安徒生童話10THE OLD HOUSE老房子

<p>[00:34.51]THE OLD HOUSE<br /> [00:37.87]<br /> [00:38.09]In the street, up there, was an old, a very old house--it was almost three<br /> [00:44.70]hundred years old, for that might be known by reading the great beam on which<br /> [00:49.45]the date of the year was carved: together with tulips and hop-binds there were<br /> [00:54.53]whole verses spelled as in former times, and over every window was a distorted<br /> [00:59.04]face cut out in the beam. The one story stood forward a great way over the<br /> [01:05.23]other; and directly under the eaves was a leaden spout with a dragon's head;<br /> [01:10.49]the rain-water should have run out of the mouth, but it ran out of the belly,<br /> [01:14.14]for there was a hole in the spout.<br /> [01:16.67]<br /> [01:16.85]All the other houses in the street were so new and so neat, with large window<br /> [01:22.99]panes and smooth walls, one could easily see that they would have nothing to<br /> [01:27.39]do with the old house: they certainly thought, "How long is that old decayed<br /> [01:32.41]thing to stand here as a spectacle in the street? And then the projecting<br /> [01:37.97]windows stand so far out, that no one can see from our windows what happens in<br /> [01:42.70]that direction! The steps are as broad as those of a palace, and as high as to<br /> [01:47.73]a church tower. The iron railings look just like the door to an old family<br /> [01:53.60]vault, and then they have brass tops--that's so stupid!"<br /> [01:58.41]<br /> [01:58.61]On the other side of the street were also new and neat houses, and they<br /> [02:05.16]thought just as the others did; but at the window opposite the old house there<br /> [02:09.44]sat a little boy with fresh rosy cheeks and bright beaming eyes: he certainly<br /> [02:15.25]liked the old house best, and that both in sunshine and moonshine. And when he<br /> [02:21.28]looked across at the wall where the mortar had fallen out, he could sit and<br /> [02:25.83]find out there the strangest figures imaginable; exactly as the street had<br /> [02:31.11]appeared before, with steps, projecting windows, and pointed gables; he could<br /> [02:37.00]see soldiers with halberds, and spouts where the water ran, like dragons and<br /> [02:41.73]serpents. That was a house to look at; and there lived an old man, who wore<br /> [02:47.85]plush breeches; and he had a coat with large brass buttons, and a wig that one<br /> [02:52.18]could see was a real wig. Every morning there came an old fellow to him who<br /> [02:57.94]put his rooms in order, and went on errands; otherwise, the old man in the<br /> [03:02.77]plush breeches was quite alone in the old house. Now and then he came to the<br /> [03:08.50]window and looked out, and the little boy nodded to him, and the old man<br /> [03:13.27]nodded again, and so they became acquaintances, and then they were friends,<br /> [03:18.20]although they had never spoken to each other--but that made no difference. The<br /> [03:23.05]little boy heard his parents say, "The old man opposite is very well off, but<br /> [03:29.37]he is so very, very lonely!"<br /> [03:32.09]<br /> [03:32.33]The Sunday following, the little boy took something, and wrapped it up in a<br /> [03:37.54]piece of paper, went downstairs, and stood in the doorway; and when the man<br /> [03:42.44]who went on errands came past, he said to him--<br /> [03:45.75]<br /> [03:45.96]"I say, master! will you give this to the old man over the way from me? I have<br /> [03:51.61]two pewter soldiers--this is one of them, and he shall have it, for I know he<br /> [03:56.90]is so very, very lonely."<br /> [03:58.97]<br /> [03:59.21]And the old errand man looked quite pleased, nodded, and took the pewter<br /> [04:04.65]soldier over to the old house. Afterwards there came a message; it was to ask<br /> [04:09.41]if the little boy himself had not a wish to come over and pay a visit; and so<br /> [04:14.93]he got permission of his parents, and then went over to the old house.