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Fairy Tales of Hans Christian Andersen

H. C. Andersen · Public domain text

370,864 words · about 25 h 58 min to read

About this edition

The text of Fairy Tales of Hans Christian Andersen comes from Project Gutenberg e-text #27200. It is in English and public domain in the United States. Project Gutenberg’s header and license text are removed, and RedLectern sets the text out for reading on screen; no words of the book are rewritten or summarized. More formats (EPUB, Kindle) · How RedLectern is built

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Contents (125)
  1. Opening about 2 min
  2. A STORY about 7 min
  3. BY THE ALMSHOUSE WINDOW about 3 min
  4. THE ANGEL about 4 min
  5. ANNE LISBETH about 24 min
  6. BEAUTY OF FORM AND BEAUTY OF MIND about 12 min
  7. THE BEETLE WHO WENT ON HIS TRAVELS about 13 min
  8. THE BELL about 8 min
  9. THE BELL-DEEP about 5 min
  10. THE BIRD OF POPULAR SONG about 5 min
  11. THE BISHOP OF BORGLUM AND HIS WARRIORS about 10 min
  12. THE BOTTLE NECK about 18 min
  13. THE BUCKWHEAT about 3 min
  14. THE BUTTERFLY about 4 min
  15. A CHEERFUL TEMPER about 7 min
  16. THE CHILD IN THE GRAVE about 7 min
  17. CHILDREN'S PRATTLE about 3 min
  18. THE FARM-YARD COCK AND THE WEATHER-COCK about 4 min
  19. THE DAISY about 6 min
  20. THE DARNING-NEEDLE about 5 min
  21. DELAYING IS NOT FORGETTING about 4 min
  22. THE DROP OF WATER about 2 min
  23. THE DRYAD about 33 min
  24. JACK THE DULLARD about 10 min
  25. THE ELF OF THE ROSE about 8 min
  26. THE ELFIN HILL about 10 min
  27. THE EMPEROR'S NEW SUIT about 7 min
  28. THE FIR TREE about 14 min
  29. THE FLAX about 7 min
  30. THE FLYING TRUNK about 9 min
  31. THE SHEPHERD'S STORY OF THE BOND OF FRIENDSHIP about 14 min
  32. THE GIRL WHO TROD ON THE LOAF about 10 min
  33. THE GOBLIN AND THE HUCKSTER about 6 min
  34. THE GOLDEN TREASURE about 13 min
  35. THE GOLOSHES OF FORTUNE about 43 min
  36. SHE WAS GOOD FOR NOTHING about 13 min
  37. GRANDMOTHER about 3 min
  38. A GREAT GRIEF about 3 min
  39. THE HAPPY FAMILY about 5 min
  40. A LEAF FROM HEAVEN about 4 min
  41. HOLGER DANSKE about 7 min
  42. IB AND LITTLE CHRISTINA about 20 min
  43. THE ICE MAIDEN about 1 h 22 min
  44. THE JEWISH MAIDEN about 8 min
  45. THE JUMPER about 3 min
  46. THE LAST DREAM OF THE OLD OAK about 9 min
  47. THE LAST PEARL about 4 min
  48. LITTLE CLAUS AND BIG CLAUS about 19 min
  49. THE LITTLE ELDER-TREE MOTHER about 12 min
  50. LITTLE IDA'S FLOWERS about 12 min
  51. THE LITTLE MATCH-SELLER about 4 min
  52. THE LITTLE MERMAID about 39 min
  53. LITTLE TINY OR THUMBELINA about 18 min
  54. LITTLE TUK about 7 min
  55. THE LOVELIEST ROSE IN THE WORLD about 3 min
  56. THE MAIL-COACH PASSENGERS about 7 min
  57. THE MARSH KING'S DAUGHTER about 1 h 4 min
  58. THE METAL PIG about 18 min
  59. THE MONEY-BOX about 4 min
  60. Introduction about 55 min
  61. THE NEIGHBOURING FAMILIES about 15 min
  62. THE NIGHTINGALE about 15 min
  63. THERE IS NO DOUBT ABOUT IT about 4 min
  64. IN THE NURSERY about 5 min
  65. THE OLD BACHELOR'S NIGHTCAP about 21 min
  66. THE OLD CHURCH BELL about 9 min
  67. THE OLD GRAVE-STONE about 5 min
  68. THE OLD HOUSE about 13 min
