A Christmas in Småland a long time ago
A Christmas in Småland a long time ago ( Swedish En jul i Småland för länge sen ) is a story by Astrid Lindgren from the book Christmas when I was little . It is the last story Lindgren wrote. Then she ended her career as a writer.
content
When her father goes out into the woods to buy a Christmas tree, seven-year-old Gunnar and six-year-old Astrid really want to come along. The father doesn't want to take them with him at first, but finally gives in. When Astrid and Gunnar trudge through the knee-deep snow, they notice that the way is a little more strenuous than they had thought. Then Astrid loses sight of her father and brother. She gets scared, screams and cries. Suddenly Gunnar appears and asks what's going on. Astrid is embarrassed about the whole thing and so she only says that she was thinking of something sad. Meanwhile, her mother and the maids are preparing everything in the kitchen. It looks so messy there that Astrid believes the kitchen will never be ready until Christmas Eve. Then Gunnar and Astrid decorate the Christmas tree while they watch their two-year-old sister Stina. On Christmas Eve, the children sing Christmas carols with their parents and hear stories from the Bible. Astrid gets a "bliss thing", beautiful boots from her grandmother. The children go to church on Christmas Day. On Boxing Day, the family goes to relatives for Christmas dinner.
background
In A Christmas in Småland a long time ago , the writer Astrid Lindgren recounts her own Christmas experience from 1913. Lindgren was six years old at the time. The German translation is by Anna-Liese Kornitzky .
In Swedish, Astrid Lindgren's story was illustrated with colorful pictures by Ilon Wikland , in German by Peter Knorr with black and white pictures.
In the story, Gunnar asks Astrid if she thinks she will get a thing of bliss, something so beautiful that she would be completely happy. Astrid Lindgren speaks about things of bliss in many of her stories, for example Madita .
Some words in the story, including “stolleprov” and “salighetssak”, were written in the Småland dialect.
Lindgren was 85 years old when she wrote the story. It is Astrid Lindgren's last story before she ended her career as a writer. For a long time the story was also considered to be her last publication. As her very last text, however, she later wrote A Journey in Stories: from Junibacken to Nangilima ( Sagoresan: från Junibacken till Nangilima ), in which she summarized her most important stories for the story train in the Junibacken Museum in Stockholm.
I en djup, oändlig skog (song)
The story begins with a song text. The text was written by Carl Olof Rosenius and is called I en djup, oändlig skog (German: In a deep, endless forest). The music for the song was composed by Oscar Ahnfelt in 1850 .
The original version of the song contained two more verses. The omission of these two stanzas changes the meaning of the song enormously. Astrid Lindgren's version of the song is about a child who gets lost in the dark forest and finally finds his way back to his father's house. With the stanzas left out by Astrid Lindgren, Carl Olof Rosenius gave the song a Christian religious note. He wrote of the children of God, who often wander deep through the darkness, but can always rely on God to remain their eternally faithful Father and give them light and comfort. Astrid Lindgren's version, on the other hand, has no religious references whatsoever.
This song also appears in other works by Astrid Lindgren. This is how Pippi , Tommy and Annika sing it , in the Swedish version of the film Pippi out of control , as street musicians to try to get money for their trip. The song can also be found on the Swedish soundtrack for the film. In the German version, the song was replaced with another one. So the three friends sing instead. We're three poor orphans on the reel .
Kajsa also sings the song in Astrid Lindgren's short story Sakletare (Sachensucherin), which has not yet been published in German. Kasja also got lost in the forest when she sings the song.
The song was also played at Astrid Lindgren's funeral. Later, a CD ( Farväl Astrid: en minnesstund för Astrid Lindgren, Storkyrkan 2002 ) was released with this version of the song.
publication
In Sweden, the story was published under the title En jul i Småland för länge sen in the book En jul när jag var liten (German: A Christmas when I was a child ). In this book, several well-known writers reported on a personal Christmas experience from childhood. The anthology was compiled by Harriet Alfons and Margot Henriksson and published in 1993 by Rabén & Sjögren . In addition to the story of Astrid Lindgren, the work contained stories by well-known authors such as: Viveca Lärn , Leon Garfield , Margareta Strömstedt , Stig Claesson , Björn Berg , Bengt Anderberg , Tove Jansson and Selma Lagerlöf .
In Germany, the story was published in 1996 in a book called Christmas when I was little . In addition to Astrid Lindgren's story, Christmas experiences from other authors' childhood were also reproduced here. But apart from Astrid Lindgren's story, only the stories of Margareta Strömstedt , Bengt Anderberg and Viveca Lärn were taken from the original Swedish version. The remaining stories from the Swedish original have been left out. Instead, stories by authors like Erich Kästner or Otfried Preußler were added. The book was also published as a DAISY audio book for the visually impaired . The audio book is 246 minutes long.
The story has been translated into Danish ( En jul i Småland for længe siden ), Dutch ( Kerstmis in Zweden, lang geleden ) and Russian ( Рождество в Смоланде давние-предавние дни ).
expenditure
German language edition
- Astrid Lindgren (1996): A Christmas in Småland a long time ago (En jul i Småland för länge sen) In: Angelika Kutsch (ed.): Christmas when I was little , Bertelsmann Verlag, Hamburg 1996, ISBN 978-3-7891 -4006-8
further editions
- Astrid Lindgren (1992): En jul i Småland för länge sen In: Harriet Alfons & Margot Henrikson (eds.): En jul när jag var liten , Rabén & Sjögren, Stockholm, ISBN 9129620597 (original Swedish edition)
- Astrid Lindgren (1993): En jul i Småland for længe siden In: Jul da jeg var lille , Gyldendal, Copenhagen 1996, ISBN 8700159786 (Danish edition)
- Astrid Lindgren (2001): Рождество в Смоланде давние-предавние дни (Rozhdestvo v Smolande davniye-predavniye dni) In: Мы - на острове Сокат. Мадикен (My - na ostrove Sal'tkroka. Madiken), ISBN 5-352-00056-7 (Russian edition)
- Astrid Lindgren (2015): Kerstmis in Zweden, lang geleden In: Sprookjes onder de kersenboom , ISBN 9789021674308 (Dutch edition)
Individual evidence
- ↑ "Hun klatret i trærne og akte kjelke til kjolen spjæret". 100 år med Astrid Lindgren. .
- ↑ Astrid Lindgren in her luggage - READING DAY Fourth grade of the Pfeddersheim Paternus School visits the Martin Luther House. Wormser Zeitung from November 18, 2009. Local.
- ^ The life and work of Astrid Lindgren .
- ↑ yolks Karin: "Mamma var för att vara klok engagerad för" .
- ↑ Så föddes vår största författare .
- ↑ Lindgren, Astrid .
- ↑ På rymmen with Pippi Långstrump Soundtrack (1970) OST .
- ↑ Farväl Astrid: en minnesstund för Astrid Lindgren, Storkyrkan 2002 .
- ↑ Boktips inför julen .
- ↑ Reading in the lights .
- ↑ Complete offer of the BIT center audio, MAXI print and braille publications .