Andersenove pravljice · English

Hudobni knez

Vir: Andersenove pravljice
Poglavje: 22
Tagi: 16
Izvirnik: Dansk

Skrij izvirnik Odpri v bralniku

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There was once a wicked and arrogant prince whose sole ambition was to conquer every country in the world and make his very name a terror. He swept through the land with fire and sword. His soldiers trampled the corn in the fields and set fire to the peasant’s house, so that the red flames licked the leaves from the trees, and the fruit hung roasted on the blackened, scorched branches. Many a poor mother hid with her naked, suckling child behind a smoking wall, and the soldiers searched for her; if they found her and the child, their devilish glee began. Evil spirits could have behaved no worse, but the prince thought everything was going just as it should. Day by day his power grew, his name was feared by all, and fortune attended everything he did. From the conquered cities he carried away gold and great treasures, until riches piled up in his royal capital such as could be found nowhere else. Now he had magnificent palaces, churches, and arcades built, and everyone who saw these wonders said, “What a great prince!” They gave no thought to the misery he had brought upon other lands; they did not hear the sighs and lamentations rising from the burned-out cities.

The prince looked at his gold and his magnificent buildings, and thought, just as the crowd did, “What a great prince! But I must have more! Much more! No power must be called equal to mine, let alone greater!” And he went to war against all his neighbours and defeated them all. When he drove through the streets, he had the conquered kings chained to his chariot with golden chains. And when he sat at table, they had to lie at his feet and those of his courtiers, and eat the scraps of bread thrown down to them.

Now the prince had statues of himself erected in the public squares and the royal palaces; indeed, he wanted them to stand in the churches before the Lord’s altar, but the priests said, “Prince, you are great, but God is greater. We dare not.”

“Very well,” said the wicked prince, “then I shall conquer God as well!” And in the arrogance and folly of his heart, he had an ingenious ship built in which he could sail through the air. It was as brightly coloured as a peacock’s tail and seemed to be studded with a thousand eyes, but each eye was a gun barrel. The prince sat in the middle of the ship; he had only to press a spring, and a thousand bullets flew out, and the guns were loaded again as before. A hundred mighty eagles were harnessed to the ship, and so he flew towards the sun. The earth lay far below. At first, with its mountains and forests, it looked like nothing more than a ploughed field, where green shoots peep out from the overturned turf; then it resembled a flat map, and soon it was entirely hidden in mist and clouds. Higher and higher the eagles flew. Then God sent forth a single one of his countless angels, and the wicked prince fired a thousand bullets at him, but the bullets fell back like hail from the angel’s shining wings. One drop of blood, only one, dripped from a white wing feather, and this drop fell upon the ship in which the prince sat. It burned fast into the ship, weighed as much as a thousand hundredweight of lead, and dragged the vessel hurtling down towards the earth. The eagles’ mighty wings snapped, the wind roared about the prince’s head, and the clouds around him—for they had been formed from the burned-out cities—took on menacing shapes, like crabs miles wide stretching their powerful claws towards him, like tumbling boulders and fire-breathing dragons. He lay half dead in the ship, which at last caught among the thick branches of the forest trees.

“I will defeat God!” he said. “I have sworn it, and my will shall be done!” And for seven years he had ingenious ships built to sail through the air, and thunderbolts forged from the hardest steel, for he meant to shatter the fortifications of heaven. From all his lands he gathered mighty armies; drawn up man beside man, they covered a stretch of several miles. They boarded the ingenious ships, and the king himself was approaching his own when God sent forth a swarm of gnats, just one little swarm, which buzzed about the king and stung his face and hands. In fury he drew his sword, but struck only the empty air; he could not hit the gnats. Then he ordered costly carpets to be brought. These were to be wrapped about him, so that no gnat could pierce them with its sting, and his orders were obeyed. But one single gnat settled on the innermost carpet, crawled into the king’s ear, and stung him there. It burned like fire; the poison rushed to his brain. He tore himself free, ripped off the carpets, rent his clothes, and danced naked before the rough, savage soldiers, who now mocked the mad prince who had meant to storm heaven and had been defeated in an instant by a single little gnat.

