About Andersen’s works

The countryside is really beautiful. It's summer! The wheat is golden and the oats are green. Hay was piled up in the green pastures, and the stork was walking on its long red legs, chattering in Egyptian. This is a language it learned from its mother. There are some large forests surrounding the fields and pastures, and there are some deep ponds in the forests. Indeed, the countryside is very beautiful. The sun was shining on an old-fashioned house surrounded by deep streams. From the corner of the wall to the water, everything was covered with big burdock leaves. The largest leaves grow so tall that a child can stand upright under them. It was as desolate as in the thickest forest. Here is a mother duck sitting in her nest. She has to hatch all her ducklings. But by this time she was exhausted. Few visitors came to see her. Other ducks would rather swim in the stream than come under the burdock to chat with her.

Finally, those duck eggs collapsed one after another. "Crack! Crack!" The eggshell rang. All the yolks have now turned into little animals with their little heads sticking out.

"Quack! Quack!" said the mother duck. They also started to scream loudly. They looked around under the green leaves. Mom asked them to look around as much as possible, because green is good for their eyes.

“This world is really big!” these young guys said. Indeed, compared to when they were in eggshells, their world now is really different.

"You think this is the whole world!" Mom said. "This place stretches to the other side of the garden, all the way to the pastor's field. It's so far! Even I have never been there!" She stood up. "Oh, I haven't given birth to you all yet! This big egg is lying motionless. How long will it have to lie there? I'm really annoyed." So she sat down again.

"Well, how's it going?" asked an old duck who came to visit her.

"This egg took so long!" said the sitting duck. "It never cracks. Please look at something else. They are some of the cutest ducklings! They all look like their daddy - the bad guy never came to see me once!"

"Let me take a look at this egg that never cracks," said the old guest. "Please believe me, this is the egg of a Tushou chicken. I was similarly deceived once. You know, those little guys have given me so much trouble and trouble, they don’t dare to go into the water, I can’t help but tell them to try it in the water, it’s of no use at all!—Let me do it. Look at this egg. Oops! It's a rooster's egg! Just let it lie down and let the other kids go swimming."

"I'm still on top of it. "Sit for a while longer," said the mother duck. "I've been sitting for so long, it doesn't matter if I sit on it for another week."

"Then please do," said the old duck. So she took her leave.

Not long after she arrived in the forest, night fell. She had lost her way, and was far from the roads and paths; so she lay down on the soft moss. After she finished her evening prayers, she rested her head on a tree root. The surroundings are very quiet and the air is gentle; among the flowers and moss, there are countless fireflies shining like green sparks. When she gently shook a branch, these shining insects flew towards her, like falling stars.

She dreamed of her brothers all night long: they were a group of children playing together again, writing on gold tablets with diamond pens, reading books worth half a kingdom, Beautiful album. However, unlike in the past, what they wrote on the gold tablets was not a zero-sum line, no, but some brave deeds they had done - deeds they had experienced and seen firsthand. Everything in the picture album also came to life - the birds were singing, and people came out of the picture album to talk to Alyssa and her brothers. But as soon as she opened the page, they jumped right back in for fear of confusing the placement of the pictures.

When she woke up, the sun had risen very high. In fact she couldn't see the sun, because the tall trees spread their branches thickly. But the sun's rays swayed there like a flower made of gold. There was a burst of fragrance from these green branches, and the birds almost landed on her shoulders. She heard a gurgling sound of water. This is caused by several large springs rushing towards a lake. This lake has a very beautiful sandy bottom. There was a circle of dense bushes around it, but at one place some stags opened a wide gap through which Elisa walked towards the lake. The water is very clear. If the wind had not shaken the branches and bushes, she would have thought they were painted on the bottom of the lake, for every leaf, whether sunlit or deep in the shade, was clearly visible. The ground is reflected in the lake.

As soon as she saw her own face, she was immediately horrified: she was so brown and ugly. But when she wet her little hands and rubbed her eyes and forehead for a while, her snow-white skin was revealed again. So she took off her clothes and walked into the cool water. No one could find a more beautiful princess in the world.

After she put on her clothes again and tied up her long hair, she walked to a flowing spring and drank from it with her hands. Then she continued deeper into the forest, but she didn't know where she would end up. She missed her dear brothers, and she thought of the merciful God who would never abandon her. God caused wild apples to grow so that the hungry would have something to eat. He directed her to such a tree now. Its branches are all bent under the weight of fruits. She had lunch here. She placed some pillars under the branches, and then walked toward the darkest part of the forest.

It was so quiet that she could hear her own footsteps and the crack of every dry leaf under her feet. There was not a bird to be seen here, and not a ray of sunlight penetrated the thick branches. The tall tree trunks were arranged so closely that when she looked forward, she felt as if she saw a row of wooden fences surrounding her. Ah, she had never experienced such loneliness in her life!

