“I can easily do that, although I was not one of the top dogs at the military school. Let me try and recall it to memory.”
“There is one condition: you must not mention the name of a single king; for if you do, those inside will get angry; and when they get angry, then, you know....”
“It will be awfully difficult. But light your pipe and I’ll begin. Here’s a match!”
The soldier scratched his head and began:
“One—two—three! In the year 1161, or thereabouts, Sweden first came into existence; a kingdom, a king, and an archbishop—is that enough?”
“No,” said Swede, “not at all. Begin again.”
“Very well, then! In the year 1359 the Swedish people became a nation, for then the Parliament of the four estates first met, and it continued to meet, with interruptions, until 1866.”
“Well, but you’re a soldier,” said Swede, “surely you’ll have a few words to say about wars.”
“There are only two wars of any importance, and they ended, the first with the peace of Brömsebro in 1645, when we got Herjedalen, Jämtland, and Gottland, and the second with the peace of Röskilde in 1658, when we got Schonen, Halland, Blekinge, and Bohuslän. And that is all there is of the history of Sweden.”
“But you forget the constitutions?”