<br /> [04:20.01]<br /> [04:20.25]And the brass balls on the iron railings shone much brighter than ever; one<br /> [04:24.84]would have thought they were polished on account of the visit; and it was as<br /> [04:28.90]if the carved-out trumpeters--for there were trumpeters, who stood in tulips,<br /> [04:34.58]carved out on the door--blew with all their might, their cheeks appeared so<br /> [04:39.80]much rounder than before. Yes, they blew--"Trateratra! The little boy comes!<br /> [04:47.14]Trateratra!"--and then the door opened.<br /> [04:52.10]<br /> [04:52.33]The whole passage was hung with portraits of knights in armor, and ladies in<br /> [04:58.12]silken gowns; and the armor rattled, and the silken gowns rustled! And then<br /> [05:03.53]there was a flight of stairs which went a good way upwards, and a little way<br /> [05:08.15]downwards, and then one came on a balcony which was in a very dilapidated<br /> [05:12.35]state, sure enough, with large holes and long crevices, but grass grew there<br /> [05:17.78]and leaves out of them altogether, for the whole balcony outside, the yard,<br /> [05:21.29]and the walls, were overgrown with so much green stuff, that it looked like a<br /> [05:25.88]garden; only a balcony. Here stood old flower-pots with faces and asses' ears,<br /> [05:31.14]and the flowers grew just as they liked. One of the pots was quite overrun on<br /> [05:36.62]all sides with pinks, that is to say, with the green part; shoot stood by<br /> [05:41.86]shoot, and it said quite distinctly, "The air has cherished me, the sun has<br /> [05:47.02]kissed me, and promised me a little flower on Sunday! a little flower on<br /> [05:51.42]Sunday!"<br /> [05:53.21]<br /> [05:53.45]And then they entered a chamber where the walls were covered with hog's<br /> [05:57.13]leather, and printed with gold flowers.<br /> [05:59.41]<br /> [05:59.62]   "The gilding decays,<br /> [06:01.62]   But hog's leather stays!"<br /> [06:03.13]<br /> [06:03.33]   said the walls.<br /> [06:04.68]<br /> [06:04.87]And there stood easy-chairs, with such high backs, and so carved out, and with<br /> [06:10.98]arms on both sides. "Sit down! sit down!" said they. "Ugh! how I creak; now I<br /> [06:17.24]shall certainly get the gout, like the old clothespress, ugh!"<br /> [06:21.64]<br /> [06:21.86]And then the little boy came into the room where the projecting windows were,<br /> [06:27.61]and where the old man sat.<br /> [06:29.37]<br /> [06:29.61]"I thank you for the pewter soldier, my little friend!" said the old man. "And<br /> [06:35.46]I thank you because you come over to me."<br /> [06:37.65]<br /> [06:37.90]"Thankee! thankee!" or "cranky! cranky!" sounded from all the furniture; there<br /> [06:44.73]was so much of it, that each article stood in the other's way, to get a look<br /> [06:49.32]at the little boy.<br /> [06:50.81]<br /> [06:51.03]In the middle of the wall hung a picture representing a beautiful lady, so<br /> [06:55.85]young, so glad, but dressed quite as in former times, with clothes that stood<br /> [07:02.69]quite stiff, and with powder in her hair; she neither said "thankee, thankee!"<br /> [07:08.53]nor "cranky, cranky!" but looked with her mild eyes at the little boy, who<br /> [07:15.06]directly asked the old man, "Where did you get her?"<br /> [07:19.69]<br /> [07:19.91]"Yonder, at the broker's," said the old man, "where there are so many pictures<br /> [07:25.45]hanging. No one knows or cares about them, for they are all of them buried;<br /> [07:30.76]but I knew her in by-gone days, and now she has been dead and gone these fifty<br /> [07:36.29]years!"<br /> [07:37.34]<br /> [07:37.56]Under the picture, in a glazed frame, there hung a bouquet of withered<br /> [07:44.09]flowers; they were almost fifty years old; they looked so very old!<br /> [07:48.95]<br /> [07:49.17]The pendulum of the great clock went to and fro, and the hands turned, and<br /> [07:54.82]everything in the room became still older; but they did not observe it.<br /> [07:59.89]<br /> [08:00.12]"They say at home," said the little boy, "that you are so very, very lonely!"