Rumpelstiltskin

Rumpelstiltskin

Ved kanten af en skov, i et land langt borte, løb en fin vandstrøm; og ved strømmen stod en mølle.

By the edge of a forest, in a land far away, ran a fine stream of water; and by the stream stood a mill.

Møllerens hus lå lige ved siden af, og mølleren havde, skal du vide, en meget smuk datter.

The miller's house lay right next to it, and the miller had, you should know, a very beautiful daughter.

Hun var desuden meget klog og snarrådig; og mølleren var så stolt af hende, at han en dag fortalte landets konge, som plejede at komme og jage i skoven, at hans datter kunne spinde guld af strå.

She was also very clever and resourceful; and the miller was so proud of her that one day he told the king of the land, who used to come and hunt in the forest, that his daughter could spin gold out of straw.

Nu holdt denne konge meget af penge; og da han hørte møllerens pralerier, blev hans begærlighed vækket, og han sendte bud efter pigen, så hun kunne blive bragt for ham.

Now this king was very fond of money; and when he heard the miller's boast, his greed was aroused, and he sent for the girl so she could be brought before him.

Derefter førte han hende til et kammer i sit palads, hvor der var en stor stak strå, og gav hende en spinderok og sagde: 'Alt dette skal være spundet til guld inden i morgen, hvis du har dit liv kært.'

He then led her to a chamber in his palace where there was a large stack of straw, gave her a spinning wheel, and said: "All this must be spun into gold before tomorrow morning, if you value your life."

Det var forgæves, at den stakkels pige sagde, at det blot var et tåbeligt praleri fra hendes far, for hun kunne ikke gøre noget sådant som at spinde strå til guld: kammerdøren blev låst, og hun blev overladt til sig selv.

It was in vain that the poor girl said that it was merely a foolish boast from her father, for she could do no such thing as spin straw into gold: the chamber door was locked, and she was left to herself.

Hun satte sig i et hjørne af rummet og begyndte at græde over sin hårde skæbne; da åbnede døren sig pludselig, og en løjerlig lille mand haltede ind og sagde: 'Godmorgen til dig, min gode pige; hvorfor græder du?'

She sat down in a corner of the room and began to cry over her hard fate; then the door suddenly opened, and a droll little man limped in and said: "Good morning to you, my good girl; why are you crying?"

'Ak!'

"Alas!"

sagde hun, 'jeg skal spinde dette strå til guld, og jeg ved ikke hvordan.'

said she, "I am to spin this straw into gold, and I do not know how."

'Hvad vil du give mig,' sagde dværgen, 'for at gøre det for dig?'

"What will you give me," said the dwarf, "to do it for you?"

'Mit halskæde,' svarede pigen.

"My necklace," answered the girl.

Han tog hende på ordet, satte sig ved rokken og fløjtede og sang:

He took her at her word, sat down at the wheel, and whistled and sang:

'Rundt omkring, rundt omkring, Se og lyt!

"Round about, round about, Look and listen!

Rul afsted, rul afsted, Strå til guld!'

Roll along, roll along, Straw to gold!"

Og rundt omkring gik rokken muntert; arbejdet blev hurtigt gjort, og alt strået var spundet til guld.

And round about went the spinning wheel merrily; the work was quickly done, and all the straw was spun into gold.

Da kongen kom og så dette, blev han såre forbavset og fornøjet; men hans hjerte blev endnu mere begærligt efter vinding, og han spærrede den stakkels møllerdatter inde igen med en ny opgave.

When the king came and saw this, he was greatly astonished and pleased; but his heart became even greedier for gain, and he locked the poor miller's daughter up again with a new task.

Da vidste hun ikke sine levende råd og satte sig endnu en gang til at græde; men dværgen åbnede snart døren og sagde: 'Hvad vil du give mig for at udføre din opgave?'

Then she was at her wits' end and sat down once again to cry; but the dwarf soon opened the door and said: "What will you give me to perform your task?"

