Selma Lagerlöf Nils's wonderful journey with wild geese. Review of the fairy tale by S. Lagerlöf “The Wonderful Journey of Nils with the Wild Geese” Who wrote the fairy tale about Nils and the geese
Story
Initially, the book was a fascinating guide to the geography of Sweden in literary form for first-grade students, nine-year-olds. In Sweden, a “State Reading Book” already existed since 1868, but, innovative for its time, by the end of the 19th century it had lost relevance. One of the leaders of the General Union of Public School Teachers, Alfred Dahlin, proposed creating a new book on which teachers and writers would work together. His choice fell on Selma Lagerlöf, who had already become famous for her novel “The Saga of Yeste Berling”, and she was also a former teacher. She agreed to Dahlin's proposal, but refused co-authors. Lagerlöf began work on the book in the summer of 1904. The writer believed that it was necessary to create several textbooks for schoolchildren of different ages: the first grade should have received a book on the geography of Sweden, the second - on native history, the third and fourth - descriptions of other countries of the world, discoveries and inventions, the social structure of the country. Lagerlöf’s project was eventually implemented, and the first in a series of textbooks was “The Amazing Journey of Nils...”. Reading books soon appeared: “The Swedes and Their Leaders” by Werner von Heydenstam and “From Pole to Pole” by Sven Hedin.
At Lagerlöf’s suggestion, Alfred Dahlin, wanting to obtain as complete information as possible on the lifestyle and occupations of the population in different parts of the country, as well as ethnographic and folklore materials, compiled and sent out questionnaires to public school teachers in the summer of 1902.
Lagerlöf was working on the novel “Jerusalem” at the time and was preparing to travel to Italy:
...I will think about the form of the book that would most effectively help to put wisdom about our country into these small heads. Perhaps old legends will help us... And that’s why I would like to start by looking at the materials that you managed to obtain. (From a letter from Lagerlöf to Dahlin)
Studying the collected material, the writer, by her own admission, realized how little she knew about the country: “All sciences have stepped forward so unimaginably since I graduated from school!” To increase her knowledge, she made a trip to Blekinge, Småland, Norrland, to the Falun mine. Returning to work on the book, Lagerlöf was looking for a plot that would help her create a coherent work of art from a huge amount of information. The solution was suggested to her by Kipling's books, where talking animals were the main characters, as well as August Strindberg's story “The Journey of the Lucky Feather” and Richard Gustafson's fairy tale “The Unknown Paradise” about a boy from Skåne who flew around the country with birds.
The first volume was published in Stockholm on November 24, 1906, the second in December 1907. The work became the most read in Scandinavia.
By showing the country in the perception of a child, by originally combining geography and fairy tales in one work, Lagerlöf, as the poet Karl Snoilsky said, infused “life and color into the dry desert sand of a school lesson.”
Plot
The gnome turns the main character Nils Holgersson into a dwarf, and the boy makes a fascinating journey on a goose from Sweden to Lapland and back. On his way to Lapland, he encounters a flock of wild geese flying along the Gulf of Bothnia, and with them he glimpses the remote regions of Scandinavia. As a result, Nils visits all the provinces of Sweden, gets into various adventures and learns a lot about the geography, history and culture of each province of his homeland.
Selma Lagerlöf
Nils' Wonderful Journey with the Wild Geese
Chapter I. FOREST GNOME
In the small Swedish village of Vestmenheg, there once lived a boy named Nils. In appearance - a boy like a boy.
And there was no trouble with him.
During lessons, he counted crows and caught twos, destroyed birds' nests in the forest, teased geese in the yard, chased chickens, threw stones at cows, and pulled the cat by the tail, as if the tail was a rope from a doorbell.
He lived like this until he was twelve years old. And then an extraordinary incident happened to him.
That's how it was.
One Sunday, father and mother gathered for a fair in a neighboring village. Nils couldn't wait for them to leave.
“Let’s go quickly! - Nils thought, looking at his father’s gun, which was hanging on the wall. “The boys will burst with envy when they see me with a gun.”
But his father seemed to guess his thoughts.
Look, not a step out of the house! - he said. - Open your textbook and come to your senses. Do you hear?
“I hear,” Nils answered, and thought to himself: “So I’ll start spending Sunday on lessons!”
Study, son, study,” said the mother.
She even took out a textbook from the shelf herself, put it on the table and pulled up a chair.
And the father counted out ten pages and strictly ordered:
So that by the time we return he knows everything by heart. I'll check it myself.
Finally, father and mother left.
“It’s good for them, they walk so merrily! - Nils sighed heavily. “I definitely fell into a mousetrap with these lessons!”
