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  • SECTION 1 - THE BOY

  • THE ELF

  • Sunday, March twentieth. Once there was a boy.

  • He was--let us say--something like fourteen years old; long and loose-jointed and

  • towheaded.

  • He wasn't good for much, that boy. His chief delight was to eat and sleep; and

  • after that--he liked best to make mischief. It was a Sunday morning and the boy's

  • parents were getting ready to go to 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 going away, and the coast would be clear for a

  • couple of hours.

  • "Good! Now I can take down pop's gun and fire off a shot, without anybody's meddling

  • interference," he said to himself.

  • But it was almost as if father should have guessed the boy's thoughts, for just as he

  • was on the threshold--ready to start--he stopped short, and turned toward the boy.

  • "Since you won't come to church with mother and me," he said, "the least you can do, is

  • to read the service at home. Will you promise to do so?"

  • "Yes," said the boy, "that I can do easy enough."

  • And he thought, of course, that he wouldn't read any more than he felt like reading.

  • The boy thought that never had he seen his mother so persistent.

  • In a second she was over by the shelf near the fireplace, and took down Luther's

  • Commentary and laid it on the table, in front of the window--opened at the service

  • for the day.

  • She also opened the New Testament, and placed it beside the Commentary.

  • Finally, she drew up the big 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 too much trouble

  • with this spread; for he had no intention of reading more than a page or so.

  • But now, for the second time, it was almost as if his father were able to see right

  • through him.

  • He walked up to the boy, and said in a severe tone: "Now, remember, that you are

  • to read carefully!

  • For when we come back, I shall question you thoroughly; and if you have skipped a

  • single page, it will not go well with you."

  • "The service is fourteen and a half pages long," said his mother, just as if she

  • wanted to heap up the measure of his misfortune.

  • "You'll have to sit down and begin the reading at once, if you expect to get

  • through with it." With that they departed.

  • And as the boy stood in the doorway watching them, he thought that he had been

  • caught in a trap.

  • "There they go congratulating themselves, I suppose, in the belief that they've hit

  • upon something so good that I'll be forced to sit and hang over the sermon the whole

  • time that they are away," thought he.

  • But his father and mother were certainly not congratulating themselves upon anything

  • of the sort; but, on the contrary, they were very much distressed.

  • They were poor farmers, and their place was not much bigger than a garden-plot.

  • When they first moved there, the place couldn't feed more than one pig and a pair

  • of chickens; but they were uncommonly industrious and capable folk--and now they

  • had both cows and geese.

  • Things had turned out very well for them; and they would have gone to church that

  • beautiful morning--satisfied and happy--if they hadn't had their son to think of.

  • Father complained that he was dull and lazy; he had not cared to learn anything at

  • school, and he was such an all-round good- for-nothing, that he could barely be made

  • to tend geese.

  • Mother did not deny that this was true; but she was most distressed because he was wild

  • and bad; cruel to animals, and ill-willed toward human beings.

  • "May God soften his hard heart, and give him a better disposition!" said the mother,

  • "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 the service or not.

  • Finally, he came to the conclusion that, this time, it was best to be obedient.

  • He seated himself in the easy chair, and began to read.

  • But when he had been rattling away in an undertone for a little while, this mumbling

  • seemed to have a soothing effect upon him-- and he began to nod.

  • It was the most beautiful weather outside!

  • It was only the twentieth of March; but the boy lived in West Vemminghög Township, down

  • in Southern Skane, where the spring was already in full swing.

  • It was not as yet green, but it was fresh and budding.

  • There was water in all the trenches, and the colt's-foot on the edge of the ditch

  • was in bloom.

  • All the weeds that grew in among the stones were brown and shiny.

  • The beech-woods in the distance seemed to swell and grow thicker with every second.

  • The skies were high--and a clear blue.

  • The cottage door stood ajar, and the lark's trill could be heard in the room.

  • The hens and geese pattered about in the yard, and the cows, who felt the spring air

  • away in their stalls, lowed their approval every now and then.

  • The boy read and nodded and fought against drowsiness.

  • "No! I don't want to fall asleep," thought he, "for then I'll not get through with

  • this thing the whole forenoon."

  • But--somehow--he fell asleep. He did not know whether he had slept a

  • short while, or a long while; but he was awakened by hearing a slight noise back of

  • him.

  • On the window-sill, facing the boy, stood a small looking-glass; and almost the entire

  • cottage could be seen in this.

