The Story of a Mother
"The Story of a Mother" is a story by the Danish poet, travel writer, short story writer and novelist Hans Christian Andersen. The tale was first published December 1847; the story has been made into films several times, adapted into an animated film using the stop-motion puppet technique. A mother has not slept for nights watching over her sick child; when she closes her eyes for just a moment, Death takes her child. The mother rushes into the street and asks a woman, Night, which way Death went. Night tells her to go into the forest, but first the mother must sing every lullaby that she has sung for her child. In the forest, a thorn bush tells her which way to continue, but only after she has warmed the bush by pressing it to her chest, causing her to bleed; the mother reaches a lake that carries her across in exchange for her eyes, which she cries out. The now blind mother reaches the greenhouse where Death cares for the flowers and trees, each one a human life. Here the mother finds the little sick plant, her child, recognizing it by the sound of its heartbeat.
The old woman who helps care for the greenhouse tells her, in exchange for her hair, that when Death comes, she must threaten to rip up the other flowers. Death will be afraid for he must answer to God. Death asks her to look into a well. Here she sees the futures of two children, one full of happiness and love, the other full of misery and despair, he says that one of these futures would be the future of her child, were it to live. The mother screams in fear, "Which is my child! Rather carry my child into God's kingdom than allow it to suffer such a life." Death says, "I do not understand. Do you want your child back or should I carry it away into the unknown?" And the mother wrings her hands, gets down on her knees, prays to God: "Do not listen to me when I ask against your will! Do not listen to me, do not listen to me, do not listen to me!" And Death leaves. Historien om en moder, a Danish film directed by Max Louw. Historien om en moder, a Danish film directed by Erik Mortensen and Jørgen Thoms.
"Ganbare mama", an episode of the Japanese anime series Andersen Monogatari, directed by Masami Hata. Historien om en moder, a Danish stop-motion animation film directed by Jørgen Vestergaard; the Story of a Mother, a Danish film directed by Claus Weeke. Death and the Mother, an English film directed by Ruth Lingford. Historia de una madre, a Mexican film directed by Erik Mariñelarena. Historien om en mor, a Danish TV movie directed by Svend Ploug Johansen; the Story of a Mother. An Italian short film directed by Alessandro De Vivo and Ivano di Natale; the Story of a Mother, a Danish graphic novel by Peter Madsen. "Die Geschichte einer Mutter", a song by Norwegian band Bel Canto from their 1992 album Shimmering and Bright. American metal band Revocation made a song, "Cradle Robber", from their 2011 album Chaos of Forms, inspired by the story. Death and the Mother Historien om en moder on IMDb Historien om en moder on IMDb Historia de una madre on IMDb Historien om en mor on IMDb The Story of a Mother comic by Peter Madsen English translation from "Andersen's Fairy Tales" The Mother and the Dead Child public domain audiobook at LibriVox
Christmas
Christmas is an annual festival, commemorating the birth of Jesus Christ, observed on December 25 as a religious and cultural celebration among billions of people around the world. A feast central to the Christian liturgical year, it is preceded by the season of Advent or the Nativity Fast and initiates the season of Christmastide, which in the West lasts twelve days and culminates on Twelfth Night. Christmas Day is a public holiday in many of the world's nations, is celebrated religiously by a majority of Christians, as well as culturally by many non-Christians, forms an integral part of the holiday season centered around it; the traditional Christmas narrative, the Nativity of Jesus, delineated in the New Testament says that Jesus was born in Bethlehem, in accordance with messianic prophecies. When Joseph and Mary arrived in the city, the inn had no room and so they were offered a stable where the Christ Child was soon born, with angels proclaiming this news to shepherds who further disseminated the information.
Although the month and date of Jesus' birth are unknown, the church in the early fourth century fixed the date as December 25. This corresponds to the date of the solstice on the Roman calendar. Most Christians celebrate on December 25 in the Gregorian calendar, adopted universally in the civil calendars used in countries throughout the world. However, some Eastern Christian Churches celebrate Christmas on December 25 of the older Julian calendar, which corresponds to a January date in the Gregorian calendar. For Christians, the belief that God came into the world in the form of man to atone for the sins of humanity, rather than the exact birth date, is considered to be the primary purpose in celebrating Christmas; the celebratory customs associated in various countries with Christmas have a mix of pre-Christian and secular themes and origins. Popular modern customs of the holiday include gift giving, completing an Advent calendar or Advent wreath, Christmas music and caroling, lighting a Christingle, viewing a Nativity play, an exchange of Christmas cards, church services, a special meal, pulling Christmas crackers and the display of various Christmas decorations, including Christmas trees, Christmas lights, nativity scenes, wreaths and holly.
