Many people remember this tale by heart from early childhood. For many, Niels's Miraculous Journey with the Wild Geese is the first book to be read at night, curled up under a blanket with a flashlight. But you didn’t even know that you were reading a textbook.
Geographical tale
Indeed, in its full version, the magical tale written by Lagerlöf Selma, “Niels Traveling 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 Dalin, offered Selma work 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 released first and was intended for first-grade students who were then enrolled in school at the age of nine. Having been published in 1906, the work quickly became the most read in Scandinavia, and its author some time later received the Nobel Prize for his contribution to literature. Every Swedish child is thoroughly aware of its summary. "Niels Traveling with the Wild Geese" is one of the most popular children's books in the whole world. In Sweden, even a small monument to Niels.
Translation or retelling?
In Russia, the book is known mainly for its free arrangement, written in 1940 by Zoya Zadunayskaya and Alexandra Lyubarskaya. This is one of many cases characteristic of children's literature from the time of the USSR, when foreign works, already written for children, were additionally adapted by translators. A similar situation occurred with Pinocchio, The Country of Oz and other works known abroad. The translators cut 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 back, only a series of entertaining episodes remained; from the geographical and regional studies there is no trace left. Of course, this is too specific knowledge, which is not at all interesting for young children in a completely different country. But for what it was to change the ending of the tale - it is completely incomprehensible ... It turned out to be an almost brief summary. The Wild Goose Niels Journey has been greatly simplified. However, as a result, the translators turned out to have an excellent fascinating story, which is certainly worth giving children to read, starting from the age of five to six.
Other translations
There are other translations, much less well-known - translators have been working on the Niels story 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 German, which does not honor the translation process of the beginning of the century. A full translation from Swedish was written only in 1975 by Ludmila Braude.
More about the book
A book about a wonderful trip to Laplanidia is familiar to Russian children, and adults too, almost exclusively from the retelling of Lyubarskaya and Zadunayskaya. It is this option that is being studied (if at all studied) in schools and lies on the shelves of bookstores. So, it is worth giving here its brief content. “Niels Traveling with the Wild Geese” is a very fascinating read, and a brief summary is not worth doing here.
Content
The bully boy Nils Holgerssson, who came from a small Swedish village, lived on his own, didn’t grieve - he teased geese, threw stones at animals, ravaged bird’s nests, and all his pranks went unpunished. But only for the time being - once Niels unsuccessfully made fun of a funny little man, who 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 for the boy the dark days began. He couldn’t seem native to his eyes, he was scared of every mouse rustle, hens pecked him, and it was more difficult to think of a cat than a beast than a cat.
On the same day, a flock of wild geese led by the old Akka Kebnekaise flew past the house where the unfortunate man was imprisoned. One of the lazy pets, the goose Martin, unable to bear 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 pack - with Niels on his back, because the boy could not let go of his best goose.
The flock did not want to accept fat poultry into its ranks, but she was even less pleased with the little man. The geese were suspicious of Niels, but on the first night he saved one of them from the fox Smirre, having earned the respect of the pack and the hatred of the fox itself.
So Nils began his wonderful journey to Lapland, during which he made many deeds, helping new friends - beasts and birds. The boy saved the inhabitants of the ancient castle from the invasion of rats (by the way, the episode with the pipe, a reference to the legend of the Gammel Pied Piper, is a translation insert), helped the bear family to hide from the hunter, returned the squirrel to its native nest. And all this time he reflected the continuous attacks of Smirre. The boy also met with people - he helped the writer Loser restore the manuscript, talked with revived statues, and fought with the cook for Martin's life. And then, having flown to Lapland, he became the adopted brother to many wild goslings.
And then he returned home. On the way, Niels learned how to remove the dwarf's spell, but for this he had to make friends with nature and with himself. From a bully, Niels turned into a good boy, always ready to help the weak, and also a better student - after all, on a journey he learned a lot of geographical knowledge.
Adaptations
"Niels' wonderful journey with wild geese" more than once pleased the audience with their appearance on the screens. The earliest and most famous film adaptation of a fairy tale in Russia was the Soviet cartoon “The Enchanted Boy” of 1955. Few people saw it in childhood, and everyone remembers its summary. Niels' journey with wild geese attracted the attention of filmmakers several more times. Based on his motives, at least two cartoons were shot - Swedish and Japanese, and a German television film.