Spillemandens Dåse    Lyrics

En vår morgen, da solen stod højt,
Til byen en spillemand kom,
Han sat' sig og kigged' omkring,
Og nu da skaren kom nærmere, begynt' han at spill'.

Byens godtfolk, de dansed' og lo,
Som fortryllet af musikkens klang,
Men en karl, han spejded' en æske,
En sølvdåse, som spillemanden, han prøved' at skul'.

"Spelmand, spelmand, spelmand, si' vos, wa' do har i æ dås,
Spelmand, spelmand, spelmand, vis no, wa' der æ i æ dås."

Trods hans klager, rives dåsen fra hans hænder,
Da låget løftes blev himlen så sort som den mørkest' nat,
De meldt' aldrig, hvad de så, ikke en sjæl undslap.

Den aften da solen gik ned,
Lå byen så underligt stil'
Den fremmede, han var Fanden selv,
Og nu, da mørket frembrød, så begyndt' han at spil'

Spillemandens dåse.
Spillemandens dåse.


[English translation:

One spring morning, as the sun was high
A fiddler came to the town
He sat down and looked around
And now, as the crowd drew closer, he began to play

The town's good-folk, they danced and laughed
As if enchanted by the music's sound
But a churl, who espied a casket
A silver box that the fiddler tried to hide

"Fiddler, fiddler, fiddler, tell us what you have in the box
Fiddler, fiddler, fiddler, show us what is in the box"

Despite his moans, the box was ripped from his hands
As the lid was lifted so the sky turned as black as the darkest night
They never said what they saw, not a soul escaped

That evening as the sun set
The town lay so eerily silent
The stranger was the devil himself
And now, as darkness broke forth, he started to play

The fiddler's box]