Seacrow Island

by Astrid Lindgren

  “The whole of Seacrow Island was on the jetty, of course, for most people go down to meet the boat anyhow, and today it was Midsummer. We were all there—all except Björn.

  “I was looking elegant—most elegant—in my light-blue dress with the full skirt. Both Johan and Niklas whistled when they saw me, and that must be the greatest compliment one can have. If one’s brothers whistle when they see one, it shows there are some grounds for being pleased with oneself. So I felt very happy, and full of expectation.

  “Pelle was not so happy. ‘Must we wear these horrible clothes, just because it’s Midsummer’s Day?’ he asked. I suppose it isn’t right to torture small children with ‘Sunday clothes,’ but one gets tired of all those dirty jeans and longs to see something else now and then.

  “ ‘Yes, you must,’ said Daddy, ‘and after all it’s not that bad. And if you’re just a little careful not to get dirty and wet, you’ll be on the safe side.’

  “ ‘Tell me to be careful not to do anything that’s fun and then you and Malin will be on the safe side,’ said Pelle.

  “Then he suddenly saw Tjorven—Tjorven, who up till now had been seen dressed in nothing but jeans and a ragged little sweater. Here she was in a white embroidered dress and her bearing was quite indescribable. One could see from a long way off that she thought, Now you’re really seeing something!

  “Even Bosun seemed subdued by this entirely new foster mother. Pelle drew back shyly. Then Tjorven climbed down from the heights of her triumph and said, ‘Pelle, what about it? Shall we throw sticks for Bosun? It’s about the only thing we can do while we’re dressed up like this!’

  “Perhaps she said this to keep Pelle away from Stina. Stina and old man Söderman were also on the jetty. Söderman told us that his stomach was better, which pleased us all, for here on Seacrow Island we all share each other’s joys and sorrows.

  “ ‘Ha, ha! Now some of the summer visitors will be arriving, ha, ha!’ said Söderman, and when Daddy asked him if he didn’t like summer visitors, he looked quite surprised. Evidently that was quite a new thought to him.

  “ ‘Like them? Pah!’ he said. ‘Most of them are only from Stockholm and the rest are just rubbish too.’

  “Daddy laughed and did not seem in the least offended. He already considered himself a native, as he always does wherever he may be, and I think this is the reason why he has so many friends everywhere. Besides, people feel that with all his childishness, vagueness, and helplessness he needs warmth and protection. Well, I don’t know how he does it, but everybody likes him. I heard old man Söderman say in the shop once when he had not noticed that I was there, ‘That man Melkerson isn’t quite all there, but that’s the only thing I have against him.’

  “However, be that as it may, back to the jetty! The Grankvist Amazons—that’s what Daddy calls Teddy and Freddy—were there in new jeans and red polo-necked sweaters. They and Johan and Niklas were sitting on empty oil drums and croaking like cormorants now and then. They have some sort of secret club, those four, and go around being ‘secret’ for days on end, which annoys the little ones beyond endurance as they are not allowed to belong. Pelle avenges himself by calling his brothers ‘secret Johan’ and ‘secret Niklas,’ smiling scornfully when he says it, while Tjorven simply declares that it’s a crazy club. After the behavior of the club last night I agree with her wholeheartedly.

  “As we stood there waiting for the boat to dock, Johan and Niklas suddenly rushed forward and each took one of my arms.

  “ ‘Come on, Malin, we’re going home now,’ said Johan.

  “I struggled, of course, and wondered what they wanted to do at home.

  “ ‘We can read an instructive book or something,’ said Niklas.

  “ ‘You know you like being read to,’ said Johan.

  “ ‘Of course I do, but not in the middle of a lovely Midsummer’s evening,’ I told them.

  “I found the explanation for it almost at once. The explanation came down the gangplank in all his glory and it was none other than Krister, the boy who was on the boat the day we came here. I am accustomed to my brothers hating anyone who ‘comes and hangs about Malin’—their words, not mine!—but apparently right from the very beginning poor Krister has been more unpopular than anyone else. I don’t think there’s anything particularly wrong with him. He is rather inclined to be too sure of himself, but I would soon cure him of that. He is handsome enough and wears what Daddy calls ‘good clothes.’

