The winter had been unusually long. For nearly six months the ground had been continually white. Not that it had been clothed by an ever-smooth, fair mantle1. The snow had been tossed and whirled by the wild winds till it was fitfully heaped, now in the meadows, and now banked up against the very hill-sides. But for the dark woods as landmarks2, the face of the country would have seemed to be utterly3 changed. The ice-covered streams were hidden away out of sight, and the wide ponds appeared but as smooth pastures.
A path from the little-frequented road had been kept open to the schoolhouse. Week by week this narrow way to the seat of learning had been walled higher and higher, until at last the rustic4 scholars seemed passing through a stately white marble cor[Pg 33]ridor as they filed along towards the well-known door.
The first days of April had come and gone without a flower-bud to greet them. The weather had suddenly grown soft and mild, and a drizzling5 rain had been falling all night.
Nils appeared early at school; but the tidy mistress had already cleared away all traces of her modest breakfast, and was ready to bid him welcome more as a visitor than a scholar. They had some pleasant chat together, and then the teacher said seriously, as she laid her hand on the boy's shoulder, "You must try as hard as you can, Nils, to do well, or I am afraid you will not 'go up' this year."
"I do try—I try as hard as I can!" he said. Tears suddenly filled his large eyes as he added, "I am not like other boys, and I know it."
"God knows what you can do, Nils," she said tenderly; "and He will not judge you for what is not your fault. It may be, 'Well done, good and faithful servant!' for you at the last, if you cannot be a great scholar."
Some merry voices at the door put an end to the conversation, and the school was soon going on in its usual routine.[Pg 34]
Many weather-wise mothers had kept their children at home, and only eight scholars were in their places, not counting Nils, who occupied in many practical things a middle ground between the little ones and the teacher.
A heavy rain soon began to fall, and pattered cheerily on the roof, to the great delight of the small pupils. Towards noon the schoolmistress was hearing the class read aloud. She sat with her back to the windows, with the light falling on the book she held in her hand; but she did not see a letter. Suddenly she looked up and said, "Nils, please open the right-hand shutter6 in my room."
The boy obeyed instantly; but in another moment he said quickly, "Please come in here a moment, teacher."
She disappeared immediately, closing the door behind her. Nils pointed8 to the window with wide-open eyes, and said, "The meadow is all afloat!"
"I know it!" she answered calmly. "I saw it while the children were getting their books for the class. If the pond above breaks over the banks, we may be all swept away in a moment. There is no time to be lost. The children must not be frightened. I have thought just what to do. You can swim, Nils?"[Pg 35]
"Yes," was his only answer.
"I can swim too," she said. "If anything goes wrong, we must do what we can for the children." She looked into the clear, calm eyes of the boy, and she knew she could trust him. They returned quietly to the schoolroom. The teacher had hardly taken her seat and closed the book she had held in her hand, when there was a loud crashing sound without, and a heavy thud against the outer door.
"It's all right," said Nils calmly, taking his cue from the teacher. "I put up the bar after the children came in. I supposed this might happen."
"We don't mind the snow falling against the door," said the teacher cheerfully. "We didn't mean to go out that way. We shall go home by boat anyhow. I've thought about that before."
"By boat!" exclaimed the children delightedly, for to them a row or a sail was the most charming thing in the world.
"But where's the boat?" asked a prudent9 little boy, with a sceptical look in his small countenance10. "And where's the water?" he would have added if he had dared.
"Two boats—two boats are here! I see them now!" said the teacher, glancing at the sand-boxes.[Pg 36]—"Nils, climb up into the rafters and bring down the oars11."
Climbing to the rafters was a familiar exploit of Nils's. With one foot on his desk and his knee to the wall, he swung himself up in a moment.
"Hand down my oars and yours," she said, as she pointed at the stilts13; for the little schoolmistress was a leader in the sports of her children, and often enjoyed them as much as they did.
The stilts were duly secured, and then the order followed, "And now the ropes for the launching," and another glance prompted the lowering of the summer swings for their new use.
