| This is a story in two
parts; the first is not really necessary but it provides background
and that is always useful. |
Det er egentligt en
Historie i to Dele, vi her komme med; første Deel kunde gjerne
være borte, - men den giver Forkundskaber, og de ere nyttige! |
| We were visiting friends
who lived in a manor house out in the country and it so happened
that my host was called away for a few days. A woman came from
a nearby town; she had her lap dog along, which she carried
under her arm. She had come in order to ask my host to buy stock
in her tannery and she had all her papers with her. I advised
her to put them in an envelope and write on the outside my friend's
name and his titles: War Commissary General, Knight of the Danish
Flag, etc. |
Vi opholdt os inde i
Landet paa en Herregaard, og saa traf det sig, at Herskabet
der, for en Dagstid, tog bort. Da kom der fra nærmeste Kjøbstad
en Madamme, hun havde sin Moppe med og kom for, som hun sagde,
at man skulde tage "Actier" i hendes Garveri. Sine Papirer havde
hun med, og vi raadede hende, at slaae en Convolut om dem og
uden paa at skrive Gaardeierens Adresse: "Generalkrigskommissær,
Ridder, etcetera". |
| The woman grabbed the
pen, began, and then stopped. She asked me to repeat what I
had said a little more slowly. I did and she started to write
once more; but in the middle of the word "Commissary" she sighed
and said, "I am only a woman!" Her lap dog, which she had put
down on the floor, began to growl. He had been taken along for
his health and his amusement, and so he thought he wasn't supposed
to be put down on the floor. He was fat and flat-nosed. |
Hun hørte paa os, hun
tog Pennen, standsede, og bad os om at gjentage Udskriften,
men langsomt. Vi gjorde det, og hun skrev; men midt i "Generalkrigs"
blev hun staaende, sukkede og sagde: "jeg er kun et Fruentimmer!"
Moppen havde hun sat paa Gulvet, mens hun skrev, og han knurrede;
han var jo ogsaa taget med for sin Fornøielse og Sundheds Skyld,
og saa skal man ikke sættes paa Gulvet. Braknæse og Fleskeryg
var hans Udvortes. |
| "He doesn't bite," said
his mistress. "He hasn't got a tooth left in his mouth. He is
like a member of the family: faithful but badtempered; and that's
my grandchildren's fault. They like to play 'getting married'
and the dog has to be a bridesmaid, and that tires him out,
the poor old thing!" |
"Han bider ikke!" sagde
Madammen, "han har ingen Tænder. Han er ligesom Lem af Familien,
trofast og arrig, men dette er han tirret til af mine Børnebørn;
de lege Bryllup, og saa vil de have ham til at være Brudepige,
og det anstrænger ham, det gamle Skind!" |
| She left and took her
little dog under her arm and went home. That was the first part
of the story, the one that could have been skipped. |
Og hun afleverede sine
Papirer og tog Moppen paa Armen. Det er første Deel - som nok
kunde undværes! |
| The lap dog died; that
is the second part. |
"Moppen døde!" det er
anden Deel. |
| It was about a week
later. We had come to the town and had taken a room in an inn.
Our windows faced the back of the building and we had a view
of the yard; it was divided in two by a fence. In one half hides
had been hung to dry, both tanned and untanned ones; it was
a tannery and belonged to a widow, the woman we had met at the
manor house. Her lap dog had died that very morning and was
being buried in the yard. The widow's grandchildren--that is,
the tannery owner's widow, not the lap dog's, for the dog had
never been married--were busy patting the earth smooth on top
of the grave. It was a beautiful grave, in which it must have
been a pleasure to lie. |
Det var en Ugestid efter;
vi kom til Kjøbstaden og tog ind paa Gjæstgiverstedet. Vore
Vinduer vendte ud til Gaarden, der ved et Plankeværk var deelt
i to Dele; i den ene her hang Skind og Huder, raa og barkede;
her stod alle Materialer til et Garveri, og det var Enkens.
-Moppen var død i denne Morgen og begravet her i Gaarden; Enkens
Børnebørn, det vil sige Garverenkens, for Moppen havde ikke
været gift, klappede Graven til, og det var en deilig Grav,
det maatte være en Fornøielse at ligge der. |
| It was fenced in by
broken flowerpots and covered with sand; as a tombstone there
stood a beer bottle with its neck upward; it was not meant symbolically.
|
Graven var indhegnet
med Potteskaar, og bestrøet med Sand; øverst paa den havde de
sat en halv Øl-Flaske med Halsen op, og det var slet ikke allegorisk. |
| The children danced
around the grave, and the oldest of the boys, an enterprising
young lad of seven, suggested that they should exhibit the grave
to anyone in the street who would care to see it. The entrance
fee should be one button, for that was something that every
boy who wore suspenders owned; and he could even pay for a girl
without losing his trousers. The proposal was carried unanimously.
|
Børnene dandsede rundt
om Graven, og den ældste af Drengene, en practisk Yngling paa
syv Aar, foreslog, at der skulde være en Udstilling af Moppens
Grav og det for Alle fra Strædet; Adgangen maatte betales med
en Seleknap, det var Noget enhver Dreng havde, og han ogsaa
kunde levere for Smaapigerne; og det Forslag blev eenstemmigt
antaget. |
| All the children in
the street and in the alley behind the yard came and paid their
buttons. Many a boy that day had to wear one suspender instead
of two, but at least he had seen the little dog's grave and
that was worth it. |
Og alle Børn fra Strædet
og Bagstrædet med kom og gav deres Knap, der vare mange, der
kom til at gaae med een Sele den Eftermiddag, men saa havde
man seet Moppens Grav, og det var nok saa meget værd. |
| Outside the gate of
the tannery yard stood a litle girl. Although she was dressed
in rags she was lovely; she had the most beautiful curly hair,
and eyes so clear and blue that it was a pleasure to look at
them. She didn't utter a word nor did she cry; but every time
the gate was opened she peeked in. She didn't own a button and
therefore she stood dejected outside the gate all afternoon,
until the last of the children had left. Then she burst out
crying and, hiding her eyes in her little sunburned hands, she
sat down upon the ground. She alone, of all the children in
the street, had not seen the little lap dog's grave! Now that
was grief, a sorrow as sharp as a grownup's can be! |
Men udenfor Garvergaarden,
tæt op til Laagen der, stod en lille pjaltet Unge, saa yndigt
skabt, med det deiligste krøllede Haar og Øine saa blaae og
klare, at det var en Lyst; hun sagde ikke et Ord, hun græd ikke
heller, men saae saa langt hun kunde, hver Gang Laagen aabnedes.
Hun eiede ikke en Knap, vidste hun, og blev derfor sørgmodig
staaende udenfor, stod der til de Alle havde seet af, og Alle
vare gaaede bort; da satte hun sig ned, holdt de smaa brune
Hænder for Øinene og brast i Graad; hun alene havde ikke seet
Moppens Grav. Det var Hjertesorg og stor, som den Voxnes tidt
kan være det. |
| We saw it from above;
and the little girl's sorrow--like many of our own--was laughable
when seen from above. That is the story and if you haven't understood
it, then you can buy stock in the widow's tannery. |
Vi saae det ovenfra
- og ovenfra seet - denne, som mange af vore og Andres Sorger,
- ja saa kunne vi lee af dem! - det er Historien, og den, som
ikke forstaaer den, kan tage Actier i Enkens Garveri. |
|