著名童话故事作家安徒生的一篇著名的童话故事《卖火柴的小女孩》主要讲了一个卖火柴的小女孩在富人合家欢乐，举杯共庆的大年夜冻死在街头的故事。
安徒生童话：卖火柴的小女孩
圣诞节前夕。
天气真冷，还下着雪，刮着北风。
有位失去母亲的小女孩，为了养活生病的爸爸，冒着风雪去卖火柴。
“火柴，谁要火柴。”
她没有棉衣，穿着一条旧裙子，头上围着一条破头巾，脚上穿着一双拖鞋。她沿街叫卖，可是没有一个人理好。
人们都在准备圣诞礼物，高高兴兴，欢欢喜喜，小姑娘多可怜啊!她有许多火柴，全部都包在一个旧围裙里，手里拿着几根。
已经中午了，她一根火柴也没卖掉。她又饿又冻地向前走，雪花落在金黄的长发上。她走到一幢楼房的窗前，朝里张望。啊!屋里那棵圣诞树多漂亮啊，一位母亲正和两个孩子在玩耍，那孩子该多幸福啊，桌子上还点着许多彩色的蜡烛，有红的、黄的、绿的、白的，她最喜欢那些红色的蜡烛，在桌上格外显眼。 看到这里，小女孩想起了她的祖母和妈妈，她们最疼爱她，可是，她们都去世了，想着想着，小女孩哭了。
哭着哭着，她又走上了大街，突然，“轰隆”一声，一辆马车经过，差一点将她撞倒。
马车飞一样跑过去了，小女孩的身上沾满了泥水，而且拖鞋也丢了，她只好赤着脚，在雪地里喊着：
“火柴，谁要火柴。”
夜幕已经降临，小女孩的脚已冻得发红发青。大街上到处都是烤鹅肉的香味。 “啊，有钱的人家准备过节了。”
她实在走不动了，疲乏地缩在一个墙角里。她不敢回家，因为她没有卖掉一根火柴。家里而且也很冷，风可以从许多地方刮进屋子里来。
她冻得发抖，她需要温暖，哪怕有一根火柴的光和热也好。
她的一双小手几乎冻僵了。太冷了。她决定划着一根火柴，让它燃烧。
“哧!”火柴燃烧了，象一杂温暖、光明的火焰，小女孩觉得象坐在火炉旁一样。火烧得那么欢，那么暖，那么美!这是怎么回事呢?当小女孩刚刚伸出她一双脚，打算暖和一下时，火焰忽然熄灭了。火炉也不见了。她坐在那儿，手中只有烧过的火柴。 她又划了一根火柴，火柴燃烧起来，发出了光。
墙上有亮光照着的那块地方突然变得透明，象一片薄纱，她可以看到房间里的东西，有馅饼，有烤鹅，更有趣是的，这只烤鹅从盘子里跳出来了，它的背上插着刀叉，正在地上走着呢，一直向小女孩走过来。她伸出手去，火柴又熄灭了，她摸到的是冰冷的墙壁。
她又划了一根火柴，火柴燃烧起来，变成一朵粉红色的光焰。
她发现自己坐在一棵美丽的圣诞树下，比中午见到的那棵圣诞树还要大，还要美丽。它的树枝上有几千只蜡烛。小女孩把双手伸过去，火柴又熄灭了。几千只蜡烛都变成了明亮的星星。这些星星中有一颗落下来，在天空中划出一条长长的亮光。 她又划了一根火柴。
啊，火光中出现了她日日夜夜思念的老祖母，她扑进老祖母的怀抱。
“祖母!”小女孩叫起来。“请把我带走吧!带到那没有寒冷，没有饥饿的地方。我知道，这根火柴一熄灭，你就会不见了。就象那温暖的火炉，那美丽的烤鹅，那幸福的圣诞树一样，我什么也看不见了。”
于是，小女孩把剩下的火柴全划着了，因为她非常想把祖母留住。
火柴发出更加强烈的光芒，照得周围比白天还要明亮，祖母是那样慈祥，她把小女孩抱起来了，她们在光明和幸福中飞走了。越飞越高，真的.到了没有寒冷，没有饥饿的地方。 新年的早晨，人们看到小女孩仍坐在墙角里，她双颊通红，脸上带着幸福的微笑。可是，她已经死了，冻死在圣诞节的夜晚，她手里仍握着一把烧过的火柴梗。
作品主题
