名人軼事：Once upon a time in denmark 01

If you are walking through New York’s Central Park on a fine summer

day, you might come across a group of children enthusiastically

listening to a story. The storyteller will be sitting beside a statue of

a kindly looking man holding an open book. Although this man never

actually visited New York, his fame as a writer of fairy tales and

children’s stories has spread far beyond his homeland.

Along with the Brothers Grimm, Hans Christian Andersen is recognized as

a key figure in 19th-century romantic fiction. He is, without question,

the best-known writer Denmark has ever produced. His stories continue to

delight children and adults the world over. Classic tales such as “The

Little Mermaid,” “The Ugly Duckling,” and “The Emperor’s New

Clothes” are loved for their humor and imagination. They are also loved

for the simple but significant messages they often contain.

Born on April 2, 1805, in Odense, Denmark, Andersen was an emotional,

yet imaginative, child. His father, a poor shoemaker, died in 1816. With

a mother who was very superstitious and unable to read or write, the boy

received little education as a child.

At 14, Andersen traveled to Copenhagen. There, he hoped to become an

actor or singer. He was lucky enough to spend some time with the Royal

Theater, but when his voice changed, he had to leave. Luckily, one of

the directors helped him by arranging his education.

Andersen gained admission to the University of Copenhagen in 1828, and

his literary career began soon afterwards. He hoped to achieve success

with poems and plays, and underestimated the kind of stories which have

made him famous. Though not particularly fond of children, he had a gift

for entertaining them. This led a friend to suggest he write down the

stories he invented.

Many of Andersen’s tales are based on folklore, and many are products

of his own imagination. All of them are told in a humorous and informal

style that children loved from the start. Few serious critics, however,

took notice of them when they first appeared.

Before his death in 1875, Andersen regularly traveled around Europe, and

was enthusiastically welcomed everywhere he went. Because he had always

wanted to be famous, he worked hard to gain a reputation in European

literary circles. Being a rather vain man, he complained in “The Fairy

Tale of My Life,” one of three autobiographies he wrote, that people

were not interested in his “serious” writing.

Nowadays, of course, Hans Christian Andersen is a household name.

Whether he would have liked it or not, millions of children and adults

will always be grateful for the magic his stories have brought to their

lives. The enchanted young listeners in Central Park are proof of that.

安徒生童話─無心插柳柳成蔭

如果你在一個晴朗的夏日漫步穿過紐約中央公園，你也許會碰見一群孩子在全神貫

注地聽著故事。說故事的人會坐在一個和藹可親的男人雕像旁，他手里拿著一本翻

開的書。雖然這位男士從來沒有去過紐約，他作為童話及兒童故事作家的名望，卻

超越故土、遠揚他鄉(xiāng)。

漢斯·克里斯蒂安·安徒生與格林兄弟一起被視為十九世紀浪漫小說的主要人物。

他無疑是丹麥史所產(chǎn)生的最負盛名的作家。他的故事至今仍不斷給全世界兒童和成

人帶來歡樂。比如《小美人魚》、《丑小鴨》及《皇帝的新裝》等經(jīng)典故事，均因

其幽默和想象受到人們的喜愛。故事也因其簡潔而意義深遠的寓意，備受大家的喜

愛。

安徒生1805年4月2日出生于丹麥歐登塞，他是一個多愁善感而富于想象力的孩子。

他的父親，一個貧困的鞋匠，在1816年去世。由于母親非常迷信而且不會讀書寫字

，這個男孩小時候沒受過什么教育。

14歲，安徒生前往哥本哈根。他希望能在那兒成為一名演員或歌手。他有幸能在皇

家劇院呆了一段時間，但當他變聲以后，他不得不離開。幸運的是，一位導演幫助

他，為他安排受教育。

1828年安徒生獲準進入哥本哈根大學學習，隨后他的文學創(chuàng)作生涯很快就開始了。

他原本希望能在詩和戲劇的領域里獲得成功，而低估了后來使他成名的那類故事。

雖然他不是特別喜歡孩子，卻有使孩童快樂的天分。這一點促使一位朋友建議他寫

下自己創(chuàng)造的故事。

安徒生的很多故事是以民間傳說為根據(jù)，也有很多是他自己想象力的產(chǎn)物。所有的

故事都以孩子們一聽就喜歡的詼諧和口語體述說。然而這些作品最初問世時，幾乎

沒有嚴肅的評論家注意到它們。

安徒生在1875年去世前，定期游歷歐洲各地，所到之處他都受到了熱烈的歡迎。由

于安徒生長久以來一直渴望出名，于是他發(fā)奮工作以求能在歐洲文壇獲得聲望。安

徒生是個頗為自命不凡的人，在他所著的三本自傳之一的《我童話般的人生》一書

中，他抱怨人們對他“嚴肅”的作品不感興趣。

現(xiàn)在，漢斯·克里斯蒂安·安徒生當然是個家喻戶曉的名字。不管安徒生喜不喜歡

，千千萬萬的兒童和大人會對他的故事給人生帶來的魔力永遠滿懷感激。在中央公

園心醉神迷的小聽眾就是最好的證明。