"Det skrupknager i mig, så dejligt koldt er det!" sagde snemanden. "Vinden kan rigtignok bide liv i én! Og hvor den gloende der, hun glor!" det var Solen, han mente; den var lige ved at gå ned. "Hun skal ikke få mig til at blinke, jeg kan nok holde på brokkerne!"
"It is so delightfully cold," said the Snow Man, "that it makes my whole body crackle. This is just the kind of wind to blow life into one. How that great red thing up there is staring at me!" He meant the sun, who was just setting. "It shall not make me wink. I shall manage to keep the pieces."
Det var to store, trekantede tagstensbrokker, han havde til øjne; munden var et stykke af en gammel rive, derfor havde han tænder.
He had two triangular pieces of tile in his head, instead of eyes; his mouth was made of an old broken rake, and was, of course, furnished with teeth.
Han var født under hurraråb af drengene, hilst af bjældeklang og piskesmæld fra kanerne.
He had been brought into existence amidst the joyous shouts of boys, the jingling of sleigh-bells, and the slashing of whips.
Solen gik ned, fuldmånen stod op, rund og stor, klar og dejlig i den blå luft.
The sun went down, and the full moon rose, large, round, and clear, shining in the deep blue.
"Der har vi hende igen fra en anden kant!" sagde snemanden. Han troede, at det var Solen, der viste sig igen. "Jeg har vænnet hende af med at glo! nu kan hun hænge der og lyse op, at jeg kan se mig selv. Vidste jeg bare, hvorledes man bærer sig ad med at flytte sig! jeg ville så gerne flytte mig! kunne jeg det, ville jeg nu ned at glide på isen, som jeg så drengene gøre det; men jeg forstår ikke at løbe!"
"There it comes again, from the other side," said the Snow Man, who supposed the sun was showing himself once more. "Ah, I have cured him of staring, though; now he may hang up there, and shine, that I may see myself. If I only knew how to manage to move away from this place,– I should so like to move. If I could, I would slide along yonder on the ice, as I have seen the boys do; but I don't understand how; I don't even know how to run."
"Væk! væk!" bjæffede den gamle lænkehund; han var noget hæs, det havde han været, siden han var stuehund og lå under kakkelovnen. "Solen vil nok lære dig at løbe! det så jeg med din formand i fjor og med hans formand; væk! væk! og væk er de alle!"
"Away, away," barked the old yard-dog. He was quite hoarse, and could not pronounce "Bow wow" properly. He had once been an indoor dog, and lay by the fire, and he had been hoarse ever since. "The sun will make you run some day. I saw him, last winter, make your predecessor run, and his predecessor before him. Away, away, they all have to go."
"Jeg forstår dig ikke, kammerat!" sagde snemanden; "skal den deroppe lære mig at løbe?" Han mente Månen; "ja hun løb jo rigtignok før, da jeg så stift på hende, nu lister hun fra en anden kant!"
"I don't understand you, comrade," said the Snow Man. "Is that thing up yonder to teach me to run? I saw it running itself a little while ago, and now it has come creeping up from the other side."
"Du ved ingenting!" sagde lænkehunden, "men du er da også nylig klattet op! Den du nu ser, kaldes Månen, den der gik, var Solen, hun kommer igen i morgen, hun lærer dig nok at løbe ned i voldgraven. Vi får snart forandring i vejret, det kan jeg mærke på mit venstre bagben, det jager i det. Vi får vejrskifte!"
"You know nothing at all," replied the yard-dog; "but then, you've only lately been patched up. What you see yonder is the moon, and the one before it was the sun. It will come again to-morrow, and most likely teach you to run down into the ditch by the well; for I think the weather is going to change. I can feel such pricks and stabs in my left leg; I am sure there is going to be a change."
"Jeg forstår ham ikke!" sagde snemanden, "men jeg har en fornemmelse af, at det er noget ubehageligt, han siger. Hun, der gloede og gik ned, som han kalder Solen, hun er heller ikke min ven, det har jeg på følelsen!"
"I don't understand him," said the Snow Man to himself; "but I have a feeling that he is talking of something very disagreeable. The one who stared so just now, and whom he calls the sun, is not my friend; I can feel that too."
"Væk! væk!" bjæffede lænkehunden, gik tre gange rundt om sig selv og lagde sig så ind i sit hus for at sove.
"Away, away," barked the yard-dog, and then he turned round three times, and crept into his kennel to sleep.
