1、THE SHADOWIt is in the hot lands that the sun burns, sure enough! there the peoplebecome quite a mahogany brown, ay, and in the HOTTEST lands they are burnt toNegroes. But now it was only to the HOT lands that a learned man had come fromthe cold; there he thought that he could run about just as when
2、 at home, buthe soon found out his mistake.He, and all sensible folks, were obliged to stay within doors-thewindow-shutters and doors were closed the whole day; it looked as if the wholehouse slept, or there was no one at home.The narrow street with the high houses, was built so that the sunshine mu
3、stfall there from morning till evening-it was really not to be borne.The learned man from the cold lands-he was a young man, and seemed to be aclever man-sat in a glowing oven; it took effect on him, he became quitemeagre-even his shadow shrunk in, for the sun had also an effect on it. Itwas first t
4、owards evening when the sun was down, that they began to freshen upagain.In the warm lands every window has a balcony, and the people came out on allthe balconies in the street-for one must have air, even if one be accustomedto be mahogany!* It was lively both up and down the street. Tailors, andsho
5、emakers, and all the folks, moved out into the street-chairs and tableswere brought forth-and candles burnt-yes, above a thousand lights wereburning-and the one talked and the other sung; and people walked andchurch-bells rang, and asses went along with a dingle-dingle-dong! for theytoo had bells on
6、. The street boys were screaming and hooting, and shouting andshooting, with devils and detonating balls-and there came corpse bearers andhood wearers-for there were funerals with psalm and hymn-and then the din ofcarriages driving and company arriving: yes, it was, in truth, lively enoughdown in th
7、e street. Only in that single house, which stood opposite that inwhich the learned foreigner lived, it was quite still; and yet some one livedthere, for there stood flowers in the balcony-they grew so well in the sunsheat! and that they could not do unless they were watered-and some one mustwater th
8、em-there must be somebody there. The door opposite was also openedlate in the evening, but it was dark within, at least in the front room;further in there was heard the sound of music. The learned foreigner thoughtit quite marvellous, but now-it might be that he only imagined it-for hefound everythi
9、ng marvellous out there, in the warm lands, if there had onlybeen no sun. The strangers landlord said that he didnt know who had takenthe house opposite, one saw no person about, and as to the music, it appearedto him to be extremely tiresome. “It is as if some one sat there, andpractised a piece th
10、at he could not master-always the same piece. I shallmaster it! says he; but yet he cannot master it, however long he plays.“* The word mahogany can be understood, in Danish, as having two meanings.In general, it means the reddish-brown wood itself; but in jest, it signifies“excessively fine,“ which
11、 arose from an anecdote of Nyboder, in Copenhagen,(the seamens quarter.) A sailors wife, who was always proud and fine, in herway, came to her neighbor, and complained that she had got a splinter in herfinger. “What of?“ asked the neighbors wife. “It is a mahogany splinter,“said the other. “Mahogany
12、! It cannot be less with you!“ exclaimed thewoman-and thence the proverb, “It is so mahogany!“-(that is, so excessivelyfine)-is derived.One night the stranger awoke-he slept with the doors of the balcony open-thecurtain before it was raised by the wind, and he thought that a strange lustrecame from
13、the opposite neighbors house; all the flowers shone like flames, inthe most beautiful colors, and in the midst of the flowers stood a slender,graceful maiden-it was as if she also shone; the light really hurt his eyes.He now opened them quite wide-yes, he was quite awake; with one spring he wason th
14、e floor; he crept gently behind the curtain, but the maiden was gone; theflowers shone no longer, but there they stood, fresh and blooming as ever; thedoor was ajar, and, far within, the music sounded so soft and delightful, onecould really melt away in sweet thoughts from it. Yet it was like a piec
15、e ofenchantment. And who lived there? Where was the actual entrance? The whole ofthe ground-floor was a row of shops, and there people could not always berunning through.One evening the stranger sat out on the balcony. The light burnt in the roombehind him; and thus it was quite natural that his sha
16、dow should fall on hisopposite neighbors wall. Yes! there it sat, directly opposite, between theflowers on the balcony; and when the stranger moved, the shadow also moved:for that it always does.“I think my shadow is the only living thing one sees over there,“ said thelearned man. “See, how nicely i
17、t sits between the flowers. The door standshalf-open: now the shadow should be cunning, and go into the room, look about,and then come and tell me what it had seen. Come, now! Be useful, and do me aservice,“ said he, in jest. “Have the kindness to step in. Now! Art thougoing?“ and then he nodded to