Well, what can you do! Nils knew that his father was not to be trifled with. He sighed again and sat down at the table. True, he was looking not so much at the book as at the window. After all, it was much more interesting!
According to the calendar, it was still March, but here in the south of Sweden, spring had already managed to outdo winter. Water ran merrily in the ditches. The buds on the trees have swelled. The beech forest straightened its branches, numb in the winter cold, and now stretched upward, as if it wanted to reach the blue spring sky.
And right under the window, chickens walked with an important air, sparrows jumped and fought, geese splashed in muddy puddles. Even the cows locked in the barn sensed spring and mooed loudly, as if asking: “You-let us out, you-let us out!”
Nils also wanted to sing, and scream, and splash in puddles, and fight with the neighboring boys. He turned away from the window in frustration and stared at the book. But he didn't read much. For some reason, the letters began to jump before his eyes, the lines either merged or scattered... Nils himself did not notice how he fell asleep.
Who knows, maybe Nils would have slept all day if some rustling had not woken him up.
Nils raised his head and became wary.
The mirror that hung above the table reflected the entire room. There is no one in the room except Nils... Everything seems to be in its place, everything is in order...
And suddenly Nils almost screamed. Someone opened the lid of the chest!
The mother kept all her jewelry in the chest. There lay the outfits that she wore in her youth - wide skirts made of homespun peasant cloth, bodices embroidered with colored beads; starched caps as white as snow, silver buckles and chains.
Mother did not allow anyone to open the chest without her, and she did not let Nils come close to it. And there’s nothing to even say about the fact that she could leave the house without locking the chest! There has never been such a case. And even today - Nils remembered this very well - his mother returned from the threshold twice to tug on the lock - did it latch well?
Who opened the chest?
Maybe while Nils was sleeping, a thief got into the house and is now hiding somewhere here, behind the door or behind the closet?
Nils held his breath and peered into the mirror without blinking.
What is that shadow there in the corner of the chest? Here it moved... Now it crawled along the edge... A mouse? No, it doesn't look like a mouse...
Nils couldn't believe his eyes. There was a little man sitting on the edge of the chest. He seemed to have stepped out of a Sunday calendar picture. On his head is a wide-brimmed hat, a black caftan is decorated with a lace collar and cuffs, stockings at the knees are tied with lush bows, and silver buckles glitter on red morocco shoes.
“But it’s a gnome! - Nils guessed. “A real gnome!”
Mother often told Nils about gnomes. They live in the forest. They can speak human, bird, and animal. They know about all the treasures that were buried in the ground at least a hundred or a thousand years ago. If the gnomes want it, the flowers will bloom in the snow in winter; if they want it, the rivers will freeze in the summer.
Well, there’s nothing to be afraid of the gnome. What harm could such a tiny creature do?
Moreover, the dwarf did not pay any attention to Nils. He seemed to see nothing except a velvet sleeveless vest, embroidered with small freshwater pearls, that lay in the chest at the very top.
While the gnome was admiring the intricate ancient pattern, Nils was already wondering what kind of trick he could play with his amazing guest.
It would be nice to push it into the chest and then slam the lid. And here's what else you can do...
Without turning his head, Nils looked around the room. In the mirror she was all there in front of him in full view. A coffee pot, a teapot, bowls, pots were lined up in strict order on the shelves... By the window there was a chest of drawers filled with all sorts of things... But on the wall - next to my father's gun - was a fly net. Just what you need!
Nils carefully slid to the floor and pulled the net off the nail.
One swing - and the gnome hid in the net like a caught dragonfly.
His wide-brimmed hat was knocked to one side and his feet were entangled in the skirts of his caftan. He floundered at the bottom of the net and waved his arms helplessly. But as soon as he managed to rise a little, Nils shook the net, and the gnome fell down again.
Listen, Nils,” the dwarf finally begged, “let me go free!” I'll give you a gold coin for this, as big as the button on your shirt.
Nils thought for a moment.
Well, that’s probably not bad,” he said and stopped swinging the net.
Clinging to the sparse fabric, the gnome deftly climbed up. He had already grabbed the iron hoop, and his head appeared above the edge of the net...
Then it occurred to Nils that he had sold himself short. In addition to the gold coin, he could demand that the dwarf teach his lessons for him. You never know what else you can think of! The gnome will now agree to everything! When you're sitting in a net, you can't argue.
And Nils shook the net again.
But then suddenly someone gave him such a slap in the face that the net fell out of his hands, and he rolled head over heels into a corner.
For a minute Nils lay motionless, then, groaning and groaning, he stood up.
The gnome is already gone. The chest was closed, and the net hung in its place - next to his father's gun.