Der kom virkelig forandring i vejret. En tåge, så tyk og klam, lagde sig i morgenstunden hen over hele egnen; i dagningen luftede det; vinden var så isnende, frosten tog ordentlig tag, men hvor det var et syn at se, da Solen stod op. Alle træer og buske stod med rimfrost; det var som en hel skov af hvide koraller, det var som om alle grene var overdænget af strålehvide blomster. De uendelig mange og fine forgreninger, dem man om sommeren ikke kan se for de mange blade, kom nu frem hver evige en; det var en knipling og så skinnende hvid, som strømmede der en hvid glans ud fra hver gren. Hængebirken bevægede sig i vinden, der var liv i den, som i træerne ved sommertid; det var en mageløs dejlighed! og da Solen så skinnede, nej, hvor funklede det hele, som om det var overpudret med diamantstøv og hen over jordens snelag glimrede de store diamanter, eller man kunne også tro, at der brændte utallige små bitte lys, endnu hvidere end den hvide sne.
There was really a change in the weather. Towards morning, a thick fog covered the whole country round, and a keen wind arose, so that the cold seemed to freeze one's bones; but when the sun rose, the sight was splendid. Trees and bushes were covered with hoar frost, and looked like a forest of white coral; while on every twig glittered frozen dew-drops. The many delicate forms concealed in summer by luxuriant foliage, were now clearly defined, and looked like glittering lace-work. From every twig glistened a white radiance. The birch, waving in the wind, looked full of life, like trees in summer; and its appearance was wondrously beautiful. And where the sun shone, how everything glittered and sparkled, as if diamond dust had been strewn about; while the snowy carpet of the earth appeared as if covered with diamonds, from which countless lights gleamed, whiter than even the snow itself.
"Det er en mageløs dejlighed!" sagde en ung pige, som med en ung mand trådte ud i haven og standsede just ved snemanden, hvor de så på de glimrende træer. "Dejligere syn har man ikke om sommeren!" sagde hun, og hendes øjne strålede.
"This is really beautiful," said a young girl, who had come into the garden with a young man; and they both stood still near the Snow Man, and contemplated the glittering scene. "Summer cannot show a more beautiful sight," she exclaimed, while her eyes sparkled.
"Og sådan en karl, som ham der, har man nu slet ikke!" sagde den unge mand og pegede på snemanden. "Han er udmærket!"
"And we can't have such a fellow as this in the summer time," replied the young man, pointing to the Snow Man; "he is capital."
Den unge pige lo, nikkede til snemanden og dansede så med sin ven hen over sneen, der knirkede under dem, som om de gik på stivelse.
The girl laughed, and nodded at the Snow Man, and then tripped away over the snow with her friend. The snow creaked and crackled beneath her feet, as if she had been treading on starch.
"Hvem var de to?" spurgte snemanden lænkehunden; "du er ældre på gården end jeg, kender du dem?"
"Who are these two?" asked the Snow Man of the yard-dog. "You have been here longer than I have; do you know them?"
"Det gør jeg!" sagde lænkehunden. "Hun har jo klappet mig, og han har givet mig et kødben; dem bider jeg ikke!"
"Of course I know them," replied the yard-dog; "she has stroked my back many times, and he has given me a bone of meat. I never bite those two."
"Men hvad forestiller de her?" spurgte snemanden.
"But what are they?" asked the Snow Man.
"Kærrrrr-restefolk!" sagde lænkehunden. "De skal flytte i hundehus og gnave ben sammen. Væk! væk!"
"They are lovers," he replied; "they will go and live in the same kennel by-and-by, and gnaw at the same bone. Away, away!"
"Har de to lige så meget at betyde som du og jeg?" spurgte snemanden.
"Are they the same kind of beings as you and I?" asked the Snow Man.
"De hører jo til herskabet!" sagde lænkehunden; "det er rigtignok såre lidt man ved, når man er født i går! det mærker jeg på dig! jeg har alder og kundskab, jeg kender alle her på gården! og jeg har kendt en tid, hvor jeg ikke stod her i kulde og lænke; væk! væk!"
"Well, they belong to the same master," retorted the yard-dog. "Certainly people who were only born yesterday know very little. I can see that in you. I have age and experience. I know every one here in the house, and I know there was once a time when I did not lie out here in the cold, fastened to a chain. Away, away!"
"Kulden er dejlig!" sagde snemanden. "Fortæl, fortæl! men du må ikke rasle med lænken, for så knækker det i mig!"
"The cold is delightful," said the Snow Man; "but do tell me tell me; only you must not clank your chain so; for it jars all through me when you do that."
"Væk! væk!" bjæffede lænkehunden. "Hvalp har jeg været; lille og yndig, sagde de, da lå jeg i fløjlsstol derinde på gården, lå i skødet på det øverste herskab; blev kysset i flaben og visket om poterne med broderet lommetørklæde; jeg hed "den dejligste," - "nussenussebenet," men så blev jeg dem for stor! så gav de mig til husholdersken; jeg kom i kælderetagen! Du kan se ind i den, hvor du står; du kan se ned i kamret, hvor jeg har været herskab; for det var jeg hos husholdersken. Det var vel et ringere sted end ovenpå, men her var mere behageligt; jeg blev ikke krammet og slæbt om med af børn, som ovenpå. Jeg havde lige så god føde, som før og meget mere! jeg havde min egen pude, og så var der en kakkelovn, den er på denne tid det dejligste i denne verden! jeg krøb helt ind under den, så at jeg blev borte. Oh, den kakkeovn drømmer jeg endnu om; væk! væk!"
