HANS CHRISTIAN ANDERSEN, THE "FAIRY TALE" OF HIS LIFE
I suppose the Dane best known to English boys and girls is Hans
Christian Andersen, whose charming fairy-tales are well known and loved
by them all. Most of you, however, know little about his life, but are
interested enough in him, I dare say, to wish to learn more, especially
as the knowledge will give you keener delight--if that is possible--in
reading the works of this "Prince of Story-tellers."
Andersen himself said: "My life has been so wonderful and so like a
fairy-tale, that I think I had a fairy godmother who granted my every
wish, for if I had chosen my own life's way, I could not have chosen
better."
Hans C. Andersen was the son of a poor shoemaker, an only child, born in
Odense, the capital of the Island of Funen. His parents were devoted to
him, and his father, who was of a studious turn of mind, delighted in
teaching his little son and interesting him in Nature. Very early in
life Hans was taken for long Sunday rambles, his father pointing out to
him the beauties of woods and meadows, or enchanting him with stories
from the "Arabian Nights."
At home the evenings were spent in dressing puppets for his favourite
show, or else, sitting on his father's knee, he listened while the
latter read aloud to his mother scenes from Holberg's plays. All day
Hans played with his puppet theatre, and soon began to imagine plays and
characters for the dolls, writing out programmes for them as soon as he
was able. Occasionally his grandmother would come and take the child to
play in the garden of the big house where she lived in the gardener's
lodge. These were red-letter days for little Hans, as he loved his
granny and enjoyed most thoroughly the pleasant garden and pretty
flowers.
The boy's first great trouble came when his father caught a fever and
died, leaving his mother without any means of support. To keep the
little home together his mother went out washing for her neighbours,
leaving little Hans to take care of himself. Being left to his own
devices, Hans developed his theatrical tendencies by constructing
costumes for his puppets, and making them perform his plays on the stage
of his toy theatre. Soon he varied this employment by reading plays and
also writing some himself. His mother, though secretly rejoicing in her
son's talent, soon saw the necessity for his doing something more
practical with his time and assisting her to keep the home together. So
at twelve years of age Hans was sent to a cloth-weaving factory, where
he earned a small weekly wage. The weavers soon discovered that Hans
could sing, and the men frequently made him amuse them, while the other
boys were made to do his work. One day the weavers played a coarse
practical joke on poor sensitive Hans, which sent him flying home in
such deep distress that his mother said he should not again return to
the factory.
Hans was now sent to the parish school for a few hours daily, and his
spare time was taken up with his "peep-show" and in fashioning smart
clothes for his puppets. His mother intended to apprentice her son to
the tailoring, but Hans had fully made up his mind to become an actor
and seek his fortune in Copenhagen. After his Confirmation--on which
great occasion he wore his father's coat and his first new boots--his
mother insisted on his being apprenticed without further delay. With
difficulty he finally succeeded in persuading her to let him start for
the capital with his few savings. His mother had married again, so could
not accompany him; therefore, with reluctance and with many injunctions
to return at once if all did not turn out well, she let him go.
Accompanying him to the town gate, they passed a gipsy on the way, who,
on being asked what fortune she could prophesy for the poor lad, said he
would return a great man, and his native place would be illuminated and
decorated in his honour!
Hans arrived in Copenhagen on September 5, a date which he considered
lucky for ever after. A few days in the city soon saw an end to his
money. He applied and got work at a carpenter's shop, but was driven
away by the coarseness of his fellow-workers. Hans made a friend of the
porter at the stage-door of the theatre, and begged for some employment
in the theatre; so occasionally he was allowed to walk across the stage
in a crowd, but obtained scanty remuneration, and the lad was often
hungry. Starving and destitute, the happy idea occurred to our hero to
try and earn something by his voice. He applied to Siboni, the Director
of the Music School, and was admitted to his presence whilst the latter
was at dinner. Fortunately for Hans, Baggersen the poet and Weyse the
celebrated composer were of the party, so for their amusement the boy
was asked to sing and recite. Weyse was so struck by the quality of his
voice and Baggersen with his poetic feeling, that they made a collection
among them there and then for him, and Siboni undertook to train his
voice. Unfortunately, in six months' time his voice gave way, and Siboni
counselled him to learn a trade. Hans returned to the theatre in the
hope of employment, and his persistence finally gained him a place in a
market scene. Making a friend of the son of the librarian, he obtained
permission to read at the library, and he wrote tragedies and plays,
some of which he took to the director of the theatre. This man became
Andersen's friend for life, for the grains of gold which he saw in his
work, marred though it was by want of education, roused his interest.
The director brought Andersen to the notice of the King, and he was sent
to the Latin school, where he took his place--although now a grown
man--among the boys in the lowest class but one. The master's tongue was
sharp, and the sensitive youth was dismayed by his own ignorance. The
kindness and sympathetic encouragement of the director was the only
brightness of this period of Hans' life. University life followed that
of school, and Andersen took a good degree. He now wrote a play, which
was accepted and produced at the theatre with such success that he wept
for joy. Soon his poems were published, and happiness and prosperity
followed. Later the King granted him a travelling stipend, of forty-five
pounds a year, and travelling became his greatest pleasure. Andersen
visited England two or three times, and reckoned Charles Dickens among
his friends. He was the honoured guest of Kings and Princes, and the
Royal Family of Denmark treated him as a personal friend.
Though his "Fairy Tales" are the best known of his writings, he wrote
successful novels, dramas and poems. Andersen's tastes were simple, and
his child-like, affectionate nature made him much beloved by all. His
native town, which he left as a poor boy, was illuminated and decorated
to welcome his return. Thus the gipsy's prophecy came true. He died
after the public celebration of his seventieth birthday, leaving all his
fortune to the family of his beloved benefactor, the director of the
theatre. A beautiful bronze monument is erected to his memory in the
children's garden of the King's Park, Copenhagen. Here the little Danes
have ever a gentle reminder of their great friend, Hans C. Andersen, who
felt--to use his own words--"like a poor boy who had had a King's mantle
thrown over him."
[Illustration: DRAGÖR PEASANT.]