Fairy Tales of Hans Christian Andersen. H. C. Andersen

ROBBER-GIRL

       SIXTH STORY

       THE LAPLAND WOMAN AND THE FINLAND WOMAN

       SEVENTH STORY

       OF THE PALACE OF THE SNOW QUEEN AND WHAT HAPPENED THERE AT LAST

       THE SNOWDROP

       SOMETHING

       SOUP FROM A SAUSAGE SKEWER

       WHAT THE FIRST LITTLE MOUSE SAW AND HEARD ON HER TRAVELS

       WHAT THE SECOND MOUSE HAD TO TELL

       WHAT THE FOURTH MOUSE, WHO SPOKE BEFORE THE THIRD, HAD TO TELL

       HOW IT WAS PREPARED

       THE STORKS

       THE STORM SHAKES THE SHIELD

       THE STORY OF A MOTHER

       THE SUNBEAM AND THE CAPTIVE

       THE SWAN'S NEST

       THE SWINEHERD

       THE THISTLE'S EXPERIENCES

       THE THORNY ROAD OF HONOR

       IN A THOUSAND YEARS

       THE BRAVE TIN SOLDIER

       THE TINDER-BOX

       THE TOAD

       THE TOP AND BALL

       THE TRAVELLING COMPANION

       TWO BROTHERS

       TWO MAIDENS

       THE UGLY DUCKLING

       UNDER THE WILLOW-TREE

       IN THE UTTERMOST PARTS OF THE SEA

       WHAT ONE CAN INVENT

       THE WICKED PRINCE

       THE WILD SWANS

       THE WILL-O-THE WISP IS IN THE TOWN, SAYS THE MOOR WOMAN

       THE STORY OF THE WIND

       THE WINDMILL

       THE STORY OF THE YEAR

A STORY

       Table of Contents

      In the garden all the apple-trees were in blossom. They had hastened to bring forth flowers before they got green leaves, and in the yard all the ducklings walked up and down, and the cat too: it basked in the sun and licked the sunshine from its own paws. And when one looked at the fields, how beautifully the corn stood and how green it shone, without comparison! and there was a twittering and a fluttering of all the little birds, as if the day were a great festival; and so it was, for it was Sunday. All the bells were ringing, and all the people went to church, looking cheerful, and dressed in their best clothes. There was a look of cheerfulness on everything. The day was so warm and beautiful that one might well have said: "God's kindness to us men is beyond all limits." But inside the church the pastor stood in the pulpit, and spoke very loudly and angrily. He said that all men were wicked, and God would punish them for their sins, and that the wicked, when they died, would be cast into hell, to burn for ever and ever. He spoke very excitedly, saying that their evil propensities would not be destroyed, nor would the fire be extinguished, and they should never find rest. That was terrible to hear, and he said it in such a tone of conviction; he described hell to them as a miserable hole where all the refuse of the world gathers. There was no air beside the hot burning sulphur flame, and there was no ground under their feet; they, the wicked ones, sank deeper and deeper, while eternal silence surrounded them! It was dreadful to hear all that, for the preacher spoke from his heart, and all the people in the church were terrified. Meanwhile, the birds sang merrily outside, and the sun was shining so beautifully warm, it seemed as though every little flower said: "God, Thy kindness towards us all is without limits." Indeed, outside it was not at all like the pastor's sermon.

      The same evening, upon going to bed, the pastor noticed his wife sitting there quiet and pensive.

      "What is the matter with you?" he asked her.

      "Well, the matter with me is," she said, "that I cannot collect my thoughts, and am unable to grasp the meaning of what you said to-day in church—that there are so many wicked people, and that they should burn eternally. Alas! eternally—how long! I am only a woman and a sinner before God, but I should not have the heart to let even the worst sinner burn for ever, and how could our Lord to do so, who is so infinitely good, and who knows how the wickedness comes from without and within? No, I am unable to imagine that, although you say so."

      It was autumn; the trees dropped their leaves, the earnest and severe pastor sat at the bedside of a dying person. A pious, faithful soul closed her eyes for ever; she was the pastor's wife.

      … "If any one shall find rest in the grave and mercy before our Lord you shall certainly do so," said the pastor. He folded her hands and read a psalm over