| They will come on wings
of steam, the young citizens of America will fly through the
air, across the great ocean, to visit old Europe. They will
come to see the monuments of bygone ages, the ruins of the great
cities, just as we today visit Southeast Asia to stare at the
crumbling glories of the past. |
Ja, om Aartusinder komme
de paa Dampens Vinger igjennem Luften hen over Verdenshavet!
Amerikas unge Beboere gjæste det gamle Europa. De komme til
Mindesmærkerne her og til de da synkende Stæder, saaledes som
vi i vor Tid drage til Syd-Asiens hensmuldrende Herligheder.
|
| Thousands of years hence,
they will come. |
Om Aartusinder komme
de! |
| The Thames, the Danube,
and the Rhine will still be flowing; Mount Blanc will stand
with its snow-covered peak. The northern lights will be shining
above the Scandinavian countries, though generations upon generations
will have become dust. Many of those men, who to us seem so
mighty, will be as nameless as the Vikings who rest in their
grave chambers inside the hills, on top of which the farmers
today like to place a bench, so that they can watch the wind
make waves in the flat fields of grain. |
Themsen, Donau, Rhinen
rulle endnu; Montblanc staaer med Sneetop, Nordlysene skinne
over Nordens Lande, men Slægt paa Slægt er Støv, Rækker af Øieblikkets
Mægtige glemte, som de der nu alt slumre i Høien, hvor den velhavende
Meelhandler, paa hvis Grund den er, tømrer sig en Bænk for at
sidde og see ud over den flade, bølgende Kornmark. |
| "To Europe!" cry the
young Americans. "To the land of our forefathers! To the wonders
of an earlier civilization. To beautiful Europe!" |
"Til Europa!" lyder
det hos Amerikas unge Slægt-- "til Fædrenes Land, Mindernes
og Phantasiens deilige Land, Europa!" |
| The airships will be
crowded, for it is much faster to fly than to sail. The passengers
will have already made their hotel reservations by telegraphing
ahead. The first European coast to come into view will be Ireland's,
but the passengers will still be sleeping; they will have given
orders not to be awakened before the airship is over England.
The airship will land in Shakespeare's country, as the more
cultured of the passengers call it--others call England the
"land of the machine" or the land of politics." |
Luftskibet kommer; det
er overfyldt med Reisende, thi Farten er hurtigere end tilsøes;
den electromagnetiske Traad under Verdenshavet har allerede
telegrapheret, hvor stor Luft-Karavanen er. Alt øines Europa,
det er Irlands Kyster der sees, men Passagererne sove endnu;
de ville først vækkes, naar de ere over England; der betræde
de Europas Jord i Shakspeares Land, som det hedder hos Aandens
Sønner; Politikens Land, Maskinernes Land, er der Andre der
kalde det. |
| A whole day will these
busy travelers give to England and Scotland; |
En heel Dag bliver Opholdet
her, saamegen Tid har den travle Slægt at give det store England
og Skotland. |
| then they will be off
via the tunnel under the Channel to France: the country of Charlemagne
and Napoleon. The learned among them will discuss the Classicist
and Romantic movements that so interested the Frenchmen of the
distant past. Moliere's name will be mentioned. Heroes, scientists,
and poets whom we have never heard of--they have yet to be born
in that crater of Europe, Paris!--will be on the lips of these
young people. |
Farten gaaer under Canal-Tunnelen
til Frankrig, Carl den Stores og Napoleons Land, Moliére nævnes,
de Lærde tale om en classisk og romantisk Skole i den fjerne
Oldtid og der jubles for Helte, Skjalde og Videnskabsmænd, som
vor Tid ikke kjender, men som skulle fødes paa Europas Krater:
Paris. |
| Then the airship will
fly over that country from which Columbus sailed and where Cortes
was born: Spain, the home of Calderon, who composed his dramas
in perfect verse. Beautiful dark-eyed women will still inhabit
its fertile dales; one will hear the names of el Cid and the
Alhambra in the old songs that people will still be singing.
