The Wonderful Adventures of Nils 1732 Studios

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Arvskiftet

The Division of the Inheritance

78 sentences · 17 notes

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  1. 1

    When the wild geese had helped Åsa the goose-girl and little Mats across Hjälmaren, they flew on straight north, until they came into Västmanland.

    Närwhennär · subordinating conjunctionintroduces the clause of hjälpt
    vildgässenthe wild geesevildgässe · noun, nominative, common gender, singularsubject of hjälpt

    attested only in the plural surface vildgässen; the collective noun for the wild-goose flock.

    hadehadha · auxiliary verb, past, indicative, activeauxiliary of hjälpt
    hjälpthelpedhjälpa · verb, active, supinemain verb of the sentence
    ÅsaÅsaÅsa · proper noun, nominativeindirect object of hjälpt
    gåsapigagoose girlgåsapig · adjective, nominative, pluralmodifies Mats

    Mistagged as an adjective; gåsapiga is the noun "goose girl" (a herding role), always paired with a name (Åsa gåsapiga).

    ochandoch · conjunctionlinks the coordination
    lillelittlelille · adjective, nominative, masculine, singularcoordinated with gåsapiga
    MatsMatsMats · proper noun, nominativedirect object of hjälpt
    överacrossöver · prepositionpreposition marking Hjälmaren
    HjälmarenHjälmarenHjälmaren · proper noun, nominativemodifies Mats

    Lake name.

    forotraveledforo · noun, nominative, common gender, singularcoordinated with Mats

    Archaic past plural of fara ('to travel/fly'); lemma tagged as noun but is a verb form.

    detheyen · determiner, pluraldeterminer of norrut

    Surfaces 'de/De' are ambiguous with the plural pronoun 'de' = 'they'. Example ch01-p9-s2 ('De voro ett fattigt husmansfolk' = 'They were poor cottar folk') is genuinely the pronoun 'they', not the definite article 'the' — the single fixed gloss 'the' is wrong for that occurrence. Definite plural article ('de') used before an adjective plus noun, e.g. de stora träskorna, 'the big clogs.'

    rättstraighträtt · adjective, nominative, common gender, singularmodifies norrut
    norrutnorthwardnorrut · noun, nominative, common gender, singularmodifies Mats

    Adverb meaning 'to the north', tagged as a noun.

    tillsuntiltills · subordinating conjunctionintroduces the clause of kommo
    detheyde · pronoun, nominative, pluralsubject of kommo
    kommocamekommo · verb, active, infinitivecomplement of hjälpt

    kommo is the archaic plural past tense of komma 'to come', not an infinitive despite the tag.

    ininin · adverbdepends on kommo
    iintoi · prepositionpreposition marking Västmanland
    VästmanlandVästmanlandVästmanland · proper noun, nominativeoblique complement of kommo

  2. There they came down on one of the great fields in Fellingsbro parish, to rest and eat.

  3. 2

    The boy was hungry too, but looked around in vain for something to eat.

  4. While he scanned in every direction, he noticed a couple of men in the neighboring field, who were out plowing.

  5. Suddenly they halted their plows and sat down to eat their breakfast.

  6. The boy hurried at once in that direction and crept quite close to the two men.

  7. There was, after all, a chance that he might get hold of a few crumbs or a crust of bread, once they were done.

  8. 3

    A road ran past the field, and along it came an old man walking.

  9. When he saw the two plowmen, he stopped, climbed over the fence, and went up to them.

  10. «I'll have my breakfast too,» he said, took off his knapsack, and brought out butter and bread.

  11. «It's good not to have to sit alone by the roadside and eat,» he went on.

  12. 4

    At this he and the two plowmen fell into conversation, and they soon learned that he was a miner from the Norberg mining district.

  13. He no longer worked now.

  14. He was too old to climb the mine ladders, but he still lived near the mine in a little cottage.

  15. He had a daughter married down here in Fellingsbro.

  16. He had just been to visit her, and she had wanted him to move here, but he could not bring himself to it.

  17. 5

    «Oh, so you don't think it's as good here as in Norberg,» said the farmers, drawing a little smile at the corners of their mouths, for they well knew that Fellingsbro is one of the largest and richest parishes in the province.

  18. 6

    «Could I ever stay on a plain like this?» said the old man, waving the thought away, as if such a thing could not even be imagined.

  19. They now began, quite amicably, to argue over where in Västmanland it was best to live.

  20. One of the plowmen was born in Fellingsbro, and he spoke well of the plain, but the other was from the Västerås district, and he held that the shores of Lake Mälaren, with their leafy islets and pretty points, were the best part of the province.

  21. The old man would not be persuaded in any case, and to show them that he was right, he asked leave to tell them a story he had heard from old folk, back when he himself was young in the world.

  22. 7

    «Here in Västmanland there lived, far back in time, an old woman of giant stock, who was so rich that she owned the whole land.

  23. She had everything splendid, of course, but she still lived in great worry, because she did not know how she should divide her property among her three sons.

  24. 8

    You see, the truth of it was that she did not care so very much for the two eldest sons, but the youngest was her pet.

  25. She wanted him to have the best inheritance, but at the same time she feared there would be strife between him and his brothers if they noticed that she had not divided equally among them.

  26. 9

    Well, one day she felt that death was so near that she had no more time to deliberate.

  27. So she called all three sons to her and began to speak with them about the inheritance.

  28. 10

    'Now I have divided all my property into three shares, which you shall choose among,' she said.

