Bogormen |
The
bookworm |
Det regnede af og til hele den eftermiddag, og da hun
ikke havde noget særlig at lave, slentrede Daisy ind i lavprisboghandlen
i arkaden. |
It was raining on and off all that afternoon and as she
had nothing much to do Daisy wandered into the low–price bookshop in the
arcade. |
Hun elskede at se på bøger og gjorde ofte nogle
pragtfulde køb derinde. |
She loved looking at books and often found some
wonderful bargains there. |
Daisy foretrak ikke-fiktion, rejsebøger, drama men
holdt også af at opdage en forfatter af detektivhistorier, som hun aldrig
havde hørt om før. |
Daisy preferred non-fiction books, travel, plays but
also liked to discover an author of detective stories she had never heard
of before. |
Snart havde Daisy en kæmpe stak bøger, som hun
ønskede at købe og prøvede at regne ud, hvor meget de allesammen ville
koste. |
Soon Daisy had a huge pile of books she wanted to buy
and tried to calculate how much they would all cost. |
"Det er næsten 46 kroner for den medicinske bog,
plus 34 for den amerikanske bog om sociologi, to kogebøger til 11 kroner
hver, 33 kroner for rejsebogen om Sydamerika og 80 kroner for et leksion
over kriminelle i verden med fotografier af dem." |
"That’s nearly four pounds for the medical book,
plus three for the American book on Sociology, two cookery books at 99p
each, two pounds ninety for the travel book on South America and seven for
an encyclopedia of world criminals with photos of them. |
"Hvis jeg også køber denne bog om naturmedicinsk
behandling, vil jeg have brugt lige under 268 kroner". |
"If I buy this book on natural cures as well, I’ll
be spending just under twenty-three pounds". |
Daisy talte op, hvad hun havde i sin pung. |
Daisy counted what she had in her purse. |
Hun brugte aldrig sit kreditkort til at købe tøj eller
bøger, da hun var bange for, at hun ikke ville have nok til
nødstilfælde. |
She never used her credit card to buy clothes or books
as she was afraid she wouldn’t have enough for emergencies. |
Heldigvis fandt Daisy ud af, at hun havde mere end 450
kroner med sig. |
Luckily Daisy found that she had more than forty pounds
with her. |
Nu kunne hun ikke bære alle disse tunge bøger rundt i
butikken og besluttede sig for at spørge den udeltagende unge mand ved
disken, som var i gang med at studere sin tipskupon, om hun kunne
efterlade sine bøger der, fordi hun ikke var færdig med at se sig
omkring endnu. |
By now she couldn’t carry all these heavy books around
the shop and decided to ask the indifferent young man at the pay desk, who
was studying his football coupon, if she could leave the books there
because she hadn’t finished looking around yet. |
"Hvis De har lyst", svarede den udeltagende
unge mand, uden overhovedet at se op på Daisy. |
"If you like," replied the indifferent young
man without even looking up at Daisy. |
Daisy gik ned ad vindeltrappen til børneafdelingen og
antikvariske bøger, men hun kunne ikke finde noget interessant der. |
Daisy climbed down the spiral staircase to the children’s
section and second-hand books but she couldn’t find anything interesting
there. |
Hun gik op ad trappen igen og fortsatte ned bag i
butikken, hvor man kunne finde afdelingen for videnskab, astrologi,
esoterisk litteratur og krig. |
She climbed up the stairs again and proceeded to the
back of the shop where the section on scientific matters, astrology,
esoteric reading and war could be found. |
Daisy måtte bukke sig ned for at se titlerne på den
nederste hylde. |
Daisy had to crouch down to see the titles on the bottom
shelf. |
"Mm, kan ikke se meget her, der interesserer mig,"
tænkte hun, idet hun flyttede sig mod venstre, hver gang hun blev færdig
med at læse titlerne på den bestemte sektion af bogreolen. |
"Mm, can’t see much here to interest me,"
she thought, moving to the left each time she finished reading the titles
of that particular section of the bookcase. |
Det faste tæppe var temmligt gammelt og meget støvet. |
The inlaid carpeting was pretty old and very dusty. |
Sandsynligvis gjorde ingen nogensinde rent i butikken.
