the rain, they reproved them, saying, What are you in such a hurry about? Can't you see that it is raining rylos and cookies? It was a big thick mist that moved northward briskly and followed close upon the geese. They seemed to think that they dragged the mist along with them, and just now, when they saw great orchards beneath them, they called out proudly, Here we come with anamones, 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. And when it continued to fall the whole afternoon, the wild geese grew impatient and cried to the thirsty forests around Evers 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, to try to find its way between the oily outside feathers into their skins. The earth was hidden by fogs, lake, mountains, and woods floated together in an indistinct maze, and the landmarks could not be distinguished. The flight became slower and slower, the joyful cries were hushed, and the boy felt the cold more and more keenly. But still he had kept up his courage as long as he had ridden through the air. And in the afternoon, when they had lighted under a little stunted pine in the middle of a large morass, 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 ran about in fine spirits and hunted for cranberries and frozen wattleberries. But then came evening, and darkness sank down on them so close that not even such eyes as the boys could see through it. And all the wilderness became so strangely grim and awful. The boy lay tucked 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 was terror-stricken and didn't know where he should go. He must go somewhere where there was light and heat if he wasn't going to be entirely scared to death. If I should venture where there are human beings just for this night, thought the boy, only so I could sit by a fire for a moment, and get a little food. I could go back to the wild geese before sunrise. He crept from under the wing and slid down to the ground. He didn't awake either the goosey gander or any of the other geese, but stole silently and unobserved through the morass. He didn't know exactly where on earth he was if he was in Skåne, in Småland or in Blekinge, but just before he had gotten down in the morass he had caught a glimpse of a large village and thither he directed his steps. It wasn't long either before he discovered a road and soon he was on the village street which was long and had planted 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 can hardly be seen at all down in the plain. The houses were of wood and very pretty constructed. Most of them had gables and fronts edged with carved moldings and glass doors with here and there a coloured pane opening on verandas. The walls were painted in light oil colours. The doors and window frames shown in blues 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 chattered and laughed. The words he could not distinguish but 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 was of course what he had intended to do all along but now that he saw the lighted windows his fear of the darkness was gone. Instead he felt again that shyness which always came over him now when he was near human beings. I'll take a look around the town for a while longer, thought he before I ask anyone to take me in. On one house there was 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 fruit came out on 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 anxiety. It was as though he wanted to weep. For the first time he was a bit uneasy because he had shut himself out from the humankind. Shortly after that he walked by a shop. Outside the shop stood a red corn drill. He stopped and looked at it and finally crawled up to the driver's place and seated himself. When he had got there he smacked with his lips and pretended that he sat and drove. He thought what fun it would be to be permitted to drive such a pretty machine over a grain feed for a moment he forgot what he was like now. Then he remembered it and jumped down quickly from the machine. Then a greater unrest came over him. After all, human beings were very wonderful and clever. He walked by the post office and then he thought of all the newspapers which came every day with news from all the four corners of the earth. He saw the apothecary shop and the doctor's home and he thought about the power of human beings which was so great that they were able to battle with sickness and death. He came to the church. Then he thought 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 so with children that they never think any further ahead than the length of their noses that which lies near them they want promptly without caring what it may cost them. Nils Holgerson 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 to his right form. How in all the world should he go to work in order to become human? This he wanted so much to know. He crawled up on a doorstep and seated himself in the pouring 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 though 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 as little as I have, he thought at last. It will probably wind up by 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 a cure for such things. This he concluded that he would do at once and shook himself, for he was as wet as a dog that has been in a water pool. Just about then he saw that a big owl came flying along and alighted on one of the trees that boarded the village street. The next instant a lady owl who sat under the conish of the house began to call out, Give it, give it! Are you home again, Mr. Gray Owl? What kind of time did you have abroad? Thank you, Lady Brown Owl. I had a very comfortable time, said the Gray Owl, as anything out of the ordinary happened here at home during my absence. Not here in Blekinge, Mr. Gray Owl, but in Skåne a marvelous thing has happened. A boy has been transformed 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 then I shall become a human being again. Mr. Gray Owl, 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 someone listening down here in the street. With that the owls flew their way, but the boy flung his cap in the air and shouted, then I shall become a human being again. Hurrah! Hurrah! Then I shall become a human being again. He shouted hurrah until it was strange that I 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. End of In Rainy Weather Read by Lars Rolander Section 7 The Wonderful Adventures of Nils This is a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more information or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox.org Reading by Lars Rolander The Wonderful Adventures of Nils by Selma Lagerlöf Translated by Velma Swonston-Howard The Stairway with the Three Steps Thursday, March 31 The following day the wild geese intended to travel northward through Albo District in Småland. They sent Ixie and Caxitus by 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 eastward through Blekinge and see if we can't get to Småland by way of Mörö, which lies near the coast and has an early spring. Thus the boy came to ride over Blekinge the next day. Now that it was light again, he was in a merry mood once more and could not comprehend what had come over him the night before. He certainly didn't want to give up the journey and the outdoor life now. There lay a thick fog over Blekinge. The boy couldn't see how it looked out there. I wonder if it is a good or poor country that I am riding over, thought he, and try to search his memory for the things which he had heard about the country at school. But at the same time he knew well enough that this was useless as he had never been in the habit of studying his lessons. At once the boy saw the whole school before him. The children sat by the little desks and raised their hands. The teacher sat in the lectern and looked displeased and he himself stood before the map and should answer some questions 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 thought then. But the schoolmaster had gone over to a window and had stood there for a moment and looked out and then he had whistled himself once. Then he had gone up into the lectern and said that he would tell them something about Blekinge and that which he then talked about had been so amusing that the boy had listened. When he only stopped and thought for a moment he remembered every word. Smallland 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 and this stairway is called Blekinge. It is a stairway that is well constructed. It