On the eastern shore of Vettern lies Mount Omberg; east of Omberg lies
Dagmosse; east of Dagmosse lies Lake Takern. Around the whole of Takern
spreads the big, even Östergöta plain.
Takern is a pretty large lake and in olden times it must have been still
larger. But then the people thought it covered entirely too much of the
fertile plain, so they attempted to drain the water from it, that they
might sow and reap on the lake-bottom. But they did not succeed in
laying waste the entire lake--which had evidently been their
intention--therefore it still hides a lot of land. Since the draining
the lake has become so shallow that hardly at any point is it more than
a couple of metres deep. The shores have become marshy and muddy; and
out in the lake, little mud-islets stick up above the water's surface.
Now, there is one who loves to stand with his feet in the water, if he
can just keep his body and head in the air, and that is the reed. And it
cannot find a better place to grow upon, than the long, shallow Takern
shores, and around the little mud-islets. It thrives so well that it
grows taller than a man's height, and so thick that it is almost
impossible to push a boat through it. It forms a broad green enclosure
around the whole lake, so that it is only accessible in a few places
where the people have taken away the reeds.
But if the reeds shut the people out, they give, in return, shelter and
protection to many other things. In the reeds there are a lot of little
dams and canals with green, still water, where duckweed and pondweed run
to seed; and where gnat-eggs and blackfish and worms are hatched out in
uncountable masses. And all along the shores of these little dams and
canals, there are many well-concealed places, where seabirds hatch their
eggs, and bring up their young without being disturbed, either by
enemies or food worries.
An incredible number of birds live in the Takern reeds; and more and
more gather there every year, as it becomes known what a splendid abode
it is. The first who settled there were the wild ducks; and they still
live there by thousands. But they no longer own the entire lake, for
they have been obliged to share it with swans, grebes, coots, loons,
fen-ducks, and a lot of others.
Takern is certainly the largest and choicest bird lake in the whole
country; and the birds may count themselves lucky as long as they own
such a retreat. But it is uncertain just how long they will be in
control of reeds and mud-banks, for human beings cannot forget that the
lake extends over a considerable portion of good and fertile soil; and
every now and then the proposition to drain it comes up among them. And
if these propositions were carried out, the many thousands of
water-birds would be forced to move from this quarter.
At the time when Nils Holgersson travelled around with the wild geese,
there lived at Takern a wild duck named Jarro. He was a young bird, who
had only lived one summer, one fall, and a winter; now, it was his first
spring. He had just returned from South Africa, and had reached Takern
in such good season that the ice was still on the lake.
One evening, when he and the other young wild ducks played at racing
backward and forward over the lake, a hunter fired a couple of shots at
them, and Jarro was wounded in the breast. He thought he should die; but
in order that the one who had shot him shouldn't get him into his power,
he continued to fly as long as he possibly could. He didn't think
whither he was directing his course, but only struggled to get far
away. When his strength failed him, so that he could not fly any
farther, he was no longer on the lake. He had flown a bit inland, and
now he sank down before the entrance to one of the big farms which lie
along the shores of Takern.
A moment later a young farm-hand happened along. He saw Jarro, and came
and lifted him up. But Jarro, who asked for nothing but to be let die in
peace, gathered his last powers and nipped the farm-hand in the finger,
so he should let go of him.
Jarro didn't succeed in freeing himself. The encounter had this good in
it at any rate: the farm-hand noticed that the bird was alive. He
carried him very gently into the cottage, and showed him to the mistress
of the house--a young woman with a kindly face. At once she took Jarro
from the farm-hand, stroked him on the back and wiped away the blood
which trickled down through the neck-feathers. She looked him over very
carefully; and when she saw how pretty he was, with his dark-green,
shining head, his white neck-band, his brownish-red back, and his blue
wing-mirror, she must have thought that it was a pity for him to die.
She promptly put a basket in order, and tucked the bird into it.
All the while Jarro fluttered and struggled to get loose; but when he
understood that the people didn't intend to kill him, he settled down in
the basket with a sense of pleasure. Now it was evident how exhausted he
was from pain and loss of blood. The mistress carried the basket across
the floor to place it in the corner by the fireplace; but before she put
it down Jarro was already fast asleep.
In a little while Jarro was awakened by someone who nudged him gently.
When he opened his eyes he experienced such an awful shock that he
almost lost his senses. Now he was lost; for there stood _the_ one who
was more dangerous than either human beings or birds of prey. It was no
less a thing than Caesar himself--the long-haired dog--who nosed around
him inquisitively.
How pitifully scared had he not been last summer, when he was still a
little yellow-down duckling, every time it had sounded over the
reed-stems: "Caesar is coming! Caesar is coming!" When he had seen the
brown and white spotted dog with the teeth-filled jowls come wading
through the reeds, he had believed that he beheld death itself. He had
always hoped that he would never have to live through that moment when
he should meet Caesar face to face.
But, to his sorrow, he must have fallen down in the very yard where
Caesar lived, for there he stood right over him. "Who are you?" he
growled. "How did you get into the house? Don't you belong down among
the reed banks?"
It was with great difficulty that he gained the courage to answer.
"Don't be angry with me, Caesar, because I came into the house!" said
he. "It isn't my fault. I have been wounded by a gunshot. It was the
people themselves who laid me in this basket."
"Oho! so it's the folks themselves that have placed you here," said
Caesar. "Then it is surely their intention to cure you; although, for my
part, I think it would be wiser for them to eat you up, since you are in
their power. But, at any rate, you are tabooed in the house. You needn't
look so scared. Now, we're not down on Takern."