'Ringen på min finger,' sagde hun.

"The ring on my finger," she said.

Så tog hendes lille ven ringen og begyndte at arbejde ved rokken igen og fløjtede og sang:

So her little friend took the ring and began to work at the wheel again, whistling and singing:

'Rundt omkring, rundt omkring, Se og lyt!

"Round about, round about, Look and listen!

Rul afsted, rul afsted, Strå til guld!'

Roll along, roll along, Straw to gold!"

indtil alt var gjort igen, længe før morgen.

until everything was done again, long before morning.

Kongen var henrykt over at se al denne glitrende skat; men han havde stadig ikke nok: så han tog møllerens datter med til en endnu større stak og sagde: 'Alt dette skal spindes i nat; og hvis det bliver gjort, skal du være min dronning.'

The king was delighted to see all this glittering treasure; but he still did not have enough: so he took the miller's daughter to an even larger stack and said: "All this must be spun tonight; and if it is done, you shall be my queen."

Så snart hun var alene, kom dværgen ind og sagde: 'Hvad vil du give mig for at spinde guld for dig denne tredje gang?'

As soon as she was alone, the dwarf came in and said: "What will you give me to spin gold for you this third time?"

'Jeg har intet tilbage,' sagde hun.

"I have nothing left," she said.

'Så lov mig,' sagde den lille mand, 'det første lille barn, du får, når du bliver dronning.'

"Then promise me," said the little man, "the first child you have when you become queen."

'Det sker måske aldrig,' tænkte møllerens datter; og da hun ikke vidste anden udvej til at få sin opgave udført, sagde hun, at hun ville gøre, som han bad om.

"That may never happen," thought the miller's daughter; and as she knew no other way to get her task done, she said she would do as he asked.

Rundt gik rokken igen til den gamle sang, og den lille mand spandt endnu en gang stakken til guld.

Round went the wheel again to the old song, and the little man once more spun the stack into gold.

Kongen kom om morgenen, og da han fandt alt, som han ønskede, var han nødt til at holde sit ord; så han giftede sig med møllerens datter, og hun blev virkelig dronning.

The king came in the morning, and when he found everything as he wished, he was obliged to keep his word; so he married the miller's daughter, and she became a real queen.

Ved fødslen af sit første lille barn var hun meget glad og glemte dværgen og det, hun havde lovet.

At the birth of her first child she was very glad, and forgot the dwarf and what she had promised.

Men en dag kom han ind på hendes værelse, hvor hun sad og legede med sin baby, og mindede hende om det.

But one day he came into her room, where she sat playing with her baby, and reminded her of it.

Da sørgede hun bitterligt over sin ulykke og sagde, at hun ville give ham al kongerigets rigdom, hvis han ville lade hende slippe, men det var forgæves; indtil hendes tårer til sidst blødgjorde ham, og han sagde: 'Jeg vil give dig tre dages frist, og hvis du i løbet af den tid kan fortælle mig mit navn, skal du beholde dit barn.'

Then she grieved bitterly over her misfortune and said she would give him all the wealth of the kingdom if he would let her off, but it was in vain; until at last her tears softened him, and he said: "I will give you three days' grace, and if during that time you can tell me my name, you shall keep your child."

Nu lå dronningen vågen hele natten og tænkte på alle de mærkelige navne, hun nogensinde havde hørt; og hun sendte bude ud over hele landet for at finde nye.

Now the queen lay awake all night thinking of all the strange names she had ever heard; and she sent messengers out across the whole land to find new ones.

Den næste dag kom den lille mand, og hun begyndte med TIMOTHEUS, IKABOD, BENJAMIN, JEREMIAS og alle de navne, hun kunne huske; men til dem alle sagde han: 'Frue, det er ikke mit navn.'

The next day the little man came, and she began with TIMOTHY, ICHABOD, BENJAMIN, JEREMIAH and all the names she could remember; but to all of them he said: "Madam, that is not my name."

