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Der var en liden Bye, i Byen var en Smed,
Som farlig var, naar han blev vred.
Han sig en Fiende fik; (dem kan man altid faae,
Jeg ingen har, det gaae
Min Læser ligesaa!)
Til Uhæld for dem begge to
De træffes i en Kroe,
De drak (jeg selv i Kroe vil drikke;
For andet kommer jeg der ikke.
Anmærk dog, Læser! dette:
Jeg immer gaaer paa de honette.)
Som sagt, de drak,
Og efter mange Skieldsord, hidsigt Snak,
Slaaer Smeden Fienden paa Planeten.
Saa stærkt var dette Slag,
At han saae ikke Dag,
Og har ei siden seet'en.
Straks i Arrest blev Smeden sat.
En Feldskiær faaer den Døde fat,
Og om en voldsom Død Attest hensender.
Den Mordere forhøres og bekiender.
Hans Haab var, at han skulle hisset gaae,
Og der Forladelse af sin Modstander faae.
Men hør nu Løier! netop Dagen,
Før Dom skal gaae i Sagen,
Fremtriner fire Borgere
For Dommeren; den mest veltalende
Ham saa tiltalede:
„Velviseste!
Vi veed, paa Byens Vel De altid see;
Men Byens Vel beroer derpaa,
At vi vor Smed igien maae faae.
Hans Død opvækker jo dog ei den Døde?
Vi aldrig faaer igien saa duelig en Mand.
For hans Forbrydelse vi alt for grusomt bøde,
Om han ei hielpes kan.“ —
„Betænk dog, kiere Ven! der Liv for Liv maae bødes.“ —
„Her boer en arm udlevet Bager,
Som Pokker snart desuden tager.
Vi har jo to, om man den ældste tog af dem?
Saa blev jo Liv for Liv betalt.“ —
„Ja,“ sagde Dommeren, „det Indfald var ei galt.
Jeg Sagen at opsette nødes;
Thi i saa vigtig Fald man maae sig vel betænke,
Gid vores Smed jeg Livet kunde skienke!
Farvel godt Folk! jeg giør alt, hvad jeg kan.“ —
„Farvel velvise Mand!“ —
Han bladrer i sin Lov omhyggelig;
Men finder intet der for sig,
Hvorved forbuden er, for Smed at rette Bager;
Han sin Beslutning tager,
Og saa afsiger denne Dom:
(Hvem, som vil høre den, han kom!)
„Vel er Grovsmeden Jens
For al Undskyldning læns,
Og her for Retten selv bekiendte,
Han Anders Pedersen til Evigheden sendte;
Men da i vores Bye een Smed vi ikkun have,
Jeg maatte være reent af Lave,
Ifald jeg vilde see ham død.
Men her er to, som bager Brød.“
„Thi kiender jeg for Ret:
Den ældste Bager skal undgielde det,
Og for det skedte Mord med Liv for Liv bør bøde,
Til velfortiente Straf for sig
Og ligesindede til Afskye og til Skræk.“
Den Bager græd Guds jammerlig,
Da man ham førte væk.
Moral
Beredt til Døden altid vær!
Den kommer, naar du mindst den tænker nær.
Translation - English The Smith and the Baker
- Johan Herman Wessel
A hamlet small, upon a time, a skilful smith called home,
When angry, he would foam
The smith he got an enemy (which anyone can do
Though I have none, and hopefully my reader hasn’t too)
Unhappily for both of them
they met each other at an inn
They drank (I too when at an inn will drink
Or else I wouldn’t go, I think
but reader, notice, I insist
I wouldn’t go to one like this)
As stated they both had a drink
and growing angry, in a blink,
the smith had hit him ‘tween the eyes,
and with such power came his blow,
that to the floor he fell--the foe,
never again to rise.
The smith he is in prison cast.
A coroner is summoned fast
and testifies a brutal death
to which the killer does confess.
He had been hoping he could go
and ask a pardon from his foe.
But now, hear this, the very day
On which the judge must verdict say,
four citizens step forth
in from of him and speak
the most smooth-spoken
said this to him in words unbroken:
'Most wise and kind!
We know the good of town is always on your mind,
but now the good of town depends on this:
"Without a smith, his talents we would miss."
You must agree his death will not awake the dead,
and never will we have again a quite so useful man,
so for his crime we all would suffer, yet
we think we have a better plan'.
'Remember, though, that life for life is paid'.
'In town there is a poor old baker,
whom sickness may well soon send to his maker.
Since we have two of those, we could do with one less,
just take the oldest one, then tooth will pay for tooth.'
'Yes' spoke the judge, 'I think you speak the truth.
The case should be delayed,
‘till I have thought about it for a while,
the smith is of more use if he’s alive.
Goodbye good folk, I will do what I can.'
'Goodbye to you, wise man.'
He carefully examines all his books,
but no matter how hard he looks,
he cannot find a reason not to judge for smith the baker
thus he decides, the old law-maker
and in the court he says
(listen and I’ll tell you what it is)
'Although the blacksmith Jack
is no more innocent than snow is black,
and has in court admitted what he did,
that he sent Anders Pedersen ahead;
But since this town has only got one smith,
I would be mad to have him put to death
Jack Blacksmith is of no use dead,
but there are two who just make bread.
'The order of the court is this:
The oldest baker is to pay.
The penalty for murder is a life
paid for a life.
For him a well earned punishment,
for those of like mind an example.'
The baker wept and cried to God as they took him away.
Lesson:
Prepare yourself now for your final feast
Death comes when you expect it least.
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Translation education
Master's degree - Aarhus School of Business
Experience
Years of experience: 17. Registered at ProZ.com: Jul 2007.
I hold a BA degree in International Business Communication English-Spanish (LSP) and a master's degree in Business Communication (English) from the Aarhus School of Business, University of Aarhus.