  29. 'To one share I have added all my oak slopes and leafy islets and flowering meadows, and gathered them together down around Lake Mälaren.

  30. Whoever chooses that share will have good pasture for sheep and cows on the shore meadows, and on the islets he can gather leaf-fodder, if he does not wish to use them for gardening.

  31. A great many bays and inlets run far inland there, so there will be good opportunity for freight traffic and every kind of commerce.

  32. Where the rivers run out into the lake, he will have good harbor sites, so that I believe villages and towns will grow up in his domain.

  33. Nor will he lack farmland either, even though the land lies broken up.

  34. It will only be good that his sons learn from the very start to travel from islet to islet, for that will make them good seafarers, who can sail to foreign lands and win riches for themselves.

  35. Yes, that was the first share.

  36. What do you say to it?'

  37. 11

    Well, all the sons agreed that this share was splendid, and that whoever got it could count himself fortunate.

  38. 12

    'Yes, there's nothing wrong with that one,' said the old giantess, 'and the second is not bad either.

  39. To that one I have gathered together all I own of level ground and open field, and laid out field upon field from the Mälaren district all the way up toward Dalarna.

  40. Whoever takes that share, I do not think, will have cause to regret it.

  41. He can grow as much grain as he likes and build great farms for himself, and neither he nor his descendants will need to worry a single day about their living.

  42. So that the plain will not become waterlogged, I have drawn across it a few great ditches, and in them there are here and there falls where it is possible to set up mills and smithies.

  43. And along the ditches I have laid up gravel banks, where forest can grow for firewood.

  44. Yes, that was the second share, and I think that he who gets it has every reason to be content.'

  45. 13

    All three sons agreed to this and thanked her, because she had arranged it so well for them.

  46. 14

    'I have surely tried to do my best,' said the old woman, 'but now I come to the part that has given me the most worry.

  47. For, you see, when I had put all my leafy meadows and pastures and oak slopes into the one share, and all my fields and new-cleared land into the other, and was about to begin gathering a little together for the third, I noticed that I had nothing else left of my property but pine ridges and fir forests and hill-ridges and cliffs and bare rock slabs and lean juniper thickets and poor birch groves and small lakes.

  48. And that, I could well understand, none of you would be glad to have.

  49. In any case, I have gathered together all that wretched stuff and laid it out to the north and west of the plain.

  50. But I fear that whoever chooses that share has nothing but poverty to look forward to.

  51. Sheep and goats will be all the livestock he can keep, and he will have to lie out on the lakes fishing, or go hunting in the forest, to get himself food.

  52. There are certainly plenty of rapids and falls there, so that any number of mills could well be built, but I fear he will have nothing but bark to grind on them.

  53. And he will have real trouble with wolves and bears, for they will surely make their home in that wilderness.

  54. Yes, this is the third share.

  55. I well know that it cannot be compared with the other two, and if I were not so old, I would have done the division over, but that is impossible.

  56. And now I have no peace in my last hour, because I do not know which of you I should give the worst share to.

  57. You have all three been good sons, and it is hard to be unjust to any of you.'

  58. 15

    When the old giantess had told them how matters stood, she looked anxiously at her sons.

  59. Now they did not say, as before, that she had divided fairly and provided well for them.

  60. They stood silent, and it was plain enough that whoever got the last share would come to feel dissatisfied.

  61. 16

    Yes, so the old mother lay there worrying, and the sons could see that she suffered all the pangs of death beforehand, because it was she who had to divide the shares between them, and she truly did not know which of the sons she should make unhappy by giving him the worst part.

  62. 17

    But the youngest was the one who loved his mother most, and he could not bear to see how she suffered, so he said: 'Now you shall not trouble yourself further over this matter, mother, but lie down and die in peace and quiet!

  63. That poor share you may give to me.

  64. I shall surely try to make my way on it, and however it goes, I shall not hold it against you that the others got better than I.'

  65. 18

    As soon as he had said this, the mother grew calm, and she thanked him and praised him.

  66. To divide out the other two shares afterward gave her no trouble, for they were almost equally good.

  67. 19

    When everything was arranged, the old woman thanked the youngest son once more and said that she had expected that he, of all of them, would help her.

  68. And she asked that he remember the great love she had cherished for him, when he came up into his wilderness.

  69. 20

    With that she closed her eyes and died, and once the brothers had laid her in the earth, they each went off to look over his own property.

  70. And the two eldest could of course be nothing but pleased and satisfied.

  71. 21

    The third went up into his wilderness, and he saw that his mother had told the truth, and that it consisted mostly of rocky cliffs and small lakes.

  72. He could well understand that his mother had thought of him with love when she made ready this share for him, for although she had had nothing but poor stuff to draw on, she had arranged it so well that it was one of the most beautiful of lands.

  73. In places it was grim and wild, but it was beautiful all the same.

  74. This he liked to look at, but glad he still was not.

  75. 22

    But then he began to notice that the bedrock had a strange appearance here and there.

  76. And when he looked more closely, he discovered that it was almost everywhere shot through with veins of ore.

  77. There was mostly iron, but there was also plenty of both silver and copper there on his property.

  78. He suspected that he had received greater riches than either of his brothers, and now he began, little by little, to understand what his old mother had meant by her division of the inheritance.»

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
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Two whoopie pies and a pine. An inside joke.