The night was dark. There was not even a trace of firefly light in the moss. She lay down to sleep with a very heavy heart. After a while it seemed to her that the branches above her were parting, and that our God was gazing upon her with tender eyes. Many angels peek down from God's head and arms.

When she woke up in the morning, she didn't know if she was dreaming or if she really saw these things.

She took a few steps forward and met an old woman carrying a basket of berries. The old woman gave her some fruits. Eliza asked her if she had seen the eleven princes riding through the forest.

"No," said the old woman, "but yesterday I saw eleven swans wearing golden crowns swimming in the nearby river."

She led Ellie Sha walked forward for a while and walked up a hillside. There is a meandering river at the foot of this hillside. The trees growing on both sides extend their long branches covered with green leaves and cross each other. Some trees are born unable to extend their branches to the other side. In this case, they let their roots penetrate the soil so that they can reach above the water and intertwine with their branches and leaves.

The weather is terribly cold and it is snowing. The dark night began to fall. This is the last night of this sequence - New Year's Eve. In the cold and darkness, a little girl with a bare head and bare feet was walking down the street. She was wearing a pair of slippers when she left home, and they were very large slippers - so big that her mother had been wearing them lately. As she hurried across the street, two carriages rushed past, causing the little girl to lose her shoes. She couldn't find one, and the other was picked up by a boy and ran away with it. He also said that when he himself has children in the future, he can use it as a cradle.

Now the little girl has no choice but to walk with her little feet bare. My little feet were already red and blue from the cold. She had many matches wrapped in an old apron, and she held a bundle in her hand. Throughout the whole day, no one bought one from her, and no one gave her a copper.

Poor little girl! She walked forward hungry and cold, it was a sad picture. Snowflakes fell on her long golden hair - it curled around her shoulders and looked very beautiful. But she didn't think about how beautiful she was. There was light from all the windows, and the smell of roast goose floated in the street. Indeed, it is New Year's Eve. She was thinking about it.

She sat down and huddled in a corner formed by two houses, one projecting a little further toward the center of the street than the other. She also pulled her little feet in, but this way she felt even colder. She did not dare to go home because she had not sold a match. If she didn't earn a single copper, her father would definitely beat her, and the house would be very cold. There was only a roof over their heads, through which the wind could pour in, although the largest cracks had been blocked with grass and rags.

Her little hands were almost frozen. Alas! Even a small match would be good for her. As long as she took out a match and burned it on the wall, she could warm her hands! Finally she took out one. Phew! It lit up and burst into flames! When she put her hand over it, it turned into a warm, bright flame, like a small candle. It was a beautiful little light! The little girl felt as if she were sitting next to an iron stove: it had a bright brass knob and a brass body. The fire burned so brightly, so warmly, so beautifully! Oh, what happened? Just when the little girl stretched out her feet to warm them, the flame suddenly went out! The stove also disappeared. . She sat there with only the burned match in her hand.

She rubbed another one. It ignited and gave out light. The area on the wall where the light shined now became transparent, like a piece of gauze; she could see the things in the room: the table was covered with a snow-white tablecloth, with exquisite bowls and plates on it, and the plates were filled with Plums, apples and fragrant roast goose. What's even more wonderful is: the goose jumped out of the plate, staggered on the ground with a knife and fork stuck on its back, and kept walking towards the poor little girl. Then the match went out; there was only a thick, cold wall in front of her.

She lit another match. Now she is sitting under the beautiful Christmas tree.

It was bigger and more beautiful than the one she had seen through the glass door at a wealthy businessman's house last Christmas. Thousands of candles burned on its green branches, and colorful pictures, as beautiful as those hanging in the windows, winked at her. The little girl stretched out her hands, and the match went out. The candles of the Christmas tree rose higher and higher, and she saw that they were now bright stars. One of these stars fell and drew a long filament in the sky.

"Someone has died now," the little girl said, because her old grandmother - she was the only person who was good to her, but now she is dead - once said: Heaven When a star falls, a soul on earth ascends to God.

She struck another match on the wall, and it lit up everything around her. In the light, the old grandmother appeared. She seemed so bright, so gentle, so kind.

"Grandma!" the little girl called. "Ah! Please take me away! I know that as soon as this match is extinguished, you will disappear. You will disappear like the warm stove, the beautiful roast goose, and the happy Christmas tree!" ”

So she hurriedly polished the remaining matches because she really wanted to keep her grandmother. These matches emit a powerful light that shines brighter than in broad daylight. Grandma has never looked so beautiful and tall. She picked up the little girl and held her in her arms. The two of them flew away in light and joy, flying higher and higher, to a place where there was neither cold, hunger nor sorrow - they were with God.

