København.

Copenhagen.

Tårnhøje bygninger.

Towering buildings.

Biler, der brummer.

Humming cars.

Et sted midt i det hele, på toppen af en glasbygning, stod der tre mennesker.

Somewhere in the midst of it all, atop a glass building, stood three people.

Sofie, Lars og Henrik.

Sofie, Lars, and Henrik.

Sofie holdt en kop varm kaffe.

Sofie held a cup of hot coffee.

Hun skulle til at sætte den på bordet, da hendes hånd rystede.

She was about to set it on the table when her hand trembled.

Og så sker det.

And then it happened.

Kaffen løber ned over Lars' hvide skjorte.

The coffee spilled down Lars' white shirt.

Alle var stille i et øjeblik.

Everyone was silent for a moment.

"Øh, det er jeg virkelig ked af," stammer Sofie.

"Uh, I'm really sorry," stammered Sofie.

Lars sukker dybt, men siger ikke noget.

Lars sighed deeply but said nothing.

Spændingen i lokalet var håndgribelig.

The tension in the room was palpable.

Henrik, som var kendt for at være en sjov fyr, besluttede at sprede spændingen lidt.

Henrik, known to be a funny guy, decided to break the tension a bit.

Han tager en dyb indånding.

He took a deep breath.

"Hvorfor bærer politimænd altid en blyant?"

"Why do police officers always carry a pencil?"

spørger han.

he asked.

Sofie og Lars kigger forvirret på ham.

Sofie and Lars looked confused at him.

"Øhm," mumler Sofie, "ved ikke.

"Um," mumbled Sofie, "I don't know.

Hvorfor gør de det?"

Why do they?"

"Nå, fordi de altid vil være i stand til at tegne en streg i sandet!"

"Well, because they always want to be able to draw a line in the sand!"

Henrik griner.

Henrik laughed.

Men hans joke forsvandt i oversættelse.

But his joke got lost in translation.

Sofie smiler svagt.

Sofie smiled weakly.

Lars ser bare koldt på ham.

Lars just looked coldly at him.

Resten af mødet gik meget stille af.

The rest of the meeting proceeded in silence.

Ingen talte om kaffeuheldet igen.

No one mentioned the coffee accident again.

Men stemningen blev ved med at være anspændt.

But the atmosphere remained tense.

Efter mødet er Lars den første, der går.

After the meeting, Lars was the first to leave.

Han har stadig en mørk plet på sin skjorte.

He still had a dark stain on his shirt.

Sofie ser på Henrik.

Sofie looked at Henrik.

Han trækker på skuldrende.

He shrugged.

"Prøvede mit bedste," siger han.

"Did my best," he said.

"Næste gang, lad være med at lave en joke på dansk.

"Next time, don't make a joke in Danish.

Det fungerer ikke rigtigt" plutrer Sofie.

It doesn't really work," muttered Sofie.

"Næste gang, prøv ikke at spilde kaffe på Lars," griner Henrik.

"Next time, try not to spill coffee on Lars," Henrik laughed.

Sofie griner også.

Sofie chuckled too.

Senere, da Sofie er på vej hjem, tænker hun på dagen.

Later, as Sofie was on her way home, she thought about the day.

Jo mere hun tænker over det, jo mere virker det fjollet.

The more she thought about it, the more foolish it seemed.

Hun er sikker på, at det vil blive bedre.

She was sure things would get better.

Næste dag kommer Sofie og Henrik tidligt på kontoret.

The next day, Sofie and Henrik arrived early at the office.

De har en ny kaffekande.

They had a new coffee pot.

Og en engelsk vittighedsbog.

And an English joke book.

Ingen vil glemme, hvad der skete.

No one would forget what happened.

Men alle vil prøve at gøre det bedre.

But everyone would try to do better.

Selv Lars griner, når han ser kaffekanden.

Even Lars laughed when he saw the coffee pot.

Han tager sin kaffe sort.

He took his coffee black.

Ingen ryster denne gang.

No one trembled this time.

Det er en ny start.

It was a fresh start.

Og sådan fandt en dag fuld af akavet spænding sin positiv løsning.

And so, a day filled with awkward tension found its positive resolution.

De lærte at se det sjove i det.

They learned to see the humor in it.

For i København, blandt høje bygninger og tusindvis af mennesker, er der altid plads til en ny begyndelse... og en god joke.

Because in Copenhagen, among tall buildings and thousands of people, there is always room for a new beginning... and a good joke.