| "It is a monstrous story!"
said a hen. She lived in a part of the town far away from where
the event had taken place. "It is a horrible story and it has
happened in a henhouse. I am glad that I am not sleeping alone
on the perch tonight. I would not dare close my eyes!" And then
she told the story. The other hens were so shocked that their
feathers stood up, and the rooster's comb fell down. It is perfectly
true! |
"Det er en frygtelig
Historie!" sagde en Høne, og det omme i den Kant af Byen,
hvor Historien ikke var passeret. "Det er en frygtelig
Historie i Hønsehuset! jeg tør ikke sove alene inat! det er
godt at vi ere Mange sammen paa Hjalet!" - Og saa fortalte
hun, saa at Fjedrene reiste sig paa de andre Høns og Hanen lod
Kammen falde. Det er ganske vist! |
| But we will start at
the beginning and that took place in another comer of the town
in a henhouse. The sun had just set and all the hens had flown
up on their roost. Among them was a white-feathered hen with
stumpy legs; she laid an egg every day and was very respectable.
Now as she sat down on her perch she picked at her feathers
a bit, and one little feather fell out. |
Men vi ville begynde
med Begyndelsen, og den var i den anden Kant af Byen i et Hønsehuus.
Solen gik ned og Hønsene fløi op; een af dem, hun var hvidfjedret
og lavbenet, lagde sine reglementerede Æg og var, som Høne,
respectabel i alle Maader; idet hun kom til Hjals, pillede hun
sig med Næbet, og saa faldt der en lille Fjeder af hende. |
| "There it went," she
said. "The more I pick myself, the more beautiful I will become."
This was said for fun, for she was a cheerful soul, though otherwise--
as I have already said-- very respectable. |
"Der gik den!"
sagde hun, "jo mere jeg piller mig, desdeiligere bliver
jeg nok!" Og det var nu sagt i Munterhed, for hun var det
muntre Sind mellem de Høns, iøvrigt, som sagt, meget respectabel;
og saa sov hun. |
| It was dark on the perch;
the hens sat roosting side by side, but the hen that sat nearest
to the one who had lost a feather wasn't asleep. She had heard
what had been said and she hadn't; and that is a very wise thing
to do if you want to live in peace with your neighbors. But
still she could not help telling the hen next to her what she
had heard."Did you hear what was said? I won't mention names,
but there is a hen among us who is going to pluck her feathers
off just to look more attractive. If I were a rooster I would
despise her!" |
Mørkt var det rundtom,
Høne sad ved Høne og den, som sad hende nærmest, sov ikke; hun
hørte og hun ikke hørte, som man jo skal i denne Verden, for
at leve i sin gode Rolighed; men sin anden Naboerske maatte
hun dog sige det: "hørte Du hvad her blev sagt? Jeg nævner
Ingen, men der er en Høne, som vil plukke sig, for at see godt
ud! var jeg Hane, jeg vilde foragte hende!" |
| Right above the henhouse
lived an owl family; and they have sharp ears. They heard every
word that the hen had said and the mother owl rolled her eyes
and beat her wings. "Don't listen, but I suppose you couldn't
help but hear it. I heard it with my own ears and one has to
hear a lot before they fall off. There is one of the them in
the henhouse that has so forgotten all decency and propriety
that she is sitting on the perch and picking off all her feathers,
while the rooster is looking at her." |
Og lige ovenover Hønsene
sad Uglen med Ugle-Mand og Ugle-Børn; de have skarpe Ører i
den Familie, de hørte hvert Ord, som Nabohønen sagde, og de
rullede med Øinene og UgleMoer viftede sig med Vingerne: "Hør
bare ikke efter! men I hørte sagtens hvad der blev sagt? Jeg
hørte det med mine egne Ører, og man skal høre meget før de
falde af! Der er een af Hønsene, som i den Grad har glemt, hvad
der skikker sig en Høne, at hun sidder og piller alle Fjedrene
af sig og lader Hanen see paa det!" |
| "Prenez garde aux
enfants!" said the father owl. "It is not fit for the children
to hear!" |
"Prenez garde
aux enfants!" sagde Ugle-Fader, "det er ikke Noget
for Børnene!" |
| "But I will tell our
neighbor about it," said the mother. "She is such a courteous
owl. I hold her in the highest esteem." And away she flew. |
"Jeg vil dog fortælle
Gjenbo-Ugle det! det er saadan en agtværdig Ugle i Omgang!"
og saa fløi Mutter. |
| "Tu-whit! Tu-whoo!"
both the owls hooted, and so loudly that the pigeons could not
help hearing it. "Have you heard, have you heard! Tu-whoo! There
is a hen that has plucked all her feathers off for the rooster's
sake. She will freeze to death, if she hasn't already, tuwhoo!" |
"Hu-hu! uhuh!"
tudede de begge to og det lige ned i Gjenboens Dueslag til Duerne.
