The Wonderful Adventures of Nils 1732 Studios

Swedish · The Wonderful Adventures of Nils

Den stora fågelsjön

The Great Bird Lake

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  1. 1

    JARRO THE WILD DUCK.

    JARROJARROJARRO · noun, nominative, neuter, singularhead of the phrase
    GRÄSANDENTHE MALLARDGRÄSANDEN · nounmodifies JARRO
  2. 2

    On the eastern shore of Lake Vättern lies Omberg; east of Omberg lies Dagsmosse; east of Dagsmosse lies Lake Tåkern.

  3. All around Tåkern spreads the great, level plain of Östergötland.

  4. 3

    Tåkern is a fairly large lake, and it is said to have been even larger once, in the old days.

  5. But people thought that it covered too great a part of the fertile plain, and they tried to drain the water out of it so as to be able to sow and reap on the lake bottom.

  6. They did not, however, succeed in draining the whole lake, which had no doubt been the intention, and it still hides away a great deal of land.

  7. But since the draining, the lake has become so shallow that it is almost nowhere more than a couple of meters deep.

  8. The shores have become swampy, miry marshes, and everywhere out in the lake little mud islets stick up above the water's surface.

  9. 4

    Now there is one thing that likes to stand with its feet in the water, so long as it may keep its body and head up in the air, and that is the reed.

  10. It cannot find a better place to grow than along the long, shallow shores of Tåkern and around the little mud islets.

  11. It thrives so well there that it grows taller than a man and so dense that it is almost impossible to push a boat through it.

  12. It forms a broad, green enclosure all around the whole lake, so that the lake is accessible only in a few places, where people have cleared the reed away.

  13. 5

    But if the reed shuts people out, it gives shelter and protection in return to a great many other creatures.

  14. Inside the reed there are countless little ponds and channels of green, still water, where duckweed and pondweed thrive, and where mosquito larvae, fish fry, and worms hatch out in countless numbers.

  15. And along the shores of these little ponds and channels there are a great many well-hidden spots, where the waterfowl can hatch out their eggs and raise their young without being disturbed either by enemies or by worries about food.

  16. 6

    An enormous number of birds also live in the Tåkern reeds, and more gather there year by year, as it becomes known what a splendid dwelling place it is.

  17. The first to settle there were the wild ducks, and they still live there by the thousand.

  18. But they no longer own the whole lake; they have had to share the space with swans, grebes, coots, loons, shovelers, and a whole host of others.

  19. 7

    Tåkern is certainly the largest and finest bird lake in the whole country, and the birds must count themselves fortunate as long as they possess such a refuge.

  20. But it is uncertain how long they will keep their dominion over the reed tussocks and muddy shores, for the people cannot forget that the lake spreads out over a great deal of good, fertile land, and again and again proposals come up among them that they should drain it.

  21. And if these proposals were carried out, the many thousands of waterfowl would be forced to move away from the region.

  22. 8

    At the time when Nils Holgersson was traveling about with the wild geese, there lived at Tåkern a wild duck named Jarro.

  23. He was a young bird, who had lived through only one summer, one autumn, and one winter.

  24. Now it was his first spring.

  25. He had just come home from North Africa and had reached Tåkern so early that the ice still lay on the lake.

  26. 9

    One evening, when he and the other young drakes were amusing themselves by flying back and forth over the lake, a hunter fired a couple of shots after them, and Jarro was struck in the breast.

  27. He thought he was going to die, but so that the one who had shot him should not get him into his power, he kept on flying as long as he possibly could.

  28. He gave no thought to where he was steering his course, but only strove to get far away.

  29. When his strength failed him, so that he could fly no farther, he was no longer over the lake.

  30. He had flown some distance inland and now sank down in front of the entrance to one of the great farmsteads that rise on the shore of Tåkern.

  31. 10

    Shortly afterward a young farmhand crossed the yard.

  32. He caught sight of Jarro and came and picked him up.

  33. But Jarro, who wanted nothing but to be allowed to die in peace, gathered his last strength and bit the farmhand hard in the finger, so that he would let him go.

  34. 11

    Jarro did not succeed in freeing himself, but that attack did have this much good in it, that the farmhand noticed the bird was alive.

  35. He carried him very gently into the cottage and showed him to the mistress of the house, who was a young woman with a gentle face.

