The Wonderful Adventures of Nils 1732 Studios

Swedish · The Wonderful Adventures of Nils

Sägner från Härjedalen

Legends from Härjedalen

200 sentences · 23 notes

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  1. 1

    The boy grew uneasy, because the tourists lingered so long in the lookout tower.

    Pojkenboypojke · noun, nominative, common gender, singularsubject of blev
    blevbecamebli · verb, past, indicative, activemain verb of the sentence
    oroligtroubledorolig · adjective, nominative, common gender, singularcomplement of blev
    därförbecausedärför · adverbintroduces the clause of stannade
    attthatatt · subordinating conjunctionpart of the phrase därför
    turisternathe touriststurist · noun, nominative, common gender, pluralsubject of stannade
    stannadestoppedstanna · verb, past, indicative, activeadverbial clause on orolig
    såsoså · adverbmodifies länge
    längelonglänge · adverbmodifies stannade
    iini · prepositionpreposition marking utsiktstornet
    utsiktstornetlookout towerutsiktstorne · noun, nominative, neuter, singularoblique complement of stannade

  2. Morten Goosey-Gander could not come and fetch him while they remained there, and he well knew that the wild geese were in a hurry to continue the journey.

  3. In the middle of the story he had seemed to hear goose-cackle and strong wingbeats, quite as if the wild geese had flown away.

  4. But he had not dared venture to the balustrade to find out how things stood.

  5. 2

    When the tourists had finally gone and the boy could creep out of his hiding place, he saw no wild geese down on the ground, and no Morten Goosey-Gander came to fetch him.

  6. He called out, "Where are you?

  7. Here I am," as loudly as he was able, but his travel companions did not appear.

  8. He did not think for a moment that they had abandoned him, but he was afraid they had met with an accident, and he wondered how he should go about finding them, when Bataki the raven swooped down beside him.

  9. 3

    The boy had never imagined that he would come to greet Bataki with so glad a welcome as he now did.

  10. "Dear Bataki," he said, "how good it was that you came here!

  11. Do you perhaps know what has become of Morten Goosey-Gander and the wild geese?"

  12. — "I come with greetings from them, in fact," the raven answered.

  13. "Akka noticed that a hunter was roaming about here on the mountain, and so she didn't dare stay and wait for you, but has gone on ahead.

  14. Climb up on my back now, and you shall be with your friends again in a little while!"

  15. 4

    The boy quickly settled himself on the raven's back, and Bataki would surely soon have caught up with the wild geese, had not the fog hindered him.

  16. But it was as if the morning sun had roused it to life anew.

  17. Small light veils of mist rose up at once from the lake, from the fields, and from the forest.

  18. They thickened and spread with astonishing speed, and soon the earth was hidden by white, billowing fog.

  19. 5

    Bataki flew on above the fog in clear air and bright sunshine, but the wild geese must have been faring down among the masses of mist.

  20. It was impossible to catch sight of them.

  21. The boy and the raven shrieked and called, but they got no answer.

  22. "This is a real piece of bad luck," Bataki said at last.

  23. "But we do know that they're heading south, and as soon as it clears, I'll surely track them down."

  24. 6

    The boy was quite grieved at having been parted from Morten Goosey-Gander just now, when they were on their journey and the great white gander might run into all manner of dangers.

  25. But when he had sat and fretted for a couple of hours, he said to himself that no misfortune had happened yet, and that it wasn't worth losing his good spirits over.

  26. 7

    Just then he heard a rooster crowing down on the ground, and at once he leaned forward over the raven's back and called out, "What is the name of the land I'm flying over?

  27. What is the name of the land I'm flying over?"

  28. — "It's called Härjedalen, Härjedalen, Härjedalen," crowed the rooster.

  29. — "What does it look like down where you are?" the boy asked.

  30. — "Mountains in the west, forest in the east, a broad river valley through the whole land," the rooster answered.

  31. — "Thank you very much!

  32. You give a fine account of things," the boy called.

  33. 8

    When he had traveled on for a while longer, he heard a crow cawing down in the fog.

  34. "What kind of people are there in this land?" he called out.

  35. — "Fine, good farming folk," the crow answered, "fine, good farming folk."

  36. — "What do they busy themselves with?" the boy asked.

  37. "What do they busy themselves with?"

  38. — "They keep livestock and fell timber," the crow cawed.

  39. — "Thank you very much!

  40. You give a fine account of things," the boy called.

  41. 9

    A little farther on he heard a person humming and singing down in the fog.

  42. "Is there any large town in this land?" the boy asked.

