Andersen’s World-Famous Fairy Tales

Once upon a time, there lived a very rich merchant who was so wealthy that the streets of the town could be paved with his gold and still he would have many bags of gold left. His wealth was inherited by his son. But his son wasted it, and soon his money was all gone. […]

A wooden cupboard stood in the room of a house. It was beautifully carved with tulips and deer. On the upper part was carved the sky with clouds and birds flying. In the middle was carved a satyr, a little man with a long beard, two tiny horns and a goat’s legs. The children in

That New Year’s Eve was bitterly cold with heavy snow. The streets were deserted. Only one small girl was walking through them.She was barefooted and she wore a ragged little dress. She shivered and her feet were turning blue with the cold. She had not sold a single match from the bundles of matches she

Once upon a time in a kingdom far away, there lived a King and a Queen and their son, the Prince. It was time for the Prince to choose a bride, but he wanted to marry only a real princess.He was determined to find a real princess, so he rode off on his horse to

Once upon a time, there was a King with eleven sons and a daughter named Eliza. When the Queen died, the King married again. His new Queen was a wicked woman who hated his children. The King was so enchanted by her that he paid no attention to his children any more. One day, the

Once upon a time, inside a beautiful tulip a little girl as big as a lady’s thumb was born. She was a gift given by a witch to a woman who longed for a baby. The baby was beautiful and had a very sweet voice. The woman was very happy with the little girl and

Inside a dull tin box lay the gift that the little boy looked at with delight. There were twenty-five tin soldiers in it! They had uniforms painted red and blue, and stood upright with guns on their shoulders. How smart and handsome they looked!Then he saw that the last soldier stood on one leg. The

Deep in the blue ocean lived the Sea King with his three daughters. The youngest mermaid was the loveliest. She had found the statue of a handsome boy in a shipwreck and built a lovely garden around it.The sisters could go to the surface of the sea only when they were fifteen. And while the

Once upon a time, there lived an Emperor who was very vain about his appearance. He loved to wear new clothes and wasted all his time and money on them. He was not bothered about being a good ruler and looking after his people or the army or anything else. Most of his time was