FOREST GNOME

There was once a boy named Niels in the small Swedish village of Westmenheg. It looks like a boy like a boy.

And there was no sweetness with him.

In class, he counted crows and caught deuces, ravaged birds' nests in the forest, teased geese in the yard, chased chickens, threw stones at cows, and pulled the cat by the tail, as if the tail was a rope from a doorbell.

So he lived until he was twelve years old. And then an extraordinary incident happened to him.

Here's how it went.

One Sunday mother and father gathered at a fair in a neighboring village. Nils couldn't wait for them to leave.

"We would rather go!" Thought Niels, glancing at his father's gun, which was hanging on the wall. "The boys will burst with envy when they see me with the gun."

But his father seemed to have guessed his thoughts.

Look, not a step out of the house! - he said. - Open the textbook and grab your mind. Do you hear?

I hear, - answered Niels, and thought to himself: "So I will start to spend Sunday afternoon on lessons!"

Study, son, study, - said the mother.

She even took a textbook off the shelf herself, put it on the table and pulled up a chair.

And the father counted out ten pages and ordered strictly:

To know everything by heart by our return. I'll check it myself.

Finally, the father and mother left.

"It's good for them, look how merrily they walk!" Nils sighed heavily. "And I definitely fell into a mousetrap with these lessons!"

Well, what can you do! Niels knew that jokes with his father were bad. He sighed again and sat down at the table. True, he was looking not so much at the book as at the window. It was much more interesting!

It was still March according to the calendar, but here, in the south of Sweden, spring had already managed to out-compete winter. Water ran merrily in the ditches. The buds were swollen on the trees. The beech forest straightened the branches, which were numb in winter cold, and now he was reaching up, as if he wanted to reach the blue spring sky.

And under the very window, chickens strolled about with an air of importance, sparrows jumped and fought, geese splashed in the muddy puddles. Even the cows, locked in the barn, smelled spring and bellowed at all voices, as if asking: "You-let us go, you-let us go!"

Niels also wanted to sing, and shout, and spank in puddles, and fight with the neighboring boys. He turned away from the window in annoyance and stared at the book. But he hadn't read much. For some reason, the letters began to jump before my eyes, the lines sometimes merged, then scattered ... Nils himself did not notice how he fell asleep.

Who knows, maybe Niels would have slept all day if he had not been awakened by some rustle.

Nils raised his head and became alert.

The mirror that hung over the table reflected the entire room. There is no one but Niels in the room ... Everything seems to be in its place, everything is in order ...

And suddenly Nils almost screamed. Someone has opened the lid of the chest!

Mother kept all her jewelry in the chest. There were the outfits she had worn in her youth — wide skirts made of homespun peasant cloth, bodices embroidered with colored beads; snow-white starched caps, silver buckles and chains.

Mother did not allow anyone to open the chest without her, and she did not let Niels get close to him. And there's nothing to say about the fact that she could leave home without locking the chest! This has never happened. And even today - Niels remembered this very well - his mother came back from the doorway twice to pull the lock - did it click well?

Who opened the chest?

Maybe, while Nils was sleeping, a thief got into the house and now he is hiding somewhere here, behind the door or behind the closet?

Nils held his breath and, without blinking, peered into the mirror.

What is that shadow there in the corner of the chest? Here she moved ... Here she crawled along the edge ... A mouse? No, it doesn't look like a mouse ...

Nils couldn't believe his eyes. A small man was sitting at the edge of the chest. He seemed to have stepped out of the Sunday calendar picture. On the head is a wide-brimmed hat, a black caftan is decorated with a lace collar and cuffs, stockings at the knees are tied with lush bows, and silver buckles gleam on red morocco shoes.

"Why, it's a gnome!" Nils guessed. "A real gnome!"

Mother often told Niels about the gnomes. They live in the forest. They know how to speak human, bird, and beastly. They know about all the treasures that were buried in the ground even a hundred, even a thousand years ago. If the gnomes want it, the flowers will bloom in the snow in winter; if they want it, the rivers will freeze in the summer.

Well, there is nothing to be afraid of a gnome. What bad thing can such a tiny creature do!

Moreover, the dwarf paid no attention to Niels.

