The Wonderful Adventures of Nils by Selma Lagerlöf (i can read book club TXT) 📕

had already occurred. For this she became widely noted; and it is easy to understand that people would come to her, both from far and near, to find out what they were going to pass through of good or evil.

“One day, when Ulvåsa-lady sat in her hall and spun, as was customary in former days, a poor peasant came into the room and seated himself on the bench near the door.

“ ‘I wonder what you are sitting and thinking about, dear lady,’ said the peasant after a little.

“ ‘I am sitting and thinking about high and holy things,’ answered she.

“ ‘Then it is not fitting, perhaps, that I ask you about something which weighs on my heart,’ said the peasant.

“ ‘It is probably nothing else that weighs on your heart than that you may reap much grain on your field. But I am accustomed to receive communications from the Emperor about how it will go with his crown; and from the Pope, about how it will go with his keys.’

“ ‘Such things cannot be easy to answer,’ said the peasant. ‘I have also heard that no one seems to go from here without being dissatisfied with what he has heard.’

“When the peasant said this, he saw that Ulvåsa-lady bit her lip, and moved higher up on the bench. ‘So this is what you have heard about me,’ said she. ‘Then you may as well tempt fortune by asking me about the thing you wish to know; and you shall see if I can answer so that you will be satisfied.’

“After this the peasant did not hesitate to state his errand. He said that he had come to ask how it would go with Östergötland in the future. There was nothing which was so dear to him as his native province, and he felt that he should be happy until his dying day if he could get a satisfactory reply to his query.

“ ‘Oh! is that all you wish to know,’ said the wise lady; ‘then I think that you will be content. For here where I now sit, I can tell you that it will be like this with Östergötland: it will always have something to boast of ahead of other provinces.’

“ ‘Yes, that was a good answer, dear lady,’ said the peasant, ‘and now I would be entirely at peace if I could only comprehend how such a thing should be possible.’

“ ‘Why should it not be possible?’ said Ulvåsa-lady. ‘Don’t you know that Östergötland is already renowned? Or think you there is any place in Sweden that can boast of owning, at the same time, two such cloisters as the ones in Alvastra and Vreta, and such a beautiful cathedral as the one in Linköping?’

“ ‘That may be so,’ said the peasant. ‘But I’m an old man, and I know that people’s minds are changeable. I fear that there will come a time when they won’t want to give us any glory, either for Alvastra or Vreta or for the cathedral.’

“ ‘Herein you may be right,’ said Ulvåsa-lady, ‘but you need not doubt prophecy on that account. I shall now build up a new cloister on Vadstena, and that will become the most celebrated in the North. Thither both the high and the lowly shall make pilgrimages, and all shall sing the praises of the province because it has such a holy place within its confines.’

“The peasant replied that he was right glad to know this. But he also knew, of course, that everything was perishable; and he wondered much what would give distinction to the province, if Vadstena Cloister should once fall into disrepute.

“ ‘You are not easy to satisfy,’ said Ulvåsa-lady, ‘but surely I can see so far ahead that I can tell you, before Vadstena Cloister shall have lost its splendour, there will be a castle erected close by, which will be the most magnificent of its period. Kings and dukes will be guests there, and it shall be accounted an honour to the whole province, that it owns such an ornament.’

“ ‘This I am also glad to hear,’ said the peasant. ‘But I’m an old man, and I know how it generally turns out with this world’s glories. And if the castle goes to ruin, I wonder much what there will be that can attract the people’s attention to this province.’

“ ‘It’s not a little that you want to know,’ said Ulvåsa-lady, ‘but, certainly, I can look far enough into the future to see that there will be life and movement in the forests around Finspång. I see how cabins and smithies arise there, and I believe that the whole province shall be renowned because iron will be moulded within its confines.’

“The peasant didn’t deny that he was delighted to hear this. ‘But if it should go so badly that even Finspång’s foundry went down in importance, then it would hardly be possible that any new thing could arise of which Östergötland might boast.’

“ ‘You are not easy to please,’ said Ulvåsa-lady, ‘but I can see so far into the future that I mark how, along the lake-shores, great manors⁠—large as castles⁠—are built by gentlemen who have carried on wars in foreign lands. I believe that the manors will bring the province just as much honour as anything else that I have mentioned.’

“ ‘But if there comes a time when no one lauds the great manors?’ insisted the peasant.

“ ‘You need not be uneasy at all events,’ said Ulvåsa-lady. I see how health-springs bubble on Medevi meadows, by Vätter’s shores. I believe that the wells at Medevi will bring the land as much praise as you can desire.’

“ ‘That is a mighty good thing to know,’ said the peasant. ‘But if there comes a time when people will seek their health at other springs?’

“ ‘You must not give yourself any anxiety on that account,’ answered Ulvåsa-lady. ‘I see how people dig and labour, from Motala to Mem. They dig a canal right through the country, and then Östergötland’s praise is again on everyone’s lips.’

“But, nevertheless, the peasant looked distraught.

“ ‘I see that the