On "Ib and Little Christina" by Hans Christian Andersen (4436 words) ***

Anderson must have suffered from some kind of lost childhood love, because this theme seems to present itself in story after story of his. Here's one of the better ones. Ib and Christina are young friends. The fortuneteller provides to them a hint of their future, but it proves to be deceptively accurate. Christina grows up, moves away, and marries up. Ib struggles on as a poor man. But fortunes turn quickly, and all is not what it seems. Somehow, I'm to believe that Ib should be satisfied with a replica of Christina. Read the story here.