18、the shadow, and the shadow nodded again. “Wellthen, go! But dont stay away.“The stranger rose, and his shadow on the opposite neighbors balcony rosealso; the stranger turned round and the shadow also turned round. Yes! ifanyone had paid particular attention to it, they would have seen, quitedistinct
19、ly, that the shadow went in through the half-open balcony-door oftheir opposite neighbor, just as the stranger went into his own room, and letthe long curtain fall down after him.Next morning, the learned man went out to drink coffee and read thenewspapers.“What is that?“ said he, as he came out int
20、o the sunshine. “I have no shadow!So then, it has actually gone last night, and not come again. It is reallytiresome!“This annoyed him: not so much because the shadow was gone, but because he knewthere was a story about a man without a shadow.* It was known to everybody athome, in the cold lands; an
21、d if the learned man now came there and told hisstory, they would say that he was imitating it, and that he had no need to do.He would, therefore, not talk about it at all; and that was wisely thought.* Peter Schlemihl, the shadowless man.In the evening he went out again on the balcony. He had place
22、d the lightdirectly behind him, for he knew that the shadow would always have its masterfor a screen, but he could not entice it. He made himself little; he madehimself great: but no shadow came again. He said, “Hem! hem!“ but it was of nouse.It was vexatious; but in the warm lands everything grows
23、so quickly; and afterthe lapse of eight days he observed, to his great joy, that a new shadow camein the sunshine. In the course of three weeks he had a very fair shadow,which, when he set out for his home in the northern lands, grew more and morein the journey, so that at last it was so long and so
24、 large, that it was morethan sufficient.The learned man then came home, and he wrote books about what was true in theworld, and about what was good and what was beautiful; and there passed daysand years-yes! many years passed away.One evening, as he was sitting in his room, there was a gentle knocki
25、ng at thedoor.“Come in!“ said he; but no one came in; so he opened the door, and there stoodbefore him such an extremely lean man, that he felt quite strange. As to therest, the man was very finely dressed-he must be a gentleman.“Whom have I the honor of speaking?“ asked the learned man.“Yes! I thou
26、ght as much,“ said the fine man. “I thought you would not knowme. I have got so much body. I have even got flesh and clothes. You certainlynever thought of seeing me so well off. Do you not know your old shadow? Youcertainly thought I should never more return. Things have gone on well with mesince I
27、 was last with you. I have, in all respects, become very well off.Shall I purchase my freedom from service? If so, I can do it“; and then herattled a whole bunch of valuable seals that hung to his watch, and he stuckhis hand in the thick gold chain he wore around his neck-nay! how all hisfingers gli
28、ttered with diamond rings; and then all were pure gems.“Nay; I cannot recover from my surprise!“ said the learned man. “What is themeaning of all this?“Something common, is it not,“ said the shadow. “But you yourself do notbelong to the common order; and I, as you know well, have from a childfollowe
29、d in your footsteps. As soon as you found I was capable to go out alonein the world, I went my own way. I am in the most brilliant circumstances, butthere came a sort of desire over me to see you once more before you die; youwill die, I suppose? I also wished to see this land again-for you know weal
30、ways love our native land. I know you have got another shadow again; have Ianything to pay to it or you? If so, you will oblige me by saying what it is.“Nay, is it really thou?“ said the learned man. “It is most remarkable: Inever imagined that ones old shadow could come again as a man.“Tell me what
31、 I have to pay,“ said the shadow; “for I dont like to be in anysort of debt.“How canst thou talk so?“ said the learned man. “What debt is there to talkabout? Make thyself as free as anyone else. I am extremely glad to hear of thygood fortune: sit down, old friend, and tell me a little how it has gon
32、e withthee, and what thou hast seen at our opposite neighbors there-in the warmlands.“Yes, I will tell you all about it,“ said the shadow, and sat down: “but thenyou must also promise me, that, wherever you may meet me, you will never sayto anyone here in the town that I have been your shadow. I int
33、end to getbetrothed, for I can provide for more than one family.“Be quite at thy ease about that,“ said the learned man; “I shall not say toanyone who thou actually art: here is my hand-I promise it, and a mans bondis his word.“A word is a shadow,“ said the shadow, “and as such it must speak.“It was