» » Niels's Wonderful Journey with Wild Geese (second option)

In the small Swedish village of Westmenhög, there lived a boy named Nils. It looks like a boy like a boy. And there was no sweetness with him. In class, he counted crows and caught deuces, ravaged birds' nests in the forest, teased geese, chased chickens, and threw stones at cows. So he lived until he was twelve years old. And then an extraordinary incident happened to him. Here is how it was. Niels was at home alone. It was Sunday afternoon, and father and mother went to a neighboring village for the fair. Niels was also going with them. He even donned his festive plaid shirt with large plaque pearl buttons and new leather pants. But this time he failed to flaunt his outfit.
As luck would have it, my father decided to check his school diary just before leaving. The marks were no worse than last week - even, perhaps, better: three twos and one one. Will you please your father?
Father ordered Niels to stay at home and study his lessons.
Of course, you could not have obeyed, but my father recently bought a wide, hard belt with a heavy copper buckle and promised to update it on Niels's back at the first opportunity. What can you do!
Nils sat down at the table, opened the book and ... began to look out the window.
The snow, warmed by the March sun, has already melted.
Throughout the courtyard, muddy streams ran merrily, spilling into wide lakes.
Chickens and roosters, raising their paws high, carefully avoided the puddles, and the geese boldly climbed into the cold water and floundered in it and splashed, so that the spray flew in all directions, Nils himself would not mind to spank on the water, if not for these unfortunate lessons.
He sighed heavily and stared at the textbook in annoyance.
But suddenly the door creaked, and a large fluffy cat slipped into the room. Niels was very happy with him. He even forgot about all the abrasions and scratches that remained in his memory of their last battle.
“Moore-moor-moor!” Called Nils to the cat.
Seeing Niels, the cat arched its back with a hump and backed away to the door - he knew well who he was dealing with. And his memory was not so short. After all, not even three days had passed when Nils burned his mustache with a match.
- Well, go, go, my cat, go, cat! Let's play a little, - Nils persuaded him.
He leaned over the arm of the chair and lightly tickled the cat behind the ear.
It was very pleasant: the cat immediately softened, purred and began to rub against Niels's leg.
And Nils was just waiting for that.
Once! - and the cat hung on its own tail.
- Mya-ah-ah! - shrilly yelled the cat.
- Ay-ay-ay! - Nils shouted even louder and threw the cat away: having twisted in the air, the cat still managed to stroke Nils with its claws.
That was the end of their game.
The cat ran away, and Niels again buried himself in the book.
But he didn't read much. For some reason, the letters began to jump before my eyes, the lines sometimes merged, then scattered ... Nils himself did not notice how he fell asleep.

Nils did not sleep long - he was awakened by a rustle.
Nils raised his head. The mirror that hung over the table reflected the entire room.
Stretching his neck, Niels began to peer intently into the mirror.
There was no one in the room.
And suddenly Nils saw that the chest in which his mother kept her party dresses, for some reason is open.
Nils was frightened. Maybe, while he was sleeping, a thief got into the room and is now hiding somewhere here, behind a chest or closet?
Nils cringed and held his breath.
And then a shadow flashed in the mirror. It flashed once more. More…
Someone was crawling slowly and carefully along the edge of the chest.
Mouse? No, not a mouse.
Nils gazed directly into the mirror.
What a miracle! At the edge of the chest, he clearly made out the little man. This little man had a pointed cap on his head, a long-brimmed caftan reached the very heels, and on his feet were red morocco boots with silver buckles.
Why, it's a gnome! A real gnome!
Mother often told Niels about the gnomes. They live in the forest. They know how to speak human, bird, and beastly. They know about all the treasures that lie in the ground. If the gnomes want, the flowers will bloom in the snow in winter; if they want, the rivers will freeze in the summer.
But why did the dwarf get in here? What is he looking for in their chest?
- Come on, wait! Here I am you now, - whispered Nils and pulled the butterfly net from the nail.

One swing - and the dwarf huddled in the net like a captured dragonfly. His cap slid over his nose, his legs tangled in a wide caftan. He floundered helplessly and waved his arms, trying to grab the net. But as soon as he managed to get up, Nils shook the net, and the dwarf again fell down.
- Listen, Nils, - the dwarf finally begged, let me go free! For this I will give you a gold coin, as big as a button on your shirt.
Niels thought for a moment.
“Well, that’s probably not bad,” he said, and stopped swinging the net.
Clinging to a rare cloth, the gnome deftly climbed up. Now he has already grabbed the iron hoop, and his cap appeared over the edge of the net ...
Then it occurred to Niels that he had made a bargain. In addition to the gold coin, the dwarf could be required to teach lessons for him. But you never know what else you can think of! The dwarf will now agree to anything! When you sit in a net, you won't bargain.
And Niels shook the net again.

There was once a boy named Niels in the small Swedish village of Westmenheg. It looks like a boy like a boy.

And there was no sweetness with him.

