The Wonderful Adventures of Nils 1732 Studios

Swedish · The Wonderful Adventures of Nils

Den stora trandansen på Kullaberg

The Great Crane Dance at Kullaberg

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  1. 1

    It must be admitted that although many splendid buildings have been raised in Skåne, there is none among them that has walls as beautiful as those of old Kullaberg.

    Detitden · pronoun, neuter, singularsubject of passive erkännas
    måstemustmåste · auxiliary verb, present, indicative, activeauxiliary of erkännas
    erkännasbe admittederkänna · verb, passive, infinitivemain verb of the sentence
    attthatatt · subordinating conjunctionintroduces the clause of resta
    fastänalthoughfastän · subordinating conjunctionintroduces the clause of resta
    mångamanymånga · adjective, nominative, pluralmodifies byggnader
    präktigasplendidpräktig · adjective, nominative, pluralmodifies byggnader
    byggnaderbuildingsbyggnad · noun, nominative, common gender, pluralsubject of resta
    äroareäro · auxiliary verb, present, indicative, activecopula linking to resta

    Old plural present tense of vara ('to be').

    restaraisedresta · adjective, nominative, superlativeadverbial clause on erkännas

    Mislabeled as an adjective superlative; resta is the past participle of resa ("to raise/erect").

    iini · prepositionpreposition marking Skåne
    SkåneSkåneSkåne · proper noun, nominativeoblique complement of resta
    finnsthere isfinnas · verb, present, indicativecoordinated with erkännas
    ingennoingen · determiner, common gender, singularexpletive with finns
    iblandamongibland · adverbmodifies finns
    demthemde · pronoun, accusative, pluraldirect object of finns
    somthatsom · pronounsubject of har

    Three of this key's four examples ('som om far skulle...', 'för just som han stod...', 'som de är borta') are actually the conjunctive 'as'/'while' use, not the relative pronoun 'that/which' shown by 'länstolen, som blev köpt...'. The glosser's original senses list (that/who/which) omitted the dominant 'as' reading entirely.

    harhasha · verb, present, indicative, activerelative clause on dem
    såasså · adverbmodifies väggar
    vackrabeautifulvacker · adjective, nominative, pluralmodifies väggar
    väggarwallsvägg · noun, nominative, common gender, pluraldirect object of har
    somassom · pronounpreposition marking Kullaberg

    Three of this key's four examples ('som om far skulle...', 'för just som han stod...', 'som de är borta') are actually the conjunctive 'as'/'while' use, not the relative pronoun 'that/which' shown by 'länstolen, som blev köpt...'. The glosser's original senses list (that/who/which) omitted the dominant 'as' reading entirely.

    detaen · determiner, neuter, singulardeterminer of Kullaberg
    gamlaoldgammal · adjective, nominative, singularmodifies Kullaberg
    KullabergKullabergKullaberg · proper noun, nominativedepends on finns
  2. 2

    Kullaberg is low and long-stretched.

  3. It is by no means a great or mighty mountain.

  4. On the broad mountain-top lie forests and fields and here and there a heath of heather.

  5. Here and there rise round heather-covered hillocks and bare knolls of rock.

  6. Up there it is not especially beautiful; it looks just like any other high ground in Skåne.

  7. 3

    Whoever walks along the highway that runs straight across the mountain cannot help feeling a little disappointed.

  8. 4

    But then it may happen that he turns off the road, walks out toward the sides of the mountain, and looks down over the cliffs, and then he suddenly finds so much worth seeing that he hardly knows how he will manage to take it all in.

  9. For the truth is that Kullaberg does not stand on land with plains and valleys around it like other mountains, but has rushed out into the sea as far as it could get.

  10. Not the smallest strip of land lies below the mountain to shield it from the waves of the sea; instead they reach all the way up to the rock walls and can wear them down and shape them at their pleasure.

  11. 5

    That is why the rock walls stand there as richly carved as the sea and its helper the wind have been able to make them.

  12. There

  13. 6

    are steep ravines cut deep into the sides of the mountain, and black rocky points that have been worn smooth under the wind's constant lashing.