  43. — "What... What... who is that calling?" the person answered.

  44. — "Is there any town in this district?" the boy repeated.

  45. — "I want to know who it is that's calling," the person shouted.

  46. — "I might have known I wouldn't get a straight answer out of asking a person," the boy called.

  47. 10

    It was not long after this before the fog blew away as quickly as it had come, and the boy now saw that Bataki was flying on over a broad river valley.

  48. It was fine country, with high mountains here as in Jämtland, but there was no large and fertile tract below the mountains.

  49. The villages were far apart, and the fields were small.

  50. Bataki followed the river southward, until they came near a village.

  51. There he swooped down onto a stubble field and let the boy dismount.

  52. 11

    "There has been grain growing on this ground this summer," said Bataki.

  53. "See if you can't find something to eat!"

  54. The boy followed the advice, and it was not long before he found an ear of grain.

  55. While he picked out the kernels and ate, Bataki began to chat with him.

  56. 12

    "Do you see that big, splendid mountain rising up there due south?" he asked.

  57. — "Yes, indeed, I've always seen it," the boy answered.

  58. — "It's called Sonfjället," the raven went on, "and you may believe there have been plenty of wolves there in the old days."

  59. — "That must have been a good refuge for them," the boy admitted.

  60. — "The people who lived down here in the valley had a hard time of it with them, many a time," said Bataki.

  61. — "Do you perhaps remember some good wolf story you could tell me?" said the boy.

  62. 13

    "I've heard that long, long ago the wolves from Sonfjället are supposed to have attacked a fellow who was out selling wooden vessels," said Bataki.

  63. "He was from Hede, a village lying here in the valley a few miles farther up, than where we are now.

  64. It was winter, and the wolves went after

  65. 14

    him, as he drove over the ice of the Ljusnan.

  66. There were a good nine or ten of them, and the man from Hede had no good horse, so that he had little hope of getting away.

  67. 15

    When the man heard the wolves howling and saw what a great pack it was that was after him, he lost all self-command and did not even think that he ought to throw the tubs and troughs and casks off the sledge to lighten it.

  68. He only whipped the horse, and it went as fast as it possibly could, but the man soon noticed that the wolves were gaining on it.

  69. The banks were desolate, and he had a couple of miles to go to the nearest farm.

  70. He expected nothing else than that his last hour had come, and felt himself grow stiff with terror.

  71. 16

    While he sat there thus paralyzed, he saw something moving among the spruce twigs that had been set up on the ice to mark the road.

  72. And when he saw who it was that was walking there, he found that the terror that lay upon him grew many times greater than it had been before.

  73. 17

    It was no wolves coming toward him, but a poor old woman.

  74. She was called Finn-Malin, and used to go tramping about the roads and paths constantly.

  75. She was a little lame and hunchbacked, so that he could recognize her from far off.

  76. 18

    The old woman was walking straight toward the wolves.

  77. It must have been that the sledge hid them from her view, and the man from Hede understood at once that if he drove past without warning her, she would fall right into the jaws of the beasts, and while they tore her apart, he himself might get away.

  78. 19

    She walked slowly, leaning on a stick.

  79. It was plain that she was lost, if he did not help her.

  80. But even if he stopped and let her climb up onto the sledge bottom, it was not certain that she would be saved for that.

  81. If he took her up into the sledge, it was likely that the wolves would catch up with them, and that both he and she and the horse would be killed.

  82. He wondered whether it was not most right to sacrifice one life in order to save two others.

  83. 20

    All of this stood before him in the very instant that he saw the old woman.

  84. And it was not enough with this, but he also managed to think of how it would be for him afterward, if he should come to regret not having helped the old woman, or if people should find out that he had met her and given her no help.

  85. 21

    It was a hard temptation he had run into.

  86. 'I would much rather never have met her,' he said to himself.

  87. 22

    At that same moment the wolves set up a wild howl.

  88. The horse started, dashed off as if in a fright, and rushed past the beggar woman.

  89. She too had heard the wolves' howling, and when the man from Hede drove past, he saw that she knew what was in store for her.

  90. She had stood still, her mouth had opened in a scream, and her arms had stretched out for help, but she had neither called out nor tried to fling herself up onto the load.

  91. It must have been something that had turned her to stone.

  92. 'It must have been I who looked like a troll, as I drove past her,' thought the man.

  93. 23

    He tried to feel content now, when he was sure of getting away.

  94. But at the same time a stinging, aching feeling began in his chest.

  95. He had never before done anything dishonorable, and now it seemed to him that his whole life was ruined.

  96. 'No, let it go however it will,' he said, and reined in the horse, 'but I cannot leave her alone with the gray-legs.'