<br /> [08:05.94]<br /> [08:06.20]"Oh!" said he. "The old thoughts, with what they may bring with them, come and<br /> [08:13.81]visit me, and now you also come! I am very well off!"<br /> [08:18.05]<br /> [08:18.28]Then he took a book with pictures in it down from the shelf; there were<br /> [08:23.80]whole long processions and pageants, with the strangest characters, which one<br /> [08:28.79]never sees now-a-days; soldiers like the knave of clubs, and citizens with<br /> [08:34.13]waving flags: the tailors had theirs, with a pair of shears held by two<br /> [08:38.82]lions--and the shoemakers theirs, without boots, but with an eagle that had<br /> [08:43.53]two heads, for the shoemakers must have everything so that they can say, it is<br /> [08:48.07]a pair! Yes, that was a picture book!<br /> [08:53.53]<br /> [08:53.75]The old man now went into the other room to fetch preserves, apples, and<br /> [08:58.89]nuts--yes, it was delightful over there in the old house.<br /> [09:02.64]<br /> [09:02.87]"I cannot bear it any longer!" said the pewter soldier, who sat on the<br /> [09:08.10]drawers. "It is so lonely and melancholy here! But when one has been in a<br /> [09:12.45]family circle one cannot accustom oneself to this life! I cannot bear it any<br /> [09:17.83]longer! The whole day is so long, and the evenings are still longer! Here it<br /> [09:23.01]is not at all as it is over the way at your home, where your father and<br /> [09:27.80]mother spoke so pleasantly, and where you and all your sweet children made<br /> [09:32.03]such a delightful noise. Nay, how lonely the old man is--do you think that he<br /> [09:38.77]gets kisses? Do you think he gets mild eyes, or a Christmas tree? He will get<br /> [09:44.37]nothing but a grave! I can bear it no longer!"<br /> [09:48.71]<br /> [09:48.93]"You must not let it grieve you so much," said the little boy. "I find it so<br /> [09:54.63]very delightful here, and then all the old thoughts, with what they may bring<br /> [09:58.98]with them, they come and visit here."<br /> [10:00.95]<br /> [10:01.15]"Yes, it's all very well, but I see nothing of them, and I don't know them!"<br /> [10:06.19]said the pewter soldier. "I cannot bear it!"<br /> [10:10.11]<br /> [10:10.35]"But you must!" said the little boy.<br /> [10:12.54]<br /> [10:12.75]Then in came the old man with the most pleased and happy face, the most<br /> [10:17.41]delicious preserves, apples, and nuts, and so the little boy thought no more<br /> [10:22.37]about the pewter soldier.<br /> [10:23.81]<br /> [10:24.00]The little boy returned home happy and pleased, and weeks and days passed<br /> [10:30.29]away, and nods were made to the old house, and from the old house, and then<br /> [10:34.19]the little boy went over there again.<br /> [10:36.71]<br /> [10:36.91]The carved trumpeters blew, "Trateratra! There is the little boy! Trateratra!"<br /> [10:44.00]and the swords and armor on the knights' portraits rattled, and the silk gowns<br /> [10:49.10]rustled; the hog's leather spoke, and the old chairs had the gout in their<br /> [10:53.68]legs and rheumatism in their backs: Ugh! it was exactly like the first time,<br /> [10:59.65]for over there one day and hour was just like another.<br /> [11:04.27]<br /> [11:04.52]"I cannot bear it!" said the pewter soldier. "I have shed pewter tears! It is<br /> [11:11.09]too melancholy! Rather let me go to the wars and lose arms and legs! It would<br /> [11:16.08]at least be a change. I cannot bear it longer! Now, I know what it is to have<br /> [11:21.81]a visit from one's old thoughts, with what they may bring with them! I have<br /> [11:26.21]had a visit from mine, and you may be sure it is no pleasant thing in the end;<br /> [11:31.73]I was at last about to jump down from the drawers.