Christmas Bonus Episode: "The Little Match Girl" by Hans Christian Anderson

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As the frost of New Year's Eve nips at our comfort, we cannot help but be stirred by the tale of The Little Match Girl, a narrative that Hans Christian Andersen wove with threads of compassion and stark reality. This episode cradles your heart in the story of a young girl, shrouded in the chill of poverty, whose flickering matches cast light on the warmth of dreams and the coldness of her world. As we recount her visions and the stark contrast of the festive joy that eludes her, prepare for an emotional odyssey that questions our own awareness of those who slip through society's cracks.

Together we stand witness to the final hours of a year, as told through the eyes of a child for whom time bears down with the weight of hunger and neglect. No festive cheer adorns her tale; instead, each match struck is a beacon of what could be, a transient warmth against the backdrop of a society reveling in abundance. This episode, absent of any guest, becomes a silent vigil, a space for reflection, and a call to extend the hand of kindness not just in the season of giving but throughout the year. Join us, wrapped in the glow of your own homes, as we honor the spirit of the holidays through a story that gently pleads for a world more tender and less oblivious to the little match girls of today.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:18):
Christmas is a great time for us to be reminded that
we need to have our eyes openfor those in need around us, and
this story that was written byHans Christian Andersen is a
great reminder to us of our dutyto our fellow human beings.
So gather the family and enjoythis Christmas story.

(00:40):
The Little Match Girl by HansChristian Andersen.
It was terribly cold and nearlydark on the last evening of the

(01:02):
old year and the snow wasfalling fast.
In the cold and the darkness, apoor little girl with bare head
and naked feet roamed throughthe streets.
It is true she had on a pair ofslippers when she left home,
but they were not of much use.
They were very large, so largeindeed that they had belonged to

(01:26):
her mother and the poor littlecreature had lost them in
running across the street toavoid two carriages that were
rolling along at a terrible rate.
One of the slippers she couldnot 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 ofhis own.

(01:46):
So the little girl went on withher little naked feet, which
were quite red and blue with thecold.
In an old apron.
She carried a number of matchesand had a bundle of them in her
hands.
No one had bought anything ofher the whole day, nor had
anyone given her even a penny.
Shivering with cold and hunger,she crept along, poor little

(02:11):
child.
She looked the picture ofmisery.
The snowflakes fell on her longfair hair which hung in curls
on her shoulders, but sheregarded them not.
Lights were shining from everywindow and there was a savory
smell of roast goose, for it wasNew Year's Eve.

(02:32):
Yes, she remembered that.
In a corner between two houses,one of which projected beyond
the other, she sank down andhuddled herself together.
She had drawn her little feetunder her, but she could not
keep off the cold and she darednot go home, for she had sold no
matches and could not take homeeven a penny of money.

(02:55):
Her father would certainly beather.
Besides, it was almost as coldat home as here, for they had
only the roof to cover themthrough which the wind howled,
although the largest holes hadbeen stopped up with straw and
rags.
Her little hands were almostfrozen with the cold.
Ah, perhaps a burning matchmight do some good if she could

(03:19):
draw it from the bundle andstrike 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 lightlike a little candle as she held
her hand over it.
It was really a wonderful light.
It seemed to the little girlthat she was sitting by a large

(03:42):
iron stove with polished brassfeet and a brass ornament.
How the fire burned and seemedso beautifully warm that the
child stretched out her feet asif to warm them.
When low, the flame of thematch went out, the stove
vanished and she had only theremains of the half-burnt match
in her hand.
She rubbed another match on thewall.

(04:04):
It burst into a flame and whereits light fell upon the wall it
became as transparent as a veiland she could see into the room
.
The table was covered with asnowy white tablecloth, on which
stood a splendid dinner serviceand a steaming roast goose
stuffed with apples and driedplums.

(04:26):
And what was still morewonderful, the goose jumped down
from the dish and waddledacross the floor with a knife
and fork in its breast to thelittle girl.
Then the match went out andthere remained nothing but the
thick, damp, cold wall beforeher.
She lighted another match andthen she found herself sitting

(04:49):
under a beautiful Christmas tree.
It was larger and morebeautifully decorated than the
one which she had seen throughthe glass door at the rich
merchants.
Thousands of tapers wereburning upon the green branches
and colored pictures like thoseshe had seen in the show windows
looked down upon it all.
The little one stretched outher hand towards them and the

(05:11):
match went out.
The Christmas lights rosehigher and higher till they
looked to her like the stars inthe sky.
Then she saw a star fall,leaving behind it a bright
streak of fire.
Someone is dying, thought thelittle girl, for her old
grandmother, the only one whohad ever loved her and who was

(05:34):
now dead, had told her that whena star falls, a soul was going
up to God.
She again rubbed a match on thewall and the light shone round
her and the brightness stood herold grandmother, clear and
shining, yet mild and loving inappearance.
Grandmother, cried the littleone oh, take me with you.

(05:55):
I know you will go away whenthe match burns out.
You will vanish like the warmstove, the roast goose and the
large, glorious Christmas tree.
And she made haste to light thewhole bundle of matches, for
she wished to keep hergrandmother there, and the
matches glowed with a light thatwas brighter than the noon day,

(06:16):
and her grandmother had neverappeared so large or so
beautiful.
She took the little girl in herarms and they both flew upwards
in brightness and joy, far abovethe earth, where there was
neither cold, nor hunger, norpain, for they were with God In
the dawn of mourning.
There lay the poor little onewith pale cheeks and smiling

(06:39):
mouth, leaning against the wall.
She had been frozen to death onthe last evening of the year,
and the New Year's sun rose andshone upon a little corpse.
The child still sat in thestiffness of death, holding the
matches in her hand, one bundleof which was burnt.

(07:01):
She tried to warm herself, saidsome.
No one imagined what beautifulthings she had seen, nor into
what glory she had entered withher grandmother On New Year's
Day.
The End.