Voice 1
Welcome to Spotlight. I’m Colin Lowther. Spotlight uses a special English method of broadcasting. It is easier for people to understand, no matter where in the world they live.
A small girl walks through the streets. She is cold and hungry. Where can she find help on a cold winter’s day?
Voice 2
“Matches! Light your fires with my matches! Would you like to buy some matches sir? What about you madam? They are the best kind! Strike them against any wall! They will burn! Someone must want some matches – anyone?”
Voice 1
The Little Match Girl is a popular story. Hans Christian Anderson wrote this story. He wrote many children’s stories in the 1800s. People like to tell the story of the Little Match Girl during the Christmas season. Both adults and children enjoy it. But is it a sad story or a happy story? Liz Waid tells the story of the Little Match Girl.
Voice 3
A cold wind blows across the town. People hurry along, holding their warm coats close to their bodies. It is a cold winter! They will be happy to get home to their warm fires and nice food. Street sellers count their money at the end of the day. But for the little match girl, there is no money to count. No one wants to buy her matches. So, she is afraid to go home. Her father will beat her for sure.
The little girl walks across the street. The snow falls on her long hair. She looks up at the tall, beautiful houses as she passes. She can hear people laughing inside. The smell of food cooking rises in the air. The people are preparing their last meal before the New Year. The little match girl walks to a quiet street corner. She sits down, holding her knees. She tries to pull her feet under her body. They are so cold. She has no shoes or coat. Her feet are blue from walking on the cold ground. Maybe she should go home? But even her home is not warm. Her family has no money.
The little girl puts her head in her hands. A tear wets the side of her face. If only she could be warm – for just a minute. Then, she has an idea – matches! She has her matches!
Her father would be angry if she wasted any matches. But she only wants one, just one. Maybe it will warm her freezing fingers. The little girl gets a match. She strikes it against the wall – fire! The warm orange light shines in the darkness. The little girl looks hard at the small dancing fire. She imagines that she is sitting by a warm cooking oven. It seems so real! She can see the oven. She can feel its heat. She stretches her legs and warms her feet. How the fire burns! Then, the fire from the match goes out. The oven disappears. The little girl is once again in the cold darkness. Only the half-burnt match remains in her hand.
The little girl is so sad. Her happiness had come and gone so quickly. Maybe she could burn one more match? She takes another. And she strikes it against the wall. Fire lights up her sad face. She smiles. This time, she sees the wall become thin. It is almost like paper. She can see through it! Behind it, she sees a room. Such beauty! There is a huge table with hot food on it! She can almost taste the hot food. She reaches out for a little to feed her hungry stomach. But suddenly the fire from the match goes out. Once more, everything disappears. Only the grey wall remains before her.
So, the little girl strikes another match. The golden fire burns again. This time, she is under a huge Christmas tree! Beautiful bells and flowers hang from the tree. Lights shine from its green branches. It is the most beautiful tree she has ever seen! She reaches her hands toward the lights. Then, the match goes out. But the Christmas lights begin to change into stars in the sky. One of the stars falls back to earth.
The little girl thinks to herself,
Voice 2
“Someone must be dying”.
Voice 3
The little girl starts to think of her dead grandmother. Her grandmother told her that when a star falls from the sky, a soul goes up to God. She misses her grandmother so much. The little girl lights another match.
This time, standing in the light, she sees her grandmother! Her grandmother was the only person who ever showed her love. She looks beautiful. The little girl cries:
Voice 2
‘Grandmother! Take me with you! I know when the fire goes out you will disappear! Please take me with you!’
Voice 3
The little girl takes all the matches. One by one she strikes them against the wall. She burns them quickly, so the picture does not disappear. The light shines brighter and brighter. It is as bright as day. She sees her grandmother more clearly. Her grandmother has never been so beautiful. The little girl reaches out to her grandmother. Her grandmother stretches out her arms to receive the little girl.
The grandmother takes the little girl in her arms. They fly together in joy high above the earth. There is no cold, hunger or fear. They are with God.
In the corner on the street, the little girl is leaning against the wall. She has red cheeks and a smiling mouth. But she is frozen. The New Year’s sun rises on the sad figure. The child sits there still and cold. She is holding a bundle of half-burned matches.
Only a few people walk on the quiet streets. They stop at the street corner. They see a small body on the ground. The people comment, “Poor thing. She was trying to keep warm,”
But no one knew the beautiful things she had seen. They did not know how happy she was to be with her grandmother. She had gone happily into the New Year.