  36. She took Jarro at once from the farmhand, stroked him along the back, and wiped away the blood that was oozing through the down of his neck.

  37. She examined him very closely, and when she saw how beautiful he was, with his dark green, glossy head, his white collar, his reddish-brown back, and his blue wing-mirror, she surely thought it a pity that he should die.

  38. She quickly got a basket ready and made a bed for the bird in it.

  39. 12

    Jarro had been flapping and struggling the whole time to get free, but when he now understood that the people did not intend to kill him, he settled comfortably into the basket.

  40. Only now did it become clear how exhausted he was from pain and loss of blood.

  41. The mistress carried the basket across the floor to set it in the corner by the hearth, but even before she had set it down, Jarro had closed his eyes and fallen asleep.

  42. 13

    After a while Jarro woke up because someone gently nudged him.

  43. When he opened his eyes, he felt such great terror that he nearly lost his senses.

  44. Now he was surely lost, for here stood the one that was more dangerous than both people and birds of prey.

  45. It was none other than Caesar himself, the long-haired bird dog, curiously sniffing at him.

  46. 14

    How pitifully afraid Jarro had been the previous summer, when he was still a little yellow duckling, every time it had rung out over the reed tussocks: »Caesar is coming!

  47. Caesar is coming!»

  48. When he had seen the brown-and-white spotted dog, with its jaws full of teeth, come wading through the reeds, he had thought he was looking upon death itself.

  49. He had always hoped that he would never have to live through the moment when he met Caesar eye to eye.

  50. 15

    But to his misfortune he must have happened to fall down in the very farmyard where Caesar lived, for now he stood there over him.

  51. »What sort of creature are you?» he growled.

  52. »How have you gotten into the cottage?

  53. Don't you belong down among the reed tussocks?»

  54. 16

    It was only with the greatest difficulty that Jarro could summon the courage to answer.

  55. »Don't be angry with me, Caesar, because I have come into the cottage!» he said.

  56. »It is not my fault.

  57. I have been wounded by a shot.

  58. It is the people themselves who have put me in this basket.»

  59. 17

    »So it is the people themselves who have put you here,» said Caesar.

  60. »Then it is surely their intention to cure you, although for my part I think they would do wiser to eat you up, now that you are in their power.

  61. But in any case, you are safe from harm in the cottage.

  62. You needn't look so frightened.

  63. We are not down at Tåkern now.»

  64. 18

    With this, Caesar went and lay down to sleep in front of the blazing hearth fire.

  65. As soon as Jarro understood that this terrible danger was past, the great weariness fell over him again, and he sank once more into sleep.

  66. 19

    The next time Jarro woke, he saw that a dish of grain and water stood before him.

  67. He was still quite ill, but he felt hungry all the same and began to eat.

  68. When the mistress saw that he was eating, she came over and stroked him and looked pleased.

  69. After that Jarro fell asleep again.

  70. For several days he did nothing but eat and sleep.

  71. 20

    One morning Jarro felt so well that he got up out of the basket and walked out across the floor.

  72. But he had not gone far before he fell over and lay there.

  73. Then Caesar came, opened his great jaws, and took hold of him.

  74. Jarro naturally thought that the dog meant to bite him to death, but Caesar carried him back to the basket without hurting him.

  75. From this Jarro gained such trust in Caesar that on his next outing across the cottage he went up to the dog and lay down beside him.

  76. After this Caesar and he became good friends, and every day Jarro lay for several hours sleeping between Caesar's paws.

  77. 21

    Jarro felt an even greater affection for the mistress than for Caesar.

  78. Toward her he felt not the least fear, but rubbed his head against her hand when she came and gave him food.

  79. When she went out of the cottage, he sighed with sorrow, and when she came back, he called out a welcome to her in his own language.

  80. 22

    Jarro forgot entirely how afraid he had once been of both dogs and people.

  81. He thought them gentle and kind, and he loved them.

  82. He wished that he were well again, so that he could fly down to Tåkern and tell the wild ducks that their old enemies were not dangerous, and that they need not fear them at all.

  83. 23

    He had noticed that both the people and Caesar had calm eyes, which it did one good to look into.