In addition, several related and interchangeable figures, known as Santa Claus, Father Christmas, Saint Nicholas, Christkind, are associated with bringing gifts to children during the Christmas season and have their own body of traditions and lore. Because gift-giving and many other aspects of the Christmas festival involve heightened economic activity, the holiday has become a significant event and a key sales period for retailers and businesses; the economic impact of Christmas has grown over the past few centuries in many regions of the world. "Christmas" is a shortened form of "Christ's mass". The word is recorded as Crīstesmæsse in 1038 and Cristes-messe in 1131. Crīst is from Greek Khrīstos, a translation of Hebrew Māšîaḥ, "Messiah", meaning "anointed"; the form Christenmas was historically used, but is now considered archaic and dialectal. Xmas is an abbreviation of Christmas found in print, based on the initial letter chi in Greek Khrīstos, "Christ", though numerous style guides discourage its use.
In addition to "Christmas", the holiday has been known by various other names throughout its history. The Anglo-Saxons referred to the feast as "midwinter", or, more as Nātiuiteð. "Nativity", meaning "birth", is from Latin nātīvitās. In Old English, Gēola referred to the period corresponding to December and January, equated with Christian Christmas. "Noel" entered English in the late 14th century and is from the Old French noël or naël, itself from the Latin nātālis meaning "birth". The gospels of Luke and Matthew describe Jesus as being born in Bethlehem to the Virgin Mary. In Luke and Mary travel from Nazareth to Bethlehem for the census, Jesus is born there and laid in a manger. Angels proclaimed him a savior for all people, shepherds came to adore him. Matthew adds that the magi follow a star to Bethlehem to bring gifts to Jesus, born the king of the Jews. King Herod orders the massacre of all the boys less than two years old in Bethlehem, but the family flees to Egypt and returns to Nazareth.
The nativity stories recounted in Matthew and Luke prompted early Christian writers to suggest various dates for the anniversary. Although no date is indicated in the gospels, early Christians connected Jesus to the Sun through the use of such phrases as "Sun of righteousness." The Romans marked the winter solstice on December 25. The first recorded Christmas celebration was in Rome on December 25, 336. Christmas played a role in the Arian controversy of the fourth century. After this controversy was played out, the prominence of the holiday declined; the feast regained prominence after 800. Associating it with drunkenness and other misbehavior, the Puritans banned Christmas during the Reformation, it remained disreputable. In the early 19th century, Christmas was reconceived by Washington Irving, Charles Dickens, other authors as a holiday emphasizing family, kind-heartedness, gift-giving, Santa Claus. Christmas does not appear on th
The Fir-Tree
"The Fir-Tree" is a literary fairy tale by the Danish poet and author Hans Christian Andersen. The tale is about a fir tree so anxious to grow up, so anxious for greater things, that he cannot appreciate living in the moment; the tale was first published 21 December 1844 with "The Snow Queen", in Copenhagen, Denmark, by C. A. Reitzel. One scholar indicates that "The Fir-Tree" was the first of Andersen's fairy tales to express a deep pessimism. In the woods stands a little fir-tree, he is preoccupied with growing up and is embarrassed when a hare hops over him, an act which emphasizes his diminutiveness. The women call him the baby of the forest and again he is embarrassed and frustrated. A stork tells him of seeing older trees chopped down and used as ship masts, the little tree envies them. In the fall, nearby trees are felled and the sparrows tell the little fir-tree of seeing them decorated in houses. One day while still in his youth, the fir-tree is cut down for a Christmas decoration, he is bought, carried into a house, and, on Christmas Eve, glows with candles, colored apples and baskets of candy.
A gold star tops the tree. The children enter and plunder the tree of its candy and gifts listen to a little fat man tell the story of'Klumpe-Dumpe' "who fell down-stairs, yet was raised to high honours, obtained the princess's hand"; the next day, the fir-tree expects the festivities to be renewed, but servants take the tree down and carry him into the attic. The tree is lonely and disappointed, but the mice gather to hear the tree recite the tale of "Klumpe-Dumpe". Rats arrive and, when they belittle the simple tale, the mice leave and do not return. In the spring, the fir-tree – now withered and discolored – is carried into the yard. A boy takes the star from its topmost branch; the fir-tree is cut into pieces and burned. "The Fir-Tree" was published with "The Snow Queen" on 21 December 1844 by C. A. Reitzel, in Copenhagen, Denmark, in New Fairy Tales. First Volume. Second Collection.. The tale was republished 18 December 1849 as a part of Fairy Tales 1850 and again on 15 December 1862 as a part of Fairy Tales and Stories 1862.
