A fabulous guide to Sweden (“The Wonderful Journey of Nils with the Geese” by S. Lagerlöf)
Selma Lagerlöf fairy tale "Nils's Wonderful Journey with the Wild Geese"
The main characters of the fairy tale "Nils's Wonderful Journey with the Wild Geese"
- Nils, a 12-year-old boy, at the beginning of the story is a mischievous bully who no one liked. In the end he becomes sympathetic and kind. During his travels he helps birds and animals and everyone loves and praises him.
- Goose Martin was a pet, but he flew to Lapland, found a bride, returned home and had goslings
- Akka, the leader of the flock of geese. Fair and strict, but kind and sympathetic. When he gets to know Nils better, he tries to help him in everything
- Fox Smirre, cunning and cruel, envious, treacherous, vindictive, chained
- Caught gnome
- Nils is getting small
- Flying with Martin
- Fox Smirre
- Nils and the little squirrel
- Nils and the rats
- Holiday
- Banishing the Fox
- Smirre is chasing geese
- Crows and jug
- Smirra on a chain
- Bronze king and wooden boatswain
- Strange city underwater
- Nils in the den
- Nils saves the bears
- shoe
- Martin in captivity
- Martin met Marta
- In Lapland
- Gorgo and the Secret of the Owls
- The way back
- Lucky Man and the Manuscript
- Home Sweet Home
- Gosling Yuxie
- Farewell to Akka
The shortest summary of the fairy tale “Nils’s Wonderful Journey with the Wild Geese” for a reader’s diary in 6 sentences
- Nils catches the gnome and becomes small, he flies away with Martin, the white goose
- Nils saves a goose from a fox and is accepted into the flock
- Nils helps the squirrel find the baby squirrel. chases away rats, chains a fox and saves bears.
- Nils ends up in Lapland, and Martin the goose finds a bride and has goslings.
- Nils learns how to become human, but helps Lucky to return the manuscript.
- Nils returns home and casts a spell over the capricious gosling Uxie, he becomes a boy and his parents are happy.
The main idea of the fairy tale "Nils's Wonderful Journey with the Wild Geese"
Life is beautiful and amazing, like the world around us, but it is given for good deeds.
What does the fairy tale "Nils's Wonderful Journey with the Wild Geese" teach us?
This fairy tale teaches you to be kind and honest. Teaches you to sacrifice your interests for the sake of your friends, teaches you not to be afraid of enemies and to find a way out in difficult situations. This fairy tale teaches us responsiveness, courage, and selflessness. Teaches to love nature, teaches that every living creature in the world has the right to happiness.
Review of the fairy tale "Nils's Wonderful Journey with the Wild Geese"
This is a very beautiful and interesting fairy tale, in which the boy Nils has many dangerous and exciting adventures. From a mischievous and hooligan, Nils becomes a kind and honest boy, always ready to help a friend. He grows up and understands that the world is beautiful, and a person must take care of and protect it. I really liked this fairy tale and I didn’t regret reading it at all.
Proverbs for the fairy tale "Nils's Wonderful Journey with the Wild Geese"
Life is given for good deeds.
Live for people, people will live for you.
Anyone who has not encountered difficulties in life will not become a real person.
Summary, brief retelling of the fairy tale "Nils's Wonderful Journey with the Wild Geese" chapter by chapter
1. Forest gnome.
In a Swedish village there lived a boy, Nils, a great prankster and mischief-maker. When he was 12 years old, his father and mother went to the fair, and Nils was ordered to study his homework.
Nils read a book for a while and fell asleep. And when I woke up I saw an open chest lid and a small gnome. Nils caught the gnome in a net and he began to ask to let him go, promising a gold coin. Nils decided that this was not enough, but suddenly he received a slap on the wrist and dropped the net.
The room suddenly became very large, and he, Nils, became the size of a sparrow.
Nils goes out into the yard and the chickens start nibbling on him. The cat also refused to help him and almost ate him.
At this time, wild geese flew past and invited the domestic geese to take them to Lapland. Goose Martin was about to fly, Nils clung to him and ended up in the air.
2. Riding a goose.
Nils was afraid of falling, but soon got used to flying on a goose. He began to ask Martin to turn home, but he threatened to throw Nils off.
Soon Martin began to get tired, but Akka, the leader of the swans, did not stop. Martin began to fall and got caught in a willow. On it he rested and with new strength flew after the wild geese. Martin caught up with the pack.
The geese landed by the lake, but Martin was too tired to walk to the water. Nils reached him and Martin, drunk, came to his senses. He brought Nils a crucian carp and thanked him for his help.
Akka questioned Martin and allowed him to fly with the wild geese, she liked the goose’s courage. But she demanded that Nils not be there.
Martin decided to carry Nils secretly.
3. Night thief.
At night, the fox Smirre crept up to the geese and dragged away one goose. Nils rushed after him and grabbed the fox by the tail. Smirre released the goose and wanted to take it out on Nils. Nils climbed a tree and laughed at the fox from there. The geese began to tease the fox, and he, trying to catch them, became completely exhausted. Martin took Nils out of the tree and the geese flew on.
4. New friends and new enemies
Nils flew with the geese. He had to eat nuts, and once he was attacked by ants. The ants bit Nils badly and he fell ill. Martin and Akka looked after him.
One day Martin brought Nils some nuts from the squirrel Sirle, Nils decided to go to the squirrel and thank her. The magpie wanted to show Nils the way, but it led him into a thicket and flew away.
Nils finds a squirrel's nest and learns that one baby squirrel is missing. Nils finds the baby squirrel and returns it to Sirla. Forest birds praise him.
5. Magic pipe
A flock of geese lands near a stream near Glimmengen Castle. The stork Ermenrich comes to visit the geese. The stork talks about the rats that are attacking the castle. Nils agrees to help and flies with the stork and Akka.
The rats surrounded the castle, but Nils played the pipe and led the rats into the water. The magic pipe, which all animals obey, was brought by an owl, to whom a forest gnome gave it.
Nils was known as a fearless rat conqueror.
6. Holiday on Mount Kulaberg
Nils is taken to a festival of birds and animals, which not a single person has attended. Birds flew in whole clouds. Among the animals was the fox Smirre, who wanted to catch the wild goose of their flock, but the sparrow warned the geese. Smirre killed a sparrow and was judged by all the animals and birds. Smirre was expelled from the pack and the tip of his ear was bitten off.