真实是文学作品感人的生命力，任何虚假的演示和一切虚伪的夸张都不足以引发读者的感情共鸣，安徒生在《卖火柴的小女孩》中对这个可怜小女孩不幸命运描写的同时，也对这个孩子在饥寒交迫、孤立无助的情况下，对她的心理活动进行了细致描写，尤其是写她对美食、温暖和亲情的幻想。作家细致地描写了小女孩关于温暖的火炉、肥美的烤鹅、美丽的圣诞树和慈爱的奶奶这四个幻想片段，而这样的幻想，恰恰是当时资本主义制度下贫苦民众的难以实现其美好愿望，无法保障温饱的心理反应。而这样的幻想却有别于童话世界中那些铜头铁臂、青面撩牙、飞沙走石般的幻想式的描写，她直接取材于现实生活，是当时欧洲资本主义社会不平等现实的最真切反映，人物是随处可见的，故事是随时都可以发生的。
悲剧的力量在于把美好撕破给人看，《卖火柴的小女孩》是对一个花季少女纯洁灵魂的摧残，这个可怜的女孩连最起码的温饱都失去的一瞬间，仍然保持着对美好情境的向往，这或许就是人性的本真所在，而作家安徒生恰恰是把这个弱小生命的凄苦和悲惨命运与她对美好情境的向往与破灭叠化在一起描写的，这增强了人物形象的艺术感染力。文章这样描写到“两腮通红，嘴上带着微笑”，在幻景中看到过“温暖的大火炉、喷香的烤鹅、美丽的圣诞树，慈爱的奶奶”，在幻想中和奶奶一起飞向天国去寻找那“没有寒冷，没有饥饿，也没有痛苦”的生活。作者把小女孩美丽的幻景与她面临的冷酷的现实叠化在一起描写，对罪恶的资本主义社会进行了无情的鞭笞。
适用话题：生命、安全、拐卖、严惩、真相、心痛、人性
近日，网上一段山东东营失踪15年的女子牟翠翠疑变残在贵州卖唱乞讨的视频，引发舆论关注。
12日晚，有媒体记者从贵州省桐梓县网安部门获悉，当地已找到爆料网友唐X飞，她称疑似视频中的残疾女子在当地唱歌行乞两天之后就离开，没有再出现过。
在调查中，另有一名叫许X贵的贵阳市居民称，视频中的女子就住在其家对面，是贵阳修文县人，并非是山东失踪人员牟翠翠。目前，对于视频中女子的真实身份，桐梓县警方仍在核查中。
15年前，山东省广饶县花官镇的牟翠翠出走失踪，始终没有音讯。家人先后到菏泽、临沂、淄博、滨州等多个城市寻找，但每次都失望而归。
一次偶然的机会，翠翠的弟弟牟红飞在网上看到了一段视频，画面里虽是一名残疾女子在唱歌乞讨，视频中的女子容貌并不清晰，双臂残缺，而走失前的翠翠只有16岁，初中还没有毕业，身体健康，并无残疾。
牟家人在反复看过这段视频数百次后，确认这名唱歌的残疾女子就是牟翠翠。翠翠的母亲刘秀英在看到视频后也认为这就是失踪了15年的女儿。
网上流传疑似牟翠翠的视频
视频中，一位没有四肢的女孩胳膊上绑着话筒，歌声温柔悦耳。不时有路过的行人在女孩面前的白色小筐里放进几块零钱，女孩都会鞠躬致谢，卖唱所用的音响里也会传出一个男子 “谢谢”的.声音，但女孩并没有停下自己的歌声。
为了寻找视频中的女子，牟家人向网友求助。“视频中发现疑似2002年7月12日从广饶县一纺织厂走失的东营广饶县花官镇李楼村牟翠翠，因琐事离家出走15年，家人苦寻15年……”
牟红飞说，看到视频里女孩断手断脚的样子，父母很心疼。家里人都怀疑，翠翠出走后不久就被拐卖到了荒山野林里，所以没有办法联系家里。关于视频里疑似翠翠的女孩现在没有四肢的残疾状态，很多人都认为是被人伤害致残，而牟红飞则表示，不敢想象姐姐遭遇了什么，只想尽快找到她。
到今年为止，家里人已经15年没有翠翠的消息了。根据中国失踪人口档案库资料显示，牟翠翠出生于1986年6月30日，籍贯山东省东营市广饶县李楼村，2002年7月12日(网站登记为2003年)失踪于山东省广饶县澳亚纺织厂。身高167厘米左右，脑后长有一缕黄色头发。