In class, he counted crows and caught deuces, ravaged birds' nests in the forest, teased geese in the yard, chased chickens, threw stones at cows, and pulled the cat by the tail, as if the tail was a rope from a doorbell.

So he lived until he was twelve years old. And then an extraordinary incident happened to him.

Here's how it went.

One Sunday mother and father gathered at a fair in a neighboring village. Nils couldn't wait for them to leave.

“We would rather go! - thought Nils, glancing at his father's gun, which was hanging on the wall. "The boys will burst with envy when they see me with a gun."

But his father seemed to have guessed his thoughts.

- Look, not a step out of the house! - he said. - Open the textbook and grab your mind. Do you hear?

- I hear, - answered Niels, and thought to himself: "So I will start to spend Sunday afternoon at homework!"

“Learn, sonny, learn,” said the mother.

She even took a textbook off the shelf herself, put it on the table and pulled up a chair.

And the father counted out ten pages and ordered strictly:

- To know everything by heart by our return. I'll check it myself.

Finally, the father and mother left.

“It’s good for them, how merrily they walk! Nils sighed heavily. - And I definitely fell into a mousetrap with these lessons! "

Well, what can you do! Niels knew that jokes with his father were bad. He sighed again and sat down at the table. True, he was looking not so much at the book as at the window. It was much more interesting!

It was still March according to the calendar, but here, in the south of Sweden, spring had already managed to out-compete winter. Water ran merrily in the ditches. The buds were swollen on the trees. The beech forest spread its branches, stiff in the winter cold, and now stretched upward, as if it wanted to reach the blue spring sky.

And under the very window, chickens strolled about with an air of importance, sparrows jumped and fought, geese splashed in the muddy puddles. Even the cows, locked in the barn, smelled spring and bellowed at all voices, as if asking: "You-let us go, you-let us go!"

Niels also wanted to sing, and shout, and spank in puddles, and fight with the neighboring boys. He turned away from the window in annoyance and stared at the book. But he hadn't read much. For some reason, the letters began to jump before my eyes, the lines sometimes merged, then scattered ... Nils himself did not notice how he fell asleep.

Who knows, maybe Niels would have slept all day if he had not been awakened by some rustle.

Nils raised his head and became alert.

The mirror that hung over the table reflected the entire room. There is no one but Niels in the room ... Everything seems to be in its place, everything is in order ...

And suddenly Nils almost screamed. Someone has opened the lid of the chest!

Mother kept all her jewelry in the chest. There were the outfits she had worn in her youth — wide skirts made of homespun peasant cloth, bodices embroidered with colored beads; snow-white starched caps, silver buckles and chains.

Mother did not allow anyone to open the chest without her, and she did not let Niels get close to him. And there's nothing to say about the fact that she could leave home without locking the chest! This has never happened. And even today - Niels remembered this very well - his mother came back from the doorway twice to pull the lock - did it click well?

Who opened the chest?

Maybe, while Nils was sleeping, a thief got into the house and now he is hiding somewhere here, behind the door or behind the closet?

Nils held his breath and, without blinking, peered into the mirror.

What is that shadow there in the corner of the chest? Here she moved ... Here she crawled along the edge ... A mouse? No, it doesn't look like a mouse ...

Nils couldn't believe his eyes. A small man was sitting at the edge of the chest. He seemed to have stepped out of the Sunday calendar picture. On the head is a wide-brimmed hat, a black caftan is decorated with a lace collar and cuffs, stockings at the knees are tied with lush bows, and silver buckles gleam on red morocco shoes.

“Why, this is a dwarf! - guessed Nils. "A real gnome!"

Mother often told Niels about the gnomes. They live in the forest. They know how to speak human, bird, and beastly. They know about all the treasures that were buried in the ground even a hundred, even a thousand years ago. If the gnomes want it, the flowers will bloom in the snow in winter; if they want it, the rivers will freeze in the summer.

Well, there is nothing to be afraid of a gnome. What bad thing can such a tiny creature do!

Moreover, the dwarf paid no attention to Niels. He didn’t seem to see anything except a velvet sleeveless jacket embroidered with small river pearls that lay in the chest at the very top.

While the gnome was admiring the intricate old pattern, Nils was already wondering what trick to play with the amazing guest.

It would be nice to push him into the chest and then slam the lid. And you can also do this ...

Without turning his head, Nils looked around the room. In the mirror, she was all in front of him at a glance. A coffee pot, a kettle, bowls, pots were lined up on the shelves in a strict order ... By the window - a chest of drawers, filled with all sorts of things ... But on the wall - next to his father's gun - a net for catching flies. Just what you need!

