(1) "retainer" is a kind of "steward" office in the royal family or aristocratic family in feudal times.
St Peter's Cathedral is a cathedral of the Vatican in Rome. The Pope holds all religious ceremonies here. It was built in 1506 ~ 1626 and lasted for 120 years. The ceiling is about 138 meters high and covers an area of 36,450 square meters. The indoor diameter is 2 10/0m, and there are 30 altars inside.
It was born in a locksmith's shop; However, people hammer it to pieces, so that people may think it is the product of a blacksmith. As far as the trouser pocket is concerned, it is too big, so people have to put it in their upper pockets. It often stays in the dark in this bag; But it also has a fixed position on the wall; This position is next to a portrait of my childhood-in this portrait, he looks like a meatball wrapped in a wrinkled shirt.
People say that people born under certain stars will have some characteristics of these stars in their own character and conduct-such as Taurus, Virgo and Scorpio in the almanac. My wife didn't mention the name of any such star, only that her husband was born under the "trolley star" because he always had to be pushed forward several times to move.
His father pushed him to an office, his mother pushed him to the road of marriage, and his wife pushed him to the position of a housekeeper-but she didn't say anything about this last thing, because she is a very measured woman: keep silent on the appropriate occasions, speak on the appropriate occasions, and move on.
Now he is old, as he himself said, "moderately fat and thin"; He is an educated man with a sense of humor, and he has a wealth of knowledge about keys-we will know them later. He is always in a good mood; Everyone likes him and wants to talk to him. When he goes to the city, it is difficult to get him home if his mother doesn't push him behind. He is sure to talk to every acquaintance he meets, but he has as many acquaintances as crossing the river. This makes him always put off eating.
My wife sat at the window expecting him. "Now he's here!" She said to the maid, "put the pot on quickly!" " ..... Now he stops to talk to someone. Put the pot away quickly, or the food will go bad! ..... Now he's here! Yes, put the lid on the pot again! "
But he still didn't come.
He can stand under the window and nod to her, but as long as an acquaintance walks by, he can't help himself; Have a word with this man. If another acquaintance walks by while he is talking to this person, he will grab this person's button hole, hold that person's hand, and greet the third acquaintance who is about to pass by loudly at the same time.
This is a real test of my wife's patience. "retainer! Minister of the Interior! " So she cried. "Yes, this man was born under a trolley star. He can't leave without pushing him! "
He likes going to bookstores and browsing books and magazines very much. He gave the bookseller some small gifts in order to get permission to borrow a new book and read it at home-that is, to get permission to cut the straight edge of the book instead of the top horizontal edge, because if you do this, you can't sell it as a new book. He is a living etiquette magazine: engagement, marriage, funeral, gossip in books, gossip in the streets, he knows everything. He can make mysterious hints to let people know things that many people don't know. He got this skill from the key to open the door.
In many European countries, especially France and Italy, some books are irrelevant and readers have to cut them themselves. Cut out a part of this page so that it can be read and still be sold as a new book.
The retainer and his wife have lived in their own mansion since the young newlyweds. They had the key at that time, but they didn't know its amazing ability at that time-they didn't know it until later.
It was during the reign of King Frederick VI. There was no gas in Copenhagen at that time. At that time, only oil lamps were used, and no mention was made of Foley or Casino. No trams, no railways. Compared with now, there are not many places for entertainment. On sundays, people just go out of the city to visit the mutual aid church, read the words carved on the graves, sit on the grass, eat the things in the basket and drink some soju. Otherwise, go to Fort fredericks Park, where there is a band playing in front of the palace. Many people come here to watch the royal family rowing on the narrow canal. The old king is at the helm; He and the queen nodded to everyone regardless of rank. Rich families come here from the city to have afternoon tea. They can go to the farmhouse outside the park to get boiled water, and as for other things, they have to prepare themselves.
(1) Frederick VI (1768 ~ 1839) belongs to Denmark (1808 ~ 1839) and Norway (1808 ~18).
