The Wonderful Adventures of Nils 1732 Studios

Swedish · The Wonderful Adventures of Nils

Värmland och Dalsland

Värmland and Dalsland

115 sentences · 11 notes

Tap a sentence to open its words.

  1. 1

    Next day the boy took advantage of a rest, when Akka went off and grazed a little apart from the other wild geese, and asked her whether what Bataki had told him was true, and Akka had not been able to deny it.

    Nästanextnästa · adjective, nominativemodifies dag
    dagdaydag · noun, nominative, common gender, singularoblique complement of passade
    passadetook advantagepassa · verb, past, indicative, activemain verb of the sentence

    'passade på' is an idiom meaning 'seized the opportunity'.

    pojkenboypojke · noun, nominative, common gender, singularsubject of passade
    påadvantagepå · prepositionpreposition marking dag
    underduringunder · prepositionpreposition marking rastestund
    enaen · determiner, common gender, singulardeterminer of rastestund
    rastestundrest breakrastestund · noun, nominative, common gender, singularoblique complement of passade
    dåwhendå · adverbintroduces the clause of gick
    AkkaAkkaAkka · proper noun, nominativesubject of gick

    proper name of the lead wild goose; keep untranslated.

    gickwentgå · verb, past, indicative, activerelative clause on rastestund
    ochandoch · conjunctionlinks the coordination
    betadegrazedbeta · verb, past, indicative, activecoordinated with gick
    enaen · determiner, common gender, singulardeterminer of smula
    smulabitsmula · noun, nominative, common gender, singulardirect object of gick
    avsidesapartavsides · adverbmodifies gick
    frånfromfrån · prepositionpreposition marking vildgässen
    detheen · determiner, pluraldeterminer of vildgässen

    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.'

    andraotherannan · adjective, nominative, pluralmodifies vildgässen
    vildgässenthe wild geesevildgässe · noun, nominative, common gender, singularoblique complement of gick

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

    ochandoch · conjunctionlinks the coordination
    frågadeaskedfråga · verb, past, indicative, activecoordinated with gick
    henneherhenne · pronoun, accusative, common gender, singulardirect object of frågade
    omifom · subordinating conjunctionmodifies gick
    detitden · pronoun, neuter, singularpart of the phrase om
    somthatsom · pronounsubject of berättat

    Three of this key's four examples ('som om far skulle...', 'för just som han stod...', 'som de är borta') are actually the conjunctive 'as'/'while' use, not the relative pronoun 'that/which' shown by 'länstolen, som blev köpt...'. The glosser's original senses list (that/who/which) omitted the dominant 'as' reading entirely.

    BatakiBatakiBataki · proper noun, nominativesubject of berättat
    hadehadha · auxiliary verb, past, indicative, activeauxiliary of berättat
    berättattoldberätta · verb, active, supinerelative clause on rastestund
    varwasvara · auxiliary verb, past, indicative, activecopula linking to sant
    santtruesant · adjective, nominative, neuter, singularin apposition to passade
    ochandoch · conjunctionlinks the coordination
    AkkaAkkaAkka · proper noun, nominativesubject of förneka

    proper name of the lead wild goose; keep untranslated.

    hadehadha · auxiliary verb, past, indicative, activeauxiliary of förneka
    intenotinte · particlemodifies förneka
    kunnatbeen able tokunna · auxiliary verb, active, supineauxiliary of förneka
    förnekadenyförneka · verb, active, infinitivecoordinated with sant
    detitden · pronoun, neuter, singulardirect object of förneka

  2. Then the boy made the goose swear that she would not betray the secret to Morten Goosey-Gander.

  3. For the big white gander was so brave and generous that the boy feared he would go and cause some misfortune if he learned the elf's condition.

  4. 2

    After that the boy sat sullen and silent on the goose's back, hung his head, and did not care to look about him.

  5. He heard the wild geese calling out to the goslings that now they were flying into Dalarna, and now they could see Städjan up in the north, and now they were flying over the Österdalälven, and now they had come to Lake Horrmund, and now they had the valley of the Västerdalälven beneath them, but he did not trouble to look at any of it.

  6. "I suppose I shall go on flying about with the wild geese all my life," he thought, "so that I'll see a great deal more of this country than I have any wish to."

  7. 3

    He grew no less listless when the wild geese called out that now they had come into Värmland, and that the river they were following southward was the Klarälven.

  8. "I have already seen so many rivers," he thought.

  9. "I needn't trouble myself to look at one more."

  10. 4

    Even if he had been more eager to look, he would not have had much to see, for in northern Värmland there is nothing but great, monotonous forests, through which the Klarälven winds, narrow and rich in rapids.

  11. Here and there a charcoal kiln is seen, a patch of burned-over clearing, or a pair of low, chimneyless cabins where Finns live.

  12. But in general the forest is of such extent that one might believe oneself far up in Lapland.

  13. 5

    The wild geese came down on a burned clearing close by the bank of the Klarälven, and while the birds walked about grazing on fresh, newly sprung autumn rye, the boy heard laughter and chatter coming from the forest.