  69. WHAT THE OLD MAN DOES IS ALWAYS RIGHT about 9 min
  70. THE OLD STREET LAMP about 12 min
  71. OLE-LUK-OIE, THE DREAM-GOD about 17 min
  72. OLE THE TOWER-KEEPER about 17 min
  73. OUR AUNT about 10 min
  74. THE GARDEN OF PARADISE about 23 min
  75. THE PEA BLOSSOM about 6 min
  76. THE PEN AND THE INKSTAND about 4 min
  77. THE PHILOSOPHER'S STONE about 24 min
  78. THE PHOENIX BIRD about 2 min
  79. THE PORTUGUESE DUCK about 9 min
  80. THE PORTER'S SON about 30 min
  81. POULTRY MEG'S FAMILY about 22 min
  82. THE PRINCESS AND THE PEA about 2 min
  83. THE PSYCHE about 20 min
  84. THE PUPPET-SHOW MAN about 7 min
  85. THE RACES about 5 min
  86. THE RED SHOES about 10 min
  87. EVERYTHING IN THE RIGHT PLACE about 13 min
  88. A ROSE FROM HOMER'S GRAVE about 2 min
  89. THE SNAIL AND THE ROSE-TREE about 4 min
  90. A STORY FROM THE SAND-HILLS about 56 min
  91. THE SAUCY BOY about 3 min
  92. THE SHADOW about 21 min
  93. THE SHEPHERDESS AND THE SHEEP about 7 min
  94. THE SILVER SHILLING about 8 min
  95. THE SHIRT-COLLAR about 4 min
  96. THE SNOW MAN about 8 min
  97. THE SNOW QUEEN about 52 min
  98. THE SNOWDROP about 6 min
  99. SOMETHING about 12 min
  100. SOUP FROM A SAUSAGE SKEWER about 24 min
  101. THE STORKS about 8 min
  102. THE STORM SHAKES THE SHIELD about 7 min
  103. THE STORY OF A MOTHER about 9 min
  104. THE SUNBEAM AND THE CAPTIVE about 2 min
  105. THE SWAN'S NEST about 2 min
  106. THE SWINEHERD about 6 min
  107. THE THISTLE'S EXPERIENCES about 6 min
  108. THE THORNY ROAD OF HONOR about 7 min
  109. IN A THOUSAND YEARS about 3 min
  110. THE BRAVE TIN SOLDIER about 7 min
  111. THE TINDER-BOX about 12 min
  112. THE TOAD about 12 min
  113. THE TOP AND BALL about 4 min
  114. THE TRAVELLING COMPANION about 31 min
  115. TWO BROTHERS about 3 min
  116. TWO MAIDENS about 3 min
  117. THE UGLY DUCKLING about 16 min
  118. UNDER THE WILLOW-TREE about 26 min
  119. IN THE UTTERMOST PARTS OF THE SEA about 4 min
  120. WHAT ONE CAN INVENT about 5 min
  121. THE WICKED PRINCE about 4 min
  122. THE WILD SWANS about 46 min
  123. THE STORY OF THE WIND about 18 min
  124. THE WINDMILL about 4 min
  125. THE STORY OF THE YEAR about 14 min

The opening of A STORY

In the garden all the apple-trees were in blossom. They had hastened to bring forth flowers before they got green leaves, and in the yard all the ducklings walked up and down, and the cat too: it basked in the sun and licked the sunshine from its own paws. And when one looked at the fields, how beautifully the corn stood and how green it shone, without comparison! and there was a twittering and a fluttering of all the little birds, as if the day were a great festival; and so it was, for it was Sunday. All the bells were ringing, and all the people went to church, looking cheerful, and dressed in their best clothes. There was a look of cheerfulness on everything. The day was so warm and beautiful that one might well have said: "God's kindness to us men is beyond all limits." But inside the church the pastor stood in the pulpit, and spoke very loudly and angrily. He said that all men were wicked, and God would punish them for their sins, and that the wicked, when they died, would be cast into hell, to burn for ever and ever.

Read on in Part 1 →