Menu

THE LITTLE MATCH GIRL – Hans Christian Andersen Classic Fairy Tales

THE LITTLE MATCH GIRL – Most terribly cold it was; it snowed, and was nearly quite dark, and evening—the last evening of the year. In this cold and darkness there went along the street a poor little girl, bareheaded, and with naked feet. When she left home she had slippers on, it is true; but what was the good of that? They were very large slippers, which her mother had hitherto worn; so large were they; and the poor little thing lost them as she scuffled away across the street, because of two carriages that rolled by dreadfully fast.

One slipper was nowhere to be found; the other had been laid hold of by an urchin, and off he ran with it; he thought it would do capitally for a cradle when he some day or other should have children himself. So the little maiden walked on with her tiny naked feet, that were quite red and blue from cold. She carried a quantity of matches in an old apron, and she held a bundle of them in her hand. Nobody had bought anything of her the whole livelong day; no one had given her a single farthing.

She crept along trembling with cold and hunger—a very picture of sorrow, the poor little thing!

The flakes of snow covered her long fair hair, which fell in beautiful curls around her neck; but of that, of course, she never once now thought. From all the windows the candles were gleaming, and it smelt so deliciously of roast goose, for you know it was New Year’s Eve; yes, of that she thought.

In a corner formed by two houses, of which one advanced more than the other, she seated herself down and cowered together. Her little feet she had drawn close up to her, but she grew colder and colder, and to go home she did not venture, for she had not sold any matches and could not bring a farthing of money: from her father she would certainly get blows, and at home it was cold too, for above her she had only the roof, through which the wind whistled, even though the largest cracks were stopped up with straw and rags.

Her little hands were almost numbed with cold. Oh! a match might afford her a world of comfort, if she only dared take a single one out of the bundle, draw it against the wall, and warm her fingers by it. She drew one out. “Rischt!” how it blazed, how it burnt! It was a warm, bright flame, like a candle, as she held her hands over it: it was a wonderful light. It seemed really to the little maiden as though she were sitting before a large iron stove, with burnished brass feet and a brass ornament at top. The fire burned with such blessed influence; it warmed so delightfully. The little girl had already stretched out her feet to warm them too; but—the small flame went out, the stove vanished: she had only the remains of the burnt-out match in her hand.

She rubbed another against the wall: it burned brightly, and where the light fell on the wall, there the wall became transparent like a veil, so that she could see into the room. On the table was spread a snow-white tablecloth; upon it was a splendid porcelain service, and the roast goose was steaming famously with its stuffing of apple and dried plums. And what was still more capital to behold was, the goose hopped down from the dish, reeled about on the floor with knife and fork in its breast, till it came up to the poor little girl; when—the match went out and nothing but the thick, cold, damp wall was left behind. She lighted another match. Now there she was sitting under the most magnificent Christmas tree: it was still larger, and more decorated than the one which she had seen through the glass door in the rich merchant’s house.

Thousands of lights were burning on the green branches, and gaily-colored pictures, such as she had seen in the shop-windows, looked down upon her. The little maiden stretched out her hands towards them when—the match went out. The lights of the Christmas tree rose higher and higher, she saw them now as stars in heaven; one fell down and formed a long trail of fire.

“Someone is just dead!” said the little girl; for her old grandmother, the only person who had loved her, and who was now no more, had told her, that when a star falls, a soul ascends to God.

She drew another match against the wall: it was again light, and in the lustre there stood the old grandmother, so bright and radiant, so mild, and with such an expression of love.

“Grandmother!” cried the little one. “Oh, take me with you! You go away when the match burns out; you vanish like the warm stove, like the delicious roast goose, and like the magnificent Christmas tree!” And she rubbed the whole bundle of matches quickly against the wall, for she wanted to be quite sure of keeping her grandmother near her. And the matches gave such a brilliant light that it was brighter than at noon-day: never formerly had the grandmother been so beautiful and so tall. She took the little maiden, on her arm, and both flew in brightness and in joy so high, so very high, and then above was neither cold, nor hunger, nor anxiety—they were with God.