<br /> [11:35.54]<br /> [11:35.76]"I saw you all over there at home so distinctly, as if you really were here;<br /> [11:40.50]it was again that Sunday morning; all you children stood before the table and<br /> [11:44.99]sung your Psalms, as you do every morning. You stood devoutly with folded<br /> [11:49.97]hands; and father and mother were just as pious; and then the door was opened,<br /> [11:55.02]and little sister Mary, who is not two years old yet, and who always dances<br /> [11:59.49]when she hears music or singing, of whatever kind it may be, was put into the<br /> [12:04.82]room--though she ought not to have been there--and then she began to dance,<br /> [12:08.82]but could not keep time, because the tones were so long; and then she stood,<br /> [12:14.26]first on the one leg, and bent her head forwards, and then on the other leg,<br /> [12:19.31]and bent her head forwards--but all would not do. You stood very seriously all<br /> [12:25.63]together, although it was difficult enough; but I laughed to myself, and then<br /> [12:30.93]I fell off the table, and got a bump, which I have still--for it was not<br /> [12:35.65]right of me to laugh. But the whole now passes before me again in thought, and<br /> [12:41.44]everything that I have lived to see; and these are the old thoughts, with what<br /> [12:46.94]they may bring with them.<br /> [12:48.35]<br /> [12:48.58]"Tell me if you still sing on Sundays? Tell me something about little Mary!<br /> [12:53.92]And how my comrade, the other pewter soldier, lives! Yes, he is happy enough,<br /> [12:58.94]that's sure! I cannot bear it any longer!"<br /> [13:02.64]<br /> [13:02.85]"You are given away as a present!" said the little boy. "You must remain. Can<br /> [13:08.24]you not understand that?"<br /> [13:10.64]<br /> [13:10.85]The old man now came with a drawer, in which there was much to be seen, both<br /> [13:16.79]"tin boxes" and "balsam boxes," old cards, so large and so gilded, such as one<br /> [13:22.90]never sees them now. And several drawers were opened, and the piano was<br /> [13:28.13]opened; it had landscapes on the inside of the lid, and it was so hoarse when<br /> [13:32.90]the old man played on it! and then he hummed a song.<br /> [13:36.83]<br /> [13:37.04]"Yes, she could sing that!" said he, and nodded to the portrait, which he<br /> [13:43.36]had bought at the broker's, and the old man's eyes shone so bright!<br /> [13:47.74]<br /> [13:47.95]"I will go to the wars! I will go to the wars!" shouted the pewter soldier as<br /> [13:53.94]loud as he could, and threw himself off the drawers right down on the floor.<br /> [13:58.14]What became of him? The old man sought, and the little boy sought; he was<br /> [14:05.74]away, and he stayed away.<br /> [14:08.48]<br /> [14:08.67]"I shall find him!" said the old man; but he never found him. The floor was<br /> [14:14.72]too open--the pewter soldier had fallen through a crevice, and there he lay as<br /> [14:19.71]in an open tomb.<br /> [14:22.69]<br /> [14:22.88]That day passed, and the little boy went home, and that week passed, and<br /> [14:27.33]several weeks too. The windows were quite frozen, the little boy was obliged<br /> [14:32.46]to sit and breathe on them to get a peep-hole over to the old house, and there<br /> [14:37.71]the snow had been blown into all the carved work and inscriptions; it lay<br /> [14:42.13]quite up over the steps, just as if there was no one at home--nor was there<br /> [14:48.13]any one at home--the old man was dead!<br /> [14:53.73]<br /> [14:53.95]In the evening there was a hearse seen before the door, and he was borne into<br /> [14:58.80]it in his coffin: he was now to go out into the country, to lie in his grave.<br /> [15:03.49]He was driven out there, but no one followed; all his friends were dead, and<br /> [15:10.00]the little boy kissed his hand to the coffin as it was driven away.<br /> [15:14.85]<br /> [15:15.07]Some days afterwards there was an auction at the old house, and the little boy<br /> [15:20.83]saw from his window how they carried the old knights and the old ladies away,<br /> [15:25.31]the flower-pots with the long ears, the old chairs, and the old<br /> [15:30.40]clothes-presses. Something came here, and something came there; the portrait<br /> [15:36.59]of her who had been found at the broker's came to the broker's again; and<br /> [15:40.93]there it hung, for no one knew her more--no one cared about the old picture.<br /> [15:46.30]<br /> [15:46.51]In the spring they pulled the house down, for, as people said, it was a ruin.