Nils Holgerssons underbara resa. English Read online

  Produced by David Schaal and PG Distributed Proofreaders

  [Transcriber's note: The inconsistent orthography of the original isretained in this etext.]

  THE WONDERFUL ADVENTURES of NILS

  by

  SELMA LAGERLOeF

  TRANSLATED FROM THE SWEDISHBY VELMA SWANSTON HOWARD

  CONTENTS

  The Boy

  Akka from Kebnekaise

  The Wonderful Journey of Nils

  Glimminge Castle

  The Great Crane Dance on Kullaberg

  In Rainy Weather

  The Stairway with the Three Steps

  By Ronneby River

  Karlskrona

  The Trip to Oeland

  Oeland's Southern Point

  The Big Butterfly

  Little Karl's Island

  Two Cities

  The Legend of Smaland

  The Crows

  The Old Peasant Woman

  From Taberg to Huskvarna

  The Big Bird Lake

  Ulvasa-Lady

  The Homespun Cloth

  The Story of Karr and Grayskin

  The Wind Witch

  The Breaking Up of the Ice

  Thumbietot and the Bears

  The Flood

  Dunfin

  Stockholm

  Gorgo the Eagle

  On Over Gaestrikland

  A Day in Haelsingland

  In Medelpad

  A Morning in Angermanland

  Westbottom and Lapland

  Osa, the Goose Girl, and Little Mats

  With the Laplanders

  Homeward Bound

  Legends from Haerjedalen

  Vermland and Dalsland

  The Treasure on the Island

  The Journey to Vemminghoeg

  Home at Last

  The Parting with the Wild Geese

  _Some of the purely geographical matter in the Swedish original of the"Further Adventures of Nils" has been eliminated from the Englishversion.

  The author has rendered valuable assistance in cutting certain chaptersand abridging others. Also, with the author's approval, cuts have beenmade where the descriptive matter was merely of local interest.

  But the story itself is intact.

  V.S.H_.

  THE BOY

  THE ELF

  _Sunday, March twentieth_.

  Once there was a boy. He was--let us say--something like fourteen yearsold; long and loose-jointed and towheaded. He wasn't good for much, thatboy. His chief delight was to eat and sleep; and after that--he likedbest to make mischief.

  It was a Sunday morning and the boy's parents were getting ready to goto church. The boy sat on the edge of the table, in his shirt sleeves,and thought how lucky it was that both father and mother were goingaway, and the coast would be clear for a couple of hours. "Good! Now Ican take down pop's gun and fire off a shot, without anybody's meddlinginterference," 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--ready to start--he stopped short,and turned toward the boy. "Since you won't come to church with motherand me," he said, "the least you can do, is to read the service at home.Will you promise to do so?" "Yes," said the boy, "that I can do easyenough." And he thought, of course, that he wouldn't read any more thanhe felt like reading.

  The boy thought that never had he seen his mother so persistent. In asecond she was over by the shelf near the fireplace, and took downLuther's Commentary and laid it on the table, in front of thewindow--opened at the service for the day. She also opened the NewTestament, and placed it beside the Commentary. Finally, she drew up thebig arm-chair, 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 thinking that his mother was giving herself altogether toomuch trouble with this spread; for he had no intention of reading morethan a page or so. But now, for the second time, it was almost as if hisfather were able to see right through him. He walked up to the boy, andsaid 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 haveskipped a single page, it will not go well with you."

  "The service is fourteen and a half pages long," said his mother, justas if she wanted to heap up the measure of his misfortune. "You'll haveto sit down and begin the reading at once, if you expect to get throughwith it."

  With that they departed. And as the boy stood in the doorway watchingthem, he thought that he had been caught in a trap. "There they gocongratulating themselves, I suppose, in the belief that they've hitupon something so good that I'll be forced to sit and hang over thesermon the whole time that they are away," thought he.

  But his father and mother were certainly not congratulating themselvesupon anything of the sort; but, on the contrary, they were very muchdistressed. They were poor farmers, and their place was not much biggerthan a garden-plot. When they first moved there, the place couldn't feedmore than one pig and a pair of chickens; but they were uncommonlyindustrious and capable folk--and now they had both cows and geese.Things had turned out very well for them; and they would have gone tochurch that beautiful morning--satisfied and happy--if they hadn't hadtheir son to think of. Father complained that he was dull and lazy; hehad not cared to learn anything at school, and he was such an all-roundgood-for-nothing, that he could barely be made to tend geese. Mother didnot deny that this was true; but she was most distressed because he waswild and bad; cruel to animals, and ill-willed toward human beings. "MayGod soften his hard heart, and give him a better disposition!" said themother, "or else he will be a misfortune, both to himself and to us."

  The boy stood for a long time and pondered whether he should read theservice or not. Finally, he came to the conclusion that, this time, itwas best to be obedient. He seated himself in the easy chair, and beganto read. But when he had been rattling away in an undertone for a littlewhile, this mumbling seemed to have a soothing effect upon him--and hebegan to nod.

  It was the most beautiful weather outside! It was only the twentieth ofMarch; but the boy lived in West Vemminghoeg Township, down in SouthernSkane, where the spring was already in full swing. It was not as yetgreen, but it was fresh and budding. There was water in all thetrenches, and the colt's-foot on the edge of the ditch was in bloom. Allthe weeds that grew in among the stones were brown and shiny. Thebeech-woods in the distance seemed to swell and grow thicker with everysecond. The skies were high--and a clear blue. The cottage door stoodajar, and the lark's trill could be heard in the room. The hens andgeese pattered about in the yard, and the cows, who felt the spring airaway in their stalls, lowed their approval every now and then.

  The boy read and nodded and fought against drowsiness. "No! I don't wantto fall asleep," thought he, "for then I'll not get through with thisthing the whole forenoon."

  But--somehow--he fell asleep.

  He did not know whether he had slept a short while, or a long while; buthe was awakened by hearing a slight noise back of him.

  On the window-sill, facing the boy, stood a small looking-glass; andalmost the entire cottage could be seen in this. As the boy raised hishead, he happened to look in the glass; and then he saw that the coverto his mother's chest had been opened.

  His mother owned a great, heavy, iron-bound oak chest, which shepermitted no one but herself to open. Here she treasured all the thingsshe had inherited from her mother, and of these she was especiallycareful. Here lay a couple of old-time peasant dresses, of red homespuncloth, with short bodice and plaited shirt, and a pearl-bedecked breastpin. There were starched white-linen head-dresses, and heavy silver
ornaments and chains. Folks don't care to go about dressed like that inthese days, and several times his mother had thought of getting rid ofthe old things; but somehow, she hadn't had 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 closedthe chest before she went away. She never would have left that preciouschest open when he was at home, alone.

  He became low-spirited and apprehensive. He was afraid that a thief hadsneaked his way into the cottage. He didn't dare to move; but sat stilland stared into the looking-glass.

  While he sat there and waited for the thief to make his appearance, hebegan to wonder what that dark shadow was which fell across the edge ofthe chest. He looked and looked--and did not want to believe his eyes.But the thing, which at first seemed shadowy, became more and moreclear to him; and soon he saw that it was something real. It was no lessa thing than an elf who sat there--astride the edge of the chest!

  To be sure, the boy had heard stories about elves, but he had neverdreamed that they were such