Soren Kierkegaard

rows.” Isn’t this something of the saga of his father, who had had to bury
two wives, five children, and a daughter-in-law before he himself was
grantedpeace?Despondencystoleuponthetraveler,andhecitedtheGreek
painter Apelles in his pocket notebook: “As they say,nulla dies sine linea,I
cansayofthisjourneynulla dies sine lacryma.”Notadaywithoutaline.Not
a day without a tear.
When it was time for Kierkegaard to leave Sædding, the local school-
teacher, Jens Jensen Kirkeby, had arranged a grand farewell ceremony in
order to express his thanks for the establishment of the endowment that
the wealthy hosier had given to the local school some years earlier: “The
schoolteacher in Sædding held a very solemn farewell address for me in
whichheassured methathecouldsee frommyfather’sgift thatmyfather
musthavebeenafriendofenlightenment,andthatIcouldrestassuredthat
hewouldworkforitintheparishofSædding.”WhatKierkegaarddoesnot
tell us is related by Hans Brøchner: Kirkeby, who evidently was a poetic
soul,hadwrittenasonginhonorofKierkegaardandhadrehearseditwith
the schoolchildren, who were supposed to take up their positions behind
theschoolteacheronthedayofKierkegaard’sdeparture.WhenKierkegaard
came rolling up in his carriage, he ordered the coachman to stop, nodded
infriendlyfashiontotheschoolteacher,fromwhosehandshetookthesong
as if to study it more carefully. At that instant he gave the coachman the
ordertoleave,andtheentirearrangementfelltopieces.Theschoolteacher
hadnotmemorizedhissongandthusdidnotknowwheretostart,andthe
children were literally speechless over the scene. Kierkegaard, meanwhile,
disappeared in his carriage, waving vigorously to the bewildered chorus of
children, enormously amused at the schoolteacher’s bewilderment. Adieu
Sædding!
On the way back to Aarhus, Kierkegaard spent the night at the inn in
thevillageofThem.Theplacewasfilledtotheburstingpointwithcounts
and barons. The contrast was utterly overwhelming, and Kierkegaard had
towriteaboutit inhisnotebook:“Afterhavingstayed threedayswithmy
poor aunt, almost like Ulysses’ comrades when they were the guests of
Circe, the first place I came to afterwards was so overflowing with counts
andbaronsthatitwasfrightful.”Itwas,however,notsofrightfulastohave
kepthimfromspendingboththateveningandthefollowingmorningwith
Count Ahlefeldt, who was kind enough to invite him to his estate on the
island of Langeland. On the day he left, Kierkegaard had the additional
pleasure of seeing once more “my old, noble friend Rosenørn.”
OnWednesday,August5,KierkegaardwasinAarhusforthesecondand
finaltimeinhislife.Whileapproachingitfromthewesthehadseensome
animals in the distance and had asked his coachman what sort of creatures