7. The Little Match Girl《卖火柴的小女孩》

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世界经典文学精选. 7

The Little Match Girl《卖火柴的小女孩》

作者：Hans Christian Andersen 汉斯·克里斯蒂安·安徒生

选自安徒生《Andersen’s Fairy Tales》

《安徒生童话》——1846年出版

英文原文

It was dreadfully cold, it was snowing fast,

and almost dark; the evening—the last evening of the year.

In this cold and darkness there went along the street

a poor little girl, bareheaded, and with naked feet.

She had slippers on when she left home,

but they were of no use.

They were very large slippers,

which her mother had hitherto worn;

so large were they;

and the poor little thing lost them

as she scuffled away across the street,

because of two carriages that rolled by dreadfully fast.

One slipper was nowhere to be found;

the other had been laid hold of by an urchin,

and off he ran with it;

he thought it would serve capitally as a cradle,

some day, for his own children.

So the little girl went on 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 the whole livelong day;

no one had given her a single farthing.

She crept along trembling with cold and hunger,

a very picture of sorrow, the poor little thing!

The flakes of snow covered her long fair hair,

which fell in beautiful curls around her neck;

but of that, of course, she never once thought.

From all the windows came the shining lights,

and the savour of roast goose came out into the street,

for it was New Year’s Eve.

Yes, that she remembered.

In a corner formed by two houses,

one of which projected beyond the other,

she sank down, and could not go farther.

She had drawn her little feet under her,

but she could not keep off the cold;

and she dared not go home,

for she had sold no matches,

and could not bring home even a little penny.

Her father would certainly beat her;

besides, it was cold at home,

for they had nothing over them but the roof,

through which the wind whistled,

although the largest cracks had been stopped up with straw and rags.

Her little hands were almost dead with cold.

Ah! a match might afford her a world of comfort,

if she only dared take a single one out of the bundle,

draw it against the wall, and warm her fingers by it.

She drew one out.

“Rischt!” how it blazed, how it burnt!

It was a warm, bright flame, like a candle,

as she held her hands over it:

it was a wonderful light.

It seemed really to the little girl

as though she were sitting before a large iron stove,

with polished brass feet and a brass ornament.

How the fire burned!

and seemed so beautifully warm;

but the flame went out,

the stove vanished,

and she had only the remains of the burnt match in her hand.

She rubbed another against the wall:

it burned brightly,

and where the light fell on the wall,

the wall became transparent like a veil,

so that she could see into the room.

On the table was spread a snow-white tablecloth;

upon it was a splendid porcelain service,

and the roast goose was steaming famously with its stuffing of apple and dried plums.

And what was still more capital to behold was,

the goose hopped down from the dish,

reeled about on the floor with knife and fork in its breast,

till it came up to the poor little girl.

Then the match went out,

and there was nothing to see but the thick, cold wall.

She lighted another match.

Now she found herself sitting under a beautiful Christmas-tree.

It was larger and more richly decorated

than the one which she had seen through the glass door

at the rich merchant’s.

Hundreds of tapers were burning upon the green branches,

and coloured pictures, like those she had seen in the show-windows,

looked down upon it all.

The little girl stretched forth her hand towards them,

and the match went out.

The Christmas tapers ascended higher and higher;

they seemed to her to be stars,

which were shooting through the heaven.

“Somebody is dead,” said the little girl;

for her old grandmother,

the only person who had loved her,

and who was now no more,

had told her,

that when a star falls,

a soul is going up to God.

She drew another match against the wall:

it was again light,

and in the lustre there stood the old grandmother,

so bright and radiant, so mild, and with such an expression of love.

“Grandmother!” cried the little one,

“Oh, take me with you!

I know you will vanish when the match is gone,

vanish like the warm stove,

like the delicious roast goose,

and the magnificent Christmas tree!”

And she rubbed the whole bundle of matches quickly against the wall,

for she wanted to be quite sure of keeping her grandmother near her.

And the matches gave such a brilliant light

that it was brighter than at noon-day:

never formerly had the grandmother been so beautiful and so tall.

She took the little girl in her arms,

and they both flew upwards in brightness and joy:

far above the earth,

and there was neither cold, nor hunger, nor anxiety,

they were with God.

In the early morning,

in the corner by the house,

sat the little girl,

with red cheeks and a smile upon her face,

frozen to death on the last evening of the old year.

The new year’s sun rose,

and shone upon the little dead body.

She sat there with the matches in her hand,

one bundle of which was burnt.

“She wanted to warm herself,” people said.

