Undertiden ønskede rigets mægtigste mand at samtale med sin mærkværdigt geniale undersåt. Kierkegaard forsøgte gerne at undslå sig, brød sig ikke om hele ceremoniellet, som han konsekvent kludrede i og han kunne aldrig bekvemme sig til at kysse regentens fremstrakte hånd, når audiensen var forbi. Alligevel har han tydeligvis værdsat regentens selskab. Han var nemlig velorienteret, intellektuel og havde en vis raphed i replikken. Da således Kierkegaards engang beklagede sig over at være et "Geni i en Kjøbstad", replicerede kongen lynhurtigt, at det skulle han da ikke være ked af, thi så kunne han jo gøre så meget desto mere for den enkelte.

From time to time the kingdom's most powerful man wished to converse with his strange genius of a subject. Kierkegaard attempted to refuse, did not like the ceremony, which he consistently messed up and he could never bring himself to kiss the regent's outstreached hand when the audience was over. But nevertheless he clearly appreciated the company of the regent. He was actually well-informed, intellectual and had a certain quickness of reply. When Kierkegaard once complained of being a "genius in a market town," the king replied rapidly that he should not be unhappy over that, since he could then do so much more for the individual.

Web presentation Copyright © The Royal Library, Copenhagen, 1997
All rights reserved.