The Complete Fairy Tales & Other Stories
By Hans Christian Andersen - online book

Oxford Complete Illustrated Edition all his stories written between 1835 and 1872.

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THE SHADOW                            377
on the sunny side, and am always at home in rainy weather.'                                               ***
And the Shadow went away.
That was very remarkable,' said the learned man. Years and days passed by, and the Shadow came again.
* How goes it ? ' he asked.
' Ah ! ' said the learned man, ' I'm writing about the true, the good, and the beautiful ; but nobody cares to hear of anything of the kind : I am quite in despair, for I take that to heart.'
' That I do not,' said the Shadow. ' I'm becoming fat and hearty, and that's what one must try to become. You don't understand the world, and you're getting ill. You must travel. I'll make a journey this summer ; will you go too ? I should like to have a travelling companion ; will you go with me as my shadow ? I shall be very happy to take you, and I'll pay the expenses.'
1 That's going a little too far,' said the learned man.
* As you take it,' replied the Shadow. ' A journey will do you a great deal of good. Will you be my shadow ?— then you shall have everything on the journey for nothing.'
* That 's too strong ! ' said the learned man.
1 But it's the way of the world,' said the Shadow, * and so it will remain ! ' And he went away.
The learned man was not at all fortunate. Sorrow and care pursued him, and what he said of the true and the good and the beautiful was as little valued by most people as roses would be by a cow. At last he became quite ill.
1 You really look like a shadow !' people said ; and a shiver ran through him at these words, for he attached a peculiar meaning to them.
1 You must go to a watering-place ! ' said the Shadow, who came to pay him a visit. ' There 's no other help for you. I'll take you with me, for the sake of old acquain­tance. I'll pay the expenses of the journey, and you shall make a description of it, and shorten time for me on the way. I want to visit a watering-place. My beard doesn't grow quite as it should, and that is a kind of illness ; and a beard I must have. Now, be reasonable and accept my proposal: we shall travel like comrades.'
And they travelled. The Shadow was master now, and