Andersen's Fairy Tales

Andersen's Fairy Tales by H. C. Andersen

The Tinder Box (1835)

The first of Hans Christian Andersen's stories to be published, the story is about a penniless soldier who retrieves an old tinder box (a box containing materials to light a fire) that grants him all his wishes. After owning three chests of copper, silver, and gold, the soldier settles in style in the city. But it takes the three dogs guarding each of the chests to overcome royal objections to him marrying the beautiful princess.



Little Claus and Big Claus (1835)

This story is a variant of an old Norse folk tale in which the poor but clever Little Claus manages to outwit his rich and very silly neighbor, Big Claus. No matter how hard Big Claus tries to duplicate Little Claus's amazing hits, he fails comically. As Little Clause ends up with several wheelbarrows full of money and a herd of cattle, Big Claus ends up being thrown into a river.



The Princess and the Pea (1835)

A prince is firmly determined to marry a princess, and only a genuine princess will. His clever mother, the queen, knows that only a true princess would be sensitive enough to feel the contours of a pea under many mattresses and comforters. When a princess enters the palace drenched in a storm, the queen makes the girl sleep on a pile of mattresses, under which a pea has been placed. In the morning, the princess reports that she was unable to sleep due to the lump in her bed. Satisfied, the prince marries her.



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