the people have taken away the reeds.
But if the reeds shut the people out, they give, in return, shelter and
protection to many other things. In the reeds there are a lot of little
dams and canals with green, still water, where duckweed and pondweed run
to seed; and where gnat-eggs and blackfish and worms are hatched out in
uncountable masses. And all along the shores of these little dams and
canals, there are many well-concealed places, where seabirds hatch their
eggs, and bring up their young without being disturbed, either by
enemies or food worries.
An incredible number of birds live in the Takern reeds; and more and
more gather there every year, as it becomes known what a splendid abode
it is. The first who settled there were the wild ducks; and they still
live there by thousands. But they no longer own the entire lake, for
they have been obliged to share it with swans, grebes, coots, loons,
fen-ducks, and a lot of others.
Takern is certainly the largest and choicest bird lake in the whole
country; and the birds may count themselves lucky as long as they own
such a retreat. But it is uncertain just how long they will be in
control of reeds and mud-banks, for human beings cannot forget that the
lake extends over a considerable portion of good and fertile soil; and
every now and then the proposition to drain it comes up among them. And
if these propositions were carried out, the many thousands of
water-birds would be forced to move from this quarter.
At the time when Nils Holgersson travelled around with the wild geese,
there lived at Takern a wild duck named Jarro. He was a young bird, who
had only lived one summer, one fall, and a winter; now, it was his first
spring. He had just returned from South Africa, and had reached Takern
in such good season that the ice was still on the lake.
One evening, when he and the other young wild ducks played at racing
backward and forward over the lake, a hunter fired a couple of shots at
them, and Jarro was wounded in the breast. He thought he should die; but
in order that the one who had shot him shouldn't get him into his power,
he continued to fly as long as he possibly could. He didn't think
whither he was directing his course, but only struggled to get far
away. When his strength failed him, so that he could not fly any
farther, he was no longer on the lake. He had flown a bit inland, and
now he sank down before the entrance to one of the big farms which lie
along
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