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| DJEVOJČICA SA ŠIBICAMA | THE LITTLE MATCH-SELLER |
| Napolju je bilo strašno hladno. Snijeg je padao i počelo je da se smrkava. Bilo je posljednje veče u godini – veče uoči Nove godine. Po toj hladnoći i mraku ulicom je išla jedna gologlava i bosonoga djevojčica. Doduše, imala je na nogama neke papuče kada je pošla od kuće, ali kakva joj je bila korist od njih kada su to bile velike papuče koje je prije nosila njena majka. One su bile tako velike da su joj spale s nogu kada je potrčala da se ukloni ispred kola što su projurila ulicom. Jednu papuču više nije mogla da nađe a s drugom je umakao neki dječak i doviknuo joj da će mu ta njena papuča poslužiti kao kolijevka kad mu se rodi dijete. | It was terribly cold and nearly dark on the last evening of the old year, and the snow was falling fast. In the cold and the darkness, a poor little girl, with bare head and naked feet, roamed through the streets. It is true she had on a pair of slippers when she left home, but they were not of much use. They were very large, so large, indeed, that they had belonged to her mother, and the poor little creature had lost them in running across the street to avoid two carriages that were rolling along at a terrible rate. One of the slippers she could not find, and a boy seized upon the other and ran away with it, saying that he could use it as a cradle, when he had children of his own. |
| Tako je sada ta djevojčica išla bosih, crvenih i plavih nožića od studeni. U staroj kecelji je nosila sve svoje šibice, a jednu kutiju je držala u ruci. Čitav dan nije prodala ni jednu jedinu kutiju šibica, nije dobila nijednu paru. Gladna, prozebla i potištena, lutala je jadnica sve dalje. Snježne pahuljice padale su po njenoj dugačkoj, svijetloj kosi koja se divno kovrdžala niz njen potiljak, ali ona nije ni mislila na taj svoj ukras. | So the little girl went on with her little naked feet, which were quite red and blue with the cold. In an old apron she carried a number of matches, and had a bundle of them in her hands. No one had bought anything of her the whole day, nor had any one given here even a penny. Shivering with cold and hunger, she crept along; poor little child, she looked the picture of misery. The snowflakes fell on her long, fair hair, which hung in curls on her shoulders, but she regarded them not. |
| Svi prozori su bili osvijetljeni, a po ulicama se širio miris guščjeg pečenja – svuda se pripremao doček Nove godine, pa je i ona sada mislila na to. Ona se šćućurila u jednom uglu između dvije kuće, od kojih je jedna malo više štrčala na ulicu. Nožice je podvila poda se, ali joj je ipak bilo sve hladnije. | Lights were shining from every window, and there was a savory smell of roast goose, for it was New-year's eve—yes, she remembered that. In a corner, between two houses, one of which projected beyond the other, she sank down and huddled herself together. She had drawn her little feet under her, but she could not keep off the cold; |
| A kući nije smjela da ide, jer nije prodala nijednu kutiju šibica, nije dobila nijednu paru, i otac bi je istukao. A šta će i tamo, i kod kuće je isto tako hladno. Živjeli su u potkrovlju i vjetar je duvao sa svih strana, iako su najveće rupe zapušili slamom i krpama. Ručice su joj se sasvim ukočile od studeni. Ah, samo da upali jednu šibicu malo bi se ogrijala! Da o zid kresne samo jednu šibicu zagrijala bi prste! | and she dared not go home, for she had sold no matches, and could not take home even a penny of money. Her father would certainly beat her; besides, it was almost as cold at home as here, for they had only the roof to cover them, through which the wind howled, although the largest holes had been stopped up with straw and rags. Her little hands were almost frozen with the cold. Ah! perhaps a burning match might be some good, if she could draw it from the bundle and strike it against the wall, just to warm her fingers. |
| Ona kresnu jednu šibicu i odmah buknu plamen. Šibica je gorjela kao svijeća i bilo je tako toplo dok je držala ruku nad njom. Bila je to čudesna svjetlost i djevojčici se činilo da sjedi pored velike tople željezne peći sa sjajnim mesinganim ukrasima. Ona ispruži noge da i njih malo zagrije, ali se tog trenutka plamen ugasi – nestade peći i djevojčica osta sa drvcetom dogorjele šibice u ruci. | She drew one out-"scratch!" how it sputtered as it burnt! It gave a warm, bright light, like a little candle, as she held her hand over it. It was really a wonderful light. It seemed to the little girl that she was sitting by a large iron stove, with polished brass feet and a brass ornament. How the fire burned! and seemed so beautifully warm that the child stretched out her feet as if to warm them, when, lo! the flame of the match went out, the stove vanished, and she had only the remains of the half-burnt match in her hand. |