Daisy hadede at se bogbutikker, som ikke blev passet. Så mange
bogbutikker var det gået på denne måde, de havde lukket for aldrig at
blive åbnet igen. |
Probably no one ever cleaned the shop. Daisy hated to
see bookshops which were not cared for. So many bookshops had gone this
way and shut down never to be reopened again. |
For enden af bogreolen var de store illustrerede
krigsbøger med berømte ansigter udenpå. |
At the end of the bookcase were the big illustrated war
books with famous faces on them. |
"Åh, det kunne være interessant," sagde
Daisy til sig selv, da hun fik øje på en bog skrevet af en tidligere SAS
soldat. |
"Oh, that might be interesting," Daisy said to
herself seeing a book written by an ex-SAS soldier. |
Daisy fik øje på en klapstol i hjørnet, slog den op
og satte sig ned på den for at se på bogen. |
Daisy spied a fold-up chair in the corner, opened it up
and sat down on it to look at the book. |
Mens hun læste sig igennem beskrivelser af desperate
rejser under elendige forhold, blev Daisy pludselig opmærksom på
dæmpede stemmer. |
As she read through descriptions of desperate journeys
in pitiful conditions, Daisy suddenly became aware of muffled voices. |
Hun så sig omkring, men det var ingen i nærheden af
hende i butikken, så hun vendte tilbage til sin læsning. |
She looked around but there was nobody near her in the
shop so she went back to her reading. |
Nu hørte hun en kvinde, der råbte, og en mand, der
svarede i en aggressiv tone. |
Now she heard a woman shouting and a man replying in an
aggressive tone. |
"Nogen har deres fjernsyn skruet temmelig højt op
inde ved siden af" tænkte hun. |
"Somebody’s got their television turned up rather
high next door," she thought. |
Så var der stilhed. |
Then there was silence. |
Og så brølede mandens stemme igen grimme lyde, men
Daisy var ikke i stand til at skelne ordene. |
And then again the man’s voice bellowed out ugly
sounds, but still Daisy wasn’t able to distinguish the words. |
Daisys intuition dukkede op igen. |
Daisy’s intuition popped up again. |
"Det der er slet ikke fjernsynet. Det er noget, der
virkelig sker. Hvis blot jeg kunne høre, hvad de siger! |
"That isn’t the television at all. That’s
something that’s really happening. If only I could hear what they’re
saying! |
Kunne det være, at der er en rist her i væggen skjult
af tapetet?" |
Could it be there’s a grille here in the wall hidden
by the wallpaper?" |
Daisy indså, at lydene kom fra bagved hendes ben og
lagde sig ned på knæ. |
Daisy realised that the sounds were coming from behind
her legs and climbed down onto her knees. |
"Jeg vil prøve at trække det tapet væk fra
væggen," sagde hun til sig selv. |
"I’ll try to pull that wallpaper away from the
wall," she said to herself. |
Hun trak i kanten af tapetet, hvor det mødte gulvet og
det hæslige faste tæppe. |
She pulled at the edge of the wallpaper where it met the
floor and the horrible inlaid carpeting. |
Det gik let løs og dér var den – en rist til en
luftkanal. |
It came unstuck easily and there it was - an air passage
grille. |
Nu kunne Daisy høre nøjagtigt, hvad de sagde. |
Now Daisy could hear exactly what they were saying. |
"Lad mig gå, lad mig gå!" skreg en
kvindestemme. |
"Let me go, let me go!" a woman’s voice
shrieked. |
Giv mig alle pengene og dine ringe og ikke mere skrigeri,
ellers skærer jeg struben over på dig," truede den grove stemme. |
"Give me all the money and your rings and no more
shouting, otherwise I’ll slit your throat," threatened the rough
voice. |
"Det må være antikforretningen inde ved siden af,"
tænkte Daisy "en kvinde bliver angrebet og bestjålet af en eller
anden skurk." |
"It must be that antique shop next door,"
thought Daisy "a woman is being attacked and robbed by some thug." |
Daisy indså, at hun ikke havde nogen tid at miste, og
selv om hun var bange, vidste hun, at hun ikke kunne overlade kvinden til
sin skæbne. |
