Enigmatic - English version below the picture.
Countdown: Summer vacation begins in 8 days.
"Det gåtfulla folket"
Da jeg var lille, hørte jeg ofte denne sang i radioen. (teksten er længere nede). Der var kun et par af ordene, der var underlige, vi boede jo i Helsingør, og svensk hørte man hver dag på gaden og tit og ofte i fjernsynet, hvor vi så svenske børneudsendelser og film.
Glass = is, kendte jeg fra vores ture til Helsingborg, hvor jeg altid spiste päronmjukglass = pæresoftice.
Kudda = pude, kendte jeg fra Hasse og Tage i TV: "K son i början på kudda".
Snuddar = rører ved. Et ukendt ord.
Grind = havelåge / led, jo det ord kendte vi fra Emil I Lönneberg.
Kottar = kogler, kendte jeg fra børnehaven, hvor vi sang en sang om et stakkels egern, der samlede kogler i toppen af et grantræ og faldt ned og brækkede halen eller noget i den stil.
Klottrar = maler/skribler / laver graffiti. Et ukendt ord.
Men det var sådan set ikke sproget, der gjorde, at den sang var svær at forstå. Nej det var indholdet. At børn skulle være gådefulde, nej det fattede jeg ikke. Det var da de voksne, der var sære og uforståelige. De spurgte om maden var sund eller slankende, ikke om den smagte godt. De spurgte om det var nødvendigt at gøre dette eller hint, ikke om det var sjovt. De kiggede efter hvad mærke tøjet havde i stedet for om det kradsede, om der var gode lommer i, og om man kunne løbe stærkt i skoene. De sad bare og snakkede hele tiden i stedet for at udforske omgivelserne, finde ting og lege i det skønne vejr. De spurgte til folks stilling i stedet for deres yndlingsfarver eller yndlingsret. Og mente oven i købet, at en borgmester havde mere ret end en tømrer - underlige voksne.
Og eftersom jeg dengang spiste en filur sammen med Pippi Langstrømpe, har jeg endnu ikke lært at sunde ting smager godt, så jeg spiser hellere jordbær end rosenkål, danser på line på fortovskanterne og kører uden hænder på cyklen i stedet for at køre i bil til bageren. Jeg vil heller ikke tro mere på en eller anden, bare fordi vedkommende har mange penge eller en fin titel.Men jeg sidder nu ofte og snakker, især med børn, de er nemlig fornuftige.
Jeg ved ikke rigtig, hvad jeg vil sige med dette indlæg, men sangen her og disse tanker har kørt rundt i mit arme uglehoved en uges tid nu - tid til at uddrive den.
Det gåtfulla folket
Barn är ett folk och de bor i ett främmande land
Detta land är ett regn och en pöl
Över den pölen går pojkarnas båtar ibland
Och de glider så fint utan köl
Där går en flicka som samlar på stenar
Hon har en miljon
Kungen av träd sitter stilla bland grenar
I trädkungens tron
Där går en pojke som skrattar åt snö
Där går en flicka som gjorde en ö
av femton kuddar
Där går en pojke och allting blir glass som han snuddar
Alla är barn och de tillhör det gåtfulla folket
Barn är ett folk och de bor i ett främmande land
Detta land är en äng och en vind
Där finner kanske en pojke ett nytt Samarkand
Och far bort på en svängande grind
Där går en flicka som sjunger om kottar
Själv äger hon två
Där vid ett plank står en pojke och klottrar
Att jorden är blå
Där går en pojke som blev indian
Där, där går kungen av skugga runt stan
och skuggar bovar
Där fann en flicka en festlig grimas som hon provar
Alla är barn och de tillhör det gåtfulla folket
Barn är ett folk och de bor i ett främmande land
Detta land är en gård och ett skjul
Där sker det farliga tågöverfallet ibland
Vackra kvällar när månen är gul
Där går en pojke och gissar på bilar
Själv vinner han jämt
Fåglarnas sånger i olika stilar
Är magiska skämt
Där blir en värdelös sak till en skatt
Där, där blir sängar till fartyg en natt
och går till månen
Där finns det riken som ingen av oss tar ifrån dem
Alla är barn och de tillhör det gåtfulla folket
"
The Enigmatic people"
Was the tile of a Swdish song often heard on the radio when I was small, Swedish is not that different from Danish, at least not for us living in Helsingør (elsinore), where Swedish was heard every day on the street, and in the shops, and often on television, where we saw Swedish children's shows and movies. The song had a few words that were strange. These four words are very unlike their Danish counterparts, but I knew them, and the rest was fairly easy:
That
glass means ice cream, and not glas, I knew from our trips to Helsingborg, where I always ate pear soft ice (päronmjukglass)
Is in Danish.
