The Wonderful Adventures of Nils 1732 Studios

Swedish · The Wonderful Adventures of Nils

Skatten på skäret

The Treasure on the Skerry

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  1. 1

    Ever since the start of the autumn journey the wild geese had flown due south, but when they left Fryksdalen, they turned onto another course and traveled across western Värmland and Dalsland toward Bohuslän.

    Alltever sinceAllt · adverbdeterminer of början
    ifrånfromifrån · prepositionpart of the phrase Allt
    börjanbeginningbörjan · noun, nominative, common gender, singularoblique complement of flugit
    avofav · prepositionpreposition marking höstresan
    höstresanthe autumn journeyhöstresa · noun, nominative, common gender, singularmodifies början
    hadehadha · auxiliary verb, past, indicative, activeauxiliary of flugit
    vildgässenthe wild geesevildgässe · noun, nominative, common gender, singularsubject of flugit

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

    flugitflownfluga · verb, active, supinemain verb of the sentence
    raktduerak · adverbmodifies söderut
    söderutsouthwardsöderut · adverbmodifies flugit
    menbutmen · conjunctionlinks the coordination
    närwhennär · subordinating conjunctionintroduces the clause of lämnade
    detheyde · pronoun, nominative, pluralsubject of lämnade
    lämnadeleftlämna · verb, past, indicative, activeadverbial clause on slogo
    FryksdalenFryksdalenFryksdalen · proper noun, nominativedirect object of lämnade
    slogoturnedslogoa · verb, present, indicative, activecoordinated with flugit

    Past plural of slå ('to strike/land'); lemma mislabeled 'slogoa'.

    detheyde · pronoun, nominative, pluralsubject of slogo
    ininin · adverbdepends on slogo
    iontoi · prepositionpreposition marking riktning
    enaen · determiner, common gender, singulardeterminer of riktning
    annanotherannan · adjective, nominative, common gender, singularmodifies riktning
    riktningdirectionriktning · noun, nominative, common gender, singularoblique complement of slogo
    ochandoch · conjunctionlinks the coordination
    forowentforo · noun, nominative, neuter, singularcoordinated with riktning

    Mistagged as a noun; foro is the plural past tense of fara ("went/traveled").

    överacrossöver · prepositionpreposition marking Värmland
    västrawesternvästra · adjective, nominative, singularmodifies Värmland
    VärmlandVärmlandVärmland · proper noun, nominativeoblique complement of slogo

    A Swedish province.

    ochandoch · conjunctionlinks the coordination
    DalslandDalslandDalsland · proper noun, nominativecoordinated with Värmland
    bortawaybort · adverbmodifies slogo
    mottowardmot · prepositionpreposition marking Bohuslän
    BohuslänBohuslänBohuslän · proper noun, nominativeoblique complement of slogo

    Swedish coastal province.

  2. 2

    It became a merry journey.

  3. The goslings were by now so used to flying that they no longer complained of tiredness, and the boy began to regain his good spirits.

  4. He was glad that he had gotten to talk with a human being, for it had cheered him that she had said that if he went on as he had done so far, doing good to everyone he met, things could not end badly for him.

  5. She had not been able to tell him how he would get back his rightful shape, but she had given him back a little hope and confidence, and it was surely this that had made it possible for him now to think out how he should keep the big white gander from traveling home.

  6. 3

    »You know, Morten Goosey-Gander,» he said, just as they were flying high up in the air, »that it will be dull enough for us to stay home all winter, once we've been through a journey like this.

  7. I keep thinking that we ought to go along with the wild geese to foreign lands.»

  8. — »Surely you can't be in earnest!» said the gander, sounding quite alarmed, for now that he had shown he was able to follow the wild geese all the way to Lapland, he was perfectly content to get back to the goose-pen in Holger Nilsson's cow-house.

  9. 4

    The boy sat quiet for a while, looking down at Värmland, where all the birch woods and groves and gardens were dressed in yellow and red autumn colors, and where the long lakes lay clear blue between the yellow shores.

  10. »I don't believe I've ever seen the earth lying so beautiful beneath us as today,» he said.