  • As the boy raised his head, he happened to look in the glass; and then he saw that the

  • cover to his mother's chest had been opened.

  • His mother owned a great, heavy, iron-bound oak chest, which she permitted no one but

  • herself to open.

  • Here she treasured all the things she had inherited from her mother, and of these she

  • was especially careful.

  • Here lay a couple of old-time peasant dresses, of red homespun cloth, with short

  • bodice and plaited shirt, and a pearl- bedecked breast pin.

  • There were starched white-linen head- dresses, and heavy silver ornaments and

  • chains.

  • Folks don't care to go about dressed like that in these days, and several times his

  • mother had thought of getting rid of the old things; but somehow, she hadn't 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 closed the

  • chest before she went away.

  • She never would have left that precious chest open when he was at home, alone.

  • He became low-spirited and apprehensive. He was afraid that a thief had sneaked his

  • way into the cottage.

  • He didn't dare to move; but sat still and stared into the looking-glass.

  • While he sat there and waited for the thief to make his appearance, he began to wonder

  • what that dark shadow was which fell across the edge of the chest.

  • He looked and looked--and did not want to believe his eyes.

  • But the thing, which at first seemed shadowy, became more and more clear to him;

  • and soon he saw that it was something real.

  • It was no less a 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 never dreamed that they

  • were such tiny creatures.

  • He was no taller than a hand's breadth-- this one, who sat on the edge of the chest.

  • He had an old, wrinkled and beardless face, and was dressed in a black frock coat,

  • knee-breeches and a broad-brimmed black hat.

  • He was very trim and smart, with his white laces about the throat and wrist-bands, his

  • buckled shoes, and the bows on his garters.

  • He had taken from the chest an embroidered piece, and sat and looked at the old-

  • fashioned handiwork with such an air of veneration, that he did not observe the boy

  • had awakened.

  • The boy was somewhat surprised to see the elf, but, on the other hand, he was not

  • particularly frightened. It was impossible to be afraid of one who

  • was so little.

  • And since the elf was so absorbed in his own thoughts that he neither saw nor heard,

  • the boy thought that it would be great fun to play a trick on him; to push him over

  • into the chest and shut the lid on him, or something of that kind.

  • But the boy was not so courageous that he dared to touch the elf with his hands,

  • instead he looked around the room for something to poke him with.

  • He let his gaze wander from the sofa to the leaf-table; from the leaf-table to the

  • fireplace.

  • He looked at the kettles, then at the coffee-urn, which stood on a shelf, near

  • the fireplace; on the water bucket near the door; and on the spoons and knives and

  • forks and saucers and plates, which could

  • be seen through the half-open cupboard door.

  • He looked at his father's gun, which hung on the wall, beside the portrait of the

  • Danish royal family, and on the geraniums and fuchsias, which blossomed in the

  • window.

  • And last, he caught sight of an old butterfly-snare that hung on the window

  • frame.

  • He had hardly set eyes on that butterfly- snare, before he reached over and snatched

  • it and jumped up and swung it alongside the edge of the chest.

  • He was himself astonished at the luck he had.

  • He hardly knew how he had managed it--but he had actually snared the elf.

  • The poor little chap lay, head downward, in the bottom of the long snare, and could not

  • free himself. The first moment the boy hadn't the least

  • idea what he should do with his prize.

  • He was only particular to swing the snare backward and forward; to prevent the elf

  • from getting a foothold and clambering up. The elf began to speak, and begged, oh! so

  • pitifully, for his freedom.

  • He had brought them good luck--these many years--he said, and deserved better

  • treatment.

  • Now, if the boy would set him free, he would give him an old coin, a silver spoon,

  • and a gold penny, as big as the case on his father's silver watch.

  • The boy didn't think that this was much of an offer; but it so happened--that after he

  • had gotten the elf in his power, he was afraid of him.

  • He felt that he had entered into an agreement with something weird and uncanny;

  • something which did not belong to his world, and he was only too glad to get rid

  • of the horrid thing.

  • For this reason he agreed at once to the bargain, and held the snare still, so the

  • elf could crawl out of it.

  • But when the elf was almost out of the snare, the boy happened to think that he

  • ought to have bargained for large estates, and all sorts of good things.

  • He should at least have made this stipulation: that the elf must conjure the

  • sermon into his head.

  • "What a fool I was to let him go!" thought he, and began to shake the snare violently,

  • so the elf would tumble down again.