  “As soon as he got off the boat he came straight up to me. When he smiled I thought he looked very nice, for he has lovely teeth, but Johan and Niklas glared at him as if he had a wolf’s grin—and no wolf’s allowed to come here and eat up our sister, no, thank you!

  “ ‘Poor little Malin,’ said Krister, ‘all alone on Midsummer’s Eve. Come along, and we’ll turn Seacrow Island upside down.’

  “This remark did not make him any more popular with Johan and Niklas.

  “ ‘She’s not alone,’ said Johan crossly. ‘She’s with us!’

  “Krister patted him on the shoulder. ‘Yes, yes. Now off you go to the sandbox with your buckets and spades. I’ll take care of Malin.’

  “I think it was at that very moment that they declared serious war on Krister. I could see them gnashing their teeth. They went back to Teddy and Freddy and immediately a frightful squawking arose from their direction, which sounded full of hate and revenge.

  “ ‘Malin, this evening you and I are going to dance. I’ve already decided,’ said Krister. And when I explained to him that I was used to deciding for myself with whom I wanted to dance, he said, ‘Decide for me, then we needn’t have any arguments about it.’

  “There was no sign of Björn. Anyhow, I didn’t know whether he danced. And I wanted to dance in my light-blue dress, it being Midsummer and everything, so I said to Krister, ‘Well, we’ll see!’

  “However, it can be Midsummer as much as it likes, but the higher powers have decreed that I have to be a mother to my three brothers and I should certainly not have allowed the smallest one to leave me and go with Tjorven, at least, not when he was in his Sunday best. Suddenly I heard everybody laughing, and I said to Krister, ‘Come and see what’s amusing them all!’

  “And then I saw! What I saw was Pelle—who was not to get wet. There he was, standing in the sea up to his waist, Tjorven too, and they were splashing water at each other as hard as they could. They were absolutely wild—there is no other word for it—and Tjorven shrieked, ‘Now we might just as well go swimming!’ And they did. They threw themselves in the water and came up shouting and splashing each other even more. They were absolutely sea-wild and so absorbed in their own enjoyment that they had entirely forgotten the rest of the world around them. But they woke from their wildness when Marta and I came rushing toward them, woke, and saw they were wet—in the same sort of way as Adam and Eve saw that they were naked. But Pelle and Tjorven unfortunately were not naked. They were dressed in their very best clothes, and I have never seen a well-starched party dress look more like a wet rag.

  “ ‘We couldn’t help it,’ said Tjorven. ‘It just happened.’

  “She tried to explain to Marta how it ‘just happened.’ and as far as I remember, this is what she said.

  “ ‘We were just going to paddle and we were ever so careful, because we were both looking so elegant, but Pelle said we should at least go out as far as to the knees and so we did, but then Pelle went out a little farther. “I dare you to go as far as this,” he said. And so I went farther and said, “I dare you to go as far as this, then!” But then I saw that the bottom of my dress was a bit wet and I said to Pelle, “I’m not wet!” And then he splashed a little water on me so that I would be wet, and then I splashed a little on him, and then he splashed a little on me, and then we splashed more and more, and more and more, and then we just went swimming. That’s how it happened.’

  “ ‘Well, anyhow, no more swimming today,’ said Marta ster
nly.

  “We had to go home, each of us with our sopping wet child. Behind Carpenter’s Cottage I have a clothesline strung between two apple trees. I hung up Pelle’s clothes on it and there they danced their Midsummer’s dance, the only one they would have, with the South wind.

  “But next Midsummer, I’ll have a clothesline twice as long, for it is obvious that it will be needed. More about that later!

  “Marta and I both returned with our usual, everyday children, and Marta said, ‘It will be a long time before I put Tjorven into a party dress again.’

  “ ‘Can I be sure of that?’ said Tjorven.

  “Marta herself looked sweet in her national costume, with its pleated woolen skirt and big white scarf. Oh, that Marta! Who arranged the Midsummer pole and the Midsummer games on Seacrow Island? Marta! Who is the president of the Housewives Union? Marta! Who is the leader of the choir? Marta! And who got the whole of Seacrow Island, every single person, to dance around the Midsummer pole? Marta! And no one else but Marta!

