Nils Holgerssons underbara resa. English

by Selma Lagerlöf

herin my tent."

  The fisherman hastened all the faster.

  "I might have known that he would be alarmed when I threatened to takehis daughter into the Lapps' quarters," laughed Ola to himself.

  When the man from Kiruna, who had brought Osa to the tent, turned backlater in the day, he had two people with him in the boat, who sat closetogether, holding hands--as if they never again wanted to part.

  They were Jon Esserson and his daughter. Both were unlike what they hadbeen a few hours earlier.

  The father looked less bent and weary and his eyes were clear and good,as if at last he had found the answer to that which had troubled him solong.

  Osa, the goose girl, did not glance longingly about, for she had foundsome one to care for her, and now she could be a child again.

  HOMEWARD BOUND!

  THE FIRST TRAVELLING DAY

  _Saturday, October first_.

  The boy sat on the goosey-gander's back and rode up amongst the clouds.Some thirty geese, in regular order, flew rapidly southward. There was arustling of feathers and the many wings beat the air so noisily that onecould scarcely hear one's own voice. Akka from Kebnekaise flew in thelead; after her came Yksi and Kaksi, Kolme and Neljae, Viisi and Kuusi,Morten Goosey-Gander and Dunfin. The six goslings which had accompaniedthe flock the autumn before had now left to look after themselves.Instead, the old geese were taking with them twenty-two goslings thathad grown up in the glen that summer. Eleven flew to the right, elevento the left; and they did their best to fly at even distances, like thebig birds.

  The poor youngsters had never before been on a long trip and at firstthey had difficulty in keeping up with the rapid flight.

  "Akka from Kebnekaise! Akka from Kebnekaise!" they cried in plaintivetones.

  "What's the matter?" said the leader-goose sharply.

  "Our wings are tired of moving, our wings are tired of moving!" wailedthe young ones.

  "The longer you keep it up, the better it will go," answered theleader-goose, without slackening her speed. And she was quite right, forwhen the goslings had flown two hours longer, they complained no more ofbeing tired.

  But in the mountain glen they had been in the habit of eating all daylong, and very soon they began to feel hungry.

  "Akka, Akka, Akka from Kebnekaise!" wailed the goslings pitifully.

  "What's the trouble now?" asked the leader-goose.

  "We're so hungry, we can't fly any more!" whimpered the goslings. "We'reso hungry, we can't fly any more!"

  "Wild geese must learn to eat air and drink wind," said theleader-goose, and kept right on flying.

  It actually seemed as if the young ones were learning to live on windand air, for when they had flown a little longer, they said nothing moreabout being hungry.

  The goose flock was still in the mountain regions, and the old geesecalled out the names of all the peaks as they flew past, so that theyoungsters might learn them. When they had been calling out a while:

  "This is Porsotjokko, this is Saerjaktjokko, this is Sulitelma," and soon, the goslings became impatient again.

  "Akka, Akka, Akka!" they shrieked in heart-rending tones.

  "What's wrong?" said the leader-goose.

  "We haven't room in our heads for any more of those awful names!"shrieked the goslings.

  "The more you put into your heads the more you can get into them,"retorted the leader-goose, and continued to call out the queer names.

  The boy sat thinking that it was about time the wild geese betookthemselves southward, for so much snow had fallen that the ground waswhite as far as the eye could see. There was no use denying that it hadbeen rather disagreeable in the glen toward the last. Rain and fog hadsucceeded each other without any relief, and even if it did clear uponce in a while, immediately frost set in. Berries and mushrooms, uponwhich the boy had subsisted during the summer, were either frozen ordecayed. Finally he had been compelled to eat raw fish, which wassomething he disliked. The days had grown short and the long eveningsand late mornings were rather tiresome for one who could not sleep thewhole time that the sun was away.

  Now, at last, the goslings' wings had grown, so that the geese couldstart for the south. The boy was so happy that he laughed and sang as herode on the goose's back. It was not only on account of the darkness andcold that he longed to get away from Lapland; there were other reasonstoo.

