Blossoms in Autumn: <p align=right> Blagor mu, ki ima v časih groze in trepeta še moč, spominjati se zornih prejšnjih dni!

<p align=right> Blagor mu, ki ima v časih groze in trepeta še moč, spominjati se zornih prejšnjih dni!

<p align=right> Blessed is he who, even in times of terror and trembling, still has the strength to remember the bright days of old!

Sedeli smo na najlepšem ljubljanskem vrtu.

We were sitting in the loveliest garden in Ljubljana.

V senci pod divjim kostanjem.

In the shade beneath a horse chestnut tree.

Gospa Marica je z belo roko prekladala posode ter nalivala kave, da je silil prijeten duh pod zelene veje.

Mrs Marica was moving the dishes about with her white hands and pouring coffee, filling the air beneath the green branches with its pleasant aroma.

Tudi gospa Mica ni hotela brez dela ostati: narezala je belega kruha ter ga simetrično razstavila po mizi.

Mrs Mica, too, was unwilling to sit idle: she sliced some white bread and arranged it symmetrically across the table.

Vmes pa je postavljala gospa Dinca male krožnike z rumenim medom in surovim maslom.

Meanwhile, Mrs Dinca was setting out little plates of golden honey and fresh butter.

Pri človekoljubnem tem delu, ki je veljalo v prvi vrsti meni, me je prešinila misel — bog zna od kod je prišla — ki ni bila ljubezniva za ljubko trojico, katere gost sem bil danes na najlepšem ljubljanskem vrtu.

As this hospitable work was being done, primarily for my benefit, a thought suddenly struck me—God knows where it came from—and it was not a flattering one for the charming trio whose guest I was that day in the loveliest garden in Ljubljana.

Premišljeval sem: „Kakor so lepe in srcu prikupljive, pa bi vendar življenje zastavil, da ta trojičica ni nikdar poznala tiste vsemogočne ljubezni, katera ni dana vsakemu, komur je pa dana, tega pretresa, kakor pretresa vihar gozdove na gori!“

I thought to myself: "Lovely and endearing as they are, I would nevertheless stake my life on it that this little trio has never known that all-powerful love which is not granted to everyone, but which, when it is granted, shakes a person as a storm shakes the forests on a mountain!"

V svoji neprevidnosti dal sem besedo tej svoji misli.

In my carelessness, I gave voice to this thought.

Kakor trije čmrljčki so se dvignile ter brenčale okrog mene.

Like three little bumblebees, they rose up and buzzed around me.

„Kaj, da me nismo iz ljubezni vzele svojih mož?“

"What? Are you saying we did not marry our husbands for love?"

Prav ostro so me napadale, posebno gospa Dinca: „Da bi jaz svojega moža ne bila iz ljubezni vzela?“

They attacked me quite fiercely, especially Mrs Dinca: "You mean to say I did not marry my husband for love?"

Polastila se me je hudobija: „Moje mnenje govori, da si svojega moža vzela, ker prideluje vsako leto obilo dobrega in dragega vina.“

A mischievous impulse seized me: "My opinion is that you married your husband because he produces plenty of fine, expensive wine every year."

Že sem upal, da pridem v dotiko z njeno sladko ročico.

I was already hoping to feel the touch of her dainty little hand.

Ali vmes je posegla gospa Marica: „In jaz sem svojega vzela, ker sladkor in moko na debelo prodaja?“

But Mrs Marica interrupted: "And did I marry mine because he sells sugar and flour wholesale?"

„In jaz,“ je hitela gospa Mica, „svojega, ker z dobičkom razpečava sukno in platno?“

"And I," Mrs Mica hastened to add, "did I marry mine because he makes a profit selling woollen cloth and linen?"

Nobena ni hotela odnehati od čebljanja in iz oči jim je plamtel ogenj, da sem menil, sedaj in sedaj bom upepeljen!

Not one of them would stop chattering, and fire blazed in their eyes. I thought I was about to be reduced to ashes at any moment!

Na Kamniških planinah se je pričela megla kaditi izza vrhov.

Mist had begun to rise behind the peaks of the Kamnik Alps.