On a cold morning, this little girl was sitting in a corner, her cheeks were red and her lips were smiling. She was already dead - frozen to death on the New Year's Eve of the old year. The New Year's sun rose and shone on her little body! She sat there with matches in her hand - one of the bunches was almost burned out.

"She wanted to warm herself up," people said. No one knows how beautiful things she has seen, and how happily she has walked with her grandmother to the happiness of the New Year.

111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111 111111111111111111111111111111111111111111It was dreadfully cold, it was snowing fast, and almost dark; the evening----the last evening of the old year was drawing in. But, cold and dark as it was, a poor little girl, with bare head and feet, was still wandering about the streets. When she left her home she had slippers on, but they were much too large for her; indeed, properly, they belonged to her mother, and had dropped off her feet whilst1 she was running very fast across the road, to get out of the way of two carriages. One of the slippers was not to be found, the other had been snatched up by a little boy, who ran off with it thinking it might serve him as a doll's cradle.

The weather was very, very cold, the snow was falling heavily, and night had fallen. This is the last night of the old year - New Year's Eve. Even though the weather was so cold and dark, a poor little girl with a bare head and bare feet still wandered the streets. When she left home she was wearing a pair of slippers, a rather large pair of slippers - too big indeed, but they were the kind that her mother would have worn. As she was crossing the road in a hurry, two carriages passed by so fast that she was so frightened that she lost her slippers. One was nowhere to be found, and the other was snatched away by a little boy. He thought that this shoe could be used as a cradle for a doll to sleep on.

So the little girl now walked on, her bare feet quite red and blue with the cold. She carried a small bundle of matches in her hand, and a good many more in her tattered apron. No one had bought any of them the live long day; no one had given her a single penny. Trembling with cold and hunger crept she on, the picture of sorrow: poor little child!

The snow-flakes fell on her long, fair hair, which curled in such pretty ringlets over her shoulders; but she thought not of her own beauty, or of the cold. Lights were glimmering through every window, and the savoir of roast goose reached her from several houses; it was New Year's eve, and it was of this that she thought.

Now the little girl has to walk barefoot on the street, her footsteps red and blue from the cold. Her worn apron carried many matches and a small bundle in her hand. But for the entire day, no one bought one from her—no one gave her a copper. She was hungry and cold, shivering as she walked forward. It was a very miserable sight: poor little girl!

Snowflakes fell on her golden hair - her long curly hair spread over her shoulders. She looked very beautiful, but she could not imagine how beautiful she was. The bright light from every window and the smell of roast goose reminded her only that today was New Year's Eve.

In a corner formed by two houses, one of which projected beyond the other. She sat down, drawing her little feet close under her, but in vain, she could not warm them. She dared not go home , she had sold no matches, earned not a single penny, and perhaps her father would beat her, besides her home was almost as cold as the street, it was an attic; and although the larger of the many chinks in the roof were stopped up with straw and rags. the wind and snow often penetrated through. Her hands were nearly dead with cold; one little match from her bundle would warm them. Perhaps, if she dared light it, she drew one out, and struck it against the wall, bravo! it was a bright, warm flame, and she held her hands over it. It was quite an illumination for that poor little girl; nay,1 call it rather a magic taper, for it seemed to her as though she was sitting before a large iron-stove with brass ornaments, so beautifully blazed the fire within! The child stretched out her feet to warm them also; alas, in an instant the flame had died away, the stove vanished, the little girl sat cold and comfortless, with the burnt match in her hand.

There were two houses one behind the other on the street, forming a small corner. She squatted in the corner, curled her little feet under her and sat down. She came down, but it was no use, she still didn't feel warm. She didn't dare to go home because she hadn't sold a single match or earned a copper, and her father might beat her for it, and besides, her home was almost as cold as the street. It was an attic, and although several larger cracks in the roof were blocked with grass and rags, wind and snow still poured in from time to time, and her little hands were almost frozen. She thought that if she dared to take out a match and burn it on the wall, she could warm her hands. Finally she took out one. Chi! The match lit up and a flame appeared. When she put her hands over it, it turned into a bright, warm flame, like a wonderful little candle. The little girl felt as if she were sitting next to a large iron stove with bright brass lace and a base. How the fire burns, how wonderful it is! When the little girl just stretched out her feet to warm them up, oops! What's going on? The flame suddenly went out! The stove was also missing. She sat there, holding the burned match in her hand, back to the cold and loneliness.

