This book mainly tells the touching story of a little boy riding a goose around the world, visiting natural scenery, learning geography and culture, experiencing risks and sufferings, gradually correcting his own shortcomings, knowing how to learn and progress, and developing excellent moral character.
This book is the first and only fairy tale work that won Nobel Prize in Literature in the history of world literature.
summary
Niels, the hero of the story, is a naughty boy who hates studying, likes playing pranks and often bullies small animals. One day, Niels played a trick on an elf. The elf turned him into a little man as big as a thumb. In order to escape the ridicule of people and the bullying of animals, Niels rode on the back of the male goose at home and followed it on a strange air trip. Niels suffered a lot along the way. Although I met many vicious and insidious enemies, I also met the kind wild goose Aka, the honest white crow and the loyal eagle Gorgo. Niels learned many advantages from them and learned how to sympathize with and care for others. When Niels returned to his hometown. He has become a modest, polite, brave, gentle, kind and helpful boy. I believe that every child will be eager to be Niels and travel with the geese after knowing him!
Creation background
1887, a teacher's college dean named Darling asked Selma, who has been a geography and history teacher for a long time, to write a book that primary school students like and introduce history and geography to Swedish children. When she writes, she has a clear intention in mind: "to educate Swedish children to love their motherland." From the perspective of pedagogy, she believes that "children can truly love and respect their motherland only if they know their own country and are familiar with its history". This long fairy tale was actually published as a variant of a textbook.
In order to write this work well, the author visited all parts of Sweden for several years, carefully collected detailed information of various animals and plants in the country, carefully observed the living habits and laws of birds and animals, and did not forget to collect local customs, folklore and other stories on the way to collect information, which greatly enriched the authenticity of the work. Many of the author's works are set in his hometown, and the conception of this fairy tale is also inspired by her walking experience: once when walking in the garden, the author was startled by the sound of "help" from the urgent voice, and a little boy was struggling to resist the owl that pecked at him. This scene left a deep impression on the author. Later, this picture is the scene where Niels, the heroine of her fairy tale, often bullies chickens, ducks, cats and dogs at home and is attacked by animals.
works appreciation
Niels's Goose Riding Journey was originally intended to write new textbooks for Swedish primary schools, so its plot is relatively simple. At the same time, in order to teach practical knowledge to children in an entertaining way, the author interspersed a large number of fairy tales, legends and folk stories. In order to make children understand and remember clearly, and really master knowledge, the author basically uses plain description and simple sketch writing methods from beginning to end, except for the necessary scenery explanation and narration, there is generally no heavy and colorful description.
In the works, the author's personification and detailed description are also very brilliant. In her works, the wind, rivers and cities all have interesting images, such as comparing the flat land in Skanai to "square plaid cloth", comparing the East Yetland Plain to "burlap", comparing the rain to "long bread and snacks" and comparing the dolphins to "black tassels". Detail description makes the work more appealing. For example, when describing the cat being angered, the author wrote, "All the hair on its body is upright, and its waist is arched to form a bow. His four legs look like taut slingshots, sharp claws scratching around on the ground, and his tail is short and thick … ",which vividly and interestingly describes the appearance of the cat in one sentence.
Brief introduction of the author
Selma Lagoff (1858- 1940), a representative figure of Swedish neo-romantic literature at the end of 19, was not only the first female writer to win the Nobel Prize in Literature, but also the only one who won the Nobel Prize in Literature with her long fairy tales.