Travel by goose

Chapter 2 Eika the Leading Goose

The gander and the wild geese flew high in the sky together. He was very proud at first, but at night, no matter how much he took a deep breath and beat his wings faster, he still fell far behind the wild geese.The wild goose flying at the end noticed that the gander was falling behind, and called to the leading goose quickly: "Eika the leading goose! Eika the leading goose! The white goose is behind, the white goose is behind!" "Tell him that flying fast is less laborious than flying slowly." !” The leader of the wild goose ordered without looking back.

The gander flew as fast as he could, but he was exhausted and fell straight to the ground.

"Aika! Aika, the gander is about to die, the gander is about to die!"

"Tell him, go home if you can't keep up with the team!" The leading goose continued to fly forward without slowing down.

Hearing this, the goose burst out with courage, and he made up his mind to prove to the wild geese that domestic geese can also do a good job.He flapped his wings with all his strength and insisted on following the wild goose.

As the sun set, the wild geese flew down one after another, and after a while they landed on the bank of a large lake.There are pieces of ice floating on the surface of the lake, surrounded by black and shiny water belts.On the opposite bank is a large pine forest, under the dense canopy there is still thick snow, snow and ice are mixed together, and the snow is as hard as ice.

The little boy was very hungry and cold, but he didn't know where to find something to eat or where to keep warm.Darkness fell over the land, and the little boy was terrified, and looking around, feeling so pitiful, he saw that the gander was in a worse condition than himself.The gander collapsed on the ground weakly, as if he had died of breath. No matter how the little boy pushed or barked, he remained motionless.

Before, the little boy was cruel to all animals, but now, the gander was his only support, and he desperately pushed the gander to the edge of the lake.The goose's head dipped into the lake, and after a while, he regained his spirits. In order to repay the little boy, he caught a small fish and put it beside the little boy.

"This is for you, thank you for pushing me into the water," said the gander, and waited patiently for the boy to finish. "We didn't get along, but now I need your help. I want to fly with the geese Go to Lapland and prove to this haughty group of geese that domestic geese can make a difference."

The little boy thought it over and was about to tell the goose his opinion.But at this time, there was a sound behind them. It turned out that the wild geese had finished resting, shaking the water drops on their bodies, followed behind the leading goose, and came towards them.

The geese are much smaller than the gander, their gray feathers have brown patterns, and their yellow eyes are piercing.Their feet were huge, and the soles of their feet were worn out, and they walked half running and half hopping.Soon the wild geese stopped in front of them and nodded to the gander. Eka, the leader goose, asked solemnly, "Who are you and why do you want to join the wild goose team?"

"I am an ordinary domestic goose. I don't want to be idle all my life. I want to fly far away with you."

"You are very ambitious, and you can fly well. If you have enough guts, you can make a good traveling companion." Aika pointed to the little boy and asked, "Then who is he? What do you call this little guy?"

"He's my partner, a goose watcher named Thumbs." The gander stammered, he just wanted to change the subject, "I'm very tired, can we go to sleep?"

The leading goose looked majesticly and said: "You don't know, our group of geese are all high mountain geese from famous families with status, not tramps. Don't think that we let unknown people sleep with us."

The lead goose is very old, with gray-white feathers, a big head, thick legs, and more worn out feet.Her majestic appearance made the little boy tell the truth: "I am a human..." As soon as the wild geese heard that he was a human, they immediately ordered: "You must leave here!"

The gander hurriedly said, "Please let him stay with me tonight, and it won't be too late to let him go home tomorrow."

The wild geese agreed, and they flew to the ice floe in the lake and curled up one after another.The gander asked the boy to find hay, spread it on the ice, and then stuffed the little boy into its wings, "You will sleep comfortably." The little boy lay in the warm feathers and fell asleep unconsciously.

In the middle of the night, a fox named Smir found the wild geese. He carefully ran onto the ice floe, jumped forward, grabbed a wild goose in his mouth and ran away. The other wild geese and ganders were awakened.The little boy fell on the ice. When he found a short-legged little fox running away from the ice with a wild goose in its mouth, he immediately ran after it with all his strength, trying to save the wild goose.

The little boy who turned into a fox fairy has a pair of night eyes and can see everything clearly in the dark. He jumps over the cracks and holes in the ice and chases after the fox.He just wanted to prove to the wild goose that a person is better than an animal after all.He ran quickly, and soon caught up with the fox, and grabbed the fox's tail with one hand.The fox dragged him and ran forward. After a while, the fox felt that there was no need to be afraid of such a little person. He put the wild goose on the ground, held her down with his front paws, and turned to the little boy and said, "See if you can hold her." How about me!"

Regardless of his fear, the little boy yanked the fox's tail vigorously. The fox was startled, and he pulled him back a few steps. The wild goose escaped and flew back to the lake through the gap between the branches.

The fox, Smeer, was ashamed and annoyed, and jumped on the boy.The little boy held the fox's tail tightly, and when the fox turned, he turned around, then jumped, grabbed a branch of a small tree, and climbed onto the tree.The fox was so angry that he lay down under the tree and watched; the little boy endured sleepiness and sat on the tree waiting for the dawn.At last the sun rose, and its light grew stronger, driving away all the fears of the night.The cry of wild geese came from the lake, and soon a whole flock of geese flew over the forest.