Izvirnik

Eventyr af Hans Christian Andersen

Der var engang en ond og overmodig fyrste, hvis hele tanke gik ud på at vinde alle verdens lande og indjage skræk ved sit navn. Han fór frem med ild og sværd. Hans soldater nedtrådte kornet på marken, de antændte bondens hus, så den røde lue slikkede bladene af træerne, og frugten hang stegt på de sorte, sviede grene. Mangen stakkels moder skjulte sig med sit nøgne, diende barn bag ved den rygende mur, og soldaterne søgte hende, og fandt de hende og barnet, da begyndte deres djævelske glæde. Onde ånder kunne ikke handle værre, men fyrsten syntes just det gik som det skulle. Dag for dag voksede hans magt, hans navn blev frygtet af alle, og lykken fulgte ham i al hans gerning. Fra de erobrede byer førte han guld og store skatte, der opdyngedes i hans kongestad en rigdom, hvortil der ikke fandtes mage på noget andet sted. Nu lod han bygge prægtige slotte, kirker og buegange, og hver, som så disse herligheder, sagde: "hvilken stor fyrste!" de tænkte ikke på den nød, han havde bragt over andre lande, de hørte ikke de suk og den jammer, der lød fra de afbrændte byer.

Fyrsten så på sit guld, så på sine prægtige bygninger og tænkte da, som mængden: "hvilken stor fyrste! men jeg må have mere! meget mere! Ingen magt må nævnes lig, end sige større, end min!" og han gik i krig med alle sine naboer og han besejrede dem alle. De overvundne konger lod han, med guldkæder, lænke til sin vogn, når han kørte gennem gaderne. Og sad han til bords, da måtte de ligge ved hans og hoffolkenes fødder og tage de stykker brød, man dér kastede til dem.

Nu lod fyrsten sin billedstøtte oprejse på torvene og i de kongelige slotte, ja han ville at den skulle stå i kirkerne foran Herrens alter, men præsterne sagde: "Fyrste, du er stor, men Gud er større, vi vover det ikke."

"Vel," sagde den onde fyrste, "så overvinder jeg Gud med!" og i sit hjertes overmod og tåbelighed lod han bygge et kunstigt skib, hvormed han kunne gennemfare luften. Det var broget som påfuglens hale og syntes besat med tusinde øjne, men hvert øje var en bøssepibe. Fyrsten sad midt i skibet, han behøvede kun at trykke på en fjeder, da fløj tusinde kugler ud, og bøsserne var igen ladt som før. Hundrede stærke ørne spændtes foran skibet, og således fløj han nu mod solen. Jorden lå dybt nede. Først syntes den, med sine bjerge og skove, kun som en oppløjet ager, hvor det grønne titter frem fra den væltede græstørv, siden lignede den det flade landkort, og snart var den ganske skjult i tåge og skyer. Højere og højere fløj ørnene op ad. Da udsendte Gud en eneste af sine utallige engle, og den onde fyrste lod tusinde kugler flyve imod ham, men kuglerne faldt som hagl tilbage fra englens skinnende vinger. En bloddråbe, kun en eneste, dryppede fra den hvide vingefjer, og denne dråbe faldt på skibet, hvori fyrsten sad. Den brændte sig fast, den tyngede som tusinde centner bly og rev skibet i styrtende fart ned mod jorden. Ørnenes stærke vinger knækkedes, vinden susede om fyrstens hoved, og skyerne rundt om, de var jo skabt af de afbrændte byer, formede sig i truende skikkelser, som milestore krebs, der strakte deres stærke klo ud efter ham, som rullende klippestykker og ildspyende drager. Halvt død lå han i skibet, der til sidst blev hængende mellem skovens tykke trægrene.

"Jeg vil besejre Gud!" sagde han, "jeg har svoret det, min vilje skal ske!" og han lod i syv år bygge kunstige skibe, til at gennemfare luften med, han lod smede lynstråler af det hårdeste stål, thi han ville sprænge himlens befæstning. Fra alle sine lande samlede han store krigshære, de bedækkede en omkreds af flere mil, da de stod opstillet mand ved mand. De besteg de kunstige skibe, kongen selv nærmede sig sit, da udsendte Gud en myggesværm, en eneste lille myggesværm, den surrede om kongen og stak hans ansigt og hænder. Han drog i harme sit sværd, men slog kun i den tomme luft, myggene kunne han ikke ramme. Da bød han at der skulle bringes kostelige tæpper. Disse måtte man vikle om ham, der kunne ingen myg trænge igennem med sin brod, og man gjorde, som han bød, men én eneste myg satte sig på det inderste tæppe, den krøb ind i kongens øre og stak ham dér. Det brændte som ild, giften slog op i hans hjerne, han rev sig løs, sled tæpperne af sig, sønderrev sine klæder og dansede nøgen for de rå, vilde soldater, som nu spottede den gale fyrste, der ville bestorme Gud og straks var overvundet af en eneste lille myg.

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