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The Little Match Girl – Part II

by Hans Christian Andersen

How beautiful the fire burned! How it warmed her! But what was that? The little girl stretched her feet out to warm them also, and the flame went out—the stove vanished—she had only the small stump of the burned match in her hand. A new match was rubbed against the wall; it burned, it gave a beautiful light, and where the light fell on the wall it became transparent like a veil.

She could see right into the room, where the table was covered with a bright white cloth, and on it a fine china dinner service; the roast goose, stuffed with prunes and apples, was steaming beautifully. But, what was still more delightful, the goose jumped from the dish and waddled along the floor, with knife and fork in its back, straight toward the poor girl, when the match went out, and there was only the thick, cold wall to be seen.

She lighted a new match. Then she was sitting under a beautiful Christmas-tree; it was still larger and more decorated than that she had seen through the glass door at the rich merchant’s last Christmas. Thousands of candles burned upon the green branches, and coloured pictures, like those that you see in the shop windows, were looking down upon her. The little girl stretched both her hands toward them—and the match went out. The light seemed to go farther and farther away from her. She saw now that they were the bright stars. One of them fell down, leaving a long train of fire after it.

„Now some one is dying,” said the little one. Her old grandmother, who was the only one who had been good to her, but was now dead, had told her when a star falls a soul goes to God.

She rubbed a match again on the wall. It gave such a light, and in its luster stood the old grandmother—so clear, so bright, so mild, so blessed!

„Grandmother,” cried the little one, „oh, take me with you! I know you will be gone when the match goes out—gone, just like the warm stove, the beautiful roast goose, and the great, beautiful Christmas tree.” And she rubbed quickly all the remaining matches in the bundle,—she would not lose her grandmother,—and the matches burned with such a splendor that it was brighter than in the middle of the day. Grandmother had never before been so beautiful, so grand. She took the little girl in her arms, and they flew away in brightness and joy, so high—high, where there was no cold, no hunger, no fear—they were with God!

But, next morning, in the corner by the house sat the little girl with red cheeks and a smile about her mouth, dead—frozen to death on the last evening of the old year. The sun of New Year’s morning rose up on the little corpse, with the matches in the pinafore, and one bundle nearly burned. „She wanted to warm herself,” said the people. No one knew what beautiful visions she had had, and in what splendor she had gone into the New Year’s joy and happiness with her old grandmother.

Słownictwo

along – wzdłuż

blessed – błogosławiony

cheeks – policzki

cloth – obrus

corpse – zwłoki

delightful – zachwycające

dinner service – zastawa stołowa, zestaw obiadowy

fine – znakomity

frozen – mrożony

grand – wielki, wspaniały

green branches – zielone gałęzie

hunger – głód

joy – radość, szczęście

luster – blask

merchant – kupiec

mild – łagodny

prunes – suszone śliwki

quickly – szybko

remaining – zachowany

rich – bogaty

soul – dusza

steam, steaming – para, parujący

stuffed – nadziewany

stump – ogarek

to fall down – spadać, opadać

to go out – gasnąć

toward – w kierunku

transparent like a veil – przezroczysty/przejrzysty jak welon

to vanish – znikać

waddle – kaczkowaty chód