En märkelig vise om de söfarne mänd : an old Danish Ballad

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pYEND LrRUNDTYIG

RKELIG VISE OM DE
SOFAME MAO.

AN OLD DANISH BALLAD.
- UNICUM —

ACT A COMPAEATIOXIS LITTER ARVM VNIVER3ARVM.

Printed by John Stein.

18SO.

Tir£ a 100 exemplairet.

THE following old Danish ballad is
now only found in a fly sheet of the
XVII th century, the only known copy
of which is in my possession.

Besides in this Danish form, the
same ballad has come to us in two Ice-
landic versions from the XVII th cen-
tury, published ]S51inSvE.\D GRUNDTVKJ'S
and JON SIGURDHSSON'S ISLENZK FORNKVAEDHI,
nr. 6: ^Kaupmannakvaedhi" ; and also in
a Norwegian version taken down from
oral tradition and published by Soph us
Bugge in his Gamle norske folkeviser
(Kristiania 1858), nr. 17 : BDei frear-
lause menn." The Danish version is
beyond doubt the best preserved and
the most complete of the four Scan-
dinavian forms, though pach of them has
interesting particulars of its own. Re-
markably enough, this same ballad,
which has not been found in Germany,
nor in England, has come to us in a French
version, from Bretagne: Le petit navire,
printed in Melusine J877, p. 463, and
also in a Portuguese version, print-
ed by Almeida Garrett in his Eoman-
cero (Lisboa 1851), and thence in a

20301)99

German translation in Ferdinand Wolf's
Proben portug. u. Catalan, volksroman-
zen (Sitzirogsber. d. k. k. Ak. d. wis-
sensch. Wieu 1856., p. 103, nr. 9 : nDas
schiff Cathrineta.")

It may still be remarked, that Ta-
citus in his Agricola (chapter XXVIII)
has a story of some English mariners
who in a similar distress at sea ate one
another (see also Grimm's Svgen nr. 3G7),
and the same thing is told in the Ger-
man cbapbook of Henry the Lio-n (Reichard,
Bibl. d. romane VIIL p. 127). But such
of couise may have passed more than
once in reality, and shows no direct
connection with our ballad.

EN M.IRKELIG VISE OM DE sO PARSE MA>D.

1. DEE bode en konning i Babylon,

— De s'dfarnt m'dnd. -
fire og tyve Conner havde han.

— De so/arne m'dnd,
i lunden der grade deres arer.

2. Somme vilde sfjle, somme vilde ro,
inyeu v'dde hjemme hos faderen bo.

3. De gange dennem da ned til strand ,
de glemte Gad fader, son og

4. De lagde dennem vd at sejlr, til fuld,
de hissede deres s>>jl med silke og guld.

5. ,,Nu ville vi aejle og Jare,
ja vel udi atle are."

6. De sejJer, de sfjler pa bolgen Ha,

de sejlede under et sAarr, som de la.

7. Alle rare de sotkendeborn for sand,
t>a n'dr som den gamin tti/remand.

8. De lagde dem ned at grade,
de havde slet inlet at ude.

9. „! tor ikke end ved at grade,
I ville mig nu slet op'ddc."

10. De toge oq bandt ham ved sejlende-stang,
de slagted ham som et andet lam.

11. De toge og bandt ham ved sejlende-trii,
de slagtcd ham, som bonder slagte fa.

12. De share ud hans lever og lungf^
de bare for den unge konge.

13. „ I softer det kod oq gemmer del vei !
Ji>r vi ude deraf, da suite vi ifijel."

14. Da kom der en due fra himmflen ned,
den suite sig pa det sejlende-tr'd

15. Kongen han taled til liden smaJreng :

„ Da skyd mig den due og koy mig den .'"

16. n-Ifg er ikke en dur, at stkyde handt,
j'-q er en engd, o.j himmelen sendt."

17. rKst clu, en Gud* engel, som af gar savn,
»a hj'cVp du os over i Jenu navn!"

18. nLd'jyer eler hen at sooe under o!
iiitH* j*g sej'er ow-r dan salts so !*

19. Sa rajned op denforste:

., A'« have vi vinden den bedste!'1

20. (S.5 lained op den anden:
..Ait ere vi k'jmne tit {.undent"

21. Xa er her glade over atle med gammen,

— Dtt s<>farne ma/iJ. —

fadtr oij AW/I we/- de korn>,,e tilsammen.

— De sofurne iiiandj

udi lunden d>r grade de.rts arer,

\ WODEKFLL BALLAD OF THE SEAFABIXG MEX.

1. Ix Babylon lived a king of yore,

— The seafaring men. —

be had twenty sons and four.

— The seafaring men,
in the greenwood grew their oars. Oh !

2. Some would sail, and some would roam,
none would stay with his father at home.

3. They went to the strand with bang and boast,
they forgot God the Father, Son wnd Holy

Ghost.

4. They laid out to sail so bnld,

they hoisted their sails with silk and gold.

5. MNow we will sail, now we will fare,
nothing less than seven year."

6. They sailed and sailed the billows blue.
till under a rock, where wind never blew.

7. All were of the same kin and bl~od,
the old steersman was the only odd..

8. They lay down crying and weeping,
no crumb was left for eating.

0. Quoth the old mate : „ Before you starve,
rather ye may me lull and carve."

10. They took and bound him to the mast,
they slaughtered him as another beast.

11. They slaughtered him as calf or lamb,
they cooked and carved him as veal or ham.

12. They cut out both liver and lung,
and bore it for the king so young.

13. nKeep it yourselves, and salt your meat:
I will much rather die than eat.-'

14. There came a dove from th« heavens high
it sat down on the sailing tree.

15. Quoth tLe young k ng to his boy so wee:
,,?;hoot m« that bird, and cook it for me."

1G. ,,I am no bird to be shot for food,
I am from heaven an angel jrood."

17. ,,If thou art a God's angel, as thou dost tell,
in the name of Christ thou help us well.'-

18. ,,Lay yourselves down to sleep and rest;
while I will sail the salt sea best."

19. Up awoke sailor the airest •*)

we have wind the fairest."

20. Up and spoke another:

,,I see the land of my mother."

21. There was mirth, and there was glee,

— The seafaring men. —
when father and sons each other did see.

- The seafaring men,
in the greenwood grew their oars. Oh!

*) airest, erest = first.