| The largest leaves here
in Denmark are the burdock leaves. If a little girl holds one
in front of her tummy, then it will serve as an apron. If it
should rain, one can use one as an umbrella; it is big enough.
The burdock plant never grows alone; it is fond of company.
Where you find one you will find more, and sometimes a whole
forest of them. They look beautiful; and all this beauty is
snail food. Those large white snails that the aristocrats and
other grand people used to make into fricassee in the old times,
and exclaim enthusiastically about how delicious they were--"What
a flavor!" they used to cry--well, those white snails live on
burdock leaves. And, as a matter of fact, it was for their sake
that the burdock was originally planted. |
Det største grønne Blad
her til Lands, det er da rigtignok et Skræppeblad; holder man
det foran paa sin lille Mave, saa er det ligesom et heelt Forklæde,
og lægger man det paa sit Hoved, saa er det i Regnveir næsten
ligesaa godt, som en Paraply, for det er saa forfærdeligt stort.
Aldrig voxer een Skræppe alene, nei hvor der groer een, der
groe flere, det er en stor Deilighed, og al den Deilighed er
Sneglemad. De store hvide Snegle, som fornemme Folk i gamle
Dage lod lave til Fricasee, spiste og sagde "hum! hvor det smager!"
for de troede nu det smagte saa deiligt, de levede af Skræppeblade
og derfor bleve Skræpperne saaede. |
| Now there once was an
old manor house where no one ate the snails; the custom had
died there long ago, as had most of the snails; but the burdock,
it thrived. They spread out all over the paths, and some of
the lawns, for burdocks are not easy to get rid of. A good part
of the park was a jungle of burdock leaves; and if a solitary
plum or apple tree had not survived, no one would ever have
believed that there once had been a garden there. In the very
center of this forest lived the last survivors of the white
snails. They were a couple and very, very old. |
Nu var der en gammel
Herregaard, hvor man ikke længer spiste Snegle, de vare ganske
uddøde, men Skræpperne vare ikke uddøde, de voxte og voxte over
alle Gange og alle Bede, man kunde ikke mere faae Bugt med dem,
det var en heel Skræppeskov, hist og her stod et Æbleog et Blomme-Træ,
ellers kunde man nu aldrig have tænkt at det var en Have. Alt
var Skræpper, og derinde boede de to sidste, inderlig gamle
Snegle. |
| Exactly how old they
were they didn't know, but they could remember that once their
family had been numerous, and that their ancestors had come
from some foreign land. That the burdock forest had been planted
for their sake they knew too; and that they were proud of it.
They had never been outside, but they knew vaguely that there
was a world outside; it was called the manor house. There snails
were cooked until they turned black and then they were served
on a silver dish. What happened afterward was not clear to them.
They didn't have any idea either what it was like to be "cooked"
or "served on a silver dish." But that the whole ceremony was
extremely elegant and distinguished they had no doubt. Neither
the toad, nor the dung beetle, nor the earthworm--all of whom
had been asked--could tell them anything about it, since none
of their family had ever been "cooked" or "served on a silver
dish." |
De vidste ikke selv
hvor gamle de vare, men de kunde godt huske at de havde været
mange flere, at de var af en Familie fra fremmede Lande og at
for dem og deres var hele Skoven plantet. De havde aldrig været
udenfor, men de vidste at der var endnu noget til i Verden,
som heed Herregaarden, og der oppe blev man kogt, og saa blev
man sort og saa blev man lagt paa Sølvfad, men hvad videre der
skete vidste man ikke. Hvorledes det iøvrigt var at blive kogt
og at ligge paa Sølvfad, kunde de ikke tænke sig, men deiligt
skulde det være og særdeles fornemt. Hverken Oldenborren, Skruptudsen
eller Regnormen, som de spurgte ad, kunde give Beskeed, ingen
af dem havde været kogt eller ligget paa Sølvfad. |
| The old white snails
knew that they were the most distinguished beings in the whole
world, that the forest of burdocks had been planted for their
sake, and that the manor house stood merely so that they someday
could be brought there, to be cooked and put on a silver dish. |
De gamle hvide Snegle
vare de fornemste i Verden, vidste de, Skoven var til for deres
Skyld, og Herregaarden var til for at de kunde blive kogte og
lagte paa Sølvfad. |
| They lived a lonely
yet happy life; as they had no children of their own, they had
adopted an ordinary garden snail. They had brought him up carefully,
as though he were their own; their only disappointment had been
that he wouldn't grow. However, the mother snail was always
imagining that he was becoming fatter--in spite of his being
just an ordinary snail--and she would beg her husband, who hadn't
noticed it, to just feel their son's house. This the father
snail would do, and then he would agree with her. |
De levede nu meget eensomt
og lykkeligt, og da de selv ikke havde Børn, saa havde de taget
en lille almindelig Snegl til sig, som de opdrog som deres egen,
men den Lille vilde ikke voxe, for han var almindelig; men de
gamle, især Mutter, Sneglemutter, syntes hun kunde dog bemærke,
hvor han tog til, og hun bad Fatter, dersom han ikke kunde see
det, han da vilde føle paa det lille Sneglehuus, og saa følte
han og fandt at Mutter havde Ret. |
| One day the rain was
pouring down! |
Een Dag var det stærk
Regn. |
| "Listen to how it is
drumming on the burdock leaves," said the father snail. |
"Hør hvor det tromme-romme-rommer
paa Skræpperne", sagde Sneglefader. |
| "It is raining through,"
cried his wife. "Look how the water is running down the stalks.