Nils hears the owls talking and learns that there is a way to become human
7. Chase.
Geese fly north in the rain. The fox Smirre follows the geese. One day he persuades the marten to attack the geese, but the geese fly away, and the marten says that a white goose threw a stone at her. Again Smirre catches up with the geese and persuades the otter, but the otter returns with a thorn in its paw.
Smirre demands that Nils be given to him, but Akka refuses, and the fox promises to pursue the pack to the end.
8. Crows from Robber Mountain
Smirre meets old friends - crows who cannot open the jug. Smirre says that there is silver in the jug and invites the crows to kidnap Nils.
The crows kidnap Nils, but Nils manages to shout to the starlings that he was dragged away by the crows.
Nils opens a jug of coins to the crows and the chieftain of the crows, Fumle-Drumle, takes it to the village so that it does not end up with Smirra.
Nils hides from the fox under the feet of the peasants, who kick the fox, mistaking him for a dog. then Nils hides in the doghouse. The dog knocks Smirre down and Nils puts a collar on the fox.
The geese fly in and laugh when they learn that Nils has put the fox on a chain.
9. Bronze and wood.
The geese stopped for the night in the city. Nils wants to look at people. Nils teases the bronze statue and it follows him. Nils runs away from the bronze man and sees a wooden man. Nils gives the wooden man a coin and he hides Nils in his hat.
The bronze one turns out to be the king and tells the wooden boatswain to follow him. They go to the shipyard and salute the old ship by removing their hats. The bronze one sees Nils and breaks the wooden one in rage.
Nils makes a wooden monument and returns to the geese.
10. Underwater city
Geese were flying over the sea. The geese wait out the storm on the waves and almost get caught by the seals.
Nils throws a coin into the sea, but it falls on the sand. Nils runs for the coin and ends up in the city. All residents of the city looked at the tower clock. The merchants bring Nils a variety of goods and ask only for one coin. Nils remembers that the coin was left on the shore, runs to it and the city disappears.
Nils is found by geese. Akka tells the story of a city whose inhabitants were very greedy and sank all the ships so as not to show the way to their city. For this, the sea king was angry with them and flooded the city. Once a century the city floats up for an hour, and if some stranger enters the city and buys something, the curse will subside.
11. In the bear's den
Nils fell from Martin and fell into the bear's den. The cubs play with Nils and completely torture him. Then they go to bed and Nils also falls asleep. At night a bear comes and wants to eat a man, but the she-bear stands up for Nils.
When the bears fall asleep, Nils runs away. He meets the hunters and finds out that they are going to the den. Nils returns and warns the bears. The bear takes his family away and, having learned that Nils is the one traveling with the geese, decides to help him. He calls the raven Fumle-Drumle, and he takes Nils to the wild geese.
12. Captivity
Nils's shoe falls and he and Martin go down to get it. But the shoe is found by Oosa and Mats, a boy and a girl. They decide to try the shoe on their cat. Martin snatches the shoe, but Mats catches Martin and calls him Marty.
The hostess sees that it is someone else's goose and carries it into the house. Nils enters the house and cuts the ropes. Martin runs away, but the owner grabs him. Nils stabbed the hostess with a knife and she let Martin go in amazement.
13. Goose Country
Martin and Nils stop to rest and Nils meets the goose Martha. Martin and Nils invite Martha to fly with them. They catch up with the flock and find themselves in Lapland. Akka greets Nils, who tells him about the bride for Martin.
More and more geese are flying around, and Nils is building himself a house with the help of swallows.
Martin and Martha give birth to goslings
14. Adopted.
Gorgo the eagle flies to the geese. He says Akki’s friends are his friends. When the eagle flies away Akka tells his story.
When Gorgo was a chick, he lost his parents and Akka fed him. Gorgo grew up with geese and considered himself a goose. But everyone around him was afraid and Akka told Gorgo the truth about his birth. Gorgo remained in Lapland.
15. The secret of owls.
Akka shows Nils Lapland, and he, seeing snow on the mountains, remembers the troll who wanted to build a house on the top of the mountain and froze.
Nils sees the plague and the locals.
Nils tells Akka about the conversation of the owls and she promises to find out the secret of how Nils can become human again.
After three, Akka calls Nils and he sees an eagle next to the goose. It turns out that the eagle flew into the castle and became friends with the owls. The eagle tells Nils how to become human and forces him to learn a spell.
16. Lucky and Loser
Geese say goodbye to Lapland and head south. Raven Fumle-Drumle tells Nils that he has found someone who wants to change places with him. He brings Nils to the young man's house.
Two students lived in Uppsala - Lucky and Loser.
The Loser brought his manuscript to the Lucky Man. the manuscript was so interesting that Lucky forgot about the exam, and when he jumped up, the wind carried away all the sheets. At the exam, Lucky received a bad mark and did not know how to tell Loser about the lost manuscript. Lucky agrees to switch places with Nils so that the birds will carry him.
Nils reads the spell but stops. He and the raven collect the manuscript and return it to Lucky.
17. At home.
Nils returns home and sees his parents sadly wondering where their son is.
Nils says goodbye to Martin. But the little gosling Yuxie does not want to fly and says that he dreams of being like Nils. Then Nils casts a spell and Uxie becomes the size of a sparrow. And Nils becomes a boy again. The parents are happy.
Nils no longer understands the geese, he goes to say goodbye to Akka. Akka hugs the boy and the geese fly away.
Nils started going to school again and now gets straight A's.
Signs of a fairy tale in the fairy tale "Nils's Wonderful Journey with the Wild Geese"
- Magical creature - gnome
- Fairytale transformations - Nils becomes small, and then big again.
I had to meet short little Nils Holgersson and his goose squadron three times. In the sense of getting to know each other again. The first acquaintance, of course, was the wonderful 1955 Soviet cartoon “The Enchanted Boy.”
Next in line was a translation of the fairy tale, or rather, not a translation, but a free retelling made by Z. Zadunaiskaya and A. Lyubarskaya. I learned about how free he was when I was already an adult, when I finally got my hands on the full version of the book translated by L. Braude. The question immediately arose: how many children do we have who can master this version, where at every step we have to wade through detailed descriptions of Swedish provinces, local realities and natural sketches? Why does the favorite fairy tale of Swedish children turn out to be so heavy for our children? The reasons for this are directly related to the history of the book’s creation...
