During the first week of Gorgo's captivity5 he was still awake and full of life, but later a heavy torpor6 came upon him. He perched himself on one spot, like the other eagles, and stared at vacancy7. He no longer knew how the days passed.
One morning when Gorgo sat in his usual torpor, he heard some one call to him from below. He was so drowsy8 that he could barely rouse himself enough to lower his glance.
"Who is calling me?" he asked.
"Oh, Gorgo! Don't you know me? It's Thumbietot who used to fly around with the wild geese."
"Is Akka also captured?" asked Gorgo in the tone of one who is trying to collect his thoughts after a long sleep.
"No; Akka, the white goosey-gander, and the whole flock are probably safe and sound up in Lapland at this season," said the boy. "It's only I who am a prisoner here."
As the boy was speaking he noticed that Gorgo averted9 his glance, and began to stare into space again.
"Golden eagle!" cried the boy; "I have not forgotten that once you carried me back to the wild geese, and that you spared the white goosey-gander's life! Tell me if I can be of any help to you!"
Gorgo scarcely raised his head. "Don't disturb me, Thumbietot," he yawned. "I'm sitting here dreaming that I am free, and am soaring away up among the clouds. I don't want to be awake."
"You must rouse yourself, and see what goes on around you," the boy admonished10, "or you will soon look as wretched as the other eagles."
"I wish I were as they are! They are so lost in their dreams that nothing more can trouble them," said the eagle.
When night came, and all three eagles were asleep, there was a light scraping on the steel wires stretched across the top of the cage. The two listless old captives did not allow themselves to be disturbed by the noise, but Gorgo awakened11.
"Who's there? Who is moving up on the roof?" he asked.
"It's Thumbietot, Gorgo," answered the boy. "I'm sitting here filing away at the steel wires so that you can escape."
The eagle raised his head, and saw in the night light how the boy sat and filed the steel wires at the top of the cage. He felt hopeful for an instant, but soon discouragement got the upper hand.
"I'm a big bird, Thumbietot," said Gorgo; "how can you ever manage to file away enough wires for me to come out? You'd better quit that, and leave me in peace."
"Oh, go to sleep, and don't bother about me!" said the boy. "I'll not be through to-night nor to-morrow night, but I shall try to free you in time for here you'll become a total wreck12."
Gorgo fell asleep. When he awoke the next morning he saw at a glance that a number of wires had been filed. That day he felt less drowsy than he had done in the past. He spread his wings, and fluttered from branch to branch to get the stiffness out of his joints13.
One morning early, just as the first streak14 of sunlight made its appearance, Thumbietot awakened the eagle.
"Try now, Gorgo!" he whispered.
The eagle looked up. The boy had actually filed off so many wires that now there was a big hole in the wire netting. Gorgo flapped his wings and propelled himself upward. Twice he missed and fell back into the cage; but finally he succeeded in getting out.
With proud wing strokes he soared into the clouds. Little Thumbietot sat and gazed after him with a mournful expression. He wished that some one would come and give him his freedom too.
The boy was domiciled now at Skansen. He had become acquainted with all the animals there, and had made many friends among them. He had to admit that there was so much to see and learn there that it was not difficult for him to pass the time. To be sure his thoughts went forth15 every day to Morten Goosey-Gander and his other comrades, and he yearned16 for them. "If only I weren't bound by my promise," he thought, "I'd find some bird to take me to them!"
It may seem strange that Clement17 Larsson had not restored the boy's liberty, but one must remember how excited the little fiddler had been when he left Skansen. The morning of his departure he had thought of setting out the midget's food in a blue bowl, but, unluckily, he had been unable to find one. All the Skansen folk—Lapps, peasant girls, artisans, and gardeners—had come to bid him good-bye, and he had had no time to search for a blue bowl. It was time to start, and at the last moment he had to ask the old Laplander to help him.
"One of the tiny folk happens to be living here at Skansen," said Clement, "and every morning I set out a little food for him. Will you do me the favour of taking these few coppers18 and purchasing a blue bowl with them? Put a little gruel19 and milk in it, and to-morrow morning set it out under the steps of Bollnäs cottage."
The old Laplander looked surprised, but there was no time for Clement to explain further, as he had to be off to the railway station.
The Laplander went down to the zoölogical village to purchase the bowl. As he saw no blue one that he thought appropriate, he bought a white one, and this he conscientiously20 filled and set out every morning.