  14. It was seven brisk fellows who came walking along with knapsacks on their backs and axes over their shoulders.

  15. That day the boy longed indescribably for human company, and he grew truly glad when the seven workmen shed their knapsacks and threw themselves down on the riverbank to rest.

  16. 6

    They talked without stopping, and the boy lay behind a tussock and rejoiced to hear human voices.

  17. He soon learned that they were Värmland men who intended to go up to Norrland to look for work.

  18. They were merry folk, and they had a great deal to talk about, because they had worked in many different places.

  19. But in the middle of the conversation one of them happened to say that although he had been all over Sweden, he had not seen any district more beautiful than Nordmarken, over in western Värmland, where he was from.

  20. 7

    "I'll grant you that, if only you'll say Fryksdalen, where I'm from, instead of Nordmarken," put in one of the others.

  21. — "I'm from Jösse parish," said a third, "and I can tell you that it is more beautiful there than in either Nordmarken or Fryksdalen."

  22. 8

    It now turned out that all seven fellows were from different parts of Värmland, and that each one held that his own home district was both more beautiful and better than the others'.

  23. A heated quarrel arose over this, and no one was able to convince the others that he was right.

  24. It looked almost as if they would become real enemies, when an old man with long,

  25. 9

    black hair and small, blinking eyes came walking by.

  26. "What is it you're arguing about, men?" he said.

  27. "You're shouting so it can be heard all through the forest."

  28. 10

    One of the Värmland men turned quickly toward the newcomer.

  29. "You must be a Finn, since you go wandering about so far up here in the forest?"

  30. — "Well, I suppose I am," said the old man.

  31. — "That's just as well," said the fellow.

  32. "I've always heard that you Finns have more sense than other folk."

  33. — "A good name is better than gold," the old Finn admitted.

  34. — "We're sitting here quarreling about which part of Värmland is the finest.

  35. I wonder if you'd be willing to settle the dispute for us, so we don't fall out over the matter?"

  36. — "I'll judge it as best I can," said the old Finn.

  37. "But you'll have to be patient with me, for I must first tell you an old story."

  38. 11

    "Once upon a time," said the Finn, seating himself at once upon a stone, "the land that lay north of Lake Vänern looked altogether wretched.

  39. It was so full of bare mountains and steep hills that it was impossible to live and dwell there.

  40. Roads could not be built and fields could not be cleared.

  41. But the land that lay south of Vänern was good and easily worked then, as it is to this day.

  42. 12

    Now it happened that there was a great man there in the south who had seven sons.

  43. All the sons were sturdy, strong fellows, but they had a proud temper, and there was often discord among them, because each wanted to be reckoned better than the rest.

  44. 13

    The father did not like the constant strife, and to put an end to it he one day called his sons to him and asked them whether they would agree to his putting them to the test, to find out which of them was the finest.

  45. 14

    Yes, the sons certainly wanted that.

  46. They desired nothing better.

  47. 15

    'Then we shall arrange it this way,' said the father.

  48. 'You know that north of this little tarn we call Vänern, we have a waste tract so full of tussocks and small stones that we get no use from it.

  49. Tomorrow each of you shall take a plow and go there and plow as much as you can manage in a day.

  50. When evening comes, I shall come and see which of you has done the best work.'

  51. 16

    The sun had scarcely come up the next morning before the seven brothers stood ready with horses and plows.

  52. It was a fine sight to see them as they drove out to work.

  53. The horses were groomed till they shone, the plowshares gleamed, and the plow-blade was freshly sharpened.

  54. They set off as if in a blaze, all the way until they came down to Vänern.

  55. Then a couple of them turned aside, but the eldest drove straight on.

  56. 'I'm not afraid of a little puddle of water like this,' he said of Vänern.

  57. 17

    When the others saw how bold he was, they did not want to show themselves less brave.

  58. They took their stand on the plows and drove the horses out into the water.

  59. They were big horses, and it was quite a while before they lost their footing and had to swim.

  60. The plows floated on the water, but it was no easy matter to stay on them.

  61. A couple of the sons were dragged along behind the plow, and a couple had to wade, but all got across and set right to work plowing up the waste tract, which was nothing other than the stretch of land that has since been called Värmland and Dal.

  62. The eldest was to plow the middle furrow, the two next oldest took their places on either side of him, the two nearest them in age took their places beyond them, and the two youngest each plowed their own furrow, one at the western edge of the waste tract and the other at the eastern.

  63. 18

    The eldest brother plowed at first a straight and broad furrow, for the ground down by Vänern was fairly level and easy to work.

  64. It went along briskly, until he came upon a stone so large that he could not get past it, and had to lift the plow up over it.

  65. Then he drove the plow-blade into the earth with force and cut a broad and deep furrow.

  66. But after a while he came to ground so hard that he had to lift the plow.

  67. This happened to him again, and it vexed him that he could not keep the furrow equally broad and deep the whole way.

  68. At last the ground grew so stony that he had to content himself with merely scratching it a little with the plow-blade.

