Travel by goose

Chapter 8 Swan
The water in the lake rose higher and higher, and it didn't take long for the water to enter the land a few meters.When floods are about to be caused, people seize the opportunity to repair and oil the large and small ships parked on the shore in winter, so that they can be launched as soon as possible.Roads and bridges have also been strengthened.The road maintenance workers along the lakeside railway kept walking up and down on the roadbed, daring not to sleep day and night.

Farmers rushed ashore the hay and leaves stored on the low islands.Fishermen put away their nets and trawls.Every crossing was packed with people.

But it wasn't just humans who were unsettled by the lake's rising waters.The wild ducks that laid eggs in the bushes on the shore, and the field mice with young in their nests were also extremely worried.Even the haughty swans worry about the destruction of their nests and eggs.

These worries are not superfluous, the lake water is rising all the time.The water has flooded the tree trunks on the shore, the vegetable gardens are filled with water, the grasslands are flooded, and people are holding boats to salvage items that have been washed away by the water.

During these difficult days, Smeer the Fox stole one day through a birch grove that stood by the lake.He walked quietly as usual, thinking of the geese and Thumb, and wondering how to find them when they had lost track.

When he was extremely upset, he suddenly saw a carrier pigeon sitting on a branch. "Hello, carrier pigeon! Maybe you can tell me where Ika and her geese are now."

"I know exactly where they are. But I won't tell a cunning fox," said the carrier pigeon.

"Whatever you want!" said Smeer, "as long as you send a message. As you have seen, the floods will soon destroy the nests and eggs of many swans who live here. But the Swan King Broad Wings listened Said a thumb with a wild goose would save everything, sent me out and asked Aika if he would bring his thumb here."

"Of course I can," said the pigeon, "but what can a thumb do?"

"Only he knows that," Smeal said.

"It's strange that Broad Wings would allow a fox to carry a message, which is very suspicious," said the carrier pigeon.

"In normal times, we are enemies. But right now, we have to help each other. But there is no need to tell Aika. It was a fox who told you this. She will be paranoid when she finds out."

As soon as Eka heard that the swan needed her help, she rushed to the Mälaren area.She went there one night with a flock of geese, and immediately saw that it was devastated.The great nests of the swans, blown away by the wind, are drifting across the harbour, in a gust of wind.Some of these nests have been incomplete, and some have been blown over by the wind, and the eggs that were originally laid in them are shining on the bottom of the lake.

When Aika got there, all the swans were congregating on the east bank, which was the best shelter from the wind.Despite their setbacks in the flood, they remained so arrogant that they showed no sadness. "It's not worth the trouble," they said. "There are roots and stalks, and we'll have a new nest soon." None of them thought of asking outsiders for help, and they didn't care that Smeer called the geese. known.

There are hundreds of swans there, and they are arranged according to their status and their own rules: the young and ignorant ones are on the far side, and the old and wise ones are on the inside.The innermost ones are the swan king Broad Wing and queen Bai Xue.They were the oldest of the two and considered most of the swans to be their own offspring.

The geese happened to land on the west bank, but when Ika saw the swans there, she immediately started swimming towards them.She herself was very surprised that the swan invited her, but she took it as an honor, and she was willing to help the swan without hesitation.

As Eka approached the swan, she stopped to check the flock of geese following her to see if they were in a line and evenly spaced. "Swim over and line up quickly, don't look at the swans! No matter what they say, keep quiet."

This is not the first time that Aika has dealt with the respected couple of swans. They also treat the well-informed and famous Aika with courtesy.But the feeling of swimming among the tall and beautiful swans was not always pleasant for Aika.

This time it seems to be going better than ever.The swans moved aside silently, and the wild geese seemed to swim past a street lined with big white birds.In order to show their demeanor in front of the guests, the swans spread their wings like sails.

But just when the swans tried their best to maintain their politeness, they saw the gander swimming at the end of the geese, and the swan team immediately cried out in surprise and anger, and the neat lineup suddenly fell into chaos.

"What's that?" cried a swan. "Do the geese want white feathers?"

"They will never believe that they will become swans if they do that." The swans shouted.

