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The little girl found a spot in between two
houses where she sat down, becoming colder and more frozen. What was the point
of going home where her father would be angry with her? In any case, it was
almost as cold inside her home as outside, the wind whistled so sharply through
the large cracks in the walls.
The little girl could hardly move, her
fingers were so stiff with cold. She told herself that if she lit one match,
just one, it would warm her up. So she struck a match. There was a joyful
crackling and the flame rose, warm and bright in her hand. The little girl had a
sudden vision that she was sitting in front of a large copper stove. She
stretched out her feet to warm them.
Too late! The stove had disappeared. All that
remained was the blackened stump of a match in her fingers.
The little girl decided to strike a second
match. This time, the flame was even brighter and more beautiful. The little
girl saw a room containing a table covered with beautiful china. A large roast
goose, all brown and plump, lay on a handsome platter. Then, suddenly, the goose
rolled off the table and disappeared. All that lay before the child was the
cold, gray street. It was unbearable.
The little girl desperately wanted to find
the copper stove that had crackled so joyfully and the tasty goose that had
smelled so delicious...
The little match seller struck a third match
and found herself transported immediately to a beautiful house that contained a
shining Christmas tree, covered with glittering garlands and brightly colored
balls. Fruit and toys hung from the branches. Children were dancing in a ring
around the tree, and they took her hand and brought her into the circle.
The little girls wanted to join in the
dancing, but suddenly she was outside in the cold again. The snow had stopped
and the stars shone over the dark, deserted street. A few passers by, in a hurry
to get back to their friends and family, rushed past without seeing the
little girl, who huddled between two houses and stared at the sky.
A shooting star left a long and brilliant
trail. The little girl knew that this meant someone was about to die. Her old
grandmother, the only person who had ever been kind to her, had taught her this:
if a star falls, it means that a soul has gone to God. She struck another match
and this time her grandmother appeared to her, looking as she used to, with her
sweet and gentle expression.
''Grandmother take me away!'' begged
the little match girl. ''Do not leave me alone. I know that when the match
goes out you will disappear just like everything else I have seen until now.
Like the fire that burned so brightly, like the goose that smelled so delicious,
like the Christmas tree, you will fly away and I shall be left all alone in the
dark street without anyone to look after me.'' Terrified at the idea of
being abandoned once again, the little girl lit not one solitary match, but
burned the whole box. Her grandmother reappeared, looking so beautiful in her
black velvet gown, that she wore only on special occasions.
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