Kudda = pillow (
pude) I knew from a chilrens hour show on TV.
Grind = garden gate (
låge), the word we knew from Emil I Lönneberg.
Kottar = cones (
grankogler) I knew from kindergarten where we sang a song about a poor squirrel who collected cones at the top of a fir tree and fell down and broke his tail or something like that.
As you see, it wasn't the language that made the song difficult to understand for me. No, it was the concept that children were enigmatic. I did not understand this. It was the adults who were strange and incomprehensible.
They asked if the food was healthy or slimming, not whether it tasted good. They asked if it was furthering for some strange cause to do this or that, not whether it was fun. They looked for what brand of clothing they had instead of if it was itchy, whether it had good pockets or whether we could run fast in those shoes.
They just sat and talked all the time instead of exploring the surroundings, finding things and playing in the nice weather. They asked for people's jobs and titles instead of their favourite colours or favorite dish. And they even thought that a mayor was more right than a carpenter - strange adults.
And since I once ate a chililug pill with Pippi Longstocking, I have yet to learn that healthy things taste good, so I eat strawberries rather than Brussels sprouts, practise tight rope walking on the curbstones and ride without hands on the bike instead of driving a car to the baker. I also don't want to believe in anyone just because they have a lot of money or a nice title. But I often sit and talk, especially with children, because they make sense.
I don't know what I want to say with this blog post, but the song and these thoughts have been chasing one another inside my poor owl's brain. Time to expell them!
And now to the song - I know that an English version exists (
Mysterious People), but it is shorter, more sentimental than the Swedish original. I added my own tanslation. You can't quite sing it - that would be too much Folk song army with "too-many-syllables-in-the-line"
The enigmatic people
Children are a people who live in a mysterious country
This country is a rain and a puddle,
Sometimes their boats go over that puddle
And they glide so fine without keel.
There goes a girl who collects stones
She has a million.
The King of the Tree sits still among branches
In the Tree King's throne.
There is a boy who laughs at snow.
There is a girl who made an island
from fifteen pillows.
There is a boy and everything that he touches,
turns into ice cream.
All are they children and belong to the enigmatic people.
Children are a people who live in a mysterious country
This land is a meadow and a breeze
There a boy maybe will find a new Xanadu *.
And travel away on a swinging gate
There goes a girl singing about fir cones
She owns two herself.
There by a board stands a boy and scribbles
That the earth is blue.
There goes a boy who became an Indian.
There, the King of Shadows walks around town
and the shadows bow.
There, a girl found a festive grimace
that she tries on.
All are they children and belong to the enigmatic people.
Children are a people who live in a mysterious country
This land is a farm and a shed.
There, the dangerous train raid sometimes happens on
Beautiful evenings when the moon is yellow.
There a boy goes guessing at cars
He wins now and then.
The songs of the birds in different styles
Are magical jokes.
There, a worthless thing becomes a treasure.
There, beds become ships for the night
and sail to the moon.
There are the kingdoms that none of us can
take away from them.
All are they children and belong to the enigmatic people.
___________________
* The Swedish original says "Samarkand". Which after a song has come to mean a place of (unobtainable) dreams. I have not been able to find this meaning in English, and I think that Xanadu is the closest equivalent.
