If I once deviated from my path,
I might not so easily find it again. It was more difficult to resign a
professorship than never to accept it. And, once a professor, a man soon
got married and settled down as a citizen of the state, not in a
position to dare anything. To dispose of my life at Broechner's request
would be like selling my soul to the Devil.
So I replied briefly that I was too much attached to Hauch to be able or
willing to speculate on his death. But to this Broechner very logically
replied: "I am not speculating on his death, but on his life, for the
longer he lives, the better you will be prepared to be his successor."
By the middle of June, 1863, the prize paper was copied out. In
September the verdict was announced; the gold medal was awarded to me
with a laudatory criticism. The gold medal was also won by my friend
Jens Paludan-Mueller for a historic paper, and in October, at the annual
Ceremony at the University, we were presented with the thin medal
bearing the figure of Athene, which, for my part, being in need of a
Winter overcoat, I sold next day. Clausen, the Rector, a little man with
regular features, reserved face and smooth white hair, said to us that
he hoped this might prove the first fruits of a far-reaching activity in
the field of Danish literature.
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