  14. There are solitary rock pillars that stand straight up out of the water, and dark caves with narrow entrances.

  15. There are sheer, bare precipices and soft, leaf-clad slopes.

  16. There are small headlands and little coves and small round pebbles that rattle up and down with every wave.

  17. There are stately rock gateways arched over water, there are sharp stones constantly showered with white foam, and others that mirror themselves in black-green, unchangingly still water.

  18. There are giant's kettles hollowed out in the rock, and huge fissures that tempt the wanderer to venture into the depths of the mountain all the way to the Kulla-man's cave.

  19. 7

    And up and down all these ravines and cliffs, vines and tendrils creep and twist.

  20. Trees grow there too, but the power of the wind is so great that the trees must turn themselves into vines as well, in order to hold on out on the cliffs.

  21. The oaks lie and creep along the ground, while the foliage stands over them like a narrow vault, and low-stemmed beeches stand in the ravines like great leafy tents.

  22. 8

    It is these remarkable rock walls, together with the wide blue sea beyond them and the shimmering, sharp air above them, that make Kullaberg so dear to people that great crowds of them go up there every day, for as long as the summer lasts.

  23. It may be harder to say what it is that makes it so attractive to the animals, that they gather there every year for a great gathering of play.

  24. But this is a custom that has been followed since ancient times, and one would have had to be there already when the first sea wave broke into foam against the shore, in order to explain why Kullaberg of all places was chosen as the meeting place above every other.

  25. 9

    When the gathering is to take place, the red deer, the roe deer, the hares, the foxes, and the other wild four-footed creatures make the journey to Kullaberg already at night, so as not to be noticed by people.

  26. Just before the sun rises, they all march to the playing-field, which is a heath of heather to the left of the road, not particularly far from the outermost point of the mountain.

  27. 10

    The playing-field is surrounded on all sides by round rocky hillocks that hide it from anyone who does not happen to come right up to it.

  28. And in the month of March it is not very likely that any wanderer will stray there.

  29. All the strangers who otherwise tend to roam about on the hills and climb up the sides of the mountain have already been driven away by the autumn storms many months before.

  30. And the lighthouse keeper out on the point, the old woman at Kullagården, and the Kulla farmer and his household, they go about their usual ways and do not run around on the desolate heather fields.

  31. 11

    When the four-footed creatures have arrived at the playing-field, they settle down on the round rocky hillocks.

  32. Every kind of animal keeps to itself, although it is understood that on a day like this a general peace prevails and no one need fear being attacked.

  33. On this day a little young hare could wander over the foxes' hillock without losing so much as one of its long ears.

  34. But the animals still line up in separate groups.

  35. It is old custom.

  36. 12

    Once everyone has taken their places, they begin to look about for the birds.

  37. It is always fine weather on this day.

  38. The cranes are good weather-prophets and would not call the animals together if they expected rain.

  39. But although the air is clear, and nothing blocks the view, the four-footed creatures see no birds.

  40. This is strange.

  41. The sun stands high in the sky, and the birds ought already to be on their way.

  42. 13

    What the animals on Kullaberg do notice, however, is a small dark cloud here and there, slowly drifting across the plain.

  43. And look!

  44. One of these clouds now suddenly heads along the coast of Öresund up toward Kullaberg.

  45. When the cloud has come right over the playing-field, it stops, and at the same moment the whole cloud begins to ring and twitter, as if it were made of nothing but sound.

  46. It rises and sinks, rises and sinks, but all the while it goes on ringing and twittering.

  47. At last the whole cloud drops down onto a hillock, the whole cloud all at once, and the moment after, the hillock is entirely hidden by gray larks, gay red-gray-white chaffinches, speckled starlings, and green-yellow tits.

  48. 14

    Right after that, yet another cloud drifts across the plain.

  49. It stops over every farm, over laborers' cottages and manor houses, over market towns and cities, over farmhouses and railway stations, over fishing villages and sugar mills.

  50. Each time it stops, it draws up from the farms down on the ground a small whirling pillar of tiny gray dust motes.

  51. In this way it grows and grows, and when it is at last fully gathered and heads up toward Kullaberg, it is no longer just a cloud, but a whole mass of cloud, so large that it casts a shadow on the ground all the way from Höganäs to Mölle.