  84. The only one in the cottage whose gaze he was not glad to meet was Klorina, the cottage cat.

  85. She did him no harm either, but he could not bring himself to trust her.

  86. Besides, she was always teasing him because he loved the people.

  87. »You think they take care of you because they are fond of you,» said Klorina.

  88. »Just wait until you're nice and fat!

  89. Then they'll wring your neck.

  90. I know them, I do.»

  91. 24

    Jarro had a tender and devoted heart, as all birds do, and he was unspeakably grieved to hear this.

  92. He could not imagine that the mistress would want to wring his neck, nor could he believe any such thing of her son, the little boy who used to sit for hours beside his basket, babbling and chattering.

  93. He felt sure that the two of them felt the same love for him that he felt for them.

  94. 25

    One day, when Jarro and Caesar were lying in their usual spot in front of the hearth, Klorina sat up on the hearth-shelf and began to tease the wild duck.

  95. 26

    »I wonder, Jarro, what you wild ducks are going to do next year, when Tåkern is drained and turned into farmland,» said Klorina.

  96. — »What is it you're saying, Klorina?» cried Jarro, and jumped up utterly terrified.

  97. — »I always forget, Jarro, that you, unlike Caesar and me, don't understand the language of people,» answered the cat.

  98. »Otherwise you would surely have heard that the men who were in the cottage yesterday were talking about how all the water was going to be drained out of Tåkern, and that the lake bottom would lie next year as dry as a cottage floor.

  99. And now I wonder where you wild ducks will go then.»

  100. When Jarro heard this talk, he became so angry that he hissed like a grass snake.

  101. »You're as wicked as a coot,» he screamed at Klorina.

  102. »You only want to turn me against the people.

  103. I don't believe they would do any such thing.

  104. They must surely know that Tåkern belongs to the wild ducks.

  105. Why should they make so many birds homeless and miserable?

  106. You have surely made up all this to frighten me.

  107. I wish you might be torn to pieces by Gorgo the eagle.

  108. I wish the mistress would cut off your whiskers.»

  109. 27

    But Jarro could not silence Klorina with this outburst.

  110. »So you think I'm lying,» she said.

  111. »Then ask Caesar!

  112. He was also in the cottage last night.

  113. Caesar never lies.»

  114. 28

    »Caesar,» said Jarro, »you understand the language of people far better than Klorina.

  115. Tell her that she has not heard rightly!

  116. Just think what it would be like if people drained Tåkern and turned the lake bottom into farmland!

  117. Then there would no longer be pondweed or duckweed for the grown ducks, nor fish fry or tadpoles or mosquito larvae for the ducklings.

  118. Then the reed tussocks would also disappear, where the ducklings can now stay hidden until they can fly.

  119. All the ducks would be forced to move away from here and seek another home.

  120. But where will they find a refuge like Tåkern?

  121. Caesar, tell her that Klorina has not heard rightly!»

  122. 29

    It was remarkable to observe Caesar's behavior during this conversation.

  123. He had been wide awake the whole time before, but now, when Jarro turned to him, he yawned, laid his long nose down on his front paws, and was fast asleep within a moment.

  124. 30

    The cat looked down at Caesar with a malicious smile.

  125. »I think Caesar doesn't care to answer you,» she said to Jarro.

  126. »It is with him as with all dogs: they never want to admit that people can do anything wrong.

  127. But you can rely on my word all the same.

  128. I'll tell you why they want to drain the lake just now.

  129. As long as you wild ducks still held sway over Tåkern, they didn't want to drain it, because they still got some use out of you.

  130. But now, grebes and coots and other birds that aren't useful for food have taken over almost all the reed tussocks, and the people don't think they need keep the lake up for their sake.»

  131. 31

    Jarro did not trouble to answer Klorina, but he lifted his head and cried into Caesar's ear: »Caesar!

  132. You know that at Tåkern there are still so many ducks that they fill the air like clouds.

  133. Tell me it isn't true that people mean to make all of them homeless!»

  134. 32

    At this Caesar started up and made such a violent lunge at Klorina that she had to save herself up on a shelf.

  135. »I'll teach you to hold your tongue when I want to sleep,» roared Caesar.

  136. »Of course I know there's talk of draining the water out of the lake this year.