  • But the instant the boy did this, he received such a stinging box on the ear,

  • that he thought his head would fly in pieces.

  • He was dashed--first against one wall, then against the other; he sank to the floor,

  • and lay there--senseless. When he awoke, he was alone in the cottage.

  • The chest-lid was down, and the butterfly- snare hung in its usual place by the

  • window.

  • If he had not felt how the right cheek burned, from that box on the ear, he would

  • have been tempted to believe the whole thing had been a dream.

  • "At any rate, father and mother will be sure to insist that it was nothing else,"

  • thought he. "They are not likely to make any allowances

  • for that old sermon, on account of the elf.

  • It's best for me to get at that reading again," thought he.

  • But as he walked toward the table, he noticed something remarkable.

  • It couldn't be possible that the cottage had grown.

  • But why was he obliged to take so many more steps than usual to get to the table?

  • And what was the matter with the chair?

  • It looked no bigger than it did a while ago; but now he had to step on the rung

  • first, and then clamber up in order to reach the seat.

  • It was the same thing with the table.

  • He could not look over the top without climbing to the arm of the chair.

  • "What in all the world is this?" said the boy.

  • "I believe the elf has bewitched both the armchair and the table--and the whole

  • cottage."

  • The Commentary lay on the table and, to all appearances, it was not changed; but there

  • must have been something queer about that too, for he could not manage to read a

  • single word of it, without actually standing right in the book itself.

  • He read a couple of lines, and then he chanced to look up.

  • With that, his glance fell on the looking- glass; and then he cried aloud: "Look!

  • There's another one!"

  • For in the glass he saw plainly a little, little creature who was dressed in a hood

  • and leather breeches.

  • "Why, that one is dressed exactly like me!" said the boy, and clasped his hands in

  • astonishment. But then he saw that the thing in the

  • mirror did the same thing.

  • Then he began to pull his hair and pinch his arms and swing round; and instantly he

  • did the same thing after him; he, who was seen in the mirror.

  • The boy ran around the glass several times, to see if there wasn't a little man hidden

  • behind it, but he found no one there; and then he began to shake with terror.

  • For now he understood that the elf had bewitched him, and that the creature whose

  • image he saw in the glass--was he, himself.

  • THE WILD GEESE

  • The boy simply could not make himself believe that he had been transformed into

  • an elf. "It can't be anything but a dream--a queer

  • fancy," thought he.

  • "If I wait a few moments, I'll surely be turned back into a human being again."

  • He placed himself before the glass and closed his eyes.

  • He opened them again after a couple of minutes, and then expected to find that it

  • had all passed over--but it hadn't. He was--and remained--just as little.

  • In other respects, he was the same as before.

  • The thin, straw-coloured hair; the freckles across his nose; the patches on his leather

  • breeches and the darns on his stockings, were all like themselves, with this

  • exception--that they had become diminished.

  • No, it would do no good for him to stand still and wait, of this he was certain.

  • He must try something else.

  • And he thought the wisest thing that he could do was to try and find the elf, and

  • make his peace with him. And while he sought, he cried and prayed

  • and promised everything he could think of.

  • Nevermore would he break his word to anyone; never again would he be naughty;

  • and never, never would he fall asleep again over the sermon.

  • If he might only be a human being once more, he would be such a good and helpful

  • and obedient boy. But no matter how much he promised--it did

  • not help him the least little bit.

  • Suddenly he remembered that he had heard his mother say, all the tiny folk made

  • their home in the cowsheds; and, at once, he concluded to go there, and see if he

  • couldn't find the elf.

  • It was a lucky thing that the cottage-door stood partly open, for he never could have

  • reached the bolt and opened it; but now he slipped through without any difficulty.

  • When he came out in the hallway, he looked around for his wooden shoes; for in the

  • house, to be sure, he had gone about in his stocking-feet.

  • He wondered how he should manage with these big, clumsy wooden shoes; but just then, he

  • saw a pair of tiny shoes on the doorstep.

  • When he observed that the elf had been so thoughtful that he had also bewitched the

  • wooden shoes, he was even more troubled. It was evidently his intention that this

  • affliction should last a long time.

  • On the wooden board-walk in front of the cottage, hopped a gray sparrow.

  • He had hardly set eyes on the boy before he called out: "Teetee! Teetee!

  • Look at Nils goosey-boy!

