h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

You know that strange sense of pity you get when you see something unwanted?

Today I happened to find an old faded portrait at a second-hand market. I had never seen the man depicted or his name (which was printed at the bottom) before, but he had that air about him that he had done something terribly important a hundred years before my time. Then of course my well-developed sense of pity set in. I often get that sense when I see something I'm very sure no one but little crazed me would like to own. A bit like finding a ruined old teddybear in a shop and then buy it so it won't be thrown away...

I'm just one of those persons that is very fascinated with the past, or something second-hand, which actually may have a story behind it before I find it. And the portrait had a sort of double set of history behind it - not only was it a picture of a person I would be delighted to discover more of, but somebody had obviously bought it and hung it on a wall before me. I checked, and the portraitee isn't even mentioned in any Norwegian lexica I can find, so who had it before me? (Most probably not the young man I bought it from, the frame and dust-layer seemed much older)

And if you still think I'm making a very big deal out of buying a portrait, I can add I also bought it because A) He somehow looked very much like a character I created for a short story once, and B) It would look great over my desk

Alrigh, whoever reads these dull jounral entries of mine - you understand I've put off mentioning the photographed man's name only to annoy you, but I can admit the name printed at the bottom was Pádraic Pearse In case you wondered (I'm sure I did) he was an Irish poet who respectively lived from 1879 to 1916. (If it should happen someone reading this just can't believe I didn't know such basic knowledge as to who Padraic Pearse was, keep in mind I've lived a sheltered life )