The little Match Girl is a short story by Danish poet and author Hans Christian Andersen. The story, about a dying child's dreams and hope.
Plot Summary:
On a cold New Year's Eve, a poor young girl tries to sell matches in the street. She is already shivering from cold and early hypothermia, and she is walking barefoot having lost her shoes.[1] Still, she is too afraid to go home, because her father will beat her for not selling any matches, and also as the cracks in the house can't keep out the cold wind. The girl takes shelters in a nook or alley and sits down.[2]
The girl lights the matches to warm herself. In their glow she sees several lovely visions, including a Christmas tree and a holiday feast. The girl looks skyward and sees a shooting star; she then remembers her dead grandmother saying that such a falling star means someone is dying and is going to go to Heaven. As she lights the next match, she sees a vision of her grandmother, the only person to have treated her with love and kindness. She strikes one match after another to keep the vision of her grandmother alive for as long as she can.
After running out of matches the child dies, and her grandmother carries her soul to Heaven. The next morning, passers-by find the child dead in the nook, frozen with a smile on her face, and guess the reason for the burnt-out matches beside her. They feel pity for her, although they had not shown kindness to her before her death. They have no way of knowing about the wonderful visions she saw before her death or how gloriously she and her grandmother are now celebrating the New Year in Heaven.
Plot Summary:
On a cold New Year's Eve, a poor young girl tries to sell matches in the street. She is already shivering from cold and early hypothermia, and she is walking barefoot having lost her shoes.[1] Still, she is too afraid to go home, because her father will beat her for not selling any matches, and also as the cracks in the house can't keep out the cold wind. The girl takes shelters in a nook or alley and sits down.[2]
The girl lights the matches to warm herself. In their glow she sees several lovely visions, including a Christmas tree and a holiday feast. The girl looks skyward and sees a shooting star; she then remembers her dead grandmother saying that such a falling star means someone is dying and is going to go to Heaven. As she lights the next match, she sees a vision of her grandmother, the only person to have treated her with love and kindness. She strikes one match after another to keep the vision of her grandmother alive for as long as she can.
After running out of matches the child dies, and her grandmother carries her soul to Heaven. The next morning, passers-by find the child dead in the nook, frozen with a smile on her face, and guess the reason for the burnt-out matches beside her. They feel pity for her, although they had not shown kindness to her before her death. They have no way of knowing about the wonderful visions she saw before her death or how gloriously she and her grandmother are now celebrating the New Year in Heaven.
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LearningTranscript
00:00It was a cold and snowy New Year's night.
00:07The people were passing by with their warm coats, gloves and scarves.
00:12They were all in a rush to get somewhere.
00:16Some were late and rushing to get home, and some were going to a venue to celebrate the New Year.
00:23Children were running around on the streets throwing snowballs to each other.
00:28Of course they were the ones enjoying the snow the most.
00:31They were playing with each other and laughing hysterically.
00:35But on the streets, there was a girl different than the ones that were playing.
00:41This little girl was standing in the middle of the street watching the other kids play.
00:48She did not have a hat to protect her from the cold like others.
00:53Her clothes were light and ripped, and the slippers on her feet didn't fit her right.
00:59They were big.
01:01She was holding a box in her hands, shivering from the freezing cold.
01:05The little girl barely noticed the car coming right at her.
01:09Hey kids, stay on the side of the road. You're going to get run over.
01:14The little girl threw herself on the sidewalk that second.
01:18But while she was running, the very big slippers on her feet flew off.
01:22When she was on the sidewalk, she turned around and looked.
01:25She saw a boy running with her slippers.
01:28My slippers!
01:30She yelled and ran after him, but the kid ran away fast.
01:33Hey, stop!
01:39Having no choice but to walk barefoot, she seeked for a shelter next to a wall.
01:47She opened the box she had been holding, and she put it down.
01:53She was looking in the box full of matches, with her eyes watery from the cold.
01:58This was a little match girl.
02:01But she could not even sell one box of matches that day.
02:05If she could make a sale and earn some money,
02:08she could go home and have at least a bowl of warm soup with her mother.