賣火柴的小女孩

It was terriblycold; it snowed and was already almost dark， and evening came on the last evening of the year. In the cold and gloom a poor little girl， bareheaded and barefoot， was walking through the streets. When she left her own house she certainly had had slippers on; but of what use were they? They were very big slippers， and her mother had used them till then， so big were they. The little maid lost them as she slipped across the road， where two carriages were rattling by terribly fast. One slipper was not to be found again， and a boy had seized the other， and run away with it. He said he could use it very well as a cradle， some day when he had children of his own. So now the little girl went 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 a bundle of them in her hand. No one had bought anything of her all day， and no one had given her a farthing.

Shivering with cold and hunger she crept along， a picture of misery， poor little girl! The snowflakes covered her long fair hair， which fell in pretty curls over her neck; but she did not think of that now. In all the windows lights were shining， and there was a glorious smell of roast goose， for it was New Year's Eve. Yes， she thought of that!

In a corner formed by two houses， one of which projected beyond the other， she sat down， cowering. She had drawn up her little feet， but she was still colder， and she did not

dare to go home， for she had sold no matches， and did not bring a farthing of money. From her father she would certainly receive a beating， and besides， it was cold at home， for they had nothing over them but a roof through which the wind whistled， though the largest rents had been stopped with straw and rags.

Her little hands were almost benumbed， with the cold. Ah! a match might do her good， if she could only draw one from the bundle， and rub it against the wall， and warm her hands at it. She drew one out. R-r-atch! How it sputtered and burned! It was a warm， bright flame， like a little candle， when she held her hands over it; it was a wonderful little light! It really seemed to the little girl as if she sat before a great polished stove， with bright brass feet and a brass cover. How the fire burned! How comfortable it was! But the little flame went out， the stove vanished when her feet were just reaching out for a little warmth， and she had only the remains of the burned match in her hand.

A second was rubbed against the wall. It burned up， and when the light fell upon the wall became transparent like a thin veil， and she could see through it into the room. On the table a snowwhite cloth was spread; upon it stood a shining dinner service; the roast goose smoked gloriously， stuffed with apples and dried plums. And what was still more splendid to behold， the goose hopped down from the dish， and waddled along the floor， with a knife and fork in its breast， to the little girl. Then the match went out， and only the thick， damp， cold wall was before her. She lighted another match. Then she was sitting under a beautiful Christmas tree; it was greater and more ornamented than the one she had seen through the glass door last Christmas at the rich merchant's. Thousands of candles burned upon the green branches， and coloured pictures like those in the print shops looked down upon them. The little girl stretched forth her hand towards them; then the match went out. The Christmas lights mounted higher. She saw them now as stars in the sky: one of them fell down， forming a long line of fire.

\"Now some one is dying，\" thought the little girl， for her old grandmother， the only person who had loved her and who was now dead， had told her that when a star fell down a soul mounted up to God.

She rubbed another match against the wall; it became bright again and in the brightness the old grandmother stood clear and shining mild and lovely.

\"Grandmother!\" cried the child. \"Oh! take me with your I know you will go when the match is burned out. You will vanish like the warm fire， the beautiful roast goose， and the great glorious Christmas tree!\"

And she hastily rubbed the whole bundle of matches， for she wished to hold her grandmother fast. And the matches burned with such a glow that it became brighter than in the middle of the day; grandmother had never been so large or so beautiful. She took the little girl in her arms， and both flew in brightness and joy above the earth， very， very high， and up there was neither cold， nor hunger， nor care-they were with God!

But in the corner， leaning against the wall， sat in the cold morning hours the poor girl with red cheeks and smiling mouth， frozen to death on the last evening of the Old Year. The New Year's sun rose upon a little corpse! The child sat there， stiff and cold， with the matches of which one bundle was burned. \"She wanted to warm herself，\" the people said. No one imagined what a beautiful thing she had seen， and in what glory she had gone in with her grandmother to the New Year's joy.