  137. But this has been talked of many times before, without anything ever coming of it.

  138. And that draining is a thing I don't like at all.

  139. For what would become of the hunting if Tåkern were drained?

  140. You're a fool to be glad of any such thing.

  141. What will you and I have to amuse ourselves with, once there are no more birds on Tåkern?»

  142. 33

    A couple of days later Jarro was so well that he could fly all through the cottage.

  143. He was greatly petted by the mistress then, and the little boy ran out into the yard and picked for him the first blades of grass that had come up.

  144. When the mistress petted him, Jarro thought that, although he was now strong enough to fly down to Tåkern whenever he liked, he would not want to be parted from the people.

  145. He had nothing against staying with them his whole life.

  146. 34

    But early one morning the mistress put over Jarro a halter, or snare, that kept him from using his wings, and then handed him over to the farmhand who had found him out in the yard.

  147. The farmhand tucked him under his arm and went down to Tåkern with him.

  148. 35

    The ice had melted away while Jarro had been ill.

  149. The old, dry reed from last year still stood along the shores and islets, but all the water plants had begun to send up shoots down in the depths, and their green tips had already reached up to the water's edge.

  150. And by now almost all the migratory birds had come home.

  151. The curlews' curved bills peeped out from the reeds.

  152. The grebes glided about with new feather-ruffs around their necks, and the snipes were busy gathering straws for their nests.

  153. 36

    The farmhand got down into a rowboat, laid Jarro on the bottom of the boat, and began poling his way out onto the lake.

  154. Jarro, who by now had grown used to expecting nothing but good from people, told Caesar, who was also along, that he was very grateful to the farmhand for taking him out onto the lake.

  155. But the farmhand didn't need to keep him so tightly bound, for he had no intention of flying away.

  156. To this Caesar answered nothing.

  157. He was very sparing of words that morning.

  158. 37

    The only thing that struck Jarro as a little strange was that the farmhand had brought his gun along.

  159. He could not believe that anyone among the good people of the farmstead would want to shoot birds.

  160. Caesar had, besides, told him that people did not hunt at this time of year.

  161. »It's closed season,» he had said, »though of course that doesn't apply to me.»

  162. 38

    The farmhand, however, made his way out to one of the little reed-ringed mud islets.

  163. There he stepped out of the boat, gathered old reeds into a big pile, and lay down behind it.

  164. Jarro, with the halter over his wings and tethered to the boat by a long cord, was left to wander about on the shoal.

  165. 39

    Suddenly Jarro caught sight of some of the young drakes in whose company he had once flown back and forth over the lake.

  166. They were far off, but Jarro called them to him with a couple of loud cries.

  167. They answered him, and a large, beautiful flock drew near.

  168. Even before they had arrived, Jarro began telling them of his wonderful rescue and of the kindness of the people.

  169. At that very moment two shots rang out behind him.

  170. Three ducks sank down dead into the reeds, and Caesar splashed out and fetched them.

  171. 40

    Then Jarro understood.

  172. The people had saved him so as to be able to use him as a decoy.

  173. And they had succeeded in it, too.

  174. Three ducks had died on his account.

  175. He felt he wanted to die of shame.

  176. He felt that even his friend Caesar looked at him with contempt, and when they came home to the cottage, he did not dare lie down to sleep beside the dog.

  177. 41

    The next morning Jarro was again taken out onto the shoal.

  178. This time, too, he soon caught sight of some ducks.

  179. But when he noticed that they were flying toward him, he called out to them: »Away, away!

  180. Look out!

  181. Go some other way!

  182. There's a hunter hidden behind the reed pile.

  183. I'm only a decoy.»

  184. And he really did manage to keep them from coming within gunshot.

  185. 42

    Jarro scarcely had time to taste a blade of grass, so occupied was he with keeping watch.

  186. He called out his warning as soon as a bird drew near.

  187. He even warned the grebes, although he disliked them because they crowded the ducks out of their best hiding places.

  188. But he did not want any bird to come to harm on his account.

  189. And thanks to Jarro's vigilance, the farmhand had to go home without having fired a single shot.

  190. 43

    Despite this, Caesar looked less displeased than the day before, and when evening came, he took Jarro in his jaws, carried him over to the hearth, and let him sleep between his front paws.

  191. 44

    But Jarro no longer felt at home in the cottage; he was deeply unhappy.

