Chapter 20 go south!go south!

The boy sits on the back of the white goose and flies forward in the high air.Thirty-one wild geese flew southward in a neat herringbone formation.The wind was whistling in the feathers, and so many wings whizzed the air that they could not even hear their own cry.Aka, the wild goose from the Snowy Mountains, was leading the flight, followed by Axi and Kaxi, Kermy and Nelia, Vissy and Cousi, Morton the gander and Dunfin the gray goose.The six baby geese that flew with them last fall are now independent of the flock.The old geese are flying with twenty-two young geese that grew up in the mountains and valleys this summer, eleven on the right and eleven on the left, trying their best to maintain equality with each other like the old geese. distance.

These poor little geese had never done any long-distance flying before.At first, it was difficult for them to keep up with such a fast flight. "Akka from the Great Snow Mountain! Akka from the Great Snow Mountain!" they cried pitifully. "What's the matter?" asked the leader goose. "Our wings are too tired to move, our wings are too tired to move." The little geese cried. "The farther you fly, the less tired you will be," replied the leading goose, not slowing down at all, but continuing to fly forward as before.It seems that what she said was really right, because when the geese flew for two or three hours, they no longer complained about being tired.However, they are used to eating with their mouths all day long in the mountains and valleys, so it didn't take long for them to start wanting to eat.

"A-Ka, A-Ka, A-Ka from Daxue Mountain!" the little geese called sadly. "What's the matter?" asked the leader goose. "We are too hungry to fly," cried the little geese, "we are too hungry to fly." "The wild goose should learn to eat the air and drink the strong wind." The leading goose replied, she didn't stop, but continued to fly forward as before. It seemed as if the young geese had learned to live on the air and the wind, for when they had flown for a while they no longer complained of being hungry.Geese are still flying over the mountains.In order to let the young geese learn the name of each mountain, the old geese shouted out its name every time they flew over a mountain. "This is Posu Chow Chow, this is Sarje Chow Chow, and this is Suoli Taierma." But after they yelled and flew for a while, the little geese became impatient again.

"Akka, Akka, Akka!" they cried sadly. "What's the matter?" asked the leader goose. "We can't hold any more names in our heads," cried the geese, "we can't hold any more names in our heads." "The more things you put in your brain, the better your brain will work." The leading goose replied, continuing to call out strange names as before. The boy thought to himself that it was time for the wild geese to fly south, because a lot of snow had fallen, and as far as the eye could see, the land was completely white.It cannot be denied that their last few days in the canyon were very unpleasant.Rain, storm, and fog kept coming, and the occasional sunny day would turn icy cold right away.The berries and mushrooms on which the boys lived in the summer were frozen and rotting.In the end, he had no choice but to eat raw fish, which was the thing he hated the most.The days were so short that the boy could never allow himself to sleep as long as the sun had disappeared from the sky, and the long nights and late mornings bored him and left him without interest.

Now, the wings of the little geese have finally grown strong, and the journey to the south has begun. The boy is so happy, laughing and singing while riding on the back of the goose.Yes, he was looking forward to leaving Lapland not only because it was dark and cold and there was nothing to eat, but also for other reasons. During the first few weeks in Lapland, he had no intention of leaving.He thought it was a beautiful and comfortable place that he had never been before.He has no worries other than not letting the mosquitoes eat him.The boy didn't spend much time with Morton the gander, because the big white guy just guarded Dunfin the gray goose and never left him.The boy, however, was always with old Akka and Golgo the eagle, and the three of them passed many pleasant hours together.Those two birds took him on long-distance flights.The boy had stood on the top of the snow-covered Kebunakayise Snow Mountain, looked out at the glaciers that stretched below this steep white cone, and visited many other mountains that were inaccessible.A-Ka also showed him the deep valley in the mountains, and the cave where the mother wolf fed her lambs.He also made friends with the herds of reindeer that grazed on the shores of the beautiful Lake Thone, went under the Great Lakes waterfall, and conveyed greetings to the bears who lived there from their relatives and friends in Belislagna. Everywhere you go is a place of great momentum and great power.He was very happy to be there, but he didn't want to live there for long.Those Swedish settlers, Akka said, should keep the peace of these two regions and give it back to the bears, wolves, deer, geese, snow ducks, lemmings, and Lapps who were born to live there.He had to admit that Aka's words were correct.