The tale has since been printed around the world. Andersen promoted the tale by reading it aloud at social gatherings. In December 1845, he read "The Fir-Tree" and "The Ugly Duckling" to the Princess of Prussia, read "The Fir-Tree" at Count Bismarck-Bohlen's Christmas party. Folklorist Wilhelm Grimm liked the tale, according to Andersen's diary. Andersen's biographer, Jackie Wullschlager, suggests the tale portrays a certain psychological type who cannot be happy in the moment because he expects greater glory just around the corner and is overwhelmed with regret; the fir-tree, like his creator, is "a fantasist, fearful, afflicted with the trembling sensitivity of the neurotic, manically swinging from hope to misery." By placing the tale in a gentle, nonthreatening domestic setting of silk draperies and comfortable sofas, the tale's fatalistic tone was accepted by the bourgeois adult reader who could identify with the tragic fir-tree's anxious longing and limitless pining. Andersen had written tales with unhappy endings before but a new note was struck with "The Fir-Tree"—a note of "deeply ingrained pessimism, suggesting not only the mercilessness of fate but the pointlessness of life itself, that only the moment is worthwhile."
For the first time in his fairy tales, Andersen expressed an existential doubt that his religious beliefs could not allay. Such doubt was touched upon again in tales such as "Auntie Toothache" and "Old Johanna's Tale". Wullschlager believes the tale is an appropriate complement to Andersen's "The Snowman" of 1861; the tale was adapted to a 28-minute video format in 1979 by Huntingwood Films produced by Kevin Sullivan, directed by Martin Hunter and filmed at Black Creek Pioneer Village, Ontario, Canada. Jeff Kahnert provided the voice of the Fir-Tree; this was the first film produced by Kevin Sullivan who went on to write and produce the Anne of Green Gables movies. It was adapted as the sixteenth episode of The Fairytaler. In 2011, the story was again adapted as a short, Danish-language film directed by Lars Henrik Ostenfeld and presented in a modern setting; the story follows the tree from cone through seedling, until it is cut down by a boy and his father to be used as a Christmas tree. Unlike Andersen's tale, which ends with the burning of the tree, the film shows a cone from the tree surviving the fire and being thrown into the forest to grow into another fir tree.
In 2014, Janani Sreenivasan adapted her script "Pine" performed at the University of Iowa's No Shame Theatre in December 2006, into the short film "The Fir Tree", which she co-directed with Lee Jutton. In this version, we hear the tree's first-person account of being chopped down and attending its first Christmas party, which ends badly for all involved. List of works by Hans Christian Andersen "The Fir Tree" English translation by Jean Hersholt Grantræet Original Danish text The Fir-Tree on IMDb Grantræet at the Internet Movie Database
Golden Treasure
"Golden Treasure" is a literary fairy tale by Danish poet and author Hans Christian Andersen. There are children born with extraordinary qualities definite, this is the case of Peter, who has a great ability for music for the drum. Using it in the war when he grows up, accompanying him in his heart when is in love and too when his reputation grows, it lead to fame and wealth
The Little Match Girl
"The Little Match Girl" is a short story by Danish poet and author Hans Christian Andersen. The story, about a dying child's dreams and hope, was first published in 1845, it has been adapted to various media, including an animated short film, a television musical, an animated virtual reality story called "Allumette". On a freezing New Year's Eve a poor young girl and barefoot, tries to sell matches in the street. Afraid to go home because her father will beat her for failing to sell any matches, she huddles in the angle between two houses and lights matches to warm herself. In the flame of the matches she sees a series of comforting visions: a warm stove, a holiday feast, a magnificent Christmas tree. In the sky she sees a shooting star, which her late grandmother had told her means someone is on their way to Heaven. In the flame of the next match she sees her grandmother, the only person to have treated her with love and kindness. To keep the vision of her grandmother alive as long as possible, the girl lights the entire bundle of matches.