Everything will be soaked down here. But we have our houses
and even the little one has his. Certainly, we were created
superior to all other creatures in the world. We are the true
aristocrats, born with houses on our backs, and with a whole
forest of burdock leaves especially sprouting and growing for
our sake. I wonder how far our forest stretches and what is
beyond it?" |
"Der kommer ogsaa Draaber!"
sagde Sneglemoer. "Det løber jo lige ned af Stilken! Du skal
see her bliver vaadt! Jeg er glad ved vi have vort gode Huus
og den Lille ogsaa har sit! Der er rigtignok gjort mere for
os end for alle andre Skabninger; man kan da see, at vi er Herskabet
i Verden! Vi have Huus fra Fødselen og Skræppeskoven er saaet
for vor Skyld -! jeg gad vidst hvor langt den strækker sig og
hvad der er udenfor!" |
| "Nothing," replied her
husband. "There can be no better place than this, and what is
beyond does not interest me." |
"Der er ikke noget udenfor!"
sagde Sneglefader. "Bedre end hos os kan der ingen Steder være,
og jeg har ikke noget at ønske!" |
| "Oh, I am not sure of
that," argued his wife. "I wouldn't mind being taken up to the
manor house to be boiled and served on a silver plate. All our
ancestors have been; I am sure it is something very special,
to have that happen to one." |
"Jo," sagde Moer, "jeg
gad nok komme paa Herregaarden, blive kogt og lagt paa Sølvfad,
det ere alle vore Forfædre blevne, og Du kan troe, der er noget
aparte ved det!" |
| "I believe it possible
that the manor house has fallen apart and become a ruin," said
the father snail. "Or possibly the burdocks have grown so large
around it that the people inside it can't get out. But all that
is of no importance! You are always fretting. I am afraid our
son takes after you, he is so restless. For the last three days
he has been crawling up that stalk there, it gives me a headache
just to look at him." |
"Herregaarden er muligviis
faldet sammen!" sagde Sneglefaer, "eller Skræppeskoven er voxet
lien over den, saa at Menneskene ikke kunne komme ud. Det har
da heller ingen Hast, men du iler altid saa forfærdelig og det
begynder den Lille ogsaa med; har han nu ikke i tre Dage krøbet
op ad den Stilk, jeg faaer ondt i Hovedet naar jeg seer op paa
ham!" |
| "Don't scold him!" said
the mother snail. "He keeps a dignified pace, I am sure he will
be a credit to us. After all, what have we old people to live
for but our children? Have you thought about where we are going
to find a wife for him? I wonder if anywhere in this forest
there lives anyone of our own kind." |
"Du maa ikke skjænde",
sagde Sneglemoer, "han kryber saa sindig, vi faae nok Fornøielse
af ham og andet have vi Gamle jo ikke at leve for! Men har Du
tænkt paa det: hvor faae vi en Kone til ham. Troer Du ikke der
langveis inde i Skræppeskoven skulde være nogen af vor Art?" |
| "Black slugs there are
enough of; but they are not real snails, they have no houses
of their own. Although they are common they think a lot of themselves.
