THE PUPPET-SHOW MAN

                                  1872

                 FAIRY TALES OF HANS CHRISTIAN ANDERSEN

                          THE PUPPET-SHOW MAN

                       by Hans Christian Andersen



ON board a steamer I once met an elderly man, with such a merry

face that, if it was really an index of his mind, he must have been

the happiest fellow in creation; and indeed he considered himself

so, for I heard it from his own mouth. He was a Dane, the owner of a

travelling theatre. He had all his company with him in a large box,

for he was the proprietor of a puppet-show. His inborn cheerfulness,

he said, had been tested by a member of the Polytechnic Institution,

and the experiment had made him completely happy. I did not at first

understand all this, but afterwards he explained the whole story to

me; and here it is:-

"I was giving a representation," he said, "in the hall of the

posting-house in the little town of Slagelse; there was a splendid

audience, entirely juvenile excepting two respectable matrons. All

at once, a person in black, of student-like appearance, entered the

room, and sat down; he laughed aloud at the telling points, and

applauded quite at the proper time. This was a very unusual

spectator for me, and I felt anxious to know who he was. I heard

that he was a member of the Polytechnic Institution in Copenhagen, who

had been sent out to lecture to the people in the provinces.

Punctually at eight o'clock my performance closed, for children must

go early to bed, and a manager must also consult the convenience of

the public.

"At nine o'clock the lecturer commenced his lecture and his

experiments, and then I formed a part of his audience. It was

wonderful both to hear and to see. The greater part of it was beyond

my comprehension, but it led me to think that if we men can acquire so

much, we must surely be intended to last longer than the little span

which extends only to the time when we are hidden away under the

earth. His experiments were quite miracles on a small scale, and yet

the explanations flowed as naturally as water from his lips. At the

time of Moses and the prophets, such a man would have been placed

among the sages of the land; in the middle ages they would have

burnt him at the stake.

"All night long I could not sleep; and the next evening when I

gave another performance and the lecturer was present, I was in one of

my best moods.

"I once heard of an actor, who, when he had to act the part of a

lover, always thought of one particular lady in the audience; he

only played for her, and forgot all the rest of the house, and now the

Polytechnic lecturer was my she, my only auditor, for whom alone I

played.

"When the performance was over, and the puppets removed behind the

curtain, the Polytechnic lecturer invited me into his room to take a

glass of wine. He talked of my comedies, and I of his science, and I

believe we were both equally pleased. But I had the best of it, for

there was much in what he did that he could not always explain to

me. For instance, why a piece of iron which is rubbed on a cylinder,

should become magnetic. How does this happen? The magnetic sparks come

to it,- but how? It is the same with people in the world; they are

rubbed about on this spherical globe till the electric spark comes

upon them, and then we have a Napoleon, or a Luther, or some one of

the kind.

"'The whole world is but a series of miracles,' said the lecturer,

'but we are so accustomed to them that we call them everyday matters.'

And he went on explaining things to me till my skull seemed lifted

from my brain, and I declared that were I not such an old fellow, I

would at once become a member of the Polytechnic Institution, that I

might learn to look at the bright side of everything, although I was

one of the happiest of men.

"'One of the happiest!' said the lecturer, as if the idea

pleased him; 'are you really happy?'

"'Yes,' I replied; 'for I am welcomed in every town, when I arrive

with my company; but I certainly have one wish which sometimes

weighs upon my cheerful temper like a mountain of lead. I should

like to become the manager of a real theatre, and the director of a

real troupe of men and women.'

"'I understand,' he said; 'you would like to have life breathed

into your puppets, so that they might be living actors, and you

their director. And would you then be quite happy?'

"I said I believed so. But he did not; and we talked it over in

all manner of ways, yet could not agree on the subject. However, the

wine was excellent, and we clanked our glasses together as we drank.

There must have been magic in it, or I should most certainly become

tipsy; but that did not happen, for my mind seemed quite clear; and,

indeed, a kind of sunshine filled the room, and beamed from the eyes

of the Polytechnic lecturer. It made me think of the old stories

when the gods, in their immortal youth, wandered upon this earth,

and paid visits to mankind. I said so to him, and he smiled; and I

could have sworn that he was one of these ancient deities in disguise,

or, at all events, that he belonged to the race of the gods. The

result seemed to prove I was right in my suspicions; for it was

arranged that my highest wish should be granted, that my puppets

were to be gifted with life, and that I was to be the manager of a

real company. We drank to my success, and clanked our glasses. Then he

packed all my dolls into the box, and fastened it on my back, and I

felt as if I were spinning round in a circle, and presently found

myself lying on the floor. I remember that quite well. And then the

whole company sprang from the box. The spirit had come upon us all;

the puppets had become distinguished actors- at least, so they said

themselves- and I was their director.

"When all was ready for the first representation, the whole

company requested permission to speak to me before appearing in

public. The dancing lady said the house could not be supported

unless she stood on one leg; for she was a great genius, and begged to

be treated as such. The lady who acted the part of the queen

expected to be treated as a queen off the stage, as well as on it,

or else she said she should get out of practice. The man whose duty it

was to deliver a letter gave himself as many airs as he who took the

part of first lover in the piece; he declared that the inferior

parts were as important as the great ones, and deserving equal

consideration, as parts of an artistic whole. The hero of the piece

would only play in a part containing points likely to bring down the

applause of the house. The 'prima donna' would only act when the

lights were red, for she declared that a blue light did not suit her

complexion. It was like a company of flies in a bottle, and I was in

the bottle with them; for I was their director. My breath was taken

away, my head whirled, and I was as miserable as a man could be. It

was quite a novel, strange set of beings among whom I now found

myself. I only wished I had them all in my box again, and that I had

never been their director. So I told them roundly that, after all,

they were nothing but puppets; and then they killed me. After a

while I found myself lying on my bed in my room; but how I got

there, or how I got away at all from the Polytechnic professor, he may

perhaps know, I don't. The moon shone upon the floor, the box lay

open, and the dolls were all scattered about in great confusion; but I

was not idle. I jumped off the bed, and into the box they all had to

go, some on their heads, some on their feet. Then I shut down the lid,

and seated myself upon the box. 'Now you'll have to stay,' said I,

'and I shall be cautious how I wish you flesh and blood again.'

"I felt quite light, my cheerfulness had returned, and I was the

happiest of mortals. The Polytechnic professor had fully cured me. I

was as happy as a king, and went to sleep on the box. Next morning-

correctly speaking, it was noon, for I slept remarkably late that day-

I found myself still sitting there, in happy consciousness that my

former wish had been a foolish one. I inquired for the Polytechnic

professor; but he had disappeared like the Greek and Roman gods;

from that time I have been the happiest man in the world. I am a happy

director; for none of my company ever grumble, nor the public

either, for I always make them merry. I can arrange my pieces just

as I please. I choose out of every comedy what I like best, and no one

is offended. Plays that are neglected now-a-days by the great public

were ran after thirty years ago, and listened to till the tears ran

down the cheeks of the audience. These are the pieces I bring forward.

I place them before the little ones, who cry over them as papa and

mamma used to cry thirty years ago. But I make them shorter, for the

youngsters don't like long speeches; and if they have anything

mournful, they like it to be over quickly."

                        THE END

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