_Friday, October seventh_.
From the very start of the autumn trip the wild geese had flown straight
south; but when they left Fryksdalen they veered in another direction,
travelling over western Vermland and Dalsland, toward Bohuslän.
That was a jolly trip! The goslings were now so used to flying that they
complained no more of fatigue, and the boy was fast recovering his good
humour. He was glad that he had talked with a human being. He felt
encouraged when she said to him that if he were to continue doing good
to all whom he met, as heretofore, it could not end badly for him. She
was not able to tell him how to get back his natural form, but she had
given him a little hope and assurance, which inspired the boy to think
out a way to prevent the big white gander from going home.
"Do you know, Morten Goosey-Gander, that it will be rather monotonous
for us to stay at home all winter after having been on a trip like
this," he said, as they were flying far up in the air. "I'm sitting here
thinking that we ought to go abroad with the geese."
"Surely you are not in earnest!" said the goosey-gander. Since he had
proved to the wild geese his ability to travel with them all the way to
Lapland, he was perfectly satisfied to get back to the goose pen in
Holger Nilsson's cow shed.
The boy sat silently a while and gazed down on Vermland, where the birch
woods, leafy groves, and gardens were clad in red and yellow autumn
colours.
"I don't think I've ever seen the earth beneath us as lovely as it is
to-day!" he finally remarked. "The lakes are like blue satin bands.
Don't you think it would be a pity to settle down in West Vemminghög and
never see any more of the world?"
"I thought you wanted to go home to your mother and father and show them
what a splendid boy you had become?" said the goosey-gander.
All summer he had been dreaming of what a proud moment it would be for
him when he should alight in the house yard before Holger Nilsson's
cabin and show Dunfin and the six goslings to the geese and chickens,
the cows and the cat, and to Mother Holger Nilsson herself, so that he
was not very happy over the boy's proposal.
"Now, Morten Goosey-Gander, don't you think yourself that it would be
hard never to see anything more that is beautiful!" said the boy.
"I would rather see the fat grain fields of Söderslätt than these lean
hills," answered the goosey-gander. "But you must know very well that
if you really wish to continue the trip, I can't be parted from you."
"That is just the answer I had expected from you," said the boy, and his
voice betrayed that he was relieved of a great anxiety.
Later, when they travelled over Bohuslän, the boy observed that the
mountain stretches were more continuous, the valleys were more like
little ravines blasted in the rock foundation, while the long lakes at
their base were as black as if they had come from the underworld. This,
too, was a glorious country, and as the boy saw it, with now a strip of
sun, now a shadow, he thought that there was something strange and wild
about it. He knew not why, but the idea came to him that once upon a
time there were many strong and brave heroes in these mystical regions
who had passed through many dangerous and daring adventures. The old
passion of wanting to share in all sorts of wonderful adventures awoke
in him.
"I might possibly miss not being in danger of my life at least once
every day or two," he thought. "Anyhow it's best to be content with
things as they are."
He did not speak of this idea to the big white gander, because the geese
were now flying over Bohuslän with all the speed they could muster, and
the goosey-gander was puffing so hard that he would not have had the
strength to reply.
The sun was far down on the horizon, and disappeared every now and then
behind a hill; still the geese kept forging ahead.
Finally, in the west, they saw a shining strip of light, which grew
broader and broader with every wing stroke. Soon the sea spread before
them, milk white with a shimmer of rose red and sky blue, and when they
had circled past the coast cliffs they saw the sun again, as it hung
over the sea, big and red and ready to plunge into the waves.
As the boy gazed at the broad, endless sea and the red evening sun,
which had such a kindly glow that he dared to look straight at it, he
felt a sense of peace and calm penetrate his soul.
"It's not worth while to be sad, Nils Holgersson," said the Sun. "This
is a beautiful world to live in both for big and little. It is also good
to be free and happy, and to have a great dome of open sky above you."