stretches 42 miles along the frontage of Smallland House and anyone who wishes to go all the way down to East Sea by the way of the stairs has 24 miles to wander. A good long time must have elapsed since the stairway was built. Both the days and years have gone by since the steps were ewn from gravestones and lay down evenly and smoothly for a convenient track between Smallland and the East Sea. Since the stairway is so old one can of course understand that it doesn't look just the same now as it did when it was new. I don't know how much they trouble 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 leech and began to grow on it in the autumn dry leaves and dry grass blew down over it and in the spring it was piled up with falling stones and gravel. And as all these things were left there to mold 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 at the same time a great disparity had arisen between the three steps. The topmost step which lies nearest Smallland is mostly covered with poor soil and small stones and no trees except birches and bird sherry and spruce which can stand the cold on the heights and are satisfied with little can thrive up there. One understands best how poor and dry it is there when one sees how small the field plots are that are plowed up from the forest lands many little cabins the people build for themselves and are far it is between the churches. But on the middle step there is better soil and it does not lie bound down under such severe cold either. This one can see at a glance since the trees are both higher and of a finer quality. There 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 that you will find there and also because the people have built themselves 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 bays in the sea it hasn't the slightest feeling of the small un-chill. Beaches 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 grain fields but the people have not only timber and farming to live upon 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 that is said of the three steps for one must realize that when it rains on the roof of the big small land 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 has 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. Those grooves it has dug into veils and the walls of the veils 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 stream of water that winds its way down there in the deep but when the streams come to the landings between the steps they throw themselves headlong over them. This is why the water comes with such a seething rush that it gathers strength with which to move mill wheels and machinery these two have sprung up by every waterfall but this does not tell all that is said of the land with the three steps it must also be told that up in the big house in Smallund there lived once upon a time 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 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 east sea he threw them with such force that they flew over the whole of Bleking and dropped into the sea and when the stones came down the salmon got so scared that they came up from the sea and fled toward the Bleking streams ran through the rapids flying themselves with high leaps over the waterfalls and stopped how true this is one can see by the number of islands and points that lie along the coast of Bleking 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 Bleking streams and work their way up through rapids and still water all the way to small land that giant is worthy of great thanks and much honour from the Bleking people for salmon in the streams and stone cutting on the island that means work which gives food to many of them even to this day end of the stairway with the three steps read by Lars Rolander section 8 of the wonderful adventures of Nils this is a LibriVox recording all LibriVox recordings are in the public domain for more information or to volunteer please visit LibriVox.org reading by Lars Rolander the wonderful adventures of Nils by Selma Lagerlööf translated from the Swedish by by by Friday, April 1st neither the wild geese nor Smirifox had believed that they would ever run across each other after they had left Skåne but now it turned out so that the wild geese happened to take the root of the Bleking which had also gone so far he had kept himself in the northern part 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 when Smirifox 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 Smirifox began immediately to hunt the geese just as much for the pleasure of getting a good square meal as for the desire to be avenged for all the humiliation that 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 banks and he thought that he should be able to get hold of a pair of them without much trouble but when Smirifox finally discovered 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 Ronneby river isn't any big or important body of water nevertheless it is just as much talked of for the sake of its pretty shores at several points it forces its way forward between steep mountain walls that stand upright out of the water and are entirely overgrown with honeysuckle and bird cherry mountain ash and osir 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 on all the soft green that fasten itself to the rugged mountain sides but now when the wild geese and Smirifox came to the river it was cold and blustery spring winter all the trees were new and there was probably no one who thought the least bit about whether the shore was ugly or pretty the wild geese thanked their good fortune that they had found a sand strip large enough for them to stand upon on a steep mountain wall in front of them rushed the river which was strong and violent in the snow-melting time behind them they had an impossible mountain rock wall and overhanging branches screened them they couldn't have 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 the fear of the darkness and a wilderness terror and he longed for human beings when he lay tucked in under the goose wing he could see nothing and only hear a little and he thought if any harm came to the goose agander he couldn't save him noises and rustlings were heard 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's 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 it's a sleeping place those geese are too wise for you don't ever bother yourself again to hunt them but smirre like all foxes had found it hard to give up an undertaking already begun and so he lay down on the extremist point of the mountain edge and did not take his eyes of 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 scorn and had been obliged to move to poverty-stricken bleakinge 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 that grew close to him and so 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 had been able to fly he looked at the marten who was not as skilled as climbing as the squirrel but who still ran up and along the branches just as securely as if they had been even past in the forest if I could only climb half as well as either of them thought the fox, those things down there wouldn't sleep in peace very long as soon as the squirrel had been captured and the chase was ended smirre walked over to the marten but stopped two steps away from him to signify that he did not wish him of his prey he greeted the marten in a very friendly manner and wished him good luck with his catch smirre chose his words 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 and quickly answered him it surprises me said smirre that such a fine hunter as you are should be satisfied with chasing squirrels when there is much better game within breach here he paused but when the marten only grinned impudently at him he continued can it be possible that you haven't seen the wild geese that stand under the mountain wall do you remember to get down to them this time he had no need to wait for an answer the marten rushed up to him with back bent and every separate hair on end have you seen wild geese he hissed where are they tell me instantly or I'll bite your neck off no 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 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 but just as smirre was waiting to hear the geese's death rattle all the marten tumbled 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 hurried 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 that poor thing 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 