Chapter 5 On Sunday, July 8, Emil went to the temple fair on the Holtfold Plain ①

Alfred is the long-term worker of Carter Hult Manor. He loves children, especially Emil.Emil is mischievous and a little rascal, but Alfred doesn't care.He still liked Emil, and made him a wooden rifle, which looked like a real one, but it wouldn't fire.But Emil yelled "bang bang" every day, which frightened Katholt's sparrows for several days.Emil loves his wooden gun and carries it after he goes to bed at night. "I want my tank (gun)," he said in his Smauran dialect.He was even angrier when his mother misheard and came running with his hat. "I don't want my pockmarks, I want my tank!" Amir shouted. "I want my tank!" So he got the gun.

Emil loves his gun, and even more so Alfred who made it for him.No wonder, then, that Alfred burst into tears when he went to training on the Holtfield Plain.You may not know what military training is all about, but you know that's what people said back then when they went to the army.Long-term laborers in Renabelia and everywhere else had to attend military training and learn to be soldiers. "Well, that's exactly what we have to do when we're harvesting hay," said Emil's father.He didn't like Alfred going away in this busy season, when it was tense.It's a pity that it's not Emil's father, but the king and his generals who decide when the long-term laborers will go to Holtfold Plain to train as soldiers.Besides, after the military training, Alfred will come back, and it won't take long.So actually Emil doesn't have to cry that much.But he still cried, and Li Na also cried, because Amir is not the only one who likes Alfred.

Alfred didn't cry.He said that it was very lively to go to the temple fair in Holtfelde.When the carriage pulled him away, all the people stood there and waved goodbye to him sadly.In order not to make people sad, Alfred opened his mouth wide and sang while laughing. The following is part of the lyrics he sang. "In the city of Exjoy on the plain of Lainai, The jig dancers sing. On the plains of Holtfield, So does every girl. Hari-Day, Haridarida, Hari-Day, Haridarita..." Later, I couldn't hear what Alfred sang, because Li Na burst into tears, and the carriage carried Alfred quickly and disappeared around the corner of the road.

Emil's mother tried her best to comfort Li Na, "Don't be sad, Li Na," she said, "Calm down, wait until July 8th. There is a temple fair on Holtfield Plain, and we will go to the temple fair and visit Al Fred." "I'm also going to visit the temple fair and Alfred." Amir said. "I'll go too." Little Ida said. Amir's mother shook her head, "This kind of temple is not good for children." She said, "You will just get lost in the crowd." "I think it's fun to get lost in the crowd," Emil said.But that statement didn't help either.

On the morning of July 8th, Emil's father and Emil's mother and Li Na left for Holtfelde to participate in the festival activities, leaving Emil and little Ida at the house of Karosa Maya and letting her look after them Well, Carosa Maya is an old lady who often comes to Carterholt Manor to help with this and that. Little Ida was an obedient child, and she immediately climbed onto Carosa Maya's lap and listened to her frightening ghost stories with satisfaction and joy. Emil was different. Holding the gun in his hand, he walked to the stable above the slope, muttering in anger.

"I can never agree to that," Emil said. "I'm going to Holtfelde too. I've made up my mind now, like everyone else. Do you understand, Yulan?" The last words were addressed to the old mare who was grazing in the pasture behind the stable.There is also a pony in the Carterholt Manor, named Marcos, who is now walking with Emil's father, Emil's mother, and Li Na on the way to Holterfold. "Hmph, only part of it can be played! However, I know that there are two people who can catch up with them soon," Amir said, "That's you and me, Yulan!"

And so it is.Emil puts the bridle on the mare and leads her out of the pasture. "Don't worry," Emil said to Yulan, "Alfred will be happy to see me, and you will surely find an old mare to sit and chat with, if you are tired and don't want to go to the market .” He led Youlan to the gate, because he needed something to step on to climb on the horseback. This kid really had a lot of tricks. "Now we can go," sang Emil. "Haritai, Hari, Harita! We bid farewell to Karosa Maya until we come home!" Youlan ran down the hill with Amir on his back.Amir sat bravely on the horseback with his chest upright, and put the wooden gun in front of him.Of course the gun is going to Holtfelde!Because if Alfred is going to be a soldier now and Emil is going to be a soldier, Alfred has a rifle and Emil has a rifle, it's pretty much the same.They are all soldiers.That's how it should be.Amir thought.

