The Richmond Virginian. (Richmond, Va.) 1910-1920, 1913-01-05

mentS or his nervous eyes showed
the extreme constituencies OF his soul.
But his creative faculty was seen In
/ the thousand grimaces of his face,
in the flashes of humor that sud
denly shot across and beautified his
rather ugly features, in the changing
intonations Of his voice. He was a
@causeur." but he liked storytelling
better than "causerie" and he was
even more fond of reading than he
was of telling stories.
From his cradle to his grave An
dersen remained a child--4f the peo-
pie; poor; for long time in actual
need, a thousand times Inundated,
having been able to succeed only
through benevolence, he was during
his childhood and youth always
forced to fall back on his benefac-
tors. He preserved the impression
Of this in his whole being Even
when he had become recognized
everywhere. when he had acquired
some world experience and had be-
come great man. For great man
he unquestionably was. but a man
never. In his temperament he had
neither germ of virility nor manly
courage. His character was abso-
lutely devoid of means OF offensive
ness, never for a single moment did
1t occur TO him to attack the mighty
nor to champion a good cause. He
handled arms only in defense and he
defended himself only in some poetic
form
Tender and affectionate, easily sad
dened and still full of humor. easily
deceived and easily conquered, he was
a man Of Kind heart. dominated
by an Unsuitable ambition, TO which
he owed all his happiness and all
his sorrows.
To achieve fame, glory and adula
ton was ever his dream II was the
hope which night and day chimed in
his ears. first during tho long years
when he was unknown. then he was
being discussed and had only a rather
slender literary reputation - lean
: TN. TO bs famous and admire was
/ hts only Joy in his high old age,
though he trembled IT the slightest
breath of wind that IL hit disarrange
single leaf of his .aurels
Even after his triumph he remain
ed very sensitive TO anything that
was written about him A Norwegian
friend was once sitting with him in
cafe at Copenhagen. Suddenly he
saw Andersen turn pale while his
face expressed the keenest anguish
( Following the direction of Andersen 3
eyes ne found that he was reading
sensational paper in which some
obscure writer was making some In
sulting remarks about him.
But why a man Of your standing
should care about what is written
a bout you in a sheet like that is more
than l understand"
oh. / worry a little over every
thing" said Andersen, and the tears
ran down his cheeks
lie had strong desire TO rise
| above the crowd. but this desire was
Of a peculiar kind. He did not wish
for power. All he wanted was to be
! euiogized. With surprising frankness
! he writes himself My soul is happy
! only when ! am admired by every
! body. If / meet anybody who does
/ not admire me. no matter how in
significant that person may be. 1t
! makes me sad" He enjoyed being
/ praised even by the most stupid peo-
/ pie and felt hurt by sights from
! even the most ignortant. He bowed
/ deeply To the most insignificant per-
| sons II he thought they We're in n
position to write n praising article
! about him in the most obscure
papers
/ This was the reason also why he
| courted people Of high rank and
! why he was ANXIOUS 10 De received
! at the various courts This added
! 10 his reputation. the only treasure
/ ne boarded Towards the end Of his
/ life he became convinced that this
reputation was a national treasure.
/ one day he rushed w to me in the
I street and cried DO you know what
! they are writing about me in Por-
| tugal >" And he told me that his
tales had been translated and that
several papers had praised him high
/ ".
! ~ Then he rushed off