En lille forhistorie -- How it all began

In MotherOwl's garden in a quiet corner stood an old apple tree all alone.  The apples on this tree were sour, almost inedible, and MotherOwl never bothered to pick them. Neither did the children of the village ever steal more than one apple. This was very lucky, because the apples were inhabited, at least some of them. The Droplets lived there, and they liked their quiet corner. . 

Kastanjedyrene

Hullet -- The Hole

Et sært hul
A mysterious hole

   En dag kom Grønne løbende hen til æblehusene i en vældig fart.

   "Kom og se," råbte Grønne til Røde og Lilla, "jeg har fundet et underligt hul i et af forfatterens gamle bistader!"

   Grønne gik i forvejen, medens Lilla og Røde fulgte tøvende efter.

   Grønne gik næsten helt hen til hullet, pegede på det og sagde: "Se der er hullet: Det er næsten lige så stort som mig!" Lilla og Røde kiggede frem bag hjørnet af bistadet og betragtede hullet.

   Røde tabte interessen for hullet næsten med det samme: "Jeg er sulten, og jeg tror at Gule er ved at bage pandekager." Og så gik Røde.

   "Jeg tror Røde var bange," sagde Lilla og vovede sig helt hen til hullet sammen med Grønne.

   Lilla lagde sig på knæ for bedre at kunne se noget og sagde: "Jeg kan ikke se noget, det er alt for mørkt. Jeg tror bare det er et gammelt kedeligt hul."

   Og så gik Lilla hen for at se om brombærrene var modne.

   Grønne var stadig nysgerrig og mente nok at der ville komme noget spændende ud af det hul. Derfor satte han sig ned og ventede.

   Det blev mørkt, og Grønne blev sulten, men han var også stædig.

   Endelig blev Grønnes stædighed belønnet. Der lød en kradsende lyd og en lille sort kugle viste sig nederst i hullet.

   Grønne sprang forskrækket op. Nu var det ikke morsomt længere, og i hastig fart løb Grønne hen over græsset mod sit trygge æblehus.

        "Små sorte kugler der kradser, nej tak. Det tør jeg ikke se på," tænkte Grønne.

   Men så tænkte Grønne sig om en gang til: "Nu har jeg siddet næsten hele dagen udenfor det hul og ventet, og når der så endelig sker noget, løber jeg min vej. Det er da for dumt!"

   Derfor gik Grønne ind i sit æblehus, tog et lys og gik tøvende ned til hullet igen. Det gik lidt langsomt, lyset skulle jo helst ikke gå ud, og måske håbede Grønne at det der havde kradset i hullet, ville være gået sin vej.

   Men nej, det der havde kradset inde i hullet, var ikke gået sin vej.

Grønne så en sød, lille mus på vej ud af hullet.

  "Godaften, mus," sagde Grønne. "Godaften, sære fyr," svarede musen.

   "Jeg er ikke spor sær," svarede Grønne, "jeg hedder Grønne og jeg er en af Regnbuedråberne. Vi bor i æblerne derhenne, så vil du ikke nok lade være med at gnave i dem."

"Det kan jeg sagtens lade være med," svarede musen, "vi mus er ikke meget for æbler, vi kan meget bedre lide rosiner, pølser eller stearinlys. Umm, netop sådan noget som du står med der."

   "Jamen du må da godt spise mit lys," sagde Grønne, "bare pas på at du ikke brænder knurhårene på det."

   Grønne gik fornøjet hjemad uden sit lys og glædede sig til at fortælle Røde og Lilla og de andre dråber om musen næste dag.

Vinter i Dråbeland -- Droplets in Wintertime

• Blå kaster med sne.
• Blue throwing snowballs

• Orange på isen.
• Orange at the frozen lake

Istapperne - The Icicles

Hvert efterår lavede regnbuedråberne sig nogle nye æblehuse som de flyttede ind i. Et år havde Gule fundet sig et stort, rart æble på et sted hvor solen ville skinne tidligt om morgenen - også om vinteren. Det var et dejlig sted at have sit æblehus, og hver morgen stod Gule op og kiggede ud ad vinduet og glædede sig over det dejlige solskin.

Every autumn the Droplet made new houses out of apples from the tree in the back of the garden. One autumn Yellow found a nice, big apple on a spot where the sun shone every morning, also in the winter. Every morning Yellow looked out of the window and enjoyed the warm sunshine.

En dag, da Gule tog i håndtaget, ville døren ikke op. Gule kiggede ud ad vinduet igen. Udenfor døren var der istapper helt oppe fra taget og helt ned til jorden. Gule var spærret inde i et istappe-fængsel. »Hjælp mig, jeg kan ikke komme ud,« råbte Gule ud ad vinduet.