When the matches are gone the girl dies, her grandmother carries her soul to Heaven. The next morning, passers-by find the girl frozen, express pity, they do not know about the wonderful visions she had seen, or how happy she is with her grandmother in heaven. "The Little Match Girl" was first published December 1845, in Dansk Folkekalender for 1846. The work was re-published as a part of New Fairy Tales, Second Volume, Second Collection, again 18 December 1849 as a part of Fairy Tales; the work was published 30 March 1863 as a part of Fairy Tales and Stories, Second Volume. The Fairy Tale Forest of the amusement park Efteling in the Netherlands has a three-dimensional attraction showing the story of the Little Match Girl, called Het Meisje met de Zwavelstokjes. In this attraction, use is made of the pepper's ghost technique. In the episode 307 of Crayon Shin-chan, "Nene-chan is the Tragedy Heroine", the story inspires Nene-chan to play the Cinderella game with her friends. In Is the Order a Rabbit?, Sharo starts daydreaming while handing out flyers, humorously seeing it as a death flag when she connects her actions to the match girl.
Chapter 18 of the manga series Binbou Shimai Monogatari replays the tale of "The Little Match Girl", featuring the protagonists Asu and Kyou with a happy ending twist. In Chapter 24 of Love Hina, Su makes Shinobu dress up as a Little Red Riding Hood type and sell matches to raise some travelling money to Okinawa; when that plot fails and Shinobu starts to cry, a good number of passers-by are moved to tears and prepare to buy all her matches until the two girls are chased off by resident Yakuza. In the Japanese anime Gakuen Alice, the main character, Mikan Sakura puts on a play about The Little Match Girl to earn money. Episode 201 of Gin Tama, "Everybody's a Santa", parodies The Little Match Girl, where Yagyu Kyubei narrates a humorous retelling of the story, featuring Kagura as the eponymous title character, replacing match sticks with Shinpachi, a human punching bag. "Girl Who Doesn't Sell Matches But is Misfortunate Anyway" is the final episode of the 2010 anime series Ōkami-san, which draws inspiration from various fairy tales.
The episode features a character called Machiko Himura, based on the little match girl. "The Little Key Frames Girl", episode 11 of the anime Shirobako, humorously replays the whole match girl story from a more modern and lower stakes point of view. In "Christmas Osomatsu-san", episode 11 of the anime Osomatsu-san, Iyami humorously acts as The Little Match Girl, dying in the end. Match Shoujo, a manga by Sanami Suzuki, is being made into a live-action film starring Sumire Sato, as the title character. In "Let's Get Wiggy With It", episode 2 of the anime Bobobo-bo Bo-bobo, Don Patch humorously recites a story of him selling churros at Christmas time with no one buying, showing a Churro buried and covered in snow in the end, resembling death. In "Troupe Dragon, On Stage!", episode 10 of the anime Miss Kobayashi's Dragon Maid, the main characters decide to stage a performance of "The Little Match Girl" for a nursing home on Christmas. Throughout the episode, the characters add their own ideas to the story, to the point that the performance bears no resemblance to the original.
In "Yuri Yuri" Season 3 episode 10, Akari and Kyoko light matches to keep themselves warm when the Kotatsu does not work. They see visions of a turkey dinner, they both survive however. The cover art for chapter 43 of Komi-san wa, Komyushou Desu. Features Komi-san dressed up as the little match girl in a snowy street holding a lit match; the record "Charles Dickens: A Christmas Carol" published by Peter Pan Records features a reading on the B side. In issue #112 of Bill Willingham's Fables, The Little Match Girl is introduced to Rose Red as one of the paladins of the embodiment of Hope, ostensibly on the night that the girl is doomed to die; the child identifies herself as "the caretaker of hope deferred", braving the deadly cold and saving the meager pennies she earns towards the promise of a better life in the future, stubbornly denying that her death is close at hand. In 1954, Castle Films released a 16 mm English language version of a 1952 black and white French short live-action film. Instead of her grandmother, the Virgin Mary, whom the match girl
The Red Shoes (fairy tale)
"The Red Shoes" is a fairy tale by Danish poet and author Hans Christian Andersen first published by C. A. Reitzel in Copenhagen 7 April 1845 in New Fairy Tales. First Volume. Third Collection. 1845.. Other tales in the volume include "The Elf Mound", "The Jumpers", "The Shepherdess and the Chimney Sweep", "Holger Danske"; the tale was republished 18 December 1849 as a part of Fairy Tales. 1850. and again on 30 March 1863 as a part of Fairy Tales and Stories. Second Volume. 1863.. The story is about a girl forced to dance continually in her red shoes. "The Red Shoes" has seen adaptations in various media including film. A peasant girl named Karen is adopted by a rich old lady after her mother's death and grows up vain and spoiled. Before her adoption, Karen had a rough pair of red shoes. Karen is so enamored of her new shoes that she wears them to church, but the old lady scolds her: it's improper and she must only wear black shoes in church from now on, but next Sunday, Karen cannot resist the urge to put the red shoes on again.
