Page:A Picture-book without Pictures and Other Stories (1848).djvu/18

 1808 and 1809. A soldier of an Asturian regiment took him one day in his arms, danced with him amid tears of joy, which no doubt were called forth by the remembrance of a child he had left at home, and pressed the Madonna to his lips, which occasioned great trouble to his pious mother, who was a Lutheran.

In Odense at that time many old festivities were still in use, which made a deep impression on the boy, and were as so much material laid up in his richly poetical mind for after use, as all who are familiar with his works must be well aware. His father, among other works, industriously read in his Bible. One day he closed it with these words: “Christ became a man like unto us, but a very uncommon man!” at which his wife burst into tears, greatly distressed and shocked at what she called “blasphemy.” This made a deep impression on the boy, and he prayed in secret for the soul of his father. Another day his father said, “There is no other devil but what a man bears in his own breast!” After which, finding his arm scratched one morning when he awoke, his