<br /> [15:53.89]One could see from the street right into the room with the hog's-leather<br /> [15:58.99]hanging, which was slashed and torn; and the green grass and leaves about the<br /> [16:03.73]balcony hung quite wild about the falling beams. And then it was put to<br /> [16:08.51]rights.<br /> [16:09.55]<br /> [16:09.78]"That was a relief," said the neighboring houses.<br /> [16:14.03]<br /> [16:14.26]A fine house was built there, with large windows, and smooth white walls; but<br /> [16:19.55]before it, where the old house had in fact stood, was a little garden laid<br /> [16:24.38]out, and a wild grapevine ran up the wall of the neighboring house. Before the<br /> [16:29.15]garden there was a large iron railing with an iron door, it looked quite<br /> [16:34.48]splendid, and people stood still and peeped in, and the sparrows hung by<br /> [16:39.98]scores in the vine, and chattered away at each other as well as they could,<br /> [16:44.35]but it was not about the old house, for they could not remember it, so many<br /> [16:48.77]years had passed--so many that the little boy had grown up to a whole man,<br /> [16:53.46]yes, a clever man, and a pleasure to his parents; and he had just been<br /> [16:59.06]married, and, together with his little wife, had come to live in the house<br /> [17:03.04]here, where the garden was; and he stood by her there whilst she planted a<br /> [17:07.44]field-flower that she found so pretty; she planted it with her little hand,<br /> [17:12.34]and pressed the earth around it with her fingers. Oh! what was that? She had<br /> [17:18.42]stuck herself. There sat something pointed, straight out of the soft mould.<br /> [17:25.30]<br /> [17:25.51]It was--yes, guess! It was the pewter soldier, he that was lost up at the old<br /> [17:32.88]man's, and had tumbled and turned about amongst the timber and the rubbish,<br /> [17:36.86]and had at last laid for many years in the ground.<br /> [17:40.30]<br /> [17:40.51]The young wife wiped the dirt off the soldier, first with a green leaf, and<br /> [17:44.93]then with her fine handkerchief--it had such a delightful smell, that it was<br /> [17:50.77]to the pewter soldier just as if he had awaked from a trance.<br /> [17:55.52]<br /> [17:55.71]"Let me see him," said the young man. He laughed, and then shook his head.<br /> [18:01.57]"Nay, it cannot be he; but he reminds me of a story about a pewter soldier<br /> [18:07.65]which I had when I was a little boy!" And then he told his wife about the old<br /> [18:12.58]house, and the old man, and about the pewter soldier that he sent over to him<br /> [18:16.99]because he was so very, very lonely; and he told it as correctly as it had<br /> [18:23.26]really been, so that the tears came into the eyes of his young wife, on<br /> [18:28.30]account of the old house and the old man.<br /> [18:31.07]<br /> [18:31.29]"It may possibly be, however, that it is the same pewter soldier!" said she.<br /> [18:37.17]"I will take care of it, and remember all that you have told me; but you must<br /> [18:42.35]show me the old man's grave!"<br /> [18:44.27]<br /> [18:44.53]"But I do not know it," said he, "and no one knows it! All his friends were<br /> [18:51.20]dead, no one took care of it, and I was then a little boy!"<br /> [18:55.14]<br /> [18:55.36]"How very, very lonely he must have been!" said she.<br /> [19:00.16]<br /> [19:00.37]"Very, very lonely!" said the pewter soldier. "But it is delightful not to be<br /> [19:06.08]forgotten!"<br /> [19:07.17]<br /> [19:07.41]"Delightful!" shouted something close by; but no one, except the pewter<br /> [19:13.95]soldier, saw that it was a piece of the hog's-leather hangings; it had lost<br /> [19:18.73]all its gilding, it looked like a piece of wet clay, but it had an opinion,<br /> [19:25.02]and it gave it:<br /> [19:26.77]<br /> [19:26.97]   "The gilding decays,<br /> [19:29.12]   But hog's leather stays!"<br /> [19:31.31]<br /> [19:31.49]This the pewter soldier did not believe.<br /> [19:35.19]</p>

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