"En gammel Mand, der selv var uhyre tungsindig, faaer en Alderdommens Søn, paa hvem hele dette Tungsind gaaer i Arv," hedder det i en optegnelse fra 1846. Som 11-årig brød han op fra et ludfattigt liv på den jyske hede og tog til København. Her lærte han snart at spinde guld på sine uldvarer og etablerede sig senere som rentier og boligspekulant. Omkring de 40 trak han sig tilbage for at hellige sig mere åndelige sysler. Med en tungsindig fantasi, der hentede næring i den gammeltestamentlige fortælling om Job, forestillede han sig, at Gud ville straffe ham ved at lade hans syv børn dø inden de var fyldt 34. Kun Søren og Peter Christian overlevede profetien. Billedet vises med tak til Det Nationalhistoriske Museum, Frederiksborg Slot

"An old man, who himself suffered exceedingly from melancholy, has a son in his old age, who inherits all this melancholy," recorded Kierkegaard in a note from 1846. As an eleven-year old M.P.K. broke out of his destitute life on the Jutish moors and went to Copenhagen. Here he quickly learned to spin gold from his woolen goods and established himself later as a person of independent means and in real estate speculation. At about the age of 40 he retired to devote himself to more spiritual concerns. With his melancholy imagination, nourished by the Old Testament tale of Job, he imagined that God would punish him by letting his seven children die before they turned 34. Only Søren and Peter survived the prophecy. This picture is shown by courtesy of The Museum of National History, Frederiksborg Castle

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