"I suppose we shall have to content ourselves with thrashing him,"
said Lasse meditatively.

The boy went on playing for a little while, and then once more came
up to Lasse.

"Don't you think the Swedes can thrash all the people in the world,
father?"

The old man looked thoughtful. "Ye-es--yes, I should think so."

"Yes, because Sweden's much bigger than the whole world, isn't it?"

"Yes, it's big," said Lasse, trying to imagine its extent. There
were twenty-four provinces, of which Malmohus was only one, and
Ystad district a small part of that again; and then in one corner
of Ystad district lay Tommelilla, and his holding that he had once
thought so big with its five acres of land, was a tiny little piece
of Tommelilla! Ah, yes, Sweden was big--not bigger than the whole
world, of course, for that was only childish nonsense--but still
bigger than all the rest of the world put together. "Yes, it's big!
But what are you doing, laddie?"

"Why, can't you see I'm a soldier that's had one leg shot off?"

"Oh, you're an old crippled pensioner, are you? But you shouldn't
do that, for God doesn't like things like that. You might become
a real cripple, and that would be dreadful."