haven't acted boobishly you don't need to scold me said the marten I sat already on one of the lowest branches and thought how I should manage to tear a whole lot of geese to pieces when a little creature no bigger 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 beside the half moon stood 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 Glekinge when she traveled over the east sea in the spring she followed the river as long as she saw it winding through the moonlit landscape like a black shining snake in this way she came down to gypa fosh where the river first hides itself in an underground channel and then clear and transparent as though it were made of glass rushes down in a narrow cliff and breaks into bits against its 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 mother Akka alighted this was another good sleeping place especially this late in the evening when no human beings moved about at sunset the geese would hardly have been able to camp there for gypa fosh 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 gypa dals park people are always strolling about on the steep and slippery paths to enjoy the wild streams rushing movement down in the ravine it was about the same here as the former place none of the travelers thought the least little bit that they had come to a pretty and well known place they thought rather that it was scarcely and dangerous to stand and sleep on slippery wet stones in the middle of a rumbling waterfall that had to be content if only they were protected from carnivorous 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 still he couldn't make up his mind to abandon them but seated himself 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 the falls with the fish in his mouth smirre approached him but stopped within two steps of him to show him 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 didn't take the time to arrange his words as carefully as he was want to do the otter didn't turn his head once in the direction of the river he was a vagabond like all others and had fished many times by bomb lake 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 gripper said smirre and was delighted for he knew that this particular otter was a quick and accomplished 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 and as soon as he caught sight of the wild geese he threw the fish away and rushed down the steep shore and into the river if it had been a little later in the spring so that the night in Gales in Yippa Fosh had been at home they would have sung for many a day of grievous 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 near the wild geese it was a perilius strip which might well have earned the right to be sung by the nightingales Smyrre followed the otter's course with his eyes as well as he could at last 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 dashed away as if he had been a blind kitten an instant later there was a great crackling of geese's wings they raced themselves and flew away to find another sleeping place the otter soon came on land he said nothing but commenced to lick one of his forepaws when Smyrre sneered at him because he hadn't succeeded he broke out it was not the fault of my swimming-art Smyrre 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 some sharp iron it hurt so I lost my footing and then the current took me he didn't have to say any more Smyrre was already far away on his way to the wild geese once again Akka and her flock had to take a nightfly 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 in that neighborhood again she followed the shining river toward the south over Eupadol's manor and over Ronnebi's dark roofs and white waterfalls she swayed forward without a lighting but a little south of the city and not far from the sea lies Ronnebi health spring with its bath house and spring house with its big hotel and summer cottages for the spring guests all these stand empty and desolate in winter which the birds know perfectly well and many other bird companies who seek shelter on the deserted buildings balustrades and balconies during hard storm times 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 Hagander'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 met here in Blekingen you see that sea and land can meet in many different ways in many places the land comes down toward the sea with flat tufted meadows and the sea meets the land with flying sand which piles up in moans and drifts it appears as though they both disliked each other so much that they only wished to show the poorest they possessed 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 was something dangerous when the land does this the sea comes 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 Blekingen it is all together different when sea and land meet there the land breaks itself up into points and islands and the sea divides itself into fjords and bays and sounds and it is perhaps this which makes it look as if they must meet in peace and harmony think now first and foremost of the sea far out it lies desolate and empty and big and has nothing else to do but roll its gray billows when it comes toward the land it happens across the first obstacle this it immediately overpowers tears away everything green and makes it as gray as itself then it meets still another obstacle thus the same thing and still another yes the same thing happens to this also it is stripped and plundered as if it had fallen into robbers hands then the obstacles come near and nearer together and then the sea must understand that the land sends toward her littlest children in order to move it to pity it also becomes more friendly the father 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 their venture out on it it certainly cannot recognize itself so mild and friendly has it grown 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 groove between them or else of long stretches of forest ranges it appears as if it had thought about nothing but grain and turnips and potatoes and spruce and pine then comes a sea fjord that cuts far into it it doesn't mind that but borders it with birch and alder just as if it was an ordinary freshwater lake then still another wave comes driving in nor does the hillside bother itself about cringing to this but it too gets the same covering as the first one then the fjords begin to broaden and separate they break up fields and woods and then the hillside cannot help but notice them I believe it is the sea self that is coming says the hillside and then it begins to adorn itself it reddish 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 and parades later with big oaks and lindons and chestnuts and with blossoming leafy bowers and 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 one cannot see very well until summertime but at any rate the boy observed how mild and friendly nature was and he began to feel calmer than he had been before that night then suddenly heard a sharp and ugly yowl from the bath house park and when he stood up he saw in the white moonlight a fox standing on the pavement under the balcony for Smirr had followed the wild geese once more but when he had found the place where they had quartered he had understood that it was impossible to get at them in any way then he had not been able to keep from jowling with chagrin when the fox jowled in this manner old Aka the leader goose was awakened although she could see nothing she thought she recognized the voice is it you who are out tonight Smirr said she yes said Smirr it is I and I want to ask what you geese think of the night that I have given you do you mean that to say that it is you who have sent the martin an otter against us asked Aka a good turn shouldn't be denied said Smirr you once played the goose game with me now I have begun to play the fox game with you and I am 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 Smirr ought to at least to think whether it is right for you who are weapon with both teeth and claws to hound us in this way we who are without defense said Aka Smirr thought that Aka sounded scared and he said quickly if you Aka will take that thumby tot who has so often opposed me and throw him down to me I'll promise to make peace with you then I'll never more pursue you or any of yours I'm not going to give you thumby tot said Aka from the youngest of us to the oldest we would willingly give our lives for his sake since you