  11. »The lakes are like blue silk and the shores like broad bands of gold.

  12. Don't you think it would be a pity if we settled down in Västra Vemmenhög and never got to see any more of the world?»

  13. — »I thought you wanted to go home to father and mother and show them what a fine boy you've turned into,» said the gander.

  14. All summer long he had gone about dreaming of what a proud moment it would be when he could swoop down onto the yard in front of Holger Nilsson's cottage and show off Dunfin and the six goslings to the geese and the hens and the cows and the cat, and to mother Holger Nilsson herself, so that he was not at all pleased with the boy's proposal.

  15. 5

    The wild geese made several long rests during the day.

  16. Everywhere they came upon such splendid stubble fields that they hardly had the heart to leave them, and they did not enter Dalsland until it was drawing toward sunset.

  17. They swept on over the northwestern part of the province, and there it was even more splendid than in Värmland.

  18. There were so many lakes that the land ran between them like narrow, high-crested ridges.

  19. It was no fit ground for fields, but the trees thrived all the better for it, and the steep shores lay like beautiful parks.

  20. There seemed to be something in the air or in the water that held the sunlight fast, even after the sun had sunk down behind the ridges.

  21. Streaks of gold played on the smooth, dark water, and over the ground quivered a bright, pale-red glow, out of which yellow-white birches, bright red aspens, and red-gold rowans rose up.

  22. 6

    »Don't you think yourself, Morten Goosey-Gander, that it will be hard never again to see anything so grand as this?» said the boy.

  23. — »I'd rather look at the fat fields of Söderslätt than these lean mountain slopes,» answered the gander.

  24. 7

    »But you surely understand that if you absolutely want to continue the journey, I can't part from you.»

  25. — »That's just the answer I thought I'd get,» said the boy, and one could hear in his voice that he had been freed from a great worry.

  26. 8

    When they later traveled over Bohuslän, the boy saw that the mountain expanses grew more continuous, the valleys lay like narrow clefts blasted into the bedrock, and the long lakes at the bottom of them were as black as if they had come up out of the underworld.

  27. This too was a stately landscape, and as the boy saw it now with a thin streak of sun, now in shadow, he felt there was something wild and singular about it.

  28. He didn't know what caused it, but it occurred to him that strong and daring warriors must once have lived here in the world, and that they must have gone through many dangerous and bold adventures in these mysterious regions.

  29. The old longing to take part in remarkable events awoke in him.

  30. »It's quite possible that I'd miss not being in mortal danger every day or two,» he thought.

  31. »It's best to be content with what is.»

  32. 9

    He said nothing of this to the big white one, for the geese were flying over Bohuslän at the greatest speed they could manage, and the gander was panting so hard that he would not have had breath to answer.

  33. The sun stood on the horizon and now and then disappeared behind one hill or another, but the wild geese sped forward with such speed that again and again they caught sight of it.

  34. 10

    At last, in the west, they saw a bright streak that grew and widened with every wingbeat they took.

  35. It was the sea, lying milk-white and shifting into rose-red and sky-blue, and as they swung past the coastal cliffs, they once more caught sight of the sun, hanging over it, big and red and ready to dive down into the waves.

  36. 11

    But as the boy gazed at the free, boundless sea and the red evening sun, which shone with so mild a light that he dared look straight into it, he felt peace and security steal into his soul.

  37. »No use being sorrowful, Nils Holgersson,» said the sun.

  38. »The world is a glorious place to live in, both for the small and for the great.

  39. It's also a good thing to be free and carefree, with the whole of space open before you.»

  40. 12

    THE WILD GEESE'S GIFT.

  41. 13

    The wild geese had settled down to sleep on a small skerry off Fjällbacka.

  42. But when it drew toward midnight and the moon stood high in the sky, old Akka shook the sleep out of her eyes and then went around waking Yksi and Kaksi, Kolme and Neljä, Viisi and Kuusi.

  43. Last of all she nudged Thumbietot with her bill, so that he woke up.

  44. »What's the matter, mother Akka?» he said, jumping up quite frightened.

