Den dovne spinderske


The lazy spinner


Der var engang en mand og en kone, der boede i en landsby. Konen var så doven, at hun ikke gad bestille noget, og når manden gav hende noget at spinde af, gjorde hun det ikke, og gjorde hun det endelig en gang, haspede hun ikke tråden af, men lod det alt sammen blive siddende på tenen. Når manden skændte på hende, ville hun altid have det sidste ord, og sagde: "Hvordan skulle jeg bære mig ad, når jeg ingen haspe har. Gå først ud i skoven og hent mig en." - "Er det det, der er i vejen," sagde manden, "nu skal jeg nok hente noget træ til dig." Konen blev nu bange for, at han skulle lave en haspe til hende, så hun blev nødt til at tage tråden af tenen og begyndte at spinde. Hun tænkte sig lidt om, og pludselig fik hun en god ide og løb bagefter manden ud i skoven. Da han var klatret op i et træ, stillede hun sig nedenunder og råbte:
In a certain village there once lived a man and his wife, and the wife was so idle that she would never work at anything; whatever her husband gave her to spin, she did not get done, and what she did spin she did not wind, but let it all remain entangled in a heap. If the man scolded her, she was always ready with her tongue, and said, "Well, how should I wind it, when I have no reel? Just you go into the forest and get me one." - "If that is all," said the man, "then I will go into the forest, and get some wood for making reels." Then the woman was afraid that if he had the wood he would make her a reel of it, and she would have to wind her yarn off, and then begin to spin again. She bethought herself a little, and then a lucky idea occurred to her, and she secretly followed the man into the forest, and when he had climbed into a tree to choose and cut the wood, she crept into the thicket below where he could not see her, and cried,

"Den, der hugger haspetræ i skoven, dør,
"He who cuts wood for reels shall die,

og den der hasper, falder i djævelens klør."
And he who winds, shall perish."

Manden lyttede, lagde øksen fra sig og kunne ikke forstå, hvad det skulle betyde. "Det har vel bare været indbildning,"tænkte han så. "Der er såmænd ikke noget at være bange for." Han tog igen øksen og ville til at hugge, men da hørte han igen:
The man listened, laid down his axe for a moment, and began to consider what that could mean. "Hollo," he said at last, "what can that have been; my ears must have been singing, I won't alarm myself for nothing." So he again seized the axe, and began to hew, then again there came a cry from below:

"Den, der hugger haspetræ i skoven, dør,
"He who cuts wood for reels shall die,

og den, der hasper, falder i djævelens klør."
And he who winds, shall perish."

Han blev helt uhyggelig til mode og sad i nogen tid ganske stille. Men da han ikke kunne opdage noget, tog han mod til sig igen og ville hugge til, men da lød stemmen for tredie gang, og denne gang meget højt og tydeligt:
He stopped, and felt afraid and alarmed, and pondered over the circumstance. But when a few moments had passed, he took heart again, and a third time he stretched out his hand for the axe, and began to cut. But some one called out a third time, and said loudly,

"Den, der hugger haspetræ i skoven, dør,
"He who cuts wood for reels shall die,

og den, der hasper, falder i djævelens klør."
And he who winds, shall perish."

Nu tabte han helt modet og klatrede i en fart ned af træet og gik hjem. Konen løb, alt hvad hun kunne, ad en sidevej og kom også før han. "Nå, har du så fundet noget godt træ," sagde hun, da han kom hjem. "Nej, det kan nok ikke blive til noget med den haspe," sagde han, og fortalte hende, hvad der var hændt ham i skoven. Fra nu af forlangte han ikke mere, at hun skulle spinde.
That was enough for him, and all inclination had departed from him, so he hastily descended the tree, and set out on his way home. The woman ran as fast as she could by by-ways so as to get home first. So when he entered the parlour, she put on an innocent look as if nothing had happened, and said, "Well, have you brought a nice piece of wood for reels?" - "No," said he, "I see very well that winding won't do," and told her what had happened to him in the forest, and from that time forth left her in peace about it. Neverthless after some time, the man again began to complain of the disorder in the house. "Wife," said he, "it is really a shame that the spun yarn should lie there all entangled!" - "I'll tell you what," said she, "as we still don't come by any reel, go you up into the loft, and I will stand down below, and will throw the yarn up to you, and you will throw it down to me, and so we shall get a skein after all." - "Yes, that will do," said the man. So they did that, and when it was done, he said, "The yarn is in skeins, now it must be boiled." The woman was again distressed; She certainly said, "Yes, we will boil it next morning early." but she was secretly contriving another trick.

Men nogen tid efter begyndte han at ærgre sig over, så uordentligt hans hus var. "Det er dog en skam, at det garn skal blive siddende på tenen," sagde han til sin kone. "Nu skal du høre," svarede hun, "stil dig op på loftet, så står jeg nedenfor, og så kaster vi tenen frem og tilbage, så får vi dog et fed ud af det." - "Ja, det er godt," sagde manden. Da de var færdige, sagde han: "Nu er garnet jo haspet, men det må også koges." Konen blev helt urolig, men sagde: "Ja jeg skal nok gøre det i morgen tidlig." Men hun tænkte bare på, hvordan hun skulle spille ham et nyt puds, og næste morgen stod hun op, gjorde ild på og satte kedlen over, men i stedet for garnet lagde hun en klump blår deri, og lod det stå og koge. Derpå gik hun hen til manden og sagde: "Jeg er nødt til at gå ud, så du må stå op og se lidt efter garnet, der koger. Men luk nu øjnene ordentlig op, for hvis hanen galer, og du ikke passer på garnet, bliver det til blår." Manden stod hurtigt op og gik ud i køkkenet, men da han så ned i gryden, fandt han til sin forfærdelse ikke andet en en klump blår. Så tav den stakkels mand så stille som en mus, og troede, at det var hans skyld, det var gået galt. Fra nu af talte han aldrig mere til sin kone om at spinde. Men I må da allesammen indrømme, at hun var en slem en.
Early in the morning she got up, lighted a fire, and put the kettle on, only instead of the yarn, she put in a lump of tow, and let it boil. After that she went to the man who was still lying in bed, and said to him, "I must just go out, you must get up and look after the yarn which is in the kettle on the fire, but you must be at hand at once; mind that, for if the cock should happen to crow, and you are not attending to the yarn, it will become tow." The man was willing and took good care not to loiter. He got up as quickly as he could, and went into the kitchen. But when he reached the kettle and peeped in, he saw, to his horror, nothing but a lump of tow. Then the poor man was as still as a mouse, thinking he had neglected it, and was to blame, and in future said no more about yarn and spinning. But you yourself must own she was an odious woman!