It's commonly supposed that all fairy tales are stories from the folk tradition, passed through the generations by storytellers since the dawn of time. While it's true that most fairy tales are rooted in oral folklore, many of the best-known stories actually come to us from literary sources. In nineteenth century Denmark, the writer Hans Christian Andersen (1805~1875) penned some of the best-loved fairy tales of all time: The Little Mermaid, The Wild Swans, The Emperor's New Clothes, The Ugly Duckling, and many others.

Although today Andersen is primarily known as a writer of stories for children, during his lifetime he was also celebrated for his other literary works, including six novels, five travel journals, three autobiographies, and numerous poems and plays. The modern image of Andersen is of a simple, innocent, child-like spinner of tales. Letters and diaries by Andersen, however, draw the picture of a very different man: a sharply intelligent, ambitious writer with a hardscrabble past, a love of high society, and a tortured soul. Likewise, Andersen's fairy tales, when read in the original Danish, are far more sophisticated and multi-layered than the simple children's fables they've become in all too many translated editions. The writer was no innocent naïf recounting fancies whispered by the fairies; he was a serious artist, a skillful literary craftsman, a shrewd observer of human nature and of the social scene of nineteenth century Denmark.

Chasing the Dream of Acting on Stage

Andersen's fairy tales can be read simply as magical adventures, but for the discerning reader they contain much more, bristling with characters drawn from Andersen's own life and from the many worlds he traveled through in his remarkable life's journey. Like the ugly duckling, born in a humble duck-yard, Andersen was born the son of a poor cobbler in the city of Odense, where the family shared a single room and lived a hand-to-mouth existence. Tall and gawky , ill at ease with other children, the boy spent most of his time reading and dreaming. Odense, at that time, was a provincial city still rooted in its rural past, with a living tradition of Danish folklore and colorful folk pageantry. Andersen learned Danish folk tales in his youth from old women in the spinning room of the insane asylum where his grandmother worked.

Andersen began writing at an early age, but his true ambition was to go on stage as an actor, dancer, or singer. At the age of 14, three years after his father's death, he left home and Odense altogether, traveling alone to Copenhagen to make his fame and fortune. Determined to join the Royal Theater, he presented himself to the theater's director, who bluntly advised the uneducated youth to go home. Growing desperate, Andersen pestered every luminary he could think of until he met Weyse, an accomplished composer. Weyse had risen from poverty himself, and he took pity on the boy. Weyse promptly raised a sum of money that enabled Andersen to rent a cheap room and to study with Siboni, director of the Royal Choir School.

Thus began a new period in Andersen's life. By day he studied and loitered in the theater, rubbing shoulders with some of the most famous men and women of Denmark's Golden Age; by night he lived in a mean little room in one of the city's most squalid neighborhoods, often going without meals and spending what little money he had on books. He practiced scenes from famous plays and began to study dance at the Royal Theater's Ballet School. But by the age of 17, his voice had changed; his gawky physique had proven unsuited to ballet. He was dismissed from school and informed that he had no future on the stage.

A youth other than Hans Christian Andersen might have crumbled under this blow, but throughout his life he possessed a remarkable degree of confidence and never lost faith in his worth, no matter how often he faced rejection.

Dreaming of Becoming a Playwright

Determined to find success in Denmark's theater but barred from a performance career, Andersen focused on his remaining talent: he’d become a writer of plays. He’d already submitted one play to the Royal Theater, which had promptly been turned down. Now the boy dashed off another play. It, too, was turned away. Yet the play had shown a glimmer of promise, and this brought him to the attention of Jonas Collin, the financial director of the Royal Theater. Collin decided to do something to solve the problem of Andersen, arranging an educational fund to be paid by the King of Denmark.

Andersen was sent away to a grammar school in the town of Slagelse. Four years later he returned to Copenhagen, where he lived in a small, clean attic room, studied with private tutors, and took his meals with the Collins and other prominent families. A year later, Andersen wrote his first book, A Walking Tour from the Holmen Canal to the Eastern Point of Anger. The book was a hit, quickly selling out its entire print run. He then wrote a play, which, to his delight, was accepted at the Royal Theater. Now Andersen concentrated on writing and publishing his first collection of poems.

