It was very cold and almost dark at nightfall on the last day of the old year, and the snow was falling quickly.
In the
cold and the dark, a poor little girl with
her head and feet uncovered was going
through the streets. It is true that she
had had on some shoes when she came
away from her house, but they were of no
use to her because of their great size.
They had, in fact, been her mother’s, and
the poor little girl had been unable to
keep them on her feet when she was
running to get out of the way of two
carriages which were coming down the
street much more quickly than they had
any business to do. One of her shoes she
never saw again, and a boy took the other
and went off with it, saying that he would
be able to make use of it as a baby’s bed
when he himself had a family. So the
little girl went on with her uncovered feet,
which were quite red and blue from the
cold. She had a number of matches in a
bit of an old dress, and one box of them
attempt to keep herself Warm. She had
put her little feet under her, but she was
unable to keep off the cold, and fear
kept her from going to her father’s house
because she had got nothing in exchange
for her matches and was unable to take
back any money. Her father would
certainly give her a whipping; and, in
addition, it was almost as cold in the house
as it was here, because they had no cover
but the roof, through which the Wind
came with a great noise, though the
greatest holes had been stopped up with
dry grass and bits of old clothing. Her
little hands Were almost stiff with the
cold. Ah! Possibly a burning match
might be some good, if she was able to
take it out of the box and get it lighted by
rubbing it against the wall, so that she
might get her fingers warm. She took one
out -- it made a strange noise while it was
burning. It gave a warm bright light, like
a little wax-light, while she put her hand
over it. It was truly a surprising and
beautiful light. It seemed to the little
girl as if she was seated by a great iron
heater with polished brass feet and a brass
ornament. The fire was burning and seemed
so beautifully warm that the little girl put
out her feet as if to get them warm, when
suddenly the flame of the match went out,
the picture went from view, and she had
only the rest of the half-burned match in
her hand.
She gave another match a rub on the
wall. There was a burst of flame, and in
its light she seemed to be able to see
through the wall and into the room on the
other side of it. The table was covered
with a table-cloth as white as snow, and on
it were a number of plates for food, and a
steaming goose1 full of apples and dry
fruits. And it was even stranger when the
goose, jumping down from the table,
came across the floor to the little girl
with a knife and fork in its chest. Then
the match went out, and she was unable
to see anything but the thick, wet, cold
wall before her.
She got another match lighted, and then
she seemed to be seated under a beautiful
Christmas-tree. It was higher and had
more beautiful ornaments than the one
she had seen through the glass door at the
house of the well-off tradesman. Thousands
of wax—lights were burning on the green
branches, and coloured pictures, like
those which she had seen in the store-windows,
were looking down on it all. The
little girl put out her hand in their direction,
and the match went out.
The Christmas lights went up higher and
higher till they seemed to her to be like
the stars in the sky. Then she saw at star
coming down with a bright line of fire at
the back of it. "Somebody is on his
death-bed," was the little girl's thought ;
because her mother's old mother, the only
person who had ever had any love for
her and who was now dead, had said to
her that when a star came down, somebody’s
soul2 was going up to God.
She gave another match a rub on the
wall, and there was a bright light round
her; in the middle of the light her
mother's mother came into view, clear
and bright, but kind and loving. The
little girl gave a cry : " Oh, please take me
with you ; I am certain that you will go
away when the match is all burned ; you
will suddenly go from view like the warm
fire, the cooked goose, and the great,
beautiful Christmas-tree." And she quickly
went on lighting all the matches, because
she had a strong desire to keep the old
woman there. And the matches gave a
light which was brighter than the middle
of the day, and the old woman had
never seemed to be so great or so beautiful.
She took the little girl in her arms, and
together they went up to the bright sky
far over the earth, where there was no
cold, or need of food, or pain, because they
were with God.
In the early morning the poor little girl
was seen resting against the wall with
white face and smiling mouth ; she had
come to her death through the cold on the
last night of the old year ; and the New
Year's sun came up, its light falling on the
little dead body. The little girl was still
seated, stiff in death, gripping in her hand
the matches, one box of which was used up.
" She was doing her best to get warm,"
said some; but it was not possible for
anyone to get even an idea of the beautiful
things she had seen or the happy existence
she had been taken to on New Year’s
day.
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1. goose -- A sort of great farm-bird which is made fat for the table.
2. soul -- Inner self, for which, in the Christian belief,
there is no death.
Far out in the sea, where the water is as
blue as the bluest flower, and as clear as
the clearest glass, it is very, very deep -- so
deep in fact that it would not be possible
for any ship’s hook to get down to the
bed of the sea, and a number of high
churches placed one on another would not
get from the sea-bed to the top of the
waves. There is the land of the Sea King.
Get out of your mind the idea that there is
nothing on the bed of the sea but yellow
sand. No, there are the strangest flowers
and plants there, the leaves and stems of
which are so readily bent that they are
put into motion by the smallest waves in
the water. Fishes great and small go
slipping between the branches like birds
among the trees here on land. In the
deepest place of all is the great house of
the Sea King. Its walls are made of red
sea-stone, and the long pointed windows
are the clearest yellow jewels. The roof
is formed of shells1 which may be seen
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75
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1. shell -- The hard outer coverings of sea-animals.
2. censers -- Vessels in which sweet-smelling substances are burned in churches.