are so fond of him said Smirr I'll promise you that he shall be the first among you that I will wreck vengeance upon Aka said no more and after Smirr had sent up a few more yowls all was still the boy lay all the while awake now it was Aka's words to the fox that prevented him from sleeping never had he dreamt that he should hear anything so great as that anyone was willing to risk life for his sake from that moment it could no longer be said of Nils Holgerson that he did not care for anyone end of by Ronneby river read by Larsh Rolander section 9 of the wonderful adventures of Nils this is a LibriVox recording or LibriVox recordings are in the public domain for more information or to volunteer please visit LibriVox.org reading by Larsh Rolander the wonderful adventures of Nils by Selma Lagerlov translated by Belma Swonston Howard Kalskrona Saturday, April 2nd it was a moonlight evening in Kalskrona 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 one of them had ventured out on the streets while the city lay there so desolate Aka the wild goose and her flock came flying toward it over Vemön 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 when the boy rode along high up in the air and looked at the sea and the islands which spread themselves before him he thought that everything appeared so strange and spook like the heavens were no longer blue but ensased him like a gloob of green glass the sea was milk white and as far as he could see rolled small white waves tipped with silver ripples in the midst of all this white lay numerous little islets absolutely cold black whether they were big or little whether they were as 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 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 he thought 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 which was covered with big angular blocks and between the blocks shown specks of bright shining gold he couldn't keep from thinking of Marglestone by Trolle Jungby which the troll sometimes raised upon high gold pillars and he wondered if this was something like that but with the stones and the gold it might have gone fairly well if such a lot of horrid things had not been lying all around the island it looked like whales and sharks and other big sea monsters but the boy understood that it was the 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 should come to him and his island the boy was not a little terrified when he noticed that Aka began to descend right over that particular island no for pity's sake we must not like there said he but the geese continued to descend and soon the boy was astonished that he could have seen things so every 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 stood highest up on the island and raised his arms 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 that lay anchored all around the island on the side which lay toward the land were mostly row boats and sail boats and small coast steamers but on the side that faced the sea lay armor-clad battleships some were broad with very sick slanting smokestacks 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 figure out 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 row ditches he knew very well that this city where so many battleships lay couldn't be any place but Carl Skruna the boy's grandfather had been an old marine and as long as he had lived he had talked of Carl Skruna every day of the great warship dock and all of the other things to be seen in that city the boy felt perfectly at home and he was glad that he should see all this of which he had heard so much but he only had a glimpse of the towers and fortifications which bared the entrance to the harbor and the many buildings and the shipyard before Aka came down on 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 should try to see a little more of the dock and the ships after it had grown light the boy himself thought it was strange that he could keep still and wait until the next 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 down to the ground soon he stood on a big square which spread itself in front of the church it was covered with round stones and was just as difficult for him to travel over as it is for big people to walk on a tufted meadow those who are accustomed to live in the open or way 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 everyone can see who goes there and it happened in the same way with the boy when he stood on the big Karlskiruna square and looked at the German church and town hall and the cathedral from which he had just descended he couldn't do anything but wish that he was back on the tower again with a geese it was a lucky thing that the square was entirely deserted being about unless he counted a statue that stood on a high pedestal the boy gazed long at the statue which represented a big brawny man in a three cornered hat long waistcoat, knee breeches and coarse shoes and wonder what kind of one he was he 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? said the boy at last he had never felt so small and insignificant as he did that night he tried to doll himself up a bit by saying something audacious then he thought no more about the statue but he took himself to a wide street which led down to the sea but the boy hadn't gone far that someone was following him someone 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 bronze man up in the square had gone out for a promenade the boy listened up the steps while he ran down the street and he became more and more convinced that it was the bronze man the ground trembled and the house is shook by the tree who walked so heavily and the boy grew panic-stricken when he thought of what he had just said to him he did not dare to turn his head to find out if it really was he perhaps he's only out walking for recreation thought the boy surely he can't be offended with 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 which led east first and foremost he wanted to get away from the one who trumped after him but the next instant he heard that the bronze man had switched off to the same street and then the boy was so scared that he didn't know what he would do with himself and how hard it was to find any hiding places in a city where all the gates were closed then he saw in his right an old frame church which lay a short distance away from the street in the center of a large groove not an instant did he pause to consider but rushed on toward the church if I can only get there then I'll surely be shielded from all harm, thought he as he ran forward he suddenly caught sight of a man who stood on a gravel path and beckoned to him there is certainly someone who will help me thought the boy he became intensely happy and hurried off in that direction he was actually so frightened that the heart of him fairly thumped in his breast but when he came up to the man who stood on the edge of the gravel path upon a low pedestal he was absolutely thunderstruck surely it can't have been that one who beckoned to me, thought he for he saw that the entire man was made of wood he stood there and stared at him he was a thick set man on short legs with a broad ruddy countenance shiny black hair and a 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 that he glistened and shone in the moonlight this undoubtedly had a good deal to do with giving him such a good natured appearance 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 oh ho the man was only a poor box the boy felt that he had been done he had expected that this should be something really remarkable and now he remembered that grandpa had also spoken of the wooden man and said that all the children in Kalskruuna were so fond of him and that must have been true for he too found it hard to part with a wooden man he had something so old timey about him that one could well take him 300 years old and at the same time he looked so strong and bold and animated just as one might imagine that forks looked in olden times the boy had so much fun looking at the wooden man that he entirely forgot the one from whom he was fleeing but now he heard him he turned from the street and came into the churchyard he followed him here too let's go just then he saw the wooden man bend down to him and stretch forth his big broad hand it was impossible to believe 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 gotten his arm in its right place again when the bronze man stopped and banged the stick