Hans Christian Andersen

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The Little MermaidPublished in 1837 About 40 min read The youngest daughter of the Sea King longs for the world above the waves. On her fifteenth birthday she rises to the surface, sees a young prince on a ship and saves him from a storm. To win his love and an immortal soul, she gives the sea witch her voice in return for human legs, though every step will feel like walking on knives. Hans Christian Andersen's most famous tale, with its original ending, appeared in 1837. The Snow QueenPublished in 1844 About 50 min read A wicked sprite makes a mirror that shows everything good as ugly, and it shatters into splinters that fly over the world. One lodges in the eye and heart of a boy named Kay, and the Snow Queen carries him off to her palace of ice. His friend Gerda sets out alone to find him, past a witch's garden, a prince and princess, a robber girl and a reindeer. Hans Christian Andersen's longest tale, in seven stories, appeared in 1844. The Little Match GirlPublished in 1845 About 5 min read On the last evening of the year, in the cold and the snow, a poor little girl walks the streets barefoot, selling matches. Nobody has bought any all day, and she is afraid to go home. She sits down in a corner and strikes one match to warm her fingers, and in its light she sees a warm stove, a roast goose and a Christmas tree. Hans Christian Andersen's sad, famous tale appeared in 1845. The Emperor's New ClothesPublished in 1837 About 10 min read An emperor who cares for nothing but new clothes hires two swindlers who promise him a wonderful cloth, invisible to anyone who is stupid or unfit for his post. Nobody dares to admit that he sees nothing: not the old minister, not the courtiers, not the Emperor himself, until he walks through the streets in the procession and a little child speaks up. One of Hans Christian Andersen's best-known tales, first published in 1837. The Fir TreePublished in 1844 About 15 min read A little fir tree in the forest cannot enjoy the sun, the fresh air or the children playing around it. It only wants to be big, to sail away as a ship's mast or to stand in a warm room covered in lights. At last it is cut down and decorated for Christmas, and has one wonderful evening. Then it is carried up to the attic. Hans Christian Andersen's tale about never being content with the present appeared in 1844. ThumbelinaPublished in 1835 About 20 min read A woman who longs for a child is given a barleycorn, and from its flower comes a tiny girl no bigger than a thumb. One night a toad carries her off to marry her son. After that a beetle, a field mouse and a rich mole all want to keep her, until she nurses a frozen swallow back to life and he carries her away to the warm countries. Hans Christian Andersen's tale appeared in 1835. The Old HousePublished in 1847 About 15 min read In a street of new houses stands one very old house, with old carvings all over its front. A little boy who lives across the street waves to the lonely old man who lives in it, and sends him a tin soldier so that he will not be so alone. The old man invites him in, and the boy finds a house full of old portraits, creaking chairs and memories. Hans Christian Andersen's tale appeared in 1847. The SwineherdPublished in 1841 About 5 min read A poor prince sends a proud princess a rose and a nightingale, the most beautiful things he has, and she turns them away because they are real and not made by hand. So he dresses as a swineherd, takes a job at her father's palace and makes a magic pot and a rattle that she longs to have. The price is kisses. Hans Christian Andersen's sharp little tale appeared in 1841. The Brave Tin SoldierPublished in 1838 About 10 min read Twenty-five tin soldiers are cast from an old tin spoon, and the last one has only one leg because the tin ran out. He stands as firmly as the others, and falls in love with a paper ballerina who also seems to stand on one leg. Then a goblin curses him, and he is swept out of a window, down a gutter and into the belly of a fish. Hans Christian Andersen's tale appeared in 1838. The ShadowPublished in 1847 About 20 min read A learned man from the cold north travels to the hot lands, and one evening his shadow goes into the house across the street and does not come back. Years later a thin, elegant gentleman knocks at his door in Europe: it is his old shadow, now rich and a man in his own right. Slowly the shadow becomes the master, and the master becomes the shadow. One of Hans Christian Andersen's strangest tales, from 1847. The Ugly DucklingPublished in 1843 About 15 min read Among a brood of ducklings one is bigger, grayer and clumsier than the rest. The other ducks peck him, the hens chase him and even his mother wishes he had never hatched. He runs away, and through a long, cold, lonely winter he is hunted, mocked and nearly frozen. In spring he sees the swans again. Hans Christian Andersen's famous tale, which many read as the story of his own life, appeared in 1843. The Real PrincessPublished in 1835 About 5 min read A prince wants to marry a