Niels carefully slid to the floor and pulled the net off the nail.

One swing - and the dwarf huddled in the net like a captured dragonfly.

His wide-brimmed hat had strayed to one side, his legs tangled in the hem of his caftan. He floundered at the bottom of the net and waved his arms helplessly. But as soon as he managed to get up a little, Nils shaking the net, and the dwarf again fell down.

“Listen, Nils,” the dwarf finally begged, “let me go free! For this I will give you a gold coin, as big as a button on your shirt.

Niels thought for a moment.

“Well, that’s probably not bad,” he said, and stopped swinging the net.

Clinging to a sparse fabric, the gnome deftly climbed upward, He already grabbed the iron hoop, and his head appeared over the edge of the net ...

Then it occurred to Niels that he had made a bargain. In addition to the gold coin, the dwarf could be required to teach lessons for him. But you never know what else you can think of! The dwarf will now agree to anything! When you are sitting in a net, you will not argue.

And Niels shook the net again.

But then suddenly someone gave him such a slap that the net fell out of his hands, and he himself rolled head over heels into the corner.

Nils lay motionless for a minute, then, groaning and groaning, stood up.

The gnome was gone. The chest was closed, and the net hung in its place - next to his father's gun.

“Did I dream of all this, or what? Thought Nils. - No, the right cheek is on fire, as if it had been touched with an iron. It was the gnome who whacked me so! Of course, mother and father will not believe that the dwarf visited us. They will say - all your inventions, so as not to teach lessons. No, no matter how you turn it, you have to sit down at the book again! "

Niels took two steps and stopped. Something happened to the room. The walls of their little house parted, the ceiling went high up, and the chair, on which Nils always sat, towered over him as an impregnable mountain. To climb it, Niels had to climb a twisted leg, like a gnarled oak trunk. The book was still on the table, but it was so huge that at the top of the page Niels could not make out a single letter. He lay down on his stomach on the book and crawled from line to line, from word to word. He was exhausted as he read one phrase.

- But what is it? So you won't get to the end of the page by tomorrow either! - Nils exclaimed and wiped sweat from his forehead with his sleeve.

And suddenly he saw that a tiny man was looking at him from the mirror - exactly the same as the dwarf who was caught in his net. Only dressed differently: in leather pants, a vest and a plaid shirt with large buttons.

The sun has already set. Its last rays were extinguished at the edges of the clouds. Evening darkness deepened over the ground. The pack of Akki Kebnekaise was caught by twilight on the way.

The geese are tired. With their last strength, they flapped their wings. And old Akka seemed to have forgotten about rest and flew farther and farther.

Niels peered anxiously into the darkness.

"Did Akka decide to fly all night?"

The sea has already appeared. It was as dark as the sky. Only the crests of the waves, running against each other, glittered with white foam. And among the waves, Niels made out some strange boulders, huge, black.

It was a whole island of stones.

Where do these stones come from?

Who sketched them here?

Niels remembered how his father told him about one terrible giant. This giant lived in the mountains high above the sea. He was old and often found it difficult to descend the steep slopes. Therefore, when he wanted to catch a fore-li, he broke out whole rocks and threw them into the sea. The trout were so frightened that they jumped out of the water in whole flocks. And then the giant went down to the shore to pick up his catch.

Maybe these boulders that stick out of the waves, and the giant sketched.

But why do fiery points sparkle in the gaps between the boulders? What if these are the eyes of lurking beasts? Yes, of course! Hungry animals prowl around the island, looking for their prey. They must have noticed the geese, too, and can't wait for the flock to descend on these stones.

So the giant is standing on the highest place, with his arms raised above his head. Isn't that the one who loved to feast on trout? Perhaps he is also afraid among wild animals. Maybe he's calling the pack for help - that's why he raised his hands?

And from the bottom of the sea some monsters climb to the island. Some are thin, sharp-nosed, others are thick, side-stumped. And they all huddled together, almost crushing each other.

"Hurry to fly by!" thought Nils.

And just at this time Akka Kebnekaise led the flock down.

Do not! Do not! Here we will all be lost! - shouted Nils.

But Akka didn't seem to hear him. She led the pack straight to the stone island.

And suddenly, as if by a wave magic wand, everything around has changed. Huge boulders have turned into ordinary houses. The eyes of the beasts became street lamps and lighted windows. And the monsters that besieged the coast of the island were simply ships docked at the pier.

Niels even laughed. How could he not have immediately guessed that below them there was a city. After all, this is Karlskrona! City of ships! Here ships rest after long voyages, here they are built, here they are repaired.