A teacher becomes a writer
The dream of becoming a writer haunted the Swedish girl Selma Ottilia Luvisa Lagerlöf (b. 11/20/1858) from the age of seven. The development of her wild imagination was facilitated by circumstances that were not of the most pleasant nature. From the age of 3, Selma was paralyzed, and, bedridden, the girl could spend hours listening to fairy tales told by her beloved grandmother.
And then an event occurred in Selma’s life that was quite comparable to a fairy tale. At the age of nine she was sent to Stockholm for treatment. And the capital’s doctors manage to do the impossible - the girl began to walk again, although she had been limping for the rest of her life.
Writing, as we know, is an unreliable business, so Selma graduated from a pedagogical school and began working at a girls’ school in Landskrona. In 1885, grief overtook her again - not just one, but two. The beloved father died, and the family estate of the Lagerlöf family - Morbakka - was immediately sold for debts.
Oddly enough, it was a childhood dream that helped improve the teacher’s financial well-being. In 1891, she took part in a literary competition and wrote the novel “The Saga of Göst Berlige.” The romantic work sounded so fresh against the backdrop of the dominance of the realistic style that “Saga” quickly won the love of readers and enthusiastic praise from critics. Just five years later, Selma felt wealthy enough to quit teaching and devote herself entirely to creativity. However, she was also tormented by doubts.
Selma Lagerlof:
“I moved forward too quickly. I don’t know if I can maintain my place in literature, let alone go further.”
However, the real triumph of the writer was yet to come...
The textbook becomes a fairy tale
“...suddenly the boy clearly imagined his school. …He,
Nils, standing at the geographical map and must answer
to some questions about Blekinge. Time passes, but he is silent.
The teacher's face darkens. For some reason he would like
the students knew geography better than all other subjects.”
(S. Lagerlöf “The Amazing Journey of Nils...”)
At the beginning of the twentieth century, the head of the General Union of Public School Teachers, Alfred Dalin, initiated a bold pedagogical experiment. He thought: what if we created school textbooks not in the usual dry style, but similar to fascinating literary works?
According to the plan, each textbook was to be written by two people: the writer himself and a specialist in the subject. It is not surprising that among the first applicants capable of realizing this difficult idea was Selma Lagerlöf. She was both a teacher and a writer in one, so she immediately refused to collaborate.
Selma Lagerlöf:
“If I take on some work, then I should feel the full extent of responsibility for it.
...Mentally I asked myself a question: what should a child know first of all, what should he have a fresh, vivid idea about? And the answer, of course, suggested itself: the first thing the kids should learn is their own country.”
In a word, the writer took up a textbook on Swedish geography. However, she did not refuse outside help. The same Alfred Dahlin sent out questionnaires to different parts of Sweden in order to obtain interesting local material on ethnography and folklore. Work on the book began in 1904, and at first progress was difficult.
From letters from Lagerlöf to Dahlin:
“Until now, working on the textbook has perhaps only convinced me of how little we know about our country; True, perhaps I should say: how little I know about her. I read whatever I have to in geology, zoology, botany, history! All sciences have stepped forward so incredibly since I graduated from school!
...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...”
The material was accumulating, but Selma did not want the book to appear in the form of disparate fragments. She needed a connecting storyline on which, like a thread, geographical information and local legends could be strung. In search of inspiration, the writer personally travels around Sweden - visiting the provinces of Småland, Blöking, Norrland and even going down into the Falun mine.
On her tour, she could not pass by the beautiful province of Vörmland, where her native and lost Morbakka was located.
Selma Lagerlof:
“There is something extraordinary in the air of Morbakka. Energy is born here, but it disappears as soon as you go out into the big world. And in Morbakka it lies like a fallow field.”
According to the writer herself, it was during a visit to Morbakka that she had an epiphany. Suddenly, she thought she saw a tiny boy who was trying to be grabbed by an owl. Later, this “story” will go straight into a fairy tale along with Lagerlöf herself.
Rice. — V. Kupriyanov.
“At first, the woman could not move from her place in amazement. But the baby screamed more and more pitifully; then she hastened to intervene and separated the combatants. The owl flew up a tree, and the baby remained on the path, not even trying to hide or run away.
... - Shall I show you where to spend the night? Aren't you from here?
“Yeah, you thought I was from a small people,” said the short one. “But I’m the same person as you, even though the brownie bewitched me!”
The second starting point of the plot was a real memory of an amazing incident that occurred in Morbakka of her childhood. One day, a white domestic goose escaped from the Lagerlöf estate along with a flock of wild geese, and after a while returned... with a goose and a brood of goslings!
Still from the film “The Enchanted Boy” (1955).
And finally, the last - decisive - influence on the plot of the fairy tale was the works of Kipling with his talking animals.
From a letter from Lagerlöf to Dahlin:
“Among all my searches and attempts to make descriptions of hills and swamps, shores and mountains attractive to nine-year-old children, the animalistic books of the English writer Kipling came to my mind. ...it was his example that tempted me to try, by placing animals in some kind of landscape, to revive it.”
Thus was born the long-awaited central plot thread. The boy, turned by a brownie into a midget, makes a dizzying journey with a wild flock of geese across Sweden on the back of Morten's pet goose. He observes different provinces, cities, villages, factories, gets acquainted with the local residents and their customs, listens to legends and stories. And at the same time, of course, he himself constantly experiences dangerous and exciting adventures.
Map of Niels's route 1947 in the memorial museum in Morbakka:/
However, Nils' journey is not just an adventure. During trials, a harmful and even cruel boy learns to love, empathize, help others and forgive. He can no longer substitute another person, even in order to remove the spell from himself. And at the end of the book, Nils helps the eternal enemy of the goose flock, the fox Smirra, to free himself from captivity. It is not for nothing that in one of the questionnaires the question “What is your favorite virtue?” Christian Lagerlöf replied: “Mercy.”
Rice. — B. Diodorov.
The writer is interested not only in people. A huge number of pages of the book are devoted to the nature of Sweden. Not only animals talk here, but even rivers, rocks and forests. Selma was one of the first to make people think about ecology, about preserving the natural environment from human encroachment.