A sunny winter's day, Yellow wanted to leave the apple house, but the door did not open. Yellow looked out of the window. Icicles barred the door, they hung from the roof, and reached down to the ground. Yellow was locked inside an icicle prison.
Yellow called out for the other Droplets: "Help me! I can't get out!"

Grønne og Røde hørte Gules råb og kom løbende. De begyndte at hive og flå i istapperne. »Øv,« sagde Grønne til sidst, »vi hiver og flår, og det eneste, vi får ud af det, er at vælte Gules æblehus.«

Green and Red heard Yellow calling. They came running and started pulling away at the icicles.
"Ouch!" Green said, "we're pulling and pulling, and the icicles won't budge. We're almost tumbling over Yellow's home."

»Nu kommer jeg,« råbte Blå der kom farende henne fra hønsehuset, »og jeg har fået en god idé. Jeg fandt en økse. Så kan vi hugge istapperne over.«

Blue had noticed Yellow's distress, and now he came running.
"I have found an axe," he said as he came running. "Let me chop away the icicles. That's better."

   Da Blå nåede hen til Gules æblehus, tog han straks fat, han huggede, så isen fløj som små splinter rundt om ham og Røde, der kiggede på.
»Jeg har fået en god idé,« sagde Grønne, »alt den is, Blå hugger af, hvis vi nu samlede den og lagde den i et æblehus for sig, så kunne vi lave isterninger til sommer!«

Blue chopped away, and icicle splinters flew in all directions. Red who stayed and looked had to dodge.
"I have an idea," Green said. "Let's save all the icicles for summer. Then we can make ice cream and cool off."

   Og så samlede Grønne og Røde alt isen sammen. Lilla kom og spurgte hvad de var i gang med. »Blå befrier Gule fra sit istappe-fængsel, og vi samler isen sammen, så vi kan få isterninger til sommer,« svarede Røde. »Det lyder godt,« sagde Lilla, »jeg hjælper også med.«
De lavede et æble-is-hus, helt uden vinduer og med en meget lille dør og tykke vægge. Grønne tog de stumper, der var blevet hakket af istapperne og gik sin vej. Han ville ikke fortælle, hvad han ville med dem. Lidt senere havde Blå hakket alle istapperne af,

Green and Red gathered all the icicles as Blue chopped them off. Purple came and asked what was happening.Red answered that Blue was freeing Yellow from her icicle prison, and that he and Green were saving the icicles for summer.
"Cool," Purple said. "Let me help."
They build an apple house for the icicles. The house had no windows, and the walls were very thick.
Green took a lot of the smallest pieces and went home. He did not tell what he was going to do.
A bit later Yellow was able to open her door.

   Gule kom endelig ud og var glad. Sammen flyttede Gule, Blå, Røde og Lilla de sidste store istapper ind i æble-is-huset. De var varme og trætte af det hårde arbejde. Så kom Grønne tilbage, han havde brugt alle stumperne til at lave is.
   Regnbuedråberne satte sig uden for Gules hus i det dejlige solskin og spiste al isen.    »Det må du godt lave mere af til sommer,« sukkede Blå, »det smager dejligt.«

Yellow came out smiling, and all the rest of the icicles were quickly put away in the ice house. The Droplets were hot and tired from the hard work.
Then Green arriwed. He had used all the littel bits and pieces to make ice cream.
All the Droplets sat in the sun outside Yellows house and ate the delicious ice cream.
"You know what, Green," Blue said with a satisfied smile. "This is good. You are going to make lots more this summer I hope."

Ballonturen - The Balloon

        En forårsdag, da tulipanerne rigtig blomstrede, kiggede Lilla op i æbletræet, og så en ballon, der var filtret ind i træets grene.

A lovely spring day Purple looked up into the apple tree, and he saw a balloon up there. It's string was caught in the branches. 

        Lilla kaldte på de andre og klatrede op i træet.

        Der fik han hurtigt filtret snoren ud af grenene, men i stedet for at dale langsomt nedad med ballonen, fløj Lilla opad.

                 Han blev helt bange. De andre regnbuedråber stod nede på græsset og råbte til ham.

Purple called for the other Droplets, and then he climbed the tree.
Purple untangled the strin, but instead op the balloon slowly carrying Purple down from the tree it started drifting upwards! 
He became afraid. And down under the apple tree all the other Droplets stood, calling Purple's name.

        Heldigvis kom Lilla så meget til sig selv at han greb fat i en af de øverste grene på æbletræet. Men ballonen gav han ikke slip på, så nu hang han dér og blev længere og længere.

        Alle de andre regnbuedråber klatrede op til Lilla og greb fat i ham. Regnbuedråberne halede i Lilla og til sidst havde de halet både Lilla og ballonen ned på græsset.

