The Little Match Girl · chapter 2 of 3
The Goose That Walked
会走路的烤鹅
With every match she strikes, the cold night opens onto something new: a feast, a Christmas tree, a falling star. But the next flame holds the biggest surprise of all.
Read what you hear
- Narrator 雪还在下。小女孩坐在墙角里，看着手上的火柴。
Xuě hái zài xià. Xiǎo nǚhái zuò zài qiángjiǎo lǐ, kànzhe shǒu shang de huǒchái.
The snow kept falling. The little girl sat in the corner, looking at the matches in her hand.
- The Little Match Girl 再点一根，好不好？就一根！
Zài diǎn yì gēn, hǎo bù hǎo? Jiù yì gēn!
Just one more, all right? Only one!
- Narrator 嚓！火柴亮了，墙上也亮了。
Cā! Huǒchái liàng le, qiáng shang yě liàng le.
Scratch! The match flared up, and the wall lit up too.
Chapter 2 is part of SayMei Stories ($2.99 a month) and SayMei Premium. Chapter 1 of The Little Match Girl is free, and so are The Second Cup of Tea, Mulan, The Butterfly Lovers, Journey to the West: The Monkey King, Cinderella, The Night of the Nian, Chang'e and the Moon, The Great Race: The Twelve Animals, Aesop's Fables, Little Red Riding Hood, The Three Little Pigs, The Ugly Duckling, Pangu and Nüwa: How the World Began, Beauty and the Beast, The Magic Lotus Lantern, Alice in Wonderland, Zhong Kui the Demon Queller and The Odyssey from start to finish.
- The Little Match Girl 啊！墙怎么没有了？我能看见房子里的东西！
À! Qiáng zěnme méiyǒu le? Wǒ néng kànjiàn fángzi lǐ de dōngxi!
Oh! Where did the wall go? I can see right into the house!
- The Little Match Girl 一张大桌子，白白的桌布，漂亮的盘子……
Yì zhāng dà zhuōzi, báibái de zhuōbù, piàoliang de pánzi…
A big table, a snow-white tablecloth, beautiful plates…
- The Little Match Girl 桌子上有一只大烤鹅！热热的，香香的，里面还有苹果！
Zhuōzi shang yǒu yì zhī dà kǎo'é! Rèrè de, xiāngxiāng de, lǐmiàn hái yǒu píngguǒ!
There's a big roast goose on the table! It's hot and it smells delicious, and it's stuffed with apples!
- The Little Match Girl 那位太太，现在也在吃烤鹅吧？
Nà wèi tàitai, xiànzài yě zài chī kǎo'é ba?
I bet that lady's eating her roast goose right now, too.
- The Little Match Girl 烤鹅跳下桌子了！它向我走过来了！
Kǎo'é tiào xià zhuōzi le! Tā xiàng wǒ zǒu guòlái le!
The goose just hopped off the table! It's walking over to me!
- The Little Match Girl 哈哈！它自己走过来，还自己带着刀和叉子！
Hāhā! Tā zìjǐ zǒu guòlái, hái zìjǐ dàizhe dāo hé chāzi!
Ha ha! It's walking over all by itself, and it's even brought its own knife and fork!
- The Little Match Girl 烤鹅先生，请到这边来！我太饿了！
Kǎo'é xiānsheng, qǐng dào zhèbiān lái! Wǒ tài è le!
This way, please, Mr. Roast Goose! I'm so hungry!
- Narrator 可是，火柴灭了。她的面前，是一面又黑又冷的墙。
Kěshì, huǒchái miè le. Tā de miànqián, shì yí miàn yòu hēi yòu lěng de qiáng.
But the match went out. In front of her was just a cold, dark wall.
- The Boy 喂，卖火柴的！你在跟墙说话吗？
Wèi, mài huǒchái de! Nǐ zài gēn qiáng shuōhuà ma?
Hey, match girl! Are you talking to a wall?
- The Little Match Girl 刚才，这里有一只烤鹅……它还向我走过来了！
Gāngcái, zhèlǐ yǒu yì zhī kǎo'é… Tā hái xiàng wǒ zǒu guòlái le!
Just now there was a roast goose here… and it came walking over to me!
- The Boy 烤鹅？你是饿坏了吧！你看，我的新帽子！
Kǎo'é? Nǐ shì è huài le ba! Nǐ kàn, wǒ de xīn màozi!
A roast goose? You must be starving! Hey, look at my new hat!