As she is about to enter the church, she meets a mysterious old soldier with a red beard. "Oh, what beautiful shoes for dancing," the soldier says. "Never come off when you dance," he tells the shoes, he taps the sole of each with his hand. After church, Karen cannot resist taking a few dance steps, off she goes, as though the shoes controlled her, but she manages to take them off. One day, after her adoptive mother becomes ill, Karen leaves her alone and goes off to a ball in town in her red shoes, she begins to dance. They continue to dance and day, rain or shine, through fields and meadows, through brambles and briers that tear at Karen's limbs, she can't attend her adoptive mother's funeral. An angel appears to her, bearing a sword, condemns her to dance after she dies, as a warning to vain children everywhere. Karen begs for mercy but the red shoes take her away before she hears the angel's reply. Karen asks him to chop off her feet, he does so but the shoes continue to dance with Karen's amputated feet inside them.
The executioner gives her a pair of wooden feet and crutches, teaches her the criminals' psalm. Thinking that she has suffered enough for the red shoes, Karen decides to go to church so people can see her, yet her amputated feet, still in dance before her, barring the way. The following Sunday she tries again, thinking she is at least as good as the others in church, but again the dancing red shoes bar the way. Karen gets a job as a maid in the parsonage. Instead she sits alone at home and prays to God for help; the angel reappears, now bearing a spray of roses, gives Karen the mercy she asked for: her heart becomes so filled with sunshine and joy that it bursts. Her soul flies on sunshine to Heaven. Andersen named the story's anti-heroine Karen after his own loathed half-sister, Karen Marie Andersen; the origins of the story is based on an incident Andersen witnessed as a small child. His father, a shoemaker, was sent a piece of red silk by a rich lady to make a pair of dancing slippers for her daughter.
Using some red leather along with the silk, he created a pair of shoes only for the rich customer to tell him they were awful. She spoil her silk. To which his father replied, "In that case, I may as well spoil my leather too," and he cut up the shoes in front of her; the Red Shoes is a 1948 British feature film about ballet. The film tells the story of a young ballerina who joins an established ballet company and becomes the lead dancer in a new ballet called The Red Shoes, based on the fairy tale, her desire to dance conflicts with her need for love leading to her death. The Red Shoes was adapted as a ballet by the choreographer Matthew Bourne, premiered at Sadler's Wells Theatre London in December 2016. British singer-songwriter Kate Bush's seventh album, The Red Shoes, was named after Michael Powell's film and Andersen's fairy tale; the Red Shoes is a 2013 novel by John Stewart Wynne. It is a re-visioning of the story, set in contemporary New York City; the Red Shoes is a 2005 Korean horror film inspired by the fairy tale.
Barbie in the Pink Shoes is a 2013 Barbie movie loosely based on the fairy tale. "The Red Shoes" has been adapted by Kneehigh. "The Red Shoes" has been adapted by the Austin-based aerial arts collective Sky Candy into a cirque noir aerial ballet. It debuted May 2011 at the Vortex theater in Austin, Texas; the Supernatural episode, "Out with the Old", deals with a pair of cursed ballerina slippers. "The Red Shoes" is a flamenco fairytale - a flamenco music and dance adaptation by A'lante Dance Ensemble choreographed by Olivia Chacon "The Red Shoes" became an inspiration for a song of the same title, performed by South Korean singer IU, from her third studio album Modern Times. "The Red Shoes" was parodied in the 1951 Looney Tunes short, "The Wearing of the Grin". "The Red Shoes" are the apparent inspiration for the Dungeons & Dragons cursed item, "Boots of Dancing". "The Red Shoes" inspired Yuri's concept photo for Girls' Generation's third studio album The Boys. "The Dance of Death" is a novel by Jo Gibson featuring a pair of red shoes that grant the wearer a massive amount of talent but at a price.
The wearer is struck with a case of bad luck. At one point a girl al
