004.
As some of you may remember, I like to collect children's stories. Just this past day or so I found a book in Folkehaven which Ms. Nina Fortner kindly translated for me only this afternoon. But this evening I met a young man in a cafe, and he told me another. It was about a prince and princess, each bright as the sun.
They lived in a large and dangerous world, full of monsters and ogres, full of snakes and snares. But they were lucky, in a way, because the creatures always stayed away, blocked by the castle walls, and afraid of the children's light.
Of course, it wouldn't be a very good story if that was all there was to it.
One day, the prince looked outside their tall stone castle tower and said, "I would like to see the world," and the princess said, "I would too." So they walked away from their home, and whenever the creatures came close, the prince would slay them with his trusty sword. He did this while the princess looked away, and so she never knew the world was dangerous.
But I guess these things must always end, in time. The princess found out, and turned on him. She killed him, it seems. But it was all right, because he lived on in her, and so he was at peace.
Then again, maybe there was only one child to begin with, and he - or she - was simply twice as bright as everyone had thought.
[A long pause. When he speaks again, the young man seems a little confused.]
It was a strange story. I asked him for the meaning of it, but he said there is no meaning. Still, it was interesting enough to remember, and interesting enough to record for posterity.
That story you gave me, Nina? It's very dark, isn't it? Maybe I shouldn't show it to the children after all.
They lived in a large and dangerous world, full of monsters and ogres, full of snakes and snares. But they were lucky, in a way, because the creatures always stayed away, blocked by the castle walls, and afraid of the children's light.
Of course, it wouldn't be a very good story if that was all there was to it.
One day, the prince looked outside their tall stone castle tower and said, "I would like to see the world," and the princess said, "I would too." So they walked away from their home, and whenever the creatures came close, the prince would slay them with his trusty sword. He did this while the princess looked away, and so she never knew the world was dangerous.
But I guess these things must always end, in time. The princess found out, and turned on him. She killed him, it seems. But it was all right, because he lived on in her, and so he was at peace.
Then again, maybe there was only one child to begin with, and he - or she - was simply twice as bright as everyone had thought.
[A long pause. When he speaks again, the young man seems a little confused.]
It was a strange story. I asked him for the meaning of it, but he said there is no meaning. Still, it was interesting enough to remember, and interesting enough to record for posterity.
That story you gave me, Nina? It's very dark, isn't it? Maybe I shouldn't show it to the children after all.