With that Caesar laid himself to sleep in front of the blazing log-fire.
As soon as Jarro understood that this terrible danger was past, extreme
lassitude came over him, and he fell asleep anew.
The next time Jarro awoke, he saw that a dish with grain and water stood
before him. He was still quite ill, but he felt hungry nevertheless, and
began to eat. When the mistress saw that he ate, she came up and petted
him, and looked pleased. After that, Jarro fell asleep again. For
several days he did nothing but eat and sleep.
One morning Jarro felt so well that he stepped from the basket and
wandered along the floor. But he hadn't gone very far before he keeled
over, and lay there. Then came Caesar, opened his big jaws and grabbed
him. Jarro believed, of course, that the dog was going to bite him to
death; but Caesar carried him back to the basket without harming him.
Because of this, Jarro acquired such a confidence in the dog Caesar,
that on his next walk in the cottage, he went over to the dog and lay
down beside him. Thereafter Caesar and he became good friends, and every
day, for several hours, Jarro lay and slept between Caesar's paws.
But an even greater affection than he felt for Caesar, did Jarro feel
toward his mistress. Of her he had not the least fear; but rubbed his
head against her hand when she came and fed him. Whenever she went out
of the cottage he sighed with regret; and when she came back he cried
welcome to her in his own language.
Jarro forgot entirely how afraid he had been of both dogs and humans in
other days. He thought now that they were gentle and kind, and he loved
them. He wished that he were well, so he could fly down to Takern and
tell the wild ducks that their enemies were not dangerous, and that they
need not fear them.
He had observed that the human beings, as well as Caesar, had calm eyes,
which it did one good to look into. The only one in the cottage whose
glance he did not care to meet, was Clawina, the house cat. She did him
no harm, either, but he couldn't place any confidence in her. Then, too,
she quarrelled with him constantly, because he loved human beings. "You
think they protect you because they are fond of you," said Clawina. "You
just wait until you are fat enough! Then they'll wring the neck off you.
I know them, I do."
Jarro, like all birds, had a tender and affectionate heart; and he was
unutterably distressed when he heard this. He couldn't imagine that his
mistress would wish to wring the neck off him, nor could he believe any
such thing of her son, the little boy who sat for hours beside his
basket, and babbled and chattered. He seemed to think that both of them
had the same love for him that he had for them.
One day, when Jarro and Caesar lay on the usual spot before the fire,
Clawina sat on the hearth and began to tease the wild duck.
"I wonder, Jarro, what you wild ducks will do next year, when Takern is
drained and turned into grain fields?" said Clawina. "What's that you
say, Clawina?" cried Jarro, and jumped up--scared through and through.
"I always forget, Jarro, that you do not understand human speech, like
Caesar and myself," answered the cat. "Or else you surely would have
heard how the men, who were here in the cottage yesterday, said that all
the water was going to be drained from Takern, and that next year the
lake-bottom would be as dry as a house-floor. And now I wonder where you
wild ducks will go." When Jarro heard this talk he was so furious that
he hissed like a snake. "You are just as mean as a common coot!" he
screamed at Clawina. "You only want to incite me against human beings. I
don't believe they want to do anything of the sort. They must know that
Takern is the wild ducks' property. Why should they make so many birds
homeless and unhappy? You have certainly hit upon all this to scare me.
I hope that you may be torn in pieces by Gorgo, the eagle! I hope that
my mistress will chop off your whiskers!"
But Jarro couldn't shut Clawina up with this outburst. "So you think I'm
lying," said she. "Ask Caesar, then! He was also in the house last
night. Caesar never lies."
"Caesar," said Jarro, "you understand human speech much better than
Clawina. Say that she hasn't heard aright! Think how it would be if the
people drained Takern, and changed the lake-bottom into fields! Then
there would be no more pondweed or duck-food for the grown wild ducks,
and no blackfish or worms or gnat-eggs for the ducklings. Then the
reed-banks would disappear--where now the ducklings conceal themselves
until they are able to fly. All ducks would be compelled to move away
from here and seek another home. But where shall they find a retreat
like Takern? Caesar, say that Clawina has not heard aright!"
It was extraordinary to watch Caesar's behaviour during this
conversation. He had been wide-awake the whole time before, but now,
when Jarro turned to him, he panted, laid his long nose on his forepaws,
and was sound asleep within the wink of an eyelid.
The cat looked down at Caesar with a knowing smile. "I believe that
Caesar doesn't care to answer you," she said to Jarro. "It is with him
as with all dogs; they will never acknowledge that humans can do any
wrong. But you can rely upon my word, at any rate. I shall tell you why
they wish to drain the lake just now. As long as you wild ducks still
had the power on Takern, they did not wish to drain it, for, at least,
they got some good out of you; but now, grebes and coots and other birds
who are no good as food, have infested nearly all the reed-banks, and
the people don't think they need let the lake remain on their account."
Jarro didn't trouble himself to answer Clawina, but raised his head, and
shouted in Caesar's ear: "Caesar! You know that on Takern there are
still so many ducks left that they fill the air like clouds. Say it
isn't true that human beings intend to make all of these homeless!"
Then Caesar sprang up with such a sudden outburst at Clawina that she
had to save herself by jumping up on a shelf. "I'll teach you to keep
quiet when I want to sleep," bawled Caesar. "Of course I know that there
is some talk about draining the lake this year. But there's been talk of
this many times before without anything coming of it. And that draining
business is a matter in which I take no stock whatever. For how would it
go with the game if Takern were laid waste. You're a donkey to gloat
over a thing like that. What will you and I have to amuse ourselves
with, when there are no more birds on Takern?"