  69. In this way he still made it all the way up to the northern boundary of the waste tract, and there he sat down to wait for his father.

  70. 19

    The second brother also began plowing a broad and deep furrow, and he managed to find a good passage among the tussocks, so that he could carry it through without a break.

  71. Here and there he drove up over some clefts, and the farther north he got, the more bends he had to make, and the narrower the furrow became.

  72. But he made such good progress that he did not even stop at the boundary, but drove a good way farther than he needed to.

  73. 20

    The third brother, who stood to the left of the eldest, also got on well at the start.

  74. He plowed a furrow that was broader than any of the others, but soon he met such poor ground that he had to turn aside toward the west.

  75. As soon as he could, he drove north again, plowing both deep and broad, but was checked long before he had reached the boundary.

  76. He did not want to stand still in the middle of the tract, so he turned the horses and set off in another direction.

  77. But before long it was so closed in around him that he had to stop.

  78. "This furrow will surely turn out to be the worst," he thought, as he sat down on the plow to wait for his father.

  79. 21

    It matters little to tell how it went with the others.

  80. They all acquitted themselves like men.

  81. Those who plowed in the middle had had it hard, but those who went ahead to the east and west of them had it worse still, for out there the waste tract was so full of stone heaps and marsh that it was impossible to get straight, even furrows.

  82. Of the two youngest it may be said that they merely turned and twisted, but they still did a considerable amount of work.

  83. 22

    When evening came, the seven brothers sat tired and downcast at the end of their respective furrows and waited.

  84. 23

    Then the father came walking along.

  85. He came first to the one who had worked farthest to the west.

  86. 24

    'Good evening!' said the father when he came.

  87. 'How has the work gone?'

  88. — 'It has gone poorly,' said the son.

  89. 'It was a hard tract of waste land, this one you gave us to plow.'

  90. — 'I think you're sitting with your back to the field,' said the father.

  91. 'Turn around, so you can see what you've accomplished!

  92. It is not as little as you think.'

  93. 25

    And when the son looked back, he noticed that where he had gone forward with his plow there had arisen splendid valleys with lakes on the valley floors and beautiful, wooded valley sides.

  94. He had drawn his furrow through a good stretch of Dal and Nordmark hundred in Värmland and had plowed up both Laxsjön and Lelången and Stora Le and the two Silar lakes, so that his father had every reason to be pleased with him.

  95. 26

    'Now let us go and see what the others have been up to,' said the father.

  96. The next son they came to — he was the fifth in order — had plowed up Jösse hundred and the lake Glafsfjorden.

  97. The third son had plowed up Värmeln, the eldest Fryksdalen and the Fryken lakes, the second eldest Älvdalen with the Klarälven.

  98. The fourth had had a hard task over in Bergslagen and had plowed up Yngen and Daglösen besides a number of other small lakes.

  99. The sixth had followed a strange furrow.

  100. First he had cleared a place for the great lake Skagern, then he had run on in a narrow furrow, where the Letälven took its place, and after that he had happened to cross the boundary and gone on hacking up small lakes inside the Västmanland mining district.

  101. 27

    When the father had inspected the whole plowed field, he said that, as far as he could judge, they had done such good work that he had reason to be pleased with it.

  102. The land was now no longer a waste tract, but could well be worked and settled.

  103. They had created many fish-rich lakes and fertile valley floors.

  104. Rivers and streams made falls that could drive mills, sawmills, and iron-hammer forges.

  105. On the ridges between the furrows there was room for forest for fuel and charcoal-burning, and now there was also a way to build roads out to the great iron-ore fields over in Bergslagen.

  106. 28

    The sons were glad to hear this, but now they also wanted to know whose furrow was the finest.

  107. 29

    'In a plowed field like this,' said the father, 'it matters more that all the furrows fit well against one another than that one should be finer than the rest.

  108. I think that whoever comes to the long, narrow lakes in Nordmarken and in Dal must admit that he has seldom seen anything more beautiful.

  109. But afterward he will surely come to like seeing the bright, fertile districts around Glafsfjorden and Värmeln just as well.

  110. When he has lived there in open, cheerful country for a while, he will likely come to enjoy trading it for the long, narrow valleys along the Fryken and the Klarälven.

  111. And if he tires of these too, he will surely be glad to come upon the many-shaped lakes in Bergslagen, which twist and wind about and are so numerous that no one can hold them all in memory.

  112. After the scattered lakes he will surely be glad to meet a great, wide sheet of water like Skagern.

  113. And now I will tell you that it is the same with sons as it is with furrows in a plowed field.

  114. No father is glad when one is finer than the rest.

  115. But if he can turn his gaze with the same joy from the youngest to the eldest, then he feels peace in his heart.'"

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
JSON · Markdown · A guide for agents
Two whoopie pies and a pine. An inside joke.