A second match was struck against the wall; it kindles and blazed, and wherever its light fell the wall became transparent as a veil. The little girl could see into the room within. She saw the table spread with a snow-white damask cloth, whereon were ranged shining china-dishes; the roast goose stuffed with apples and dried plums stood at one end, smoking hot, and which was pleasantest of all to see; the goose, with knife and fork still in her breast, jumped down from the dish, and waddled along the floor right up to the poor child. The match was burnt out, and only the thick, hard wall was beside her.

She wiped it again A match, the match lit up and gave off a bright light. The area on the wall illuminated by the fire suddenly became transparent, like a piece of gauze. The little girl could see the things in the room. The table was covered with a snow-white tablecloth, with exquisite porcelain plates on it, and a steaming, fragrant roast goose stuffed with plums and apples. The most wonderful thing was to see - this goose with a knife and fork stuck in its back jumped out of the plate, waddled on the floor, and kept walking towards the poor little girl. At this moment, the match went out, and all that was left in front of her was a thick, cold wall.

She kindled a third match. Again shot up the flame; and now she was sitting under a most beautiful Christmas tree ,far larger, and far more pretly decked out, than the one she had seen last Christmas eve through the glass doors of the rich merchant's house. Hundreds of wax-tapers lighted up the green branches, and tiny painted figures, such as she had seen in the shop-windows, looked down from the tree upon her. The child stretched out her hands towards them in delight, and in that moment the lights of the match warm quenched; still, however, the Christmas candles burned higher and higher, she beheld them beaming like stars in heaven; one of them fell, the lights streaming behind it like a long, fiery tail.

She struck the third match, and another flame came out. Now she felt that she was sitting under a very beautiful Christmas tree, even bigger and more beautiful than the one she had seen through the glass door of the wealthy merchant last Christmas. There were many candles lit on the green branches of this tree, and the colorful pictures were as beautiful as those hanging in the windows, as if they were winking at her. The little girl stretched out her hands, and the match went out again. But the candlelight on the Christmas tree rose higher and higher. She saw them turn into bright stars, and one fell down and drew a long filament in the sky.

“Now some one is dying,” said the little girl, softly, for she had been told by her old grandmother, the only person who had ever been kind to her, and who was now dead that whenever a star falls an immortal spirit returns to the God who gave it.

She struck yet another match against the wall; it flamed up, and surrounded by its light, appeared before her that same dear grandmother, gentle and loving as always, but bright and happy as she had never looked during her lifetime.

"Someone has died now." said the little girl. Because her old grandmother, the only person who treated her well, is now dead, once told her that when a star falls from the sky, a soul will return to the God who gave him life.

She struck another match on the wall, and the fire lit up the surrounding area. In the light, my dear grandmother appeared, just as she had always been in life. She was still so kind and gentle, but her joy and happiness were unprecedented in her life.

“Grandmother!” exclaimed the child, “oh, take me with you! I know thou1 wilt2leave me as soon as the match goes out, thou wilt vanish like warm fire in the stove, like the splendid New Year's feast, like the beautiful large Christmas tree!" and she hastily lighted all the remaining matches in the bundle, last her grandmother should disappear. And the matches burned with such a blaze of splendor, that noon day could scarcely have been brighter. Never had the good old grandmother looked so tall and stately, so beautiful and kind; she took the little girl in her arms, and they both flew together-higher, till they were in that place where neither cold, nor hunger, nor pain, is ever known, they were in paradise.

"Grandma!" the little girl cried, "Ah! Take me away! I know that as soon as this match goes out, you will be like a warm flame in the furnace. , the sumptuous New Year’s meal, and the beautiful big Christmas tree disappeared.” She hurriedly struck the remaining bunch of matches, for fear that her grandmother would be gone, and the bunch of matches gave off a strong light, shining brighter than during the day! . Grandma had never looked taller, more beautiful, and kinder than she did now. She picked up the little girl and held her in her arms. The two of them flew away in light and happiness, flying higher and higher, to a place where there was neither cold, hunger nor sorrow - that is the Paradise.

But in the cold morning hour, crouching in the corner of the wall, the poor little girl was found: her cheeks glowing, her lips smiling, frozen to death on the last night of the old Year. The New Year's sun shone on the lifeless child; motionless she sat there with the matches in her lap, one bundle of them quite burnt out.

“She has been trying to warm herself, poor thing!” the people said, but no one knew of the sweet visions she had beheld, or how gloriously she and her grandmother were celebrating their New Year's festival.

Until the cold morning, people found a poor little girl huddled in the corner Inside, her cheeks were red and there was a smile on her lips. She had frozen to death on the New Year's Eve of the old year. The New Year's sun has risen and shines on her little body! She sat motionless, still holding the matches in her hands, one of the bundles completely burned out.

"Poor child! She wanted to warm herself up!" However, no one knew what wonderful things she had seen and how happily she had celebrated the New Year with her grandmother. !