“I dreamed all this, or what? - thought Nils. - No, my right cheek is burning, as if an iron was passed over it. This gnome hit me so hard! Of course, father and mother will not believe that the gnome visited us. They will say - all your inventions, so as not to learn your lessons. No, no matter how you look at it, we must sit down to read the book again!”
Nils took two steps and stopped. Something happened to the room. The walls of their small house moved apart, the ceiling went high, and the chair on which Nils always sat rose above him like an impregnable mountain. To climb it, Nils had to climb the twisted leg, like a gnarled oak trunk. The book was still on the table, but it was so huge that Nils could not see a single letter at the top of the page. He lay down on his stomach on the book and crawled from line to line, from word to word. He was literally exhausted while reading one phrase.
In the small Swedish village of Vestmenheg, there once lived a boy named Nils. In appearance - a boy like a boy.
And there was no trouble with him.
During lessons, he counted crows and caught twos, destroyed birds' nests in the forest, teased geese in the yard, chased chickens, threw stones at cows, and pulled the cat by the tail, as if the tail was a rope from a doorbell.
He lived like this until he was twelve years old. And then an extraordinary incident happened to him.
That's how it was.
One Sunday, father and mother gathered for a fair in a neighboring village. Nils couldn't wait for them to leave.
“Let’s go quickly! – Nils thought, looking at his father’s gun, which was hanging on the wall. “The boys will burst with envy when they see me with a gun.”
But his father seemed to guess his thoughts.
- Look, not a single step from the house! - he said. - Open your textbook and come to your senses. Do you hear?
“I hear you,” Nils answered, and thought to himself: “So I’ll spend Sunday studying!”
“Study, son, study,” said the mother.
She even took out a textbook from the shelf herself, put it on the table and pulled up a chair.
And the father counted out ten pages and strictly ordered:
“So that he knows everything by heart by the time we return.” I'll check it myself.
Finally, father and mother left.
“It’s good for them, they walk so merrily! – Nils sighed heavily. “I definitely fell into a mousetrap with these lessons!”
Well, what can you do! Nils knew that his father was not to be trifled with. He sighed again and sat down at the table. True, he was looking not so much at the book as at the window. After all, it was much more interesting!
According to the calendar, it was still March, but here in the south of Sweden, spring had already managed to outdo winter. Water ran merrily in the ditches. The buds on the trees have swelled. The beech forest straightened its branches, numb in the winter cold, and now stretched upward, as if it wanted to reach the blue spring sky.
And right under the window, chickens walked with an important air, sparrows jumped and fought, geese splashed in muddy puddles. Even the cows locked in the barn sensed spring and mooed loudly, as if asking: “You-let us out, you-let us out!”
Nils also wanted to sing, and scream, and splash in puddles, and fight with the neighboring boys. He turned away from the window in frustration and stared at the book. But he didn't read much. For some reason, the letters began to jump before his eyes, the lines either merged or scattered... Nils himself did not notice how he fell asleep.
Who knows, maybe Nils would have slept all day if some rustling had not woken him up.
Nils raised his head and became wary.
The mirror that hung above the table reflected the entire room. There is no one in the room except Nils... Everything seems to be in its place, everything is in order...
And suddenly Nils almost screamed. Someone opened the lid of the chest!
The mother kept all her jewelry in the chest. There lay the outfits that she wore in her youth - wide skirts made of homespun peasant cloth, bodices embroidered with colored beads; starched caps as white as snow, silver buckles and chains.
Mother did not allow anyone to open the chest without her, and she did not let Nils come close to it. And there’s nothing to even say about the fact that she could leave the house without locking the chest! There has never been such a case. And even today - Nils remembered this very well - his mother returned from the threshold twice to pull the lock - did it click well?
Who opened the chest?
Maybe while Nils was sleeping, a thief got into the house and is now hiding somewhere here, behind the door or behind the closet?
Nils held his breath and peered into the mirror without blinking.
What is that shadow there in the corner of the chest? Here it moved... Now it crawled along the edge... A mouse? No, it doesn't look like a mouse...
Nils couldn't believe his eyes. There was a little man sitting on the edge of the chest. He seemed to have stepped out of a Sunday calendar picture. On her head is a wide-brimmed hat, a black caftan is decorated with a lace collar and cuffs, stockings at the knees are tied with lush bows, and silver buckles glitter on red morocco shoes.
“But it’s a gnome! – Nils guessed. “A real gnome!”
Mother often told Nils about gnomes. They live in the forest. They can speak human, bird, and animal. They know about all the treasures that were buried in the ground at least a hundred or a thousand years ago. If the gnomes want it, flowers will bloom in the snow in winter; if they want it, the rivers will freeze in the summer.
