Den 1. december

Dansk
For nisser er der kun én måned om året, der betyder noget, nemlig december. Og for at det hurtigt skal blive jul, tager Kongehusets nisser altid en lang lur efter juleaften, så det hurtigt kan blive jul igen. Derfor sover de lidt over elleve måneder i træk og vågner først den 1. december, som jo er i dag.  

Nissefar og Nissemor har året igennem sovet i den store lysekrone i Christian VII’s Palæ på Amalienborg, og man skal se godt efter, for at få øje på dem. Det er da også gået godt med at gemme sig indtil i dag, hvor der er heftig aktivitet i palæet med en hovedrengøring. Nisserne når næsten ikke at åbne deres små øjne før en støvkost fejer de to papnisser ned fra deres skjul, og lettere omtumlede får de lidt frisk luft væk fra alt støvet ude på slotsbalkonen. Her spekulerer de så et øjeblik på, hvorfor der mon er sådan et rend af folk i palæet netop i dag:

”Sådan plejer vi da ikke at blive vækket den 1. december,” surmuler Nissefar og prøver sammen med Nissemor at finde ud af, hvad der mon er årsagen til, at alle disse mennesker løber frem og tilbage både i Riddersalen og ude på slotspladsen. Pludselig overhører de nogen tale om Dronningens snarlige 50-års Regeringsjubilæum, og at alt derfor skal være skinnende og klar til den store fejring om blot halvanden måned.

”Det kan kun betyde én ting,” siger Nissemor og ser på sin hvidskæggede papnissemand: ”Du får travlt, og vi må hellere finde vores nissebørn”. Nisseforældrene iler fluks op på Amalienborgs loft, hvor familien holder til.    

English
For elves, there is only one month of the year that means something, and that’s the month of December. And in order for it to soon be Christmas, the elves of the Royal House of Denmark always take a long snooze after Christmas Eve, so that it can quickly be Christmas again. Therefore, they sleep a little more than eleven months in a row and don’t wake up until 1 December – which, of course, is today.   

All year through, Elf Father and Elf Mother have slumbered in the large chandelier in Christian VII’s Palace at Amalienborg, and you have to take a really good look to catch sight of them. Things have gone really well with hiding – until today, when there’s a flurry of activity in the palace because a thorough housecleaning is underway. The two cardboard elves can barely open their small eyes before a dust broom sweeps them down from their hiding place. Slightly dazed, they get a little fresh air away from all of the dust out on the palace balcony. Here, they speculate for a moment about why there’s such a run of people in the palace precisely today:

“This is not how we usually wake up on 1 December,” grumbles Elf Father. He and Elf Mother try to find out why it is that all of these people are running to and fro in the Great Hall and out on the palace square. Suddenly, they hear some talk about the approaching 50th anniversary of Her Majesty The Queen’s accession to the throne, and that everything has to be shiny and ready for the big celebration in just one and a half months.

“That can only mean one thing,” says Elf Mother, as she looks at her white-bearded cardboard elf husband. “You will get busy, and we had better find our elf children.” The elf parents scoot up to Amalienborg’s attic, where the family lives.