The Little Match Girl - Story & Song - Audio Recording - Narrated By Grant R. Barrett
The Little Match Girl
It was terribly cold and nearly dark on the last evening of the old year, and the snow was falling fast. In the cold and the darkness, a poor little girl, with bare head and naked feet, roamed through the streets. It is true she had on a pair of slippers when she left home, but they were not of much use. They were very large, so large, indeed, that they had belonged to her mother, and the poor little creature had lost them in running across the street to avoid two carriages that were rolling along at a terrible rate. One of the slippers she could not find, and a boy seized upon the other and ran away with it, saying that he could use it as a cradle, when he had children of his own. So the little girl went on with her little naked feet, which were quite red and blue with the cold. In an old apron she carried a number of matches, and had a bundle of them in her hands. No one had bought anything of her the whole day, nor had anyone given her even a penny. Shivering with cold and hunger, she crept along; poor little child, she looked the picture of misery. The snowflakes fell on her long, fair hair, which hung in curls on her shoulders, but she regarded them not.
Lights were shining from every window, and there was a savoury smell of roast goose, for it was New-year's eve—yes, she remembered that. In a corner, between two houses, one of which projected beyond the other, she sank down and huddled herself together. She had drawn her little feet under her, but she could not keep off the cold; and she dared not go home, for she had sold no matches, and could not take home even a penny of money. Her father would certainly beat her; besides, it was almost as cold at home as here, for they had only the roof to cover them, through which the wind howled, although the largest holes had been stopped up with straw and rags. Her little hands were almost frozen with the cold. Ah! perhaps a burning match might be some good, if she could draw it from the bundle and strike it against the wall, just to warm her fingers. She drew one out—“scratch!” how it sputtered as it burnt! It gave a warm, bright light, like a little candle, as she held her hand over it. It was really a wonderful light. It seemed to the little girl that she was sitting by a large iron stove, with polished brass feet and a brass ornament. How the fire burned! and seemed so beautifully warm that the child stretched out her feet as if to warm them, when, lo! the flame of the match went out, the stove vanished, and she had only the remains of the half-burnt match in her hand.
She rubbed another match on the wall. It burst into a flame, and where its light fell upon the wall it became as transparent as a veil, and she could see into the room. The table was covered with a snowy white table-cloth, on which stood a splendid dinner service, and a steaming roast goose, stuffed with apples and dried plums. And what was still more wonderful, the goose jumped down from the dish and waddled across the floor, with a knife and fork in its breast, to the little girl. Then the match went out, and there remained nothing but the thick, damp, cold wall before her.
She lighted another match, and then she found herself sitting under a beautiful Christmas-tree. It was larger and more beautifully decorated than the one which she had seen through the glass door at the rich merchant's. Thousands of tapers were burning upon the green branches, and coloured pictures, like those she had seen in the show-windows, looked down upon it all. The little one stretched out her hand towards them,
and the match went out.
The Christmas lights rose higher and higher, till they looked to her like the stars in the sky. Then she saw a star fall, leaving behind it a bright streak of fire. “Someone is dying,” thought the little girl, for her old grandmother, the only one who had ever loved her, and who was now dead, had told her that when a star falls, a soul was going up to God.
She again rubbed a match on the wall, and the light shone round her; in the brightness stood her old grandmother, clear and shining, yet mild and loving in her appearance. “Grandmother,” cried the little one, “O take me with you; I know you will go away when the match burns out; you will vanish like the warm stove, the roast goose, and the large, glorious Christmas-tree.” And she made haste to light the whole bundle of matches, for she wished to keep her grandmother there. And the matches glowed with a light that was brighter than the noon-day, and her grandmother had never appeared so large or so beautiful. She took the little girl in her arms, and they both flew upwards in brightness and joy far above the earth, where there was neither cold nor hunger nor pain, for they were with God.
In the dawn of morning there lay the poor little one, with pale cheeks and smiling mouth, leaning against the wall; she had been frozen to death on the last evening of the year; and the New-year's sun rose and shone upon a little corpse! The child still sat, in the stiffness of death, holding the matches in her hand, one bundle of which was burnt. “She tried to warm herself,” said some. No one imagined what beautiful things she had seen, nor into what glory she had entered with her grandmother, on New-year's day.
