Story Voice

The Little Match Girl Story

The Little Match Girl is a classic story from Hans Christian Andersen Fairy Tales, for children aged 5–9. This page has the English story with a native English narration (about 3 min), plus the Chinese version with Mandarin narration (about 7 min). Free to read and listen, no sign-up.

On New Year's Eve, a barefoot girl lights her unsold matches to keep warm and sees a stove, a goose and her grandma. By Andersen. With native English narration, plus the Chinese version in Mandarin.

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Read The Little Match Girl

It was the last night of the year. It was very cold, and snow was falling. A little girl walked down the street. She had no shoes, and her feet were red with cold.

In her old apron, she had lots of matches. "Matches! Who wants matches?" she called. But nobody stopped. All day, she did not sell one match. She was cold and hungry.

Every window was bright, and she could smell roast goose. It was New Year's Eve. The girl sat down in a corner between two houses. She did not want to go home. She had no money, and her home was cold too.

Her hands were very cold. "One little match will warm my hands," she thought. She struck it on the wall. Scratch! The match burned bright and warm. She saw a big stove in front of her. She put out her feet to warm them, but the match went out. The stove was gone.

She lit a second match. Now she could see into a house. On the table was a hot roast goose. Then the goose jumped off the plate and walked toward her! But the match went out, and there was only the cold wall.

She lit a third match. Now she sat under a big Christmas tree with hundreds of little candles. She reached up, and the match went out. The candles went up and up and became stars in the sky. One star fell down.

"Someone is going to heaven," said the girl. Her grandma told her that. Grandma loved her more than anyone, but Grandma was gone.

She lit another match. There was Grandma, smiling at her! "Grandma!" she cried. "Please take me with you! When the match goes out, you will go away too." Quickly she lit all the matches. They were brighter than the day.

Grandma took the little girl in her arms. Up and up they flew, to a place with no cold, no hunger and no fear.

In the morning, the new year began. The girl was still in the corner. Her cheeks were pink, and she was smiling. She had gone to sleep in the cold night, and she never woke up.

"She wanted to keep warm," people said. Nobody knew about the stove, the goose and the Christmas tree. And nobody knew that she was with her grandma, warm at last.

The Chinese version: 卖火柴的小女孩

那是一年里的最后一个晚上，大年夜。雪花一片一片地飘，北风一阵一阵地吹，天早早地黑了。街上的人裹着大衣，都急着赶回家过年。

有一个小女孩，光着脚在冰冷的街上走。早上出门的时候，她趿着妈妈的一双旧拖鞋，鞋太大了，走起来啪嗒啪嗒地响。过马路时，两辆马车轰隆隆地冲过来，她慌忙一躲，拖鞋就甩掉了。一只滚进雪堆里，再也找不着；另一只让一个调皮的男孩捡走，笑嘻嘻地跑远了。现在，她的一双小脚冻得通红。

她是出来卖火柴的。旧围裙的兜里装满了火柴，一小捆一小捆的。“买火柴吧，谁要火柴？”她小声地喊。可是从早上到现在，人们都匆匆走过，她一根也没卖出去，连一个小硬币也没挣到。她的肚子饿得咕咕叫，雪花落在她金色的长头发上，她也顾不上拍一拍。

路两边的窗户里亮着暖黄的灯，不知道谁家在烤鹅，香味一阵一阵地飘出来。小女孩走累了，就在两座房子之间的墙角里坐下，把光脚丫缩到裙子底下。可是风从四面八方钻过来，她还是冷得直打哆嗦。她不敢回家，一根火柴也没卖掉，回去是要挨骂的。再说，家里的屋顶破了好几个洞，跟外面一样冷。

她的小手冻得快没有知觉了。“只擦一根，暖一暖手吧。”她想。“嚓”的一声，火柴在墙上划着了。小小的火苗跳起来，黄黄的，暖暖的。小女孩眯起眼睛，好像看见面前有一只大火炉，铜把手闪闪发亮，炉火噼噼啪啪地响。她把冻僵的脚丫伸过去，想烤一烤——呼，火苗灭了。火炉不见了，墙角还是那么冷。

她又擦亮一根。火光照到墙上，墙一下子变得透亮，像一扇窗户。她看见屋里摆着一张长桌子，桌上有一只金黄的烤鹅，还冒着热气。小女孩正咽口水，那只烤鹅竟然从盘子里跳下来，一摇一摆地向她走来！可是火柴一灭，眼前又只剩下一堵冰冷的墙。

第三根火柴亮起来的时候，一棵圣诞树出现在她身边。树好高好高，挂满了彩色的小画片，枝头上点着数不清的小蜡烛。去年，她在一户有钱人家的玻璃门外也看见过一棵圣诞树，可是没有这一棵漂亮。她伸出小手，想去摸一摸——火柴又灭了。那些小蜡烛却一点一点往上飘，飘进夜空，变成了一颗颗星星。忽然，一颗星星从天上滑下来，拖着一条长长的亮尾巴。

