Akka had shown
him deep-hidden mountain dales and had let him peep into caves where
mother wolves brought up their young. He had also made the acquaintance
of the tame reindeer that grazed in herds along the shores of the
beautiful Torne Lake, and he had been down to the great falls and
brought greetings to the bears that lived thereabouts from their friends
and relatives in Westmanland.
Ever since he had seen Osa, the goose girl, he longed for the day when
he might go home with Morten Goosey-Gander and be a normal human being
once more. He wanted to be himself again, so that Osa would not be
afraid to talk to him and would not shut the door in his face.
Yes, indeed, he was glad that at last they were speeding southward. He
waved his cap and cheered when he saw the first pine forest. In the same
manner he greeted the first gray cabin, the first goat, the first cat,
and the first chicken.
They were continually meeting birds of passage, flying now in greater
flocks than in the spring.
"Where are you bound for, wild geese?" called the passing birds. "Where
are you bound for?"
"We, like yourselves, are going abroad," answered the geese.
"Those goslings of yours aren't ready to fly," screamed the others.
"They'll never cross the sea with those puny wings!"
Laplander and reindeer were also leaving the mountains.
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