安徒生之童话人生 安徒生：妙笔生花，童话人生

　　名人介绍很容易流于形式，变成其生平事迹的流水账。本文语言难度不高，却能巧妙地将安徒生的一生串联起来，脉络清晰，言之有物。大家不妨细读，学习作者写人记事的技巧。 　　
　　Hans Christian Andersen’s own life had some of the aspects of a fairy tale: he was born the son of a poor cobbler[补鞋匠], and he died rich and famous man, celebrated around the world, the intimate[密友] of kings and queens. Although today Andersen is primarily known as a writer of stories for children, during his lifetime he was also famous for his other literary works, including six novels, five travel journals, three autobiographies[自传], and numerous[众多的] poems and plays. Likewise, Andersen’s fairy tales, when read in the original Danish, are far more sophisticated[深奥的] and multi-layered than the simple children’s fables they’ve become in all too many translated editions, retellings, and media adaptations. The writer was no innocent man recounting[叙述] fancies whispered by the fairies; he was a serious artist, a skillful literary craftsman, a shrewd[精明的] observer of human nature and of the social scene of 19th century Denmark.
　　
　　Like the Ugly Duckling, born in a humble[粗陋的]duck-yard yet destined to become a swan, Andersen was born in the city of Odense, where the family shared a single room. There was always food, but never quite enough; there were books on the shelf, but no money for grammar school.
　　Tall and gawky[笨拙的], ill at ease with other children, Andersen spent his time reading, dreaming, sewing costumes out of scraps[废料] for his puppet[木偶] theater, and haunting the doorway of the city’s theater whenever traveling players came to town. He began writing at an early age, but his true ambition was to perform on stage as an actor, dancer, or singer. In 1819, at the age of 14, he traveled alone to Copenhagen in search of his fame and fortune.
　　Despite the hardships he endured and the humiliations he suffered through, the young Andersen was thrilled to be on his way to a theatrical career……r, so he thought. He practiced scenes from famous plays, tried his hand at writing a tragedy, 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[体形] had proven unsuitable for ballet. He was dismissed from school, informed that he had no future on the stage.
　　
　　Another youth than Andersen might have crumbled[崩溃] 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.
　　With the help of Jonas Collin, a powerful court official and the financial director of the Royal Theater, Andersen was sent away to grammar school in the town of Slagelse for four years. After his return to Copenhagen, Andersen sat down in his little attic[阁楼] room and wrote his first book, A Walking Tour from the Holmen Canal to the Eastern Point of Anger. This clever and fantastical[幻想的] work, written when he was just 22, follows a young poet through the streets of Copenhagen, over the course of a single night. The book was a hit, quickly selling out its entire print run.
　　He began to write fairy tales at the age of 29, with great excitement. A volume containing his first four tales was published in May, 1835. Andersen wrote altogether 210 fairy tales during 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.
　　It could be quite impossible today to fully understand the sensation these little stories caused, for nothing quite like them had ever been seen in Danish literature. Across Europe the field of children’s fiction was still in its very early days, still dominated by dull stories, intended to teach and inculcate[劝导] moral values. Andersen’s magical tales were rich as chocolate cake after a diet of gruel[稀粥], and the narrative voice spoke familiarly and warmly to children, rather than preaching[布道] to them from on high. They are comical and cynical[讽刺的], rather than morally[道德上] instructive. 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[当代的] settings, mixed fantastical descriptions with common ordinary ones, and invested everyday household objects with personalities and magic.
　　Even when you grow up, reading Andersen’s stories with abridged[删节的] and altered versions can be a surprising experience. He wrote children’s stories into which they carefully, skillfully embedded[内含的] comedy, social critique[批评], satire[讽刺文学], and philosophy aimed at adult readers. He created tales that are read and loved and told anew by each new generation. His style still inspires writers, artists, and dramatists to this day.
　　
　　In 1867, when he was 62 years old, Andersen returned to Odense. A choir[唱诗班] sang, and the entire city was illuminated[用彩灯装饰] in his honor. “Ａstar 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[部分].?Andersen died in 1875. His stories live on.
