You must have read Hans Christian Andersen's fairy tales, "The Daughter of the Sea", "The Princess on the Pea", "The Wild Swan", "The Nightingale", "The Emperor's New Clothes"... The Dane won the crown of children's literature, and even the highest honor in the world's children's literature was named after him, the International Hans Christian Andersen Prize.
Hans Christian Andersen is well known to us as a master of fairy tales, but in fact, writing fairy tales is only his side business. Hans Christian Andersen wrote poetry, drama, novels, and adult literature was his main business. But Andersen's fairy tales did not come from some kind of sudden inspiration, when he was a child, his father always told him stories from "One Thousand and One Nights", his grandmother liked to tell old Norse myths, and his neighbor's aunt occasionally told some country legends. It can be said that the seeds of fairy tales were buried in Andersen's heart very early, and his childhood, like ours, was full of fairy tales.
In this autobiography of My Fairy Tale Life, Hans Christian Andersen fondly recalls his childhood, and I even think that the first dozen pages are the most touching place in the whole book.
Andersen's father, a poor shoemaker, gave all his love to his son. Sunday is the father's only rest day, and he can spend the whole day making toys, drawing pictures, and telling stories for his son. "I occupy his body and mind, and he lives for me," Andersen wrote, "and only then can one see his smile." ”
Because of his poverty, his father, who loved poetry, was sent to learn to repair shoes, but he never showed any regrets. Until one day, when several students came to make boots, my father looked at the students' textbooks and his eyes were full of tears. He muttered to himself, "This is the way I should go." Since then, my father has never mentioned his dream.
Illustration of The Emperor's New Clothes
"She has a loving heart," Andersen writes of her mother. Despite the family of three crammed into a cramped, dilapidated cottage, my mother decorated the home in a delicate and lovely way: the walls were full of paintings, the drawers were full of beautiful glasses, the small branches picked up during the walk were placed behind the stove, and the linen sheets and curtains were always snow-white. The mother also set up an earthen box in the drain, planted with chives and parsley, "This is Mother's garden, which is still full of flowers in my fairy tale "The Snow Queen". ”
"Pea vines hang from the box, and roses stick out long branches. They coiled over the windows and intertwined with each other, almost like a triumphal arch woven of green leaves and flowers. ”
- "The Snow Queen"
Illustration of The Snow Queen
Unlike other little boys who played and played, Andersen liked to be alone. His craftsmanship was particularly good, and the puppets in the family were all dressed in small clothes he sewed, and they all became his own theatrical roles. The friends thought That Hans Christian Andersen was a weird guy, didn't know what he was thinking all day long, and even teased him for being mentally ill, "I had a chill and never played with them again." ”
Andersen's childhood always reminded me of "The Ugly Duckling", who came from a poor background, was disliked, and he thought he was ugly. In fact, Hans Christian Andersen also admitted that there is a portrayal of his life in "The Ugly Duckling". In his life, he went from being poor to rich, from being despised to being respected, and experiencing countless twists and turns in the middle, but he never bowed to fate.
Illustration of The Ugly Duckling
Ever since his parents took Hans Christian Andersen to see a play, he fell in love with the stage and felt that the theater was the most beautiful place in the world. So his father made him a small model of the theater and encouraged him: "Remember, God knows how far you can go. ”
When Hans Christian Andersen was 14 years old, the Royal Danish Theatre came to the small town of Osseden to perform. Hans Christian Andersen watched the entire performance on one side of the stage, and even took the stage to play the little retinue and shepherd. He seized every opportunity to show himself, put on his costume early to practice his lines, and received comments and encouragement from the lead actor, "I finally realized that I was born for the theater." ”
The Ugly Duckling has finally embarked on a journey to transform into a white swan. His mother helped Hans Christian Andersen pack his package and find a carriage for him to Copenhagen. The gray-haired grandmother also came to the city gate to send off, and she didn't say anything, just kept crying. The following year, his grandmother died, buried in a mass grave for the poor, and Hans Christian Andersen never found his grandmother's grave.
Illustration of Thumbelina
Andersen's childhood ended here, there was no longer any family around him, and he was alone in Copenhagen. He was still a sensitive, vulnerable small-town teenager, and that character hadn't changed since Andersen's rise to fame. Whoever says that his work is not good at all, he is angry and frustrated; when he travels abroad, even if he encounters a small emergency, he can complain incessantly. So when I read My Fairy Tale Life, I thought it was a bit of a ruin to my childhood. Because in my impression, Hans Christian Andersen, who can write so many wonderful fairy tales, does not seem to be such an awkward character. But Hans Christian Andersen was at least quite honest, without any self-glorification, and wrote everything in his autobiography.
In the same way, whoever treats Hans Christian Andersen well will always be grateful. In his autobiography, Hans Christian Andersen mentions all those who helped him, and he carries with him a souvenir book full of other people's gifts, which he regards as a treasure. As for those who have criticized Andersen, in addition to being weak and weak, he will also hand over better works to fight back, which is why Andersen is so prolific. His first collection of fairy tales was published in 1835, when the poisonous-tongued critic advised him not to waste his time on childish things for children, so Hans Christian Andersen angrily wrote a second, a third...
Andersen's paper-cut works
On April 2, 1855, Hans Christian Andersen finished writing "My Fairy Tale Life" and celebrated his 50th birthday. He says he's happy, and he's thankful for the ordeal he's been through, because "joy can also be born out of pain." He treats the autobiography as a home affair with friends and family, as a fairy tale told to children. In Andersen's own fairy tales, there is a dragon called poverty, a kind fairy who is generous and helpful, a dilapidated thatched hut that leaks rain, a dreamy royal castle, and the happiest ending.
Don't forget, the protagonist of this fairy tale is a thin, dreamy, good boy who breaks through the shackles of fate, and his name is Hans Christian Andersen.
Hans Christian Andersen (2 April 1805 – 4.4.1875)
Text/Hanzi