"Give out the clothes, Nils, and call the names of the children as usual," said the teacher. Those were no dainty little ones, accustomed to be dressed like passive dolls by careful nurses or over-fond mammas. They had but to receive their garments in the daily orderly way, and to put them on as they well knew how. There might sometimes be an obstinate14 string or button, but Nils was sure to be able to help in any such difficulty, or even to tie a refractory15 kerchief over the light locks. The children now put on their wrappings mechanically, lost in watching the proceedings16 of the teacher and her obedient assistant.[Pg 37]
The swings were cut in halves and attached to the strong handles of the empty sand-boxes of olden times. "And now we must launch the boats," said the teacher, with the nearest approach she could muster17 to the manner of a bluff18 sea-captain.
"Heave ho!" shouted Nils, as he put his strong shoulders to the work of moving the boats, while the mistress held on to the horses.
One by one the boats were put in what Tora deemed proper position, the square prows19 curiously20 tilted21 up to the broad window-seat. Then came the orders—"Climb to the top of the shutter, Nils! Pass that rope round the upper hinge; tie it fast! Now the other rope on the lower hinge. Right! The same with the other ropes—bind them fast to the other shutter-hinges!"
"Nils, are you sure the boats are perfectly24 watertight?" said the mistress, with, for the first time, a shadow of anxiety in her determined25 face.
"Tight as a bottle!" was the immediate7 reply. "We had them filled with water for the last examination, to float the boats the children had made. The ships and such like were here, and the row-boats and canoes in the other."[Pg 38]
"I saw them! I saw them all!" exclaimed a little chap, with great delight. "My brother had the prize for his ship, and he made it every bit himself." The eager memories that came to the minds of the children were chatted about with an intensity26 that made the boats of the moment to be almost for the time forgotten.
Now came the real launching of the boats. With a proper amount of drawing in and letting out and holding fast on the part of Nils and the teacher, the long boxes sat at last on the water like a pair of contented27 swans.
"Get down into the boat you are to be captain of, and I will hand down the oars for us both. Lay mine across my boat and yours across yours. Your passengers are to come down first. There will be four for each of us."
The little schoolmistress, putting on her coat and fur cap, backed up to one of her little girls, saying, "Put your arms round my neck, and you shall ride to the boat."
Two chubby28 arms went willingly round the neck of the teacher, as they had done many a time before on a less momentous29 occasion. So the little one, with her eyes away from the window, was backed up to it,[Pg 39] to be lifted down by Nils with a merry shout as he landed the first passenger. The others followed in the same style, and all the eight were cheerily deposited in high good-humour.
"Now I'll come down, too," said the schoolmistress, and she came down the rope as if she were in a gymnasium. She took her place in the centre of her boat, with two delighted children before her and two more behind her.
"Cut loose, Nils! One rope as long as you can, and the other short up to the stern; and then give me your knife, and I'll do the same for mine. Now start, Nils! I'll follow."
The orders were rapidly given and promptly obeyed, and then the little party started across the watery30 stretch that had taken the place of the meadow.
Nils, with his strong arms, got on rapidly, and his boat was soon far in advance of the other. He neared the bank, plunged31 in and drew the uncertain little craft to the shore, and then as a sledge32 up the long slope.
Nils had before decided33 that he would deposit his passengers in a sheepfold high on the bank, where he had seen in the morning a window left open under the projecting roof to give the poor creatures a little[Pg 40] air. He knew that in the corner by the window there was a great bin12 that had been freshly filled with dried birch branches as food for the sheep. He left the children looking down at the pretty lambs and their mothers, and ran back himself to see what he could do for the rest of the party.
The little mistress was only half-way over, and evidently managing with difficulty her awkward oars in the thick, snow-encumbered water through which she was making her way.
Nils plunged in, swam to her boat, tied the loose rope round his body, and then struck out for the shore, while the oars were plied34 as well as they could be by the weary hands that held them. His feet had just touched bottom when there was a loud cheer from the top of the hill that sloped down to the meadow. Two great wagons35, with a pair of strong horses attached to each, were coming to the rescue of the children.
