They trotted along bravely, as little as they were, and kept close
together--as if they sought protection. "Nuff, nuff, nuff, we came away
too soon from father and mother. Nuff, nuff, nuff, how will it go with
us poor children?" said the little pigs. The wild geese didn't have the
heart to tease such poor little creatures. "It will be better for you
than you can ever believe," they cried as they flew past them.
The wild geese were never so merry as when they flew over a flat
country. Then they did not hurry themselves, but flew from farm to farm,
and joked with the tame animals.
As the boy rode over the plain, he happened to think of a legend which
he had heard a long time ago. He didn't remember it exactly, but it was
something about a petticoat--half of which was made of gold-woven
velvet, and half of gray homespun cloth. But the one who owned the
petticoat adorned the homespun cloth with such a lot of pearls and
precious stones that it looked richer and more gorgeous than the
gold-cloth.
He remembered this about the homespun cloth, as he looked down on
Oestergoetland, because it was made up of a large plain, which lay wedged
in between two mountainous forest-tracts--one to the north, the other to
the south. The two forest-heights lay there, a lovely blue, and
shimmered in the morning light, as if they were decked with golden
veils; and the plain, which simply spread out one winter-naked field
after another, was, in and of itself, prettier to look upon than gray
homespun.
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