# The Living City explained — The Wonderful Adventures of Nils

> Chapter companion for The Wonderful Adventures of Nils by Selma Lagerlöf.

## What happens

On Easter Monday, the wild geese fly over Gottland to cheer up Nils, who is grieving over a magnificent sunken city he saw earlier. Old Kaksi leads them to Visby, a ruined medieval city. Nils compares the ruined city to the glorious one he imagined and eventually accepts that it is better for the sunken city to remain preserved in its beauty than to decay like Visby.

## Themes in this chapter

### Transformation and Growth

Nils transforms his grief into acceptance, learning to let go of an idealized past and appreciate the present.

### Humanity and Compassion

The wild geese and Kaksi show compassion by trying to comfort Nils and showing him Visby to ease his sorrow.

### Interconnectedness of Life

The contrast between the sunken city and Visby reflects the cycle of rise and decay, linking past glory to present reality.

## Character check-ins

### Nils Holgersson

Grieves over the sunken city he saw on Easter night; is comforted by seeing Visby and comes to accept the loss.

### Akka

Tries to convince Nils that the sunken city was a dream or hallucination.

### Morten Goosey-Gander

Also attempts to comfort Nils about the sunken city.

### Kaksi

Returns to the flock after being blown to Gottland; suggests showing Nils Visby to lift his spirits.

## Key lines

> He had been altogether unlike himself for two days, and hadn’t spoken a cheerful word. This was because he had thought of nothing but that city which had appeared to him in such a strange way.

Nils had been silent and gloomy for two days, consumed by thoughts of the mysterious city he had seen.

_Shows Nils's deep emotional state after the vision._

> If Thumbietot is grieving over an old city, we’ll soon be able to comfort him. Just come along, and I’ll take you to a place that I saw yesterday!

Kaksi offers to show Nils a place that will ease his sorrow over the lost city.

_Kaksi's initiative to help Nils._

> It was best that it happened as it happened. If I had the power to save the city, I don’t believe that I should care to do it.

Nils concludes that the sunken city is better off preserved beneath the sea than decaying like Visby.

_Nils's acceptance and resolution of his grief._

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_wonderful_adventures_of_nils_se/chapters/the-living-city
- Book: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_wonderful_adventures_of_nils_se
- All chapters: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_wonderful_adventures_of_nils_se/chapters