- tradictions. Though acutely sensitive and easily dejected,
yet he was dogged, and sometimes almost pushing in his desire to be thought a great writer. From earliest days he had been full of enterprise and energy—the energy of the spirit, for his health had never been good, and had been made worse by privations. At thirty he said he felt sixty, but at sixty he felt younger.
The great Danish writer, Brandes, has written a splendid Essay on Andersen, in which he says in reference to him, "He who possesses talent should also possess courage." And Hans Andersen did possess these, the happiest perhaps of all combinations of qualities.
We may be glad to know that Hans Andersen was not vain of his looks; indeed, he thought himself very ugly. But he fancied that he looked distinguished. He had his hair curled every day, and he wore very high starched collars to hide his long neck, and very baggy trousers to hide his legs. But in spite of this he was always extremely odd to look at—immensely tall and shambling, with huge feet like boats, a great Roman nose, and almost invisible eyes. But this did not prevent his being simply idolized by the ladies of Denmark, several of whom wrote and asked him to marry them!
The end of Andersen's life was certainly the happiest period. For fifteen years at least, he had enjoyed the fact that of all Danish writers he was the
