Travel by goose

Chapter 6 Grayskin the Moose and Cal the Hound
About 12 years before Nils was roaming with wild geese, there lived a farmer by the edge of a forest named Callmauden.He hated one of his hounds very much, because the dog chased the sheep and chickens whenever it saw it.The farmer called the forest warden and told him to take the dog into the forest and shoot him to death with a shotgun.

The dog's name is Carl, and he is very clever and can understand human language.As the Warden led him through the forest, he knew exactly what was in store for him.But he neither bowed his head nor drooped his tail, and looked the same as usual.

He walked in the forest pretending to be calm, sometimes wagging his tail and pretending to let out a happy cry.He is a proud dog, unwilling to let the animals of the forest perceive his frustration and despair.But he suddenly remembered one thing, and he decided to do it before he died.So he broke free from the leash in the hands of the watchman, and ran through the forest to the swamp.

Before the forest warden had time to aim his gun, he disappeared without a trace.The forest watchman had no choice but to chase after him with his gun raised.He didn't see until he got to the edge of the swamp that the dog was barking on the lawn a few meters away from the land.The caretaker found that in the swamp, a female moose had been lying dead in the mud, and beside her was a fawn, which was not dead, but was dying.Carl let out a violent cry for help.

When the forest warden pulled the fawn out of the swamp, Carl jumped and jumped around the forest warden excitedly.Karl knew that the fawn had been saved, and thought it was because of his fault that the mother moose suffered misfortune.Before he died, he wanted to save the fawn that might survive.

The forest watchman thought that Karl was a good dog, so after obtaining the consent of the farmer, he took in Karl and the fawn.The forest warden named the fawn Grayskin, because it was so ugly.Its head was big and old, its face was wrinkled, and it always hung on one side, and its skin was tightly wrinkled.The deer always had a sad expression on his face, but whenever Carl was around he was full of energy and his eyes were shining.Karl visited him every day, played with him, and told him all sorts of things a forest animal should know.

In a few years, Grayskin grew into a powerful animal.The forest warden decided to sell him to the zoo.After learning the news, Grayskin remained indifferent, but Karl had other plans. "I will tell you, Grayskin, that a famous saying of your kind is, 'The moose and the forest are one.' I regret that you have not once been in the forest."

"I don't think there's any harm in looking at the forest." Grayskin jumped out of the fence with a kick.Carl led him into the forest.

Carl pointed to the tall fir tree and said to Grayskin: "Your people are sheltering from the wind and cold here, and they often spend the whole winter standing in the open air." fragrance.Carl took Grayskin to a large swamp to see the grass mounds and mud pools inside. "The moose often come to this swamp when they are in danger. Although they are so big and heavy, they can't sink in. That way they can escape the hunters." Grayskin jumped into the swamp. , he was very proud of himself standing firmly on the grass mound.Karl then took Grayskin to a place at the edge of the forest where tall broadleaf trees grew. "Your people often eat the leaves and bark here, and they regard it as the best food." Grayskin tasted every bark, "It tastes really good!"

Then Karl took Grayskin to a small lake.The lake is calm and calm, like a bright mirror, shrouded in misty mist.

"What is this, Karl?" asked Grayskin, seeing the lake for the first time. "This is a large body of water, a lake. Your people often swim here from one side of the shore to the other. You can try it too." Carl jumped into the lake and swam.Gray Skin stood on the shore for a long time, and finally followed him down.He held his breath comfortably as the soft cool water flowed past him, and swam blithely in the lake.

"Can we go home?" Carl asked when they landed. "It's still early in the morning, and we can walk around the forest a while," said Grayskin.

They went back to the woods.On a moonlit lawn, several large animals were grazing. "That's your kind, buck, doe, and fawn," Carl said.Grayskin walked towards the moose, but the buck threatened Grayskin with its horns at once, and made Grayskin leave his territory.Grayskin came back in disgrace.