　　
　　汉斯・克里斯琴・安徒生的人生在某些方面就如同一个童话：他是一个穷鞋匠的儿子，去世时则是一位富足名流，在全球声名远播，是国王与女王们的密友。尽管现在安徒生一般被视为儿童文学作家，但在他的时代，他也因别的文学作品闻名遐迩，其中包括6部小说、5部游记、3部自传以及众多诗歌与戏剧。同样，在阅读丹麦文原作时，人们会发现它更加深奥，更有内涵，远远不是各种翻译、复述和媒体改编作品中的简易儿童故事可比。作者并非叙述仙人秘语的天真之士；他是一位严肃的艺术家，一位笔法高超的文学巨匠，一位精明细致、善于研究人性与19世纪丹麦社会状况的观察家。
　　
　　就像出生于粗陋的鸭圈但注定要成为天鹅的“丑小鸭”一样，安徒生出生于丹麦的欧登塞市，一家人挤在一个单间里生活。家中虽然不曾断粮，但总不怎么够吃；书架上总有书看，但家里没钱供他上语法学校。
　　安徒生个子高高，举止笨拙，与其他小孩呆在一起时老不自在，所以他将时间花在读书、做梦，和用碎布为他的木偶剧娃娃缝制衣服等事情上；每当流浪艺人来到他所住的城镇时，他还会在市剧院的走廊上流连。他年纪轻轻就开始写作，但他真正的梦想是成为演员、舞蹈家或者歌唱家登台献艺。1819年，14岁的他独自前往哥本哈根寻求功名。
　　虽然历经多番磨难，遭受众多羞辱，少年安徒生却为自己踏上了演艺之路而兴奋莫名……或者说他以为会如此。他排练名剧中的场景，练习写悲剧，而且在丹麦皇家剧院的芭蕾舞学校学习舞蹈。但到17岁时，他变声了，不灵活的体形也不适合芭蕾舞表演。最后他被勒令退学，理由是他毫无表演前途。
　　
　　换作是别的年轻人，受此打击可能会从此一蹶不振；但终其一生，安徒生一直拥有强烈的自信，无论面对多少否定，也从未对自己的价值失去信心。
　　在乔纳森・柯林（他是一个位高权重的法院官员和皇家剧院的财务主管）的帮助下，安徒生被送到斯莱格思镇的一所语法学校，并在那儿呆了4年。回到哥本哈根后，他躲进自己的阁楼小室，开始撰写他的第一部作品―《1828和1829年从霍尔门运河至阿迈厄岛东角步行记》。年仅22岁的安徒生完成了这部睿智且富含想象力的小说。故事讲述了一位年轻诗人在一个夜里穿行于哥本哈根的大街小巷的经历。该书风靡一时，一面世便旋即售磬。
　　29岁时，他满怀激情地开始童话创作。1835年5月，收集了他最早4个故事的童话集面世。安徒生一生共写了210个童话。这些故事被欧洲各国竞相翻译，而后又被流传至世界各地，使他成为当时最有名的斯堪的纳维亚作家。
　　我们现在也许很难理解这些童话何以产生如此大的轰动，因为丹麦文学中从未出现过这类作品。纵观（当时）整个欧洲，儿童小说领域尚处于早期发展阶段，旨在教育和灌输道德观的枯燥故事仍然占据着主导地位。而安徒生奇妙的故事如同在一顿稀粥之后的巧克力蛋糕一样丰富多彩。他对孩子的叙事口吻平易温和，而非高高在上地向他们说教。这些故事滑稽讽刺，而非教条式的启蒙。不同于格林兄弟收集的那些发生在很久以前某个遥远之地的故事，安徒生把故事的背景设在哥本哈根和其它为人熟知的地方，将充满想象力的描述与日常故事结合起来，为日常家庭用品赋予了个性与魔力。
　　即使当你长大成人，阅读经过删节与改编的安徒生童话依然会有不少惊喜。他在撰写儿童故事时，小心翼翼又充满技巧地融合了一些为成年读者而设的喜剧、社会评论、讽刺文学和哲学内容。他创作的故事被一代代人不断阅读，备受喜爱，广为流传。他的写作风格至今依然能为众多作家、艺术家和戏剧家带来灵感。
　　
　　1867年，62岁的安徒生回到欧登塞市。唱诗班欢歌迎接，整个城市为他张灯结彩。“一颗幸运星照耀着我，”安徒生曾经这样写道，“有成千上万的人比我更值得获此殊荣；我总是无法明白为什么这么幸运的事情没有选择那成千上万的人而降临到我身上。但如果这颗星星即将坠落，即便是在我写下这些句子的时候，那也由它去吧；我依然可以说它曾经照耀过我，而我已经获得充分眷顾了。”安徒生于1875年逝世，但他的故事仍将流芳万世。