real princess, and travels the whole world without finding one he can be sure of. Then one stormy night a girl soaked to the skin knocks at the palace gate and says she is a princess. The old queen says nothing, but makes up her bed with a single pea under twenty mattresses and twenty feather beds. Hans Christian Andersen's shortest famous tale, better known as The Princess and the Pea, appeared in 1835. The Leap-FrogPublished in 1845 About 5 min read A flea, a grasshopper and a leap-frog hold a contest to see who can jump the highest, and the king promises his daughter to the winner. The flea jumps so high that nobody sees where he went. The grasshopper jumps straight into the king's face. And the leap-frog, who says nothing and seems to be thinking deeply, makes a jump that nobody expects. A short comic tale by Hans Christian Andersen, from 1845. The Happy FamilyPublished in 1847 About 5 min read In an old manor garden grows a forest of burdock leaves, planted long ago as food for the large white snails the gentry used to eat. Now only two old snails are left, and they live there contentedly with the adopted son they have raised. All they want is a good wife for him, and that they should all one day be cooked and laid on a silver dish. A gentle comic tale by Hans Christian Andersen, from 1847. The Shoes of FortunePublished in 1838 About 55 min read Two fairies leave a pair of galoshes in a hallway in Copenhagen: whoever puts them on is taken at once to whatever place or time he wishes. One after another, a councillor who longs for the Middle Ages, a night watchman, a young doctor and a copying clerk put them on, and each finds that getting his wish is not what he expected. Hans Christian Andersen's long, comic tale in six parts appeared in 1838. The Dream of Little TukPublished in 1847 About 10 min read Little Tuk has to learn his geography lesson, all the towns of Zealand, but he spends the evening looking after his little sister and then helps an old washerwoman carry her water. He falls asleep with the book under his pillow, and in his dream the towns themselves come to visit him and tell him their stories. A short tale by Hans Christian Andersen, from 1847. The False CollarPublished in 1847 About 5 min read A fine gentleman's collar, very proud of himself, meets a garter in the wash and asks her to marry him. She refuses. Then he courts the hot iron, and the scissors, and the comb, and each one turns him down. At last he ends up at the paper mill, still boasting of all the sweethearts he has had. A short comic tale by Hans Christian Andersen, from 1847. The Naughty BoyPublished in 1835 About 5 min read On a stormy night an old poet hears a knock at his door. Outside stands a little boy, naked and soaked with rain, holding a bow and arrows. The kind old man brings him in, warms him by the stove and gives him wine, and as soon as the boy feels better he tests his bow. A very short tale by Hans Christian Andersen, first published in 1835, about Cupid. The NightingalePublished in 1843 About 15 min read The Emperor of China learns from books that the most wonderful thing in his empire is a nightingale, which nobody at court has ever heard. The kitchen maid leads them to it, and its song brings tears to the Emperor's eyes. Then a jewelled mechanical bird arrives that can sing the same tune again and again, and the real nightingale flies away. Hans Christian Andersen's tale appeared in 1843. The BellPublished in 1845 About 10 min read In the evenings the people of a town hear the sound of a church bell coming from the forest, though nobody knows where the church is. Many go out to look for it and give up along the way. At last only two keep on: a king's son and a poor boy in wooden shoes, each by his own path. A short tale by Hans Christian Andersen, from 1845, about what it means to find something holy. The ElderbushPublished in 1844 About 15 min read A little boy has caught a cold, and his mother puts him to bed with a pot of elder-flower tea. An old man who knows many stories comes to visit, and out of the teapot grows an elder tree in full bloom, with a little old woman sitting in it. She takes the boy on a journey through the seasons and through an old couple's whole life together. Hans Christian Andersen's dreamlike tale appeared in 1844. The Red ShoesPublished in 1845 About 10 min read Karen, a poor girl taken in by a kind old lady, wears a pair of red shoes to her confirmation, and can think of nothing else even in church. An old soldier with a crutch admires them and taps their soles. From then on the shoes dance by themselves, and Karen cannot stop dancing, day or night. One of Hans Christian Andersen's grimmest tales, published in 1845. The Story of a MotherPublished in 1847 About 10 min read A mother sits by her sick child, and on a cold winter night Death comes in and carries the child away. She runs out after them, and asks the way of the Night, a thorn bush and a lake, and each one asks a terrible price before it will show her the road to Death's great greenhouse. One of Hans Christian Andersen's darkest and most moving tales, published in 1847.