III. The Watchman’s Adventure

In “The Watchman’s Adventure” from Andersen’s Fairy Tales, the tale opens with a watchman discovering a pair of galoshes near a door. Considering they must belong to the lieutenant living across from him, he marvels at the shoes’ warmth and comfort. When he tries them on, he unknowingly activates their magic, wishing he could experience the seemingly carefree life of the lieutenant. Instantly, the watchman finds himself transformed into the lieutenant, experiencing his life of apparent ease, including his parties, poetry, and the silent anguish of unrequited love.

The mental and physical shift into the lieutenant’s life brings an unexpected realization. Despite the luxuries and the societal stature, the lieutenant suffers from his own set of problems: unfulfilled desires, love unreturned, and financial worries all captured in his poem longing for wealth, love, and peace of mind. These sorrows contrast sharply with the watchman’s initial envy, highlighting the universal nature of longing and dissatisfaction, regardless of one’s social standing.

Suddenly, the story takes another fantastical turn—the watchman wishes to explore the stars, and with the galoshes still on his feet, he’s transported to the moon. This part of the adventure dives into imaginative descriptions of the moon’s inhabitants and landscapes, echoing theories and misconceptions of Andersen’s time about otherworldly life. The watchman, now experiencing an otherworldly adventure, finds himself amidst Selenites discussing the possibility of life on Earth, inadvertently making him reflect on the human condition from an extraterrestrial perspective.

In the end, the watchman returns to his original form, with a profound sense of relief and a newfound appreciation for his own life, peopled with loved ones and marked by simpler, more tangible sorrows and joys. The chapter is a whimsical yet poignant reflection on human desire, the grass-always-greener syndrome, and the boundless curiosity that propels us into the unknown, only to discover that contentment might have been within reach all along.