One day, Aka took him to a large mining area.There he found little Mats lying bruised and bruised outside the pit, and for several days thereafter he thought of nothing but trying to help poor Osa the goose girl.After Osa found his father, he didn't need to worry about her anymore.Since then, he has stayed at his home in the canyon, looking forward to the day when he can go home with Morton the gander and become a human again. Yes, he is now on his way back to the south, very happy.When he saw the first cedar grove, he waved his hat and cried "Hello!" in the same way he welcomed the first gray pioneer house, the first goat, the first cat and the first flock of chickens.He flew over the surging waterfall, and to the right of it was a majestic mountain, but he had seen so many mountains of this kind that he simply dismissed them.It was different when he saw the little church, the parsonage, and the little parish village of Kwijjock on the east side of the hill, and it seemed to him so beautiful that tears welled up in his eyes.

They kept coming across flocks of migratory birds that were much larger than the flocks in spring. "Where are you going, wild geese?" cried the migratory birds. "Where are you going?" "We are going abroad just like you," replied the geese, "we are going abroad." "Your goose's wings are not yet strong," the other party shouted, "you can't fly over the sea with such weak wings." Lapps and herds of deer are also migrating down from the mountains.They walked in an orderly manner: a Lapp at the head of the procession, followed by several rows of deer led by a large buck, then a long line of cargo deer carrying Lapp tents and luggage, and finally seven. eight people.When the geese saw the deer, they flew down and shouted, "Thank you for hosting us this summer! Thank you for hosting us this summer!"

"I wish you a pleasant journey, welcome to come again next time!" Deer group replied. But when the bears saw the geese, they pointed at the geese and howled to their children, "Come and see these geese, they can't stand the cold, they dare not even stay at home in winter!" The geese didn't bother to answer them, but called to their little geese: "Come and see these bears, they would rather lie at home and sleep for half a year than take the trouble to go to the south!" Below in the fir groves the young grouse huddled and ruffled and shivered with the cold, watching all the flocks fly south with joy and joy. "When will it be our turn to fly?" they asked the hen. "When will it be our turn to fly?"

"You must stay at home with mother and father," answered the hen, "you must stay at home with mother and father." Everyone who has been to high mountain areas must know how difficult it is for people to experience heavy fog.The fog is so thick that it obscures the view, even if you are surrounded by beautiful and colorful mountains, you can't see at all.You will encounter fog in midsummer.If it's fall, it's almost impossible to avoid the fog.The weather had been fine for Nils Hogelsson while he was in Lapland, but the geese hadn't had time to shout that they were now flying in Jamtland province, and thick fog had clouded the area. He was so surrounded that he couldn't see the scenery clearly at all.He flew in the air for a whole day, but he didn't know whether he came to a mountain or a plain.

As night fell, the geese landed on a green meadow that sloped in all directions.Only then did he know that he was staying on top of a hill, but whether the hill was big or small, he couldn't figure it out.He could only guess that they were in an inhabited area, because he seemed to have heard human voices, and he could also hear the sound of wheels rolling forward on a road, but he was not entirely sure about this. He wanted to feel his way to a farm, but he was afraid of getting lost in the fog.He didn't dare to go anywhere, so he had to stay beside the geese.Everything is damp and dripping wet.Every blade of grass and every little plant was hung with little drops of water, and whenever he moved, the little drops of water fell on him, like taking a real rain shower. "It's not much better than the valley in the mountains," he thought.

