History and summary: Nils' journey with wild geese

2024 Author: Leah Sherlock | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 05:25

This tale is remembered by many from early childhood. "Niels' Wonderful Journey with the Wild Geese" is for many the first book read to holes at night, curled up under a blanket with a flashlight. But you didn't know you were reading a textbook.

Geographical tale

Indeed, in its full version, the fairy tale written by Lagerlöf Selma, "Niels' Journey with the Wild Geese", is a textbook on the geography of Sweden. At the end of the nineteenth century, one of the leaders of the Swedish school system, Alfred Dahlin, offered Selma a job on a project in which writers and educators took part. The project involved the creation of a series of books that presented knowledge in a fascinating way, and was soon implemented. Selma's book was the first to be released and was intended for first graders who at the time entered school at the age of nine. Published in 1906, the work quickly became the most read in Scandinavia, and its authorsome time later she received the Nobel Prize for her contribution to literature. Every Swedish child knows its summary thoroughly. "Niels' Journey with the Wild Geese" is one of the most popular children's books in the world. In Sweden, even a small monument to Nils was erected.

Retelling or retelling?

In Russia, the book is known mainly for its free translation, written in 1940 by Zoya Zadunaiskaya and Alexandra Lyubarskaya. This is one of the many cases typical for children's literature of the times of the USSR, when foreign works, already written for a children's audience, were additionally adapted by translators. A similar situation occurred with "Pinocchio", "Land of Oz" and other well-known works abroad. Translators cut down 700 pages of the original text to a little over a hundred, while managing to add a few episodes and characters from themselves. The storyline was noticeably cut, leaving only a number of amusing episodes; not a trace remained of geographical and local lore information. Of course, this is too specific knowledge that is not at all interesting for young children of a completely different country. But why it was necessary to change the ending of the fairy tale is completely incomprehensible … It turned out to be almost a summary. "Niels' Journey with the Wild Geese" turned out to be greatly simplified. However, in the end, the translators came up with an excellent fascinating story, which should definitely be given to children, starting from the age of five or six.

Other translations

There are other translations, much less known - translators have been working on the history of Niels since 1906. Alexander Blok, a poet of the Silver Age, read one of these translations and was very pleased with the book. But the first translations were made from the German language, which does not honor the translation process at the beginning of the century. A complete translation from Swedish was written only in 1975 by Ludmila Braude.

More about the book

Russian children, and adults too, know the book about a wonderful trip to Laplanidia almost exclusively from the retelling of Lyubarskaya and Zadunaiskaya. It is this option that is being studied (if at all) in schools and on the shelves of bookstores. So, it is worth giving here its summary. "Niels' Travels with the Wild Geese" is a very entertaining read, and a summary is not enough here.

Contents

The bully boy Nils Holgersson, originally from a small Swedish village, lived for himself, did not grieve - he teased geese, threw stones at animals, destroyed bird nests, and all his pranks went unpunished. But only for the time being - once Niels unsuccessfully played a joke on a funny little man, and he turned out to be a powerful forest gnome and decided to teach the boy a good lesson. The dwarf turned Niels into the same baby as himself, even a little smaller. And the dark days began for the boy. He could not seem familiar to the eyes, he was frightened by every mouse rustle, the chickens pecked at him, andit was difficult to think of a more terrible cat than a beast.

On the same day, a flock of wild geese, led by old Akka Kebnekaise, flew past the house where the unfortunate man was imprisoned. One of the lazy pets, goose Martin, unable to withstand the ridicule of free birds, decided to prove to them that domestic geese are also capable of something. With difficulty taking off, he followed the flock - with Niels on his back, because the boy could not let go of his best goose.

The flock didn't want to accept fat poultry into their ranks, but they were even less pleased with the little man. The geese were suspicious of Nils, but on the first night he saved one of them from the fox Smirre, earning the respect of the pack and the hatred of the fox himself.

So Niels began his wonderful journey to Lapland, during which he accomplished many feats, helping new friends - animals and birds. The boy saved the inhabitants of the old castle from the invasion of rats (by the way, the episode with the pipe, a reference to the legend of the Pied Piper of Hammeln, is a translation insert), helped the family of bears hide from the hunter, and returned the squirrel to its native nest. And all this time, he repelled the continuous attacks of Smirre. The boy also met with people - he helped the writer Loser restore the manuscript, talked with the statues that came to life, fought with the cook for Martin's life. And then, having flown to Lapland, he became a foster brother to many wild goslings.

And then he came home. On the way, Nils learned how to remove the gnome's spell from himself, but for this he had to make friends with nature and with himself. From a bully, Niels turned into a kind boy, always ready to help.weak, and also the best student - after all, on the journey he learned a lot of geographical knowledge.

Screenings

"Nils' Wonderful Journey with the Wild Geese" has pleased the audience more than once with its appearance on the screens. The earliest and most famous adaptation of the fairy tale in Russia was the Soviet cartoon "The Enchanted Boy" of 1955. Few people did not see it in childhood, and everyone remembers its summary. Niels' journey with wild geese attracted the attention of filmmakers several more times. At least two cartoons based on it have been shot - Swedish and Japanese, and a German television film.