Selma Lagerlöf "The Amazing Journey of Nils...":
“If you learned something good from us, Little Shorty, then maybe you don’t think that people should own everything on earth,” the leader goose began speaking. - Think about it, you people have such large lands, so much land! Can’t you really leave a few bare skerries, a few shallow lakes, swamp bogs, a few deserted rocks and remote forests for us, so that we, poor birds and animals, can live there in peace and quiet!”
Rice. — V. Kupriyanov.
On November 24, 1906, the first volume of Nils Holgersson's Amazing Wild Geese Journey through Sweden appeared on store shelves. A year later the second one arrived. The country was just undergoing a spelling reform, and the book became one of the first works printed according to the new rules of vocabulary.
I’ll say right away that not all Swedish critics were delighted with the fairy tale. Many of those who looked at the work from an educational and pedagogical point of view accused the writer of geographical and biological inaccuracies, reproached the fact that the province of Småland was depicted as too wretched, and the province of Holland was only mentioned at all. There was a grain of truth in this - “Nils” was not very suitable for a full-fledged school textbook. Rather, it was a wonderful supplementary reading aid.
Rice. John Bauer from the 1906 edition
However, the majority of Swedish readers did not bother with scientific subtleties and loved the book with all their hearts. The Swedish poet Karl Snoilsky wrote enthusiastically that this fairy tale inspired “life and colors in the dry desert sand of a school lesson”. Swedish researcher Nils Afzelius echoed him: “Instead of writing a reference book for university students, she gave children a stimulus for knowledge.”.
Selma Lagerlöf:
“I think and hope that fairy tales will make a child interested in the true state of things. …As long as kids have fun reading this book, it will be a winner.”
After “Nils,” Selma Lagerlöf’s fame first acquired a national and then a worldwide scale. In 1909, the writer became the first woman to win the Nobel Prize in Literature, which she was awarded as “a tribute to the high idealism, vivid imagination and spiritual penetration that distinguish all her works.” In 1914, Lagerlöf again became the first female member of the Swedish Academy.
Selma Lagerlöf in 1906
Having received the bonus, Selma immediately bought back her native estate Morbakku, where she lived until the end of her days (she died on March 16, 1940). After the death of the writer, Morbakka turns into a museum, Nils riding a goose becomes one of the unofficial symbols of Sweden, and in 1991, portraits of the writer and her heroes adorned the 20 Swedish krona banknote.
Nils becomes Russian
“...in Sweden, in 1969, I wanted to translate Selma’s book
Lagerlöf on Nils Holgersson. However, this turned out to be completely
not easy and took almost 7 years of hard work.
I had to, like the writer herself, study geography,
Geology and folklore of Sweden, zoology and botany."
(L. Braude, from the preface to the translation of “Nils” 1982)
Nils “scattered” all over the world. He also looked into the Soviet Union. Interestingly, there are at least three “Nils” in our culture, and they are all very different.
Although the first Russian translation of the fairy tale was made by Lyudmila Khavkina back in 1908, it was not very successful and did not gain success among readers. In reality, “Nils” became ours only in the Soviet era. At the same time, the attitude towards Lagerlöf herself in the USSR was ambiguous for some time. On the one hand, the writer was a conscious anti-fascist. Literally before her death, she managed to help the poet Nellie Sachs, persecuted by the regime, emigrate from Germany to Sweden. On the other hand, during the Soviet-Finnish War, Lagerlöf sympathized with the Finns and even donated her Nobel medal to help Finland.
Portrait of Selma Lagerlöf by Carl Larsson. 1908
However, this did not stop Z. Zadunaiskaya and A. Lyubarskaya from releasing their version of the fairy tale in 1940, entitled “The Wonderful Journey of Nils with the Wild Geese.” True, the translators treated the original very freely.
The volume of the book was shrunk by 6 times - instead of 55 chapters, only 17 remained. The reduction was due to the culling of most geographical descriptions and ethnographic details. Many side legends and stories that Lagerlöf carefully strung into the main thread of the plot also disappeared.
As a result, the very spirit of the fairy tale changed. The lyrics disappeared from it, the writer’s personal attitude to what was happening disappeared. The landscape, painted in watercolor, turned into bright pictures. All that remains is the central adventure plot - and that one has been considerably shortened and rewritten.
The first edition of the retelling by Z. Zadunaiskaya and A. Lyubarskaya.
But this “Nils” immediately gained enormous popularity, and is still one of our favorite children’s books.
The popularity of the retelling led to the fact that in 1955, at the Soyuzmultfilm studio, Vladimir Polkovnikov and Alexandra Snezhno-Blotskaya filmed the film “The Enchanted Boy,” thanks to which millions already learned about Nils.
I still remember the string of rats walking after Nils’s pipe, and the heavy tread of the king’s statue, which terrified me (I did not yet know about Pushkin’s “The Bronze Horseman” and “The Stone Guest”). And, of course, the exclamation immediately entered our vocabulary: “You’re still a strong old man, Rosenbohm!”.
Needless to say, the plot of the cartoon was further shortened and changed (just remember the credits “And nothing special happened in Lapland either”). The animators also took liberties with the images of the characters. Thus, the artists gave the leader of the rats the features and habits of Hitler, and the statues of the king and Rosenbom acquired an external resemblance to the actors voicing them - Alexei Konovalov and Georgy Vitsin.
Speech of the leader of the rats from the film:
“My brave warriors! I brought you here, and I will lead you further! We have taken possession of the basement of Glimmingen Castle, we have taken possession of grain that will last us a lifetime! But this is not enough! The whole castle should belong to us!!! And most importantly, we will tear apart the bats - these pathetic traitors who have the audacity to call themselves mice!
In 1958, the USSR already organized a whole evening dedicated to the 100th anniversary of the writer. But we had to wait a long time for a complete translation of her tale.
It was published only in 1982 through the efforts of Lydia Braude, a specialist in Scandinavian literature and a champion of adequate translations. Naturally, with comments. It turned out that in the original the tale of Nils is completely, completely different - not so dynamic and cheerful, reminiscent of a tree with numerous branches and many signs with unfamiliar names - the university town of Uppsala, the province of Skåne, the island of Gotland, the Linnaeus Botanical Garden, etc. We learn that the goose's name is not Martin, but Morten, and the name of the leader goose - Kebnekaise - is the name of the highest mountain peak in Sweden.