  “The Midsummer pole had been raised in the meadow behind Söderman’s cottage and when we got there it had begun to rain, for even Marta cannot regulate the weather. But her housewives collected bravely beneath their umbrellas and sang at the top of their voices, and I did too, and the earth was lovely and the sky beautiful, in spite of the rain. But, dear God, hear the prayer of the birds and let it clear up before evening, for there is one little female bird here who is longing to dance on the jetty!

  “And so I did. But before that point was reached, a great deal had happened, and the clothesline between the apple trees was beginning to sag. For on it hung not only Pelle’s shirt, jacket, and shorts, but a shirt belonging to Krister, as well as Daddy’s shirt and trousers and Johan’s shirt and trousers. I do not know what Niklas’s trousers had done not to be allowed to go swimming the whole day. All the other trousers were allowed to, but, of course, life is very unfair.

  “Actually Krister’s shirt had not been swimming; I had washed it for him because he fell down during the egg-and-spoon race at the exact spot where Daddy had dropped his egg a minute before. Kind man that he is, Daddy went home and gave one of his own shirts to Krister.

  “ ‘Thanks,’ said Krister. ‘I’ll go and have a swim while I’m waiting.’

  “Johan and Niklas and the Grankvist Amazons stood there giggling. No one could say that they seemed particularly sorry for Krister’s misfortune with the egg. I heard Krister ask them where one could swim and Teddy pointed.

  “ ‘Is it shallow there?’ asked Krister.

  “ ‘Yes, it’s so shallow you can walk right over to Finland,’ said Johan with a giggle.

  “ ‘And that’s what I think you’d better do,’ said Niklas, but by then Krister had already gone, so he did not hear.

  The children’s sack race was about to begin and I went over to watch it, but suddenly Johan rushed up to me, very pale, and grabbed me by the arm. ‘Do you know if Krister can swim?’ he said. ‘What happens if he can’t? It’s deep where he’s gone in!’

  “I knew that it was deep too, but I, like Johan, had never imagined that there were people who could not swim, and I had no idea whether Krister was one of those.

  “ ‘Come on,’ I said. And we ran for all we were worth, Johan and Niklas and Teddy and Freddy and I. We arrived just in time to see Krister wading into the sea.

  “ ‘Stop,’ shrieked Johan.

  “Obviously Krister did not hear. He waded out quickly as if he really did think he could walk over to Finland, but after a couple of steps he was already in deep water and then he disappeared. He just disappeared! And I have not yet recovered from the shock.

  “Johan kicked off his shoes and dove straight in and I shouted to the others, ‘Run and get help!’

  “Niklas and Freddy ran. Teddy and I stood trembling, in a cold sweat. Johan was under water for a long time and each second was agony. I was just about to go in myself, when at last he came up—but without Krister. He shook his head in despair. ‘I can’t find him!’

  “ ‘You’d better hunt a little more in that direction,’ said Teddy. ‘That’s where he went under.’

  “Then someone behind me raised a finger and pointed and said, ‘No, that’s where he went under. And over there by that stone is where he came up again.’

  “I turned—and there stood Krister, dripping wet and very pleased with his stupid joke.

  “But Teddy went on pointing and repeated, ‘No, that was where he went under. I saw him myself!’

  “ ‘Yes, I did too,’ said Krister.

  “And then, at last Teddy realized who it was she was talking to. She was furious. ‘You should never do that kind of thing!’ she said, and I agreed with her.

  “ ‘I agree,’ said Krister. ‘And you shouldn’t lure people out into deep water before you know if they can swim or not, either.’

  “Johan had been down hunting again. Now he came up and saw Krister. One could see how relieved he was and at the same time how put out. Imagine trying to save a person who was already on dry land! Johan did what he always does with anyone he thinks is rather unpleasant—turned it into a sort of joke. He gave a shout and sank slowly back under the water again, exactly as if he had fainted with pleasure at seeing Krister.

  “He should not have done that, for just at that moment everybody on Seacrow Island arrived with Daddy at their head. They obviously thought someone was drowning, and Daddy caught a glimpse of Johan before he disappeared.

