The Wonderful Adventures of Nils 1732 Studios

Swedish · The Wonderful Adventures of Nils

Vid kyrkorna

At the Churches

43 sentences · 17 notes

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  1. 1

    When the boy woke up the next morning and slid down onto the ice, he could not help but laugh.

    Närwhennär · subordinating conjunctionintroduces the clause of vaknade
    pojkenboypojke · noun, nominative, common gender, singularsubject of vaknade
    vaknadewoke upvakna · verb, past, indicative, activeadverbial clause on låta
    nästanextnästa · adjective, nominativemodifies morgon
    morgonmorningmorgon · noun, nominative, common gender, singularoblique complement of vaknade
    ochandoch · conjunctionlinks the coordination
    gledslidgled · noun, nominative, common gender, singularcoordinated with vaknade

    past singular of glida ('to glide/slide'); mistagged as noun.

    nerdownner · adverbmodifies gled
    påontopå · prepositionpreposition marking isen
    iseniceis · noun, nominative, common gender, singularoblique complement of ner
    kundecouldkunna · auxiliary verb, past, indicative, activeauxiliary of låta
    hanhehan · pronoun, nominative, common gender, singularsubject of låta
    intenotinte · particlemodifies låta
    låtato letlåta · verb, active, infinitivemain verb of the sentence
    blibecomebli · verb, active, infinitivecomplement of låta
    atttoatt · particleintroduces the clause of skratta

    infinitive marker before a verb.

    skrattalaughskratta · verb, active, infinitiveadverbial clause on låta

  2. A great deal of snow had fallen during the night, and it was still coming.

  3. The whole air was full of white flakes, which were so large that one could believe they had been wings on frozen-to-death butterflies, before they fell.

  4. On Siljan the snow lay several centimeters deep, the shores were white, and the wild geese had so much snow on them that they looked like little drifts.

  5. 2

    Now and then Akka or Yksi or Kaksi stirred, but when they saw that the snowfall continued, they hurried to hide their heads under their wings again.

  6. They evidently thought that in such weather they could do nothing better than sleep, and the boy agreed with them.

  7. 3

    A few hours later he woke to the church bells in Rättvik ringing for the service.

  8. Now it had stopped snowing, but the wind blew hard from the north, and out on the lake it was bitterly cold.

  9. He grew glad when the wild geese finally shook the snow off themselves and flew toward land to get food.

  10. 4

    That day there was confirmation in Rättvik church, and the catechumens, who had arrived in good time, stood in small groups on the churchyard green and talked.

  11. They were all dressed in the parish costume, and their clothes were so new and gaily colored that they shone from far away.

  12. »Dear mother Akka, fly slowly here,» cried the boy, as the wild geese approached the church, »so that I can get a look at the young folk!»

  13. This the lead goose evidently thought a reasonable request, for she lowered herself as much as she could, and flew three times around the church.

  14. It is not so easy to say how they looked up close, but when the boy saw the young boys and girls from up there, he thought he had never seen such a lovely crowd of young people.

  15. »I don't believe there are finer princes and princesses in the king's palace,» he said to himself.

  16. 5

    It was no small amount of snow that had fallen.

  17. In Rättvik it covered every field, and Akka was unable to find any spot where she could land.

  18. Then she did not hesitate long, but flew south toward Leksand.

  19. 6

    In Leksand, as is usual in spring, most of the young people had gone away to look for work.

  20. It was mostly old folk who had stayed home in the parish, and when the wild geese came flying, a long row of old women walked through the stately birch avenue that leads up to the church.

  21. They came across the white ground between the white-trunked birches in snow-white sheepskin jackets, white skirts of skin, yellow or black-and-white-striped aprons, and white caps that fit close about their white hair.

  22. 7

    »Dear mother Akka,» said the boy, »go slowly here, so that I can get a look at the old folk!»

  23. This the lead goose evidently thought a reasonable request, for she lowered herself as far as she dared, and flew three times back and forth over the birch avenue.

  24. It is not easy to say how they looked up close, but the boy thought he had never seen old women look so wise and dignified.

  25. »These old women look as though they had kings for sons and queens for daughters,» said the boy to himself.

  26. 8

    But in Leksand it was no better than in Rättvik.

  27. Thick snow lay everywhere, and Akka saw no other choice than to continue south toward Gagnef.

  28. 9

    In Gagnef they had buried someone dead before the service that day.

  29. The funeral procession had arrived late at the church, and afterward the burial had run long.

  30. When the wild geese came flying by, not everyone had yet made it into the church, and several women were still standing in the churchyard, looking at their graves.

  31. They were dressed in green bodices with red sleeves, and on their heads they wore colored kerchiefs with gaily patterned fringes.

  32. 10

    »Dear mother Akka, fly slowly here, so that I can get a look at the farmwives!» said the boy, and this too the wild goose evidently thought a reasonable request, for she lowered herself as far down as she dared, and flew three times back and forth over the churchyard.

  33. It is hard to say how they looked up close, but when the boy saw the women from up there among the churchyard trees, he thought they were like the loveliest of flowers.

  34. »They all look as though they had grown in a flowerbed in the king's garden,» he thought.

  35. 11

    But not in Gagnef either was there a single bare field, and the wild geese had no other choice than to continue south toward Floda.

  36. 12

    In Floda the people sat inside the church when the wild geese came flying, but there was to be a church wedding that day after the service ended, and the bridal party was gathered outside on the church hill.

  37. The bride stood with a gold crown over her loosened hair and was hung with jewels and flowers and gaily colored ribbons, and everything about her was so splendid that it hurt the eyes to look at her.

  38. The bridegroom walked in a blue long coat, knee breeches, and a red cap.

  39. The bridesmaids had bodices and skirt hems embroidered with roses and tulips, and parents and neighbors walked along in the procession in their gaily colored parish costumes.

  40. 13

    »Dear mother Akka, fly slowly here, so that I have time to look at the young folk!» begged the boy, and the lead goose lowered herself as far as she dared, and flew three times back and forth over the church hill.

  41. It is hard to say how they looked up close, but as the boy saw them from above, he thought that so sweet a bride and so proud a bridegroom and so stately a bridal party could not be found anywhere else.

  42. »I wonder if the king and queen are any finer, where they walk in their palace,» he thought to himself.

  43. 14

    But here in Floda the wild geese finally found bare fields, so that they did not need to travel any farther to get food.

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.