Essays on literary works - 2023

My favorite Andersen fairy tales
Andersen Hans Christian

I really like to invent all kinds of magical stories. I still believe that a fairy tale lives nearby, you just need to be able to recognize the magical in the ordinary, not to pass it by. I was very happy when I read that this is how the great Danish writer Hans Christian Andersen created his fairy tales and stories. It seems that he looked around just as I am now, and the things around him suddenly began to speak aloud.

The colored umbrella already belonged to the omnipresent Ole Lukoye and brought good dreams only to good people. A white feather was dropped by wild swans or dropped by an ugly duckling. A pot with a flower on the windowsill remembered little Thumbelina. A needle and thread participated in the creation of new clothes for the foolish king. A tiny yellowed pea kept the noble Princess awake. The matches illuminated the last minutes of the poor orphan girl's life with happiness... And I was just afraid to approach the mirror: maybe an evil troll had bewitched it... Especially in winter, when a Snow Queen can grow from every snowflake outside the windows.

But every time, remembering Andersen's fairy tales, which I really like, I still chose one. A small molten lump of metal rests in my palm. This is all that remained in the oven from the steadfast tin soldier, from his courage and loyalty, from his ardent, unconditional love and stormy adventures.

He reminds me of a man who held fast and carried out a difficult service on his one tin leg, who did not bow to trials on the street, in the water, near a terrible rat, even in the mouth of a big fish. A person who silently endured the indifference of her beloved, but could not do anything with the malicious troll, who always interfered in all matters and even tricked the boy into throwing a tin soldier into the oven...

I am very sorry for the soldier, and I am proud of him. I bow before his steadfastness and the power of love. And I am very glad that his heart was not taken by the burning fire, because a real heart is immortal, even if it belongs to a child's toy.

In general, I believe that Andersen wrote his fairy tales for adults as well.