It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair,

Det var de bedste tider, det var de værste tider, det var visdommens tidsalder, det var dumhedens tidsalder, det var troens epoke, det var vantroens epoke, det var lysets sæson, det var mørkets sæson, det var håbets forår, det var fortvivlelsens vinter,

we had everything before us, we had nothing before us, we were all going direct to Heaven, we were all going direct the other way—in short, the period was so far like the present period, that some of its noisiest authorities insisted on its being received, for good or for evil, in the superlative degree of comparison only.

vi havde alt foran os, vi havde intet foran os, vi var alle på vej direkte mod himlen, vi var alle på vej i den modsatte retning - kort sagt var perioden så meget som den nuværende periode, at nogle af dens mest højrøstede autoriteter insisterede på, at den skulle opfattes, på godt og ondt, i en superlativ grad af sammenligning.

There were a king with a large jaw and a queen with a plain face, on the throne of England; there were a king with a large jaw and a queen with a fair face, on the throne of France.

Der var en konge med en stor kæbe og en dronning med et almindeligt ansigt på Englands trone; der var en konge med en stor kæbe og en dronning med et smukt ansigt på Frankrigs trone.

In both countries it was clearer than crystal to the lords of the State preserves of loaves and fishes, that things in general were settled for ever.

I begge lande var det klarere end krystal for herskerne af statens brød- og fiskforråd, at tingene generelt var blevet afgjort for evigt.

It was the year of Our Lord one thousand seven hundred and seventy-five.

Det var Herrens år 1775.

Spiritual revelations were conceded to England at that favoured period, as at this.

Åndelige åbenbaringer blev indrømmet England i denne gunstige periode, ligesom de er i dag.

Mrs. Southcott had recently attained her five-and-twentieth blessed birthday, of whom a prophetic private in the Life Guards had heralded the sublime appearance by announcing that arrangements were made for the swallowing up of London and Westminster.

Mrs. Southcott havde for nylig fejret sin femogtyvende velsignede fødselsdag, hvor en profetisk menigmand i Life Guards havde annonceret hendes sublime fremtoning ved at meddele, at der var truffet foranstaltninger til at sluge London og Westminster.

Even the Cock-lane ghost had been laid only a round dozen of years, after rapping out its messages, as the spirits of this very year last past (supernaturally deficient in originality) rapped out theirs.

Selv Cock-lane-spøgelset var blevet lagt til hvile for kun et dusin år siden, efter at have banket sine budskaber ud, ligesom åndene i dette sidste år (overnaturligt mangelfulde i originalitet) bankede deres ud.

Mere messages in the earthly order of events had lately come to the English Crown and People, from a congress of British subjects in America: which, strange to relate, have proved more important to the human race than any communications yet received through any of the chickens of the Cock-lane brood.

Nogle budskaber i jordiske begivenheder var for nylig kommet til den engelske krone og folk fra en kongres af britiske undersåtter i Amerika: som, mærkeligt nok, har vist sig at være vigtigere for den menneskelige race end nogen kommunikation, der endnu er modtaget gennem nogen af Cock-lane-flokkens kyllinger.

France, less favoured on the whole as to matters spiritual than her sister of the shield and trident, rolled with exceeding smoothness down hill, making paper money and spending it.

Frankrig, som helhed var mindre begunstiget med hensyn til åndelige anliggender end sin søster med skjold og treudd, rullede med ekstrem glathed ned ad bakken, producerede papirpenge og brugte dem.

Under the guidance of her Christian pastors, she entertained herself, besides, with such humane achievements as sentencing a youth to have his hands cut off, his tongue torn out with pincers, and his body burned alive, because he had not kneeled down in the rain to do honour to a dirty procession of monks which passed within his view, at a distance of some fifty or sixty yards.

Under ledelse af sine kristne præster underholdt den sig desuden med så menneskelige bedrifter som at dømme en ung mand til at få sine hænder skåret af, sin tunge revet ud med en tang og sin krop brændt levende, fordi han ikke knælede i regnen for at hylde en beskidt procesion af munke, der passerede foran ham på en afstand af omkring halvtreds eller tres meter.

It is likely enough that, rooted in the woods of France and Norway, there were growing trees, when that sufferer was put to death, already marked by the Woodman, Fate, to come down and be sawn into boards, to make a certain movable framework with a sack and a knife in it, terrible in history.

Det er sandsynligt nok, at der i Frankrig og Norges skove, da denne lidende blev henrettet, var træer, der allerede var markeret af Skovmand Fate til at blive fældet og savet til brædder til at lave en bestemt bevægelig ramme med en sæk og en kniv i den, frygtelig i historien.

It is likely enough that in the rough outhouses of some tillers of the heavy lands adjacent to Paris, there were sheltered from the weather that very day, rude carts, bespattered with rustic mire, snuffed about by pigs, and roosted in by poultry, which the Farmer, Death, had already set apart to be his tumbrils of the Revolution.

