My father, though, could run very much faster. It was impossible to compete with him on the grass. But it was astonishing how slow old people were. Some of them could not run up a hill and called it trying to climb stairs.

The Danish glee: the national version of cheerfulness.

Among the delights of Summer were picnics to the woods.

When I was a little boy I did not, of course, trouble much about my appearance.

I was not afraid of what I did not like. To overcome dislike of a thing often satisfied one's feeling of honour.

On the whole, the world was friendly. It chiefly depended on whether one were good or not.

Birth was something that came quite unexpectedly, and afterwards there was one child more in the house.