Well, there’s nothing to be afraid of the gnome. What harm could such a tiny creature do?
Moreover, the dwarf did not pay any attention to Nils. He seemed to see nothing except a velvet sleeveless vest, embroidered with small freshwater pearls, that lay in the chest at the very top.
While the gnome was admiring the intricate ancient pattern, Nils was already wondering what kind of trick he could play with his amazing guest.
It would be nice to push it into the chest and then slam the lid. And here's what else you can do...
Without turning his head, Nils looked around the room. In the mirror she was all there in front of him in full view. A coffee pot, a teapot, bowls, pots were lined up in strict order on the shelves... By the window there was a chest of drawers filled with all sorts of things... But on the wall - next to my father's gun - was a fly net. Just what you need!
Nils carefully slid to the floor and pulled the net off the nail.
One swing - and the gnome hid in the net like a caught dragonfly.
His wide-brimmed hat was knocked to one side and his feet were entangled in the skirts of his caftan. He floundered at the bottom of the net and waved his arms helplessly. But as soon as he managed to rise a little, Nils shook the net, and the gnome fell down again.
“Listen, Nils,” the dwarf finally begged, “let me go free!” I'll give you a gold coin for this, as big as the button on your shirt.
Nils thought for a moment.
“Well, that’s probably not bad,” he said and stopped swinging the net.
Clinging to the sparse fabric, the gnome deftly climbed up. He had already grabbed the iron hoop, and his head appeared above the edge of the net...
Then it occurred to Nils that he had sold himself short. In addition to the gold coin, he could demand that the dwarf teach his lessons for him. You never know what else you can think of! The gnome will now agree to everything! When you're sitting in a net, you can't argue.
And Nils shook the net again.
But then suddenly someone gave him such a slap in the face that the net fell out of his hands, and he rolled head over heels into a corner.
For a minute Nils lay motionless, then, groaning and groaning, he stood up.
The gnome is already gone. The chest was closed, and the net hung in its place - next to his father's gun.
“I dreamed all this, or what? – thought Nils. - No, my right cheek is burning, as if an iron was passed over it. This gnome hit me so hard! Of course, father and mother will not believe that the gnome visited us. They will say - all your inventions, so as not to learn your lessons. No, no matter how you look at it, we must sit down to read the book again!”
Nils took two steps and stopped. Something happened to the room. The walls of their small house moved apart, the ceiling went high, and the chair on which Nils always sat rose above him like an impregnable mountain. To climb it, Nils had to climb the twisted leg, like a gnarled oak trunk. The book was still on the table, but it was so huge that Nils could not see a single letter at the top of the page. He lay down on his stomach on the book and crawled from line to line, from word to word. He was literally exhausted while reading one phrase.
- What is this? So you won’t even get to the end of the page by tomorrow! – Nils exclaimed and wiped the sweat from his forehead with his sleeve.
And suddenly he saw that a tiny man was looking at him from the mirror - exactly the same as the gnome who was caught in his net. Only dressed differently: in leather pants, a vest and a plaid shirt with large buttons.
"Nils's Wonderful Journey with the Wild Geese"(“The Wonderful Journey of Nils Holgersson in Sweden”, Swedish. Nils Holgerssons underbara resa genom Sverige) is a fairy tale story written by Selma Lagerlöf.
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Initially, the book was conceived as a fascinating guide to the geography of Sweden in literary form for first grade students, 9-year-old children. In Sweden, a “State Reading Book” already existed since 1868, but, innovative for its time, it lost relevance by the end of the 19th century.
One of the leaders of the General Union of Public School Teachers, Alfred Dahlin, proposed creating a new book on which teachers and writers would work together. His choice fell on Selma Lagerlöf, already famous for her novel "The Saga of Jöst Berling", and besides, she was a former teacher. Lagerlöf agreed to Dahlin's proposal, but refused to collaborate. She began work on the book in the summer of 1904.
The writer believed that it was necessary to create several textbooks for schoolchildren of different ages: the first grade should have received a book on the geography of Sweden, the second - on native history, the third and fourth - descriptions of other countries of the world, discoveries and inventions, the social structure of the country. Lagerlöf’s project was eventually implemented, and the first in a series of textbook books was "The Amazing Journey of Nils...". Then they went out "The Swedes and their leaders" Werner von Heidenstam and "From Pole to Pole" Sven Hedin.
At Lagerlöf’s suggestion, Alfred Dahlin, wanting to obtain as complete information as possible on the lifestyle and occupations of the population in different parts of the country, as well as ethnographic and folklore materials, compiled and sent out questionnaires to public school teachers in the summer of 1902.