"Away, away!" barked the yard-dog; "I'll tell you; they said I was a pretty little fellow once; then I used to lie in a velvet-covered chair, up at the master's house, and sit in the mistress's lap. They used to kiss my nose, and wipe my paws with an embroidered handkerchief, and I was called 'Ami, dear Ami, sweet Ami.' But after a while I grew too big for them, and they sent me away to the housekeeper's room; so I came to live on the lower story. You can look into the room from where you stand, and see where I was master once; for I was indeed master to the housekeeper. It was certainly a smaller room than those up stairs; but I was more comfortable; for I was not being continually taken hold of and pulled about by the children as I had been. I received quite as good food, or even better. I had my own cushion, and there was a stove– it is the finest thing in the world at this season of the year. I used to go under the stove, and lie down quite beneath it. Ah, I still dream of that stove. Away, away!"
"Ser en kakkelovn så dejlig ud!" spurgte snemanden. "Ligner den mig?"
"Does a stove look beautiful?" asked the Snow Man, "is it at all like me?"
"Den er lige det modsatte af dig! kulsort er den! har en lang hals med messingtromle. Den æder brænde, så at ilden står den ud af munden. Man må holde sig på siden af den, tæt op, ind under den, det er en uendelig behagelighed! Du må ind af vinduet kunne se den der, hvor du står!"
"It is just the reverse of you," said the dog; "it's as black as a crow, and has a long neck and a brass knob; it eats firewood, so that fire spurts out of its mouth. We should keep on one side, or under it, to be comfortable. You can see it through the window, from where you stand."
Og snemanden så, og virkelig så han en sort blankpoleret genstand med messingtromle; ilden lyste ud forneden. Snemanden blev ganske underlig til mode; han havde en fornemmelse, han ikke selv kunne gøre sig rede for; der kom over ham noget, han ikke kendte, men som alle mennesker kender, når de ikke er snemænd.
Then the Snow Man looked, and saw a bright polished thing with a brazen knob, and fire gleaming from the lower part of it. The Snow Man felt quite a strange sensation come over him; it was very odd, he knew not what it meant, and he could not account for it. But there are people who are not men of snow, who understand what it is.
"Og hvorfor forlod du hende?" sagde snemanden. Han følte at det måtte være et hunkønsvæsen. "Hvor kunne du forlade et sådant sted?"
"And why did you leave her?" asked the Snow Man, for it seemed to him that the stove must be of the female sex. "How could you give up such a comfortable place?"
"Det var jeg nok nødt til!" sagde lænkehunden, "de smed mig udenfor og satte mig her i lænke. Jeg havde bidt den yngste junker i benet, for han stødte fra mig det ben, jeg gnavede på; og ben for ben, tænker jeg! men det tog de ilde op, og fra den tid har jeg stået i lænke, og har mistet min klare røst, hør hvor hæs jeg er: væk! væk! det blev enden på det!"
"I was obliged," replied the yard-dog. "They turned me out of doors, and chained me up here. I had bitten the youngest of my master's sons in the leg, because he kicked away the bone I was gnawing. 'Bone for bone,' I thought; but they were so angry, and from that time I have been fastened with a chain, and lost my bone. Don't you hear how hoarse I am. Away, away! I can't talk any more like other dogs. Away, away, that is the end of it all."
Snemanden hørte ikke mere efter; han så stadig ind i husholderskens kælderetage, ned i hendes stue, hvor kakkelovnen stod på sine fire jernben og viste sig i størrelse som snemanden selv.
But the Snow Man was no longer listening. He was looking into the housekeeper's room on the lower storey; where the stove stood on its four iron legs, looking about the same size as the Snow Man himself.
"Det knager så underligt i mig!" sagde han. "Skal jeg aldrig komme derind? det er et uskyldigt ønske, og vore uskyldige ønsker må dog vist blive opfyldt. Det er mit højeste ønske, mit eneste ønske og det ville være næsten uretfærdigt, om det ikke blev stillet tilfreds. Jeg må derind, jeg må hælde mig op til hende, om jeg også skal knuse vinduet!"
"What a strange crackling I feel within me," he said. "Shall I ever get in there? It is an innocent wish, and innocent wishes are sure to be fulfilled. I must go in there and lean against her, even if I have to break the window."