The geese sank directly onto the giant's shoulders with their hands up. It was a town hall with two high towers.

At other times, Akka Kebnekaise would never have stopped for the night right next to people. But that evening she had no choice - the geese could barely stay on their wings.

However, the roof of the town hall turned out to be a very convenient place to sleep. A wide and deep groove ran along the edge of it. In it, one could perfectly hide from prying eyes and drink water, which was preserved from the recent rain. One thing is bad - grass does not grow on city roofs and water beetles are not found.

And yet the geese did not remain completely hungry. Between the tiles that covered the roof, a few bread crusts were stuck - the remnants of a feast of either pigeons or sparrows. For real geese, this, of course, is not food, but, at worst, you can eat dry bread.

But Niels dined well.

Bread crusts, dried by the wind and the sun, tasted even better to him than the rusks for which his mother was famous throughout Westmanhogg.

True, instead of sugar, they were thickly sprinkled with gray city dust, but this is not a big problem.

Niels deftly scraped off the dust with his knife and, chopping the crust into small pieces, gnawed at the dry bread with pleasure.

While he worked on one crust, the geese had time to eat and drink and get ready for bed. They stretched out in a chain along the bottom of the gutter - tail to beak, beak to tail - then at once bent their heads under their wings and fell asleep.

And Niels did not want to sleep. He climbed onto Martin's back and, leaning over the edge of the gutter, began to look down. After all, this was the first city that he had seen so close since the time he was flying with a flock of goose.

The time was late. People have long gone to bed. Only from time to time a belated passer-by ran hastily, and his footsteps echoed in the quiet, still air. Nils watched every passer-by for a long time, until he disappeared somewhere around the bend.

"Now he will probably come home," thought Niels sadly. "Happy! If only with one eye to see how people live! .. You yourself won't have to ... "

Martin, and Martin, are you sleeping? - Nils called his comrade.

I’m sleeping, - said Martin. - And you sleep too.

Martin, you wait to sleep. I have business with you.

What else?

Listen, Martin, - whispered Nils, - take me down to the street. I will walk a little bit, and you will sleep well and then you will come for me. I so want to walk the streets. How all people walk.

Here's another! Only me and worries to fly up and down! And Martin resolutely put his head under the wing.

Martin, don't sleep! Listen to what I tell you. After all, if you were ever human, you would also want to see real people.

Martin felt sorry for Niels. He stuck his head out from under the wing and said:

Okay, be it your way. Just remember my advice: look at people, but don't show yourself in their eyes. Otherwise, there would not have been any trouble.

Don't worry! Not a single mouse will see me, - said Nils cheerfully and even danced on Martin's back with joy.

Hush, hush, you will break all my feathers! - Martin grunted, spreading his tired wings.

A minute later, Niels was on the ground.

Don't go far! - Martin shouted to him and flew upstairs to fill up the rest of the night.

I had to get to know the little shorty Niels Holgersson and his goose squadron three times. In the sense - to meet again. The first acquaintance, of course, was the wonderful 1955 Soviet cartoon "The Enchanted Boy".

The next in line was the translation of the tale, or rather - not a translation, but a free retelling, made by Z. Zadunaiskaya and A. Lyubarskaya. About how free he is, I learned, already as an adult, when I finally got into my hands full version books translated by L. Braude. The question immediately arose: how many children we have who are able to master this version, where at every step we have to wade through detailed descriptions Swedish provinces, local realities and natural sketches? Why is the favorite fairy tale of Swedish children so heavy for our children? The reasons for this are directly related to the history of the creation of the book ...

The teacher becomes a writer

The dream of becoming a writer haunted the Swedish girl Selma Ottilia Luvis Lagerlöf (b. 20.11.1858) from the age of seven. The development of her violent imagination was facilitated by circumstances that were not of the most pleasant nature. From the age of 3, Selma became 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, quite comparable to a fabulous one. At the age of nine, she is sent to Stockholm for treatment. And the metropolitan doctors manage to do the impossible - the girl began to walk again, although she was limping until the end of her life.

Writing is notoriously unreliable, so Selma graduated from a teacher training school and began working at a girls' school in Landskrona. In 1885, grief overtook her again - and not one, but two. Died, beloved, father, and the family estate of the Lagerlöf family - Morbakka - was immediately sold for debts.

Oddly enough, it was a childhood dream that helped the teacher to improve her financial well-being. In 1891 she took part in a literary competition and wrote the novel The Saga of Jöst Berlig. The romantic work sounded so fresh against the background of the dominance of the realistic style that "Saga" quickly won the love of readers and rave praise from critics. Already five years later, Selma felt wealthy enough to quit teaching and devote herself entirely to creativity. However, she was tormented by doubts.