  45. — »It's nothing dangerous,» answered the lead goose, »it's only that we seven who are old in the flock want to go a way out over the sea tonight, and we're wondering whether you'd care to come along.»

  46. 14

    The boy understood well enough that Akka would not have made such a proposal unless something important were afoot, and he climbed at once onto her back.

  47. The flight was set straight westward.

  48. The wild geese first flew over a band of large and small islands lying near the coast, then over a broad stretch of open water, and then reached the great Väderöarna archipelago, which lay farthest out in the belt of skerries.

  49. All the islands were low and rocky, and in the moonlight one could see that on their western side they had been polished smooth by the waves.

  50. A few of them were quite large, and on these the boy glimpsed a couple of dwellings.

  51. Akka sought out one of the smallest skerries and landed there.

  52. It consisted of nothing but a humped slab of gray stone, which had a fairly wide crevice running across it, where the sea had washed in fine white sand and a few seashells.

  53. 15

    When the boy climbed down from the goose's back, he saw close beside him something that resembled a tall, pointed stone.

  54. But almost at the same moment he noticed that it was a large bird of prey that had chosen the skerry for its night's lodging.

  55. And he had scarcely had time to marvel that the wild geese had so carelessly landed beside a dangerous enemy, before the bird came toward them with one long hop, and he recognized Gorgo, the eagle.

  56. 16

    It was plain that Akka and Gorgo had arranged to meet out here.

  57. Neither of them was surprised to see the other.

  58. »That was well done of you, Gorgo,» said Akka.

  59. »I hardly dared believe you would reach the meeting place before us.

  60. Have you been here long?»

  61. — »I came here this evening,» answered Gorgo.

  62. »But I'm afraid I can expect praise for nothing except this, that I've kept a good watch for you.

  63. The errand you gave me to carry out has gone badly.»

  64. — »I'm sure, Gorgo, that you've done more good than you let on,» said Akka.

  65. »But before you tell what has happened to you on your journey, I'm going to ask Thumbietot to help me find something that may lie hidden here on the skerry.»

  66. 17

    The boy had been standing looking at a couple of handsome seashells, but when Akka mentioned his name, he looked up.

  67. »You've no doubt wondered, Thumbietot, why we turned off our proper course and traveled here to the North Sea,» said Akka.

  68. — »I did think it was strange,» answered the boy.

  69. »But I knew, after all, that you usually have good reasons for what you do.»

  70. —»You have a good opinion of me,» said Akka, »but I'm almost afraid you'll lose it now, for it's very likely that we've made this journey for nothing.»

  71. 18

    »It happened many years ago,» Akka went on, »that I and a couple of others who are now old in the flock ran into a storm during a spring migration and were cast all the way out to these skerries.

  72. When we saw there was nothing but shoreless sea ahead of us, we feared being driven so far out that we would never find our way back to land, and so we settled down on the waves.

  73. The storm forced us to remain among these bare rocks for several days.

  74. We suffered badly from hunger, and once we went up into the crevice here on the skerry and searched for food.

  75. We didn't find a single blade, but we saw that some sacks, tightly tied, stood half buried in the sand.

  76. We hoped there would be grain in the sacks, and we tugged and tore at them until we ripped the cloth open, but then it wasn't grain that rolled out, but shining pieces of gold.

  77. We wild geese had no use for such things, and we left them where they were.

  78. In all the years since, we haven't given the find a thought, but this autumn something has happened that makes us wish for gold.

  79. We know well enough that it's unlikely the treasure still lies here, but we've traveled here anyway to ask you to find out how matters stand.»

  80. 19

    The boy jumped down into the cleft, took a mussel shell in each hand, and began throwing the sand aside.

  81. He found no sacks, but when he had dug a fairly deep hole, he heard a clinking of metal and saw that he had struck a gold coin.

  82. He felt about with his hands on the ground, sensed that many round coins lay in the sand, and hurried up to Akka.

  83. »The sacks have rotted and fallen apart,» he said, »so the money lies scattered in the sand, but I believe all the gold is still there.»