  The first weeks of his sojourn there the boy had not been the least bithomesick. He thought he had never before seen such a glorious country.The only worry he had had was to keep the mosquitoes from eating him up.

  The boy had seen very little of the goosey-gander, because the big,white gander thought only of his Dunfin and was unwilling to leave herfor a moment. On the other hand, Thumbietot had stuck to Akka and Gorgo,the eagle, and the three of them had passed many happy hours together.

  The two birds had taken him with them on long trips. He had stood onsnow-capped Mount Kebnekaise, had looked down at the glaciers andvisited many high cliffs seldom tramped by human feet. Akka had shownhim deep-hidden mountain dales and had let him peep into caves wheremother wolves brought up their young. He had also made the acquaintanceof the tame reindeer that grazed in herds along the shores of thebeautiful Torne Lake, and he had been down to the great falls andbrought greetings to the bears that lived thereabouts from their friendsand relatives in Westmanland.

  Ever since he had seen Osa, the goose girl, he longed for the day whenhe might go home with Morten Goosey-Gander and be a normal human beingonce more. He wanted to be himself again, so that Osa would not beafraid to talk to him and would not shut the door in his face.

  Yes, indeed, he was glad that at last they were speeding southward. Hewaved his cap and cheered when he saw the first pine forest. In the samemanner he greeted the first gray cabin, the first goat, the first cat,and the first chicken.

  They were continually meeting birds of passage, flying now in greaterflocks than in the spring.

  "Where are you bound for, wild geese?" called the passing birds. "Whereare you bound for?"

  "We, like yourselves, are going abroad," answered the geese.

  "Those goslings of yours aren't ready to fly," screamed the others."They'll never cross the sea with those puny wings!"

  Laplander and reindeer were also leaving the mountains. When the wildgeese sighted the reindeer, they circled down and called out:

  "Thanks for your company this summer!"

  "A pleasant journey to you and a welcome back!" returned the reindeer.

  But when the bears saw the wild geese, they pointed them out to the cubsand growled:

  "Just look at those geese; they are so afraid of a little cold theydon't dare to stay at home in winter."

  But the old geese were ready with a retort and cried to their goslings:

  "Look at those beasts that stay at home and sleep half the year ratherthan go to the trouble of travelling south!"

  Down in the pine forest the young grouse sat huddled together and gazedlongingly after the big bird flocks which, amid joy and merriment,proceeded southward.

  "When will our turn come?" they asked the mother grouse.

  "You will have to stay at home with mamma and papa," she said.

  LEGENDS FROM HAeRJEDALEN

  _Tuesday, October fourth_.

  The boy had had three days' travel in the rain and mist and longed forsome sheltered nook, where he might rest awhile.

  At last the geese alighted to feed and ease their wings a bit. To hisgreat relief the boy saw an observation tower on a hill close by, anddragged himself to it.

  When he had climbed to the top of the tower he found a party of touriststhere, so he quickly crawled into a dark corner and was soon soundasleep.

  When the boy awoke, he began to feel uneasy because the touristslingered so long in the tower telling stories. He thought they wouldnever go. Morten Goosey-Gander could not come for him while they werethere and he knew, of course, that the wild geese were in a hurry tocontinue the journey. In the middl
e of a story he thought he heardhonking and the beating of wings, as if the geese were flying away, buthe did not dare to venture over to the balustrade to find out if it wasso.

  At last, when the tourists were gone, and the boy could crawl from hishiding place, he saw no wild geese, and no Morten Goosey-Gander came tofetch him. He called, "Here am I, where are you?" as loud as he could,but his travelling companions did not appear. Not for a second did hethink they had deserted him; but he feared that they had met with somemishap and was wondering what he should do to find them, when Bataki,the raven, lit beside him.

  The boy never dreamed that he should greet Bataki with such a gladwelcome as he now gave him.

  "Dear Bataki," he burst forth. "How fortunate that you are here! Maybeyou know what has become of Morten Goosey-Gander and the wild geese?"

  "I've just come with a