Selma Lagerlöf:
“I moved forward too quickly. I don’t know if I’ll be able to keep my place in literature, let alone go further. ”

However, the real triumph of the writer was still ahead ...

The textbook becomes a fairy tale

“… Suddenly the boy clearly saw his school. …he,
Niels, stands at the geographic map and must answer
some questions about Bleking. Time passes, but he is silent.
The teacher's face darkens. For some reason he would like
the students knew geography better than any other subject. "
(S. Lagerlöf "The Amazing Journey of Niels ...")

At the beginning of the twentieth century, the head of the General Union of Teachers of Popular Schools - Alfred Dalin - initiated a bold pedagogical experiment. He thought: what if you create 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. Unsurprisingly, Selma Lagerlöf was among the first applicants to pursue this difficult idea. She was both a teacher and a writer in one bottle, so she immediately refused co-authors.

Selma Lagerlef:
“If I take on some kind of work, then I must feel the full extent of responsibility for it.
… In my mind, I asked myself the question: what should a child know first of all, what should a fresh, vivid idea about? And the answer, of course, was obvious: the first thing that kids should learn is their own country. "

In short, the writer took up a textbook on Swedish geography. However, she did not refuse outside help. The same Alfred Dalin sent out questionnaires to different parts of Sweden in order to get interesting local material on ethnography and folklore. Work on the book began in 1904, and at first it was difficult to progress.

From letters from Lagerlöf to Dalin:
“Until now, the work on the textbook has convinced me, perhaps, only of how little we know about our country; but perhaps I should have said how little I know about her. I read what I have 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 the wisdom about our country into these little heads. Perhaps the old legends will help us ... ”.

The material accumulated, but Selma did not want the book to appear in the form of scattered fragments. She needed a binder story line, on which, like a thread, it would be possible to string geographic information and local legends. In search of inspiration, the writer personally travels around Sweden - she visits the provinces of Småland, Blöcking, Norrland and even goes down to the mine of the Falun mine.
On her tour, she could not pass by the beautiful province of Wörmland, where her native and lost Morbakka was located.

Selma Lagerlöf:
“There is something extraordinary in the air of Morbacca. Energy is born here, but it disappears, it is worth going out into the big world. And in Morbakk it lies like a field under fallow. "

According to the writer herself, it was during her visit to Morbacca that she had an insight. Suddenly, it seemed to her that she saw a tiny boy, which the owl was trying to grab. Later, this "story" will go straight into the 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 plaintively; then she hastened to intervene and separated the fighting. The owl flew up a tree, and the baby remained on the path, not even trying to hide or run away.
… - Show you where to spend the night? Aren't you from here?
“Yeah, you thought I was from a small people,” said the short man. - But I am the same person as you, even though I was bewitched by the brownie! ”.

The second starting point of the plot was a real memory of an amazing incident that happened in Morbakk of her childhood. Once a white domestic goose escaped from the Lagerlöf estate together with a flock of wild geese, and after a while returned ... with a goose and a brood of goslings!

A still from the movie "The Enchanted Boy" (1955).

And, finally, the last - decisive - influence on the plot of the tale was exerted by the works of Kipling with his talking animals.

From a letter from Lagerlöf to Dalin:
“Among all my searches and attempts to make descriptions of hills and marshes, shores and mountains attractive to nine-year-old children, I came up with animalistic books by the English writer Kipling. ... it was his example that seduced me to try, by placing animals in a landscape, to revive it. "

Thus the long-awaited central plot thread was born. The boy, turned into a lilliputian by a brownie, makes a dizzying journey on the back of Morten's domestic goose with a wild goose flock across Sweden. He observes different provinces, cities, villages, factories, gets to know the locals 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 the 1947 Niels route at the Morbakk Memorial Museum: /

However, Niels' journey is not just a gamble. 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 free from captivity the eternal enemy of the goose flock - the fox Smirra. No wonder in one of the questionnaires to the question "What is your favorite virtue?" the Christian Lagerlöf replied: "Mercy."

Rice. - B. Diodorov.

The writer is not only interested in people. A huge number of pages in the book are devoted to the nature of Sweden. Not only animals speak 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 encroachments.

Selma Lagerlöf "Niels's Wonderful Journey ...":
“If you have learned something good from us, Shorty Kid, then you may not think that people should own everything on earth,” said the leader goose. - Think, you people have such large lands, so much land! Can't you leave a few bare skerries, a few shallow lakes, bog bogs, a few deserted rocks and remote forests for us, so that we, poor birds and animals, live there in peace and quiet! "

Rice. - V. Kupriyanov.