Daisy realised she had no time to lose and although she
felt frightened she knew she couldn’t leave the woman to her fate. |
Hun styrtede hen mod den unge mand, der stadig regnede
på sine X, 1 eller 2´ere og råbte:"Tilkald politiet straks, de
begår røveri inde ved siden af." |
She rushed towards the youth still working out his X, 1
or 2’s and shouted, "Call the police immediately because they are
robbing next door." |
Den unge mand stirrede simpelthen på Daisy, så hun
skubbede til ham for at kommme til telefonen og ringede til dem selv. |
The young man simply stared at Daisy, so she pushed him
to get at the phone and called them herself. |
"Det er Daisy Hamilton. Jeg er i Find Alt
Boghandel i arkaden på Hovedgaden. |
"This is Daisy Hamilton speaking. I’m at the Find
All Bookshop in the arcade in the High Street. |
Der er et røveri i gang i antikforretningen inde ved
siden af. |
There is a robbery taking place in the antiques shop
next door. |
Jeg går derind nu. Vær venlige at skynde jer." |
I’m going in there now. Please hurry." |
Så vendte Daisy sig mod den unge mand, "har I
noget om antikviteter?" |
Then Daisy turned to the young man, "Have you got
anything on antiques?" |
Stadig målløs pegede den unge over mod højre. |
Still speechless the youth pointed over to the right. |
Daisy greb en illustreret bog om antikviteter fra det
nittende århundrede og for ud af butikken. |
Daisy seized an illustrated book on nineteenth century
antiques and rushed out of the shop. |
Daisy gik ind i butikken ved siden af så roligt som
muligt, tilsyneladende med hovedet i sin antikvitetsbog. |
Daisy walked into the shop next door as calmly as
possible, apparently with her head in her antiques book. |
Der var ingen, men hun hørte dæmpede bevægelser, som
kom fra et baglokale og kaldte: "Undskyld mig, er her nogen?" |
Nobody was there but she heard muffled movements which
came from an inner room and called out, "Excuse me, anyone there?" |
En bleg ældre kvinde kom gennem døren med en
skurkagtig udseende ung mand tæt bagved sig. |
A pale elderly women came through the door with a
thuggish-looking young man close behind her. |
Kvindens stemme rystede og sagde: "Godeftermiddag,
kan jeg hjælpe Dem"" |
The lady’s voice trembled and said,"Good
afternoon, can I help you?" |
Daisy lod som om, hun end ikke havde set manden og
improviserede: |
Daisy pretended not to have even seen the man and
improvised, |
"Jeg har læst denne bog, og jeg så lige den
rigtige type skrivebord, som jeg har kigget efter. |
"I’ve been reading this book and I saw just the
right sort of writing desk I’ve been looking for. |
Har De noget som dette? Jeg tror, det er Georgiansk." |
Have you got something like this? I think it’s
Georgian." |
Daisy viste damen et billede, ikke af skrivebordet men
af en stol, og holdt det på en måde, så manden ikke kunne se det. |
Daisy showed the lady a picture not of a writing desk
but of a chair, and held it in a way so that the man couldn’t see it. |
Damen blev desorienteret over at se et foto af en stol i
stedet for af et skrivebord. |
The lady was bewildered to see the photo of a chair
instead of a writing desk. |
Manden havde en hånd i lommen, som om han holdt et
våben men gjorde sig umage for at virke afslappet og satte sig ned. |
The man had his hand in his pocket as though holding a
weapon but made an effort to appear casual and sat down. |
Idet han gjorde det, blinkede Daisy til butiksejeren,
som svarede:"Nej jeg beklager, jeg har ikke noget i den stilart." |
As he did this, Daisy winked at the shop-owner who
replied, "No, I’m sorry, I haven’t got anything in this style." |
Daisy insisterede: "Hvis De støder på noget, vil
De lade mig vide det? |
Daisy insisted, "If something comes your way could
you let me know? |
Jeg skriver min adresse og telefonnummer ned." |
I’ll write down my address and telephone number." |
Daisy skrev: "Vær ikke bange. Politiet er på vej.