Despite this bright beginning, the early years of his career were rocky ones. It was not until his books and poems began to excite attention abroad that critics started to take him seriously in his native land. This mixture of praise (from abroad) and censure (at home) was hurtful and confusing to Andersen. He grew into a man with two distinct and conflicting sides to his nature. In his talents he was supremely confident, speaking candidly of his high ambitions and rhapsodizing over each success. Yet he could also be sensitive, emotional, and hungry for approval to a debilitating degree.

A Different World of Fairy Tales

Andersen began to write fairy tales at the age of 29, with great excitement. His earliest stories are more clearly inspired by Danish folk tales than his later works—yet none are direct, unadorned retellings of Danish folk stories. Rather, these are original fictions that use Danish folklore as their starting point and then head off in bold new directions, borrowing further inspiration from The Thousand and One Nights, the German tales collected by the Brothers Grimm, and so on.

It's impossible today to fully understand the sensation these little stories caused, for nothing quite like them had ever been seen in Danish literature. The tales were revolutionary for several reasons. Across Europe, the field of children's fiction was still in its very early days and was still dominated by dull, pious stories intended to teach and inculcate moral values. Andersen's magical tales were rich as chocolate cake after a diet of wholesome gruel, and the narrative voice spoke familiarly, warmly, conspiratorially to children, rather than preaching to them from on high. And unlike the folk tales collected by the Grimms, set in distant lands once upon a time, Andersen set his tales in Copenhagen and other familiar, contemporary settings, mixed fantastical descriptions with common ordinary ones, and invested everyday household objects with personalities and magic. Even the language of the stories was fresh and radical.

Becoming Famous All Over the World

When Andersen was 33, the specter of poverty was banished from his life forever. Now he no longer depended on friends, or on the fickle whims of the reading public; now he was free to write as he liked—and for a time he put aside the writing of novels, which had been his bread and butter, and concentrated on fairy tales. Andersen wrote two hundred and ten fairy tales in all, published over the course of his life. The tales were translated across Europe, then made their way around the world, making him the best-known Scandinavian writer of his age.

But the lack of sophistication in the English text caused Andersen to be labeled as a writer for children only. Andersen himself railed against the notion of being viewed as a man whO'd spent his life with children. "I said loud and clear that I was dissatisfied ... that my tales were just as much for older people as for children, who only understood the outer trappings and did no comprehend and take in the whole work until they were mature—that naiveté was only part of my tales, that humor was what really gave them their flavor."

Though Andersen's humor is indeed a salient characteristic of the tales, what many readers remember most about Andersen's work is its overwhelming sadness. The little match girl dies, and the little mermaid is betrayed by her prince. Even tales that end happily—The Ugly Duckling, The Wild Swans—are heart-wrenching in their depiction of anguish endured along the way. People may find reading Andersen's tales a particularly wrenching experience—and yet they read them over and over, both attracted to and disturbed by their unflinching depiction of pain.

In 1867, when he was 62 years old, Hans Christian Andersen returned to Odense. A choir sang, and the entire city was illuminated in his honor. "A star of fortune hangs above me," Andersen once wrote. "Thousands have deserved it more than I; often I cannot understand why this good should have been vouchsafed to me among so many thousands. But if the star should set, even while I am penning these lines, be it so; still I can say it has shone, and I have received a rich portion." Andersen died in 1875, and his stories live on.

人们通常认为，所有的童话故事都源自于民间传说，从古至今，一直靠讲故事的人代代相传。的确，大多数童话故事都扎根于民间口头传说，但许多广为流传的故事能为我们所知，实际上是通过文学作品这一途径。在19世纪的丹麦，作家汉斯·克里斯蒂安·安徒生（1805~1875）就创作了有史以来最脍炙人口的一篇篇童话故事：《小美人鱼》《野天鹅》《皇帝的新装》《丑小鸭》等等。

今天，安徒生主要是以儿童文学作家的身份而闻名于世，但在世之时，他的其他一些文学作品也备受推崇，包括六部小说、五部游记、三部自传以及众多的诗歌和戏剧。在现代人眼中，安徒生单纯、天真，充满童稚之心，擅长讲故事。然而，安徒生的书信和日记却刻画出一个完全不同的形象：一个绝顶聪明、抱负远大的作家，早期家境贫寒，向往上流社会，灵魂饱受折磨。同样让人不曾想到的是，在丹麦原文中，安徒生所写的童话故事内容复杂高深、精炼老辣，往往包含多重寓意，远非为数众多的翻译版本所呈现出的单纯儿童故事所能比。安徒生绝不是一个单纯的鹦鹉学舌者——只会重复仙子们轻声细语的奇幻故事；他是一个严肃的艺术家、一个技艺娴熟的文学巨匠、一个目光敏锐的观察者——对人性和19世纪丹麦的市井百态体察入微。

