Du kender da sagtens et forstørrelsesglas, sådan et rundt brilleglas, der gør alting hundrede gange større end det er? Når man tager og holder det for øjet og ser på en vanddråbe ude fra dammen, så ser man over tusinde underlige dyr, som man ellers aldrig ser i vandet, men de er der og det er virkeligt. Det ser næsten ud, som en hel tallerken fuld af rejer, der springer mellem hverandre, og de er så glubende, de river arme og ben, ender og kanter af hverandre og dog er de glade og fornøjede, på deres måde.
Of course you know what is meant by a magnifying glass– one of those round spectacle-glasses that make everything look a hundred times bigger than it is? When any one takes one of these and holds it to his eye, and looks at a drop of water from the pond yonder, he sees above a thousand wonderful creatures that are otherwise never discerned in the water. But there they are, and it is no delusion. It almost looks like a great plateful of spiders jumping about in a crowd. And how fierce they are! They tear off each other's legs, and arms and bodies, before and behind; and yet they are merry and joyful in their way.
Nu var der engang en gammel mand, som alle folk kaldte Krible-Krable, for det hed han. Han ville altid have det bedste ud af enhver ting og når det slet ikke ville gå, så tog han det med trolddom.
Now, there once was an old man whom all the people called Kribble-Krabble, for that was his name. He always wanted the best of everything, and when he could not manage it otherwise, he did it by magic.
Nu sidder han en dag og holder sit forstørrelsesglas for øjet og ser på en vanddråbe, der var taget ude af en pyt vand i grøften. Nej hvor det kriblede og krablede der! alle de tusinde smådyr hoppede og sprang, trak i hverandre og åd af hverandre.
There he sat one day, and held his magnifying-glass to his eye, and looked at a drop of water that had been taken out of a puddle by the ditch. But what a kribbling and krabbling was there! All the thousands of little creatures hopped and sprang and tugged at one another, and ate each other up.
"Ja, men det er jo afskyeligt!" sagde gamle Krible-Krable, "kan man ikke få dem til at leve i fred og ro, og hver at passe sit!" og han tænkte og tænkte, men det ville ikke gå, og så måtte han trolde. "Jeg må give dem kulør, at de kan blive tydeligere!" sagde han, og så hældte han ligesom en lille dråbe rød vin i vanddråben, men det var hekseblod, den allerfineste slags til to skilling; og så blev alle de underlige dyr rosenrøde over hele kroppen, det så ud som en hel by af nøgne vildmænd.
"That is horrible!" said old Kribble-Krabble. "Can one not persuade them to live in peace and quietness, so that each one may mind his own business?" And he thought it over and over, but it would not do, and so he had recourse to magic. "I must give them color, that they may be seen more plainly," said he; and he poured something like a little drop of red wine into the drop of water, but it was witches' blood from the lobes of the ear, the finest kind, at ninepence a drop. And now the wonderful little creatures were pink all over. It looked like a whole town of naked wild men.
"Hvad har du der?" spurgte en anden gammel trold, som ikke havde navn, og det var det fine ved ham.
"What have you there?" asked another old magician, who had no name– and that was the best thing about him.
"Ja kan du gætte hvad det er," sagde Krible-Krable, "så skal jeg forære dig det; men det er ikke let at finde ud, når man ikke ved det!"
"Yes, if you can guess what it is," said Kribble-Krabble, "I'll make you a present of it." But it is not so easy to find out if one does not know.
Og trolden, som intet navn havde, så igennem forstørrelsesglasset. Det så virkelig ud, som en hel by, hvor alle mennesker løb om uden klæder! det var gyseligt, men endnu mere gyseligt at se hvor den ene puffede og stødte den anden, hvor de nippedes og nappedes, bed hinanden og trak hinanden frem. Hvad der var nederst skulle øverst og hvad der var øverst skulle nederst! "se! se! hans ben er længere end mit! baf! væk med det! der er én som har en lille knop bag øret, en lille uskyldig knop, men den piner ham, og så skal den pine mere!" og de hakkede i den, og de trak i ham og de åd ham for den lille knops skyld. Der sad én så stille, som en lille jomfru og ønskede alene fred og rolighed, men så skulle jomfruen frem, og de trak i hende og de sled i hende og de åd hende!
And the magician who had no name looked through the magnifying-glass. It looked really like a great town reflected there, in which all the people were running about without clothes. It was terrible! But it was still more terrible to see how one beat and pushed the other, and bit and hacked, and tugged and mauled him. Those at the top were being pulled down, and those at the bottom were struggling upwards. "Look! look! his leg is longer than mine! Bah! Away with it! There is one who has a little bruise. It hurts him, but it shall hurt him still more." And they hacked away at him, and they pulled at him, and ate him up, because of the little bruise. And there was one sitting as still as any little maiden, and wishing only for peace and quietness. But now she had to come out, and they tugged at her, and pulled her about, and ate her up.
"Det er overordenligt morsomt!" sagde trolden.
"That's funny!" said the magician.
"Ja men hvad tror du det er?" spurgte Krible-Krable. "Kan du finde det ud?"
"Yes; but what do you think it is?" said Kribble-Krabble. "Can you find that out?"
"Det er da godt at se!" sagde den anden, "det er jo København eller en anden stor by, de ligner jo alle sammen hinanden. En stor by er det!"
"Why, one can see that easily enough," said the other. "That's Paris, or some other great city, for they're all alike. It's a great city!"
"Det er grøftevand!" sagde Krible-Krable.
"It's a drop of puddle water!" said Kribble-Krabble.