📖 賣火柴的小女孩

It was New Year's Eve, and the snow was falling fast. It was terribly cold, and a poor little girl was walking barefoot in the street. She had sold no matches all day. She was cold and hungry, and she dared not go home, for her father would beat her. She sat down in a corner between two houses and lit the first match. In its light, she saw a warm stove. The match went out, and the stove vanished. She lit the second match and saw a table full of food, and a roasted goose jumped off the plate. The match went out, and the food vanished. She lit the third match and saw a beautiful Christmas tree. The match went out, and the tree vanished. She lit the fourth match and saw her grandmother—the only one who had loved her. Her grandmother said, Come with me, child. The little girl said, Grandmother, will you vanish? Her grandmother said, This time I will not. The little girl was afraid her grandmother would vanish, so she lit the whole bundle of matches. Her grandmother held her, and they flew to a place with no cold, no hunger, and no pain. The next morning, people found the little girl sitting in the corner, with a smile on her face. She was dead, and she was holding a bundle of burned matches. People said, She tried to warm herself. No one knew what beautiful things she had seen.