  84. — »That's good,» said Akka.

  85. »Now fill in the hole again, and smooth the sand back, so that no one sees it has been disturbed!»

  86. 20

    The boy carried out the task, but when he came back up onto the rock, he was astonished to see that Akka had placed herself at the head of the six wild geese, and that they all came toward him with great solemnity.

  87. When they stopped in front of him, they bowed many times with their necks and looked so important that he had to take off his cap and bow to them.

  88. 21

    »It's like this,» said Akka, »we who are old have said to one another that if you, Thumbietot, had been in the service of humans and had done them as much good as you've done us, they surely wouldn't have parted from you without giving you a good reward.»

  89. — »It isn't I who have helped you, it's you who have taken care of me,» said the boy.

  90. — »We also thought,» Akka went on, »that since a human being has traveled with us the whole journey, she surely shouldn't leave us as poor as she came to us.»

  91. — »I know that what I've gotten to learn this year with you is worth more than goods and gold,» said the boy.

  92. 22

    »Since these gold coins have remained in the cleft all these years, it's surely certain that they have no owner,» said the lead goose, »and I think you can keep them for yourself.»

  93. — »Wasn't it you yourselves who needed the treasure?» asked the boy.

  94. — »Yes, we needed it so we could give you such a reward that your father and mother would think you had served as a goose-boy for honorable people.»

  95. 23

    The boy now turned halfway around, cast a glance out over the sea, and then looked Akka straight into her bright eyes.

  96. »I think it's remarkable, mother Akka, that you're discharging me from service and giving me my pay before I've given notice,» he said.

  97. — »For as long as we wild geese linger in Sweden, I'd like to believe you'll stay with us,» said Akka.

  98. »But I wanted to show you where the treasure was, now that we could reach it without too great a detour.»

  99. — »It's still as I say, that you want to part with me before I myself am willing,» said Thumbietot.

  100. »After as good a time as we've had together, I don't think it would be too much to ask that I too be allowed to go with you to foreign lands.»

  101. 24

    When the boy said this, Akka and the other wild geese stretched their long necks straight up and stood for a while drawing in air with half-open bills.

  102. »This is something I haven't thought about,» said Akka, once she had collected herself.

  103. »But before you decide to follow us, it's best that we hear what Gorgo has to tell.

  104. You should know that when we left Lapland, Gorgo and I agreed that he would travel to your home in Skåne and try to secure better terms for you.»

  105. 25

    »Yes, that's true,» said Gorgo.

  106. »But, as I've already told you, I haven't had luck with me.

  107. I soon enough found Holger Nilsson's croft, and when I had hovered back and forth over the farmyard for a couple of hours, I caught sight of the nisse, who came creeping between the houses.

  108. I threw myself on him at once and carried him off to a field, so that we could speak undisturbed.

  109. I said I had been sent by Akka from Kebnekaise to ask whether he couldn't give Nils Holgersson better terms.

  110. 'I wish I could,' he answered, 'for I've heard that he has conducted himself well on the journey.

  111. But it's not within my power.'

  112. Then I grew angry and said I wouldn't think it beneath me to peck his eyes out if he didn't give in.

  113. 'You can do with me as you like,' he said.

  114. 'With Nils Holgersson it will still be as I have said.

  115. But you can tell him he'd do well to come home soon with his goose, for things stand badly here at the croft.

  116. Holger Nilsson has had to pay a surety for his brother, in whom he had put such great trust.

  117. He bought a horse with borrowed money, but the horse went lame the very first day he drove it, and since then he's had no use of it.

  118. Yes, tell Nils Holgersson that his parents have already had to sell two cows, and that they'll be forced to leave the croft if they don't get help from somewhere!'»

  119. 26

    When the boy heard this, he drew his brows together, and his hands clenched so that his knuckles whitened.

  120. »It's cruel of the nisse,» he said, »to have set such a condition on me that I can't go home and help my parents.

  121. But he won't succeed in making me a betrayer of friends.

  122. Father and mother are honest people, and I know they'd rather do without my help than have me come back to them with a bad conscience.»

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.