thought he. Butwhen he looked up and saw the wild geese, who lay and bathed in VombLake--not one of them said a word about his going. "They probably thinkthe white one is too tired to travel home with me to-night," thought theboy.
The next morning the geese were awake at daybreak, long before sunrise.Now the boy felt sure that he'd have to go home; but, curiously enough,both he and the white goosey-gander were permitted to follow the wildones on their morning tour. The boy couldn't comprehend the reason forthe delay, but he figured it out in this way, that the wild geese didnot care to send the goosey-gander on such a long journey until they hadboth eaten their fill. Come what might, he was only glad for everymoment that should pass before he must face his parents.
The wild geese travelled over Oevid's Cloister estate which was situatedin a beautiful park east of the lake, and looked very imposing with itsgreat castle; its well planned court surrounded by low walls andpavilions; its fine old-time garden with covered arbours, streams andfountains; its wonderful trees, trimmed bushes, and its evenly mownlawns with their beds of beautiful spring flowers.
When the wild geese rode over the estate in the early morning hour therewas no human being about. When they had carefully assured themselves ofthis, they lowered themselves toward the dog kennel, and shouted: "Whatkind of a little hut is this? What kind of a little hut is this?"
Instantly the dog came out of his kennel--furiously angry--and barked atthe air.
"Do you call this a hut, you tramps! Can't you see that this is a greatstone castle? Can't you see what fine terraces, and what a lot of prettywalls and windows and great doors it has, bow, wow, wow, wow? Don't yousee the grounds, can't you see the garden, can't you see theconservatories, can't you see the marble statues? You call this a hut,do you? Do huts have parks with beech-groves and hazel-bushes andtrailing vines and oak trees and firs and hunting-grounds filled withgame, wow, wow, wow? Do you call this a hut? Have you seen huts with somany outhouses around them that they look like a whole village? You mustknow of a lot of huts that have their own church and their ownparsonage; and that rule over the district and the peasant homes and theneighbouring farms and barracks, wow, wow, wow? Do you call this a hut?To this hut belong the richest possessions in Skane, you beggars! Youcan't see a bit of land, from where you hang in the clouds, that doesnot obey commands from this hut, wow, wow, wow!"
All this the dog managed to cry out in one breath; and the wild geeseflew back and forth over the estate, and listened to him until he waswinded. But then they cried: "What are you so mad about? We didn't askabout the castle; we only wanted to know about your kennel, stupid!"
When the boy heard this joke, he laughed; then a thought stole in on himwhich at once made him serious. "Think how many of these amusing thingsyou would hear, if you could go with the wild geese through the wholecountry, all the way up to Lapland!" said he to himself. "And just now,when you are in such a bad fix, a trip like that would be the best thingyou could hit upon."
The wild geese travelled to one of the wide fields, east of the estate,to eat grass-roots, and they kept this up for hours. In the meantime,the boy wandered in the great park which bordered the field. He huntedup a beech-nut grove and began to look up at the bushes, to see if anut from last fall still hung there. But again and again the thought ofthe trip came over him, as he walked in the park. He pictured to himselfwhat a fine time he would have if he went with the wild geese. To freezeand starve: that he believed he should have to do often enough; but as arecompense, he would escape both work and study.
As he walked there, the old gray leader-goose came up to him, and askedif he had found anything eatable. No, that he hadn't, he replied, andthen she tried to help him. She couldn't find any nuts either, but shediscovered a couple of dried blossoms that hung on a brier-bush. Thesethe boy ate with a good relish. But he wondered what mother would say,if she knew that he had lived on raw fish and old winter-dried blossoms.
When the wild geese had finally eaten themselves full, they bore offtoward the lake again, where they amused themselves with games untilalmost dinner time.
The wild geese challenged the white goosey-gander to take part in allkinds of sports. They had swimming races, running races, and flyingraces with him. The big tame one did his level best to hold his own, butthe clever wild geese beat him every time. All the while, the boy sat onthe goosey-gander's back and encouraged him, and had as much fun as therest. They laughed and screamed and cackled, and it was remarkable thatthe people on the estate didn't hear them.