  52. When it stops above the playing-field, it blots out the sun, and for a long while it must rain gray sparrows down onto one of the hillocks, before those who have flown deepest inside the cloud get to see a glimpse of daylight again.

  53. 15

    But the largest of these bird-clouds is nevertheless the one that now appears.

  54. It has been formed of flocks that have come flying from every direction and joined onto it.

  55. It is heavy and gray-blue, and no ray of sun pierces through it.

  56. It comes dark and terrifying like a thundercloud.

  57. It is full of the most dreadful din, the most ghastly screeching, the most scornful laughter, and the most ominous cawing.

  58. Everyone on the playing-field is glad when it finally breaks apart into a rain of flapping and cawing, of crows and jackdaws and ravens and rooks.

  59. 16

    After that there appear in the sky not only clouds, but a great many different streaks and signs.

  60. Then straight, dotted lines appear in the east and northeast.

  61. These are forest birds from the districts of Göinge: black grouse and capercaillie, coming flying in long rows a couple of meters apart from one another.

  62. And the swimming birds that keep to Måkläppen off Falsterbo now come gliding across Öresund in many strange flying formations: in triangles and long hooks, in slanting angles and half-circles.

  63. 17

    To the great gathering that took place the year Nils Holgersson traveled about with the wild geese, Akka and her flock came later than all the others, and this was not surprising, for Akka had had to fly over the whole of Skåne to reach Kullaberg.

  64. Besides, as soon as she woke, she had been obliged to go out and find Thumbietot, who for many hours had been playing for the gray rats and luring them far away from Glimmingehus.

  65. The owl-man had come back with the message that the black rats would be home again shortly after sunrise, and so there was no longer any danger in letting the barn owl's pipe fall silent and leaving the gray rats free to go wherever they pleased.

  66. 18

    But it was not Akka who discovered the boy where he was walking with his long train, and quite suddenly swooped down over him, gripped him with her beak, and soared up into the air with him, but it was Mr. Ermenrich, the stork.

  67. For Mr. Ermenrich had also set out to look for him, and after he had carried him up to the stork's nest, he asked him to forgive him for having treated him with disrespect the previous evening.

  68. 19

    This pleased the boy very much, and the stork and he became good friends.

  69. Akka also showed herself very friendly toward him, rubbed her old head several times against his arm, and praised him for having helped those who were in distress.

  70. 20

    But it must be said to the boy's credit that he did not want to accept praise he had not earned.

  71. "No, Mother Akka," he said, "you must not think that I lured away the gray ones in order to help the black ones.

  72. I only wanted to show Mr. Ermenrich that I was good for something."

  73. 21

    He had scarcely said this before Akka turned to the stork and asked whether he thought it advisable to bring Thumbietot along to Kullaberg.

  74. "I mean that we can trust him as we trust ourselves," she said.

  75. The stork at once urged very eagerly that Thumbietot be allowed to come along.

  76. "You certainly must take Thumbietot with you to Kullaberg, Mother Akka," he said.

  77. "It is a piece of luck for us that we can reward him for all he has endured tonight for our sake.

  78. And since it still troubles me that I did not behave toward him properly yesterday evening, I myself shall carry him on my back all the way to the meeting place."

  79. 22

    There is not much that tastes sweeter than to be praised by those who are themselves wise and capable, and the boy had surely never felt so glad as when the wild goose and the stork spoke of him in this way.

  80. 23

    So the boy made the journey up to Kullaberg riding on the stork's back.

  81. Although he knew this was a great honor, it still caused him a good deal of anxiety, because Mr. Ermenrich was a master flier and set off at quite a different pace than the wild geese.

  82. While Akka flew her straight course with steady wingbeats, the stork amused himself with all sorts of flying tricks.

  83. Now he hung motionless at an immense height and floated in the air without moving his wings, now he flung himself downward with such speed that it seemed as though he would crash to the ground helplessly like a stone, now he amused himself by circling around Akka in great and small circles like a whirlwind.

  84. The boy had never experienced anything like it before, and although he sat in constant terror, he had to admit to himself that he had not previously known what good flying really meant.

  85. 24

    Only a single stop was made during the journey, and that was when Akka, at Vombsjön, joined her traveling companions and called to them that the gray rats had been defeated.