"You're right to hide, a young buck to avoid a duel with an old stag. You're not in danger of being ruined for not resisting, because you're not going to live in the forest," Carl said.Before Karl could finish speaking, Grayskin turned back and ran towards the grass.He wrestled with the old deer that was coming up, their horns snapped back and forth, and after a long stalemate, Gray Leather finally defeated the old deer, and the old deer ran away.

Grayskin returned to Karl, "Now that you have seen what is in the forest, are you still willing to go home?" Karl asked.

"Yes, it's time to go home," said Grayskin.

On the way home, they remained silent.Karl groaned and sighed several times, while Grayskin strode forward with a high and proud stride.They walked home, but Grayskin stopped, looking at the low shed where he lived, the withered grass, and the small wooden trough for drinking water, he shouted: "The moose and the forest are one." ran in the direction of the forest.

Grayskin walked around in the forest, knowing everything.In the evening of the second day, he came to a pool of water and was going to eat some calla lily leaves in the water.Suddenly, a black snake sprang out from under the calla lilies and hissed at Grayskin.Grayskin thought he had met a terrible poisonous snake, so he raised his hoof in terror, crushed the snake's head, and ran away desperately.

After Gray Pizi left, another long, black snake came out of the pool, crawled to the side of the dead snake, and cried sadly, "Old Harmless, you just died like this, we got along so well." Well, I have never hurt others, but today you were beaten to death by this villain! I must avenge you, otherwise I will not be called old and incompetent, and I am not worthy to be the oldest snake in the forest!"

The next day the Viper crawled up to the Adder and begged him for help.But Viper refused. "If I go and attack a moose, I'll be crushed too. I won't do such a stupid thing!"

But the snake had another idea. "I mean, if only you would tell all the birds that eat the larvae of the gypsy moth to stop eating them. Well, the larvae would reproduce so quickly that their prodigious numbers would require A large amount of cedar leaves will fill his stomach... When the time comes, Grayskin will know what kind of punishment I will give him!"

"Your request is more reasonable, I can help you!" Viper agreed.

A few years later, Carl was lying asleep on the front steps when he heard his name called. "Is that you, Grayskin?" Carl asked.But he got no answer.Grayskin kept calling him, and Carl chased in the direction of the call, until he got into the densest fir forest.

"Look, Karl, the fir leaves are falling like raindrops." Grayskin called as he ran ahead, "Smell the forest for a scent."

Carl heard Grayskin's miserable cry, stopped and looked around carefully.He found many gray and white insects crawling around on the branches and eating leaves.All branches were infested with bugs as they kept eating the leaves, the trees made a rattling noise, and the bitten off leaves kept falling to the ground, giving off a strong smell.

"What's going on?" Carl thought. "These bugs are eating up the cedar leaves. They're starting to eat the pines, and the birches. They're going to eat everything. It's really bad!"

Grayskin waited for Karl under the dying tree. "Carl, these pests used to be the weakest in the forest, but their numbers have increased suddenly in recent years, and now it seems that they are going to destroy the entire forest."

Standing beside Gray Skin were four most prestigious old deer in the forest.They said, "Carl, we've called you here to ask people if they know about this disaster, that these pests cannot be eradicated by the power of animals alone."

"It's not hunting season, and they don't know it. I see what you mean, go back and ask people for help now."

After a while, Carl went home.When he was on his way with great anxiety, a big black snake came in front of him, and the snake blocked Karl's way. "I know how to get rid of these pests." The snake said, "I just have a request."

"Speak up! As long as you can eliminate the pests, your request will be granted." Carl said.

"Tell Grayskin, if he goes far north from here, and settles where there is not a single oak tree, and he cannot come back as long as I live. Then I will bring sickness and death to On these pests!" The snake crawled into a small hole, hid and continued, "Because he killed my favorite snake, he deserved it!"

"Nonsense!" Karl rushed at the snake angrily, but the snake was well hidden and the dog couldn't jump at him. "You just stay there, we can kill the pests without your help!"

The next day, Karl led the forest watchman to the forest, and he found that the pests were raging in the forest.

