But continue up the hill. There will be a fine view from the top, even though during Moberg's time there were more church towers to see. To the right is a white house which now serves as the family and youth hostel of Moshult. It was built as a school in the 1930's. To the left up ahead is the old schoolhouse. When the new school started up, the old one was left standing in the forest in Påvelsmåla. It was later moved into the village in the 50's and became a temperance lodge. Since 1980, it has been a museum and is called Vilhelm Moberg's school. In this schoolhouse he received rather low marks for conduct due to his unruly behavior towards the schoolteacher. Moberg in his class at school But when Moberg, who was born in 1898, went to this school it was still located out in the middle of the forest. The cost of running the Påvelsmåla school was divided by three villages and none of them should be any closer than the others. So the school should be built squarely in the middle between all three villages, and that was the final word. As it turned out the absolute middle point lay in the middle of a peat bog. So adjustments were made and the school ended up in the middle of the woods. It couldn't be helped. There is a road to the left, north of the schoolhouse, turn down it. The last bit, a hundred meters or so, is hardly accessible by car. It is better to walk, but soon one reaches the foundation of the old schoolhouse in the woods at Påvelsmåla. Trees are encroaching on the parcel, and roots are winding through the old logs of the frame. This is where the seven year olds came, whether the sun shone on the soft moss or the winter snow chilled their legs. The schoolmarm was nineteen years old and lived out here all alone and of course there was no electricity. One can hardly imagine it. The woods were dark in broad daylight, and she was all alone, and those little children who trudged through the forest paths fully believed in trolls and goblins. People at that time must have been extraordinarily stalwart. The schoolmarm looks so kind as she appears in the photograph of the schoolhouse in Moshultamåla. There was room for fifty or so children in the one room schoolhouse, the younger kids usually came in the spring and the older ones came in the fall. For children to attend school year round was highly unusual. Many parents believed that schooling was indeed unnecessary. Children were needed at home, for service in the family. This sort of child servitude, for which we today criticize poorer nations, was common in Sweden not especially long ago. Even Vilhelm Moberg had to be satisfied with going to school part-time. Next page The Musical | Background | Interactive guide | Merchandise | Downloadables | Swedish