天氣好冷好冷。空中飄著雪花，天已經快黑了，一年中最后的夜晚正在來臨。在這寒冷陰沉的天氣里，一個可憐的小女孩，光頭赤腳，正在穿過一條大街。在她離開家的時候，她是穿著一雙拖鞋的，但那又有什么用呢?那是雙很大的拖鞋，是她媽媽一直穿的，真是太大了。在小女孩橫穿馬路的時候，有兩輛馬車飛馳而過，她在慌忙中把鞋跑丟了。其中一只怎么也找不著，另一只被一個小男孩撿到了，拿起就跑。他說以后他自己有孩子的時候，可以用那只鞋做個搖籃。所以，小女孩現在只能赤著腳走路，小腳被凍得紫一塊、青一塊的。她裝了一些火柴，在一條舊圍裙里，手里也拿了一捆。一整天都沒有人來買，沒有人給她一分錢。

在饑寒交迫中，她渾身發抖，蹣跚著向前走。多么悲慘的景象，多么可憐的小女孩！雪花落在她長長的頭發上，美麗的小發卷兒披落在脖子上。但她現在根本顧不上想這些。在所有的窗戶里，燈都亮著，烤鵝撲鼻的香味飄了出來，因為今天是年夜呀。是的，她想到了這事。

那兒有兩座房子，一座比另一座凸出來一些，形成了一個角落。她坐在那里，瑟瑟發抖。她把小腳縮了回來，但感覺更冷了。她不敢回家，因為她沒有賣掉火柴，沒有帶回家一分錢，她肯定會挨父親的一頓打。再說家里也很冷，因為他們的頭上除了屋頂外，再也沒有什么東西了。雖然最大的裂口已經用稻草和破布堵住了，但風還是透過屋頂，呼呼地吹進來。

她的小手已經快要凍僵了。啊！一根火柴會讓她舒服一些。只要她從一捆里抽出一根，朝墻上一劃，就可以用來暖手了。她抽出了一根。嚓！它響了一聲，燃燒了起來！那是一團溫暖、明亮的火焰，像一支小蠟燭一樣，她把手攏在上面。這真是一團小小的神奇的火光呀！對小女孩來說，她真覺得自己是坐在一個明凈的大爐子前，爐子銅腳銅身。瞧那團燃燒的火焰！多么舒服呀！當她的腳剛伸出一些，想暖和一下的時候，那團小小的火焰熄滅了，爐子也消失了。她的手里只剩下燒過的火柴桿。

她又在墻上劃了一支。火焰躥起來，火光照在墻上，墻體變得透明了，像一層薄薄的面紗。她可以透過去，看見屋里的一切。桌上鋪著一塊雪白的布，上面擺著閃閃發光的餐具。烤鵝熱氣騰騰的，肚里塞滿了蘋果和梅子干。還有更好的可看呢：烤鵝從盤子里蹦了出來，在地上搖搖擺擺地走著，胸前還插著刀叉，朝小女孩走過來了。這時火柴又滅了，她的面前只剩下厚厚的、潮濕而冰冷的墻。她又點著一根火柴，這次她坐在了一棵美麗的圣誕樹下。它比上個圣誕節她透過玻璃門看到的富有商人家的那棵圣誕樹還要大，裝飾得還要漂亮。碧綠的枝條上，數不清的蠟燭在燃燒。樹上彩色的圖畫，就像在畫店里掛的圖畫一樣好看，正俯視著那些蠟燭。小女孩朝它們伸出雙手，但火柴又一次熄滅了。圣誕節的燭光飛高了，她看見它們都變成了天上的星星。其中一顆落了下來，劃出了一道閃亮的長線。

“有一個人正在死去，”小女孩想。因為她的老祖母告訴過她，當一顆星星劃落的時候，一個靈魂就升到了上帝那里。祖母是世上唯一愛她的人，她已經死了。

她又在墻上劃了一根火柴。它點亮了。在亮光中，老祖母站在那里，那么清晰，那么溫柔，那么慈愛。

“奶奶！”小女孩大叫一聲， “啊！把我帶走吧！我知道火柴一滅，您就走了。您會像溫暖的火光、像美麗的烤鵝、像漂亮的大圣誕樹一樣，消失得無影無蹤的！”

她急忙把一捆火柴全劃著了，因為她想緊緊抓住自己的祖母。火柴燃燒得那么耀眼，照得比中午時分還要亮。祖母從沒有顯得那么高大，那么美麗。她抱起小女孩，兩個人在光明和快樂中飛離人間。她們飛得好高好高，那里沒有寒冷，沒有饑餓，沒有憂愁——她們和上帝在一起！

在那個角落里，在冰冷的清晨，可憐的小女孩倚墻坐著，面頰紅潤，嘴角含著微笑。她已經在去年的最后一個夜晚凍死了。新年的太陽升起來，照在小小的尸體上！女孩坐在那里，凍得僵硬，手里拿著火柴，其中一捆已經燒滅了。 “她想暖暖身子，”人們說。沒有人能想像得到，她曾經看到了多么美麗的景象，她跟著祖母在輝煌中離開，去迎接新年的快樂。