  • Look at Thumbietot! Look at Nils Holgersson Thumbietot!"

  • Instantly, both the geese and the chickens turned and stared at the boy; and then they

  • set up a fearful cackling.

  • "Cock-el-i-coo," crowed the rooster, "good enough for him!

  • Cock-el-i-coo, he has pulled my comb."

  • "Ka, ka, kada, serves him right!" cried the hens; and with that they kept up a

  • continuous cackle.

  • The geese got together in a tight group, stuck their heads together and asked: "Who

  • can have done this? Who can have done this?"

  • But the strangest thing of all was, that the boy understood what they said.

  • He was so astonished, that he stood there as if rooted to the doorstep, and listened.

  • "It must be because I am changed into an elf," said he.

  • "This is probably why I understand bird- talk."

  • He thought it was unbearable that the hens would not stop saying that it served him

  • right. He threw a stone at them and shouted:

  • "Shut up, you pack!"

  • But it hadn't occurred to him before, that he was no longer the sort of boy the hens

  • need fear.

  • The whole henyard made a rush for him, and formed a ring around him; then they all

  • cried at once: "Ka, ka, kada, served you right!

  • Ka, ka, kada, served you right!"

  • The boy tried to get away, but the chickens ran after him and screamed, until he

  • thought he'd lose his hearing.

  • It is more than likely that he never could have gotten away from them, if the house

  • cat hadn't come along just then.

  • As soon as the chickens saw the cat, they quieted down and pretended to be thinking

  • of nothing else than just to scratch in the earth for worms.

  • Immediately the boy ran up to the cat.

  • "You dear pussy!" said he, "you must know all the corners and hiding places about

  • here? You'll be a good little kitty and tell me

  • where I can find the elf."

  • The cat did not reply at once. He seated himself, curled his tail into a

  • graceful ring around his paws--and stared at the boy.

  • It was a large black cat with one white spot on his chest.

  • His fur lay sleek and soft, and shone in the sunlight.

  • The claws were drawn in, and the eyes were a dull gray, with just a little narrow dark

  • streak down the centre. The cat looked thoroughly good-natured and

  • inoffensive.

  • "I know well enough where the elf lives," he said in a soft voice, "but that doesn't

  • say that I'm going to tell you about it." "Dear pussy, you must tell me where the elf

  • lives!" said the boy.

  • "Can't you see how he has bewitched me?" The cat opened his eyes a little, so that

  • the green wickedness began to shine forth. He spun round and purred with satisfaction

  • before he replied.

  • "Shall I perhaps help you because you have so often grabbed me by the tail?" he said

  • at last.

  • Then the boy was furious and forgot entirely how little and helpless he was

  • now. "Oh! I can pull your tail again, I can,"

  • said he, and ran toward the cat.

  • The next instant the cat was so changed that the boy could scarcely believe it was

  • the same animal. Every separate hair on his body stood on

  • end.

  • The back was bent; the legs had become elongated; the claws scraped the ground;

  • the tail had grown thick and short; the ears were laid back; the mouth was frothy;

  • and the eyes were wide open and glistened like sparks of red fire.

  • The boy didn't want to let himself be scared by a cat, and he took a step

  • forward.

  • Then the cat made one spring and landed right on the boy; knocked him down and

  • stood over him--his forepaws on his chest, and his jaws wide apart--over his throat.

  • The boy felt how the sharp claws sank through his vest and shirt and into his

  • skin; and how the sharp eye-teeth tickled his throat.

  • He shrieked for help, as loudly as he could, but no one came.

  • He thought surely that his last hour had come.

  • Then he felt that the cat drew in his claws and let go the hold on his throat.

  • "There!" he said, "that will do now. I'll let you go this time, for my

  • mistress's sake.

  • I only wanted you to know which one of us two has the power now."

  • With that the cat walked away--looking as smooth and pious as he did when he first

  • appeared on the scene.

  • The boy was so crestfallen that he didn't say a word, but only hurried to the

  • cowhouse to look for the elf. There were not more than three cows, all

  • told.

  • But when the boy came in, there was such a bellowing and such a kick-up, that one

  • might easily have believed that there were at least thirty.

  • "Moo, moo, moo," bellowed Mayrose.

  • "It is well there is such a thing as justice in this world."

  • "Moo, moo, moo," sang the three of them in unison.

  • He couldn't hear what they said, for each one tried to out-bellow the others.

