The Little Match Girl and the Other Stories
The Little Match Girl
It was New Year’s Eve and one poor little girl was walking down the snow-clad streets.
She had not sold a match all day, so she sat sadly at the corner of a street, took out a match and
lit it. She started to see magical things in its light ...
The author wrote this story for his mother who had a very poor childhood.
The Emperor’s New Clothes This was adapted from the story ‘Duke Rukanore’ by J. Manuel, a 14 century Spanish author.
There was an emperor who thought so much of new clothes.
One day, swindlers convinced the emperor that they could manufacture clothes that would be invisible to any man who was stupid.
The Red Shoes There was a little girl who is pretty but poor.
One day she bought a pair of new red shoes. Every time she wears the shoes she can’t stop dancing.
One day, her adoptive mother fell ill, but the little girl did not take care of her. Instead, she put the red shoes on and then went to the ball.
She commenced to dance. However, she could not take the shoes off and had to dance far out into the dark woods.
This story has strong Christian message including retribution of selfishness.
