ANNE LISBETH.docx

1、ANNE LISBETH 1872 FAIRY TALES OF HANS CHRISTIAN ANDERSEN ANNE LISBETH by Hans Christian Andersen ANNE LISBETH was a beautiful young woman, with a red and whitecomplexion, glittering white teeth, and clear soft eyes; and herfootstep was light in the dance, but her mind was lighter still. Shehad a lit

2、tle child, not at all pretty; so he was put out to benursed by a laborers wife, and his mother went to the counts castle.She sat in splendid rooms, richly decorated with silk and velvet;not a breath of air was allowed to blow upon her, and no one wasallowed to speak to her harshly, for she was nurse

3、 to the countschild. He was fair and delicate as a prince, and beautiful as anangel; and how she loved this child! Her own boy was provided for bybeing at the laborers where the mouth watered more frequently thanthe pot boiled, and where in general no one was at home to take careof the child. Then h

4、e would cry, but what nobody knows nobody caresfor; so he would cry till he was tired, and then fall asleep; andwhile we are asleep we can feel neither hunger nor thirst. Ah, yes;sleep is a capital invention. As years went on, Anne Lisbeths child grew apace like weeds,although they said his growth h

5、ad been stunted. He had become quitea member of the family in which he dwelt; they received money tokeep him, so that his mother got rid of him altogether. She had becomequite a lady; she had a comfortable home of her own in the town; andout of doors, when she went for a walk, she wore a bonnet; but

6、 shenever walked out to see the laborer: that was too far from the town,and, indeed, she had nothing to go for, the boy now belonged tothese laboring people. He had food, and he could also do somethingtowards earning his living; he took care of Marys red cow, for heknew how to tend cattle and make h

7、imself useful. The great dog by the yard gate of a noblemans mansion sitsproudly on the top of his kennel when the sun shines, and barks atevery one that passes; but if it rains, he creeps into his house,and there he is warm and dry. Anne Lisbeths boy also sat in thesunshine on the top of the fence,

8、 cutting out a little toy. If itwas spring-time, he knew of three strawberry-plants in blossom,which would certainly bear fruit. This was his most hopeful thought,though it often came to nothing. And he had to sit out in the rainin the worst weather, and get wet to the skin, and let the cold winddry

9、 the clothes on his back afterwards. If he went near the farmyardbelonging to the count, he was pushed and knocked about, for the menand the maids said he was so horrible ugly; but he was used to allthis, for nobody loved him. This was how the world treated AnneLisbeths boy, and how could it be othe

10、rwise. It was his fate to bebeloved by no one. Hitherto he had been a land crab; the land atlast cast him adrift. He went to sea in a wretched vessel, and satat the helm, while the skipper sat over the grog-can. He was dirty andugly, half-frozen and half-starved; he always looked as if he neverhad e

11、nough to eat, which was really the case. Late in the autumn, when the weather was rough, windy, and wet,and the cold penetrated through the thickest clothing, especially atsea, a wretched boat went out to sea with only two men on board, or,more correctly, a man and a half, for it was the skipper and

12、 hisboy. There had only been a kind of twilight all day, and it soongrew quite dark, and so bitterly cold, that the skipper took a dram towarm him. The bottle was old, and the glass too. It was perfect in theupper part, but the foot was broken off, and it had therefore beenfixed upon a little carved

13、 block of wood, painted blue. A dram is agreat comfort, and two are better still, thought the skipper, whilethe boy sat at the helm, which he held fast in his hard seamedhands. He was ugly, and his hair was matted, and he looked crippledand stunted; they called him the field-laborers boy, though in

14、thechurch register he was entered as Anne Lisbeths son. The wind cutthrough the rigging, and the boat cut through the sea. The sails,filled by the wind, swelled out and carried them along in wild career.It was wet and rough above and below, and might still be worse.Hold! what is that? What has struc

15、k the boat? Was it a waterspout,or a heavy sea rolling suddenly upon them? Heaven help us! cried the boy at the helm, as the boat heeledover and lay on its beam ends. It had struck on a rock, which rosefrom the depths of the sea, and sank at once, like an old shoe in apuddle. It sank at once with mo

16、use and man, as the saying is.There might have been mice on board, but only one man and a half,the skipper and the laborers boy. No one saw it but the skimmingsea-gulls and the fishes beneath the water; and even they did notsee it properly, for they darted back with terror as the boat filledwith wat

