Summary

A little girl was walking through the streets on a snowy New Year’s Eve. She was a poor girl, and she lost her slippers on the road. She lost one trying to avoid a carriage on the road, and she lost the other when a boy “ran off with it” (4), claiming that he would use it as a cradle when he had children.

The girl was trying to sell matches, but nobody was buying any. As she walked, she saw lights form the windows of nearby houses, and she could smell the roast dinners coming from the houses. The girl eventually settled down in a spot between two houses. She was starting to get seriously affected by the cold, and she became worried that she might not be able to sell anything. Her fear was that her father would beat her if...