  192. His heart suffered under the thought that the people had never loved him.

  193. When the mistress or the little boy came over to pet him, he tucked his bill under his wing and pretended to be asleep.

  194. 45

    For several days Jarro had continued his miserable watch-duty, and he was already known all over Tåkern.

  195. Then it happened one morning, while he was calling out as usual: »Take care, birds!

  196. Don't come near me!

  197. I'm only a decoy,» that a grebe's nest came floating along toward the shoal where he stood tethered.

  198. This was not anything particularly remarkable.

  199. It was a nest from the previous year, and since grebes' nests are built so that they can float on the water like boats, it often happens that they drift out over the lake.

  200. But Jarro stood still and watched the nest anyway, because it came so straight toward the islet that it looked as though someone had steered its course over the water.

  201. 46

    When the nest came closer, Jarro saw that a tiny person, the smallest he had ever seen, was sitting in it and rowing it forward with a couple of sticks.

  202. And this little person called to him: »Go as near to the water as you can, Jarro, and be ready to fly!

  203. You shall soon be set free.»

  204. 47

    A few moments later the grebe's nest lay in close to land, but the little rower did not leave it, but sat still, huddled among twigs and straws.

  205. Jarro too kept almost motionless.

  206. He was quite paralyzed with anxiety that his rescuer might be discovered.

  207. 48

    The next thing that happened was that a flock of wild geese came flying by.

  208. Jarro then roused himself and warned them with loud cries, but in spite of this they flew back and forth over the shoal several times.

  209. They kept so high up that they were out of gunshot, but the farmhand let himself be tempted anyway to fire a couple of shots after them.

  210. No sooner were these shots fired than the little fellow sprang ashore, drew a small knife from its sheath, and cut Jarro's halter apart with a couple of quick strokes.

  211. »Now fly away, Jarro, before the man has time to reload!» he cried, as he himself ran back down into the grebe's nest and pushed off from the shore.

  212. 49

    The hunter had had his eyes fixed on the geese and had not noticed that Jarro had been set free, but Caesar had followed what was happening more closely, and just as Jarro lifted his wings, he darted forward and seized him by the neck.

  213. 50

    Jarro screamed pitifully, but the little fellow who had freed him said to Caesar with the greatest calm: »If you're as honest as you look, you surely can't want to force a good bird to sit here and lure others to their misfortune.»

  214. 51

    When Caesar heard these words, he curled his upper lip in an ugly grin, but a moment later he let go of Jarro.

  215. »Fly, Jarro!» he said.

  216. »You're truly too good to be a decoy.

  217. That wasn't why I wanted to keep you here, anyway, but because it will feel empty in the cottage without you.»

  218. 52

    It really did become very empty in the farmhouse cottage after Jarro was gone.

  219. The dog and the cat found the time long when they no longer had him to squabble over, and the mistress missed the cheerful chatter he used to let out every time she came into the cottage.

  220. But the one who longed most for Jarro was the little boy, Per Ola.

  221. He was only three years old and the only child, and in his whole life he had never had a playmate like Jarro.

  222. When he heard that Jarro had gone back to Tåkern and the ducks, he could not content himself with this, but thought constantly about how he might get him back.

  223. 53

    Per Ola had talked a great deal with Jarro while the duck lay still in his basket, and he was certain that the duck understood him.

  224. He begged his mother to take him down to the lake so that he could meet Jarro and persuade him to come back to them.

  225. His mother would not listen to this, but the little boy did not give up his plan on that account.

  226. 54

    The day after Jarro had vanished, Per Ola was running about in the yard.

  227. He was playing alone as usual, but Caesar lay on the steps, and when the mother let the boy out, she had said: »Keep an eye on Per Ola, Caesar!»

  228. 55

    Had everything been as usual, Caesar would have obeyed the order, too, and the boy would have been watched so carefully that he would not have run the slightest risk.

  229. But Caesar was not himself in those days.

  230. He knew that the farmers who lived along Tåkern were holding frequent discussions about the draining of the lake, and that they had very nearly decided on it.

  231. The ducks would be gone, and Caesar would never again get an honest hunt.

  232. He was so taken up with thinking about this misfortune that he forgot to watch over Per Ola.

  233. 56

    And the little one had no sooner been left alone in the yard than he realized that now was the right moment to go down to Tåkern and talk with Jarro.