Den anden dag begyndte hun med alle de komiske navne, hun kunne høre om, HJULBEN, PUKKELRYG, SKÆVBEN og så videre; men den lille herre sagde stadig til hver og én af dem: 'Frue, det er ikke mit navn.'

The second day she began with all the comical names she could hear of, BANDYLEGS, HUNCHBACK, CROOKSHANKS, and so on; but the little gentleman still said to each and every one of them: "Madam, that is not my name."

Den tredje dag kom et af budene tilbage og sagde: 'Jeg har rejst i to dage uden at høre om andre navne; men i går, da jeg klatrede op ad en høj bakke blandt skovens træer, hvor ræven og haren siger godnat til hinanden, så jeg en lille hytte; og foran hytten brændte et bål; og rundt om bålet dansede en sjov lille dværg på ét ben og sang:

On the third day one of the messengers returned and said: "I have traveled for two days without hearing of any other names; but yesterday, as I climbed a high hill among the trees of the forest, where the fox and the hare say good night to each other, I saw a little hut; and in front of the hut a fire burned; and around the fire a funny little dwarf danced on one leg and sang:

"Lystigt vil jeg gæstebud holde. I dag vil jeg brygge, i morgen bage; Lystigt vil jeg danse og synge, For i morgen kommer et fremmed barn. Lidet anser min frue fin, At Rumpelstiltskin er navnet mit!"

"Merrily I shall feast. Today I will brew, tomorrow bake; Merrily I shall dance and sing, For tomorrow a stranger's child comes. Little does my fine lady deem, That Rumpelstiltskin is my name!"

Da dronningen hørte dette, hoppede hun af fryd, og så snart hendes lille ven kom, satte hun sig på sin trone og kaldte hele sit hof sammen for at nyde spøgen; og barnepigen stod ved hendes side med babyen i sine arme, som om den var helt klar til at blive overdraget.

When the queen heard this, she jumped for joy, and as soon as her little friend arrived, she sat on her throne and called her whole court together to enjoy the joke; and the nurse stood by her side with the baby in her arms, as if it were quite ready to be handed over.

Da begyndte den lille mand at klukke af grin ved tanken om at få det stakkels barn med hjem til sin hytte i skoven; og han råbte: 'Nå, frue, hvad er mit navn?'

Then the little man began to chuckle with laughter at the thought of taking the poor child home to his hut in the forest; and he cried: "Well, madam, what is my name?"

'Er det JENS?'

"Is it JOHN?"

spurgte hun.

she asked.

'Nej, frue!'

"No, madam!"

'Er det PETER?'

"Is it PETER?"

'Nej, frue!'

"No, madam!"

'Er det HANS?'

"Is it HANS?"

'Det er det ikke.'

"It is not."

'Kan dit navn være RUMPELSTILTSKIN?'

"Could your name be RUMPELSTILTSKIN?"

sagde fruen snedigt.

said the lady slyly.

'Det har en heks fortalt dig!--det har en heks fortalt dig!'

"A witch told you that!--a witch told you that!"

råbte den lille mand og trampede sin højre fod så hårdt i gulvet af raseri, at han var nødt til at tage fat i den med begge hænder for at trække den op.

cried the little man, stamping his right foot so hard into the floor in rage that he had to take hold of it with both hands to pull it out.

Derefter skyndte han sig afsted, alt imens barnepigen lo og babyen pludrede; og hele hoftjenerskabet gjorde nar af ham, fordi han havde haft så meget besvær for ingenting, og sagde: 'Vi ønsker Dem en rigtig godmorgen og et lystigt gæstebud, hr.

Then he hurried off, while the nurse laughed and the baby babbled; and all the court servants made fun of him for having taken so much trouble for nothing, saying: "We wish you a very good morning and a merry feast, Mr.

RUMPELSTILTSKIN!'

RUMPELSTILTSKIN!"