  86. After that the travelers flew straight on to Kullaberg.

  87. 25

    There they came down on the top of the hillock reserved for the wild geese, and when the boy let his eyes wander from hillock to hillock, he saw that over one of them rose the many-tined antlers of the red deer, and over another the neck-tufts of the gray herons.

  88. One hillock was red with foxes, one was black and white with seabirds, one was gray with rats.

  89. One was covered with black ravens that screeched incessantly, one with larks who were unable to keep still but constantly threw themselves up into the air and sang for joy.

  90. 26

    As has constantly been the custom on Kullaberg, it was the crows who opened the day's games and pranks with their flying dance.

  91. They divided themselves into two flocks that flew toward each other, met, turned, and began again.

  92. This dance had many figures and seemed, to onlookers who were not versed in the rules of the dance, far too monotonous.

  93. The crows were very proud of their dance, but everyone else was glad when it came to an end.

  94. It seemed to the animals just as gloomy and meaningless as the winter storm's play with the snowflakes.

  95. They grew low-spirited from watching it and waited eagerly for something that would give them a bit of joy.

  96. 27

    Nor did they need to wait in vain, for as soon as the crows had finished, the hares came running forward.

  97. They streamed forward in a long line without any particular order.

  98. In some ranks one came alone, in others three or four ran abreast.

  99. All had risen up on two legs, and they rushed forward with such speed that their long ears swung in every direction.

  100. As they ran, they spun around, made high leaps, and thumped their front paws against their ribs so that it rattled.

  101. Some turned a long string of somersaults, others folded themselves up and rolled forward like wheels, one stood on one leg and spun around, one walked on its front paws.

  102. There was no order at all, but there was a great deal of merriment in the hares' play, and the many animals standing and watching them began to breathe faster.

  103. It was spring now, delight and joy were on their way.

  104. Winter was over.

  105. Summer was approaching.

  106. Soon it would be nothing but a game to be alive.

  107. 28

    When the hares had run themselves out, it became the turn of the great forest birds to perform.

  108. A hundred capercaillie cocks in glossy black-brown plumage with bright red brows flung themselves up into a great oak that stood in the middle of the playing-field.

  109. The one sitting on the topmost branch puffed up his feathers, lowered his wings, and spread his tail so that the white covert feathers showed.

  110. Then he stretched out his neck and sent forth a couple of deep notes from his swollen throat.

  111. "Tchack, tchack, tchack," it sounded.

  112. He could get no more out; it merely gurgled several times deep down in his throat.

  113. Then he closed his eyes and whispered: "Sis, sis, sis.

  114. Listen how lovely!

  115. Sis, sis, sis."

  116. And at the same time he fell into such a rapture that he no longer knew what was happening around him.

  117. 29

    While the first capercaillie cock was still going on with his sissing, the three sitting nearest below him began to sing, and before they had gone through the whole song, the ten sitting farther down began, and so it went on from branch to branch, until all hundred capercaillie cocks were singing and gurgling and sissing.

  118. They all fell into the same rapture during their song, and this alone affected the other animals like an infectious intoxication.

  119. The blood had a moment ago been flowing merrily and lightly, now it began to flow heavy and hot.

  120. "Yes, it is truly spring," thought the many kinds of animals.

  121. "The cold of winter has vanished.

  122. The fire of spring burns over the earth."

  123. 30

    When the black grouse noticed that the capercaillie were having such success, they could no longer keep silent.

  124. Since there was no tree where they could take their place, they rushed down onto the playing-field, where the heather stood so high that only their gracefully curved tail feathers and their thick beaks showed, and began to sing: "Orr, orr, orr."

  125. 31

    Just as the black grouse began to compete with the capercaillie, something monstrous happened.

  126. A fox now crept, while all the animals were thinking of nothing but the capercaillie's game, quite slowly up to the wild geese's hillock.

  127. He moved very cautiously and got far up the hillock before anyone noticed him.

  128. Suddenly, however, a goose caught sight of him, and since she could not believe that a fox had crept in among the geese with any good intention, she began to cry: "Watch out, wild geese!

  129. Watch out!"

  130. The fox seized her by the throat, perhaps chiefly to silence her, but the wild geese had already heard the cry and all rose up into the air.