天气冷得可怕。正在下雪，黑暗的夜幕开始垂下来了。这是这年最后的一夜——新年的前夕。在这样的寒冷和黑暗中，有一个光头赤脚的小女孩正在街上走着。是的，她离开家的时候还穿着一双拖鞋，但那又有什么用呢?那是一双非常大的拖鞋——那么大，最近她妈妈一直在穿着。当她匆忙地越过街道的时候，两辆马车飞奔着闯过来，弄得小姑娘把鞋跑落了。有一只她怎样也寻不到，另一只又被一个男孩子捡起来，拿着逃走了。男孩子还说，等他将来有孩子的时候，可以把它当做一个摇篮来使用。
现在小姑娘只好赤着一双小脚走。小脚已经冻得发红发青了。她有许多火柴包在一个旧围裙里;她手中还拿着一扎。这一整天谁也没有向她买过一根;谁也没有给她一个铜板。
可怜的小姑娘!她又饿又冻得向前走，简直是一幅愁苦的画面。雪花落到她金黄的长头发上——它卷曲地散落在她的肩上，看上去非常美丽。不过她并没有想到自己漂亮。所有的窗子都射出光来，街上飘着一股烤鹅肉①的香味。的确，这是除夕。她在想这件事情。
那儿有两座房子，其中一座房子比另一座更向街心伸出一点，她便在这个墙角里坐下来，缩作一团。她把一双小脚也缩进来，不过她感到更冷。她不敢回家里去，因为她没有卖掉一根火柴，没有赚到一个铜板。她的父亲一定会打她，而且家里也是很冷的，因为他们头上只有一个可以灌进风来的屋顶，虽然最大的裂口已经用草和破布堵住了。
她的一双小手几乎冻僵了。唉!哪怕一根小火柴对她也是有好处的。只要她敢抽出一根来，在墙上擦着了，就可以暖暖手!最后她抽出一根来了。哧!它燃起来了，冒出火光来了!当她把手覆在上面的时候，它便变成了一朵温暖、光明的火焰，像是一根小小的蜡烛。这是一道美丽的小光!小姑娘觉得真像坐在一个铁火炉旁边一样：它有光亮的黄铜圆捏手和黄铜炉身，火烧得那么欢，那么暖，那么美!唉，这是怎么一回事儿?当小姑娘刚刚伸出一双脚，打算暖一暖脚的时候，火焰就忽然熄灭了!火炉也不见了。她坐在那儿，手中只有烧过了的火柴。
她又擦了一根。它燃起来了，发出光来了。墙上有亮光照着的那块地方，现在变得透明，像一片薄纱;她可以看到房间里的东西：桌上铺着雪白的台布，上面有精致的碗盘，填满了梅子和苹果的、冒着香气的烤鹅。更美妙的事情是：这只鹅从盘子里跳出来了，背上插着刀叉，蹒跚地在地上走着，一直向这个穷苦的小姑娘面前走来。这时火柴就熄灭了;她面前只有一堵又厚又冷的墙。
她点了另一根火柴。现在她是坐在美丽的圣诞树下面。上次圣诞节时，她透过玻璃门，看到一个富有商人家里的一株圣诞树;可是现在这一株比那株还要大，还要美。它的绿枝上燃着几千支蜡烛;彩色的.图画，跟橱窗里挂着的那些一样美丽，在向她眨眼。这个小姑娘把两只手伸过去。于是火柴就熄灭了。圣诞节的烛光越升越高。她看到它们现在变成了明亮的星星。这些星星有一颗落下来了，在天上划出一条长长的光线。
“现在又有一个什么人死去了②，”小姑娘说，因为她的老祖母曾经说过：天上落下一颗星，地上就有一个灵魂升到了上帝那儿去。老祖母是唯一对她好的人，但是现在已经死了。
她在墙上又擦了一根火柴。它把四周都照亮了;在这光亮中老祖母出现了。她显得那么光明，那么温柔，那么和蔼。
“祖母!”小姑娘叫起来。“啊!请把我带走吧!我知道，这火柴一灭掉，你就会不见了，你就会像那个温暖的火炉、那只美丽的烤鹅、那棵幸福的圣诞树一样地不见了!”
