One of the 160 stories collected in these two essential volumes, which collect all of the short works of Hans Christian Andersen —an author who also practiced other genres, but who became famous for his stories—, is titled Pen and inkwell. Says the inkwell, boasting of its potential for creativity: "It's strange, all that can come from me! Yes, it's almost unbelievable! And I myself, truly, don't know what will happen next time, when that person begins to pour the ink on me." An inkwell, indeed, contains all the laws of literary possibilities, and all that is needed is for the writer to put the pen to it and develop his genius on the sheet of paper.

There are books that mark a before and after in the history of literature. All the stories, by Hans Christian Andersen (Odense, 1805-Rolighed, 1875), is one of them. A decade ago, the publishing house Adesiara—led by Jordi Raventós—undertook the adventure of translating all of the writer's stories, published monthly between 1835 and 1872, from Danish into Catalan. The undertaking was monumental: translating 160 stories by Pedersen and Lorenz Frølich into our language. Translators Henrik Brockdorff and Miquel-Àngel Sánchez y Fèrriz took on the challenge and, over the course of eight years, have undertaken the complex but rewarding task of bringing the original stories of tales such as The Ugly Duckling, The Little Mermaid, The Princess and the Pea and The little tin soldier.