1839
The Rich Young Man
Søren Aabye inherited more than his father’s “transfigured image.” When
theestatewassettledinMarch1839,themerchant’stotalassetswerecalcu-
lated to be 125,341 rixdollars, 2 marks, and 8 shillings. The two brothers
eachreceivedoutrightone-quarterofthetotal,whichamountedtothetidy
sum of 31,335 rixdollars, 2 marks, and 2 shillings. In December 1838 the
houseat2Nytorvwassoldatauctiontothetwobrothersfor19,000rixdol-
lars.Therestoftheassetswereplacedinbonds,stocks,andothercommer-
cial paper. Thus neither of the brothers had any need to concern himself
about his future living arrangements or any other aspect of his economic
situation. At an annual yield of four percent, they could easily live on the
income from their assets, about 1,200 rixdollars a year.
WhilePeterChristiantookoverhisfather’sapartmentinthehouse,Søren
Aabye moved out and for the next couple of years shared an apartment at
11KultorvetwithPeterHansen,auniversitystudentfromsouthernJutland.
Therichyoungmanhadnonotionofsettlingdownasacomfortablegentle-
man of independent means, however. He wanted to finish his theology
degree, and when a friend commented that, now that his father had died,
SørenAabyenolongerhadtostudyforhisexaminations,herepliedlaconi-
cally: “No. Don’t you see, my friend, thatnowI can nolonger put off the
oldmanwithtalk.”AndinhisjournalKierkegaardseizedonthemetaphor
oftheriverGuadalquivir,withwhichhelovedtocomparehimself:“Now,
forayear,foramileintime,IwillplungeundergroundliketheriverGua-
dalquivir. I will surely emerge again!” In the late summer of 1839, before
he went underground in earnest, he bade a jocular farewell to his happy
moments, hislucida intervalla, as he called them: “You, too, mylucida inter-
valla, I must relinquish you. And you, my thoughts, imprisoned inside my
head—you can no longer be permitted to take strolls in the cool of the
evening.Butdonotloseheart.Becomebetteracquaintedwithoneanother,
keep one another company, and once in a while I will certainly steal away
topayyoua visit. Aurevoir!” Signed:“S.K.,formerly Dr. Exstaticus.”
Therewasnottobemuchtimeforvisiting.Kierkegaardsloggedhisway
thoughthetheologicaldisciplinesandattendedProfessorClausen’slectures,
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