But we could ask the ants, they are always running about as
if they had something important to do; they may have come across
a snail that would make a wife for our little son." |
"Sorte Snegle troer
jeg nu nok der er", sagde den Gamle, "sorte Snegle uden Huus,
men det er saa simpelt og de have Indbildninger, men vi kunne
give det i Commission til Myrerne, de løbe frem og tilbage,
som om de havde noget at bestille, de veed vist en Kone til
vor lille Snegl!" |
| "Oh yes! We know of
the sweetest one," said the ants. "But it may be difficult to
arrange; you see, she is a queen." |
"Jeg veed rigtignok
den allerdeiligste!" sagde Een af Myrerne, "men jeg er bange
det gaaer ikke, for hun er Dronning!" |
| "That is of no importance,"
said the old snails. "Does she have a house of her own?" |
"Det gjør ikke noget!"
sagde de Gamle. "Har hun Huus?" |
| "She has a castle,"
replied the ants proudly. "The loveliest ant castle with seven
hundred corridors." |
"Hun har Slot!" sagde
Myren, "det deiligste Myreslot med syv hundrede Gange". |
| "Thank you," said the
snail mother but she didn't mean it. "Our son is not going to
live in an anthill. If you have nothing better to suggest, then
we will ask the mosquitoes, they fly about everywhere." |
"Tak!" sagde Sneglemoer,
"vor Søn skal ikke i en Myretue! veed I ikke bedre, saa give
vi det i Commission til de hvide Myg, de flyve vidt omkring
i Regn og i Solskin, de kjende Skræppeskoven forinden og foruden."
|
| "We have found a wife
for him," buzzed the mosquitoes. "About a hundred yards from
here there lives, on a gooseberry bush, a little snail. She
has a house of her own; she lives all alone and is old enough
to get married." |
"Vi have en Kone for
ham!" sagde Myggene, "hundrede Menneskeskridt herfra sidder
paa en Stikkelsbærbusk en lille Snegl med Huus, den er ganske
eensom og gammel nok til at gifte sig. Det er bare hundrede
Menneskeskridt!" |
| "I think she should
come to him," said the father snail. "It is more fitting, since
she only has a gooseberry bush; whereas, our son has a whole
burdock forest." |
"Ja lad hende komme
til ham!" sagde de Gamle, "han har en Skræppeskov, hun har kun
en Busk!" |
| The mosquitoes flew
to make the proposal; it took her a whole week to come; but
that only proved that she was a proper snail. |
Og saa hentede de den
lille Snegle-Frøken. Det varede otte Dage før hun kom, men det
var just det Rare ved det, saa kunde man see hun var af Arten. |
| A wedding was held.
Six glowworms shone as brightly as they could, but otherwise
the affair passed off very quietly, for the old folks could
not endure riotous merriment. The mother of the bridegroom made
the speech, for her husband was much too overcome by emotion
to say a word. The young people were given the burdock forest
as their inheritance; and both of the old snails declared that
it was the best place in the whole world. The old snail mother
promised them that if they lived a decent and upright life,
and multiplied, then they and their children would be taken
to the manor house to be cooked and served on a silver dish. |
Og saa holdt de Bryllup.
Sex Sanct-Hans Orme lyste saa godt de kunde; ellers gik det
Hele stille af, for de gamle Snegle-Folk kunde ikke taale Sviir
og Lystighed; men en deilig Tale blev der holdt af Sneglemoer,
Fatter kunde ikke, han var saa bevæget, og saa gav de dem i
Arv den hele Skræppeskov og sagde, hvad de altid havde sagt,
at det var det Bedste i Verden, og naar de levede redelig og
skikkelig og formerede sig, vilde de engang og deres Børn komme
paa Herregaarden, blive kogte sorte og lagte paa Sølvfad. |
| After the speech, the
two old snails crept inside their houses and slept; and that
so deeply that they never came out again. The young couple reigned
over the burdock forest and had a very, very large family. But
none of them was ever boiled or served on a silver dish, which
made them believe that the manor house had fallen into ruin
and that all the human beings in the world had died. Since no
one ever contradicted them, it was true. The rain drummed down
on the burdock leaves to make music for them, and the sun shone
on the forest for their sake; and every little snail in the
whole family was very, very happy. |
Og efter at den Tale
var holdt, krøb de Gamle ind i deres Huus, og kom aldrig mere
ud; de sov. Det unge Snegle-Par regjerede i Skoven og fik en
stor Afkom, men de blev aldrig kogte, og de kom aldrig paa Sølvfad,
saa sluttede de deraf, at Herregaarden var faldet sammen, og
at alle Mennesker i Verden vare uddøde, og da Ingen sagde dem
imod, saa var det jo sandt; og Regnen slog paa Skræppebladene
for at gjøre Tromme-Musik for deres Skyld, og Solen skinnede
for at give Skræppeskoven Couleur for deres Skyld, og de vare
meget lykkelige, og hele Familien var lykkelig, thi den var
det. |
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