- The Little Match Girl 那是我妈妈的鞋……
Nà shì wǒ māma de xié…
That's my mother's shoe…
- The Boy ……你的脚都红了。我，我回家了！
…Nǐ de jiǎo dōu hóng le. Wǒ, wǒ huí jiā le!
…Your feet have gone all red. I… I'm going home!
- The Little Match Girl 他看不见烤鹅……只有我能看见。
Tā kàn bú jiàn kǎo'é… Zhǐyǒu wǒ néng kànjiàn.
He couldn't see the goose… Only I can see it.
- The Little Match Girl 再点一根吧，就一根……啊，我又说“就一根”了！
Zài diǎn yì gēn ba, jiù yì gēn… À, wǒ yòu shuō “jiù yì gēn” le!
One more, just one… Oh, there I go saying “just one” again!
- Narrator 嚓！这一次，她坐在大圣诞树下。
Cā! Zhè yí cì, tā zuò zài dà shèngdànshù xià.
Scratch! This time, she was sitting under a great big Christmas tree.
- The Little Match Girl 圣诞树！我在有钱人的家门外看过，可是没有这么大！
Shèngdànshù! Wǒ zài yǒuqián rén de jiā mén wài kàn guo, kěshì méiyǒu zhème dà!
A Christmas tree! I saw one once from outside a rich man's door, but it wasn't this big!
- The Little Match Girl 树上有几千根小蜡烛，还有好多漂亮的画，都在看着我！
Shù shang yǒu jǐ qiān gēn xiǎo làzhú, hái yǒu hǎo duō piàoliang de huà, dōu zài kànzhe wǒ!
There are thousands of little candles on it, and lots of pretty pictures, all looking down at me!
- The Little Match Girl 圣诞树，圣诞树，你也是给我的吗？
Shèngdànshù, shèngdànshù, nǐ yě shì gěi wǒ de ma?
Christmas tree, Christmas tree, are you for me, too?
- Narrator 她想去碰一下，火柴灭了。那些蜡烛越飞越高，变成了天上的星星。
Tā xiǎng qù pèng yíxià, huǒchái miè le. Nàxiē làzhú yuè fēi yuè gāo, biànchéng le tiān shang de xīngxing.
She reached out to touch it, and the match went out. The candles rose higher and higher and became the stars in the sky.
- The Little Match Girl 看！一颗星星掉下来了！它的尾巴长长的，好亮啊！
Kàn! Yì kē xīngxing diào xiàlái le! Tā de wěiba chángcháng de, hǎo liàng a!
Look! A star is falling! It has a long, long tail, and it's so bright!
- The Little Match Girl 奶奶说过：星星掉下来，就有一个人要到天上去了。
Nǎinai shuō guo: xīngxing diào xiàlái, jiù yǒu yí gè rén yào dào tiān shang qù le.
Grandma used to say that whenever a star falls, someone is going up to heaven.
- The Little Match Girl 奶奶是最爱我的人。可是，奶奶已经去天上了……
Nǎinai shì zuì ài wǒ de rén. Kěshì, nǎinai yǐjīng qù tiān shang le…
Grandma loved me more than anyone. But Grandma has already gone up to heaven…
- The Little Match Girl 奶奶，我好想您。现在，没有人对我好了……
Nǎinai, wǒ hǎo xiǎng nín. Xiànzài, méiyǒu rén duì wǒ hǎo le…
Grandma, I miss you so much. Nobody's kind to me anymore…
- Narrator 嚓！她又点了一根。这一次，墙角都亮了起来。
Cā! Tā yòu diǎn le yì gēn. Zhè yí cì, qiángjiǎo dōu liàng le qǐlái.
Scratch! She struck one more, and this time the whole corner lit up.
- The Little Match Girl 光里……有一个人在对我笑。
Guāng lǐ… yǒu yí gè rén zài duì wǒ xiào.
There's someone in the light… smiling at me.
- The Little Match Girl 奶奶？……奶奶！真的是您吗？
Nǎinai?… Nǎinai! Zhēn de shì nín ma?
Grandma?… Grandma! Is it really you?
Hear the chapter
What changed in the story?
- What does the girl see when the wall seems to disappear?
“桌子上有一只大烤鹅！”
- What makes the girl laugh about the roast goose?
“它自己走过来，还自己带着刀和叉子！”
- What is the boy wearing as a hat?
“你看，我的新帽子！”“那是我妈妈的鞋……”
- What happens to the candles on the Christmas tree?
“那些蜡烛越飞越高，变成了天上的星星。”
- According to Grandma, what does a falling star mean?
“星星掉下来，就有一个人要到天上去了。”