(1) Tivoli is now a big amusement park in Copenhagen; Casino is now a large cafe and amusement park in Copenhagen.
My family also came here on a sunny Sunday afternoon. Their maid walked in front with a teapot, a basket of food and a glass of Lupu wine.
"Take the key to open the door!" The wife said, "So we can come in when we come back." You know, they locked the door as soon as it got dark, and the doorbell rope broke again yesterday! ..... We'll be home late! Moreover, after visiting Fort fredericks, I will go to the Gasotti Theatre in West Bridge to watch the pantomime Harlekin, the Leader of the Reaper. They came down from the clouds; The price of each ticket is two marks. "
In this way, they went to Fort fredericks, listened to music, saw the royal ship flying the national flag, and saw the old king and the snow-white swan. They had a hearty tea and left in a hurry, but they still didn't arrive at the theatre on time.
The program of stepping on the rope is over, the stilt dance is over, and the pantomime has begun; As usual, they were late; This is the fault of this retainer. He stopped to talk to an acquaintance every minute on the way. He met many good friends in the theater. After the performance, he and his wife will accompany an acquaintance back to Westbridge for a glass of punch. It was supposed to take 10 minutes to finish, but they stretched it to an hour. They can hardly finish talking. What is particularly interesting is a baron in Sweden-maybe a baron in Germany? I can't remember this holder clearly. But on the contrary, he always remembers the key patterns that the baron taught him. This is really something! He can call the key to answer all his questions, even the most secret things.
The key of the holder is particularly suitable for this purpose. Its head is so heavy that it has to be hung upside down. The baron put the handle of the key on the index finger of his right hand. It hangs there easily and happily; Every pulse of his fingertips can make it move and swing. If it doesn't move, the baron will know how to make it rotate according to his own will without being noticed. Each rotation represents a letter, starting from a to any letter we want. After the first letter appears, the key turns in the opposite direction and we can find the next letter. "So we can get the answer to the whole word, the whole sentence and the whole question. This is completely fictional, but it is very interesting. The retainer thought so at first, but he didn't stick to it. He was fascinated by the key.
"sir! Sir! " His wife cried. "Simon will be closed at 12! We can't get in, there is only a quarter of an hour left. "
They must hurry. Several people who want to go back to the city hurried past them. When they approached the last post, the clock was striking 12 and the door slammed. Many people were shut out, including courtiers and maids with teapots and empty baskets. Some people stood there feeling very scared, while others felt very uneasy. Everyone's mood is different. What should we do?
Fortunately, it has recently been decided that one gate-the North Gate-is not closed and pedestrians can enter the city through the post there.
This section of the road is not very short, but the weather is lovely; The sky is clean and dusty, with stars; The ditches and ponds are full of frogs. The people in this row began to sing-one after another. But this retainer neither sings, nor looks at the stars, nor even at his own legs. So he fell headlong on the edge of the ditch. People may think that he drank too much wine. But instead of punch, it's the key that runs around in his mind.
Finally, they came to the post at the north gate and crossed the bridge into the city.
"I'm relieved now!" The wife said. "Here we are!"
"But where is the key to open the door?" Asked the retainer. Neither in the back pocket nor in the side pocket.
[-(@_@)-]
"My God!" Cried his wife. "Have you lost your keys? You must have lost it while playing the key trick with that baron. How do we get in now? The doorbell rope was broken yesterday, and the doorman didn't have the key to open our house. This simply makes us desperate! "
The maid began to sob. Only this retainer is the only one who can keep calm.
"We must break the window of that grocery store!" He said; "Call him and walk in."
In large buildings in Europe, the ground floor is often uninhabited and only rented to small businessmen to open stores.
He broke a piece of glass. Then I broke two more pieces. "Better than life!" He shouted; Meanwhile, put the handle of the parasol into the window. The daughter of the man in the basement is screaming inside. The man opened the door of the shop and shouted, "night watchman!" " "But as soon as he saw the retainer, he immediately recognized them and let them in. The night watchman blew his whistle; Another night watchman in the nearby street whistled back. Many people crowded into the window.