| Ona kresnu još jednu šibicu, pa i ona zaplamsa, i zid po kojem zasja postade providan poput koprene. Mogla je da gleda pravo u sobu gdje je bio postavljen sto sa čistim bijelim stolnjakom i divnim posuđem od porculana. A na stolu se puši pečena guska punjena šljivama i jabukama. Ali što je bilo još ljepše – ta guska je skočila sa stola i, onako sa viljuškom i nožem u leđima, preko sobe zagegala prema njoj. I upravo kada guska dođe pred sirotu djevojčicu, ugasi se šibica i pred njom osta samo debeli i hladni zid. | She rubbed another match on the wall. It burst into a flame, and where its light fell upon the wall it became as transparent as a veil, and she could see into the room. The table was covered with a snowy white table-cloth, on which stood a splendid dinner service, and a steaming roast goose, stuffed with apples and dried plums. And what was still more wonderful, the goose jumped down from the dish and waddled across the floor, with a knife and fork in its breast, to the little girl. Then the match went out, and there remained nothing but the thick, damp, cold wall before her. |
| Kada upali novu šibicu, pred njom se ukaza prekrasna jelka. Bila je i veća i ljepše ukrašena nego ona što je prošle godine kroz staklena vrata vidjela kod onog bogatog trgovca. Hiljade svjećica je gorjelo na zelenim grančicama, a šarene slike, kao one u dućanskim izlozima, gledale su pravo u nju. Djevojčica izdiže obje ruke prema svjećicama i šibica se ugasi. Ali one mnogobrojne svjećice počeše da se dižu sve više i više, a onda se pretvoriše u sjajne zvijezde. Jedna od njih pade i ostavi za sobom dugački plameni trag. | She lighted another match, and then she found herself sitting under a beautiful Christmas-tree. It was larger and more beautifully decorated than the one which she had seen through the glass door at the rich merchant's. Thousands of tapers were burning upon the green branches, and colored pictures, like those she had seen in the show-windows, looked down upon it all. The little one stretched out her hand towards them, and the match went out. The Christmas lights rose higher and higher, till they looked to her like the stars in the sky. Then she saw a star fall, leaving behind it a bright streak of fire. |
| "Sad je neko umro!" – pomislila je djevojčica. To je ona čula od svoje pokojne bake koja je govorila: "Svaki put kad padne zvijezda, nečija duša krene u nebo." | "Some one is dying," thought the little girl, for her old grandmother, the only one who had ever loved her, and who was now dead, had told her that when a star falls, a soul was going up to God. |
| Kada djevojčica kresnu novu šibicu, oko nje sve zasja i u tom sjaju pojavi se njena baka sva blistava, blažena i zadovoljna. – Bako! – viknu djevojčica. – Uzmi me sa sobom! Znam da ćeš nestati čim se šibica ugasi kao što je nestala i ona topla peć i divno guščje pečenje i ona krasna velika jelka! Da i baka ne bi iščezla, djevojčica brzo zapali sav ostatak šibica iz kutije. Šibice planuše i sve zablista kao usred bijela dana. Nikada joj ranije baka nije izgledala tako lijepa i tako velika. Ona uze djevojčicu u naručje i ponese je visoko, visoko u veliku radost i prijatnu toplinu. Sada je djevojčica bila na nebu i više nije bilo ni zime, ni gladi ni straha ... | She again rubbed a match on the wall, and the light shone round her; in the brightness stood her old grandmother, clear and shining, yet mild and loving in her appearance. "Grandmother," cried the little one, "O take me with you; I know you will go away when the match burns out; you will vanish like the warm stove, the roast goose, and the large, glorious Christmas-tree." And she made haste to light the whole bundle of matches, for she wished to keep her grandmother there. And the matches glowed with a light that was brighter than the noon-day, and her grandmother had never appeared so large or so beautiful. She took the little girl in her arms, and they both flew upwards in brightness and joy far above the earth, where there was neither cold nor hunger nor pain, for they were with God. |
| A ujutro, u onom uglu između dvije kuće, našli su je rumenih obraza i sa osmijehom na usnama – bila je mrtva. Smrzla se posljednje večeri u staroj godini. Prvo jutro nove godine zateklo je mrtvu djevojčicu sa šibicama. Pred njom je ležalo mnoštvo gotovo potpuno izgorjelih šibica. – Htjela je da se ogrije! – govorili su prolaznici. A niko ni slutio nije kakve su divne slike lebdjele pred njom kada je sa svojom bakom zaplovila u novogodišnju radost. | In the dawn of morning there lay the poor little one, with pale cheeks and smiling mouth, leaning against the wall; she had been frozen to death on the last evening of the year; and the New-year's sun rose and shone upon a little corpse! The child still sat, in the stiffness of death, holding the matches in her hand, one bundle of which was burnt. "She tried to warm herself," said some. No one imagined what beautiful things she had seen, nor into what glory she had entered with her grandmother, on New-year's day. |