The mare, Youlan, is old, and she can't walk very fast.In order not to make it tired, Emil sang to it in his Smaelan dialect. "My horse walks well, Although a little timid. Run with me and the gun on your back, walks pretty well, There is a Pingchuan Avenue. " In this way, no matter how Yulan faltered, walked slowly or trotted, they finally reached the Holtfield Plain. "Yo!" Emil yelled, "Now we're going to the temple fair!" Then his eyes widened without saying a word.Although he also knew that there were many, many people in the world, he did not expect that they would all flock to the Holtfield Plain at once.He had never seen so many people before, thousands of them standing all over the plain.In an open space in the middle, soldiers are practicing movements such as putting guns on the shoulders, turning right and turning left.Emil was bewildered that a squat officer on horseback was giving orders to the soldiers angrily, and that they made him yell like this and follow his orders mechanically.

"Isn't Alfred here to command?" He asked a few farm boys nearby, but their eyes were fixed on the soldiers, and his question was ignored. Amir also likes to watch the soldiers practice putting their guns up and down, but he can't watch them endlessly!What he wanted now was to find Alfred first, because that was what he was here for.All the soldiers wore blue uniforms and looked similar.It was not easy to find Alfred among such a large group of people. "Oh, let's wait, Alfred will see me." Amir said to Yulan, "then he will come out to play with me. Let that angry little old man practice on his own!"

In order for Alfred to see him, Emil rode up to the soldiers and shouted loudly: "Alfred, where are you? Come out, we can go shopping! You see Is it me?" Of course Alfred saw Emil, and saw Emil riding on a mare with his hat on and his rifle in his hand.But Alfred stood in the middle of the soldiers and dared not come out, because the little squat little old man was shouting with a scowling face, and kept shouting. But the angry little old man came to Amir on horseback and said to him kindly: "What's the matter with you? My child. Did you get lost and you can't find your parents?"