Edition 1982 in trans. L. Braude.
Naturally, a complete translation is extremely important for understanding what Lagerlöf wanted to convey to the reader. I’m just afraid that, despite the additional number of interesting legends and adventures, our child is unlikely to master all this Swedish ethnography. Unlike Swedish children, she is not close to him and, accordingly, of little interest.
To better understand the differences between the versions of “Nils,” let’s take a few scenes that are present in both the original, the retelling, and the cartoon.
1) TIE
In the original, Nils' parents go to church, and the boy is forced to read the Sunday sermon. In the 1940 retelling, all religious trappings have disappeared - the parents go to the fair, and Nils teaches ordinary lessons.
The brownie who bewitched the boy becomes, in the retelling, a more familiar gnome. If in the books, he reduces Nils arbitrarily, punishing him for greed, then in the mf Nils himself makes a mistake, declaring that he wants to become like the dwarf. Of course, the boy had magical abilities in mind, but the dwarf fulfilled his wish in his own way.
Still from the film “The Enchanted Boy” (1955).
2) EXILICATION OF RATS
I think it’s no secret to anyone that expelling rats from Glimmingen Castle with the help of a magic pipe is a variation on the theme of the German, who rid the city of Gammeln of rats, and when they refused to pay him, he took all the Gammeln children away from the city.
Stills from the film “The Enchanted Boy” (1955).
Unlike the magic pipe, Glimmengheus Castle is not a figment of fantasy. This unprepossessing, gloomy building with thick walls first belonged to the Danes, and then was conquered by the Swedes - along with the entire province of Skåne, where Nils was from.
The real Glimmenghuis Castle.
In the retelling and mf, the story with the pipe looks simple and clear: rats are evil, and the boy drowns them in the lake. In the original, there are two types of rats: black (old-timers of the castle) and gray (new invaders). Therefore, in essence, Nils stands on the side of some rats against the other. His goal is not to kill the gray rats, but to take them away from the castle so that the black rats have time to return and protect their haven. By the way, gray rats actually came to Europe from Asia only in the Middle Ages and significantly displaced the previously dominant black variety.
3) TWO STATUES
The port city where Nils met the two animated statues is called Karlskrona (Swedish: “Crown of Charles”). It was founded by the great Swedish king Charles XI back in 1680 with the aim of establishing a naval base here. It is clear that there is a statue of Karl in the city - it is this statue that Nils so thoughtlessly teases.
The second character - the wooden statue of Old Man Rusenboom (Rosenbom) - was also not invented by the writer. She represents an old boatswain and actually stands at the Admiral's Church (the oldest stave church in Sweden). True, due to wear and tear (it was wood, after all), the old statue was replaced with a new one after a while. Rosenbom's hat has a hole cut into it for coins, and the statue plays the role of a kind of begging mug. In the mf the church is not mentioned, and the boatswain stands at the inn.
Real monuments to Karl and Rosenbom in Karlskrona.
But the end of the story is very different in all three versions. In the original, the statues simply disappear with the first rays of the sun. In the retelling, the bronze king also disappeared, but before that he managed to break the statue of Rosenbom with his cane in a rage (they decided to once again remind Soviet children of the cruelty of monarchs). However, Rosenbom was spared, and the king escaped because he had to return to his pedestal at exactly three o’clock.
Rosenbohm and the King from the 1955 cartoon
4) DENOUNCMENT
The retelling of the story with the lifting of the spell was no less varied. In the original, Nils learns that he can be removed if someone else wants to become as small as him. However, the boy does not want to use this method (by deceiving people at their word), and the spell at the end of the book subsides on its own - as a reward for good deeds.
In the 1940 retelling, Nils still casts a spell on the gosling, who does not want to become an adult (for some reason, the translators decided that leaving the goose small is not such an evil thing).
In the mf, everything is brought to more traditional fairy tale motifs. The dwarf sets several conditions for Nils - “when the castle is saved by the pipe, when the king takes off his hat.” Well, the last condition actually turns out to be a test - can the boy sacrifice Martin’s life to save himself? Nils makes the right moral choice, and it is for his sacrifice in the name of his friend that the dwarf frees him from the spell.
Monument to Niels in Karlskrona.
As you can see, each of the three Russian guises of Nils has its own advantages and disadvantages. Of course, children will love mf and retelling for a long time. But the full translation will be of interest to older people - especially those who are interested in Sweden, its history and folklore. Perhaps, over time, one of the translators will dare to make another retelling that will simplify the geographical component for our reader, but will not greatly distort the plot, leave many interesting stories and preserve the lyrical spirit of the fairy tale of the great Swedish writer.
Don't make a fuss! Let one speak. Who fell there?
Tirle has fallen! Tirle! He climbed onto Dirle’s back, and Pirle pushed Dirle, and Tirle fell.
Wait a minute, I don’t understand anything: dirle-dirle, dirle-tirle! Call me the squirrel Sirle. Is this your mother, or what?
Of course, this is our mother! Only she’s not there, she’s gone, and Tirle has fallen. A snake will bite him, a hawk will peck him, a marten will eat him. Mother! Mother! Come here!
Well, that’s what,” said Nils, “get deeper into the hollow before the marten really eats you, and sit quietly.” And I’ll climb down and look for your Mierle - or whatever his name is!
Tirle! Tirle! His name is Tirle!
Well, Tirle is Tirle,” said Nils and carefully began to descend.
Nils did not search for poor Tirle for long. He headed straight towards the bushes where the squeaking had been heard earlier.
Tirle, Tirle! Where are you? - he shouted, parting the thick branches.
From the depths of the bush, someone quietly squeaked in response.
Yeah, there you are! - said Nils and boldly climbed forward, breaking dry stems and twigs along the way.
In the very thick of the bushes, he saw a gray ball of fur with a sparse tail, like a broom. It was Tirle. He sat on a thin branch, clinging to it with all four paws, and trembled with fear so much that the branch swayed under him, as if from a strong wind.
Nils caught the tip of the branch and, as if on a rope, pulled Tirle towards him.
Get on my shoulders,” Nils commanded.
I'm afraid! I'll fall! - Tirle squeaked.
