Hvers
Why was Mummi always so easy-going and settled no matter what was going on?
The same could not be said about his father’s temperament.
That man had no self-control at all. (sjálf-stjórn)
If Mummi didn´t obey, his father often beat him.
Einu sinni vildi það óhapp til að kálfur losnaði úr stíunni sinni.
Kálfurinn stökk beint út um opnar fjósdyrnar.
Once the bad incident happened, that a calf broke lose from its pen.
The calf headed straight towards the cow-shed door that stood open, and hurried out. (fjós-dyr)
(fjós originally fé-hús; inni-vera)
Intoxicated by the freedom it just acquired, the poor little calf didn’t think clearly, and headed for the heap of dung.
A calf that gets out of the cow-shed after a long spell of staying inside is extremely happy about that.
Karlinn varð nú alveg æfur af reiði. Hann öskraði og lamdi út í loftið. Sem betur fór náði hann ekki til káfgreysins sem sat nú gersamlega fastur í haugnum.
That man, now became completely furious. He yelled, and he beat into thin air. (al-veg)
Luckily, he didn´t reach the poor little calf that now was completely stuck in the dung. (ger-sam+lega)
-Go into the dung, boy, the man yelled, -and hit the calf with this stick until it goes out of the dung. (far þú; lem þú kálf-skratti upp úr)
He said something more that cannot be repeated here.
Hann sá að eitthvað varð að gera til bjargar skepnunni.
Mummi knew, that he himself would be beaten up by the stick if he wouldn´t go at once.
He knew only too well that something had to be done to save the animal.
Mummi,
skjálfandi skepnunni.
Mummi went - well, rather waded -- into the heap of cow-dung, towards the shivering little animal. (hann óð past tense of verb vaða)
Mummi put the stick aside, and spoke soothingly to the little calf.
(kálfsi - cute shortening for calf)
-Hit that blasted calf, I say! the man shouted. (kálf-skratti)
-O, ætli þetta gangi ekki bara svona, pabbi, svarar Mummi ofur rólega.
En í rauninni er nú hægara sagt en gert að fá hræddan kálf til að bakka út úr fjóshaug.
Hægt og hægt tekst Mumma að fá kálfinn til að mjakast út úr haugnum. En það tók langan tíma.
But to tell the truth, it is “easier said than done” to to get a frightened calf to back out of a dung.
Slowly, slowly Mummi succeeds in letting the calf wear on out of the dung. But that took a long time.
-Well, dad, Mummi answers, completely relaxed, -I think this will just work out like this. (ró+lega)
Við komum kálfinum að lokum inn í fjós aftur. Hann komst í stíuna sína.
We managed, at last, to get the calf back into the cow-shed.
He got into his pen.
I gave him some hay.
And Mummi washed his feet in the little brook that runs nearby the farm-house.
His father´s anger was a bit less now. (eitt-hvað)
Later, I asked Mummi why he always was so calm and settled no matter what was going on around him.
(löngu seinna : much later, a long time after) (ró-legur;
: determined, resolute)
-My grandmother always told me: Always do what your conscience tells you to be the right thing to do.
Then you will acquire peace in life.
þú; æ-tíð; sam-viska; munt þú)