"It must be the king of the house goose." Some mocked.

"Isn't he carrying a frog on his back?" said one. "They must think that if he is dressed like a man, I can't see that he is a frog."

The swans, which were neatly lined up just now, are now swimming forward in a chaotic manner, and they all want to squeeze in front to see the white gander.

"That white gander still wants to compare beauty with us, I'm not ashamed."

The Swan King noticed the noise, "What's the matter, didn't I order them to be polite in front of the guests?"

"There's a white goose coming over there, and it looks so maddening," said the Queen.

"Nonsense! How can there be any white goose?" The swan king immediately rushed over and pushed the other swans aside. When he saw that there was really a white goose on the water, he was as angry as the other swans.Howling angrily, he threw himself straight at the gander and plucked a few feathers from him. "I'm going to teach you a lesson, wild goose, how dare you come to the swan dressed up like this!" he said.

"Fly, gander," Eka called, because he knew that the swans would pluck all the feathers from the great white goose, but the gander was so surrounded by the swans that he couldn't open his wings.The swans stretched out their powerful beaks from all directions and plucked his feathers.

At this moment, a group of birds found that the geese were in trouble, and they flew towards the swans one after another.They screamed in the ears of the swans, blocked the sight of the swans with their wings, and shouted: "Swans are not ashamed, swans are not ashamed!", which made the swans flustered.

The attack of the birds lasted only a moment, but when the birds flew away and the swans came to their senses, they saw the geese flying across the harbour.

When the swan saw the wild geese running, they were too arrogant to chase after them, so that the wild geese could rest assured to sleep on a pile of reeds.

But Nils was too hungry to sleep. "I have to get something to eat."

Without hesitation, he jumped onto a small board floating among the reeds, picked up a small stick, and rowed towards the shore.As soon as he landed, he heard a splash in the water around him. He stopped and saw a fox taking a few steps towards the swan nest, "Get up, get up!" The little boy said to the sleeping in the nest. cried the mother swan.The mother swan woke up, and the fox saw Thumb, and ran towards him instead.

When the little boy saw the fox running towards him, he ran to the land. There was no tree to climb or hole to hide in front of him, so he had to run as hard as he could.

There were several huts not far from the lake, and the light came from the windows, and the little boy ran over there naturally.Seeing that the fox was about to catch up with him.

The little boy turned sharply and ran towards the two of them.He walked close to them until he came to their hut.The little boy wanted to go into the house with them, but he changed his mind when he saw a big long-haired dog in front of the door.

"Hey, watchdog!" the little boy whispered as soon as the door was closed, "tonight we can catch the fox together."

"Nonsense! Don't make fun of me, what a fellow you are! If you come near me, I'll give you a lesson!" growled the dog.

"I am Thumbs, the little boy who roamed with the geese is I." Thumb walked up to the dog and said, "I need your help now, because a fox is chasing me, and he is behind the house Ambush."

"I've heard of you, and I would like to help you, but I have an iron chain around my neck, so I can't catch the fox," said the dog.

"I told you what to do, now we will go to your den," said the little boy.The little boy and the dog got into the kennel and lay there muttering.

After a while, the fox stuck its head out from behind the house and slowly slipped into the yard.He sniffed the little boy with his nose until he found the kennel, and squatted down not far from the dog, thinking about how to catch the little boy.Suddenly the dog stuck its head out and barked at him, "Go away, or I'll catch you!"

"I can stay here as long as I like, and you don't care!" said the fox.

"Go away!" threatened the dog again, "or tonight will be the last time you hunt outside!" The fox just sneered and said, "I know how long the chain around your neck is."

"I've warned you twice." The dog came out of the den, jumped up, and sprang at the fox, all on top of him.They fought for a while, and after a while the outcome was decided.The fox lay motionless on the ground, and the dog dragged him by the neck to the edge of the den.The little boy came over with the dog chain, wrapped it around the fox's neck twice, and tied him firmly.The fox has been lying obediently, not daring to move.

"Now, Fox Smir, you must be a faithful watchdog," said the little boy when he had finished tying up.

(End of this chapter)