Yes, you have already fallen, there is nowhere else to fall! Climb quickly! Tirle carefully tore one paw from the branch and grabbed Nils' shoulder. Then he grabbed onto him with his second paw and finally the whole thing, including his shaking tail, moved onto Nils’s back.
Hold on tight! Just don’t dig too deep with your claws,” said Nils and, bending under his burden, he slowly walked back. - Well, you’re heavy! - he sighed, getting out of the thicket of bushes.
He stopped to take a short rest when suddenly a familiar raspy voice crackled right above his head:
Here I am! Here I am!
It was a long-tailed magpie.
What's that on your back? Very interesting, what are you talking about? - the magpie chirped.
Nils did not answer and silently walked towards the pine tree. But before he had time to take even three steps, the magpie screamed piercingly, chattered, and flapped its wings.
Robbery in broad daylight! Squirrel Sirle's baby squirrel was stolen! Robbery in broad daylight! Unhappy mother! Unhappy mother!
Nobody kidnapped me - I fell myself! - Tirle squeaked.
However, the magpie didn’t want to listen to anything.
Unhappy mother! Unhappy mother! - she repeated. And then she fell off the branch and quickly flew into the depths of the forest, shouting the same thing as she flew:
Robbery in broad daylight! Squirrel Sirle's baby squirrel was stolen! Squirrel Sirle's baby squirrel was stolen!
What a blabbermouth! - said Nils and climbed the pine tree.
Nils was already halfway there when he suddenly heard a dull noise.
The noise got closer, became louder, and soon the whole air was filled with the cry of birds and the flapping of a thousand wings.
Alarmed birds flocked to the pine tree from all sides, and between them a long-tailed magpie scurried back and forth and shouted loudest of all:
I saw it myself! I saw it with my own eyes! This robber Nils took away the baby squirrel! Look for the thief! Catch him! Hold it!
Oh, I'm afraid! - Tirle whispered. - They will peck you, and I will fall again!
“Nothing will happen, they won’t even see us,” Nils said bravely. And I thought: “But it’s true - they’ll peck you!”
But everything turned out well.
Under the cover of branches, Nils, with Tirle on his back, finally reached the squirrel's nest.
Sirle the squirrel sat on the edge of the hollow and wiped away her tears with her tail.
And a magpie was circling above her and chattering incessantly:
Unhappy mother! Unhappy mother!
“Get your son,” said Nils, panting heavily and, like a sack of flour, he threw Tirle into the hole in the hollow.
Seeing Nils, the magpie fell silent for a minute, and then decisively shook its head and chirped even louder:
Happy mother! Happy mother! Baby squirrel saved! Brave Nils saved the baby squirrel! Long live Nils!
And the happy mother hugged Tirle with all four paws, gently stroked him with her fluffy tail and whistled softly with joy.
And suddenly she turned to the magpie.
Wait a minute,” she said, “who said that Nils stole Tirle?”
Nobody spoke! Nobody spoke! -
An old, old goose walked ahead of everyone. Well, she was a beauty too! The neck is skinny, bones stick out from under the feathers, and the wings look like someone has chewed them off. But her yellow eyes sparkled like two burning coals. All the geese looked at her respectfully, not daring to speak until the goose was the first to say her word.
It was Akka Kebnekaise herself, the leader of the pack. She had already led the geese from south to north a hundred times and returned with them from north to south a hundred times. Akka Kebnekaise knew every bush, every island on the lake, every clearing in the forest. No one knew how to choose a place to spend the night better than Akka Kebnekaise; no one knew better than she how to hide from the cunning enemies who lay in wait for the geese on the way.
Akka looked at Martin for a long time from the tip of his beak to the tip of his tail and finally said:
Our flock cannot accept the first comers. Everyone you see in front of you belongs to the best goose families. And you don't even know how to fly properly. What kind of goose are you, what family and tribe are you?
“My story is not long,” Martin said sadly. - I was born last year in the town of Svanegolm, and in the fall I was sold to Holger Nilsson
To the neighboring village of Vestmenheg. That's where I lived until today.
How did you get the courage to fly with us? - asked Akka Kebnekaise.
“You called us pathetic chickens, and I decided to prove to you, wild geese, that we, domestic geese, are capable of something,” Martin answered.
What are you, domestic geese, capable of? - Akka Kebnekaise asked again. - We’ve already seen how you fly, but maybe you’re an excellent swimmer?
And I can’t boast about that,” Martin said sadly. “I only ever swam in the pond outside the village, but, to tell the truth, this pond is only a little larger than the largest puddle.”
Well, then you're a master of jumping, right?
Jump? No self-respecting domestic goose would allow itself to jump,” Martin said.
And suddenly he came to his senses. He remembered how wild geese bounce funny, and realized that he had said too much.
Now Martin was sure that Akka Kebnekaise would immediately drive him out of his pack.
But Akka Kebnekaise said:
I love that you speak so boldly. He who is brave will be a faithful comrade. Well, it’s never too late to learn what you don’t know how to do. If you want, stay with us.
Really want to! - Martin answered. Suddenly Akka Kebnekaise noticed Nils.
Who else is with you? I have never seen anyone like him.
Martin hesitated for a minute.
This is my friend... - he said uncertainly. Then Nils stepped forward and declared decisively:
My name is Nils Holgerson. My father, Holger Nilsson, is a peasant, and until today I was a man, but this morning...
He failed to finish. As soon as he said the word “man,” the geese backed away and, stretching out their necks, angrily hissed, cackled, and flapped their wings.
“There is no place for a man among wild geese,” said the old goose. - People were, are and will be our enemies. You must leave the pack immediately.
Now Martin could no longer stand it and intervened:
But you can’t even call him a human being! Look how small he is! I guarantee that he will not do you any harm. Let him stay at least one night.
Akka looked searchingly at Nils, then at Martin, and finally said:
Our grandfathers, great-grandfathers and great-great-grandfathers bequeathed to us never to trust a person, be he small or big. But if you vouch for him, then so be it - today let him stay with us. We spend the night on a large ice floe in the middle of the lake. And tomorrow morning he must leave us.
With these words she rose into the air. The whole flock flew after her.
Listen, Martin,” Nils asked timidly, “are you going to stay with them?”
Well, of course! - Martin said proudly. “It’s not every day that a domestic goose has the honor of flying in Akki Kebnekaise’s flock.
