Once upon a time a little girl tried to make a living by selling matches in the
street.
The snow-clad streets were deserted. From brightly lit windows came the tinkle
of laughter and the sound of singing. But the poor little match seller sat sadly
beside the fountain. Her ragged dress and worn shawl did not keep out the cold.
She hadn't sold one box of matches all day and she was frightened to go home,
for her father would certainly be angry.
The little girl's fingers were stiff with cold. If only she could light a match!
But what would her father say at such a waste! Falteringly she took out a match
and lit it. What a nice warm flame! The little match seller cupped her hand over
it, and as she did so, she magically saw in its light a big brightly burning
stove.
She held out her hands to the heat, but just then the match went out and the
vision faded. The night seemed darker than before and it was getting colder.
After hesitating for a long time, she struck another match on the wall, and this
time the glimmer turned the wall into a great sheet of crystal. Beyond that
stood a fine table laden with food and lit by a candlestick. Holding out her
arms towards the plates, the little match seller seemed to pass through the
glass, but then the match went out and the magic faded.
She lit the third match and an even more wonderful thing happened. There stood a
Christmas tree hung with hundreds of candles, glittering with tinsel and
colored balls. "Oh, how lovely!" exclaimed the little match seller, holding up
the match. Then, the match burned her finger and flickered out.
Scarcely aware of what she was doing, the little match seller lit another match.
This time, she saw her grandmother. "Granny, stay with me!" she pleaded, as she
lit one match after the other, so that her grandmother would not disappear like
all the other visions.
However, Granny did not vanish, but gazed smilingly at her. Then she opened her
arms and the little girl hugged her crying: "Granny, take me away with you!"
A cold day dawned and a pale sun shone on the fountain and the icy road. Close
by lay the lifeless body of a little girl surrounded by spent matches. "Poor
little thing!" exclaimed the passersby. "She was trying to keep warm!"
But by that time, the little match seller was far away, where there is neither
cold, nor hunger, nor pain.