Han gjekk gjøne døro (He passed the door step) of the skyscraper
I natto (In the night) the pale green lights of the street lamps shone brighter
And his secret appeared like ei stjerna (a star) before his eyes
While his hands clasped to the smoke of the factories,
He gazed at a cloud that fell in Hordaland County
His heart was beating in slow motion, the tid (time), defused like a bomb
He stood by the kysten (shore) of the harbor, numb,
En bank (a bank) in his back, and this stjerna (star) that lifted the sails of the mystery of beauty
Above him like a cross, a burden, bent like a blue birch tree.

Da e injenting å dølja på (There are no secrets that hold)
It seemed to him that he heard these words spoken in front of the black ice
But ingen (no one) echoed his trembling voice.
He knelt before the water’s spike
And thought that love for him had always been like –
Å dørga (fishing while moving one’s boat slowly)

Fly eroderte kveldens rosagråaktige marmor (The planes eroded the gray-pink marble of the evening)
The water disappeared under the spurs’ blows of the boats
A woman passed by, her hair the color of dusts
She was washed away by the cruel glare of his eyes
Han såg på dei ødelagte strømpeboksena hennas (He looked at her torn stockings)
And decided to spend the night by the fading harbor.

Da e injenting å dølja på (There are no secrets that hold)
He murmured to the only stjerna (star) that remained bright for him
That lit up the whole valley of Bergensdalen
Et høve (a head) suddenly, bursting out of the water like a presentiment
Swam towards him. The star poured a melody of light on his body bent
Da hjelpe meg ikkje da spøtt (You are not helping me at all) he whispered to her,
I want to drown in the dazzling black of nights’ blur
Since love is exhilarating like a kaffi torrisert (roasted coffee)
A dark twilight, a sky cursed.

I want to extinguish all the lights of the city of Bergen,
Since she does not know the light of my soul
Since no one has ever pronounced my name
Before her eyes soaked with pity between her eyelashes,
Since my voice is foreign to her, since she has never
Heard the music of my fever for her yet,
In notes of rain streaming down her blue face —
Her face like the strange lake of Kalandsvatnet.

And when he said these words, the storm roared its windy whips
Over the bay of Vågen,
Darkness stretched out the shadowy hulls of the ships
De syv fjell (The seven wooded mountains) moaned
Together with the haven inflamed
The stranger took out ein pøse (a plastic bag) and placed it over his forehead, sweaty,
He started to run towards the sea
The fortress of Bergenhus looked down on the men with contempt.

A military ship was on fire and burnt.
The purplish pink of the twilight haunted him for a long time
He saw the icy water gush out of the trucks’ spears, a sublime
Fire took possession of the waves.
Adle samen må vera me (Everyone must participate)
Shouted the gravely voice of a fireman running
Towards his jacket already charred by the ashes crackling,
But already the frigate had gone up in smoke, the cargo of gunpowder
Disappeared in the oily foam and in the dark water,
He stayed there a long time; for a long time the smoke haunted him like a hollow monster

Da e injenting å dølja på (There are no secrets that hold)
He whispered to the only stjerna (star) that still shone,
He sat down on a bench and his whisper was lost in the wind alone
His silhouette melted into the mist and his prostrate body burned,
Became the wind itself, and then disappeared.

Note: Austevollsk is a dialect spoken by about 4000 people in Norway, on an island southwest of Bergen.