When the wild geese were tired of play, they flew out on the ice andrested for a couple of hours. The afternoon they spent in pretty muchthe same way as the forenoon. First, a couple of hours feeding, thenbathing and play in the water near the ice-edge until sunset, when theyimmediately arranged themselves for sleep.
"This is just the life that suits me," thought the boy when he crept inunder the gander's wing. "But to-morrow, I suppose I'll be sent home."
Before he fell asleep, he lay and thought that if he might go along withthe wild geese, he would escape all scoldings because he was lazy. Thenhe could cut loose every day, and his only worry would be to getsomething to eat. But he needed so little nowadays; and there wouldalways be a way to get that.
So he pictured the whole scene to himself; what he should see, and allthe adventures that he would be in on. Yes, it would be somethingdifferent from the wear and tear at home. "If I could only go with thewild geese on their travels, I shouldn't grieve because I'd beentransformed," thought the boy.
He wasn't afraid of anything--except being sent home; but not even onWednesday did the geese say anything to him about going. That day passedin the same way as Tuesday; and the boy grew more and more contentedwith the outdoor life. He thought that he had the lovely Oevid Cloisterpark--which was as large as a forest--all to himself; and he wasn'tanxious to go back to the stuffy cabin and the little patch of groundthere at home.
On Wednesday he believed that the wild geese thought of keeping him withthem; but on Thursday he lost hope again.
Thursday began just like the other days; the geese fed on the broadmeadows, and the boy hunted for food in the park. After a while Akkacame to him, and asked if he had found anything to eat. No, he had not;and then she looked up a dry caraway herb, that had kept all its tinyseeds intact.
When the boy had eaten, Akka said that she thought he ran around in thepark altogether too recklessly. She wondered if he knew how many enemieshe had to guard against--he, who was so little. No, he didn't knowanything at all about that. Then Akka began to enumerate them for him.
Whenever he walked in the park, she said, that he must look out for thefox and the marten; when he came to the shores of the lake, he mustthink of the otters; as he sat on the stone wall, he must not forget theweasels, who could creep through the smallest holes; and if he wished tolie down and sleep on a pile of leaves, he must first find out if theadders were not sleeping their winter sleep in the same pile. As soon ashe came out in the open fields, he should keep an eye out for hawks andbuzzards; for eagles and falcons that soared in the air. In thebramble-bush he could be captured by the sparrow-hawks; magpies andcrows were found everywhere and in these he mustn't place any too muchconfidence. As soon as it was dusk, he must keep his ears open andlisten for the big owls, who flew along with such soundless wing-strokesthat they could come right up to him before he was aware of theirpresence.
When the boy heard that there were so many who were after his life, hethought that it would be simply impossible for him to escape. He was notparticularly afraid to die, but he didn't like the idea of being eatenup, so he asked Akka what he should do to protect himself from thecarnivorous animals.
Akka answered at once that the boy should try to get on good terms withall the small animals in the woods and fields: with the squirrel-folk,and the hare-family; with bullfinches and the titmice and woodpeckersand larks. If he made friends with them, they could warn him againstdangers, find hiding places for him, and protect him.
But later in the day, when the boy tried to profit by this counsel, andturned to Sirle Squirrel to ask for his protection, it was evident thathe did not care to help him. "You surely can't expect anything from me,or the rest of the small animals!" said Sirle. "Don't you think we knowthat you are Nils the goose boy, who tore down the swallow's nest lastyear, crushed the starling's eggs, threw baby crows in the marl-ditch,caught thrushes in snares, and put squirrels in cages? You just helpyourself as well as you can; and you may be thankful that we do not forma league against you, and drive you back to your own kind!"
This was just the sort of answer the boy would not have let gounpunished, in the days when he was Nils the goose boy. But now he wasonly fearful lest the wild geese, too, had found out how wicked he couldbe. He had been so anxious for fear he
Nils Holgerssons underbara resa. English Page 11