  • The boy wanted to ask after the elf, but he couldn't make himself heard because the

  • cows were in full uproar.

  • They carried on as they used to do when he let a strange dog in on them.

  • They kicked with their hind legs, shook their necks, stretched their heads, and

  • measured the distance with their horns.

  • "Come here, you!" said Mayrose, "and you'll get a kick that you won't forget in a

  • hurry!" "Come here," said Gold Lily, "and you shall

  • dance on my horns!"

  • "Come here, and you shall taste how it felt when you threw your wooden shoes at me, as

  • you did last summer!" bawled Star.

  • "Come here, and you shall be repaid for that wasp you let loose in my ear!" growled

  • Gold Lily. Mayrose was the oldest and the wisest of

  • them, and she was the very maddest.

  • "Come here!" said she, "that I may pay you back for the many times that you have

  • jerked the milk pail away from your mother; and for all the snares you laid for her,

  • when she came carrying the milk pails; and

  • for all the tears when she has stood here and wept over you!"

  • The boy wanted to tell them how he regretted that he had been unkind to them;

  • and that never, never--from now on--should he be anything but good, if they would only

  • tell him where the elf was.

  • But the cows didn't listen to him.

  • They made such a racket that he began to fear one of them would succeed in breaking

  • loose; and he thought that the best thing for him to do was to go quietly away from

  • the cowhouse.

  • When he came out, he was thoroughly disheartened.

  • He could understand that no one on the place wanted to help him find the elf.

  • And little good would it do him, probably, if the elf were found.

  • He crawled up on the broad hedge which fenced in the farm, and which was overgrown

  • with briers and lichen.

  • There he sat down to think about how it would go with him, if he never became a

  • human being again. When father and mother came home from

  • church, there would be a surprise for them.

  • Yes, a surprise--it would be all over the land; and people would come flocking from

  • East Vemminghög, and from Torp, and from Skerup.

  • The whole Vemminghög township would come to stare at him.

  • Perhaps father and mother would take him with them, and show him at the market place

  • in Kivik.

  • No, that was too horrible to think about. He would rather that no human being should

  • ever see him again. His unhappiness was simply frightful!

  • No one in all the world was so unhappy as he.

  • He was no longer a human being--but a freak.

  • Little by little he began to comprehend what it meant--to be no longer human.

  • He was separated from everything now; he could no longer play with other boys, he

  • could not take charge of the farm after his parents were gone; and certainly no girl

  • would think of marrying him.

  • He sat and looked at his home. It was a little log house, which lay as if

  • it had been crushed down to earth, under the high, sloping roof.

  • The outhouses were also small; and the patches of ground were so narrow that a

  • horse could barely turn around on them. But little and poor though the place was,

  • it was much too good for him now.

  • He couldn't ask for any better place than a hole under the stable floor.

  • It was wondrously beautiful weather! It budded, and it rippled, and it murmured,

  • and it twittered--all around him.

  • But he sat there with such a heavy sorrow. He should never be happy any more about

  • anything. Never had he seen the skies as blue as they

  • were to-day.

  • Birds of passage came on their travels. They came from foreign lands, and had

  • travelled over the East sea, by way of Smygahuk, and were now on their way North.

  • They were of many different kinds; but he was only familiar with the wild geese, who

  • came flying in two long rows, which met at an angle.

  • Several flocks of wild geese had already flown by.

  • They flew very high, still he could hear how they shrieked: "To the hills!

  • Now we're off to the hills!"

  • When the wild geese saw the tame geese, who walked about the farm, they sank nearer the

  • earth, and called: "Come along! Come along!

  • We're off to the hills!"

  • The tame geese could not resist the temptation to raise their heads and listen,

  • but they answered very sensibly: "We're pretty well off where we are.

  • We're pretty well off where we are."

  • It was, as we have said, an uncommonly fine day, with an atmosphere that it must have

  • been a real delight to fly in, so light and bracing.

  • And with each new wild geese-flock that flew by, the tame geese became more and

  • more unruly. A couple of times they flapped their wings,

  • as if they had half a mind to fly along.

  • But then an old mother-goose would always say to them: "Now don't be silly.

  • Those creatures will have to suffer both hunger and cold."

  • There was a young gander whom the wild geese had fired with a passion for

  • adventure. "If another flock comes this way, I'll

  • follow them," said he.

  • Then there came a new flock, who shrieked like the others, and the young gander

  • answered: "Wait a minute! Wait a minute! I'm coming."