But, despite this, he dared to walk a few steps nearby.He vaguely saw a building in front of him, not very big, but several stories high.He couldn't see the top, the gate was closed, and the house seemed unoccupied.It was, he knew, no more than a watch-tower, where it was impossible to get food or keep warm.Even so, he still returned to the geese as fast as he could. "My dear Morton the gander!" said he, "put me on your back, and carry me to the top of that tower over there! It's so wet here that I can't sleep, and there'll be a place to lie down there. dry place." Morton the gander immediately came to his aid and carried him to the balcony of the watchtower.The boy lay there and slept soundly until the morning light woke him up. He opened his eyes and looked around. At first he didn't understand what he saw or where he was.I remember one time when he went to a market, he once walked into a big tent and saw a huge panoramic painting.Then it seemed to him that he was standing again in the middle of the big round tent, with a red roof, very beautiful, and on the walls and floor painted a bright and vast landscape, with great villages and cathedrals, plowed fields and Roads, railways and even a city.Before long, he understood that he was not looking at the panorama in a tent, but was standing on the top of a watchtower, with the red sky above his head and the real land around him.He was used to the wilderness, and it was not surprising that he saw a real place with villages and cities for a picture now. There is another reason why boys don't believe what they see is real, and that is that everything has no real color.His watchtower stood on a hill on an island near the eastern shore of a large inner lake.This lake is not as gray as ordinary inner lakes. Most of its lake surface is pink like the morning glow and the sky, but the small bays that go deep into the land are shining with almost black light.The banks around the lake were not green either, but shone yellowish because of the harvested fields and the yellow-leaved hardwoods.The yellow embankment is surrounded by a wide belt of black coniferous forest.It may be for this reason that the deciduous forests look bright and bright, but the boys think that the coniferous forests have never been so dark and bleak as this morning.To the east of the dark coniferous forest are light blue hills, but along the entire western horizon is a long, shining curve of mountains that rise and fall and are multicolored. Its color is so beautiful, soft and pleasing to the eye. , he cannot call this color red, nor white, nor blue, it is difficult to describe it in any color. The boy looked away from the mountains and taiga to get a better look at the scenery around him.All around the lake, in that yellow strip, he saw one red village after another and a white church; and just to the east, across the narrow bay that separated the island from the land, he saw a city.The city stretched to the shore of the lake, screened by a mountain behind it, and surrounded by a rich and densely populated area. "What a wonderful place this city is," thought the boy, "I don't know what it's called." At this moment, he was taken aback, and quickly looked around. He was too busy admiring the scenery to notice that there were tourists coming to the watchtower. Tourists walk up the steps quickly.He had just found a hiding place and got in when they came up. They are some young people who come to hike.They said they had traveled all over the province of Jamtland and they were delighted to have arrived in Östersund last night just in time to watch the majestic view.Standing here with a view of two hundred kilometers in radius, they wanted to take one last look at the panorama of their dear Jamtland province before leaving.They pointed to the many churches that stood around the lake. "That's Sunne," they said, "there's Malby, and beyond that is Harlan. The one just north is Roeder's Church, and that one, Just below us, is Foros Island Church." Then they began to talk about mountains.The nearest mountain was called Uvix, and everyone agreed on it.But then, they began to wonder which one was Kleversche, which one was Anaris, Van Witter, Almosa, and Oleskutan. While they were discussing this, a young girl took out a map, laid it on her lap, and began to study it.Suddenly, she raised her head. "Looking at the terrain of Jamtland Province on a map," she said, "I think it looks like a majestic mountain. I have been looking forward to hearing a story about how it stands upright and reaches the sky." s story." "It might have been a mountain," one said to her sarcastically. "Yes, that's why it was pulled down. Come see for yourself, and see if it looks like a real mountain, with broad foothills and steep peaks!" "It's not bad to say that such a mountainous region is itself like a mountain," said a traveler, "but although I've heard other legends about Jämtland, I've never ..." "Have you heard the legend about the province of Jamtland?" The young girl asked impatiently before letting him finish speaking, "Then tell us about it right away. From this commanding height where you can see the whole province The legend about it could not be more appropriate." The others agreed, and the traveling companion was very forthright and unabashed, and immediately started talking. When giants lived in Jämtland, one day a giant stood in the