Paroles et traduction Lillebjørn Nilsen - Den bakvendte visa

Den bakvendte visa

Eg beisa min støvel og sala mitt sverd,
Så batt eg merra ved sida.
Så reiste eg meg til kattemordsferd,
Skulle stande den farlege strida.

Eg låg og eg datt
Eg drøymde inatt,
Eg totte den visa var bakvendt ratt.
Og laksen høgt i furutopp,
Han braut smålauvet av greinir.
Og ikorn ned på havsens botn,
Skulle brota opp store grå steinar.

Og reven var raud og ikorn var snau,
Det stod tvo dyr uti skogen.
Der stande tvoikorn og tamde ein bjørn:
Dei ville vel hava'n fyr plogen!
Så kom det fram ein gamal blind mann,
Skulle Sjå kor det leid nå med tida.
Og månen han gol og stjørnune song,
Det skein ein gauk oppi lia.

The Upside-Down Song

I put on my boot and saddled my sword,
Then tied my mare up by her side.
Then I set off for a battle with the cats,
To face the perilous fight.

I lay down and I fell asleep,
I dreamed last night,
I thought that the song was completely reversed.
And the salmon high in the pine treetops,
He broke the small leaves off of the branches.
And the squirrel down on the ocean floor,
Was going to break up big gray stones.

And the fox was red and the squirrel was bald,
There were two animals standing in the forest.
There stood two squirrels and they tamed a bear:
They surely wanted to have him for the plow!
Then up came an old, blind man,
To see how things were going with the times.
And the moon he howled and the stars they sang,
A cuckoo crowed up in the hillside.