  97. 24

    It was with great difficulty that he got the horse to turn, but it succeeded all the same, and he soon overtook the old woman.

  98. 'Get up onto the sledge bottom, quick!' he said, speaking harshly, for he was angry at himself for not having left the old woman to her fate.

  99. 'You might for once stay home, you old troll,' he said.

  100. 'Now both Blackie and I have to suffer on your account.'

  101. 25

    The old woman did not answer with a single word, but the man from Hede was in no mood to spare her.

  102. 'Blackie has already gone five miles today,' he said, 'so you can understand that he'll soon tire, and the load hasn't gotten any lighter since you climbed onto it.'

  103. 26

    The sledge runners screeched against the ice, but despite that he heard how the wolves were panting, and he understood that the gray-legs had now caught up with him.

  104. 'Now it's over for us,' he said.

  105. 'It brought little joy to either you or me, that I tried to save you, Finn-Malin.'

  106. 27

    Up until now the old woman had kept silent, like one who is used to taking abuse.

  107. Now she said a few words.

  108. 'I can't understand why you don't throw off the wooden vessels and lighten the load.

  109. You can certainly go back tomorrow and pick them up.'

  110. The man from Hede understood that this was wise advice, and was only astonished that he had not thought of it himself before.

  111. He let the old woman handle the reins, loosened the rope that held the vessels fast, and threw them down.

  112. The gray-legs were right up against the sledge.

  113. But now they stopped to investigate what had been flung out onto the ice, and the travelers gained a little headway again.

  114. 28

    'If this doesn't help, then you understand well enough that I'll give myself up to the wolves of my own accord,' said the old woman, 'so that you can get away.'

  115. As she said this, the man was busy shoving a great, heavy brewing vat down from the long sledge.

  116. In the midst of working at this, he stopped himself, as if he could not make up his mind to throw the vat out.

  117. But in truth his thoughts were occupied with something else entirely.

  118. 'A horse and a man in perfectly sound condition surely ought not to let an old woman be eaten up by wolves for their sake,' he thought.

  119. 'There must be some way out to safety.

  120. Yes, surely there is one.

  121. It's only that I can't find my way to it.'

  122. 29

    He began again to push at the brewing vat, but then stopped himself once more and burst out laughing.

  123. 30

    The old woman looked at him in fright and wondered if he had gone mad, but the man from Hede laughed at himself, because he had been so foolish the whole time.

  124. It was the simplest thing in the world to save all three of them.

  125. He could not understand why he had not thought it out before.

  126. 31

    'Now listen well to what I tell you, Malin!' he said.

  127. 'It was brave of you, that you wanted to throw yourself to the wolves of your own accord.

  128. But you don't need to do that, for I know now how the three of us can be helped without putting anyone's life in danger.

  129. Remember, whatever I may do, you're to sit still on the sledge and drive down to the village of Linsäll!

  130. There you're to wake the people and tell them that I'm alone out here on the ice with ten gray-legs around me, and ask them to come and help me.'

  131. 32

    The man now waited until the wolves were right up against the sledge.

  132. Then he tipped the great vat down onto the ice, ran after it himself, and crept in under it.

  133. 33

    It was a huge vat.

  134. It was made so large that a whole Christmas brewing could be housed in it.

  135. The wolves leaped up at it, bit at the hoops, and tried to tip it over.

  136. But the vat was too heavy and sturdy.

  137. They could not get at the man who lay inside it.

  138. 34

    The man from Hede knew that he was safe, and he lay there laughing at the wolves.

  139. But after a while he grew serious.

  140. 'As soon as I get into any tight spot from now on,' he said, 'I shall remember this brewing vat.

  141. I shall bear in mind that I need not do wrong against myself, nor against others.

  142. There is always a third way out, if only one is able to find it.'"

  143. 35

    With that Bataki ended his story.

  144. But it was so that the boy had noticed that the raven never spoke of anything without having some particular purpose in it, and the longer he listened to him, the more thoughtful he grew.

  145. "I wonder why you tell me that story," said the boy.

  146. — "It just came to mind when I stood here and stared at Sonfjället," the raven answered.

  147. 36

    They now flew on farther down along the Ljusnan, and within an hour they had come to the village of Kolsätt, which lies right on the border with Hälsingland.

  148. Here the raven swooped down near a small, low cabin.

  149. It had no windows, only a shutter.

  150. Out of the chimney rose a spark-laced smoke, and loud hammer-blows were heard from within the house.

  151. "When I see that smithy there," said the raven, "I get to thinking that in the old days there were such good smiths in Härjedalen, and above all in this very village, that they had no equal in the whole country."

