The Little Match Girl

Her little hands were almost numbed with cold. Oh! 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 maiden as
though she were sitting before a large iron stove, with burnished brass feet and a brass ornament at
top. The fire burned with such blessed influence; it warmed so delightfully. The little girl had
already stretched out her feet to warm them too; but—the small flame went out, the stove vanished:
she had only the remains of the burnt-out match in her hand.