Bibliotheca Polyglotta

STYVER.
Sligt forslag kunde stilles til en rus,
ej til en mand med karakter i jus!
Jeg regner ej, hvad Kristian den femte
i sin tid om trolovelser bestemte, –
thi det slags forhold findes ej berørt i
„lov om forbrydelser“ af to-og-fyrti;
for så vidt var ej sagen kriminel,
det var jo intet brud på det legale –

STIVER.
Such a proposal’s for a green young shoot,
Not for a man of judgment and repute.
I heed not what King Christian in his time
(The Fifth) laid down about engagements broken-off;
For that relationship is nowhere spoken of
In any rubric of the code of crime.
The act would not be criminal in name,
It would in no way violate the laws--

FALK.
Der kan du se!

FALK.
Why there, you see then!

STYVER
(fast).
Ja, men alligevel, –
om slig en exception blir aldrig tale.
I trange tider holdt vi trofast sammen;
hun fordrer ikke stort af livets gammen,
og jeg er nøjsom, har alt længe sporet,
at jeg blev skabt for hjemmet og kontoret.
Lad andre følge svaneflokkens flugt;
liv i det små kan også være smukt.
Hvad siger ej etsteds geheimeråd Göthe
om mælkevejen, skinnende og hvid?
Af den kan ingen skumme lykkens fløde,
og endnu mindre hente smørret hid –

STIVER
[firmly].
Yes, but all the same,--
I must reject all pleas in such a cause.
Staunch comrades we have been in times of dearth;
Of life’s disport she asks but little share,
And I’m a homely fellow, long aware
God made me for the ledger and the hearth.
Let others emulate the eagle’s flight,
Life in the lowly plains may be as bright.
What does his Excellency Goethe say
About the white and shining milky way?
Man may not there the milk of fortune skim,
Nor is the butter of it meant for him.

FALK.
Nå, var end målet lykkesmørrets kærning,
må ånden råde dog i al din slid; –
en mand skal være borger af sin tid,
men adle tidens borgerlige gerning.
Ja visstnok er der skønhed i det små;
men kunsten er at skue og forstå.
Ej hver, som ynder at håndtere sølen,
må derfor tro sig ligemand med „Dølen“.

FALK.
Why, even were fortune-churning our life’s goal,
The labour must be guided by the soul;--
Be citizens of the time that is--but then
Make the time worthy of the citizen.
In homely things lurks beauty, without doubt,
But watchful eye and brain must draw it out.
Not every man who loves the soil he turns
May therefore claim to be another Burns.¹

STYVER.
Så lad os gå med fred vor jævne vej;
vi stænger ikke stierne for dig,
vi følger gaden, du i højden svæver.
Hm, der foer også hun og jeg engang;
mens dagens krav er arbejd, ikke sang, –
den dør man fra, alt eftersom man lever.
Se, ungdomslivet er en stor proces
og den unødigste af alle trætter; –
gå på akkord, og tænk ej på regres;
thi sagen taber du for alle retter.

STIVER.
Then let us each our proper path pursue,
And part in peace; we shall not hamper you;
We keep the road, you hover in the sky,
There where we too once floated, she and I.
But work, not song, provides our daily bread,
And when a man’s alive, his music’s dead.
A young man’s life’s a lawsuit, and the most
Superfluous litigation in existence:
Plead where and how you will, your suit is lost.

1. Another Burns. In the original: “Dolen” (“The Dalesman”), that is A. O. Vinje, Ibsen’s friend and literary comrade, editor of the journal so-called and hence known familiarly by its name. See the Introduction.

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