  152. — "Do you perhaps remember a story about them too, that you want to tell me?" said the boy.

  153. — "Yes, I do indeed remember one about a smith from Härjedalen," said Bataki, "who challenged two other master smiths, one from Dalarna and one from Värmland, to a contest in nail-forging.

  154. The challenge was accepted, and the three smiths met here in Kolsätt.

  155. The man from Dalarna was the one who began.

  156. He forged a dozen nails, so even and sharp and smooth that they could not be made better.

  157. After him came the man from Värmland.

  158. He too forged a dozen nails, which were quite excellent, and in addition he had made them in half the time it took the man from Dalarna.

  159. When those who were to judge the contest saw this, they said to the smith from Härjedalen that it wasn't worth his while trying, for he could not forge better than the man from Dalarna nor faster than the man from Värmland.

  160. 'I don't wish to give up.

  161. There must surely be another way to distinguish oneself,' said the man from Härjedalen.

  162. He laid the iron on the anvil without first heating it in the forge, hammered it warm, and forged nail after nail without needing either coal or bellows.

  163. No one had ever seen a smith wield the hammer more masterfully, and the smith from Härjedalen was declared the finest in the land."

  164. 37

    With these words Bataki fell silent, but the boy grew now even more pensive.

  165. "I wonder what purpose you have in telling me this," he said.

  166. — "That story crossed my mind when I caught sight of the old smithy," Bataki answered quite indifferently.

  167. 38

    The two travelers rose again into the air, and the raven carried the boy south to the parish of Lillhärdal, which borders Dalarna.

  168. There he swooped down onto a tree-covered mound that lay on the crest of a ridge.

  169. "I wonder if you know what kind of mound it is that you're standing on?" said Bataki.

  170. No, the boy had to admit that he did not know.

  171. — "Well, it's a burial mound," said Bataki.

  172. "It was raised over a man named Härjulf, who was the first to settle in Härjedalen and begin cultivating the land."

  173. — "Do you perhaps have a story to tell about him too?" said the boy.

  174. 39

    "I haven't heard much about him, but I believe he must have been a Norwegian.

  175. At first he was in service to a Norwegian king, but he fell out with him, so that he had to flee the country.

  176. He then betook himself to the Swedish king, who lived in Uppsala, and entered his service.

  177. But after a time he asked to have the king's sister for his wife, and when the king wouldn't give him so noble a bride, he fled away with her.

  178. He had now arranged matters so that he could live neither in Norway nor in Sweden, and he did not wish to move abroad.

  179. 'But surely there must be another way out,' he thought, and set off with his servants and treasures northward through Dalarna, until he reached the great wilderness forests that spread out above the Dalarna border.

  180. There he settled down, built himself a house, and broke ground, and thus became the first to settle in that part of the country."

  181. 40

    When the boy heard this last story, he grew even more pensive than before.

  182. "I wonder what purpose you have in telling me all this," he said once again.

  183. Bataki answered nothing for a while, but twisted and turned his head and squeezed his eyes shut.

  184. "Since we are all alone here like this," he said at last, "let me take the chance to ask you something.

  185. Have you ever found out properly what condition that gnome, who transformed you, has set for you to become human again?"

  186. — "I haven't heard of any other condition than that I should carry the white gander unharmed up to Lapland and back down to Skåne again."

  187. — "That's just what I thought," said Bataki, "for the last time we met, you spoke so proudly about how there was nothing so ugly as betraying a friend who trusts one.

  188. You really ought to ask Akka about the condition.

  189. You know she was at your home and spoke with the gnome."

  190. — "Akka hasn't told me anything about this," said the boy.

  191. — "She has probably thought it was best for you not to know how the gnome's words turned out.

  192. She would of course rather help you than Morten Goosey-Gander."

  193. — "It's strange, Bataki, that you should always manage to make me sad and uneasy," said the boy.

  194. — "It may well seem so," said the raven, "but this time I think you'll be grateful to me for telling you that the gnome's words were, that you should get to become human if you could bring Morten Goosey-Gander home, so that your mother could lay him on the chopping block."

  195. 41

    The boy sprang up.

  196. "That's nothing but a wicked invention of yours," he cried.

  197. — "You can ask Akka herself," said Bataki, "I see that she's coming up there with the whole flock.

  198. Don't forget now what I've told you today!

  199. There's probably a way out of every difficulty, if only one can find it.

  200. It will gladden me to see how you succeed."

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.