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Illustration for The Wild Swans

Danish · Intermediate

De vilde svaner

Adapted from The Wild Swans

By Hans Christian Andersen

A princess works in silence to free her brothers from an enchantment that turns them into swans.

Read and listen in Danish, with English alongside.

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Intermediate sample in Danish

Scene 1

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Illustration for the scene “The wicked stepmother”

Scene 1 · Intermediate

Den onde stedmor

The wicked stepmother

Danish

I det fjerne land, hvor svalerne tilbringer vinteren, boede en konge med sine elleve sønner og sin datter, Elisa. Prinserne gik i skole med en stjerne på brystet og et sværd ved siden. De skrev på tavler af guld med stifter af diamant.

English translation

In the faraway land where the swallows spend the winter, there lived a king with his eleven sons and his daughter, Elisa. The princes went to school, each with a star on his chest and a sword at his side. They wrote on gold tablets with diamond styluses.

Danish

Elisa sad imens på en lille skammel af spejlglas og kiggede i en billedbog, der havde kostet et halvt kongerige.

English translation

Meanwhile, Elisa sat on a little stool made of mirrored glass and looked through a picture book that had cost half a kingdom.

Danish

Børnene var lykkelige, indtil deres far giftede sig igen. Den nye dronning brød sig slet ikke om dem, og det opdagede de allerede dagen efter brylluppet. Mens der stadig var fest på slottet, legede de, at de selv tog imod gæster. De plejede at få de kager og æbler, der blev tilovers, men dronningen rakte dem en tekop med sand.

English translation

The children were happy until their father married again. The new queen did not like them at all, and they found that out the very day after the wedding. While the celebrations were still going on at the castle, they pretended to welcome guests of their own. They usually got the leftover cakes and apples, but the queen handed them a teacup full of sand.

Danish

De kunne jo lade, som om det var kage, sagde hun.

English translation

They could always pretend it was cake, she said.

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