on the ground so that the wooden man shook on his pedestal thereupon the bronze man sat in a strong and resonant voice who might this one 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 rose and boom by your majesty's leave once upon a time boatswain on that man of war drishtig heaton his 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 that the wooden man had said your majesty for now when he thought about it he knew that the statue on the square represented the one who had founded the city it was probably no less than one then charged the eleventh himself whom he had encountered he gives a good account of himself said the bronze man can he also tell me if he has seen a little brat who runs around the city tonight he's an impudent rascal if I get hold of him I'll teach him manners with that he gained pounded on the ground with a 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 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 and conceal himself there does he say so rosenboom well then don't stand still on the pedestal any longer but come with me and help me find him for I serve better than to rosenboom 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 moldy and cannot stand moving about the bronze man was not one of those who liked to be contradicted what sort of notions are these come along rosenboom then he raised his stick and gave the other one a resounding roof back on the shoulder thus rosenboom not see that he holds together with that they broke off and walked forward on the streets of calskruna large and mighty until they came to a high gate which led to the shipyard just outside and on guard walked one of the navy jack-tars but the bronze man passed him and kicked the gate open without the jack-tars pretending to notice it as soon as they had gotten 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 ave inspiring close to like this then lately when the boy had seen them from up above then it wasn't so crazy after all to imagine that they were sea trolls, thought he where does rosenboom think it most advisable for us to begin the search, said the bronze man such an one as he could most easily conceal himself in the hall of models replied the wooden man on a narrow land strip which stretched to the right from the gate all along the harbour lay ancient structures the bronze man walked over to the buildings with low walls, small windows and a conspicuous roof he pounded on the door with a stick until it burst open and trammed 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 these were models of the ships which had been built for the Swedish navy there were ships of many different varieties there were old men of war whose sides bristled with cannon and which had high structures fore and aft and 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 armor plated ships with towers and cannon undecked such as are in use nowadays and narrow shining torpedo boats which resemble long slender fishes when the boy was carried around among all this he was abed fancy that such big splendid ships have been built here in Sweden he thought to himself he had plenty of time to see and to be seen in there for when the bronze man saw the models he forgot everything else he examined them all from the first to the last and asked about them and Rosenboom the boatswain on the Dristigheten 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 them about Chapman and Puke 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 hear that Rosenboom doesn't know anything about these new fangled things said the bronze man therefore let us go and look at something else for this amuses me Rosenboom 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 wanted through the big establishment sailmaking shops anchor smithy, machine and carpenter shops they saw the mast shares and the docks the large magazines the arsenal and the big discarded dock which had been blasted in the rock they went out upon the pile bridges where the naval vessel slaymore stepped on board and examined them like two old sea dogs wandered, 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 skilled men 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 the very last they went into the open court where the galley models of old men of war were grew a more remarkable sight the boy had never beheld for these 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 thought that he shriveled up before them but when they came in here the bronze man said to the wooden man take off thy hat, rouson boom for those that stand here they have all fought for the fatherland and rouson boom, like the bronze man had forgotten why they had begun this tram 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 found in the shipyard and recreated the navy to the monarch who has awakened all this into life rouson boom, that was well spoken rouson boom is a fine man but what is this rouson boom for there stood Nils Holgersson right on the top of rouson boom's bald-pate he wasn't afraid any longer but raised his white toboggan hood and shouted hurrah for you, long lip the bronze man struck the ground hard with a stick but the boy never learnt what he had intended to do for now the sun ran up and at the same time both the bronze man and the wooden man vanished as if they had been made of mists while he still stood and stared after them the wild geese flew up from the church tower and swayed back and forth over the city instantly they caught sight of Nils Holgersson and then the big white one darted down from the sky and fetched him end of Kals Kronam read by Lars Rolander section 10 of the wonderful adventures of Nils this is a LibriVox recording all LibriVox recordings are in the public domain for more information or to volunteer please visit LibriVox.org reading by Lars Rolander the wonderful adventures of Nils by Selma Lagerlöf translated by Velma Swonston Howard the trip to Öland Sunday, April 3rd the wild geese went out on a wooden island to feed there they happened to run across a few grey 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 satisfied with less than that the wild geese should tell them all about the persecution which they had to endure from Smirrefox when they had finished a grey goose who appeared to be as old and as wise as Aka herself said it was a great misfortune for you that Smirrefox was declared 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 of a small island but would take the outside route over Öland instead so that he'll be thrown off the track entirely to really mislead him you must remain for a couple of days on Öland's southern point there you'll find lots of food and lots of company I don't believe you'll regret it if you go over there it was certainly very sensible advice and the wild geese concluded to follow it as soon as they had eaten all they could hold they started on the trip to Öland none of them had ever been there before but the grey goose had given them excellent directions they only had to travel direct south until they came to a large bird track which extended all along the Blakeyne coast all the birds who had went to residences by the west sea and who now intended to travel to Finland and Russia flew forward there and in passing they were always in the habit of stopping at Öland to rest the wild geese would have no trouble in finding guides that day it was perfectly still and warm like a summer stay the best weather in the world for a sea trip the only grave thing about it was that it was not quite clear for the sky was grey and veiled here and there were enormous mist clouds which hung way down to the sea's outer edge and obstructed the view when the travellers had gotten away from the wooded island the sea spread itself so smooth and mirror like that the boy as he looked down thought the water had disappeared there was no longer any earth under him he had nothing but 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 though he couldn't possibly hold on he must fall in some direction it was even worse when they reached the big bird track of which the grey goose had spoken actually there came flock after flock flying in exactly the same direction they seemed to follow a fixed route there were ducks and grey geese surf scooters and gillimots loons and pintail ducks and mergancers and grebs and oyster catchers and sea crows but now when the boy leaned forward and looked in the direction where the sea ought to lie he saw the whole bird procession reflected in the