少年的舞台梦想

你可以把安徒生的童话单纯当做魔幻历险故事来读，但对于富有洞察力的读者来说，它们的意义远非如此。童话里那一个个鲜活的人物都来自安徒生的亲身经历，来自他非凡的生命旅程中所游历的众多情境。和出生在简陋鸭圈里的那只丑小鸭一样，安徒生出生于欧登塞市一个贫穷的鞋匠家庭，一家人挤在一间屋里，度日艰难。小时候的安徒生个子很高，举止笨拙，和其他孩子相处时总是显得不自然，多半时间都是在读书、幻想。欧登塞市在当时还是一个植根于农业传统的闭塞小城，有着鲜活的丹麦民间故事传统以及多彩的民间露天演出习俗。在青年时期，安徒生就从在精神病院织布房工作的老妇人们那里听到了许多丹麦民间故事，他的祖母就曾在那里工作。

安徒生在很小的时候就开始创作了，但他真正的志向是要登上舞台，成为一名演员、舞蹈家或歌唱家。14岁那年，也就是他父亲去世三年之后，安徒生离开家，离开欧登塞，只身一人来到哥本哈根，打算闯出一番名气，赚取财富。他一心想加入皇家剧院，便找到剧院经理毛遂自荐，经理毫不客气地告诉这位没有受过教育的青年：回家去。绝望之下，安徒生不停地去烦扰他所能想起来的每一个头面人物，直到他最终遇到魏塞——一位功成名就的作曲家。魏塞本人出身贫寒，对安徒生充满同情。他很快筹集了一笔钱，使得安徒生能够租下一间廉价的小屋，并跟随皇家歌唱学校的负责人西博尼学习歌唱。

安徒生的生活由此掀开了新的一页。白天，他在剧院里学习、漫步，与丹麦黄金时代最著名的一些人物擦肩而过；夜晚，他待在哥本哈根一个最为肮脏的社区中，住在一间小小的陋室里，经常忍饥挨饿，却把仅有的一点钱花在买书上。他模仿著名戏剧中的一些场景来不断练习，并开始在皇家剧院的芭蕾舞学校学习舞蹈。但17岁那年，他的声音发生了变化，而且笨拙细长的身材也不再适合芭蕾舞表演。学校让他退学了，并告诉他在舞台上他没有前途。

遭受这样的打击，若是换成另外一个年轻人，很可能就一蹶不振了，但在汉斯·克里斯蒂安·安徒生的一生里，不管被拒绝多少次，他始终保持着一份超乎寻常的自信，从未对自己的价值丧失过信心。

剧作家之梦

原本要在丹麦的剧院中闯出一番事业，却被舞台表演拒之门外，安徒生只好专注于自己余下的才能：他要成为一名剧作家。他之前已经向皇家剧院投过一部戏剧的剧本，但很快就被退了回来。于是他又匆匆赶出了另一部戏剧，结果皇家剧院还是没有采用。然而，这部戏剧展现出的一些闪光之处引起了皇家剧院财务主管约纳斯·科林的注意。科林决定为安徒生做些事情来帮他解决问题：他为安徒生争取了一笔由丹麦国王提供的教育基金。

就这样，安徒生被送往位于斯劳厄尔瑟镇的文法学校学习。四年后，他回到哥本哈根，住在一间干净的小阁楼里，跟从家庭教师学习，在科林和其他名门望族的家里用餐。一年后，安徒生写出了他的第一本著作：《从霍尔门运河到阿迈厄岛东角步行记》。这本书取得了巨大成功，很快销售一空。接着，他又写了一部戏剧，这部戏剧被皇家剧院采用，这使他喜出望外。很快，安徒生又开始专注于第一部诗集的写作和出版。