  234. He opened a gate and wandered down toward the lake along that narrow path that ran across the marshes.

  235. As long as he could be seen from home, he walked slowly, but afterward he quickened his pace.

  236. He was very afraid that his mother or someone else would call out to him that he was not allowed to go.

  237. He didn't mean to do anything wrong, only to persuade Jarro to come back, but he sensed that the people at home would not have approved of the undertaking.

  238. 57

    When Per Ola came down to the lakeshore, he called for Jarro several times.

  239. Then he stood a long while waiting, but no Jarro appeared.

  240. He saw several birds that resembled the wild duck, but they flew past without paying him any attention, so he could tell that none of them was the right one.

  241. 58

    When Jarro did not come to him, the little boy thought that he would surely find him more easily if he went out onto the lake.

  242. There were several good boats by the shore, but they were tied up.

  243. The only one lying loose and free was an old, warped rowboat, so far gone that no one thought of using it.

  244. But Per Ola scrambled up into it without minding that there was water standing over the whole bottom.

  245. He was not strong enough to use the oars, but instead he sat and rocked and swayed the boat.

  246. No grown person would surely have managed to get a boat out onto Tåkern that way, but when the water is high and misfortune is at hand, small children have a strange knack for getting out to sea.

  247. Per Ola was soon drifting about on Tåkern, calling for Jarro.

  248. 59

    As the old boat was rocked out onto the lake like that, its seams opened wider and wider, and the water came fairly streaming into it.

  249. Per Ola paid not the least attention to this.

  250. He sat on the little thwart in the bow, calling out to every bird he saw and wondering why Jarro did not appear.

  251. 60

    At last Jarro really did catch sight of Per Ola.

  252. He heard someone calling him by the name he had had among the people, and he understood that the boy had ventured out onto Tåkern to look for him.

  253. Jarro was unspeakably glad to find that one of the people truly loved him.

  254. He shot down toward Per Ola like an arrow, settled beside him, and let him stroke him.

  255. Both of them were very happy to see each other again.

  256. 61

    But suddenly Jarro noticed the state the boat was in.

  257. It was half full of water and very close to sinking.

  258. Jarro tried to tell Per Ola that he, who could neither fly nor swim, must try to get up onto land, but Per Ola did not understand him.

  259. Then Jarro did not hesitate a moment, but hurried off to get help.

  260. 62

    Jarro came back after a little while, carrying on his back a little fellow much smaller than Per Ola.

  261. If he had not been able to both speak and move, the boy would have thought it was a doll.

  262. And the little fellow ordered Per Ola to take up at once a long, narrow pole that lay on the bottom of the boat, and try to pole it forward toward one of the small reed islets.

  263. Per Ola obeyed him, and he and the little fellow worked together to drive the boat forward.

  264. With a couple of strokes they reached a small reed-ringed islet, and now Per Ola was told to go ashore.

  265. And in that very instant that Per Ola set foot on land, the boat filled with water and sank to the bottom.

  266. 63

    When the boy saw this, he felt certain that his father and mother would be very angry with him.

  267. He would have begun to cry, if he had not immediately had something else to think about.

  268. For a flock of large gray birds came and settled on the islet, and the little fellow took him over to them and told him what they were called, and what they were saying.

  269. And this was so much fun that Per Ola forgot everything else.

  270. 64

    Meanwhile, the people at the farmstead had noticed that the boy was missing, and had begun to search for him.

  271. They searched through the outbuildings, looked in the well, and checked the cellar.

  272. Then they went out on the roads and paths, walked over to the neighboring farm to ask whether he had wandered there, and looked for him down at Tåkern as well.

  273. But however much they searched, they could not find him.

  274. 65

    Caesar, the dog, understood very well that the household was searching for Per Ola, but he did nothing to put them on the right track.

  275. Instead he lay quite still, as though the whole matter had nothing to do with him.

  276. 66

    Later in the day Per Ola's footprints were discovered down by the boat landing.

  277. And then it occurred to them that the old warped rowboat was no longer lying at the shore.

  278. Then they began to understand how it had all come about.

  279. 67

    The farmer and his men at once launched the boats and set off to search for the boy.