Jeg forlader Dem ikke." |
Daisy wrote: "Please don’t be frightened. The
police are on their way. I won’t leave you alone." |
Damen læste beskeden og så op på Daisy på en
indforstået måde. |
The lady read the message and looked up at Daisy in a
knowing way. |
"Men jeg har noget andet, som måske ville passe
til Deres formål. |
"But I’ve got something else which might suit
your purpose. |
Vil De gerne se det? Det er her i butiksvinduet." |
Would you like to see it? It’s there, in the shop
window." |
På denne måde kom de to kvinder nærmere til
butiksindgangen. |
In this way the two women got nearer to the shop
entrance. |
Skurken sad stadig i lænestolen med hånden i lommen,
men holdt intenst øje med dem begge. |
The thug was still sitting in the chair with his hand in
his pocket, but studying both of them intensely. |
Fingrene på hans højre hånd spjættede nervøst. |
The fingers on his right hand were twitching nervously. |
Daisy så da, at et massivt klædeskab var placeret midt
i forretningen og hun afventede det rigtige tidspunkt. |
Daisy then noticed there was a massive wardrobe parked
in the middle of the shop and awaited the right moment. |
Butiksejeren fortsatte samtalen om antikke møbler og
Daisy foregav at være interesseret i, hvad hun sagde. |
The shop-keeper continued the conversation about antique
furniture and Daisy pretended to be interested in what she said. |
Pludselig stormede to politibetjente ind i butikken, og
Daisy trak butiksejeren med sig om bag klædeskabet. |
Suddenly two policemen burst into the shop and Daisy
pulled the shop-owner with her behind the wardrobe. |
Hun smugkiggede rundt om den venstre side af det for at
se, hvad der skete. |
She peeped round the left side of it to see what was
happening. |
Skurken sprang op og truede politiet med en væmmeligt
udseende kniv. |
The thug jumped up and threatened the police with a
nasty-looking knife. |
Alle stod fuldstændig stille i et par sekunder, så
smed Daisy antikvitetsbogen mod en taburet, cirka to meter til højre for
tyven. |
Everybody stood completely still for a few seconds, then
Daisy threw the antiques book towards a stool, six feet to the right of
the thief. |
Han blev øjeblikkeligt distraheret og kiggede hen hvor
støjen var kommet fra, hvilket gav de to politibetjente muligheden for at
springe på ham. |
He was momentarily distracted and looked to where the
noise had come from, which gave the two policemen the opportunity to leap
on him. |
En politibetjent slog kniven ud af mandens hånd, og den
anden gav ham straks håndjern på. |
One policeman knocked the knife from the man’s hand
and the other handcuffed him immediately. |
Det var alt sammen ovre på et par minutter. |
It was all over in a couple of minutes. |
Daisy samlede antikvitetsbogen op og foreslog at få en
kop varm te hos bageren et par døre længere nede i arkaden. |
Daisy picked up the antiques book and suggested having a
hot cup of tea in the baker’s a few doors down the arcade. |
De to kvinder satte sig ned; de rystede stadig lidt
efter deres oplevelser. |
The two women sat down still shaking a little from their
experiences. |
Den ældre kvinde trykkede Daisys hånd varmt. |
The elderly lady shook Daisy’s hand warmly. |
"Tak, tak, kære unge dame. Åh du godeste, jeg var
virkelig rædselsslagen. Men hvordan forstod De, at jeg var i knibe?" |
"Thank you, thank you my dear young lady. Oh my
goodness, I was really terrified. But how did you realise I was in trouble?" |
Daisy forklarede, hvordan hun havde hørt hendes stemme
ved siden af i boghandlen. |
Daisy explained how she had heard her voice next door in
the bookshop. |
Lad mig præsentere mig selv, min kære. Mit navn er
Lena Fields. Bare kald mig Lena – og må jeg spørge om Deres navn?" |
"Let me introduce myself, my dear. My name is Lena
Fields. Just call me Lena - and may I know your name please?" |
Daisy fandt Lena en meget charmerende kvinde. |
Daisy found Lena a very charming woman. |