That was the dumbest question Emil had heard in a long time. "I didn't get lost," Emil said. "I'm here! If anyone gets lost, it's Mom and Dad." He was indeed right.Emil's mother said that children would get lost in the Holtfeld market, but now she is crowded with Emil's father and Li Na in the most crowded place.No one could move, and they all felt as if they had lost their way. " They did see Emil, though, and they did see him on the old horse, with his hat on, and his wooden gun.Emily Papa says: "Together this time is enough for Emil to carve a new wooden figure." "Yes," said Emile's mother, "but how do we catch him?" This is really not easy to do.If you've ever been to one of these festivals on Holtfield Plain, you know how crowded it can be.Soldiers have finished their training and are leaving in a single file.The whole plain is even more impenetrable, and there are crowds everywhere.People can hardly find themselves, let alone Emil. Not only Amir's father and mother are looking for Amir, but Alfred is also looking for him.He's fine now, no more training.He wants to have a party with Amir and have a good time.But trying to find someone in a place like this is like looking for a needle in a haystack.Almost everyone is looking for someone, Alfred is looking for Amir, Amir is looking for Alfred, Amir's mother is looking for Amir, Li Na is looking for Alfred, Amir's father is looking for Amir's mother, Alas, she only ran away for a while, but it took Emil's father two full hours to find her. At that time, she was crowded tightly by several big men from Wernerby, and she was almost desperate. But Emil was not found by anyone, and of course, Emil was not found by anyone.At this time, he understood: If he wanted to go to the temple fair, he had to rely on himself.But before he started, he didn't have to give Yulan the company of an old good-natured mare, as he had promised. Emil searched and couldn't find a mare, but in the end he found Marcos, which was all the better.Marcos was hanging from a tree at the edge of the forest, standing there grazing.The old cart of the Carterhoult people was parked nearby, and Emil easily recognized it.Youlan was happy when he saw Marcos, you could tell.Amir tied it to the same tree and brought it some hay from the cart.At that time, there was always some fodder in the carriage, and Youlan immediately began to chew.Touching the scene, Emil felt a little hungry immediately. "But I don't want to eat grass," Emil said.Of course he didn't have to graze.There are many stalls on the plain where you can buy sandwiches, sausages, buns, and pastries.You can buy as much as you want, as long as you have the money. There's a lot of fun here and there for those who come for a swim, a circus, a dance hall, and a ride with a merry-go-round and lots of stuff in it.There was also a sword swallower who could swallow a sword, a fire eater who could eat fire, and a handsome bearded woman.She can't do anything but swallow a few buns and a few cups of coffee every hour, and of course she can't make money from this.But luckily she has a beard and can make money from exhibiting it, and she makes a lot of it. Everything on the Holtfold Plains costs money, and Emil has no money.But he's a kid with a lot of tricks, as I told you. Amir felt that he should watch as much as possible.He decided to start with the circus.Because this is the easiest, just climb on a wooden box behind the tent and look in through a hole in the tent.When a clown was jumping up and down in the tent and doing strange things, Emil laughed so hard that he fell off the box and hit a stone on the ground.At this moment he didn't want to watch any more, because he was hungry again, even more hungry than before. "If you don't have something to eat, you can't go to the temple fair." Amir said, "If you don't have money, you can't get food, so you have to think of a way." He noticed that money could be earned in many different ways on this plain.So he should find some way to earn some money to spend.He can't swallow sword or fire, and he doesn't have a beard, so what can he do? Amir stood there thinking hard.Suddenly, he saw a blind old man standing on a wooden box in the crowd, singing a sad little tune, which sounded very poor.But in this way, he can also make money!He put his hat on the ground next to it, and kind people threw a few coins into it from time to time. "I'll do that too," thought Emil, "and luckily I've got my hat on." He put his hat on the ground, and stood there singing to the few who would listen: "My mare's legs tremble..." Immediately the crowd gathered around. "Such a cute little guy," they said, "maybe he can be poor, or else he can stand here and sing?" At that time, many poor children had no food to eat.At this time, a kind aunt came over and asked Emil: "My little friend, have you eaten anything today?" "I just ate a little forage." Amir said. At this time, everyone felt sorry for him from the bottom of their hearts.A kind little farmer from Wernaby burst into tears at once.It made him very sad to see this poor, poor boy with the beautiful curly hair standing all alone. Everyone started throwing two-, five-, and ten-aurs into Emil's hat.The little good-hearted peasant also slowly took a two-orr coin out of his trouser pocket, but regretted it before throwing it out.He put the coin back into his pocket and whispered to Amir: "You can get more hay if you come with me to my wagon." But Amir is rich now.His hat is full of coins.He went and bought himself a pile of sandwiches, rolls, pastries, and juice. After he had swallowed all this, he spent four crowns and twenty oers on the merry-go-round.He had never sat on this thing before, and he really didn't know there was such a fun thing in the world.He was sitting on a wooden horse and flying around, the curly hair on his head fluttered in the wind and fluttered around his cheeks. "This time I can go to the temple fair." He thought, "There have been many interesting things in the past, but I have never had such a good time as today." Then he looked at the Sword Eater, the Fire Eater, and the Bearded Woman, and there were only two orr left. "I could sing a new song and refill my hat," thought Emil. "People here are kind." But now he felt tired, and he didn't want to sing any more, and he didn't want to ask for money anymore.He gave the old blind man the remaining two orr.So I wandered to find Alfred again. It would be wrong for Amir to think that all people are good people.There was indeed a ring guy among the people who came to Holtfield Plain that day.then.A dreadful thief, nicknamed "The Sparrow," roams the land.The whole province of Simaland was afraid of him.There are a lot of bad stories about him in the "Smauran Zeitung" and "Holterfold Post". Wherever there is a festival, fair or other event, as long as people and money are flowing, he Will always show up there and steal a steal.In order not to make people recognize him, every time he wears a different beard as a disguise.He