On November 24, 1906, the first volume of Niels Holgersson's Amazing Journey with Wild Geese in Sweden appeared on store shelves. A year later, the second arrived. The country was just undergoing a spelling reform, and the book became one of the first works published according to the new vocabulary rules.

I must say right away that not all Swedish critics were delighted with the 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 too poor, and the province of Holland was only mentioned at all. There was a grain of truth in this - for a full-fledged school textbook "Nils" was not very suitable. Rather, it was a wonderful supplementary reading.

Rice. John Bauer from the 1906 edition

However, most Swedish readers did not bother with the scientific intricacies and loved the book with all their hearts. The Swedish poet Karl Snoilski enthusiastically wrote that this tale inspired "Life and colors in the dry desert sand of a school lesson"... He was echoed by the Swedish explorer Nils Afzelius: "Instead of writing a handbook for university students, she gave children an incentive to learn.".

Selma Lagerlef:
“I think and hope that fairy tales will make the child interested in the true state of affairs. ... As long as the children have fun reading this book, it will win. "

After "Niels", the fame of Selma Lagerlöf first acquired a national and then a worldwide scope. In 1909, the writer becomes the first female Nobel laureate in literature, which she was awarded as "as a tribute to the high idealism, vivid imagination and spiritual insight that distinguish all of her works." In 1914, Lagerlöf again became the first - the first female member of the Swedish Academy.

Selma Lagerlöf in 1906

Having received the award, Selma immediately redeems her native estate Morbakku, where she lives until the end of her days (she died on March 16, 1940). After the death of the writer, Morbakka turns into a museum, Niels 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 kronor banknote.

Nils becomes Russian

“... in Sweden, in 1969, I wanted to translate Selma's book
Lagerlöf on Nils Holgersson. However, it turned out to be completely
not easy and it took almost 7 years of hard work.
I had, like the writer herself, to study geography,
geology and folklore of Sweden, zoology and botany ”.
(L. Braude, from the preface to the 1982 translation of Niels)

Nils "scattered" all over the world. He looked into Soviet Union... Interestingly, in our culture, there are at least three "Niels", and they are all very different.

Although the first Russian translation of the tale was made by Lyudmila Khavkina back in 1908, it came out not very successful and did not gain success among readers. Really, "Niels" became our own for us only in the Soviet era. At the same time, the attitude towards Lagerlöf herself in the USSR for some time was ambiguous. On the one hand, the writer was a conscientious anti-fascist. Just before her death, she managed to help the persecuted by the regime, the poetess Nelly Sachs to 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 Karl Larsson. 1908 g.

Nevertheless, this did not prevent Z. Zadunaiskaya and A. Lyubarskaya from releasing in 1940 their own version of the fairy tale entitled "The Wonderful Journey of Niels with Wild Geese." True, the translators treated the original very freely.
The volume of the book was shrunk 6 times - instead of 55 chapters, only 17 remained. The reduction was due to the rejection of most of the geographical descriptions and ethnographic details. Gone are the many side legends and stories that Lagerlöf painstakingly stringed onto the main plot thread.
As a result, the very spirit of the tale has changed. Lyrics disappeared from it, the personal attitude of the writer to what was happening disappeared. A landscape painted in watercolors turned into bright pictures... Only the central adventure plot remained - and that one, considerably shortened and rewritten.

The first edition of the retelling by Z. Zadunaiskaya and A. Lyubarskaya.

But this "Niels" immediately gained immense popularity, and is still among 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 have already learned about Niels.
I still remember the line of rats walking after Niels's pipe, and the heavy tread of the king's statue, which terrified me (I did not know about Pushkin's "Bronze Horseman" and "The Stone Guest" then). And, of course, the exclamation immediately entered our lexicon: "You are still a tough old man, Rosenbaum!".

Needless to say, the plot of the cartoon was further reduced and changed (just remember the credits “And nothing special happened in Lapland either”). The animators also took pleasure in over the images of the heroes. So, the artists gave the leader of the rats the features and habits of Hitler, and the statues of the king and Rosenbohm acquired outward resemblance with the actors voicing them - Alexei Konovalov and Georgy Vitsin.