Voice 1
The Little Match Girl is a popular story at Christmas time. It is an imaginary story. But people see many messages in it. Some people say the little match girl makes them think about people who have less than them. They think about people who may be poor or lonely at Christmas or the holidays. The story encourages them to help people in need.
Other people see a message behind the pictures in the story. Each vision made the little match girl feel happy. But the picture she wanted to stay with her was the one of her grandmother. This was the only one that offered a different kind of happiness – love.
Unconditional love is another message some people see in the story. The grandmother represents a love that does not die. This love carries the little girl to a place without pain or suffering. This makes some people think about God’s love and heaven – especially at Christmastime. And they think of his love that will carry them to a better place one day — heaven.
Have you heard this story before? Do you think this story was a sad story or a happy story? Tell us what you think. You can leave a comment on our website. Or email us at contact@spotlightenglish.com. You can also find us on YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.
The writer of this program was Marina Santee. The producer was Michio Ozaki. The voices you heard were from the United Kingdom and the United States. You can listen to this program again, and read it, on the internet at www.spotlightenglish.com. This program is called ‘The Story of the Little Match Girl.’
Visit our website to download our free official App for Android and Apple devices. We hope you can join us again for the next Spotlight program. From all of us at Spotlight, Merry Christmas!
Question:
Have you heard this story before? Do you think it was a happy ending or a sad ending? Why?
LISTEN:
WATCH:
Yes I heard about her when I was at the childhood and I seen a film about this girl, I think the ending is sad
I had heard this story before. And now I cried when read again. That is sad story.
I also cried when I reread this story today
Thank you for this story. I heard it many time before but this is the first time i have got it under English version with the beautiful voice by Spotlight.
Merry Christmas!
Best regards.
Yes , I heard this story before it is sad story but I have learned many messages from spot light for helping and unconditional love.
Merry Christmas
Thanks to Marina Santee for writing and to Liz Waid for reading the best Spotlight program ever. I did not know the story of the Little Match Girl, even though I had heard of the title. The story is both sad and happy but also moving and beautiful. The final reflections on the moral meaning of the fairy tale are very interesting and useful. Merry Christmas to all.
this is the first time I’ve heard the story ,I think it’s sad and happy in the same time
In the beginning it was very beautiful but at the end I had a bad feeling
Hey
It was a good story but it’s sad why her father keep it her outside to get money
It’s Christmas day. I apologize if I return to the subject of the little match girl to clarify what is written above. If we consider the story from the point of view of us readers, the story is sad, because we are abandoned by a beautiful soul and we feel more alone in the face of hatred and wickedness. But if we accept the child’s point of view, we see her joy in going to meet the grandmother who loves her and whom she loves most of all. In fact, in the morning she is found with a smiling face, she means that her journey does not scare her and she leaves happy. It is a beautiful image for everyone. In conclusion, the story is sad for us, it is happy for the little girl. The happy ending seems prevalent to me, after all at Christmas it could not be otherwise.
P.S. To write I used the translator and I am ashamed as a thief, but I could not do otherwise, because without it with my English I would not be understandable.
This story has a happy ending in my opinion with the little girl, but it makes me sad whenever I read it.
Hi,
It’s a beautiful story. A little sad actually.
I had heard this at school when I was a child. But, I appreciated it a lot. Thanks.
I have not heard it before, but I liked the story for me it was sad because it reminds me of many people who need help and that sometimes we ignore, also I think I felt a little nostalgic because I remembered when I was a child.
That’s story so sad I liked this story so much and I heard this story when I was kids
Yes l know this story when l chilled, but every time when l listen this story l feel sad because how people don’t care about poor families, we can help him with simple things
This is the first time I have heard the story. It’s the sad story but contains many messages.
Yes, I heard it before when I was child, I remember I cried first time I watched story. And I didn’t like it because the end of the story was so sad. And I remember the end of story there was sad song
I happened to reflect once again on this fable, which I liked very much, and I saw the contrast between matter and spirit. Matter as darkness, suffering. The spirit as light, happiness. The little girl in the light of the match, beyond her grandmother, sees the beauty and superiority of the spirit. Our life is also matter and spirit and matter is not always pleasant. My grandmother used to say that darker than midnight is not possible, but if you light a match at midnight, you see the light, a spot of light.
I heard this story when i was a kid. I think it was a happy ending because the little girl will not pain, hungry and sadness.
