She Was Good for Nothing Page #2

She Was Good for Nothing is a touching novella by Hans Christian Andersen that focuses on the theme of societal class and unrequited love. It tells the story of a poor girl who is constantly belittled, neglected, and considered 'useless' by her community. The girl falls in love with a wealthy man who treats her kindly. Despite their different social standings, the girl's deep love guides her to do everything she can to help and care for her beloved, proving her worth and challenging societal notions.

• Children

								

enough, to be sure, but she did her best. Then she drew the linen
ashore, wet as it was, and laid it in a basket. Before evening, she
was sitting in the poor little room with the laundress. The mayor's
cook had given her some roasted potatoes and a beautiful piece of
fat for the sick woman. Martha and the boy enjoyed these good things
very much; but the sick woman could only say that the smell was very
nourishing, she thought. By-and-by the boy was put to bed, in the same
bed as the one in which his mother lay; but he slept at her feet,
covered with an old quilt made of blue and white patchwork. The
laundress felt a little better by this time. The warm beer had
strengthened her, and the smell of the good food had been pleasant
to her.

"Many thanks, you good soul," she said to Martha. "Now the boy
is asleep, I will tell you all. He is soon asleep. How gentle and
sweet he looks as he lies there with his eyes closed! He does not know
how his mother has suffered; and Heaven grant he never may know it.
I was in service at the counsellor's, the father of the mayor, and
it happened that the youngest of his sons, the student, came home. I
was a young wild girl then, but honest; that I can declare in the
sight of Heaven. The student was merry and gay, brave and
affectionate; every drop of blood in him was good and honorable; a
better man never lived on earth. He was the son of the house, and I
was only a maid; but he loved me truly and honorably, and he told
his mother of it. She was to him as an angel upon earth; she was so
wise and loving. He went to travel, and before he started he placed
a gold ring on my finger; and as soon as he was out of the house, my
mistress sent for me. Gently and earnestly she drew me to her, and
spake as if an angel were speaking. She showed me clearly, in spirit
and in truth, the difference there was between him and me. 'He is
pleased now,' she said, 'with your pretty face; but good looks do
not last long. You have not been educated like he has. You are not
equals in mind and rank, and therein lies the misfortune. I esteem the
poor,' she added. 'In the sight of God, they may occupy a higher place
than many of the rich; but here upon earth we must beware of
entering upon a false track, lest we are overturned in our plans, like
a carriage that travels by a dangerous road. I know a worthy man, an
artisan, who wishes to marry you. I mean Eric, the glovemaker. He is a
widower, without children, and in a good position. Will you think it
over?' Every word she said pierced my heart like a knife; but I knew
she was right, and the thought pressed heavily upon me. I kissed her
hand, and wept bitter tears, and I wept still more when I went to my
room, and threw myself on the bed. I passed through a dreadful
night; God knows what I suffered, and how I struggled. The following
Sunday I went to the house of God to pray for light to direct my path.
It seemed like a providence that as I stepped out of church Eric
came towards me; and then there remained not a doubt in my mind. We
were suited to each other in rank and circumstances. He was, even
then, a man of good means. I went up to him, and took his hand, and
said, 'Do you still feel the same for me?' 'Yes; ever and always,'
said he. 'Will you, then, marry a maiden who honors and esteems you,
although she cannot offer you her love? but that may come.' 'Yes, it
will come,' said he; and we joined our hands together, and I went home
to my mistress. The gold ring which her son had given me I wore next
to my heart. I could not place it on my finger during the daytime, but
only in the evening, when I went to bed. I kissed the ring till my
lips almost bled, and then I gave it to my mistress, and told her that
the banns were to be put up for me and the glovemaker the following
week. Then my mistress threw her arms round me, and kissed me. She did
not say that I was 'good for nothing;' very likely I was better then
than I am now; but the misfortunes of this world, were unknown to me
then. At Michaelmas we were married, and for the first year everything
went well with us. We had a journeyman and an apprentice, and you were
our servant, Martha."

"Ah, yes, and you were a dear, good mistress," said Martha, "I
shall never forget how kind you and your husband were to me."

"Yes, those were happy years when you were with us, although we
had no children at first. The student I never met again. Yet I saw him
once, although he did not see me. He came to his mother's funeral. I
saw him, looking pale as death, and deeply troubled, standing at her
grave; for she was his mother. Sometime after, when his father died,
he was in foreign lands, and did not come home. I know that he never
married, I believe he became a lawyer. He had forgotten me, and even
had we met he would not have known me, for I have lost all my good
looks, and perhaps that is all for the best." And then she spoke of
the dark days of trial, when misfortune had fallen upon them.

"We had five hundred dollars," she said, "and there was a house in
the street to be sold for two hundred, so we thought it would be worth
our while to pull it down and build a new one in its place; so it
was bought. The builder and carpenter made an estimate that the new
house would cost ten hundred and twenty dollars to build. Eric had
credit, so he borrowed the money in the chief town. But the captain,
who was bringing it to him, was shipwrecked, and the money lost.
Just about this time, my dear sweet boy, who lies sleeping there,
was born, and my husband was attacked with a severe lingering illness.
For three quarters of a year I was obliged to dress and undress him.
We were backward in our payments, we borrowed more money, and all that
we had was lost and sold, and then my husband died. Since then I
have worked, toiled, and striven for the sake of the child. I have
scrubbed and washed both coarse and fine linen, but I have not been
able to make myself better off; and it was God's will. In His own time
He will take me to Himself, but I know He will never forsake my
boy." Then she fell asleep. In the morning she felt much refreshed,
and strong enough, as she thought, to go on with her work. But as soon
as she stepped into the cold water, a sudden faintness seized her; she
clutched at the air convulsively with her hand, took one step forward,
and fell. Her head rested on dry land, but her feet were in the water;
her wooden shoes, which were only tied on by a wisp of straw, were
carried away by the stream, and thus she was found by Martha when
she came to bring her some coffee.

In the meantime a messenger had been sent to her house by the
mayor, to say that she must come to him immediately, as he had
something to tell her. It was too late; a surgeon had been sent for to
open a vein in her arm, but the poor woman was dead.

"She has drunk herself to death," said the cruel mayor. In the
letter, containing the news of his brother's death, it was stated that
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