Hun havde en stil, der tilhørte en verden, som ikke
eksister mere, og en tydelig accent som viste, at hun var født langt
borte. |
She had the style of a world which didn’t exist any
more, and a distinct accent which showed she had been born far away. |
Da Daisy fortalte fr. Fields, at hun var privatdetektiv,
begyndte de begge at fnise, de vidste ikke hvorfor, men det var godt at
lette spændingen. |
When Daisy told Mrs. Fields she was a private eye they
both started giggling, they didn’t know why, but it was good to relieve
the tension. |
Da de begge var kommet sig, blev Daisy mere alvorlig. |
When they had both recovered Daisy grew more serious, |
"Lena, jeg vil gerne give dig et råd. Du har ingen
alarm i din butik. |
"Lina, I’d like to give you some advice. You have
no alarm in your shop. |
Synes du ikke, at du skulle se på det og få en
installeret?" |
Don’t you think you should look into the matter and
have one fitted?" |
"Jo, det vil jeg, det må ikke ske igen. Der er
aldrig før sket mig noget i dette land, og jeg følte mig tryg. |
"Yes I will, it mustn’t happen again. Nothing had
ever happened to me in this country and I felt safe. |
For resten Daisy, er du virkelig interesseret i et
skrivebord, eller fandt du på det på stående fod?" |
By the way, Daisy, are you really interested in a
writing desk or did you make that up on the spur of the moment?" |
"Ja, det gjorde jeg," Daisy smilede. |
"Yes, I did," Daisy smiled. |
"Hvis det er tilfældet, ville jeg gerne se dine
hænder, hvis jeg må." |
"If that is the case I would like to see your hands,
if I may." |
Fr. Fields trak en rubinring af sin finger, og lod den
glide på Daisys lillefinger. |
Mrs. Fields pulled a ruby ring off her finger and
slipped it on Daisy’s little finger. |
"Kan du lide den?" |
"Do you like it?" |
Daisy var forbløffet. "Selvfølgelig kan jeg det,
men…" |
Daisy was astonished. "Of course I do but..." |
"Nej, protester ikke. Jeg har ingen børn, og du
reddede mig idag fra en skrækkelig oplevelse. |
"No, don’t protest. I have no children and you
saved me today from a horrible experience. |
Desuden ser den godt ud på din hånd. Så er den sag
afsluttet." |
Besides, it looks nice on your hand. That’s the end of
the matter." |
Daisy følte sig ganske overvældet af denne dames
generøsitet. |
Daisy felt quite overcome with the generosity of this
lady. |
"Tja Lena, jeg ved ikke, hvad jeg skal sige. Mange
tak skal du have. |
"Well Lena, I don’t know what to say. Thank you
very much. |
I hvert tilfælde vil jeg ind i mellem stikke ind for at
se, hvordan du har det, og så kan vi få en kande te sammen." |
Anyway I’ll be popping in to see how you are and we
can have a pot of tea together." |
Så huskede Daisy, at hun ikke havde returneret
antikvitetsbogen til boghandlen. |
Then Daisy remembered she hadn’t returned the antiques
book to the bookshop. |
Den samme unge mand var i gang med at arrangere bøger i
forretningens computerafdeling. |
The same young man was rearranging books in the computer
section of the shop. |
Han så knap nok op. |
He hardly looked up. |
"Undskyld mig, jeg har taget jeres antikvitetsbog
med tilbage…og hvad med mine bøger, som jeg efterlod her hos dig?" |
"Excuse me, I’ve brought your antiques book back...
and what about my books I left here with you?" |
"Åh, jeg troede De ikke var interesseret i dem
mere, og jeg satte dem tilbage!" |
"Ah, I thought you weren’t interested in them any
more and I put them back!" |
Daisy indså, at det var nyttesløst at sige noget til
sådan en person og fortsatte med at lede efter sine bøger endnu en gang. |
Daisy realised that any words on her part were useless
with such a person and proceeded to hunt for her books once again. |
Pludselig fik hun øje på den pragtfulde ring på
hendes finger, og hun huskede hvor heldig hun var. |
Suddenly her eye caught sight of the magnificent ring on
her finger and she remembered how lucky she was. |