于是她急忙把整束火柴中剩下的火柴都擦亮了，因为她非常想把祖母留住。这些火柴发出强烈的光芒，照得比大白天还要明朗。祖母从来没有像现在这样显得美丽和高大。她把小姑娘抱起来，搂到怀里。她们两人在光明和快乐中飞走了，越飞越高，飞到既没有寒冷，也没有饥饿，也没有忧愁的那块地方——她们是跟上帝在一起。
不过在一个寒冷的早晨，这个小姑娘却坐在一个墙角里;她的双颊通红，嘴唇发出微笑，她已经死了——在旧年的除夕冻死了。新年的太阳升起来了，照着她小小的尸体!她坐在那儿，手中还捏着火柴——其中有一扎差不多都烧光了。
“她想把自己暖和一下，”人们说。谁也不知道：她曾经看到过多么美丽的东西，她曾经是多么光荣地跟祖母一起，走到新年的幸福中去。
①烤鹅肉是丹麦圣诞节和除夕晚餐中的一个主菜。
②北欧人的迷信：世界上有一个人，天上便有一颗星。一颗星的陨落象征一个人的死亡。
卖火柴的小女孩英文版：
The Little Match-Seller
IT was terribly cold and nearly dark on the last evening of the old year, and the snow was falling fast. In the cold and the darkness, a poor little girl, with bare head and naked feet, roamed through the streets. It is true she had on a pair of slippers when she left home, but they were not of much use. They were very large, so large, indeed, that they had belonged to her mother, and the poor little creature had lost them in running across the street to avoid two carriages that were rolling along at a terrible rate. One of the slippers she could not find, and a boy seized upon the other and ran away with it, saying that he could use it as a cradle, when he had children of his own. 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 had a bundle of them in her hands. No one had bought anything of her the whole day, nor had anyone given her even a penny. Shivering with cold and hunger, she crept along; poor little child, she looked the picture of misery. The snowflakes fell on her long, fair hair, which hung in curls on her shoulders, but she regarded them not.
Lights were shining from every window, and there was a savory smell of roast goose, for it was New-year’s eve—yes, she remembered that. In a corner, between two houses, one of which projected beyond the other, she sank down and huddled herself together. 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 take home even a penny of money. Her father would certainly beat her; besides, it was almost as cold at home as here, for they had only the roof to cover them, through which the wind howled, although the largest holes had been stopped up with straw and rags. Her little hands were almost frozen with the cold. Ah! perhaps a burning match might be some good, if she could draw it from the bundle and strike it against the wall, just to warm her fingers. She drew one out—“scratch!” how it sputtered as it burnt! It gave a warm, bright light, like a little candle, as she held her hand over it. It was really a wonderful light. It seemed to the little girl that she was sitting by a large iron stove, with polished brass feet and a brass ornament. How the fire burned! and seemed so beautifully warm that the child stretched out her feet as if to warm them, when, lo! the flame of the match went out, the stove vanished, and she had only the remains of the half-burnt match in her hand.
She rubbed another match on the wall. It burst into a flame, and where its light fell upon the wall it became as transparent as a veil, and she could see into the room. The table was covered with a snowy white table-cloth, on which stood a splendid dinner service, and a steaming roast goose, stuffed with apples and dried plums. And what was still more wonderful, the goose jumped down from the dish and waddled across the floor, with a knife and fork in its breast, to the little girl. Then the match went out, and there remained nothing but the thick, damp, cold wall before her.
She lighted another match, and then she found herself sitting under a beautiful Christmas-tree. It was larger and more beautifully decorated than the one which she had seen through the glass door at the rich merchant’s. Thousands of tapers were burning upon the green branches, and colored pictures, like those she had seen in the show-windows, looked down upon it all. The little one stretched out her hand towards them, and the match went out.
The Christmas lights rose higher and higher, till they looked to her like the stars in the sky. Then she saw a star fall, leaving behind it a bright streak of fire. “Someone is dying,” thought the little girl, for her old grandmother, the only one who had ever loved her, and who was now dead, had told her that when a star falls, a soul was going up to God.
She again rubbed a match on the wall, and the light shone round her; in the brightness stood her old grandmother, clear and shining, yet mild and loving in her appearance. “Grandmother,” cried the little one, “O take me with you; I know you will go away when the match burns out; you will vanish like the warm stove, the roast goose, and the large, glorious Christmas-tree.” And she made haste to light the whole bundle of matches, for she wished to keep her grandmother there. And the matches glowed with a light that was brighter than the noon-day, and her grandmother had never appeared so large or so beautiful. She took the little girl in her arms, and they both flew upwards in brightness and joy far above the earth, where there was neither cold nor hunger nor pain, for they were with God.
In the dawn of morning there lay the poor little one, with pale cheeks and smiling mouth, leaning against the wall; she had been frozen to death on the last evening of the year; and the New-year’s sun rose and shone upon a little corpse! The child still sat, in the stiffness of death, holding the matches in her hand, one bundle of which was burnt. “She tried to warm herself,” said some. No one imagined what beautiful things she had seen, nor into what glory she had entered with her grandmother, on New-year’s day.
