140 



THE NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC MAGAZINE 



Photograph from W. W. Rock 



IN TH^ COPENHAGEN FISH MARKET 



Not far from where these women are offering the previous clay's catch for sale is a 

 restaurant, famous throughout Europe. Here the customer chooses from large tanks the 

 fish that he wants baked or broiled. 



performances. Nothing can be more 

 lovely or stimulating dramatically than 

 the performance of national plays, or 

 of Shakespeare's Midsummer Night's 

 Dream, in the woods of Klampenborg. 



If the Danish weather could be counted 

 on, these plays would become an institu- 

 tion to which tourists would flock in 

 large numbers; but, though the Danish 

 spring and summer are delightful when 

 the weather is good, both in spring and 

 summer some days do come when rain 

 falls or the air turns damp and chill. 



castle op kronborg redoeent oe 

 Shakespeare's "hamlet" 



One of the most interesting perform- 

 ances was the playing of Hamlet on the 

 ramparts and in the courtyard of the 

 Castle of Kronborg. It gave one a thrill 

 to see the background of the castle, un- 

 changed since Shakespeare's time, static 

 against the action of the drama. It is 

 impossible to believe that Shakespeare 

 had not the very aspect of the ramparts 

 of Elsinore visualized in his mind when 

 he made the opening scene of Hamlet. 



An enterprising hotel keeper at Marian- 

 lyst, formerly a royal residence, has 

 erected a monument over what he calls 

 "the grave of Hamlet." Groups of 

 school-girls may be seen occasionally 

 dropping bouquets about the marble fig- 

 ure, and the legend runs that Sarah Bern- 

 hardt during her visit to Denmark actu- 

 ally shed a tear at this tomb. It is cer- 

 tain, however, that she drank a glass of 

 champagne a la mode of Queen Gertrude 

 to the manes of the Danish Prince ! 



It is a good piece of advertising, but 

 the enterprising proprietor has rather 

 overdone things by exploiting a pool near 

 by as the pond in which Ophelia, in her 

 madness, drowned herself. 



In truth, the atmosphere around the 

 Castle of Kronborg is very redolent of 

 that one Prince of Denmark who is im- 

 mortal. It makes no difference that he 

 never lived at Kronborg, for his spirit 

 haunts the place. There is the very 

 lobby near the throne-room, and the long 

 flights of stairs seem to be especially 

 made for the flitting and wandering fig- 

 ure of Ophelia! 