But in the corner, at the cold hour of dawn, sat the poor girl, with rosy cheeks and with a smiling mouth, leaning against the wall—frozen to death on the last evening of the old year. Stiff and stark sat the child there with her matches, of which one bundle had been burnt. “She wanted to warm herself,” people said. No one had the slightest suspicion of what beautiful things she had seen; no one even dreamed of the splendor in which, with her grandmother she had entered on the joys of a new year.

THE LITTLE MATCH GIRL – Hans Christian Andersen Classic Fairy Tales

The Little Match Girl is part of our classic story collection

See more Classic Books below

 

More Classic Tales – CKLA Supplemental Reader Grade 3 - Core Knowledge Foundation is back with more classic tales, this time tailored for Grade 3 reading levels. This classic tale compilation features The Frog Prince, The Fisherman and his Wife, Rumpelstiltskin, The Queen Bee, Rapunzel, Hanzel and Gretel, Beauty and the Beast, The Magic Paintbrush, The Tiger, the Brahman, and the Jackel, and A Christmas ...
the story of my life Helen Keller The Story of My Life – Helen Keller’s Autobiography up to age 21 - Helen Keller’s Autobiography, written at age 22, and details her growing up, before and after meeting Anne Sullivan, and her years in formal education, both special needs education and afterwards when she was accepted into main stream education, with the help of Ms Sullivan’s translation. The book includes letters written by Helen from the age ...
classic stories bedtime stories Classic Stories – Big Book for Early Grades and Kindergarten CKF - The Classic Stories Big Book from the Core Knowledge Foundation includes condensed versions of ten famous classic stories or fables, each includes beautiful illustrations, perfect for reading to kindergarten or early grade children, and suitable for early reading by early grade developing readers. This book is designed for the US preschool / pre-kindergarten (Pre-K) syllabus ...
the frog prince picture book The Frog Prince – Classic Fairytale Picture Book - This is a beautifully illustrated picture book version of the classic fairytale The Frog Prince, and includes reading comprehension questions at the end. The classic fairytale also has a teaching guide with lesson plans available for Grade 1 students, and reading comprehension questions available at the end of the book. This illustrated eBook and read ...
sleeping beauty picturebook Sleeping Beauty – Illustrated Picturebook - This is a beautifully illustrated version of the classic fairytale Sleeping Beauty. The classic fairytale also has a teaching guide available for Grade 1 students, and reading comprehension questions available at the end of the book. This illustrated eBook and read online version of Sleeping Beauty is based on the Brothers Grim version of the ...
aesop's fables with questions Aesop’s Fables With Questions - This is a version of most Aesop’s fables for children available with questions. The awesome thing about this version of Aesop’s Fables is that it has comprehension questions for every fable at the end, and the index is hyperlinked thanks to awesome tools available in Adobe software. Unfortunately, it does not have images and text ...
The world I live in and the practice of optimism The World I Live In and Optimism – Helen Keller - In The World I Live In – The Practice of Optimism, Iby Helen Keller explains in an amazing and inspiring set of biographical accounts, along with essays and poems what it is like for her in her world. Helen Keller, being both deaf and blind, seeing the world through her sense of touch, displays an ...
Jemima Puddleduck kiwi opa version cover The Tale of Jemima Puddleduck – More classic Beatrix Potter - The Tale of Jemima Puddleduck is another classic Beatrix Potter, presented in a unique new way for colourful online reading by Kiwi Opa. Jemima Puddleduck is annoyed because the farmer’s wife will not let her hatch her own eggs. Jemima runs away to find a suitable spot, and meets a ‘friend’ who offers to help. ...
The Snow Queen – Classic Stories - The Snow Queen – Classic Stories – A simple version of the classic tale from Hans Christian Andersen, two friends fight good and evil in an epic battle. By: Hans Christian Andersen and Kiwi Opa     Text and Images from The Snow Queen – Classic Stories In the original story, “the devil”, creates a ...
My father's dragon classic funny stories My Father’s Dragon – Classic humor for elementary children - This is a classic humor for elementary children about how the narrator’s father and a friendly stray cat go in search of an imprisoned young dragon. On the way deceiving the wild animals who want to stop him or eat him, or both, with cute tricks and traps. Hilarious imagery results as the animals give ...
 
Spread the love

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

....