Thatistrueenough.Andbythesametoken,eroticpassionisnotneces-
sarily predestined to end in a marriage but can discharge itself in a quite
different manner—for example, as literature.
The Translator
On July 21, 1839, the external world of Copenhagen suddenly broke in
upon Kierkegaard’s solitary confinement: “Now I can understand why
H. Hertz was so eager to talk with me, now that I am reading his latest
handiwork with its political whimsies and outbursts. It’s just a shame that
he left out the Translator’s satirical whimsies.” Kierkegaard had left off
memorizing lists of popes in order to read Hertz’sMoods and Situations:
Scenes and Sketches from a Stay in Copenhagen, which had appeared a short
time before. And like so many others who have had the dubious honor of
appearing in a roman a`clef, Kierkegaard did not think his character was
drawn satisfactorily; he missed his own satirical whimsy, but he did recog-
nize himself in the character Hertz called the Translator. “The Translator
bears this title because he is a living dictionary for other people,” Hertz
explains in one of his notebooks. Kierkegaard may also have been able to
recognize other characters in the book, for example, Thomsen, who is
Hertz himself. And then there is a certain Amadis, a sensitive spirit, full of
theodditiesandshortcomingsofromanticism;thisisHansChristianAnder-
sen, who at one point gets into an argument with the Translator about
whether a genius needs warmth to be able to prosper—a clear allusion to
Kierkegaard’s still-living book about Andersen.
Hertzbegancollectingmaterialforthebookasearlyasthe1820s,began
writingthebookin1831,andtwoyearslaterhegaveareadingofportions
of the manuscript at the Student Association. Thus he had been working
with thematerial for sometime before hemet Kierkegaard. Theyfirst en-
countered each othersometime in 1836 at theStudent Association, where
the theological student lay stretched comfortably on a sofa and addressed
Hertz in a confidential tone, as though they had known one another for
ages.“Afterthatwemetoften, thoughonlyonthestreet,inpublicplaces,
etcetera,and Iwasverytakenwithhis cheerful,intelligentconversation,”
Hertz relates. From October 1835 until October 1837 Hertz lived at 17
Nytorv,onthesamestairwayasPoulMartinMøller,whoprobablyhelped
HertzsketchhispsychologicalandintellectualprofileofKierkegaard.Hertz
alsofollowedKierkegaard’s literaryeffortsandapprovinglyread hisarticles
ontheliberalpress,whichwasalsoaprincipaltopicinhisMoods and Situa-
tions. On September 6, 1838, when Hertz had spent the morning with