"Where is the fire? What went wrong? " Everyone asked. When the retainer returned to his room, they were still asking. He took off his coat ... his key was there-not in his pocket, but in the mezzanine. It turned out that it slipped there from a hole that should not be in the pocket.
From that night on, this key has a special meaning, not only when they go out at night, but also when they are sitting at home. The retainer showed his cleverness and let the key answer all the questions. He came up with the most likely answer himself, but let the key say it, until later he believed the answer himself. But a pharmacist-a young man related to his wife-doesn't believe this.
Pharmacists have a clever mind; He has been writing book reviews and drama reviews since he was a student, but he has never signed them-this is an important thing. He is what we call an energetic man, but he doesn't believe in elves or key spirits.
"Yes, I believe, I believe," he said. "Dear retainer, I believe in keys and all keys, just as I believe in the new science that is beginning to be understood by everyone: cleverness and the elves of old and new furniture. Have you ever heard of it? I've heard of it! I once doubted it. You know, I am a skeptic, but I read a terrible story in a quite credible foreign magazine-I was persuaded. Minister of the Interior, can you imagine? Let me tell you the story I know.
This is a superstition that prevailed in Europe in the middle of 19 century: many people sit around the table and put their hands on it, and the table will move automatically. It is said that this is because "elves" work in the dark.
"Two clever children have seen their parents wake up a big table of elves. When these two little guys are alone in the room, they want to wake up a cupboard in the same way. It came back to life and its spirit woke up, but it ignored the orders of the two children. It stood up by itself, opened a crack, emptied all the drawers, and then carried two children into a drawer with its two wooden legs. In the cupboard, they ran out of the open door, down the stairs, into the street, into the canal and drowned two children. The two small bodies were buried in Christian graves, but the cabinets were taken to the conference hall of the municipal government, sentenced to death as killers of children, and burned alive in the market.
"I have read this story!" The pharmacist said, "I read it in a foreign magazine, not made it up by myself." With this key to testify, it's true! I solemnly swear! "
The retainer thinks this story is a vulgar joke. About the key, two people can never talk together; When it comes to keys, the pharmacist is a complete idiot.
The knowledge about keys is constantly improving. This key became the source of his entertainment and wisdom.
One night, the retainer went to bed; When he was in the middle of undressing, he suddenly heard someone knocking at the door in the corridor. This is a grocer. His visit was really late. He also took off half his clothes, but he said that he suddenly remembered something, fearing that he would forget it overnight.
"What I want to say is about my daughter Lotterin. She is a beautiful girl, and she has been proved. Now I want to settle her down. "
"My wife is not dead yet," said the retainer, smiling at the same time. "I have no son to introduce to her."
"I think you know what I mean, retainer!" The grocer said. "She can play the piano and sing. You may have heard it in this room upstairs. You don't know what this girl can do. She can imitate the way people talk and walk. She is a natural actress, which is a good way for girls with good family. They may marry the count, but it's not my idea or Lotterin's. She can sing and play the piano! So I accompanied her to a vocal school the day before yesterday. She sang once, but she lacks the voice that a woman must have, and the highest shrill voice like a canary that people expect of a female singer. So they all advised her not to do that. Later, I thought, if she can't be a singer, she can be an actress anyway-an actor can only recite lines. I talked to the teacher today, and they called him that. Has she read many books? He asked. "Not much," I said. I haven't read anything! He said: "It is necessary for an artist to read more books! I think it is not difficult; So I went home. I think she can go to a rented library and read all the books there. However, when I was taking off my clothes tonight, it suddenly occurred to me: I want to borrow books. Why should I rent them? There are plenty of books at home. Let her read it. She can't finish reading, and she can finish reading without spending a penny. "
"Lotterin is a lovely woman!" The retainer said, "Beauty! She should have books to read. But does she have what people call "essence"-that is, genius? More importantly: Is she blessed? "
"She won the lottery twice," said the grocer. "Once she drew a wardrobe, and another time she drew six sheets. I call this luck, and she has this kind of luck! "
"I'll ask for the key," said the retainer. He put the key on the index finger of his right hand and the index finger of the businessman, let it turn and mark a string of letters.
