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Swedish · The Wonderful Adventures of Nils

Spådomen

The Prophecy

97 sentences · 15 notes

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  1. 1

    The boy lay sleeping one night on an islet in Lake Tåkern, but then he was woken by the sound of oars.

    Pojkenthe boypojken · noun, nominative, common gender, singularsubject of låg
    låglayligga · verb, past, indicative, activemain verb of the sentence
    ochandoch · conjunctionlinks the coordination
    sovsleptsov · verb, past, indicative, activecoordinated with låg
    enaen · determiner, common gender, singulardeterminer of natt
    nattnightnatt · noun, nominative, common gender, singulardirect object of låg
    påonpå · prepositionpreposition marking holme
    enaen · determiner, common gender, singulardeterminer of holme
    holmeisletholme · noun, nominative, common gender, singularoblique complement of låg
    iini · prepositionpreposition marking Tåkern
    TåkernTåkernTåkern · proper noun, nominativeoblique complement of låg
    menbutmen · conjunctionlinks the coordination
    såthenså · adverbmodifies väcktes
    väckteswas wokenväcktes · verb, past, indicative, activecoordinated with låg
    hanhehan · pronoun, nominative, common gender, singularsubject of väcktes
    avbyav · prepositionpreposition marking årslag
    årslagsound of oarsårslag · noun, nominative, neuter, singularoblique complement of väcktes

  2. Scarcely had he gotten his eyes open before so strong a gleam of light fell into them that he began to blink.

  3. 2

    At first he could not make out what it was that shone so brightly out there on the lake, but soon he saw that at the edge of the reeds lay a skiff, which had a great, burning tar-torch set up on an iron rod at the stern.

  4. The torch's red flame was mirrored clearly in the night-black lake, and the fine glow must have lured the fish, for around the flame, down in the depths, could be seen a great many dark streaks that kept moving and shifting place.

  5. 3

    Two old men were in the skiff.

  6. The one sat at the oars, the other stood on the stern thwart and held in his hand a short spear, which was fitted with coarse barbs.

  7. The one who rowed seemed to be a poor fisherman.

  8. He was small, dry, and weather-beaten, and wore a thin, worn coat.

  9. One could see that he was so used to being out in all weathers that he gave no thought to the cold.

  10. The other was well-fed and well-dressed, and looked like a stately, self-assured farmer.

  11. 4

    »Hold still now!» said the farmer, when they were level with the islet where the boy lay.

  12. At once he thrust the spear down into the water.

  13. When he lifted it, a long, splendid eel came up with it out of the depths.

  14. 5

    »There!» he said, as he worked the eel loose from the leister.

  15. »That one's not ashamed of itself.

  16. Now I think we've caught enough that we can turn back home.»

  17. 6

    But his companion did not lift the oars, but sat looking around him.

  18. »It's beautiful out here on the lake tonight,» he said.

  19. And so it was, too.

  20. It was perfectly calm, so that the whole surface of the water lay in undisturbed rest, except for the streak where the boat had passed.

  21. It lay gleaming like a road of gold in the firelight.

  22. The sky was clear and deeply blue and thickly pierced through with stars.

  23. The shores were hidden by the reed-islets, except toward the west.

  24. There Omberg rose up high and dark, far more mighty than it usually was, and cut away a great, triangular piece of the vault of heaven.

  25. 7

    The other turned his head, so that the firelight was out of his eyes, and looked around him.

  26. »Yes, it is beautiful here in East Gothland,» he said, »but the best thing about the landscape is not even its beauty.»

  27. — »What is it, then, that's best?» asked the oarsman.

  28. — »Why, that it has always been a respected and honored province.»

  29. — »That may well be true, I suppose.»

  30. — »And this too, that one knows it will always remain so.»

  31. — »How in all the world can one know that?» asked the one who sat at the oars.

  32. 8

    The farmer straightened up where he stood, leaning on the spear.

  33. »There is an old story that has passed from father to son in my family, and in it one learns how it is to go with Östergötland.»

  34. — »Then you might as well tell it to me,» said the oarsman.

  35. — »We don't just tell it to anyone, but I won't keep it hidden from an old comrade.»

  36. 9

    »At Ulvåsa here in Östergötland,» he went on, and now it could be heard in his voice that he was telling something he had heard from others and knew by heart, »there lived many years ago a lady, who had the gift of seeing into the future and telling people what would come to happen to them, as surely and precisely as if it had already taken place.

  37. For this she became widely renowned, and it is easy to understand that people would come both from near and far to seek her out, to learn what they would have to go through, of ill or good.

  38. 10

    One day, when the Lady of Ulvåsa sat in her hall spinning, as was customary in the old days, a poor farmer came into the room and seated himself on the bench far down by the door.

  39. 11

    'I wonder what you're sitting there thinking about, dear lady,' said the farmer after a while.

  40. 12

    'I am sitting and thinking on high and holy things,' she answered.

  41. — 'Then it surely won't do for me to ask you about something that lies on my heart,' said the farmer.

  42. 13

    'There is nothing else lying on your heart than that you should reap much grain in your field.

  43. But I tend to get questions from the emperor about how it will go with his crown, and from the pope about how it will go with his keys.'

  44. — 'Yes, such things are not easy to answer, I suppose,' said the farmer.

  45. 'I have also heard that no one is said to leave here without being displeased with what he has been told.'

  46. 14

    When the farmer said this, he saw that the Lady of Ulvåsa bit her lip and moved herself higher up on the bench.

  47. 'So this is what you have heard about me,' she said.