No one had any idea

of the beautiful visions she had seen,

or in what splendour she had gone together

with her old grandmother,

into the joys of the new-year.

译文

天气冷得可怕，大雪纷飞，天色将近黄昏。

这是一年之中最后的夜晚——除夕之夜。

在这样刺骨的寒冷与沉沉暮色里，

街上走着一个可怜的小女孩，

她没有戴帽子，双脚赤裸着。

出门的时候她脚上还穿着一双拖鞋，

可那拖鞋根本派不上用场。

那是一双很大的拖鞋，原本是她妈妈穿的，

尺寸大得离谱。

小女孩慌慌张张穿过马路的时候弄丢了拖鞋，

两辆马车飞快驶过，把她吓得躲闪不及。

一只拖鞋再也找不到了；

另一只被一个小男孩捡走，拿着跑开了。

男孩说，以后这只拖鞋刚好可以给他自己的孩子当摇篮。

于是小女孩只能光着小小的脚丫往前走，

双脚冻得又红又紫。

她老旧的围裙里兜着许多火柴，

手里还攥着一捆。

整整一天，没有一个人买过她一根火柴，

没有任何人给过她一个铜板。

她瑟瑟发抖地往前走，饥寒交迫，

可怜的孩子，满是愁苦。

雪花落在她长长的金发上，卷曲的发丝环绕脖颈，很好看，

可她根本无心欣赏。

家家户户的窗户透出温暖明亮的灯光，

烤鹅的香气飘到街上，

今天正是除夕，她记得这件事。

在两栋房子形成的墙角里，

其中一栋房子向外突出一块，

她蹲了下来，再也走不动了。

她把小小的脚蜷缩到身子底下，

可还是抵挡不住刺骨的寒意。

她不敢回家，

因为一根火柴都没有卖掉，

一分钱都没能带回去。

父亲一定会打她。

况且家里同样很冷，

屋子只有破屋顶遮风挡雨，

狂风从缝隙里呼啸灌进来，

就算最大的裂缝已经用稻草和破布堵住，也无济于事。

她的小手几乎冻僵了。

啊！哪怕划一根火柴，都能带来一丝慰藉，

她鼓起勇气，抽出一根，

在墙上一划，想用火苗暖暖手指。

“哧！”火柴燃起来了，火苗跳动着！

明亮温暖的火焰，像一根小小的蜡烛。

她把手拢在火苗上方，

这道光神奇极了。

小女孩仿佛坐在一个烧得滚烫的铁炉子前面，

炉子有着光亮的黄铜支架与装饰。

炉火熊熊，温暖宜人！

可一眨眼，火苗熄灭，炉子消失不见，

手里只剩下烧完的火柴梗。

她又在墙上划了一根火柴。

火光闪闪，

火光落处，墙壁变得像薄纱一样通透，

她可以看见屋子里面。

桌子上铺着雪白的桌布，

摆放着精致的瓷餐具，

烤鹅冒着热气，肚子里填满苹果和干梅子。

更奇妙的是，

烤鹅居然从盘子里跳了下来，

摇摇晃晃在地上往前走，背上还插着刀叉，

一直走到可怜的小女孩面前。

这时火柴熄灭了，

眼前只剩下冰冷厚实的墙壁。

她又点燃一根火柴。

这一回，她仿佛坐在一棵漂亮的圣诞树下。

这棵树比她透过富商店铺玻璃门见过的那一棵更大，装饰得更加华丽。

翠绿的枝丫上点着几百支蜡烛，

还有彩色图画，和商店橱窗里的画一样好看，

静静地从上往下望着她。

小女孩伸出手想要触碰，火柴又灭了。

圣诞的烛光越升越高，

在她眼里，它们变成天上划过的流星。

“有人去世了。”小女孩心想。

她唯一疼爱她的祖母已经离开人世，

祖母曾经告诉她，

每当一颗星星坠落，

就有一个灵魂去往上帝身边。

她再一次在墙上擦亮火柴。

光芒之中，祖母出现了。

祖母温柔祥和，周身散发柔光，满是爱意。

“奶奶！”小女孩哭喊着，

“带我走吧！火柴一灭，您就会消失的，

就像温暖的火炉、香喷喷的烤鹅、华丽的圣诞树一样！”