小女孩想起了奶奶。从前，奶奶最疼她，总是把她搂在怀里讲故事。奶奶说过：天上落下一颗星星，就是有一个人要到天上去了。可是奶奶自己，早就去了天上。

她又擦亮一根火柴。这一回，亮光里站着的正是奶奶！奶奶笑眯眯地看着她，和从前一模一样。“奶奶！”小女孩喊起来，“您别走！火柴一灭，您就会像火炉、烤鹅和圣诞树一样不见了。求求您，带我一起走吧！”她慌忙把剩下的火柴全抓在手里，一下子全擦亮了。

一大把火柴一起烧起来，墙角亮得像白天一样。奶奶弯下腰，把小女孩轻轻抱了起来。小女孩靠在奶奶怀里，一点儿也不冷了，肚子也不饿了。她们一起往上飞，飞过屋顶，飞过雪花，一直飞到星星那边去了。在那里，再也没有寒风，也再没有什么让她害怕。

天亮了，新年的第一个早晨来到了。雪停了，太阳暖暖地照着那个墙角。人们发现，小女孩还靠着墙坐在那里，小脸红扑扑的，嘴角弯弯的，像在做一个好梦。在旧年的最后一个晚上，她轻轻地睡去了，再也没有醒来。她身边撒着一地烧黑的火柴棍。

“可怜的孩子，她一定是想烤烤火，暖一暖身子。”路过的人叹着气说。可是没有人知道，昨天夜里，她看见了暖暖的火炉、香喷喷的烤鹅和亮闪闪的圣诞树；更没有人知道，奶奶已经牵着她的手，带她去过一个再也不会冷的新年了。

The Little Match Girl Story: the moral of the story

Notice the people around you who are cold, hungry or alone, and help them. The love and warmth of a family is the most precious thing a child can have.

Chinese words in The Little Match Girl

Play the Chinese narration and listen for these words. The pinyin shows the tones.

  • 火柴huǒ chái

    match

  • 大年夜dà nián yè

    New Year's Eve

  • 雪花xuě huā

    snowflake

  • 火炉huǒ lú

    stove

  • 烤鹅kǎo é

    roast goose

  • 圣诞树shèng dàn shù

    Christmas tree

  • 星星xīng xing

    star

  • 奶奶nǎi nai

    grandma (father's mother)

Bedtime storytelling tips

  • Say a soft "scratch" each time a match is struck, then pause and let your child guess what the girl will see this time.
  • The ending is sad. Slow down for the last two paragraphs, then give your child a hug and remind them they are warm and safe tonight.
  • Count the matches together: first match, a stove; second match, a goose; third match, a Christmas tree. In Chinese, a match is 火柴 (huǒ chái).

Things to talk about afterwards

  • What did the girl see each time she lit a match?
  • Why did she want so much to keep her grandma with her?
  • If you saw a child who was cold and hungry on a winter street, how could you help?

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The Little Match Girl Story: common questions

What is the moral of The Little Match Girl?
The story shows how cold and lonely a poor child can be, and asks us to care for people who need help. In her coldest hour, the girl thinks of warmth and of her grandma, which shows how precious a family's love is.
Who wrote The Little Match Girl?
The Danish writer Hans Christian Andersen (1805–1875). It was first published in 1845. It is an Andersen fairy tale, not a Grimm one.
How does The Little Match Girl end?
She lights all her matches at once and sees her grandma, who takes her in her arms, and they fly up to a place with no cold, no hunger and no fear. In the morning, people find her in the corner, smiling. She went to sleep in the cold night and never woke up.
Is The Little Match Girl too sad for young children?
The girl dies at the end, as in Andersen's original, so we suggest it for ages 5–9. Our retelling tells the ending gently, as going to sleep and being with her grandma, warm at last. It helps to read it with a hug and a short talk afterward.

Source and how we retold it

By the Danish writer Hans Christian Andersen, Den lille Pige med Svovlstikkerne, first published in 1845 and now in the public domain. Our retelling follows Andersen's plot and does not use any existing Chinese translation. In the original, the girl is afraid to go home because her father will beat her; our English text leaves this out, and the Chinese text says she fears a scolding. In the original, her grandmother takes her to God; here they fly up to a place where it is never cold. Small details, such as the knife and fork in the roast goose's back, are left out. The ending, in which the girl dies in the cold on New Year's Eve, is kept but told gently.

The narration on this page is AI-generated: the English is read by 英伦绅士 and the Chinese by 温柔妈妈. The audio files are labeled as AI-generated.

If you liked The Little Match Girl Story, there are more stories in Hans Christian Andersen Fairy Tales. You can also read this one to your child in your own voice.

More Hans Christian Andersen Fairy Tales