did not hurry themselves, but flew from farm to farm, and joked with the tame
animals.
As the boy rode over the plain he happened to think of a legend which he had
heard a long time ago. He didn't remember it exactly, but it was something about
a petticoat, half of which was made of gold-woven velvet, and half of gray
homespun. But the one who owned the petticoat had decorated the homespun cloth
with such heaps of pearls and precious stones that it looked richer and more
gorgeous than the gold-cloth.
He remembered this about the homespun as he looked down on Östergötland, because
it was made up of a large plain, which lay wedged in between two mountainous
forest-tracts ­ one to the north, the other to the south. The two forest-heights
lay there, a lovely blue, and shimmered in the morning light, as if bedecked
with golden veils; and the plain, which spread out one winter-naked field after
another, was in and of itself more beautiful than the gray homespun.
But the people must have been contented on the plain, because it was generous
and kind, and they had tried to decorate it in the best possible way. High up ­
where the boy rode by ­ he thought that cities and farms, churches and
factories, castles and railway stations were scattered over it, like large and
small trinkets. The roofs and the window-panes glittered like jewels. Yellow
country roads, shining railway-tracks and blue canals ran along between the
districts, like embroidered loops. Linköping lay around its cathedral like a
pearl-setting around a precious stone; and the gardens in the country were like
little brooches and buttons. There was not much regulation in the pattern, but
it was a display of grandeur of which one might never tire.
The geese had left Öberg, and were travelling eastward along Göta Canal. This
was also making itself ready for the summer. Workmen were building canal-banks,
and tarring the huge lock-gates. They were working everywhere to receive spring
fittingly, even in the cities. There, masons and painters stood on scaffoldings
and made fine the exteriors of the houses while maids cleaned the windows. Down
at the harbour, sailboats and steamers were being washed and dressed up.
At Norrköping the wild geese left the plain, and flew up toward Kolmården. For a
time they had been following an old and hilly country road, which wound around
cliffs and ran forward under wild mountain-walls ­ when the boy suddenly let out
a shriek. He had been sitting and swinging his foot back and forth, and one of
his wooden shoes had slipped off.
"Goosey-gander, goosey-gander, I have dropped my shoe!" cried the boy. The
goosey-gander turned about and sank toward the ground; then the boy saw two
children walking along the road, one of whom had picked up his shoe.
"Goosey-gander, goosey-gander," screamed the boy excitedly, "fly upward again!
It is too late. I can't get my shoe back now."
Down on the road stood Osa, the goose-girl, and her brother, little Mats,
looking at a tiny wooden shoe that had fallen from the skies.
Osa, the goose-girl, stood silent a long while ­ puzzled over the find. At last
she said, slowly and thoughtfully: "Do you remember, little Mats, that when we
went past Övid Cloister, we heard that the folks in a farmyard had seen an elf
who was dressed in leather breeches, and had wooden shoes on his feet, like any
other workingman? And do you recollect that when we came to Vittskövle, a girl
told us that she had seen a Goa-Nisse, with wooden shoes, who flew away on the
back of a goose? And when we ourselves came home to our cabin, little Mats, we
saw a goblin who was dressed in the same way, and who also straddled the back of
a goose ­ and flew away. Maybe it was the same one who rode along on his goose
up here in the air and dropped his wooden shoe."
"Yes, it must have been," said little Mats.
They turned the wooden shoe about and examined it carefully ­ for it isn't every
day that one happens across Goa-Nisse's wooden shoe on the highway.
"Wait, wait, little Mats!" said Osa, the goose-girl. "There is something written
on one side of it."
"Why, so there is! but they are such tiny letters."
"Let me see! It says ­ it says: 'Nils Holgersson from W. Vemmenhög.' That's the
most wonderful thing I've ever heard!" said little Mats.
[Concluded in "Further Adventures of Nils."]
[Next]
Glossary.
"Glossary." by Velma Swanston Howard.
From: The Wonderful Adventures of Nils. by Selma Lagerlöf. New York: Doubleday,
Page & Company, 1922, pp. 262-263.
GLOSSARY
TABLE OF PRONUNCIATION
The final e is sounded in Skåne, Sirle, Gripe, etc.
The å in Skåne and Småland is pronounced like o in ore.
j is like the English y. Nuolja, Oviksfjållen, Sjangeli, Jarro, etc., should
sound as is they were spelled like this: Nuolya, Oviksfyellen, Shang-e-lee,
Yarro, etc.
g, when followed e, i, y, ä, ö, is also like y. Example Göta is pronounced Yöta.
When g is followed by a, o, u, or å, it is hard, as in go.
k in Norrköping, Linköping, Kivik (pronounced Cheeveek), etc. is like ch in
cheer.
k is hard when it proceeds a, o, u, or å. Example, Kaksi, Kolmi, etc.
ä is pronounced like a in fare. Example, Färs.
There is no sound in the English language which corresponds to the Swedish ö. It
is like the French eu in jeu.
Gripe is pronounced Greep-e.
In Sirle, the first syllable has the same sound as the sir in sirup.
The names which Miss Lagerlöf has given to the animals are descriptive.
Smirre Fox, is cunning fox.
Sirle Squirrel, is graceful, or nimble squirrel.
Gripe Otter, means grabbing or clutching otter.
Mårten gåskarl (Morten Goosey-gander) is a pet name for a tame gander, just as
we use Dickie-bird for a pet bird.
Fru is the Swedish for Mrs. This title is usually applied to gentlewomen only.
The author has used this meaning of "fru."
A Goa-Nisse is an elf-king, and corresponds to the English Puck or Robin
Goodfellow.
TRANSLATOR.
This chapter has been put on-line as part of the BUILD-A-BOOK Initiative at the
Celebration of Women Writers.
Initial text entry and proof-reading of this chapter were the work of volunteer
Mary Mark Ockerbloom.
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