Det er sandsynligt nok, at i de grove udhuse hos nogle landmænd i de tunge jordområder i nærheden af Paris var der den samme dag beskyttet mod vejret nogle primitive vogne, besudlet med rustik snask, snøret op af grise og beboet af fjerkræ, som Døds-Landmanden allerede havde sat til side som sine revolutionære transportmidler.

But that Woodman and that Farmer, though they work unceasingly, work silently, and no one heard them as they went about with muffled tread: the rather, forasmuch as to entertain any suspicion that they were awake, was to be atheistical and traitorous.

Men denne Skovmand og denne Landmand, selvom de arbejder uophørligt, arbejder stille, og ingen hørte dem gå rundt med dæmpet fodtrin: snarere, fordi det at have mistænkt dem for at være vågne, var at være ateistisk og forræderisk.

In England, there was scarcely an amount of order and protection to justify much national boasting.

I England var der næppe nok orden og beskyttelse til at retfærdiggøre meget national stolthed.

Daring burglaries by armed men, and highway robberies, took place in the capital itself every night; families were publicly cautioned not to go out of town without removing their furniture to upholsterers’ warehouses for security;

Dristige indbrud af bevæbnede mænd og landevejsrøverier fandt sted i hovedstaden hver nat; familier blev offentligt advaret om ikke at forlade byen uden at fjerne deres møbler til polstrereværksteder for sikkerhedens skyld;

the highwayman in the dark was a City tradesman in the light, and, being recognised and challenged by his fellow-tradesman whom he stopped in his character of “the Captain,” gallantly shot him through the head and rode away;

landevejsrøveren i mørket var en byhandler i lyset, og da han blev genkendt og udfordret af sin medbyhandler, som han stoppede i sin rolle som "Kaptajnen", skød han ham tappert gennem hovedet og red væk;

the mail was waylaid by seven robbers, and the guard shot three dead, and then got shot dead himself by the other four, “in consequence of the failure of his ammunition:” after which the mail was robbed in peace;

posten blev overfaldet af syv røvere, og vagten skød tre ihjel og blev derefter selv skudt ihjel af de andre fire "som følge af hans ammunitions mangel": hvorefter posten blev røvet i fred;

that magnificent potentate, the Lord Mayor of London, was made to stand and deliver on Turnham Green, by one highwayman, who despoiled the illustrious creature in sight of all his retinue;

denne storslåede magt, Lord Mayor of London, blev tvunget til at stå og levere på Turnham Green af en landevejsrøver, der plyndrede den berømte person foran hele hans følge;

prisoners in London gaols fought battles with their turnkeys, and the majesty of the law fired blunderbusses in among them, loaded with rounds of shot and ball;

fanger i Londons fængsler kæmpede mod deres fangevogtere, og lovens majestæt skød med salver og kugler ind blandt dem.

thieves snipped off diamond crosses from the necks of noble lords at Court drawing-rooms; musketeers went into St. Giles’s, to search for contraband goods, and the mob fired on the musketeers, and the musketeers fired on the mob, and nobody thought any of these occurrences much out of the common way.

tyve klippede diamantkors af adelige herrer i hoffets saloner; musketerer gik ind i St. Giles' for at søge efter smuglervarer, og pøbelen skød på musketererne, og musketererne skød på pøbelen, og ingen syntes, at nogen af disse hændelser var særligt usædvanlige.

In the midst of them, the hangman, ever busy and ever worse than useless, was in constant requisition;

I midten af det hele var bødlen, der altid var travl og altid mere til skade end til gavn, i konstant brug;

now, stringing up long rows of miscellaneous criminals; now, hanging a housebreaker on Saturday who had been taken on Tuesday; now, burning people in the hand at Newgate by the dozen, and now burning pamphlets at the door of Westminster Hall; to-day, taking the life of an atrocious murderer, and to-morrow of a wretched pilferer who had robbed a farmer’s boy of sixpence.

nu hængte han lange rækker af forskellige kriminelle op; nu hængte han en husindbrudstyv op på lørdag, som var blevet taget på tirsdag; nu brændte han folk i hænderne i Newgate i dusinvis, og nu brændte han pamfletter ved døren til Westminster Hall; i dag tog han livet af en grusom morder, og i morgen tog han livet af en elendig tyv, der havde stjålet en sekspence fra en landmandssøn.

All these things, and a thousand like them, came to pass in and close upon the dear old year one thousand seven hundred and seventy-five.

Alle disse ting og tusindvis af lignende ting skete i og omkring det kære gamle år 1775.

Environed by them, while the Woodman and the Farmer worked unheeded, those two of the large jaws, and those other two of the plain and the fair faces, trod with stir enough, and carried their divine rights with a high hand.

Omringet af dem, mens skovridderen og bonden arbejdede uden at blive bemærket, trådte de to med de store kæber og de to med de almindelige og smukke ansigter frem med nok energi og udøvede deres guddommelige rettigheder med en høj hånd.

Thus did the year one thousand seven hundred and seventy-five conduct their Greatnesses, and myriads of small creatures—the creatures of this chronicle among the rest—along the roads that lay before them.

Sådan førte året 1775 deres storhed og utallige små væsener - væsenerne i denne krønike blandt andre - ad de veje, der lå foran dem.