water but he was so dizzy that he didn't understand how this had come about he thought that the whole bird procession flew with their bellies upside down still he didn't wonder at this so much for he did not himself know which was up and which was down the birds were tired out and impatient to get on none 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 he was glad and wondered what he should see up there the dissin is passed all at once he was so exceedingly happy at 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 ascend there was a sudden awakening and an unrest among the birds hunters hunters they cried fly high fly away then the boys saw finally that they were travelling all the while over the sea coast and that they certainly were 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 everyone that fell there arose cries of anguish anguish from the living it was strange for one who had but lately believed himself in heaven to wake up suddenly to such fear and lamentation akka shot toward the heights as fast as she could 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 anyone could wish to shoot upon such as akka and yks in kaxi and the goose agander and the others human beings had no conception of what they did so it bore on again in the still air and everything was quiet as the hear to four with the exception that some of the tired birds called out every now and then are we not there soon are you sure we are on the right track here upon those who flew in the centre answered we are flying straight to irland straight to irland the grey geese were tired out and the loons flew around them don't be in such a rush cried the ducks you will eat up all the food before we get there oh there be enough for both you and us answered the loons before they had gotten so far that they saw irland there came a light wind against them it brought with it something resembled immense clouds of white smoke just as if there was a big fire somewhere when the birds saw the first white spiral haze they became uneasy and increased their speed but that which resembled smoke blew thicker and thicker and at last it enveloped them all together they smelled no smoke and the smoke was not dark and dry but white and damp the boy understood that it was nothing but a mist when the mist became so thick that one couldn't see a goose length ahead the birds began to carry on like real lunatics all these who before had travelled forward in such perfect order began to play in the mist they flew hither and dither to entice one another astray be careful they cried you're only travelling round and round it is sake you'll never get to irland in this way they all knew perfectly well where the island was but they did their best to lead each other astray look at those wag tails rang out in the mist they are going back towards the north sea have a care while geese shriek someone from another direction if you continue like this you'll get clear up to Rügen there was of course no danger that the birds who were accustomed to travel here would permit themselves to be lured in the wrong direction but the ones who had a hard time of it were the wild geese the gestures observed that they were uncertain as to the way and did all they could to confuse them where do you intend to go good people called us one he came right up to Akka and looked sympathetic and serious we shall travel to irland but we have never been there before she thought that this was a bird to be trusted it is too bad said the swan they have lured you in the wrong direction you are on the road to Blekinge now come with me and I'll put you right and so he flew off with them and when he had taken them so far away from the track that they heard no calls he disappeared in the mist they flew around for a while at random they had barely succeeded in finding the birds again when a duck approached them it is best that you lie down on the water until the mist clears said the duck it is evident that you are not accustomed to look out for yourselves on journeys those roots succeeded in making Akka's head swim as near as the boy could make out the wild geese flew 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 the neck this was something which he had feared for a long time no one can tell when they would have a ride if they hadn't heard a rolling and muffled sound in the distance then Akka craned her neck snapped hard with her wings and rushed on at full speed now she had something to go by the grey goose had told her not to light on Irland's southern point because there was a cannon there which the people used to shoot the mist with now she knew the way and now no one in the world should lead her astray again end of the trip to Irland read by Lars Rolander section 11 of the wonderful adventures of Nils this is a LibriVox recording all LibriVox recordings are in the public domain for more information or to volunteer please visit LibriVox.org the wonderful adventures of Nils by Selma Lagerlööf translated by Belmas von Ston Howard Irland's Southern Point April 3rd to 6th on the most wonderful adventures of Nils on the most southerly part of Irland lies a royal demessen which is called Uttenby it is a rather large estate which extends from shore to shore straight across the island and it is remarkable because it has always been a haunt for large bird companies in the 17th century when the kings used to go over to Irland to hunt the entire estate there was nothing but a deer park in the 18th century there was a stud there where blooded race horses were bred and a sheep farm where several hundred sheep were maintained in our days you'll find neither blooded horses nor sheep at Uttenby in place of them live great herds of young horses which are to be used by the cavalry in all the land there is certainly no place that could be a 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 Irland where animals can grace and play and run about as free as if they were in a wilderness and there you'll find the celebrated Uttenby Gru with the hundred year old oaks from the sun and shelter from the severe Irland winds and we must not forget the long Uttenby wall which stretches from shore to shore and separates Uttenby from the rest of the island so that the animals may know how far the old royal demands and be careful about getting in on other ground where they are not so well protected you'll find plenty of tame animals at Uttenby but that isn't all one could almost believe that the wild ones also felt that on an old crown property both the wild and the tame ones can count upon shelter and protection since they venture there in such great numbers besides there are still a few stags of the old descent left and burrow ducks and patreous love to live there and it offers a resting place spring and late summer for thousands of migratory birds above all it is the swampy eastern shore below the sheep meadow where the migratory birds elight to rest and feed when the wild geese and ills Holgersson had finally found their way to Irland they came down like all the rest on the shore near the sheep meadow the mist lays thick over the island and it's not bad over the sea but still the boy was amazed at all the birds which he discerned only on the little narrow stretch of shore which he could see it was a low sand shore with stones and pools and lot of cast up seaweed if the boy had been permitted to choose it isn't likely that he would have thought of elighting there but the birds probably looked upon this as a veritable paradise ducks and geese walked about and fed on the meadow nearer the water ran snipe and other coast birds the loon slay in the sea and fished but the life and movement was upon the long seaweed banks along the coast there the birds stood side by side close together and picked rub worms which must have been found there in limitless quantities 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 only elighted to take a short rest and as soon as the leader of a flock thought that his comrades had recovered themselves sufficiently he said if you are ready now we may as well move on no wait wait we'll haven't had anything like enough said the followers 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 and flapped his wings and started off along the outermost seaweed banks lay a flock of swans they didn't bother about going on land but rested themselves by lying and rocking on the water now and then they dived down with their necks and brought up food at the bottom