y are more happy over the Visby that exists, than
over a magnificent Vineta at the bottom of the sea.

THE LEGEND OF SMALAND

_Tuesday, April twelfth_.

The wild geese had made a good trip over the sea, and had lighted in
Tjust Township, in northern Smaland. That township didn't seem able to
make up its mind whether it wanted to be land or sea. Fiords ran in
everywhere, and cut the land up into islands and peninsulas and points
and capes. The sea was so forceful that the only things which could hold
themselves above it were hills and mountains. All the lowlands were
hidden away under the water exterior.

It was evening when the wild geese came in from the sea; and the land
with the little hills lay prettily between the shimmering fiords. Here
and there, on the islands, the boy saw cabins and cottages; and the
farther inland he came, the bigger and better became the dwelling
houses. Finally, they grew into large, white manors. Along the shores
there was generally a border of trees; and within this lay field-plots,
and on the tops of the little hills there were trees again. He could not
help but think of Blekinge. Here again was a place where land and sea
met, in such a pretty and peaceful sort of way, just as if they tried to
show each other the best and loveliest which they possessed.

The wild geese alighted upon a limestone island a good way in on
Goose-fiord. With the first glance at the shore they observed that
spring had made rapid strides while they had been away on the islands.
The big, fine trees were not as yet leaf-clad, but the ground under them
was brocaded with white anemones, gagea, and blue anemones.

When the wild geese saw the flower-carpet they feared that they had
lingered too long in the southern part of the country. Akka said
instantly that there was no time in which to hunt up any of the stopping
places in Smaland. By the next morning they must travel northward, over
Oestergoetland.

The boy should then see nothing of Smaland, and this grieved him. He had
heard more about Smaland than he had about any other province, and he
had longed to see it with his own eyes.

The summer before, when he had served as goose-boy with a farmer in the
neighbourhood of Jordberga, he had met a pair of Smaland children,
almost every day, who also tended geese. These children had irritated
him terribly with their Smaland.

It wasn't fair to say that Osa, the goose-girl, had annoyed him. She was
much too