It was terribly cold and nearly dark on the last evening of the new year, the snow was falling fast. In the cold and darkness, a poor little girl with bare head and naked feet roamed through the streets. It is true that she had a pair of slippers when she left home, but they were not of much use.
They were very large, so large, indeed, for they had belonged to her Mother and the poor little girl had lost them in running across the street to avoid two carriages that were rolling at a terrible rate.
One of the slippers she could not find, and a boy seized the other and ran away with it saying 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, looking like the picture of misery.
Lights were shining from every window, and there was a savory smell of roast goose, for it was New-year's eve. 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 could not keep off the cold, and she dared not go home, for she had sold no matches.
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. 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 seemed as though she was sitting by a large iron stove. How the fire burned! And seemed so beautifully warm that the child stretched out her feet as if to warm them, but suddenly 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. The goose jumped down from the dish and waddled across the floor, with a knife and fork in it, 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 she had seen through the rich merchant's glass door. Thousands of tapers were burning upon the green branches, and colored pictures, like those she had seen in the shop-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 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 in Heaven, 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."
Then she made haste to light the whole bundle of matches, for she wished to keep her grandmother there. 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 on the last evening of the year; and the New-year's sun rose and shone upon a little child. The child still sat, 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.
source :
classiclit.about.com
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Hehe did you enjoy the story? "The Little Match Girl" is a story written by Hans Christian Anderson, and a quite famous one it is. I hope you read it thoroughly, because now I'm gonna give you some questions, yay!
1. When did most the story takes place?
A. 25th of December
B. 31st of December
C. 1st of January
D. 1st of December
E. 2nd of January
2. Why was the girl barefooted?
A. One of her shoe was missing, the other one was seized by a man
B. One of her shoe was burnt, the other one was seized by a boy
C. One of her shoe was seized by a boy, the other one fell into a well
D. One of her shoe was broken, the other one was missing
E. One of her shoe was missing, the other one was seized by a boy
3. Why did she not want to go home?
A. She wanted to see the midnight sky
B. She wanted to search for her shoe
C. She was sure that her father will beat her
D. She was overwhelmed by the savory smell of roast goose
E. She wanted to spend the night with her grandmother
4. What did the girl saw when she lit up her matches?
A. A stove, a fancy feast, her family, and a warm bed
B. Her mother, a christmas tree, a glorious feast, her grandmother
C. A cozy home, a stove, her shoes, and her grandmother
D. A christmas tree, a fancy feast, a stove, and her grandmother
E. A stove, her grandmother, a cozy home, and a stove
5. Which of these scenarios did not happen in the story?
A. By lighting up the match, the little girl tried to warm herself
B. The little girl's shoe was missing and her match was seized by a boy
C. The little girl froze herself to death
D. A passerby said that the little girl tried to warm herself
E. The little girl saw a shooting star and was reminded of her grandmother