34、 really quite astonishing how much of a man it was. It was dressedentirely in black, and of the very finest cloth; it had patent leather boots,and a hat that could be folded together, so that it was bare crown and brim;not to speak of what we already know it had-seals, gold neck-chain, anddiamond ri
35、ngs; yes, the shadow was well-dressed, and it was just that whichmade it quite a man.“Now I shall tell you my adventures,“ said the shadow; and then he sat, withthe polished boots, as heavily as he could, on the arm of the learned mansnew shadow, which lay like a poodle-dog at his feet. Now this was
36、 perhaps fromarrogance; and the shadow on the ground kept itself so still and quiet, thatit might hear all that passed: it wished to know how it could get free, andwork its way up, so as to become its own master.“Do you know who lived in our opposite neighbors house?“ said the shadow. “Itwas the mos
37、t charming of all beings, it was Poesy! I was there for threeweeks, and that has as much effect as if one had lived three thousand years,and read all that was composed and written; that is what I say, and it isright. I have seen everything and I know everything!“Poesy!“ cried the learned man. “Yes,
38、yes, she often dwells a recluse inlarge cities! Poesy! Yes, I have seen her-a single short moment, but sleepcame into my eyes! She stood on the balcony and shone as the Aurora Borealisshines. Go on, go on-thou wert on the balcony, and went through the doorway,and then-“Then I was in the antechamber,
39、“ said the shadow. “You always sat and lookedover to the antechamber. There was no light; there was a sort of twilight, butthe one door stood open directly opposite the other through a long row ofrooms and saloons, and there it was lighted up. I should have been completelykilled if I had gone over t
40、o the maiden; but I was circumspect, I took time tothink, and that one must always do.“And what didst thou then see?“ asked the learned man.“I saw everything, and I shall tell all to you: but-it is no pride on mypart-as a free man, and with the knowledge I have, not to speak of myposition in life, m
41、y excellent circumstances-I certainly wish that you wouldsay YOU* to me!“* It is the custom in Denmark for intimate acquaintances to use thesecond person singular, “Du,“ (thou) when speaking to each other. When afriendship is formed between men, they generally affirm it, when occasionoffers, either
42、in public or private, by drinking to each other and exclaiming,“thy health,“ at the same time striking their glasses together. This is calleddrinking “Duus“: they are then, “Duus Brodre,“ (thou brothers) and everafterwards use the pronoun “thou,“ to each other, it being regarded as morefamiliar than
43、 “De,“ (you). Father and mother, sister and brother say thou toone another-without regard to age or rank. Master and mistress say thou totheir servants the superior to the inferior. But servants and inferiors do notuse the same term to their masters, or superiors-nor is it ever used whenspeaking to
44、a stranger, or anyone with whom they are but slightly acquainted-they then say as in English-you.“I beg your pardon,“ said the learned man; “it is an old habit with me. YOUare perfectly right, and I shall remember it; but now you must tell me all YOUsaw!“Everything!“ said the shadow. “For I saw ever
45、ything, and I know everything!“How did it look in the furthest saloon?“ asked the learned man. “Was it thereas in the fresh woods? Was it there as in a holychurch? Were the saloons like the starlit firmament when we stand on the highmountains?“Everything was there!“ said the shadow. “I did not go qu
46、ite in, I remained inthe foremost room, in the twilight, but I stood there quite well; I saweverything, and I know everything! I have been in the antechamber at the courtof Poesy.“But WHAT DID you see? Did all the gods of the olden times pass through thelarge saloons? Did the old heroes combat there
47、? Did sweet children play there,and relate their dreams?“I tell you I was there, and you can conceive that I saw everything there wasto be seen. Had you come over there, you would not have been a man; but Ibecame so! And besides, I learned to know my inward nature, my innatequalities, the relationsh
48、ip I had with Poesy. At the time I was with you, Ithought not of that, but always-you know it well-when the sun rose, and whenthe sun went down, I became so strangely great; in the moonlight I was verynear being more distinct than yourself; at that time I did not understand mynature; it was revealed
49、 to me in the antechamber! I became a man! I came outmatured; but you were no longer in the warm lands; as a man I was ashamed togo as I did. I was in want of boots, of clothes, of the whole human varnishthat makes a man perceptible. I took my way-I tell it to you, but you willnot put it in any book-I took my way to the cake woman-I hid myself behindher; the woman didnt think how much she concealed. I went out first in theevening; I ran about the streets in the moonlight; I made myself long up thewalls-it tickle
