The Little Match Man

what he

lively and vigorous. My tree was the first one to get its leaves in the spring and the last one to lose them in the autumn. I always tr

tree and always stay still

hat came to me by the hundreds, and made their nests among my leaves. I was just a hundred and fifty

o on, plea

3

on my third branch toward the east. He was called To. He brought a lot of news from the other mountains and from the plains across which he had flown in his travels. This evening while he was s

the matter

3

his beak, and all out of breath replied, ‘Horrors, I have escaped from

s thoughts. Anxious to hear

shot th

e question

the dead. Listen,’ added To, as he scratched his head with one of his long claws, as he always did when he was thinking. ‘I must leave you. Don’t be offended if I don’t pass the night with you. I must go farther on. Not that I am afraid, you know, quite otherwise, but it is best to be careful. Lances and spears don’t frighte

you afraid?”

ned the woods in order to drive out the enemy. If the war came near me and the woods were burned, poor me! You can imagine how anxiously I waited. I listened al

ht. That is my work. But if it will give you any pleasure I will go to another part of

on’t stop. What

3

ere. I raised my leaves to listen better

re worthless and badly educated beasts that often came around to clean their tusks on my trunk, stripping off all my bark, but this time I forgot all about my hatred a

hat is happening?’ I whispered to him. He turned pa

re comin

Wh

he said and

stay here,’

ttle mat

end himself, but a willow, even if he is large and has lived a hundred

ed it

tep and a rustling among the shrubs. My leaves shi

ious wil

saw a ma

t fire to the woods, and I shall die tortured in the flames.’ And my leave

he could hardly walk. It seemed to me he left drops of blood behind him. He breathed hard. He stumbled over tufts of grass, he fell and rose again and went

or you,

his helmet, which was tied with a red cord under his chin, and laid his head against me to rest better. The sun had risen

t the

ew nearer. It came from all sides. It filled the woods. And the young warrior also he

dred voices from every side called ‘Haiya!’ and the first said,

thought they were all [42] friends and followers of this unfortunate young man,

n’t they

heard them. He knelt down and bowed his head calling on Amaterasu, the god of the sun, the god who made Japan. Then he took off his armour and bared his chest, which was covered with blo