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 savory smell of roast
goose, for it was New-year's eveyes, 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! 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 colored 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. 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 outscratch! 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 colored 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.