Speech of the leader of the rats from mf:
“My brave warriors! I brought you here, and I will lead you on! We have taken possession of the basement of Glimmingen Castle, we have taken possession of the grain, which will be enough for us for a lifetime! But this is not enough! The whole castle must belong to us !!! And most importantly - we will tear to pieces bats - these pitiful traitors who have the nerve to call themselves mice! "

In 1958, the USSR already organized a whole evening dedicated to the 100th anniversary of the writer. But the complete translation of her fairy tale had to wait a long time.
It came out only in 1982 through the efforts of a specialist in Scandinavian literature and a champion of adequate translations - Lydia Braude. 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 tablets with little-known names - the Uppsala university town, the Skåne province, the island of Gotland, the Karl Linnaeus Botanical Garden, etc. We learn that the goose's name is not Martin, but Morten, and the name of the goose-leader - Kebnekaise - is the name of the highest mountain in Sweden.

Edition 1982 in per. L. Braude.

Naturally, a complete translation is extremely important for understanding what Lagerlöf wanted to convey to the reader. But I'm 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, is of little interest.

To better understand the differences between the versions of "Niels", let's take a few scenes that are present in the original, and in the retelling, and in the cartoon.

1) TIE

In the original, Niels' 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 Niels teaches the usual lessons.
The brownie who bewitched the boy becomes, in the retelling, a more familiar gnome. If in the books, he diminishes Niels arbitrarily, punishing him for greed, then in Mf Niels himself makes a mistake, declaring that he wants to become like a dwarf. Of course, the boy had magical abilities in mind, but the dwarf fulfilled his wish in his own way.

A still from the movie "The Enchanted Boy" (1955).

2) expulsion of rats

I think it's not a secret for anyone that the expulsion of rats from the Glimmingen castle with the help of a magic pipe is a variation on the German theme, which saved the city of Gammeln from rats, and when they refused to pay him, he took all the children of Gammeln away from the city.

Stills from the movie "The Enchanted Boy" (1955).

Unlike the magic pipe, Glimmengeus Castle is not a figment of fantasy. This unsightly gloomy building with thick walls at first belonged to the Danes, and then was conquered by the Swedes - along with the entire province of Skane, where Niels was from.

Real castle Glimmengeus.

In retelling and mf history with a pipe it 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 (alien invaders). Therefore, in fact, Niels is on the side of some rats against the second. His goal is not to kill the gray rats, but to take them away from the castle so that the black rats can return and defend their refuge. By the way, gray rats really came to Europe from Asia only in the Middle Ages and pretty much pressed the black variety that prevailed before.

3) TWO STATUES

The port city where Niels met with two animated statues is called Karlskrona (Swedish for "Karl's Crown"). 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 - this is exactly what Nils teases so thoughtlessly.
The second character - a wooden statue of Old Man Rosenboom (Rosenbom) - is also not invented by the writer. She depicts an old boatswain and actually stands at the Admiral's Church (the oldest wooden church in Sweden). True, the old statue, due to wear and tear (after all, the tree) was replaced with a new one after a while. A hole for coins has been cut in Rosenbaum's hat, and the statue acts as a kind of begging mug. V mf church is not mentioned, and the boatswain is at the inn.

Real monuments to Karl and Rosenboom 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 smash the statue of Rosenbohm in a rage with his cane (they decided to remind the Soviet children once again about the cruelty of the monarchs). However, in M.F. Rosenbaum was spared, and the king fled because at exactly three o'clock he must return to his pedestal.

Rosenbaum and the King from the 1955 cartoon

4) RELEASE

The retelling of the story with the removal of the spell was no less varied. In the original, Niels learns that it can be removed if someone else wants to become as small as he is. However, the boy will not want to use this method (by deceiving people at their word), and the spell at the end of the book falls off by itself - as a reward for good deeds.
In the 1940 retelling, Niels still uses a spell in relation to a goose that does not want to become an adult (for some reason, the translators decided that leaving the goose small was not such a bad thing).
In m-f everything is brought to more traditional fairy-tale motives. The dwarf sets several conditions for Niels - "when the castle will be saved by a pipe, when the king takes off his hat." Well, and the last condition actually turns out to be a test - will the boy be able to sacrifice Martin's life to save himself? Niels makes the right moral choice, and it is for the sacrifice in the name of a friend that the gnome frees him from the spell.

Monument to Niels in Karlskrona.

As you can see, each of three Russians Niels' guises have merits and demerits. Of course, children will love mf and retelling for a long time to come. But the complete translation will be of interest to older people - especially those who are interested in Sweden, its history and folklore. Perhaps, over time, some of the translators will dare to make another retelling, which will simplify the geographical component for our reader, but at the same time will not greatly distort the plot, will leave many interesting stories and will preserve the lyrical spirit of the tale of the great Swedish writer.