"Der kommer du aldrig ind!" sagde lænkehunden, "og kom du til kakkelovnen, så var du væk! væk!"
"You must never go in there," said the yard-dog, "for if you approach the stove, you'll melt away, away."
"Jeg er så godt som væk!" sagde snemanden, "jeg brækker over, tror jeg!"
"I might as well go," said the Snow Man, "for I think I am breaking up as it is."
Hele dagen stod snemanden og så ind af vinduet; i tusmørket blev stuen endnu mere indbydende; fra kakkelovnen lyste det så mildt, som ikke Månen lyser og heller ikke Solen, nej, som kun kakkelovnen kan lyse, når der er noget i den. Gik de med døren, så slog luen ud, det var den i vane med; det blussede ordentligt rødt i snemandens hvide ansigt, det lyste rødt lige op af hans bryst.
During the whole day the Snow Man stood looking in through the window, and in the twilight hour the room became still more inviting, for from the stove came a gentle glow, not like the sun or the moon; no, only the bright light which gleams from a stove when it has been well fed. When the door of the stove was opened, the flames darted out of its mouth; this is customary with all stoves. The light of the flames fell directly on the face and breast of the Snow Man with a ruddy gleam.
"Jeg holder det ikke ud!" sagde han. "Hvor det klæder hende at række tungen ud!"
"I can endure it no longer," said he; "how beautiful it looks when it stretches out its tongue?"
Natten var meget lang men ikke for snemanden, han stod i sine egne dejlige tanker og de frøs, så de knagede.
The night was long, but did not appear so to the Snow Man, who stood there enjoying his own reflections, and crackling with the cold.
I morgenstunden var kældervinduerne frosset til, de bar de dejligste isblomster, nogen snemand kunne forlange, men de skjulte kakkelovnen. Ruderne ville ikke tø op, han kunne ikke se hende. Det knagede, det knasede, det var just et frostvejr, der måtte fornøje en snemand, men han var ikke fornøjet; han kunne og burde have følt sig så lykkelig, men han var ikke lykkelig, han havde kakkelovnslængsel.
In the morning, the window-panes of the housekeeper's room were covered with ice. They were the most beautiful ice-flowers any Snow Man could desire, but they concealed the stove. These window-panes would not thaw, and he could see nothing of the stove, which he pictured to himself, as if it had been a lovely human being. The snow crackled and the wind whistled around him; it was just the kind of frosty weather a Snow Man might thoroughly enjoy. But he did not enjoy it; how, indeed, could he enjoy anything when he was "stove sick?"
"Det er en slem syge for en snemand!" sagde lænkehunden; "jeg har også lidt af den syge, men jeg har overstået den! væk! væk! - Nu får vi vejrskifte!"
"That is terrible disease for a Snow Man," said the yard-dog; "I have suffered from it myself, but I got over it. Away, away," he barked and then he added, "the weather is going to change."
Og der blev vejrskifte, det slog om i tø.
And the weather did change; it began to thaw.
Tøvejret tog til, snemanden tog af. Han sagde ikke noget, han klagede ikke, og det er det rigtige tegn.
As the warmth increased, the Snow Man decreased. He said nothing and made no complaint, which is a sure sign.
En morgen styrtede han. Der stak noget ligesom et kosteskaft i vejret, hvor han havde stået, det havde drengene rejst ham om.
One morning he broke, and sunk down altogether; and, behold, where he had stood, something like a broomstick remained sticking up in the ground. It was the pole round which the boys had built him up.
"Nu kan jeg forstå det med hans længsel!" sagde lænkehunden, "snemanden har haft en kakkelovnsskraber i livet! det er den, som har rørt sig i ham, nu er det overstået; væk! væk!"
"Ah, now I understand why he had such a great longing for the stove," said the yard-dog. "Why, there's the shovel that is used for cleaning out the stove, fastened to the pole." The Snow Man had a stove scraper in his body; that was what moved him so. "But it's all over now. Away, away."
Og snart var også vinteren overstået.
And soon the winter passed.
"Væk, væk!" bjæffede lænkehunden; men småpigerne på gården sang:
"Away, away," barked the hoarse yard-dog. But the girls in the house sang,
"Skyd frem, skovmærke! frisk og prud,
"Come from your fragrant home, green thyme;
hæng, pil! din uldne vante ud,
Stretch your soft branches, willow-tree;
kom, kukker, lærke! syng, vi har
The months are bringing the sweet spring-time,
alt forår sidst i februar!
When the lark in the sky sings joyfully.
Jeg synger med, kukkuk! kvivit!
Come gentle sun, while the cuckoo sings,
Kom, kære sol, kom sådan tit!"
And I'll mock his note in my wanderings."
Så tænker ingen på snemanden!
And nobody thought any more of the Snow Man.