The Silent Book by Hans Christian Andersen. Short summary

5 seconds

The author sees preparations for a funeral. The deceased’s head rests on a book. The author leafs through it. There is no text — just dried leaves and flowers. The deceased willed to put this «mute book» in his coffin.

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The author visits a farmer’s farmstead. There, in a pergola, amidst bushes of flowering lilacs, stands an open coffin. The head of the deceased rests on some folio.

The author pulls out a book and opens it. There is no text! But between the pages of this «silent» book are dried flowers, herbs, and leaves.

The peasants tell the author about the deceased. He is a student from Uppsala. Once he was reputed to be very able, he studied ancient languages and sang well. But then he became addicted to vodka.

So he drank away his education, his wealth and his health. The only thing that kept him going was his herbarium. The student could sit over it for hours, taking out one plant, then another…

What was the student thinking? — the author ponders. It was for other people that the book was «mute». But for the owner, it revealed a sea of memories. An oak leaf, a greenhouse exotic flower, a lake lily — all of them spoke to him about the people with whom they were associated.

Andersen put the book in the coffin. Let the memories rest with the deceased.