Lagerlöf was working on a novel at the time "Jerusalem" and was getting ready to travel around Italy:
...I will think about the form of the book that would most effectively help to put wisdom about our country into these small heads. Perhaps old legends will help us... And that’s why I would like to start by looking at the materials that you managed to obtain. (From a letter from Lagerlöf to Dahlin)
Studying the collected material, the writer, by her own admission, realized how little she knew about the country:
All sciences have stepped forward so incredibly since I graduated from school!
To increase her knowledge, she traveled to Blekinge, Småland, Norrland and the Falun mine. Returning to work on the book, Lagerlöf was looking for a plot that would help her create a coherent work of art from a huge amount of information. The solution was suggested to her:
- books by Rudyard Kipling, where talking animals were the main characters;
- story by August Strindberg "The Journey of Lucky Feather";
- fairy tale by Richard Gustafson "Unknown Paradise" about a boy from Scone who flew around the country with birds.
The first volume was published in Stockholm on November 24, 1906, the second in December 1907. The work became the most read in Scandinavia. By showing the country in the perception of a child and originally combining geography and fairy tales in one work, Lagerlöf, as the poet Karl Snoilsky said, infused “life and color into the dry desert sand of a school lesson.”
Nils, out of habit, grabs Morten's neck and ends up flying away with him. After some time, he decides that traveling to Lapland is much more interesting than his old life, and so refuses when the brownie informs him that he will make him human again if Nils decides to return home at this point. Later, he accidentally learns that the brownie will return him to his previous appearance if Nils makes every effort to ensure that Morten returns home alive in the fall.
Story
Initially, the book was a fascinating guide to the geography of Sweden in literary form for first-grade students, nine-year-olds. In Sweden, a “State Reading Book” already existed since 1868, but, innovative for its time, by the end of the 19th century it had lost relevance. One of the leaders of the General Union of Public School Teachers, Alfred Dahlin, proposed creating a new book on which teachers and writers would work together. His choice fell on Selma Lagerlöf, who had already become famous for her novel “The Saga of Yeste Berling”, and she was also a former teacher. She agreed to Dahlin's proposal, but refused co-authors. Lagerlöf began work on the book in the summer of 1904. The writer believed that it was necessary to create several textbooks for schoolchildren of different ages: the first grade should have received a book on the geography of Sweden, the second - on native history, the third and fourth - descriptions of other countries of the world, discoveries and inventions, the social structure of the country. Lagerlöf’s project was eventually implemented, and the first in a series of textbooks was “The Amazing Journey of Nils...”. Reading books soon appeared: “The Swedes and Their Leaders” by Werner von Heydenstam and “From Pole to Pole” by Sven Hedin.
At Lagerlöf’s suggestion, Alfred Dahlin, wanting to obtain as complete information as possible on the lifestyle and occupations of the population in different parts of the country, as well as ethnographic and folklore materials, compiled and sent out questionnaires to public school teachers in the summer of 1902.
Lagerlöf was working on the novel “Jerusalem” at the time and was preparing to travel to Italy:
...I will think about the form of the book that would most effectively help to put wisdom about our country into these small heads. Perhaps old legends will help us... And that’s why I would like to start by looking at the materials that you managed to obtain. (From a letter from Lagerlöf to Dahlin)
Studying the collected material, the writer, by her own admission, realized how little she knew about the country: “All sciences have stepped forward so unimaginably since I graduated from school!” To increase her knowledge, she made a trip to Blekinge, Småland, Norrland, to the Falun mine. Returning to work on the book, Lagerlöf was looking for a plot that would help her create a coherent work of art from a huge amount of information. The solution was suggested to her by Kipling's books, where talking animals were the main characters, as well as August Strindberg's story “The Journey of the Lucky Feather” and Richard Gustafson's fairy tale “The Unknown Paradise” about a boy from Skåne who flew around the country with birds.
The first volume was published in Stockholm on November 24, 1906, the second in December 1907. The work became the most read in Scandinavia.
By showing the country in the perception of a child, by originally combining geography and fairy tales in one work, Lagerlöf, as the poet Karl Snoilsky said, infused “life and color into the dry desert sand of a school lesson.”
Plot
The gnome turns the main character Nils Holgersson into a dwarf, and the boy makes a fascinating journey on a goose from Sweden to Lapland and back. On his way to Lapland, he encounters a flock of wild geese flying along the Gulf of Bothnia, and with them he glimpses the remote regions of Scandinavia. As a result, Nils visits all the provinces of Sweden, gets into various adventures and learns a lot about the geography, history and culture of each province of his homeland.