And what about me? - Nils asked again. “There’s no way I can get home alone.” Now I’ll get lost in the grass, let alone in this forest.
I don’t have time to take you home, you understand,” Martin said. - But here’s what I can offer you: we’ll fly with everyone else. Let's see what kind of Lapland this is, and then we'll return home. I’ll somehow persuade Akka, but if I don’t persuade her, I’ll deceive her. You are small now, it is not difficult to hide you. Well, enough talking! Gather some dry grass quickly. Yes, more!
When Nils picked up a whole armful of last year's grass, Martin carefully picked him up by the collar of his shirt and carried him onto a large ice floe. The wild geese were already sleeping, their heads tucked under their wings.
Lay out the grass,” Martin commanded, “otherwise, without any bedding, my paws will freeze to the ice.”
Although the litter turned out to be somewhat liquid (how much grass could Nils carry away!), it still somehow covered the ice.
Martin stood on top of her, grabbed Nils by the collar again and pushed him under his wing.
Good night! - Martin said and pressed the wing tighter so that Nils wouldn’t fall out.
Good night! - said Nils, burying his head in the soft and warm goose down.
Chapter III. NIGHT THIEF
When all the birds and animals were fast asleep, the fox Smirre came out of the forest.
Every night Smirre went out hunting, and it was bad for the one who carelessly fell asleep without having time to climb a tall tree or hide in a deep hole.
With soft, silent steps, the fox Smirre approached the lake. He had long tracked down a flock of wild geese and was licking his lips in advance, thinking about the delicious goose.
But a wide black strip of water separated Smirre from the wild geese. Smirre stood on the shore and clicked his teeth in anger.
And suddenly he noticed that the wind was slowly, slowly pushing the ice floe towards the shore.
“Yeah, the prey is mine after all!” - Smirre grinned and, sitting down on his hind legs, began to wait patiently.
He waited for an hour. I waited two hours... three...
The black strip of water between the shore and the ice floe became narrower and narrower.
The goose spirit reached the fox.
Smirre swallowed his saliva.
With a rustling sound and a slight ringing, the ice floe hit the shore...
Smirre contrived and jumped onto the ice.
He approached the flock so quietly, so carefully that not a single goose heard the approach of the enemy. But old Akka heard. Her sharp cry echoed over the lake, woke up the geese, and lifted the entire flock into the air.
And yet Smirre managed to grab one goose.
Martin also woke up from Akki Kebnekaise's scream. With a strong flap, he opened his wings and quickly flew up. And Nils flew down just as quickly.
He hit the ice and opened his eyes. Nils, half asleep, did not even understand where he was or what had happened to him. And suddenly he saw a fox running away with a goose in its teeth. Without thinking for a long time, Nils rushed after him.
The poor goose, caught in Smirra’s mouth, heard the clatter of wooden shoes and, arching his neck, looked back with timid hope.
“Oh, that’s who it is! - he thought sadly. - Well, that means I'm missing. How can someone like that deal with a fox!”
And Nils completely forgot that the fox, if he wanted, could crush him with one paw. He ran on the heels of the night thief and repeated to himself:
Just to catch up! Just to catch up! The fox jumped onto the shore - Nils followed him. The fox rushed towards the forest - Nils followed him - Let go of the goose now! Do you hear? - Nils shouted. “Otherwise I’ll give you such a hard time that you won’t be happy!”
Who's that squeaking there? - Smirre was surprised.
He was curious, like all foxes in the world, and so he stopped and turned his muzzle.
At first he didn't even see anyone.
Only when Nils ran closer did Smirre see his terrible enemy.
The fox felt so funny that he almost dropped his prey.
I'm telling you, give me my goose! - Nils shouted. Smirre put the goose on the ground, crushed it with his front paws and said:
Oh, is that your goose? All the better. You can watch me deal with him!
“This red-haired thief doesn’t seem to consider me a person!” - thought Nils and rushed forward.
When all the birds and animals were fast asleep, the fox Smirre came out of the forest.
Every night Smirre went out hunting, and it was bad for the one who carelessly fell asleep without having time to climb a tall tree or hide in a deep hole.
With soft, silent steps, the fox Smirre approached the lake. He had long ago tracked down a flock of wild geese and was licking his lips in advance, thinking about the delicious goose meat.
But a wide black strip of water separated Smirre from the wild geese. Smirre stood on the shore and clicked his teeth in anger.
And suddenly he noticed that the wind was slowly, slowly pushing the ice floe towards the shore.
“Yeah, the prey is mine after all!” - Smirre grinned and, sitting down on his hind legs, began to wait patiently.
He waited for an hour. I waited two hours... three...
The black strip of water between the shore and the ice floe became narrower and narrower.
The goose spirit reached the fox.
Smirre swallowed his saliva.
With a rustling sound and a slight ringing, the ice floe hit the shore...
Smirre contrived and jumped onto the ice.
He approached the flock so quietly, so carefully that not a single goose heard the approach of the enemy. But old Akka heard. Her sharp cry echoed over the lake, woke up the geese, and lifted the entire flock into the air.
And yet Smirre managed to grab one goose. Martin also woke up from Akki Kebnekaise's scream. With a strong flap, he opened his wings and quickly flew up.
And Nils flew down just as quickly.
He hit the ice and opened his eyes. Nils, half asleep, did not even understand where he was or what had happened to him. And suddenly he saw a fox running away with a goose in its teeth. Without thinking for a long time, Nils rushed after him.
The poor goose, caught in Smirra’s mouth, heard the clatter of wooden shoes and, arching his neck, looked back with timid hope.
“Oh, that’s who it is!” he thought sadly. “Well, that means I’m gone. How can someone like that cope with a fox!” And Nils completely forgot that the fox, if he wanted, could crush him with one paw. He ran on the heels of the night thief and repeated to himself:
Just to catch up! Just to catch up!
The fox jumped onto the shore - Nils followed him. The fox rushed towards the forest - Nils followed him.
Now let go of the goose! Do you hear? - Nils shouted. “Otherwise I’ll give you such a hard time that you won’t be happy!”
Who's that squeaking there? - Smirre was surprised. He was curious, like all foxes in the world, and so he stopped and turned his muzzle.
At first he didn't even see anyone.
Only when Nils ran closer did Smirre see his terrible enemy.