The key says: "victory and luck!" " "So Lotterin's future is so certain.
The retainer immediately gave her two books to read: one was a play about Dewey, and the other was Koenig's Making Friends in Life.
From that night on, the close relationship between Lotron and the retainer family began. She often visits this family; The retainer thinks that she is a clever woman. She also believed in him and the key. From her unconscious ignorance, the wife of the Minister of the Interior found that she was a little childish and naive. The couple loved her according to their own ideas, and she loved them as well.
"There is a very good smell upstairs," Lotlen said.
There is a fragrance floating in the corridor, a fragrance, and the fragrance of apples-the wife of the home secretary once put a whole barrel of "Grosden apples" in the corridor, and all the rooms are filled with the fragrance of roses and lavender.
(1) "Dewey" is a transliteration of Dutch Duiveke ("Little Pigeon"). This is the nickname of the daughter of a Dutch innkeeper who later became the mistress of King Christian II of Denmark. 15 17 died suddenly, which is said to be poisoning.
(2) a German baron adolf von Knic. He is a writer.
(3) This is a big apple, which is produced in a place called Krastyn on the island of SPA0 1 in EULAN SPA01.
"This is so cute!" Lotlen said.
The home secretary's wife often shows many beautiful flowers here, and Lotren is really dazzling. Yes, even in winter, lilacs and cherry blossoms are in full bloom here. These branches will soon grow leaves and flowers if they are put in water and put in a warm room.
"People may think that these bare branches are lifeless. However, please see how they came back to life. "
"I've never seen anything like it before," Lotlen said. "Nature is wonderful!"
So the retainer showed her his "key book". This book records all the strange things that the key said-even one night, when his maid's lover came to see her, half the apple cake in the cupboard was missing.
[-(@_@)-]
The retainer asked his key, "Who ate the apple cake-the cat or her lover?" The key replied, "her lover!" " "Home minister asked before. The maid had to admit: this damn key knows everything!
"Yes, isn't that unusual?" The retainer said. "the key! Keys! It made this prediction for Lotterin: "Victory and luck!" We will see it come true. I have a responsibility! "
"Great," Lotterin said.
My wife doesn't believe this easily, but she doesn't doubt it in person, because she is afraid that her husband will hear it. But later, she told Lotlen that the retainer was an opera fan when he was young. If someone had pushed him, he would have become an actor; But his family pushed him to the other side. He once insisted on entering the theater; In order to achieve this goal, he once wrote a play.
"Dear Lotterin, this is a big secret I told you. The play is well written. The Royal Theatre accepted, but was booed off the stage by the audience. So no one mentioned it later. This result makes me feel very happy. I'm his wife. I know him. Well, you're going the same way-I wish you all the best, but I don't believe it-I don't believe in keys! "
Lotlen is convinced of this; Under this belief, she agreed with the retainer. They are sincere soul mates.
This young lady has several talents that my family appreciates very much. Lotlen knows how to make starch from potatoes, how to weave silk gloves from old stockings, and how to mend silk noodles on dancing shoes-even though she has money to buy new clothes. As the grocer said, "there are a lot of silver dollars in the drawer and stocks in the till." My wife thought she could be an ideal wife for a pharmacist, but she didn't say it or put the key out. The pharmacist will get married soon and open a drugstore in the nearest big town.
Lotlen often reads Dewey and Koenig's Life and Making Friends. She kept these books for two years, and she knew Dewey by heart. She remembers all the characters in it, but she just wants to be one of them-the role of Dewey-and she doesn't want to perform in Beijing because people there are very jealous and don't welcome her to perform. According to the retainer, she really wants to start her artistic career in a bigger town.
It's really amazing: the young pharmacist started his career in this small town-if he is not the only young pharmacist in this city, he is the youngest pharmacist.
