The text of the present edition is a reprint of an earlier one which was based upon a sentence-by-sentence comparison of the four or five translations current in Europe and America. It has been widely commended as enjoyable reading, while faithful to the letter and spirit of the Danish original. A slight abridgment has been made in two of the longer stories. The order of the selections adapts the reading to the growing child--the First Series should be sufficiently easy for children of about eight or nine years old.
PAGE THE FIR TREE 1 LITTLE TUK 20 THE UGLY DUCKLING 30 LITTLE IDA'S FLOWERS 52 THE STEADFAST TIN SOLDIER 67 LITTLE THUMBELINA 77 SUNSHINE STORIES 101 THE DARNING-NEEDLE 109 THE LITTLE MATCH GIRL 117 THE LOVING PAIR 124 THE LEAPING MATCH 129 THE HAPPY FAMILY 134 THE GREENIES 141 OLE-LUK-OIE, THE DREAM GOD 145 THE MONEY BOX 169 ELDER-TREE MOTHER 174 THE SNOW QUEEN 192 THE ROSES AND THE SPARROWS 253 THE OLD HOUSE 273 THE CONCEITED APPLE BRANCH 290 NOTES 299
[Illustration: They danced merrily ... around the tree.]
FAR away in the forest, where the warm sun and the fresh air made a sweet resting place, grew a pretty little fir tree. The situation was all that could be desired; and yet the tree was not happy, it wished so much to be like its tall companions, the pines and firs which grew around it.
The sun shone, and the soft air fluttered its leaves, and the little peasant children passed by, prattling merrily; but the fir tree did not heed them.
Sometimes the children would bring a large basket of raspberries or strawberries, wreathed on straws, and seat themselves near the fir tree, and say, "Is it not a pretty little tree?" which made it feel even more unhappy than before.
And yet all this while the tree grew a notch or joint taller every year, for by the number of joints in the stem of a fir tree we can discover its age.
Still, as it grew, it complained: "Oh! how I wish I were as tall as the other trees; then I would spread out my branches on every side, and my crown would overlook the wide world around. I should have the birds building their nests on my boughs, and when the wind blew, I should bow with stately dignity, like my tall companions."
So discontented was the tree, that it took no pleasure in the warm sunshine, the birds, or the rosy clouds that floated over it morning and evening.