Near the Top of the World: Stories of Norway, Sweden & DenmarkMoore, Nelle E.
General
Near the Top of the World: Stories of Norway, Sweden & Denmark
Moore, Nelle E.
Readers -- Geography; Scandinavia -- Juvenile literature
The dun-colored horse took them only a short way. For most of their
journey was to be on small steamboats on the waterways of Norway, called
fjords, and by automobiles on mountain roads. But Roald gladly climbed
on the boat.
Their first boat glided along narrow waterways for miles and miles
between mountain walls that in some places rise almost straight up from
the water. Roald began to wonder whether this could be a part of
Norway’s farm land. But now and then, even in this mountainous region,
his father pointed out a lone farmhouse perched up on the mountainside.
Soon the boat passed shores that were less steep and Roald saw stretches
of low and rolling land between mountain peaks. He caught glimpses of
farms lying close together. This farm land was like the farm land he had
seen near Oslo.
Roald wondered what farmers grew in this land of mountains and water.
But he did not need to leave his boat to see some of the farmers’
products. As the boat stopped at a small town along the fjords to
deliver the mail and boxes of foodstuffs, boys came on deck to sell
baskets of fruit—cherries, raspberries, blueberries, currants, and
apples.
[Illustration: A TWO-WHEELED BUGGY OR CARIOLE]
After a day on the fjords, the family traveled in an automobile. Roald
soon asked, “What are those strange fences we see everywhere in the
fields?” But he needed no answer to his question, for in a few minutes
he saw one of those fences loaded with grass. All along the way he saw
men, women, and children in the fields making hay. The men cut the grass
and the women and girls and boys helped rake it into small stacks and
hung it on the fencelike frames to dry in the sun.
[Illustration: A FENCE LOADED WITH GRASS]
They saw farmers cutting grass on slopes that are covered with rocks.
The farmers used scythes and hand sickles to cut around the many rocks.
Farmers in many countries would call such rocky hillsides waste land,
but in Norway no blade of grass can be wasted if the cattle are to be
well fed during the winter.
Roald looked up at one place and saw a big bundle of grass dangling in
the air. “Oh, Father, look!” he cried. And his father smiled as he said,
“You must not be surprised to see bundles moving along over your head.
Farmers who live on the mountains send hay, baskets of berries, buckets
of milk or butter down to the valleys on strong wires which have been
stretched down the mountain slopes.” And in a few minutes Roald saw a
woman hang a bundle of hay on a wire and start it sliding down to the
barn below.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account