尽管有一个良好的开端，安徒生写作生涯的初期仍然充满坎坷。直到他的著作和诗集开始在国外引起关注，国内的批评家才开始严肃地对待他。这种（国）外热（国）内冷的状况让安徒生感到受伤和困惑。渐渐地，他变成了一个具有两面个性的人，两方面截然不同又相互冲突。在才华方面他一直非常自信，直言不讳地谈论自己远大的理想，津津乐道于每一次成功。然而，有些时候他又非常敏感和情绪化，迫切地想得到人们的肯定，程度之甚简直让他为“名”消得人憔悴。

不一样的童话世界

29岁时，安徒生开始满怀激情地进行童话创作。他的早期作品比晚期作品更加明显地受到丹麦民间故事的影响，但没有一篇是丹麦民间故事直接的、不加修饰的复述品。相反，这些原创作品以丹麦民间故事为起点，然后大胆地朝着新的方向演绎，往往从《一千零一夜》和德国格林兄弟的童话故事等中进一步获得灵感。

今天，我们很难完全理解这些小故事所引发的轰动，因为它们在丹麦文学史上是前所未有的。这些故事在多个方面都具有革命性。从整个欧洲来说，儿童文学领域还处于刚刚起步的阶段，占主导地位的还是那些枯燥的、以道德说教为目的的宗教故事。安徒生的童话故事充满了魔力，读起来就像吃腻了粗茶淡饭的人突然吃到美味的巧克力蛋糕一样。故事中的叙述者不是居高临下地向儿童进行说教，而是以亲切、热情的语气窃窃私语般地向儿童倾诉。而且，这些故事和格林兄弟搜集的民间故事也不一样，它们不是发生在很久很久以前一个遥远的国度里，而是发生在哥本哈根和其他一些人们所熟悉的当代场景中，玄妙奇幻的描写中夹杂着现实主义的普通描写，普普通通的家庭用品被赋予各种人格和魔力。即使在语言上，这些故事也是不拘一格的，令人耳目一新。

一举成名天下知

安徒生33岁时，贫困的幽灵彻底从他的生活中消失了。这时，他已不再依靠朋友为生，也不再去迎合读者那变幻无常、难以捉摸的趣味；他已可以随心所欲写自己想写的东西——他曾一度撇开自己赖以糊口的小说写作，专心致志地进行童话创作。安徒生一共创作了210篇童话故事，发表时间贯穿他的一生。这些故事先是被翻译成欧洲各国的文字，然后从欧洲走向世界，使他成为当时最著名的斯堪的纳维亚作家。

然而，由于英语译本缺乏原文所特有的成熟，安徒生仅仅被归类为一个儿童文学作家。安徒生本人也强烈反对别人把他看做是一个终生与儿童打交道的人。“我曾明白无误地大声说过我的不满……我的故事不仅是为儿童而写，也同样是为成年人而写。儿童只能够理解其外在的东西，只有当他们成熟以后才能够理解、吸收作品的全部——童趣只是故事的一部分，幽默才是真正成就其深味的关键所在。”

虽然幽默的确是安徒生童话的一个显著特征，但许多读者记忆最深的却是安徒生作品中处处弥漫的忧伤情绪。卖火柴的小女孩死去了，小美人鱼遭到了王子的背叛。即使那些结尾皆大欢喜的故事，如《丑小鸭》和《野天鹅》，在描述主人公所经历的痛苦时，也会令人感到揪心的疼痛。人们也许会发现，读安徒生的童话是一种特别痛苦的经历，然而他们却百读不厌，安徒生对痛苦不加掩饰的描写既让他们感到不安，又让他们深深着迷。

1867年，62岁的汉斯·克里斯蒂安·安徒生回到了家乡欧登塞。在唱诗班的歌声中，整个城市张灯结彩，迎接他的归来。“幸运之星对我格外眷顾，”安徒生曾经写道，“成千上万的人都比我更有资格得到它，我常常难以理解为什么在成千上万的人中它偏偏对我青睐有加。但如果幸运之星真要陨落，即使就在我写这些话的时候，那就让它陨落好了。我依然可以说，幸运之星曾经闪耀过，我已得到它慷慨的眷顾。”1875年，安徒生与世长辞，但他的作品却永垂不朽。 3//VrUa4FmaWts/u2ijsnG0HJ1eeDQfTPUle9mAa8luozrfv5u6U3EdoLjeElP7y