17、er and sank. There it lay, scarcely a fathom below thesurface, and those two were provided for, buried, and forgotten. Theglass with the foot of blue wood was the only thing that did not sink,for the wood floated and the glass drifted away to be cast upon theshore and broken; where and when, is inde

18、ed of no consequence. Ithad served its purpose, and it had been loved, which Anne Lisbethsboy had not been. But in heaven no soul will be able to say, Neverloved. Anne Lisbeth had now lived in the town many years; she wascalled Madame, and felt dignified in consequence; she remembered theold, noble

19、days, in which she had driven in the carriage, and hadassociated with countess and baroness. Her beautiful, noble childhad been a dear angel, and possessed the kindest heart; he had lovedher so much, and she had loved him in return; they had kissed andloved each other, and the boy had been her joy,

20、her second life. Nowhe was fourteen years of age, tall, handsome, and clever. She hadnot seen him since she carried him in her arms; neither had she beenfor years to the counts palace; it was quite a journey thither fromthe town. I must make one effort to go, said Anne Lisbeth, to see mydarling, the

21、 counts sweet child, and press him to my heart. Certainlyhe must long to see me, too, the young count; no doubt he thinks of meand loves me, as in those days when he would fling his angel-armsround my neck, and lisp Anne Liz. It was music to my ears. Yes, Imust make an effort to see him again. She d

22、rove across the country ina graziers cart, and then got out, and continued her journey on foot,and thus reached the counts castle. It was as great and magnificentas it had always been, and the garden looked the same as ever; all theservants were strangers to her, not one of them knew Anne Lisbeth, n

23、orof what consequence she had once been there; but she felt sure thecountess would soon let them know it, and her darling boy, too: howshe longed to see him! Now that Anne Lisbeth was at her journeys end, she was keptwaiting a long time; and for those who wait, time passes slowly. Butbefore the grea

24、t people went in to dinner, she was called in andspoken to very graciously. She was to go in again after dinner, andthen she would see her sweet boy once more. How tall, and slender, andthin he had grown; but the eyes and the sweet angel mouth were stillbeautiful. He looked at her, but he did not sp

25、eak, he certainly didnot know who she was. He turned round and was going away, but sheseized his hand and pressed it to her lips. Well, well, he said; and with that he walked out of the room. Hewho filled her every thought! he whom she loved best, and who washer whole earthly pride! Anne Lisbeth wen

26、t forth from the castle into the public road,feeling mournful and sad; he whom she had nursed day and night, andeven now carried about in her dreams, had been cold and strange, andhad not a word or thought respecting her. A great black raven darteddown in front of her on the high road, and croaked d

27、ismally. Ah, said she, what bird of ill omen art thou? Presently shepassed the laborers hut; his wife stood at the door, and the twowomen spoke to each other. You look well, said the woman; youre fat and plump; you arewell off. Oh yes, answered Anne Lisbeth. The boat went down with them, continued t

28、he woman; Hans theskipper and the boy were both drowned; so theres an end of them. Ialways thought the boy would be able to help me with a few dollars.Hell never cost you anything more, Anne Lisbeth. So they were drowned, repeated Anne Lisbeth; but she said nomore, and the subject was dropped. She f

29、elt very low-spirited, becauseher count-child had shown no inclination to speak to her who loved himso well, and who had travelled so far to see him. The journey had costmoney too, and she had derived no great pleasure from it. Still shesaid not a word of all this; she could not relieve her heart by

30、telling the laborers wife, lest the latter should think she did notenjoy her former position at the castle. Then the raven flew over her,screaming again as he flew. The black wretch! said Anne Lisbeth, he will end by frighteningme today. She had brought coffee and chicory with her, for shethought it

31、 would be a charity to the poor woman to give them to her toboil a cup of coffee, and then she would take a cup herself. The woman prepared the coffee, and in the meantime Anne Lisbethseated her in a chair and fell asleep. Then she dreamed of somethingwhich she had never dreamed before; singularly e

32、nough she dreamed ofher own child, who had wept and hungered in the laborers hut, and hadbeen knocked about in heat and in cold, and who was now lying in thedepths of the sea, in a spot only known by God. She fancied she wasstill sitting in the hut, where the woman was busy preparing thecoffee, for she could smell the coffee