9789172991552

m p u u r s A g a e rden h t in r o d N q vist n e v S

Opal

www.opal.se Originalets titel: Kackel i grönsakslandet © Copyright Sven Nordqvist 1990 Translation: Peter Parsons B.A. (Lond.)

Bokförlaget Opal AB Printed in Belgium 2005 ISBN: 91-7299-155-0

m p u u r s A g a e rden h t in r o d N q vist n e v S

Opal

It was a beautiful spring morning. The birds were singing in every bush; leaves and blades of grass were sprouting and everywhere small creatures were flying and crawling and working, so that all the air was filled with a slight whirring, rustling, singing sound of all the living things which had woken to life after the winter.

Old man Pettson was standing in the vegetable-patch, looking at and feeling the soil.

“Now’s the right time”, he said. “Today we can sow vegetables and set potatoes.”

Findus the cat ran around scaring beetles.

“What do you mean SET?” he said.

“Set in the ground. If we put carrot seeds down in the earth then carrots will grow there. And from each potato we set, there will be five to ten new potatoes.”

The cat looked at the old man with a determined expression on his face. “But I don’t like five to ten new potatoes or carrots either.

Can’t we set meatballs instead?”

“You can always set them of course. But they don’t grow,” said Pettson.

“Surely one can try”, said Findus.

“Yes, you can have a go. But first of all we have to dig and rake.”

Findus ran off and fetched one of the meatballs left over from the previous day. Pettson dug up the vegetable-patch and levelled out the soil. He sowed the seeds in straight, neat rows. Carrots and onions, peas and beans. The cat planted his meatball. Now and again he ran back to see if it had grown.

Just when there was only one row left to sow a shrill cackling could be heard from the direction of the house: “Cack, cack, cack, cack … COME ON! He’s digging!” And in a flash all the hens darted out to the patch and began to scratch around in the earth after worms.

“Oh, no!” Pettson moaned. “I’ve forgotten to shut the hens in! You can’t be here! You ruin everything. You’re scratching up the seeds.”

But the hens didn’t care about what the old man said. They knew of nothing better than worms and where digging is going on it’s easy to find worms. As soon as Pettson had shooed away one hen another turned up instead and scratched about so that the newly-sown seeds flew around just anyhow. Findus bravely tried to defend his meatball, but even though he shouted so much that he started coughing the hens nevertheless pecked his tail, and all of a sudden one of them had scratched up his meatball and gobbled it up in a trice.

“Do I have to lock you in simply because you can’t leave the vegetable-patch alone?” Pettson scolded. “Come along and you can have a few sunflower seeds instead.”

“It’s worms we want”, said the hens.

“In that case I’ll dig up a patch just for you where you can pick for worms”, Pettson said. “Come along with me.”

It was a beautiful spring morning. The birds were singing in every bush; leaves and blades of grass were sprouting and everywhere small creatures were flying and crawling and working.

Findus the cat ran around scaring beetles. Old man Pettson was standing in the vegetable-patch looking at and feeling the soil.

“Now’s the right time”, he said. “Today we shall sow vegetables and set potatoes.”

But Findus was of another opinion as to what the vegetable-patch should be used for. The hens too and even the cows wanted a say in the matter.

So it turned out the way it usually did or rather … just the opposite.

A RUMPUS IN THE GARDEN is Sven Nordqvist’s fifth book about Pettson and Findus the cat.

ISBN:91-7299-155-0

Opal