  • He spread his wings and raised himself into the air; but he was so unaccustomed to

  • flying, that he fell to the ground again.

  • At any rate, the wild geese must have heard his call, for they turned and flew back

  • slowly to see if he was coming. "Wait, wait!" he cried, and made another

  • attempt to fly.

  • All this the boy heard, where he lay on the hedge.

  • "It would be a great pity," thought he, "if the big goosey-gander should go away.

  • It would be a big loss to father and mother if he was gone when they came home from

  • church."

  • When he thought of this, once again he entirely forgot that he was little and

  • helpless.

  • He took one leap right down into the goose- flock, and threw his arms around the neck

  • of the goosey-gander. "Oh, no! You don't fly away this time,

  • sir!" cried he.

  • But just about then, the gander was considering how he should go to work to

  • raise himself from the ground.

  • He couldn't stop to shake the boy off, hence he had to go along with him--up in

  • the air. They bore on toward the heights so rapidly,

  • that the boy fairly gasped.

  • Before he had time to think that he ought to let go his hold around the gander's

  • neck, he was so high up that he would have been killed instantly, if he had fallen to

  • the ground.

  • The only thing that he could do to make himself a little more comfortable, was to

  • try and get upon the gander's back. And there he wriggled himself forthwith;

  • but not without considerable trouble.

  • And it was not an easy matter, either, to hold himself secure on the slippery back,

  • between two swaying wings.

  • He had to dig deep into feathers and down with both hands, to keep from tumbling to

  • the ground.

  • THE BIG CHECKED CLOTH

  • The boy had grown so giddy that it was a long while before he came to himself.

  • The winds howled and beat against him, and the rustle of feathers and swaying of wings

  • sounded like a whole storm.

  • Thirteen geese flew around him, flapping their wings and honking.

  • They danced before his eyes and they buzzed in his ears.

  • He didn't know whether they flew high or low, or in what direction they were

  • travelling.

  • After a bit, he regained just enough sense to understand that he ought to find out

  • where the geese were taking him.

  • But this was not so easy, for he didn't know how he should ever muster up courage

  • enough to look down. He was sure he'd faint if he attempted it.

  • The wild geese were not flying very high because the new travelling companion could

  • not breathe in the very thinnest air. For his sake they also flew a little slower

  • than usual.

  • At last the boy just made himself cast one glance down to earth.

  • Then he thought that a great big rug lay spread beneath him, which was made up of an

  • incredible number of large and small checks.

  • "Where in all the world am I now?" he wondered.

  • He saw nothing but check upon check.

  • Some were broad and ran crosswise, and some were long and narrow--all over, there were

  • angles and corners. Nothing was round, and nothing was crooked.

  • "What kind of a big, checked cloth is this that I'm looking down on?" said the boy to

  • himself without expecting anyone to answer him.

  • But instantly the wild geese who flew about him called out: "Fields and meadows.

  • Fields and meadows."

  • Then he understood that the big, checked cloth he was travelling over was the flat

  • land of southern Sweden; and he began to comprehend why it looked so checked and

  • multi-coloured.

  • The bright green checks he recognised first; they were rye fields that had been

  • sown in the fall, and had kept themselves green under the winter snows.

  • The yellowish-gray checks were stubble- fields--the remains of the oat-crop which

  • had grown there the summer before.

  • The brownish ones were old clover meadows: and the black ones, deserted grazing lands

  • or ploughed-up fallow pastures.

  • The brown checks with the yellow edges were, undoubtedly, beech-tree forests; for

  • in these you'll find the big trees which grow in the heart of the forest--naked in

  • winter; while the little beech-trees, which

  • grow along the borders, keep their dry, yellowed leaves way into the spring.

  • There were also dark checks with gray centres: these were the large, built-up

  • estates encircled by the small cottages with their blackening straw roofs, and

  • their stone-divided land-plots.

  • And then there were checks green in the middle with brown borders: these were the

  • orchards, where the grass-carpets were already turning green, although the trees

  • and bushes around them were still in their nude, brown bark.

  • The boy could not keep from laughing when he saw how checked everything looked.

  • But when the wild geese heard him laugh, they called out--kind o' reprovingly:

  • "Fertile and good land. Fertile and good land."

  • The boy had already become serious.

  • "To think that you can laugh; you, who have met with the most terrible misfortune that

  • can possibly happen to a human being!" thought he.