For the next year, people have been walking around in the forest, busy saving the forest.They took various measures: they felled the affected trees, so that the bugs could not climb from tree to tree; they cleared the undergrowth and cut off the branches under the big trees, so that the bugs would stay in place; They cut wide roads around the victimized forest and erected glue-coated poles.

But despite people's best efforts, the bugs came back in full bloom once summer came.

Karl encounters a snake again. "Have you told Grayskin what I said? Tell him as soon as possible, you see, human beings are powerless in the face of this disaster."

"Shut your mouth!" Karl ignored it.

But Gray Skin knew the whole incident, so he decided to leave here.Cal couldn't find Grayskin any more in the forest.

Strange things happened, and after Grayskin left, the Worm got sick, and it seemed that the Snake kept his promise.The sick bug gradually stopped eating, climbed to the top of the tree and died.However, the pests covered a large area, and it took several years before the pests completely disappeared.Karl wanted to kill the nasty snake as soon as the pests disappeared.But during the long wait, Karl was too old to kill a swimming snake, powerless to rescue his friend Grayskin from his enemy.

During this period, Grayskin asked the bird to greet Karl many times, telling him that he was still alive and doing well.But the birds confided to Karl that Grayskin had been pursued many times by hunters, and had escaped with great difficulty.

One afternoon, Eka and her geese flocked by a small lake in the forest. After landing, the geese immediately ran into the water to look for food.But Nils had to look for a suitable substitute in the forest because he accidentally lost a shoe.

He walked for a long time in the forest, and finally found a piece of birch bark.He was standing putting the bark on his feet to see if it would fit when there was a sound behind him.He looked back and found that it was a swimming snake. "He won't hurt me." The little boy didn't take the snake seriously at first.

But in an instant the snake slammed into his chest and knocked him down.The little boy hurriedly got up from the ground and ran away, but the snake was chasing him closely.There were thorns and stones everywhere, and the little boy had nowhere to hide for a while, so he had to run forward desperately.

Suddenly, the little boy saw a big rock with smooth sides in front of him, and he immediately climbed up the rock. "Up there, the snake won't be able to catch me," he thought, but when he looked back, the snake was still chasing me.There was a round stone next to the big rock. When the snake came to him, the little boy had an idea, ran behind the round stone and pushed hard. The stone hit the snake's head impartially, and the snake died.

"I haven't encountered anything more dangerous than this in my travels." The little boy hissed when he saw that the snake had stopped moving.

As soon as he calmed down, he heard a "hula" above his head.A black bird like a crow flew to the snake, and the little boy hid in a crevice of the stone.

The blackbird paced up and down beside the snake and said plausibly, "This must be Snake's incompetence. I'll have to call Carl over here. It'd be great if I knew who killed him!"

Hearing this, the little boy came out from between the stones and said, "The stone I pushed down killed him."

"Good job! If I'm not mistaken, you are the thumb! I'm Balki the Raven, a good friend of Eka. You don't know how much disaster this snake once brought to this forest." Raven Tell the little boy the story of Cal, Grayskin, and Snake.

After listening, the little boy didn't speak for a long time. "Listen, Karl is nearby, as if talking to the geese," said the raven.They stood up from the stone and walked in the direction of the sound.

On the bank, wild geese are talking to a very old dog.Wild Goose Aika told Carl: "Last spring, I saw three moose in a dense bush, one male and two females. At that time, I found three hunters coming towards them from the air. It was for the moose. I alerted the moose, and the male moose left the two female moose in place and led the hunter away by himself.

The scene was thrilling. The hunters and dogs were chasing the moose for two or three hours.Because it is the season when hunting is prohibited, hunters dare not bring guns, but chase after them.The buck ran forward as fast as he could, but he ran slower and slower.The hard surface of the thick snow had scratched his leg, which looked badly injured.

The hunter and the dog were getting closer and closer to him.The buck couldn't run any longer, and he held his head up and said to us, "Geese, please stop here, and go when it's all over! When you pass through Callmaudden Forest, please tell the dog Karl , tell him that his friend Grayskin died a dignified death!"

(End of this chapter)