was already in Holtfeld that day too, wearing a black sombrero and a short black beard.No one knew he was "Sparrow".Slipping around there, or everyone would be terrified. but.If Sparrow had been really cunning, he shouldn't have come to Holtfold Plain on the same day as Emil with his rifle, because guess what happened? Emil is still listlessly looking for Alfred.Then he passed the tent of the bearded woman, and saw through the crack of the door that she was sitting there counting the money.She probably wanted to count how much money she made from her beard on this lucky day.Possibly earning a lot, because she was stroking her beard with a smile on her face and looking smug.Then she saw Emil. "Come in! Boy," she said, "you can see my beard for free, because you're so cute." Of course Amir has seen her beard, but he is not willing to refuse invitations from others, and it doesn't cost money at all.He went into the tent with his rifle and hat to see the long beard, which cost twenty-five auer once. "How can you grow such a beautiful beard?" he asked politely.But the bearded woman didn't have time to answer, because at this moment a terrible voice sounded: "Give me all the money, or I'll pull all your beards off!" This is the "sparrow" who slipped into the tent when people weren't paying attention. The bearded woman's face suddenly turned pale except where the beard covered her.When the poor woman was about to hand over the money to "Sparrow".Emil whispered to her, "Here, my rifle!" The bearded woman took the gun that Amir handed to her.The light in the tent is quite dark, and people can't see very clearly.The bearded woman thought it was a real gun, a real gun that could shoot, and luckily Sparrow believed it too! "Hands up! Or we'll shoot!" shouted the bearded woman.This time it was time for "Sparrow" to turn pale, and he obediently raised his hands in the air, still trembling as he stood there.When the bearded woman called for the police, all Holtfeld heard. The police are here.The Sparrow has not been seen since then, in Holtfeld or elsewhere.Theft in Simaland has also disappeared.This is how it happened.For catching the "sparrow", the bearded woman received a lot of praise in the "Smaulin Daily" and "Holterfold Post".But no one has written about Emil and his "rifles," so it's time someone told the truth about what happened. "Fortunately, I brought both my hat and my rifle to Holtfelde Plain," said Emil when he saw the police walking towards the detention center with "Sparrow". "You're a smart boy," said the bearded woman, "so you can look at my beard for free. You can look at it for as long as you want." But Emile is tired.He didn't want to see any more beards, and he didn't want to wander around anywhere else, so he just wanted to sleep.Night had now fallen on the plain of Holtfelde.To think, a whole day had gone by and he hadn't found Alfred yet! Amir's father, Amir's mother, and Li Na were also tired. They searched and searched for Amir everywhere.Li Na looked for Alfred everywhere, and now she was too tired to continue looking. "Ouch, my feet!" cried Emil's mother, and Emil's father nodded angrily. "That's the beauty of this kind of festival," he said. "Come on, let's go back to Katterholt. There's nothing else to do here." As they spoke, they dragged their legs and walked towards the edge of the woods, trying to get into the carriage and go home.Then they saw Yulan and Marcos both hanging from the same tree, chewing hay in their mouths. Amir's mother started to cry, "Oh, where is my little Amir?" Li Na raised her neck and said, "He can't do anything but play tricks. This kid is such a naughty boy!" At this moment .They heard a man running this way, panting, it was Alfred. "Where's Amir?" he said, "I've been looking for him all day." "I don't care where he's gone." Li Na said as she climbed into the car, wanting to go home quickly.Guess what happened to her?She stepped on Amir's body. There was still some dry grass in the car, and Emil fell asleep lying on the grass.He woke up when Li Na stepped on him.He recognized who was running, and stood there panting in his blue uniform.He threw his arms around Alfred's neck and said, "It's you, Alfred," and he fell asleep again. Then the Catholts set off for home.Marcos was pulling the car, and Youlan was hanging behind the car, swaying and following.On the road Emil sometimes woke up and looked at the dark forest beside the road and the bright summer sky.He felt the smell of hay and horses and summer evening, heard the clatter of hoofs and the creak of vehicles, but he slept the rest of the way.He dreamed that Alfred would be coming home soon, back to Carterholt, back to Emil.In fact, Alfred is really coming back soon. This was the day on July 8th when Emil went to the temple fair on Holtfold Plain.Guess who else came to Amir that day, ask Carosa Maya!No, better not to ask.Because when you mentioned it she got a rash on her arm, itchy and intractable. *********** Now you have heard what Amir did on March 7th, May 22nd and June 10th, and July 8th.But there were many other days in the calendar on which he was naughty almost all the year round, especially the nineteenth of August, the eleventh of October, and the third of November.Hahaha, I can't help laughing when I think about what he did on November 3rd.But I can't tell, because I have promised Emil's mother.However, after suffering that hardship, the people of Lenabelya began to collect donations.They felt sorry for such a rascal in the Asvensson family in Katterholt, so they each gave fifty oles in a pouch to Mama Emil. "This may be used by you to send Amir to America," they said.That's all right, sending Emil to America... But who's going to be the chairman of the municipal council, I mean until then. Fortunately, Emil's mother didn't accept their stupid proposition.In a fit of rage, she slammed the bag and the coins rolled all over Renébelia. "Emil is a sweet little guy!" she said, "We like him just the way he is!" But she was also a little worried about Amir.That's what moms often do when someone comes to complain about their kids.At night when Emil lies in bed with his hat on and his rifle on.She came in and sat on the edge of the bed for a while. "Emile," she said, "you're growing up and going to school soon. How can you be such a little naughty little prankster?" Emile lay there, with round blue eyes and curly blond hair, she looked like a cherub. "Harry, Harry, Harry," he hummed.Because that's what he didn't like to hear the most. "Emile!" Mom said sternly, "What do you want to do when you go to school?" "Okay," Emil said, "I'll probably stop being naughty, . . . when I go to school, I think." Emil's mother breathed a sigh of relief, "Okay, that's what we hope." She said and walked towards the door.At this time, Emil leaned her head on the bed frame, and said with a smile like a little angel: "But maybe." ①Temple fair: Similar to the earlier temple fairs in my country, once a year, but without religious overtones.