„Vreme se spremeni“ sem pripomnil, da bi napeljal govorico v drugo strugo. Unisono: „Užaljene smo!“

"The weather is changing," I remarked, hoping to steer the conversation in another direction. In unison they cried: "We are offended!"

„Saj niste same, ljube prijateljice, saj imate obilo tovarišic!

"You are not alone in this, dear friends; you have plenty of companions!

Čas, recimo moderni čas je tak, da je zakonska ljubezen prav važno blago, kise za visoko ceno prodaja, za visoko ceno kupuje.

The times, let us say modern times, are such that marital love is a very valuable commodity, bought and sold at a high price.

Kaj morete ve za to?

What can you do about it?

Žrtev ste dneva, ki vas je rodil.

You are victims of the age that gave birth to you.

A same dobro veste, da bi danes Leander ne plaval čez Helespont, če bi pri dekletu ne slutil nekaj težkih hranilničnih knjižic!

Yet you know perfectly well that Leander would not swim across the Hellespont today if he did not suspect that the girl had a few hefty savings accounts!

Tudi jaz ne morem za to, da je tako!“

Nor can I help it that things are this way!"

„Obrekovalec!

"Slanderer!

Hudobnež!“

You scoundrel!"

Posadil sem. se na konja: „Kaj veste ve tri, kaj vedo vaše tovarišice, kaj ve moderna ženska o tisti ljubezni, ki pretresa telo in dušo, ki veže dušo in telo, ki je kakor nevihta, ki pride, da ne veš odkod, ki te podsuje, ki te stolče, da se od nje nikdar več ne oddahneš, ki jo pa vendar hočeš imeti, in najsi radi nje življenje izgubiš!

I mounted my horse. "What do you three know, what do your companions know, what does the modern woman know of that kind of love which shakes body and soul, which binds soul and body together, which is like a storm that comes from you know not where, that sweeps you up and batters you so that you never recover from it, and yet which you still long to experience, even if you should lose your life for its sake!

Kaj vi veste o taki ljubezni!“

What do you know of such love?"

„Mi ljubimo svoje može!“

"We love our husbands!"

„Dokler so v stanu mesec za mesecem polagati stotake na mizo!

"As long as they are able to lay hundreds on the table month after month!

Če bi ne bilo teh stotakov, če bi ne bilo obleke in svile, ljubi Jezus!

If it were not for those hundreds, if it were not for fine clothes and silk, dear Jesus!

koliko ženic bi svoje može še ljubilo?“

how many wives would still love their husbands?"

„Ti dobro to veš, ker si — oženjen!“

"You know all about that, since you are—married!"

Grenko-zasmehljivo so se smejale.

They laughed bitterly and mockingly.

„Zasmehujte me, kolikor vas je volja!

"Mock me as much as you please!

Da, prijateljice, kar vam ni bilo dano, dano je bilo meni!

Yes, my friends, what was denied to you was granted to me!

Pretresla me je ljubezen, enaka viharju, enaka nevihti!

I have been shaken by a love like a tempest, like a raging storm!

Prišla je pozno, prav tako je prišla, kakor pride časih kako cvetje v pozni jeseni.

It came late, just as sometimes a flower blooms in the late autumn.

Sadu ni rodila, kakor ga ne rodi jesenski cvet.

It bore no fruit, just as an autumn flower bears none.

Če me hočete poslušati, vam razgrnem vse.

If you are willing to listen, I shall tell you everything.

Pri tem tudi izveste, čemu nisem hotel zakonske družice, katera bi me bila ravnotako okrog prsta obvijala, kakor obvijate ve svoje može.

You will also learn why I did not want a wife who would have wound me around her little finger just as you wind your husbands around yours.

Pri poslušanju se bodete morda obilo smejale!

Perhaps you will laugh heartily as you listen!

Vprašanje je torej: me li hočete poslušati?“

So the question is: are you willing to hear me out?"

Gospa Marica, gospa Mica in gospa Dinca so z enim glasom odgovorile, da hočejo poslušati.

Mrs Marica, Mrs Mica and Mrs Dinca answered in unison that they were willing to listen.