|
Luftdamperen flyver
hen over det Land, hvorfra Columbus gik ud, hvor Cortez blev
født, og hvor Calderon sang Dramaer i bølgende Vers; deilige
sortøiede Qvinder bygge og boe endnu i de blomstrende Dale,
og i ældgamle Sange nævnes Cid og Alhambra. |
| Through the air, across
the sea to Italy, where the Eternal City of Rome once was. It
will be gone; the Campagna will be a desert. Only one wall of
St. Peter's will still be standing, and there will be doubt
as to its authenticity. |
Gjennem Luften, over
Havet til Italien, hen hvor det gamle evige Roma laae; det er
udslettet, Campagnen en Ørk; af Peterskirken vises der en eensomstaaende
Muur-Rest, men man tvivler om dens Ægthed. |
| To Greece, to sleep
one night in a luxury hotel on the top of Mount Olympus, so
one will be able to say that one has been there; and then onward
to the Bosporus, to rest for a few hours on the site of Byzantium.
They will watch poor fishermen repairing their nets, while they
listen to tales about Turkish harems of an all but forgotten
age. |
Til Greekenland, for
at sove en Nat i det rige Hotel høit paa Olympens Top, saa har
man været der; Farten gaaer mod Bosporus, for der i nogle Timer
at hvile ud og see det Sted, hvor Byzanz laae; fattige Fiskere
spænde deres Næt der, hvor Sagnet fortæller om Haremets Have
i Tyrkernes Tid. |
| They will fly above
ruins of great cities along the Danube, which in our times are
still unknown. They will land to look at impressive monuments--accomplishments
that lie in the future, but which will be admired as achievements
of the fruitful past. |
Rester af mægtige Byer
ved den stærke Donau, Byer, vor Tid ikke kjendte, flyves der
hen over, men der og der - Mindernes rige Stæder, de, som komme,
de, som Tiden føder - der og der daler Luft-Karavanen og løfter
sig igjen. |
| They will come to Germany,
which once was crisscrossed by railroads and canals: the land
where Luther spoke, Goethe sang, and Mozart once held the scepter
of music. When they speak of science and the arts, they will
mention other names that we do not know. One day will be the
time they allot to Germany and one for all of Scandinavia: for
the fatherlands of Oersted and Linnaeus, and for Norway, the
young country of old heroes. Iceland will be visited on the
homeward journey; the geyser will spout no longer, and the volcano
Hekla will have died; but the cliff-bound island will stand
in the turbulent sea as a memorial tablet to the sagas. |
Dernede ligger Tydskland
- som engang omspændtes med det tætteste Næt af Jernbaner og
Kanaler - Landene, hvor Luther talte, Gothe sang, og hvor Mozart
i sin Tid bar Tonernes Scepter! Store Navne lyste i Videnskab
og Kunst, Navne, vi ikke kjende. Een Dags Ophold for Tydskland
og een Dag for Norden, for Ørsteds og for Linnés Fædreland og
Norge, de gamle Heltes og de unge Nordmænds Land. Island tages
paa Hjemfarten; Geyser koger ikke længer, Hekla er slukket,
men som Sagas evige Steentavle staaer den stærke Klippe-Ø i
det brusende Hav! |
| "There's so much to
see in Europe," the young Americans will say. "And we have seen
it all in a week, just as the famous guidebook promised we could."
Then they will discuss the author of the book which they all
will have read: Europe Seen in Seven Days. |
"I Europa er meget at
see!" siger den unge Amerikaner; "og vi have seet det i otte
Dage, og det lader sig gjøre, som den store Reisende" -et Navn
nævnes, der hører til deres Samtid - "har viist i sit berømte
Værk: Europa seet i otte Dage." |
|
English translation by:
Erik Christian Haugaard
Courtesy of Anchor Books: Doubleday
|
Copyright:
The Hans Christian Andersen Project |