when they had gotten 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 luck on his side so that he got close up to them the boy was not the only one the swans both the wild geese and the grey geese and the loons swam out between the banks laid themselves in a ring around the swans and stared at them the swans ruffled their feathers raised their wings like sails and lifted their necks high in the air occasionally 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 dead raced his bill to reply but then there was a little loon a tiny mischievous baggage who couldn't stand all this ceremony he dived suddenly and disappeared under the water's edge soon after that one of the swans let out a scream and swam off so quickly that the water foamed then he stopped and began to look majestic once more but soon another one shrieked in the same way as the first one and then a third the little loon wasn't able to stay underwater any longer but appeared on the water's edge little and black and venomous the swans rushed toward him but when they saw what a poor little thing 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 and the worst of it 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 though they were running on the water got wind under their wings and raced themselves when the swans were gone they were greatly missed and those who had lately been amused by the little loon's antics scolded him for his thoughtlessness the boy walked toward land again there he stationed himself to see how the pool snipe played they resembled small stalks like these they had little bodies, long legs and necks and light swaying movements certainly they were not gray but brown they stood in a long row on the shore where it was washed by waves as soon as the 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 barrow ducks they were undoubtedly related to the ordinary ducks these they too had a thick set body broad bill and webbed feet but they were much more elaborately gotten up the feather dress itself was white around their necks they were a broad gold band the wing mirror shown in green red and black and the wing edges were black and the head was dark green and shimmered like satin as soon as any of these appeared on the shore the other said now just look at those things they know how to tog themselves out if they were not so conspicuous they wouldn't have to dig their nests in the earth but could lay above ground like anyone else said a brown mallard duck they may try as much as they please still never get anywhere with such noses said a grey goose and this was actually true the barrow ducks had a big knob on the base of the bill which spoiled their appearance close to the shore seagulls and sea swallows moved forward on the water and fished what kind of fish are you catching asked a wild goose it's a 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 urgh do you think that I eat such filth said the wild goose 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 concluded 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 with this for several hours but he was well satisfied with it when it was finished at dinner time all the wild geese came running and asked him if he had seen anything of the white goose agander no, here has not been with me said the boy we had him with us all along until just lately said Aka but now we no longer know where he's to be found the boy jumped up frightened he asked if any fox or eagle had put in an appearance or if any human being had been seen in the neighborhood but no one had noticed anything dangerous the goose agander had probably lost his way in the mist but it was just as great a misfortune for the boy in whatever way the white one had been lost and he started off immediately to hunt for him 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 it was the same bird confusion everywhere but no goose agander he ventured over to Utumbi state and he searched every one of the old hollow oaks in Utumbi grew but he saw no trace of the goose agander he searched until it began to grow dark then he had to turn back again to the eastern shore he walked with heavy steps and was fearfully blue he didn't know what would become of him if he couldn't find the goose agander there was no one whom he could spare less but when he wondered over the sheep meadow what was that big white thing that came toward him in the mist if it wasn't the goose agander 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 very joy and begged him to take care of himself and not wander away from the others and he promised positively that he never would do this again no never again but the next morning when the boy went down to the beach and hunted for mussels the geese came running and asked if he had seen the goose agander no of course he hadn't well then the goose agander was lost again he had gone astray in the mist the boy ran away before the boy ran off in great terror and began to search he found one place where the Uttambee wall was so tumbled down that he could climb over it later he went about first on the shore which gradually widened and became so large that there was room for fields and meadows and farms then up to the flat island which lay in the middle of the island and where there were no buildings and where the turf was so thin that the white cement shone under it meanwhile he could not find the goose agander and as it drew 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 just climbed over the wall again and he heard a stone crash down close beside him as he turned to see what it was he thought that he could distinguish something that moved on a stone pile which lay close to the wall he stole nearer and saw the goose agander come trudging warily over the stone pile with several long fibres in his mouth the goose agander didn't see the boy and the boy did not call to him but thought it advisable to find out first why the goose agander time and again disappeared in this manner and he soon learned the reason for it up in the stone pile lay a young grey goose who cried with joy when the goose agander came the boy crept near so that he heard what they said then he found out that the grey goose had been wounded in one wing so that she could not fly the goose had travelled away from her and left her alone she had been near death's door with hunger when the white goose agander had heard her call the other day and had sought her out ever since he had been carrying food to her they had both hoped that she would be well before they left the island but as yet she could neither fly nor walk she was very much worried over this after 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 goose agander go and as soon as he was gone he stole in turn up the stone heap he was angry because he had been deceived and now he wanted to say to that grey goose that the goose agander was his property he was going to take the boy up to Lappen there would be no talk of his staying here on her account but now when he saw the young grey goose close to he understood not only why the goose agander had gone and carried food to her for two days but also why he had not wished to mention that he had helped her she had the prettiest little head her feathered dress was like soft satin and the eyes were mild and pleading to 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 thumbi-tot, morten goose agander's comrade he continued then he stood there and didn't know what he wanted to say occasionally one finds 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 grey goose as soon as thumbi-tot said who he was she lowered her neck and head very charmingly before him and said in a voice that was so pretty that he couldn't believe it was a goose who spoke I am very glad that you have come here to help me the white goose agander has told me that no one is as wise and as 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 the 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 got his finger down into the empty cavity be careful now he said and got a firm grip on the bone pipe and fitted it into the place where it ought to be he did it very 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 single shrill cry and then sank down among the stones without showing 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 pile and ran away he thought it was as though he had murdered a human being the next morning it was clear and free from mist and Aka said that now they should continue their travels all