The morning is over, and the morning is about to begin.A wild goose flew by alone from under the thick branches, flying low and slowly.When Smeer saw it, he immediately left the place and jumped on it, but the wild goose flapped its wings violently and flew high into the sky.

After a while, another wild goose flew by, and she flew lower and slower.The Fox hopped so high that he almost caught her feet, but the Goose slipped past her safely and galloped away.

Then another came, and she flew so low and so slowly that the Fox almost caught her, but she ran away.As soon as the goose flew away, the fourth one came again. Smeer couldn't help but rushed to catch it again, but he failed again.Wild geese flew by the fox one after another, so close to him that he touched them many times, but failed to catch one.

From morning to night, the fox was busy catching wild geese. He was sweating, panting, with his tongue sticking out of his big mouth, foaming from the corners of his mouth. At last he lay exhausted on a pile of dry leaves, motionless.

The wild geese flew away triumphantly, and the little boy was rescued by the goose long ago.

A few days later, the little boy and the wild geese landed in a sandy field, and several children ran towards them.The wild geese on whistle immediately raised the alarm, and all the wild geese spread their wings and flew into the air, but the gander was still walking on the sand as if nothing had happened. Fly, just run forward desperately.The boys grabbed him without much trouble, carried him away under their armpits. "Come and save me, Thumb!" the big gander cried desperately.

The little boy hiding aside heard it, forgot his own weakness, and followed closely behind the child. "I have to help the gander," he plucked up his courage and ran.Afraid that the little boy would not be able to keep up, the big gander dropped white goose feathers along the way to point the way for the little boy.The little boy chased along the goose's feathers until he reached a large manor.A group of young people were parked at the gate of the manor. Under the leadership of a teacher, they were going to visit this majestic manor.

With an idea, the little boy jumped into a box carried by a young man, and followed them into the manor.The teacher explained to the young people as they walked. They walked very slowly. The little boy who stayed in the box was very anxious. He started to move, lifted the lid of the box, jumped to the floor and ran out.

He heard the sound of chasing from behind, and people found him and kept shouting behind him.The little guy ran desperately, and when he ran to a house, he saw a white goose feather and heard the call of a gander.He mustered up his courage, climbed up the steps, and knocked hard on the door.

The door opened, and he looked inside. A woman was holding the gander and was about to clip the gander's wings to prevent the gander from flying away again.When the woman saw the little boy standing outside the threshold, she was startled and let go of her hands.The gander took the opportunity to jump outside the door, grabbed the little boy, spread its wings, and flew high into the sky.

They flew back to the geese and landed safely.The little boy was very happy. He felt that the wild life was exciting and interesting. He really wanted to travel with the wild geese, but what made him uneasy was that the wild geese never asked him to stay.The wild geese are busy flying and looking for food. After eating, they return to the lake to play. They compete with the gander in swimming, running and flying. No matter how hard the gander tries, they will always be defeated by the wild geese.The little boy has been riding on the gander's back to encourage him, playing with great interest.

The little boy grew more and more fond of the wilderness life and no longer missed home.His only concern is finding food, but he has gradually learned where to find wild berries to fill his stomach.One day, when the little boy was looking for food as usual, Eka came to him and gave him a branch full of wild fruits.

After he finished eating, Ika told the little boy: "You know, you have to beware of many enemies. Life in the wild is not as interesting as you think. Your life is in danger at any time. Foxes, sables, otters, adders, eagles , these animals will eat you."

"Then how can I protect myself?" the little boy asked.

"You should try to get along with the small animals in the forest and in the fields and make friends with them. They will warn you when there is danger, and even protect you."

The little boy asked the squirrel for help as Ika said, but the squirrel refused him. "You have done so many bad things. You destroyed the swallow's nest, broke the bird's eggs, and threw the little crow into the mud pit. You can't tell the bad things you have done for three days and three nights. I will not help you!" Squirrel He said sadly, "My beloved wife has been snatched away, and my two children are starving to death. I hate you so much, go away!"

After hearing this, the little boy decided to help the squirrel.When it was dark, he ran to the farmhouse where the female squirrel was kept.He climbed up to the cage where the female squirrel was kept and tried to let her go, but the cage was locked and he couldn't open it.After discussing with the mother squirrel for a while, he ran back to the forest to bring the mother squirrel's two cubs, put them in the cage, and then left.

The next day, the people in the farmhouse found the little squirrel and decided to let the mother squirrel and her babies go and send them back to the big forest.So the whole forest sang about the heroic deeds of Nils, the goose baby. The little animals were moved by his deeds, and they were all willing to help the little boy when danger came.

A week passed, and the little boy played the flute absently, waiting for the decision of the geese.In the morning, Aika led all the wild geese to come towards him. Aika said: "Thumb, you have done a lot for us, and I decided to repay you. I sent messengers to find the little fox fairy who cast a spell on you. After our repeated pleas, he promised to return to his original form as soon as you returned home."

However, the little boy was not happy when he heard this, but cried instead, "I don't care if I can become a human," he sobbed, "I just want to travel with you, to Lapland."

"You have to think clearly, if you don't go back this time, that little fox fairy may not help you in the future."

"I just want to travel." The little boy said firmly.

"Well, if you make up your mind, do as you please!" said Ika.

"Thank you!" When the little boy heard that Aika agreed to his request, a stone fell from his heart.

(End of this chapter)