  “ ‘Johan!’ shouted Daddy, and threw himself in the water before I could stop him. It was like watching a film. First Johan’s head came up and then Daddy’s. They stared at each other in silence.

  “ ‘What do you want?’ said Johan at last.

  “ ‘I want to go ashore,’ said Daddy angrily, and he did so.

  “ ‘Uncle Melker, why do you always go swimming with your clothes on?’ asked Tjorven. No one can keep her away when anything is happening.

  “ ‘It just happens that way,’ said Daddy, and Tjorven was silenced. Then Daddy took hold of Freddy’s ear. ‘Didn’t you say that someone was drowning?’

  “Teddy came to her rescue. ‘The whole thing was a mistake!’

  “Krister attempted to explain, but everyone was very angry with him and I heard what Niklas said to Freddy. ‘That young man’s a pain in the neck, whatever anyone says.’

  “I think that Björn thought so too. He had realized the position by degrees, but he just went about looking miserable and never came near me.

  “In any case, it was a wonderful, beautiful Midsummer’s evening and there was dancing on the jetty exactly as I had hoped. Old man Söderman played his concertina and we danced, all of us danced, oh, how we danced, while the sun sank in the bay and the mosquitoes buzzed around us. Björn did not dance. Perhaps he couldn’t. But Krister could. Goodness, how my light-blue dress swirled around as we flew backward and forward, and how I enjoyed it!

  “ ‘Malin,’ said Söderman during one of his little drink pauses, ‘promise me one thing! Never grow old!’

  “If only he knew how old I am sometimes! Secret Johan and his secret followers stood there guarding me. Every time Krister and I danced past, Johan shouted, ‘Take care, Malin!’

  “Finally I got tired of him and hissed, ‘What of?’

  “ ‘Yourself,’ he said. And the other three giggled. Krister did not care. It did not matter to him how much they laughed, and I must say that boy knows a thing or two! Quite uninhibited, and without paying any attention to the little brothers who were listening, he recited to me during one of Söderman’s beer pauses:

  ‘A pale pink rose gleamed on her brow

  Among the yellow, flaxen hair.

  A sweet, old-fashioned Swedish maid.’

  For I had a pink wild rose in my hair and I stood there, feeling just like the old-fashioned Swedish maid, until Johan broke my dream.

  “ ‘Well, actually in some cases it’s different,’
he said. ‘Some people have hair like an old Swedish pig.’

  “Then all four of them looked at Krister’s crew cut and giggled. Where does all that giggling in thirteen-year-olds come from, I wonder?

  “But I still was not really angry with them. I did not become angry until they disturbed my Midsummer Night’s Dream down by Jansson’s Creek. I wanted to dream it alone, without Krister, and quite positively without any little brothers, but I was not allowed to.

  “Jansson’s Creek is a solitary, strange place. Krister and I went there when the dancing had finished. There is an old boathouse with a couple of old punts, but otherwise nothing to show that there are people in the world. Everything is mystical and beautiful and silent. Now, at night, a couple of swans were floating on the dark water. They shone whitely as if they were fairy-tale birds. Perhaps they were, for everything was unreal and fairylike, and in some way, ancient, and one felt that at any moment these swans might shed their plumage and become heathen gods, dancing and playing on flutes. The water lay black under the high cliffs on the other side of the creek, but out to sea the water was pale and the night was not night, but only a pale little dusk which was trying to become night.

  “Krister and I sat on a rock. I wanted to be absolutely quiet, but he did not understand that. He thought that everything must go the way he wanted, and so he began to look into my eyes and to wonder whether they were green or gray—my eyes, that is. Then we heard a voice just behind us, followed by giggles.

  “ ‘Actually they’re purple.’

  “That was the last straw. I was furious and I shouted, ‘What are you doing there? Explain at once!’

  “ ‘Certainly,’ said Niklas, popping up his head. ‘We’re sitting here, flirting, like other people.’

  “At that, Teddy and Freddy giggled for several minutes and I grew angrier still. ‘I’m tired of all this,’ I said.

  “And then Johan piped up. ‘Well, why don’t you go home then? Surely you don’t have to sit and flirt until you’re tired!’