"Har I hørt det! har I hørt det! uhuh! der er en Høne,
som har plukket alle Fjedrene af sig for Hanens Skyld! hun fryser
ihjel, om hun ikke er det, uhuh!" |
| "Where? Where?" cooed
the pigeons. |
"Hvor? Hvor?"
kurrede Duerne! |
| "In the neighboring
yard! I have almost seen it with my own eyes. It is a most indecent
story, but it is perfectly true." |
"I Gjenboens Gaard!
jeg har saa godt som selv seet det! det er næsten en upassende
Historie at fortælle! men det er ganske vist!" |
| "True, true, every word,"
cooed the pigeons, and repeated the story in their own henhouse.
"There is a hen--some say that there are two-- that have plucked
all their feathers off in order to look different and in that
way gain the attention of the rooster. They have played a dangerous
game, for one can catch a cold that way and die of fever; and
they are dead, both of them!" |
"Troer, troer hvert
evige Ord!" sagde Duerne, og kurrede ned til deres Hønsegaard:
"der er en Høne, ja der er somme der sige, at der er to,
som have plukket alle Fjedrene af sig, for ikke at see ud som
de andre og saaledes vække Hanens Opmærksomhed. Det er et voveligt
Spil, man kan forkjøle sig og døe af Feber, og de ere døde begge
to!" |
| "Wake up! Wake up!"
crowed the cock, and flew up on the fence. Sleep was still in
his eyes, but he crowed anyway. "Three hens have died of unrequited
love for a rooster! They have plucked all their feathers off.
It is a nasty story. I won't keep it, pass it on!" |
"Vaagn op! vaagn
op!" galede Hanen og fløi op paa Plankeværket, Søvnen sad
ham endnu i Øinene, men han galede alligevel: "Der er tre
Høns døde af ulykkelig Kjærlighed til en Hane! de havde plukket
alle Fjedrene af sig! det er en fæl Historie, jeg vil ikke beholde
den, lad gaae videre!" |
| "Pass it on, pass it
on," piped the bats. And the hens clucked and the roosters crowed:
"Pass it on, pass it on." And in this manner the story went
from henhouse to henhouse until it arrived back at the very
place where it had started. |
"Lad gaae videre!"
peeb Flagermusene, og Hønsene klukkede og Hanerne galede: "lad
gaae videre! lad gaae videre!" og saa foer Historien fra
Hønsehuus til Hønsehuus og tilsidst tilbage til Stedet, hvorfra
den egentlig var gaaet ud. |
| "There are five hens,
so it is said, that have all plucked their feathers off to prove
which one of them had become thinnest because of unhappy love
for the rooster. Then they pecked each other until blood flowed
and they all fell down dead! It's a shame for their families
and a great loss to their owner." |
"Der er fem Høns,"
hed det, "som alle have plukket Fjedrene af sig, for at
vise, hvem af dem der var blevet magrest af Kjærestesorg til
Hanen, og saa hakkede de hinanden tilblods og faldt døde ned,
til Skam og Skjændsel for deres Familie og til stort Tab for
Eieren!" |
| The hen who had lost
the first little feather naturally did not recognize the story;
and as she was a decent and respectable hen, she said, "I despise
those hens! But there are more of that kind! Such things must
not be kept secret! I will do whatever I can to have it printed
in the newspaper, then the whole country will hear about it.
And that is what those hens and their families deserve." |
Og Hønen, som havde
mistet den løse lille Fjeder, kjendte naturligviis ikke sin
egen Historie igjen, og da hun var en respectabel Høne, saa
sagde hun: "Jeg foragter de Høns! men der er flere af den
Slags! Sligt skal man ikke fortie, og jeg vil gjøre mit til,
at den Historie kan komme i Avisen, saa gaaer den Landet over;
det har de Høns fortjent og Familien med!" |
| And it was published
in the newspaper and it is perfectly true that one little feather
can become five hens! |
Og det kom i Avisen
og det blev trykt og det er ganske vist: en lille Fjeder kan
nok blive til fem Høns! |