  48. 'Then you may as well venture to ask me what you want to know, and you shall see whether I cannot answer in a way that leaves you content.'

  49. 15

    After this the farmer did not delay in putting forward his errand.

  50. He said that he had come to ask how it would go, in a future time, with Östergötland.

  51. There was nothing he held so dear as his home district, and he said he would feel happy to his very last hour if he could get a good answer to his question.

  52. 16

    'If there's nothing else you wish to know,' said the wise lady, 'then I think you shall be satisfied.

  53. For here, as I now sit, I can tell you that with Östergötland it is fated to go so that it will always have something to boast of before other provinces.'

  54. 17

    'Yes, that was a good answer, dear lady,' said the farmer, 'and now I would be fully content, if only I could understand how such a thing could be possible.'

  55. 18

    'Why should it not be possible?' said the Lady of Ulvåsa.

  56. 'Do you not know that Östergötland is already widely renowned?

  57. Or do you think there is any province in Sweden that can boast of owning, at one and the same time, two such abbeys as those at Alvastra and Vreta, and so fair a cathedral as the one at Linköping?'

  58. 19

    'That may well be so,' said the farmer, 'but I am an old man, and I know that people's minds are changeable.

  59. I fear a time will come when they will give us no honor at all, neither for Alvastra nor for Vreta nor for our cathedral.'

  60. 20

    'You may be right in that,' said the Lady of Ulvåsa, 'but you need not doubt my prophecy on that account.

  61. I shall now have a new abbey built up on the Vadstena estate, and it may well come to be the most renowned in the North.

  62. Thither both high and low shall make pilgrimage, and all shall praise this province, because it holds within its bounds so holy a place.'

  63. 21

    The farmer answered that he was very glad to learn this.

  64. But he knew, after all, that everything is fleeting, and he wondered greatly what could give the country renown if Vadstena Abbey should one day fall into disrepute.

  65. 22

    'You are not easy to satisfy,' said the Lady of Ulvåsa, 'but far enough ahead can I see, that I can tell you that before Vadstena Abbey has lost its splendor, a castle shall be raised close beside it, which will be the grandest of its age.

  66. Kings and princes shall be guests there, and it shall count to the whole province's honor that it owns such a jewel.'

  67. 23

    'This too I am very glad to hear,' said the farmer.

  68. 'But I am an old man, and I know how it tends to go with all the glory of this world.

  69. And if the castle should happen to fall into decay, I wonder greatly what could draw people's eyes to this province.'

  70. 24

    'It is no small thing you wish to know,' said the Lady of Ulvåsa, 'but far enough into time can I see, that I can perceive there will be life and stir up in the forests around Finspång.

  71. I see forges and smithies rising up there, and I believe the whole province shall be honored because iron will now be wrought within its bounds.'

  72. 25

    The farmer did not deny that he was exceedingly glad to hear this.

  73. But if things should go so badly that the Finspång ironworks, too, sank in repute, then it would surely not be possible for anything new to arise that Östergötland could boast of.

  74. 26

    'You are not easy to content,' said the Lady of Ulvåsa, 'but far enough ahead can I see, that I perceive how, along the lakeshores, farms are being built up, grand as castles, by lords who have waged war in foreign lands.

  75. I believe those manors shall bring the province as much honor as anything else I have spoken of.'

  76. 27

    'But if a time comes when no one praises the great manors anymore?' the farmer persisted.

  77. 28

    'You need not be anxious for that,' said the Lady of Ulvåsa.

  78. 'I see now how healing springs bubble forth on the Medevi meadows near the shore of Lake Vättern.

  79. I believe the springs at Medevi shall bring the country as much renown as you could wish.'

  80. 29

    'That was a great thing to learn,' said the farmer.

  81. 'But if a time comes when people seek their health at other springs?'

  82. 30

    'You need not trouble yourself over that,' answered the Lady of Ulvåsa.

  83. 'I see people swarming and toiling from Motala to Mem.

  84. They are digging a channel straight across the country, and then Östergötland's praise shall be on everyone's lips once more.'

  85. 31

    But the farmer still looked troubled.

  86. 32

    'I see the rapids at Motala Ström beginning to turn wheels,' said the Lady of Ulvåsa, and now a pair of red spots rose on her cheeks, for she was beginning to grow impatient.

  87. 'I hear hammers pounding in Motala and looms clattering in Norrköping.'

  88. 33

    'Yes, that is good to know,' said the farmer, 'but everything is subject to change, and I fear this too may become forgotten and lost.'

  89. 34

    When the farmer still would not be satisfied, the lady's patience ran out.

  90. 'You say that everything is fleeting,' she said, 'but now I shall name something that will always remain the same.

  91. And that is, that such proud and stubborn farmers as you — of them there shall be some in this province until the end of the world.'

  92. 35

    Scarcely had the Lady of Ulvåsa said this before the farmer rose up, glad and content, and thanked her for her good tidings.

  93. Now at last he was satisfied, he said.

  94. 36

    'Truly, now I understand how you mean it,' said the Lady of Ulvåsa then.

  95. 37

    'Well, I mean it this way, dear lady,' said the farmer, 'that all that kings and cloister-folk and lords and townsfolk build and set up has only a few years' endurance.

  96. But when you tell me that in Östergötland there will always be farmers who are honor-loving and steadfast, then I know too that it shall keep its old honor.

  97. For it is only those who go bent under the eternal labor of the soil who can keep this land standing in prosperity and repute from age to age.'»

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.
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Two whoopie pies and a pine. An inside joke.