  • And for a moment he was pretty serious; but it wasn't long before he was laughing

  • again.

  • Now that he had grown somewhat accustomed to the ride and the speed, so that he could

  • think of something besides holding himself on the gander's back, he began to notice

  • how full the air was of birds flying northward.

  • And there was a shouting and a calling from flock to flock.

  • "So you came over to-day?" shrieked some.

  • "Yes," answered the geese. "How do you think the spring's getting on?"

  • "Not a leaf on the trees and ice-cold water in the lakes," came back the answer.

  • When the geese flew over a place where they saw any tame, half-naked fowl, they

  • shouted: "What's the name of this place? What's the name of this place?"

  • Then the roosters cocked their heads and answered: "Its name's Lillgarde this year--

  • the same as last year."

  • Most of the cottages were probably named after their owners--which is the custom in

  • Skåne.

  • But instead of saying this is "Per Matssons," or "Ola Bossons," the roosters

  • hit upon the kind of names which, to their way of thinking, were more appropriate.

  • Those who lived on small farms, and belonged to poor cottagers, cried: "This

  • place is called Grainscarce."

  • And those who belonged to the poorest hut- dwellers screamed: "The name of this place

  • is Little-to-eat, Little-to-eat, Little-to- eat."

  • The big, well-cared-for farms got high- sounding names from the roosters--such as

  • Luckymeadows, Eggberga and Moneyville.

  • But the roosters on the great landed estates were too high and mighty to

  • condescend to anything like jesting.

  • One of them crowed and called out with such gusto that it sounded as if he wanted to be

  • heard clear up to the sun: "This is Herr Dybeck's estate; the same this year as last

  • year; this year as last year."

  • A little further on strutted one rooster who crowed: "This is Swanholm, surely all

  • the world knows that!"

  • The boy observed that the geese did not fly straight forward; but zigzagged hither and

  • thither over the whole South country, just as though they were glad to be in Skåne

  • again and wanted to pay their respects to every separate place.

  • They came to one place where there were a number of big, clumsy-looking buildings

  • with great, tall chimneys, and all around these were a lot of smaller houses.

  • "This is Jordberga Sugar Refinery," cried the roosters.

  • The boy shuddered as he sat there on the goose's back.

  • He ought to have recognised this place, for it was not very far from his home.

  • Here he had worked the year before as a watch boy; but, to be sure, nothing was

  • exactly like itself when one saw it like that--from up above.

  • And think!

  • Just think! Osa the goose girl and little Mats, who

  • were his comrades last year! Indeed the boy would have been glad to know

  • if they still were anywhere about here.

  • Fancy what they would have said, had they suspected that he was flying over their

  • heads!

  • Soon Jordberga was lost to sight, and they travelled towards Svedala and Skaber Lake

  • and back again overrringe Cloister andckeberga.

  • The boy saw more of Skåne in this one day than he had ever seen before--in all the

  • years that he had lived. Whenever the wild geese happened across any

  • tame geese, they had the best fun!

  • They flew forward very slowly and called down: "We're off to the hills.

  • Are you coming along? Are you coming along?"

  • But the tame geese answered: "It's still winter in this country.

  • You're out too soon. Fly back!

  • Fly back!"

  • The wild geese lowered themselves that they might be heard a little better, and called:

  • "Come along! We'll teach you how to fly and swim."

  • Then the tame geese got mad and wouldn't answer them with a single honk.

  • The wild geese sank themselves still lower- -until they almost touched the ground--

  • then, quick as lightning, they raised themselves, just as if they'd been terribly

  • frightened.

  • "Oh, oh, oh!" they exclaimed. "Those things were not geese.

  • They were only sheep, they were only sheep."

  • The ones on the ground were beside themselves with rage and shrieked: "May you

  • be shot, the whole lot o' you! The whole lot o' you!"

  • When the boy heard all this teasing he laughed.

  • Then he remembered how badly things had gone with him, and he cried.

  • But the next second, he was laughing again.

  • Never before had he ridden so fast; and to ride fast and recklessly--that he had

  • always liked.

  • And, of course, he had never dreamed that it could be as fresh and bracing as it was,

  • up in the air; or that there rose from the earth such a fine scent of resin and soil.

  • Nor had he ever dreamed what it could be like--to ride so high above the earth.

  • It was just like flying away from sorrow and trouble and annoyances of every kind

  • that could be thought of.

SECTION 1 - THE BOY

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