The fox felt so funny that he almost dropped his prey.
I'm telling you, give me my goose! - Nils shouted.
Smirre put the goose on the ground, crushed it with his front paws and said:
Oh, is that your goose? All the better. You can watch me deal with him!
“This red-haired thief doesn’t seem to consider me a person!” - thought Nils and rushed forward.
With both hands he grabbed the fox's tail and pulled as hard as he could.
Out of surprise, Smirre released the goose. Just for a second. But even a second was enough. Without wasting any time, the goose rushed upward.
He would really like to help Nils. But what could he do? One of his wings was crushed, and Smirre managed to pull out the feathers from the other. Moreover, in the dark the goose could see almost nothing. Maybe Akka Kebnekaise will come up with something? We must quickly fly to the flock. You can't leave Nils in such trouble!
And, heavily flapping its wings, the goose flew towards the lake. Nils and Smirre looked after him. One with joy, the other with anger.
Well! - the fox hissed. - If the goose left me, I won’t let you go. I'll swallow it in no time!
Well, we'll see! - said Nils and squeezed the fox’s tail even tighter.
And it’s true that catching Nils was not so easy. Smirre jumped to the right, and his tail swung to the left. Smirre jumped to the left, and his tail swung to the right. Smirre was spinning like a top, but his tail was spinning with him, and Nils was spinning with his tail.
At first, Nils even had fun from this mad dance. But soon his hands became numb and his eyes began to blur. Whole clouds of last year's leaves rose around Nils, he was hit by the roots of trees, his eyes were covered with earth. “No! We can’t hold out like this for long. We have to run away!” Nils unclenched his hands and released the fox's tail. And immediately, like a whirlwind, he was thrown far to the side and hit a thick pine tree. Without feeling pain, Nils began to climb the tree - higher, higher - and so on, without a break, almost to the very top.
But Smirre saw nothing - everything was spinning and flashing before his eyes, and he himself was spinning in place like a clockwork, scattering dry leaves with his tail.
Stop dancing! You can rest a little!” Nils shouted to him from above.
Smirre stopped dead in his tracks and looked at his tail in surprise.
There was no one on the tail.
You are not a fox, but a crow! Carr! Carr! Carr! - Nils shouted.
Smirre raised his head. Nils was sitting high on a tree and sticking his tongue out at him.
You won't leave me anyway! - said Smirre and sat down under a tree.
Nils hoped that the fox would eventually get hungry and go find another meal. And the fox hoped that Nils would sooner or later be overcome by drowsiness and fall to the ground.
So they sat all night: Nils - high in the tree, Smirre - below under the tree.
It's scary in the forest at night! In the thick darkness, everything around seemed to turn to stone. Nils himself was afraid to move. His legs and arms were numb, his eyes were closed. It seemed that the night would never end, that morning would never come again.
And yet the morning came. The sun slowly rose far, far behind the forest.
But before appearing above the ground, it sent whole sheaves of fiery sparkling rays so that they would dispel and disperse the darkness of the night.
The clouds in the dark sky, the night frost that covered the ground, the frozen branches of the trees - everything flared up, illuminated with light.
The forest dwellers woke up. A red-breasted woodpecker tapped its beak on the bark. A squirrel with a nut in its paws jumped out of the hollow, sat down on a twig and began to eat breakfast.
A starling flew by. Somewhere a finch sang.
Wake up! Come out of your holes, animals! Fly out of your nests, birds! “Now you have nothing to fear,” the sun told everyone.
Nils sighed with relief and straightened his numb arms and legs.
Suddenly the cry of wild geese came from the lake, and Nils from the top of the tree saw how the entire flock rose from the ice floe and flew over the forest.
He shouted to them and waved his arms, but the geese flew over Nils’ head and disappeared behind the tops of the pine trees. His only comrade, the white goose Martin, flew away with them.
Nils felt so unhappy and lonely that he almost cried.
He looked down. The fox Smirre was still sitting under the tree, raising his sharp muzzle and grinning sarcastically.
Hey, you! - Smirre shouted to him. - Apparently, your friends are not very worried about you! Better get off, buddy. I have prepared a nice place for my dear friend, warm and cozy! - And he stroked his belly with his paw.
But somewhere very close wings rustled. A gray goose was flying slowly and carefully among the dense branches.
As if not seeing the danger, he flew straight towards Smirra. Smirre froze.
The goose flew so low that it seemed that its wings were about to touch the ground.
Like a released spring, Smirre jumped up. A little more and he would have grabbed the goose by the wing. But the goose dodged right under his nose and silently, like a shadow, rushed towards the lake.
Before Smirra had time to come to his senses, a second goose had already flown out of the thicket of the forest. He flew just as low and just as slowly.
Smirre got ready. “Well, this won’t go away!” The fox jumped. He was just a hair short of reaching the goose. The blow of his paw hit the air, and the goose, as if nothing had happened, disappeared behind the trees.
A minute later a third goose appeared. He flew at random, as if his wing had been broken.
In order not to miss again, Smirre let him get very close - now the goose would fly at him and touch him with its wings. A jump - and Smirre has already touched the goose. But he shied away to the side, and the fox’s sharp claws only creaked along the smooth feathers.
Then a fourth goose flew out of the thicket, a fifth, a sixth... Smirre rushed from one to the other. His eyes were red, his tongue hung to one side, his red shiny fur was matted in clumps. From anger and hunger he could no longer see anything; he threw himself at sunspots and even at his own shadow.
Smirre was middle-aged and a seasoned fox. More than once the dogs were hot on his heels, and more than once bullets whizzed past his ears. And yet Smirra had never had it as bad as she did that morning.
When the wild geese saw that Smirre was completely exhausted and, barely breathing, fell onto a pile of dry leaves, they stopped their game.
Now you will remember for a long time what it’s like to compete with Akki Kebnekaise’s flock!” they shouted goodbye and disappeared behind the thicket of the forest.
And at this time, the white goose Martin flew up to Nils.
He carefully picked it up with his beak, took it off the branch and headed towards the lake.
There, on a large ice floe, the whole flock had already gathered.
Seeing Nils, the wild geese cackled joyfully and flapped their wings. And old Akka Kebnekaise stepped forward and said:
You are the first person we have seen good from, and the pack allows you to stay with us.