Fredmans epistle #9
Käraster bröder
Dearest Brothers

Carl Michael Bellman (1740-1795)
TRANSLATION (LITERAL) BY DR. ALF LUNDER KNUDSEN

1
Dearest brothers, sisters and friends,
Look, Father Berg he turns and tightens
The strings on the fiddle
And takes the bow in hand
The eye is gone, the nose is split;
Look how he stands and spits on the peg,
The beer jug stands on the chair,
He now plucks the string a bit,
  - - - Grimaces at the sun,
  - - - Bows the fiddle,

He loses his way, trills sometimes
Dearest brothers dance on your toes,
Gloves in hand and the hats on
Look at maiden Lona,
Red ribbons in her shoes,
New sky-blue stockings.

2
Look, Jergen “hunchback” fans with his hat,
Pipe in his mouth he drinks snaps like water
He drinks and wets
His head and hand and foot
Golden-yellow coat with stiff collar;
The pigtail hangs tight to his neck,
The back in hundred bends
And the cheekbones stand like spheres
  - - - Yells the melody,
  - - - Scrapes with his foot

Fills his pipe, jumps across.
Dearest sisters always honest,
The brothers always dance minuet,
All night drunk
Straight in body, Ulla,
Give me your hand, keep the beat right.