  131. And when they were up in flight, the animals saw Smirre Fox standing on the wild geese's hillock with a dead goose in his mouth.

  132. 32

    But because he had thus broken the peace of the day of games, Smirre received such a harsh punishment that for all the days of his life he had to regret that he had not been able to restrain his thirst for revenge, but had tried in this way at last to get at Akka and her flock.

  133. He was at once surrounded by a band of foxes and sentenced according to ancient custom, which decrees that whoever disturbs the peace on the great day of games must go into exile.

  134. No fox wished to soften the sentence, since they all knew that the moment they tried anything of the kind, they would be driven away from the playing-field and never again be allowed to set foot on it.

  135. Thus a sentence of banishment was pronounced upon Smirre without contradiction.

  136. He was forbidden to reside in Skåne.

  137. He was banished from wife and kin, from hunting-grounds, dwelling, resting-places and hiding-places that he had until now possessed, and had to try his luck in a foreign land.

  138. And so that all the foxes in Skåne would know that Smirre was outlawed in the province, the eldest among the foxes bit off the tip of his right ear.

  139. As soon as this was done, all the young foxes began to howl with bloodlust and threw themselves upon Smirre.

  140. There was nothing left for him but to take flight, and with all the young foxes hard at his heels he raced away from Kullaberg.

  141. 33

    All this happened while the black grouse and the capercaillie were still at their game.

  142. But these birds lose themselves so deeply in their song that they neither hear nor see.

  143. Nor had they let themselves be disturbed.

  144. 34

    The forest birds' contest was hardly over before the red deer from Häckeberga stepped forward to show their battle-play.

  145. There were several pairs of red deer fighting at the same time.

  146. They charged at one another with great force, crashed their antlers together with a thundering blow so that the tines interlocked, and tried to force each other backward.

  147. The tufts of heather were torn up under their hooves, their breath stood like smoke, terrible bellowing forced its way out of their throats, and foam ran down over their shoulders.

  148. 35

    All around on the hillocks a breathless stillness reigned, while the battle-skilled stags clashed together.

  149. And in all

  150. 36

    the animals new feelings were awakened.

  151. Every single one of them felt brave and strong, revived by returning strength, reborn by the spring, brisk and ready for every kind of adventure.

  152. They felt no anger toward one another, yet everywhere wings were raised, neck feathers bristled, claws were sharpened.

  153. If the Häckeberga stags had continued a moment longer, a wild fight would have broken out on the hillocks, because everyone had been seized by a burning desire to show that they too were full of life, that the powerlessness of winter was over, that strength seethed in their bodies.

  154. 37

    But the red deer stopped fighting at just the right moment, and at once a whisper passed from hillock to hillock: "Now the cranes are coming."

  155. 38

    And so came the gray, twilight-clad birds with plumes in their wings and red feather-ornament on their necks.

  156. The great birds with their tall legs, their slender necks, their small heads came gliding down the hillock in a mysterious rapture.

  157. As they glided forward, they turned around, half flying, half dancing.

  158. With their wings gracefully raised, they moved with unimaginable speed.

  159. There was something strange and alien about their dance.

  160. It was as if gray shadows were playing a game the eye could hardly follow.

  161. It was as if they had learned it from the mists that drift across the lonely moors.

  162. There was magic in it; everyone who had not been to Kullaberg before understood why the whole gathering was named after the dance of the cranes.

  163. There was wildness in it, but the feeling it awakened was nevertheless a sweet longing.

  164. No one thought of fighting any longer now.

  165. Instead, everyone, both the winged and those who had no wings, wanted to rise endlessly, lift themselves above the clouds, seek out what lay beyond, leave behind the heavy body that pulled them down toward the earth, and float away toward the otherworldly.

  166. 39

    Such a longing for the unattainable, for what lies hidden behind life, the animals felt only once a year, and that was the day they saw the great dance of the cranes.

The particulars

The text
Nils Holgerssons underbara resa genom Sverige, Selma Lagerlöf. The Wonderful Adventures of Nils.
Translation
Public-domain Swedish (Lagerlöf, d. 1940; published 1906–07). English translation © 2026 1732 Studios, LLC.
Words
Every word of the text, by letter.
Data
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Two whoopie pies and a pine. An inside joke.