I think is a sad story
Hello, spotlight thank you so much on this a partty story, and thank you for all your quality stories.In fact this story is so sad for me, I heard this story when I was young boy, alwas I was crying when I was hearing this story when I was young boy. This story so influence me but, for us it is sad story but, for little much girl it is happy story for her. And this story gives us many massage one of the these massage is: don’t let a needy person without helping hem. You must help them. Thank you a lot.
I like which story hans
Yeah,I heard this story more,I thing this story sad and also happy.the ended of the story it’s happy for me because she want go with his grandma.I like this story very much, I heard this story when i was kid
Yes I herd this story and I think sad story
At first i was sad , then I rejoiced when she met her grandmother , then i was sad again hahahahah .
Greetings,
Such a beautiful story it’s my first time to hear it. In my opinion, the story is a sad one because the matches girl have died in the end, and went to her grandmother in heaven.
I am the first time to hear these story , and I think this story is a sad story and I was very impressed by her
I think that it is a sad story
It is so sad story .it makes me feel sorry for little girl
My comment so late:) , but I think the story so sad that’s the answer for how to live with poor people,Omar bin alkhattab say: “If was the poverty a person I’ll kill its” , I think that’s right
I feel sad for little matche girl she suffered a lot in cold weather I’m winter with out food and warm and her family also poor they are waiting her
My grandmother told me this story before I could read. It wasn’t presented as a Christmas story, just another story my grandmother brought with her from Europe in the 1800s. Although I always cried easily, The Little Match Girl never made me cry; it wasn’t sad. She was my friend. She was me. She still is.
I was abused as a child and as an adult, and “sad” things have happened. But she was always with me … The Little Match Girl. In a life lived in Southern California, successfully teaching Line-Of-Action Writing for scriptwriters, along with Drama for CalState, I was more drawn to folklore. The origins of the greatest “kids’ stories” were whitewashed out of their moral-teaching origins by the Brothers Grimm and more recently bastardized completely by Disney.
The Little Match Girl, now that I’m late in life and in a situation I never anticipated, I realize that the girl had the only thing anyone really needs: Hope. There was something (in this case in the form of her grandmother) for her to see/feel even in the worst situations. I don’t see death as “the worst” but that’s just a POV. The Little Match Girl, didn’t lose her hope, so she died believing “Grandma” had come for her. Humans are cruel and I watched my own mother die in her sleep but there was nothing peaceful about it. The Little Match Girl died in her grandmother’s grace. What more could one ask for?
I think it’s beautiful. It always was.
Yes, i heard it before And it is sad story.
Yes I heard this story when I was young. Yes it’s a sad story. The story make me cry because no one help the little girl and the people see .
I have heard his story serval times but every time I hear it, I always feel sad because there are a lot of poor people outside. They don’t have enough food to eat or a place to stay during the cold weather 🙁
The little match girl went to heaven, like so many poor children every day, after suffering hunger and cold and seeing their home destroyed, while we become nastier. When hatred and revenge dry up every form of life, the last hope of light is paradise. The story of the little match girl is sad, because we are sad.
This is story make me sad I thought the story was true
I havent heard this story befor, but l think this story it is a sad story
It was a beautiful story with an expressive message, I appreciated it alot
Kind regards.
This is my first time to listen this story, it is a sad story
But it really teaches us there are many people need our help, but we don’t know so I think we must look for these people in need and assist them with whatever we have
No comment
I heared this story when i was young and i used to think that this story is very sad but today I felt happy when i read that she was happy when she died
Yes, l heard it many times before but in arabic language .l think this is a sad story because the girl died and she is hangry and cold and no one helped her.
This storie is sad for me , Because The Suffering and pain in The storie.
Yes I heard story
And I think the story a happy because the people will care an children
Yes, I heard this story before and I think it is a sad story because the girl felt cold and hungry, I think. There are many children like this, especially the children of Palestine, and we need to help them.
This story always makes me feel sad; it reminds me of children suffering around the world, especially those who are living in conflict zones or in refugee camps. Child suffering is the worst that could happen in this world. I hope this world one day becomes a safe, warm, and joyful place for kids.
Yea I’ve heard about this story before when I was child. And I watched a cartoon on children channel on television. In my opinion I think this story is both sad and happy. I think it’s sad because the girl is drown with her illusions and her fantasies to run away from her bitter realty. And I think it’s happy because she cans imagine a beautiful world without pain and suffering. And she cans met her grandmother again even if she mets her in imagination.
I like this story she was a sad and happy together and the ending it was happy and I whis the little gilr dieng to go her grandmother