courtyard of the house brushing a horse.He brushed carefully, and suddenly found that the horse was trembling with fright. "What is the matter with you, my horses?" said the Giant, looking about him to see what it was that frightened the beasts.He found no bears nearby, and saw no wolves.The only thing he saw was a person not far away, not as tall and strong as himself, but rather burly and powerful, climbing up the small mountain road leading to his house. At the sight of the walking man, the giant began to tremble from head to toe like his horse.He did not want to work any more, but hurried into the house, and went up to his wife, who sat beating the twine with her spindle. "What is the matter?" asked the Giant's wife. "Your face is as pale as the snow-capped mountains." "How can my face not be pale?" said the Giant. "A man came along the path, and it must be Thor, and I am as sure of it as if you were my wife." "He is an unwelcome guest," said the Giant's wife. "Can't you make him see the whole yard as a mountain, and turn past our door?" "It was too late," answered the Giant, "for I heard him open the gate and go into the yard." "Then I advise you to hide and let me deal with him alone," the giant's wife said hastily, "I will find a way to prevent him from coming to our house so soon in the future." The Giant thought it was a surefire plan, and he went into the little room inside, while his wife still sat on the bench in the big house, playing with the rope calmly, as if she knew nothing of the danger. It must be mentioned that Jamtland at that time was completely different from what it is today.The whole place is just a huge flat mountain, bare and bare, not even a fir forest can grow.There are no lakes, no rivers, no arable land.At that time, there were no high mountains and peaks that are now scattered throughout the province, and they were all arranged far to the west.In this vast land, there is no place where humans can live, but the giant lives here very comfortably.The desolation and uninhabitedness of this region is entirely the result of the wishes and actions of the giants.It makes perfect sense for the giant to be dazed and overwhelmed by the sight of Thor approaching his house.He knew that Thor did not like them, because they spread cold, darkness, and desolation around them, and prevented the earth from becoming rich, fruitful, and habitable. The giant's wife did not wait long before she heard firm steps in the yard.Soon the giant saw Thor open the door and enter the house.He did not stop at the door like ordinary passers-by, but immediately walked towards the giant's wife who was seated against the gable at the back of the house.But this distance was not too close for him. When he thought he had walked for a long time, he was actually not far from the door, and still a long way from the stove in the center of the house.He stepped forward a little longer, and the stove and the giant's wife seemed farther away than when he first entered the house.At first, he didn't think this room was very big, but when he finally walked to the stove with great effort, he realized that the room was extremely large.At that time, he was so tired that he had to rest on crutches for a while.Seeing him stop, the giant's wife put down her spindle, got up from the bench, and came before him in a few steps. "We giants like big rooms," she said, "and my man often complains that it's too narrow. But I can understand that it's hard to walk through a room where giants live for a man who can't walk any bigger than you can." It's hard work. Now, tell me, who are you? What are you doing here with us giants?" Thor, the god of thunder, seemed to have been prepared for a scathing answer, but it must have been because he did not want to quarrel with a woman, so he replied calmly: "My name is Hercules, and I am a warrior. I have participated in many adventures. I am in Sitting in the yard of my house for a whole year, when I heard humans talking about you giants ruining the land here, and no one can come and live here except you, I thought I should do something It's over. I came here now just to talk to the host and ask him if he would like to make this place better." "The master of our house has gone hunting," said the giant's wife, "and let him answer your question when he comes home. But I say to you that a man who dares to ask a giant such a question The person in question should be someone taller than you, so the best way to maintain your reputation is to go back immediately and not meet him." "Since I have come here, I must wait for him to come back." Thor, the god of thunder who calls himself a Hercules, said. "I have tried my best to persuade you," said the giant's wife, "you make up your own mind. Please sit on the bench for a while, and I will get the wind wine." The giant's wife took a huge horn and went to the farthest corner of the room where the mead barrel stood.Thor, the god of thunder, did not take the cask seriously either, but when the giant's wife pulled the cork, the mead roared into the goblet, as if there were a cataract in the house.The goblet was soon filled, and the giant's wife tried in vain to put the cork on the cask, and the mead poured out in a torrential flow, which washed the cork out of her hand and ran on to the floor.The giant's wife tried again to insert the plug, but failed again, so she asked Thor for