賣火柴的小女孩
來源: [ 美語世界 ] 鄰家玉妹 於 10-03-10 12:07:35
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天冷極了，下著雪，又快黑了。這是一年的最後一天—大年夜。在這又冷又黑的晚上，一個光著頭赤著腳的小女孩在街上走著。她從家裏出來的時候還穿著一雙拖鞋，但是有什麽用呢？那是一雙很大的拖鞋—那麽大，一向是她媽媽穿的。她穿過馬路的時候，兩輛馬車飛快地衝過來，嚇得她把鞋都跑掉了。一隻怎麽也找不著，另一隻叫一個男孩撿起來拿著跑了。他說，將來他有了孩子可以拿它當搖籃。
小女孩隻好赤著腳走，一雙小腳凍得紅一塊青一塊的。她的舊圍裙裏兜著許多火柴，手裏還拿著一把。這一整天，誰也沒買過她一根火柴，誰也沒給過她一個錢。
可憐的小女孩！她又冷又餓，哆哆嗦嗦地向前走。雪花落在她的金黃的長頭發上，那頭發打成卷兒披在肩上，看上去很美麗，不過她沒注意這些。每個窗子裏都透出燈光來，街上飄著一股烤鵝的香味，因為這是大年夜—她可忘不了這個。
她在一座房子的牆角裏坐下來，蜷著腿縮成一團。她覺得更冷了。她不敢回家，因為她沒賣掉一根火柴，沒掙到一個錢，爸爸一定會打她的。再說，家裏跟街上一樣冷。他們頭上隻有個房頂，雖然最大的裂縫已經用草和破布堵住了，風還是可以灌進來。
她的一雙小手幾乎凍僵了。啊，哪怕一根小小的火柴，對她也是有好處的！她敢從成把的火柴裏抽出一根，在牆上擦燃了，來暖和暖和自己的小手嗎？她終於抽出了一根。哧！火柴燃起來了，冒出火焰來了！她把小手攏在火焰上。多麽溫暖多麽明亮的火焰啊，簡直像一支小小的蠟燭。這是一道奇異的火光！小女孩覺得自己好像坐在一個大火爐前麵，火爐裝著閃亮的銅腳和銅把手，燒得旺旺的，暖烘烘的，多麽舒服啊！哎，這是怎麽回事呢？她剛把腳伸出去，想讓腳也暖和一下，火柴滅了，火爐不見了。她坐在那兒，手裏隻有一根燒過了的火柴梗。
她又擦了一根。火柴燃起來了，發出亮光來了。亮光落在牆上，那兒忽然變得像薄紗那麽透明，她可以一直看到屋裏。桌上鋪著雪白的台布，擺著精致的盤子和碗，肚子裏填滿了蘋果和梅子的烤鵝正冒著香氣。更妙的是這隻鵝從盤子裏跳下來，背上插著刀和叉，搖搖擺擺地在地板上走著，一直向這個窮苦的小女孩走來。這時候，火柴又滅了，她麵前隻有一堵又厚又冷的牆。
她又擦著了一根火柴。這一回，她坐在美麗的聖誕樹下。這棵聖誕樹，比她去年聖誕節透過富商家的玻璃門看到的還要大，還要美。翠綠的樹枝上點著幾千支明晃晃的蠟燭，許多幅美麗的彩色畫片，跟掛在商店櫥窗裏的一個樣，在向她眨眼睛。小女孩向畫片伸出手去。這時候，火柴又滅了。隻見聖誕樹上的燭光越升越高，最後成了在天空中閃爍的星星。有一顆星星落下來了，在天空中劃出了一道細長的紅光。
“有一個什麽人快要死了。”小女孩說。唯一疼她的奶奶活著的時候告訴過她∶一顆星星落下來，就有一個靈魂要到上帝那兒去了。
她在牆上又擦著了一根火柴。這一回，火柴把周圍全照亮了。奶奶出現在亮光裏，是那麽溫和，那麽慈愛。
“奶奶！”小女孩叫起來，“啊！請把我帶走吧！我知道，火柴一滅，您就會不見的，像那暖和的火爐，噴香的烤鵝，美麗的聖誕樹一個樣，就會不見的！”
她趕緊擦著了一大把火柴，要把奶奶留住。一大把火柴發出強烈的光，照得跟白天一樣明亮。奶奶從來沒有像現在這樣高大，這樣美麗。奶奶把小女孩抱起來，摟在懷裏。她們倆在光明和快樂中飛走了，越飛越高，飛到那沒有寒冷，沒有饑餓，也沒有痛苦的地方去了。
第二天清晨，這個小女孩坐在牆角裏，兩腮通紅，嘴上帶著微笑。她死了，在舊年的大年夜凍死了。新年的太陽升起來了，照在她小小的屍體上。小女孩坐在那兒，手裏還捏著一把燒過了的火柴梗。
“她想給自己暖和一下……”人們說。誰也不知道她曾經看到過多麽美麗的東西，她曾經多麽幸福，跟著她奶奶一起走向新年的幸福中去。
本文來自: 華語網(www.thn21.com) 詳細出處參考：http://www.thn21.com/Article/other/7760.html
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The Little Match Girl
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
"The Little Match Girl" is a short story by Danish poet and author Hans Christian Andersen. The story is about a dying child's hallucinations, and was first published in 1845. It has been adapted to various media including animated film, and a television musical.
Hans Christian Andersen
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Hans Christian Andersen (April 2, 1805 – August 4, 1875) was a Danish author and poet noted for his children's stories. These include "The Steadfast Tin Soldier", "The Snow Queen", "The Little Mermaid", "Thumbelina", "The Little Match Girl", and the "The Ugly Duckling".
During his lifetime he was acclaimed for having delighted children worldwide, and was feted by royalty. His poetry and stories have been translated into more than 150 languages. They have inspired motion pictures, plays, ballets, and animated films.
The Little MatchGirl- Disney
