 Although the "spekhøker" denotes a purveyor of victuals or grocer, it also has a secondary connotation of someone who is a materialistic or prosaic person, a Philistine, a point which is missed by some English translators.Andersen here was reenacting his true life in the tale.His first publication paid out of his own pocket met with dismal failure, and copies were subjected to much the same fate as the poetry book in the tale