  280. They rowed about on Tåkern until late in the evening without seeing the least glimpse of him.

  281. They could not believe anything else than that the old boat had sunk, and that the little one lay dead on the lake bottom.

  282. 68

    In the evening Per Ola's mother wandered about along the shore.

  283. Everyone else was convinced that the boy had drowned, but she could not bring herself to believe it, and she kept on searching for him.

  284. She searched in among the reeds and rushes, walking and walking on the swampy shore without noticing how deep her foot sank or how wet she had become.

  285. She was unspeakably despairing.

  286. Her heart ached in her breast.

  287. She did not weep, but wrung her hands and called for her child in a loud, wailing voice.

  288. 69

    All around her she heard the cries of swans and ducks and curlews.

  289. She thought that they were following her and lamenting and wailing too.

  290. »They must surely have some sorrow, since they lament so,» she thought.

  291. But then she caught herself.

  292. It was only birds, after all, that she heard lamenting.

  293. They surely had no worries.

  294. 70

    It was strange that they did not fall silent after sunset.

  295. But she heard all the countless flocks of birds that lived around Tåkern giving out cry after cry.

  296. Several of them followed her wherever she went; others came rushing past on swift wings.

  297. The whole air was full of lament and wailing.

  298. 71

    But the anguish she herself was carrying opened her heart.

  299. She felt that she did not stand as far apart from all other living creatures as people otherwise do.

  300. She understood far better than ever before what life was like for the birds.

  301. They had their own constant care for home and young, just as she did.

  302. There was surely not so great a difference between them and her as she had believed until now.

  303. 72

    Then it came to her mind that it was as good as decided that all these thousands of swans and ducks and loons would lose their homes here at Tåkern.

  304. »It will surely be hard for them,» she thought.

  305. »Where will they raise their young after that?»

  306. 73

    She stood still and pondered this.

  307. It seemed a good and pleasant undertaking to turn a lake into field and meadow, but surely it ought to be some other lake than Tåkern, some other lake that was not home to so many thousands of creatures.

  308. 74

    She thought of how it was tomorrow that the decision about draining the lake was to be made, and she wondered whether it was for that very reason that her little boy had gone missing today.

  309. Was it God's intention that sorrow should come and open her heart to mercy on this very day, before it was too late to stop the cruel deed?

  310. 75

    She went quickly up to the farmhouse and began to speak with her husband about all this.

  311. She spoke of the lake and of the birds and told him that she believed Per Ola's death was a punishment from God upon them both.

  312. And she soon saw that he was of the same mind as she was.

  313. 76

    They already owned a large farm, but if the draining of the lake were carried out, so extensive a portion of the lake bottom would fall to them that their property would be nearly doubled.

  314. For this reason they had been more eager for the undertaking than any other of the shore owners.

  315. The others had been anxious about the costs and anxious that the drainage would not succeed any better this time than the last.

  316. Per Ola's father knew in himself that it was he who had persuaded them to agree to the undertaking.

  317. He had used all his powers of persuasion so as to be able to leave his son a farm twice as large as his own father had left him.

  318. 77

    He now stood wondering whether there was some purpose of God's in this, that Tåkern had taken his son from him on the very day before he was to sign the contract for its drainage.

  319. His wife did not need to say many words to him before he answered: »It may be that God does not want us to disturb his order.

  320. I shall speak with the others about this tomorrow, and I think we will decide to let everything remain as it is.»

  321. 78

    While the household folk were talking about this, Caesar lay in front of the hearth.

  322. He lifted his head and listened very closely.

  323. When he felt sure of his ground, he went up to the mistress, took hold of her skirt, and drew her toward the door.

  324. »Why, Caesar!» she said, and tried to free herself.

  325. »Do you know where Per Ola is?» she burst out then.

  326. Caesar barked happily and threw himself at the door.

  327. She opened it, and Caesar dashed off down toward Tåkern.

  328. The mistress was so certain that he knew where Per Ola was that she simply ran after him.

  329. And no sooner had they come down to the shore than they heard a child's crying out from the lake.

  330. 79

    Per Ola had had the most delightful day of his life together with Thumbietot and the birds, but now he had begun to cry, because he was hungry and afraid of the dark.

  331. And he was glad when his father and mother and Caesar came and fetched him.

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.