As horses that were good forders and wagons suited to the purpose were to be selected, some time had been lost in the preparations after the first news of the condition of the meadow had been spread abroad. The question now was how to get the whole party under roof as soon as possible.[Pg 41]
The drivers were for putting the children half in one wagon36 and half in the other; but Nils said in a tone most unusual for him, "All the children must go in one wagon, and you will see them safe home, Petter. We go the other way where the road forks. Of course, I take the mistress home with me. Mother wouldn't forgive me if I let her go anywhere else; and I think I have a kind of right to her too!"
"That you have," said the rough man, with a kind of little quiver round his lips. "You've earned that right, anyhow."
And away Nils and the teacher were borne, while from the other wagon there was a merry "Good-bye! good-bye! good-bye, teacher! good-bye, Nils!" and a hearty37 shout of "Hurrah38 for Nils!" from the driver, which came from the very depths of Petter's honest heart.
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1
mantle
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| n.斗篷，覆罩之物，罩子；v.罩住，覆盖，脸红 | |
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landmarks
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| n.陆标( landmark的名词复数 )；目标；（标志重要阶段的）里程碑 ~ (in sth)；有历史意义的建筑物（或遗址） | |
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3
utterly
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| adv.完全地，绝对地 | |
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rustic
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| adj.乡村的，有乡村特色的；n.乡下人，乡巴佬 | |
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5
drizzling
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| 下蒙蒙细雨，下毛毛雨( drizzle的现在分词 ) | |
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6
shutter
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| n.百叶窗；(照相机)快门；关闭装置 | |
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7
immediate
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| adj.立即的；直接的，最接近的；紧靠的 | |
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8
pointed
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| adj.尖的，直截了当的 | |
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9
prudent
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| adj.谨慎的，有远见的，精打细算的 | |
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countenance
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| n.脸色，面容；面部表情；vt.支持，赞同 | |
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11
oars
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| n.桨，橹( oar的名词复数 )；划手v.划（行）( oar的第三人称单数 ) | |
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bin
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| n.箱柜；vt.放入箱内；[计算机] DOS文件名:二进制目标文件 | |
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13
stilts
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| n.（支撑建筑物高出地面或水面的）桩子，支柱( stilt的名词复数 )；高跷 | |
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14
obstinate
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| adj.顽固的，倔强的，不易屈服的，较难治愈的 | |
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refractory
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| adj.倔强的，难驾驭的 | |
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16
proceedings
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| n.进程，过程，议程；诉讼(程序)；公报 | |
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17
muster
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| v.集合，收集，鼓起，激起；n.集合，检阅，集合人员，点名册 | |
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18
bluff
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| v.虚张声势，用假象骗人；n.虚张声势，欺骗 | |
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prows
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| n.船首( prow的名词复数 ) | |
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curiously
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| adv.有求知欲地；好问地；奇特地 | |
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21
tilted
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| v. 倾斜的 | |
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promptly
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| adv.及时地，敏捷地 | |
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23
skilfully
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| adv. (美skillfully)熟练地 | |
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24
perfectly
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| adv.完美地，无可非议地，彻底地 | |
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25
determined
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| adj.坚定的；有决心的 | |
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26
intensity
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| n.强烈，剧烈；强度；烈度 | |
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27
contented
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| adj.满意的，安心的，知足的 | |
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28
chubby
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| adj.丰满的，圆胖的 | |
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29
momentous
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| adj.重要的，重大的 | |
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30
watery
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| adj.有水的，水汪汪的；湿的，湿润的 | |
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31
plunged
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| v.颠簸( plunge的过去式和过去分词 )；暴跌；骤降；突降 | |
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32
sledge
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| n.雪橇，大锤；v.用雪橇搬运，坐雪橇往 | |
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33
decided
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| adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的 | |
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34
plied
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| v.使用（工具）( ply的过去式和过去分词 )；经常供应（食物、饮料）；固定往来；经营生意 | |
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35
wagons
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| n.四轮的运货马车( wagon的名词复数 )；铁路货车；小手推车 | |
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36
wagon
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| n.四轮马车，手推车，面包车；无盖运货列车 | |
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37
hearty
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| adj.热情友好的；衷心的；尽情的，纵情的 | |
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38
hurrah
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| int.好哇，万岁，乌拉 | |
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