But
he needed no reflection in order to discover the child's view of its own
world. He never ceased to regard the world from the child's point of
view, and his personification of an old clothes-press or a
darning-needle was therefore as natural as that of a child who beats the
chair against which it bumped its head. In the works of more ambitious
scope, where this code of conduct would be out of place, Andersen was
never wholly at his ease. As lovers, his heroes usually cut a sorry
figure; their milk-and-water passion is described, but it is never felt.
They make themselves a trifle ridiculous by their innocence, and are
amusing when they themselves least suspect it. Likewise, in his
autobiography, he is continually exposing himself to ridicule by his
_naive_ candor, and his inability to adapt himself to the etiquette
which prevails among grown-up people. Take as an instance his visit to
the Brothers Grimm, when he asked the servant girl which of the brothers
was the more learned, and when she answered "Jacob," he said, "Then take
me to Jacob.
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