That was why the boy had not been released from his pledge. He knew that
Clement had gone away, but he was not allowed to leave.
That night the boy longed more than ever for his freedom. This was because summer had come now in earnest. During his travels he had suffered much in cold and stormy weather, and when he first came to Skansen he had thought that perhaps it was just as well that he had been compelled to break the journey. He would have been frozen to death had he gone to Lapland in the month of May. But now it was warm; the earth was green-clad, birches and poplars were clothed in their satiny foliage21, and the cherry trees—in fact all the fruit trees—were covered with blossoms. The berry bushes had green berries on their stems; the oaks had carefully unfolded their leaves, and peas, cabbages, and beans were growing in the vegetable garden at Skansen.
"Now it must be warm up in Lapland," thought the boy. "I should like to be seated on Morten Goosey-Gander's back on a fine morning like this! It would be great fun to ride around in the warm, still air, and look down at the ground, as it now lies decked with green grass, and embellished22 with pretty blossoms."
He sat musing23 on this when the eagle suddenly swooped24 down from the sky, and perched beside the boy, on top of the cage.
"I wanted to try my wings to see if they were still good for anything," said Gorgo. "You didn't suppose that I meant to leave you here in captivity? Get up on my back, and I'll take you to your comrades."
"No, that's impossible!" the boy answered. "I have pledged my word that
"What sort of nonsense are you talking?" protested Gorgo. "In the first place they brought you here against your will; then they forced you to promise that you would remain here. Surely you must understand that such a promise one need not keep?"
"Oh, no, I must keep it," said the boy. "I thank you all the same for your kind intention, but you can't help me."
"Oh, can't I?" said Gorgo. "We'll see about that!" In a twinkling he grasped Nils Holgersson in his big talons26, and rose with him toward the skies, disappearing in a northerly direction.
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1
procuring
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| v.（努力）取得， （设法）获得( procure的现在分词 )；拉皮条 | |
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2
lustreless
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| adj.无光泽的，无光彩的，平淡乏味的 | |
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3
riveted
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| 铆接( rivet的过去式和过去分词 )； 把…固定住； 吸引； 引起某人的注意 | |
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longing
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| n.（for）渴望 | |
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5
captivity
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| n.囚禁；被俘；束缚 | |
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6
torpor
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| n.迟钝；麻木；（动物的）冬眠 | |
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7
vacancy
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| n.（旅馆的）空位，空房，（职务的）空缺 | |
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8
drowsy
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| adj.昏昏欲睡的，令人发困的 | |
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9
averted
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| 防止，避免( avert的过去式和过去分词 )； 转移 | |
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10
admonished
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| v.劝告( admonish的过去式和过去分词 )；训诫；（温和地）责备；轻责 | |
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11
awakened
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| v.（使）醒( awaken的过去式和过去分词 )；（使）觉醒；弄醒；（使）意识到 | |
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12
wreck
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| n.失事，遇难；沉船；vt.(船等)失事，遇难 | |
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13
joints
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| 接头( joint的名词复数 )； 关节； 公共场所（尤指价格低廉的饮食和娱乐场所） （非正式）； 一块烤肉 （英式英语） | |
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14
streak
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| n.条理，斑纹，倾向，少许，痕迹；v.加条纹，变成条纹，奔驰，快速移动 | |
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15
forth
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| adv.向前；向外，往外 | |
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16
yearned
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| 渴望，切盼，向往( yearn的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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17
clement
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| adj.仁慈的；温和的 | |
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18
coppers
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| 铜( copper的名词复数 )； 铜币 | |
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19
gruel
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| n.稀饭，粥 | |
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conscientiously
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| adv.凭良心地；认真地，负责尽职地；老老实实 | |
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21
foliage
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| n.叶子，树叶，簇叶 | |
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22
embellished
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| v.美化( embellish的过去式和过去分词 )；装饰；修饰；润色 | |
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23
musing
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| n. 沉思，冥想 adj. 沉思的, 冥想的 动词muse的现在分词形式 | |
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24
swooped
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| 俯冲，猛冲( swoop的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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25
liberated
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| a.无拘束的，放纵的 | |
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26
talons
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| n.（尤指猛禽的）爪( talon的名词复数 )；（如爪般的）手指；爪状物；锁簧尖状突出部 | |
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