help. "Look, the wine is gone. Hercules, please come and put the cork on the barrel!" Thor immediately ran to help.He took the cork and put it on the mouth of the barrel, but the wine pushed the cork out again, and threw the cork far away, and the wine continued to overflow on the ground. Thor tried to plug it again and again, but without success, and finally threw the plug away in anger.The floor was overflowing with wine.To alleviate the mead overflowing the floor, Thor made deep grooves in the floor to allow the wine to run off.He dug ditches in the hard rock to let the mead flow, as children dig ditches in the sand in spring to let the snow run off; Concentrate on those pits.The giant's wife stood silently, not saying a word.If Thor had looked up at her, he would have seen her watching him do these things in amazement and horror.When he was done, she said with a sneer, "Thank you so much, Hercules. I can see that you did the best you could. Usually it's my man who plugs me. Of course, I can't ask All are as strong as he is, but since you can't even do such a thing, I think you'd better set off and go back at once." "I don't want to go until I bring him the news," Thor said, but looked a little ashamed and depressed. "Please sit down on the bench there," said the Giant's wife, "and I will put the pot on the fire and make you some porridge!" The giant's wife did as she said.But when the porridge was almost ready, she said to Thor, "Now I find that the flour has run out, so I can't cook thick porridge. Can you turn the mill next to you, two or three times, Is it okay? There is grain between the two millstones, but the grind is not light, and you have to use all your strength." Thor didn't wait for her to say anything and went to grind.He didn't feel that the mill was particularly big, but when he grabbed the handle and tried to turn the mill, the mill was so heavy that he couldn't move it.He was forced to use all his strength to make the mill turn once. The giant's wife watched him work in horror, but said nothing.But when he left the mill, she said: "When I can't push the mill, my man is usually a good helper for me. But no one can ask you to do what you can't do. You Better to avoid the man who can grind as much as he wants here, don't you see that now?" "I still feel that I should wait for him to come back," said Thor, his voice low and devoid of courage and guts. "Then go and sit quietly on the bench over there, and I will make you a good bed," said the Giant's wife, "for you must stay here for the night!" She puts lots of quilts and cushions on the bed and wishes the guests a good night's sleep. "I was afraid the bed was too hard for you," she said, "but it's the kind of bed my man sleeps in every night." When Thor, the god of thunder, lay on the bed, he found that his body was lumpy and uneven, and he couldn't sleep at all.He tossed and turned, still uncomfortable.So he threw away all the bedding, a pillow here, a mattress there, and slept soundly until the next morning. When the sun shines into the house through the skylight, Thor got up and left the giant's residence.He walked across the yard and out the gate, closing it behind him.Just then, the giant's wife appeared beside him. "I see you're going, Hercules," she said. "It's your wisest decision." "If your man could sleep in a bed like the one you made for me last night," said Thor sullenly, "I wouldn't want to see him. He must be a man of iron no one can handle." The giant's wife stood leaning against the gate. "You are out of my yard now," she said, "so I want to tell you that your coming to our hill this time is not as unworthy of praise as you yourself think. When you walked in our house , it is not surprising to find that the distance is far away, because the place you have traveled is the whole mountainous area of ​​Jamtland; you find it very difficult to put the cork on the wine barrel, and there is no need to make a fuss, it is all the water on the snowy mountains. It's pouring down on you. The ditches you dug and the holes you stepped on the floor to draw the water away from the house are now rivers and lakes. You've pushed the mill around, it's not for your strength A small test, because the mill is not grain, but limestone and shale, you just push it around, and you can grind out so much fertile and rich soil, covering the entire mountain area. I am not at all surprised to sleep on the bed, because I have spread the tall rocky peaks on the bed, and you have thrown them all over half the province. Now I bid you farewell and assure you that I And my man will move from here to a place where you won't find it easy." Thor, the god of thunder, became more and more angry as he listened. When the giant's wife finished speaking, he pulled out the hammer stuck in his belt, but before he could lift the hammer up, the giant's wife disappeared.Where the giant's yard stood was a gray cliff.But the great rivers, lakes, and fertile ground that Thor carved out of the mountains remain.There are still those beautiful mountains that make Jämtland beautiful and give strength, health, courage and joy of life to all who visit it.And so, when Thor spread all over from Mount Frostvik in the north to Mount Heragos in the south, from Mount Uvix by Lake Stour to the mountains of Syr near the border When he came to the mountains, his achievements could not be more remarkable.