 Luckily Purple was a quick one. He grasped hold of one of the topmost twigs. But he did not let go of the balloon. Now he was being stretched.
All the other Droplets climbed the apple tree until they could ract Purple, and then they slowly pulled him and the balloon down to the solid earth.

                 De tøjrede ballonen til en tulipan og gik i seng.

They tied the balloon to a sturdy looking tulip and went to bed. 

        Næste morgen havde Lilla fået den skøre idé, at de kunne tage en tur i ballon hen over hele haven.

 De andre var straks med på ideen, og hurtigt flettede Gule og Lilla et net om ballonen imedens Røde hentede en lille kurv, der kunne hænge nedenunder.

        Grønne spurgte: "Skal jeg komme og hjælpe dig med at bære kurven?"

                 "Nej tak," svarede Røde, "det er meget nemmere at rulle den."

The next morning, Purple had an idea. He would like a ride in the balloon to see how the garden and all the world looked from up there.
All the other Droplets found it to be a grand idea. Yellow and Purple found some strings whish they tied into a net over the balloon. Red had a big basket, which he brougth on a mini-skateboard.
Green asked if he should help carry the basket. "No thanks," Red answered. "This is much easier than carrying it." 

                 Udsigten var meget smuk. De svævede op over forfatterens hus, så de kunne se det røde tag og lugte røgen fra skorstenen. "Nej se," sagde Blå, "vi kan se vejrhanen på kirketårnet derovre, bag ved vores æbletræ!."

The view form the balloon was really great. They soared over the Owls' house, smeeled the smoke from the chimney, and looked at the new, red roof.
"Oh look," Blue said. We can see the weather cock at the church on the hill, behind our apple tree."

        Bedst som de svævede af sted, kom der en stor hveps flyvende og landede på ballonen.

        "Væk med dig, dit væmmelige utyske!" råbte Grønne og slog efter hvepsen med et reb. Det skulle han aldrig have gjort, for hvepsen blev så rasende at den stak hul i ballonen.

   Luften sivede med en høj, pibende lyd ud af ballonen, og regnbuedråberne faldt ned.

As they soared and enjoyed the wiev a wasp came flying and landed on the balloon.
"Get away, ugly monster!" Green screamed, and slashed after the wasp with a loose rope. That was a stupid idea. He scared the wasp, and it stung the balloon with its stinger, making a little hole.
The air went out os the balloon with a long, loud sound, and the balloon with the Droplets slowly fell from the skies.

   Heldigvis sad ballonen igen fast i æbletræets grene, så de landede i god behold i forfatterens have.

The Droplets were lucky. The balloon was once again caugth by the branches of the apple tree. The Droplets climbed down a rope and were home again.

Brødet -- A Bread

• A winter's morning Blue avoke hungry. But in the kitchen there was no more bread, nor flour. 
• He went to Purple's home and asked: "Do you have any flour left?" 
• Purple relpied: "No, sorry, I used up the last flour for the bread I just ate." Blue went to all the other Droplets, but none of them had any flour left.

• In the end Blue reached Yellow's house. Yellow did not hae any flour either. Blue told her that none of the Droplets had any. 
• Yellow Replied: "But ... It's a catastrophe! Without flour I can not bake any more pancakes!"   
• White camme running: "I know how we can get some flour. MotherOwl feeds the birds

• Blue took his sack ant went to the bird feeding place. He met Mama Greenfinch, she looked very angry. "Hello Mama Grrenfinch. Why are you so angry?" 
• "I'm so hungry," Mama Greenfinch answered. "Do you see all those food balls half buried in the snow? A stupid squirrel gnawed through the strings. I and all the other birds dare not sit down here in the snow and eat, the cat will eat us then."

• "Maybe I can help," Blue said. "I'm hungry too, If I hang up alle the food balls again, can I then have all the wheat grains from up in the house?" 
• "That's a deal." Mama Greenfinch replied. 

Blue took a long string and tied it to the house on the pole. He then climbed down the pole, tied a food ball to the string, climbed up again, and tied the ball to its original string. Twice more Blue climbed the pole to the bird's feeding house, and then all the food balls were in place again.

Blue filled up his sack with wheat grains. Mama Greenfinch sat on the edge looking. Luckily there were lots of wheat in the mix, and Blue had his sack full in a hurry.

• "Good bye and thanks, Mama Greenfinch," Blue said waving.
• "It's me thanking," said the bird, and Blue slowly climbed down the pole with his full sack. 

Blue went home through the snow and ground the grains. He baked a wonderful big bread. And when it was done he went in search of the other Droplets. Blue thought they were hungry as well.

• Blue found the other Droplets in Yellow's house, where they were playing. They ate all of the warm, delicious bread, and became pleasantly full. 
• "Your bread is almost as good as Yellow's pancakes," Green said. 
• "Well then it's a luck that there is more grain. Yellow can make pancakes one of those days," Blue said.