736 
THE AMERICAN-SCAN DIN AVIAN REVIEW 
ception ol destiny is expressed. The Ugly Duckling contains a forci¬ 
ble presentation of himself as a poor persecuted bird who finally ends 
his days as a swan in the manor-house park. In The Snow Queen 
there is convincing proof that in spite of the tortuous pathways along 
which life has led him, he possesses once and for all the innocent soul 
of a child. The Fir-tree interprets 
his own nature according to the 
motif already referred to,—“Where 
thou art not, there is happiness.” 
The outer circumstances of An¬ 
dersen’s life gradually transformed 
the strange, lanky youth into a con¬ 
firmed and peculiar old bachelor. 
His sensitive excitable tempera¬ 
ment remained unchanged. His 
surroundings in Denmark kept 
him constantly on the alert and 
prevented his being absorbed by 
the humdrum quiet of everyday 
existence. Lonely and homeless, 
yet as poet ever in contact with 
the public, many were the vexa¬ 
tions to which he was forced to sub¬ 
mit. He suffered through his sen¬ 
sitiveness which, by his own admis- 
Scclpttjbed E ^ merged on the abnormal. He 
donned an armor of self-irony with 
which he could ward off attacks, 
but by nature he was extremely vulnerable. 
During his first stay in Paris he had an experience which pained 
him greatly. He was homesick and eager for mail. A trip to the post- 
office revealed a thick letter on which postage was due and for which 
he paid from his scanty purse. On breaking the seal the envelope was 
found to contain a clipping of a bitter attack on him, sent anony¬ 
mously. At home he was the object of scorn. Once just after his 
return from abroad, he overheard a passer-by say to a companion, 
“There goes our famous foreign orang-outang.” He knew then that 
he was home indeed. 
Yet nowhere in the world was he really so content as in Den¬ 
mark, especially when making his summer visits to the estates and 
manor-houses of the nobility. Here he was received as a dear and 
honored guest. His soul rejoiced in all the beauty and wealth with 
which he was surrounded. His hosts and hostesses were eager to ex¬ 
cuse his peculiarities. Rumor tells of a fright he once gave Countess 
Friis when on a visit to the estate of Frijsenborg. The countess was 
m m 
Wmm I 
Statue of 
Rosenborg Park, Copenhagen. Sculptured by 
A. V. Saabye, Erected in 1880 