the others were willing to go but the white goose agander made excuses the boy understood well enough that he didn't care to leave the grey goose Aka did not listen to him but started off the boy jumped up on the goose agander's back and the white one followed the flock I'll wait slowly and unwillingly the boy was mighty glad that they could fly away from the island he was conscious strickened on account of the grey goose and had not cared to tell the goose agander how it had turned out when he had tried to cure her it would probably be best if Morton goose agander never found out about this he thought though he wondered at the same time how the white one had the heart to leave the grey goose but suddenly the goose agander turned the thought of the young grey 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 lay alone and ill and would starve to death with a few wing strokes he was over the stone pile but then there lay no young grey goose between the stones dun fin, dun fin where art thou called the goose agander the fox has probably been here and taken her thought the boy but at that moment he heard a pretty voice answer the goose agander here am I goose agander here am I I have only been taking a morning bath and up from the water came the little grey goose fresh and in good trim and told how thumbitot had pulled her wing into place and that she was entirely well and ready to follow them on the journey the drops of water lay like pearl dew on her shimmery satin like feathers and thumbitot thought once again that she was a real little princess end of Öland's southern point read by Lars Rolander section 12 of the wonderful adventures of Nils this is a LibriVox recording all LibriVox recordings are in the public domain for more information or to volunteer please visit LibriVox.org reading by Lars Rolander the wonderful adventures of Nils by Selma Lagerlöf translated by Velma Swonston Howard the big butterfly Wednesday April 6th the geese traveled alongside the coast of 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 well satisfied as he had been glum and depressed the day before when he roamed around on the island and hunted for the goosey gander he saw now that the interior of the island consisted of barren high plain with a wreath of fertile land along the coast and he began to comprehend the meaning of something which he had heard the other evening he had just seated himself dressed a bit by one of the many windmills on the island when a couple of shepherds came along with the dogs beside them and a large herd of sheep in their train the boy had not been afraid because he was well concealed under the windmill stairs but as it turned out the shepherds came and seated themselves on the same stairway and then there was nothing to pour him to do but to keep perfectly still one of the shepherds was young and looked about as forks 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 want to fit together at all one moment he sat silent and gazed into the mist with an unutterably wary expression then he began to talk to his companion then the other one took out some bread and cheese from his knapsack to eat his evening meal he answered scarcely anything but listened very patiently just as if he were thinking I might as well give you the pleasure of letting you chatter a while now I shall tell you something Eric said the old shepherd I have figured out that in former days when both human beings and animals were much larger than they are now that the butterflies too must have been uncommonly large and once there was 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 when the butterfly was out flying all the other animals stood still and stared at it it had this strawback 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 east sea and it hadn't gotten 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 east sea storm commenced to wrestle with frail butterfly wings it wasn't long before they were torn away and scattered and then of course the poor butterfly fell into the sea at first it was tossed backward and forward on the billows and then it was stranded upon a few cliff foundations outside of small on and there it lay as large and long as it was now 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 you know of course that we have found stones on the shore which were nothing but petrified worms now I believe that it went the same way with a big butterfly body I believe that it turned where it lay into a long narrow mountain out in the east sea don't you he paused for a reply and the other one nodded to him go on so I may hear what you are driving at and mark you Eric that this very island upon which you and I live is nothing else than the old butterfly body if one only thinks about it one can observe that the island is a butterfly toward the north the slender forebody and the round head can be seen and toward the south one sees the back body which first broadens out and then narrows to a sharp point here he paused once more and looked at his companion rather anxiously to see how he would take this assertion but the young man kept on eating with the outmost calm and nodded to him to continue as soon as the butterfly had been changed into a limestone rock many different kinds of seeds and herbs and trees came traveling with the winds and wanted to take root on it it was a long time before anything but sedge could grow there then came the sheep sorrel and the rock rose and thornbrush but even today there is not so much growth on Alvaret that the mountain is well covered but it shines through here and there and no one can think of plowing and sowing up here where the earth crust is so thin but if you will admit that Alvaret and the strongholds around it are made of the butterfly body then you may well have the right to question where that land which lies beneath the strongholds came from yes it's just that said he who was eating that I should indeed like to know well you must remember that Erlan has lain in the sea for a good many years and in the course of time all the things which tumble around with the waves seaweed and sand and clams have gathered around it and remained lying there and then stone and gravel have fallen down from both the eastern and western strongholds in this way the island has acquired broad shores where grain and flowers and trees can grow up here on the hard butterfly back only sheep and cows and little horses go about only lap wings and plower live here 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 questioningly at the other one this one had finished his meal and was tying the food sack together I wonder where you will end with all this said he it is only this that I want to know said the shepherd as he lowered his voice so that he almost whispered the words and looked into the mist with his small eyes which appear to be worn out from spying after all that does not exist only this I want to know if the peasants who live on the built up farms beneath the strong holes or the fishermen who take the small herring from the sea or the merchants in Boriholm or the bathing guests who come here every summer or the tourists who wander around in Boriholm's old castle ruin or the sportsmen who come here in the falls to hunt partridges or the painters who sit here on Alvaro and paint the sheep and windmills I should like to know if any of them understand that this island has been a butterfly which flew about with great shimmery wings ah said the young shepherd suddenly it should have occurred to some of them who sat on the edge of the stronghold of an evening and heard the nightingale's thrill in the grooves below them and looked over Kalmar's 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 had the desire to give wings to the windmills so large that they could reach to heaven 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 said the young one for on summer nights when the heavens widen and open over the island I have sometimes thought that it was as if it wanted to raise itself from the sea and fly away and finally gotten the young one to talk he didn't listen to him very much I would like to know the old one said in a low tone if anyone can explain why one feels such a longing up here on Alvaret I have felt it every day of my life and I think it prays 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 caused by the fact that the whole island is a butterfly that longs for its wings end of the big butterfly read by Lars Rolander