她急忙把整捆火柴都在墙上划亮，

只想牢牢留住祖母。

火柴发出耀眼的光芒，比正午的阳光还要明亮。

这一刻的祖母，高大又美丽。

祖母把小女孩抱进怀里，

她们在光明与喜悦里向上飞去，

高高远离尘世。

那里没有寒冷，没有饥饿，没有痛苦，

她们和上帝在一起。

第二天清晨，

在墙角那里，

小女孩静静坐着，脸颊通红，嘴角带着微笑，

在旧年的最后一夜冻死了。

新年的太阳缓缓升起，

光芒照在小小的遗体上。

她坐在那里，手里还攥着火柴，

有一整捆都已经烧尽。

“她只是想暖和一下自己。”人们这样说。

没有人知道，

她看见了多么美好的幻境，

也没有人知道，她是在何等璀璨的光芒之中，

跟着祖母，奔赴新年永恒的喜乐。

🔍长难句赏析与拆解

原句：

In a corner formed by two houses,

one of which projected beyond the other,

she sank down, and could not go farther.

句式解读：

本句使用分词定语 + 非限制性定语从句嵌套结构，

先交代地点环境，烘托孤苦冷清的氛围。

“formed by two houses”修饰corner，

one of which引导从句补充描写房屋错落的环境，

舒缓的节奏放大小女孩无助疲惫的状态，

是典型的童话叙事经典句式，景物描写和人物处境融为一体。

句子主干：

she sank down, and could not go farther.

文学赏析：

本文选自安徒生童话名篇《卖火柴的小女孩》，

没有激烈的冲突，以细腻克制的对比打动读者。

一边是富人家里温暖灯火、丰盛晚餐、热闹的圣诞，

一边是小女孩流落街头、饥寒交迫、无人问津的绝望。

作者用五次划亮火柴、五次幻境层层推进：

温暖的火炉 → 喷香的烤鹅 →

美丽的圣诞树 → 慈祥的祖母 → 飞向天国。

幻象越美好，现实就越发残酷悲凉。

故事结尾没有激烈控诉，只用一句平静的景物收尾，

新年朝阳升起，可孩子永远停在了寒冬，

这种留白式的悲剧，是安徒生童话最震撼人心的地方。

它不只是写给孩子的童话，更是对底层苦难、冷漠世间的温柔叩问。

写作迁移点拨：

适合苦难与希望、温暖与冷漠、现实与幻想、

共情悲悯、人间善意、底层关怀等写作主题。

仿写：

In the quiet dusk surrounded by old streets,

one of which holds countless warm memories,

she stopped, and did not want to leave.

仿写运用思路：

复刻原文地点定语+定语从句的写景句式，

适合记叙文场景铺垫、散文环境描写，氛围感强，语言沉静优美。

📝全篇句式特点

全文以叙事为主，长短句交错。

短句推进情节，简单直白，贴合童话口吻；

长句铺陈环境、描摹幻境，温柔细腻。

核心手法是强烈对比：

人间除夕的热闹富足 VS 小女孩的寒冷饥饿

短暂绚烂的幻象 VS 冰冷残酷的现实

活着时无人怜悯 VS 死后脸上带着微笑

层层对照，哀而不伤，克制却力量深重。

五次划火柴形成清晰的递进结构，幻境不断升级，

最后所有火柴一齐点燃，推向故事高潮，收尾安静留白。

核心词汇

1. bareheaded

/ˌbeəˈhedɪd/

光着头的，无帽的

形容词 (adj.)

2. apron

/ˈeɪprən/

围裙

名词 (n.)

3. farthing

/ˈfɑːðɪŋ/

（旧时）极小的钱币，一文钱

名词 (n.)

4. transparent

/trænsˈpærənt/

透明的

形容词 (adj.)

5. radiant

/ˈreɪdiənt/

光芒四射的，容光焕发的

形容词 (adj.)

6. bundle

/ˈbʌndl/

捆，束

名词 (n.)

7. vanish

/ˈvænɪʃ/

消失

动词 (v.)

8. anxiety

/æŋˈzaɪəti/

痛苦，忧虑

名词 (n.)

💡主旨品读

《卖火柴的小女孩》的内核，

不只是一个悲伤的童话故事。

安徒生以一个弱小孩子的视角，

撕开繁华节日背后被忽略的苦难。

火柴短暂的火光，是绝境里仅存的期盼，

火炉、美食、圣诞树、祖母，

都是她在冰冷世界里渴求的一切：温暖、食物、陪伴与爱。

现实里没有人施舍善意，

她只能在幻想里拥抱幸福。

故事告诉我们，要看见繁华之下的苦难，保有悲悯之心，

珍惜身边的温暖，心怀对弱小者的共情与温柔。

适合人文关怀、善意共情、直面苦难、守护微光这类深度写作主题。

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