The long-awaited great night has finally arrived. Lott Aaron will play. The key point is that he will win and gain wealth. The retainer is not here; He is ill in bed and his wife is taking care of him. He had to use a warm napkin and drink chamomile tea; His stomach is bandaged and covered with tea.
The couple didn't attend Dewey's performance; But the pharmacist is there. He wrote a letter about the performance to his relative, the wife of the Minister of the Interior.
"The best one is Dewey's crepe collar!" He wrote, "If the key to the retainer is in my pocket, I must take it out and boo it a few times;" She deserves this treatment, and so does the key to that door-because it once shamelessly deceived her with words like' victory and luck'. "
The retainer read the letter. He said it was malicious slander-hatred for the key-and at the same time he took it out on this naive woman.
Once he was able to get up and recover, he wrote a short and vicious letter to the pharmacist. The pharmacist also replied in a tone as if he had read nothing but jokes and humorous words in the letter of the retainer.
He thanked him for his letter, just as he would like to thank the retainer for publicizing the incomparable value and importance of the key every time in the future. Then, he told his retainer that besides being a pharmacist, he was also writing a great key legend. In this book, all the characters without exception are the key. The "key to open the door" is of course the protagonist, and the key to open the door of the retainer is his model, which has unpredictable characteristics. All other keys revolve around it: for example, the key of the old minister who knows the luxurious and festive scenes of the court; A small and exquisite clock key worth three copper coins in the blacksmith's shop; The one who often deals with the priest has seen the key of the ghost's pulpit because he stayed in the keyhole all night. The keys to the storage room, woodshed and wine cellar are all out of the field, salute and move around the keys to open the door. The sun shines the key to the door as bright as silver; The wind-the essence of the universe-blows into its body and makes it whistle. It's a key worker, the key to the door of the retainer, now the key to the door of heaven, and the key to the pope. It can't be wrong!
"Malicious!" The retainer said, "Terrible malice!"
He and the pharmacist don't meet ... Yes, they only meet when the wife of the retainer is buried.
She died first.
The room is full of sadness and regret. Even those cherry branches that have blossomed and sprouted have withered with sadness. They were forgotten because she could no longer take care of them.
As the closest relative, Yamatonokusushi walked side by side behind the coffin. Now they have no time or mood to quarrel.
Lotlen wore a black veil on the retainer's hat. She came back here a long time ago and didn't get victory or luck from her artistic career. But she may win and be lucky in the future. Lotren has her future. The key once said so, and so did the retainer.
She came to see him. They talked about the dead, and they cried; Lotren is a soft-hearted man. They talk about art; Lotlen is very determined.
"Stage life is so cute!" She said, "But there are so many boring and jealous things!" I would rather go my own way. Solve your own problems first, then talk about art! "
Koenig once told the truth in his chapter about actors; She knows that the key is not telling the truth, but she doesn't want to be exposed in front of the retainer; She likes him too much.
In the year of his mourning, the door key was his only comfort. He asked it many questions and it answered them one by one. One night at the end of the year, he and Lotterin sat affectionately together. He asked the key:
"I will get married? Who am I going to marry? "
No one is urging him now; So he has to press the button. It says, "With Lotterin."
Having said that, Lotterin became the wife of the retainer.
"Victory and luck!" This sentence has been said before-it was said by the key to the door.
( 1872)
This work was first published in the second part of the third volume of New Fairy Tales and Stories published in Copenhagen in 1872. About this story, Andersen wrote: "Not long ago, the ingenuity generated by the table played a certain role in the social life of Copenhagen. Many people believe it. Even some people with brains and a certain position in the spiritual world think that tables and other furniture are spiritual and can communicate with all elves. When I visited several intellectuals living in a big manor in Germany, I met a' key essence'-a key that can foretell bad luck and good luck. Many people believe it. " Andersen also wrote: "The grocer's visit to the retainer and Lotren's artistic career are real in real life."
[-(@_@)-]