Chapter 15: The Little Match Girl

The war in the Norman Duchy never ended, and even on Chinese New Year's Eve, the final war was fought.

The city is lit up at twelve o'clock at midnight, which is what Dr. Andersen calls Chinese New Year's Eve, and in the bitter cold and darkness, the citizens of the city are still holding celebrations to celebrate the arrival of the new year.

Anyone can say that war has countless benefits for the people of the country, but the point of view is who are the people of the Norman principality.

The peasants and fishermen hated the war, but the burghers of the city, as well as the business class and even the knightly aristocracy, supported the duke's war, and they gained land, wealth, status and honor, even from the business class.

Prince William was always happy, because the people he was able to meet in Sanssouci were either great nobles or big merchants, and even the maids were from the city's well-to-do families.

Outside the window, there were catkins-like snowflakes, and the city was in a peaceful and peaceful atmosphere, white expanse, and white snowflakes were flying under the light of the magic stone of the carriage.

The Norman Duchy seemed to be unexpectedly cold at this time, especially the cold winds from the English Channel, and when the cold wave hit, the people in the streets had to be fully armed and wear thick cotton jackets to protect themselves.

The noble duke is still fighting outside at this time, and the seven fairies in the secret forest have been killed by the duke for two, and three have been defeated, and in terms of numbers alone, the victory of the duke's army seems to be close at hand, after all, this is a very simple math problem.

The regent of the Duchy, the brother-in-law of the duke, the cardinal of the Norman diocese, asked the residents of the city to celebrate Chinese New Year's Eve tonight, which is also a celebration of victory on the front line of the war.

"It smells so good!"

The little girl smelled the fragrance from the roast goose, looked at the snowflakes that kept drifting and she took a deep breath, then put her hand in front of her, and spit the hot breath on her arm, as if she wanted to give herself a little warmth, but this little warmth in her hand did not bring her the warmth she imagined, and after a while, when the warm breath dissipated, she felt colder at this time.

"Hell, it's so cold, but the Lord Regent has to hold a banquet in the castle, and it's hurting us."

"Who says it's not, such a big snow, it was only seven or eight feet thick a few days ago, and now it's raining a lot."

"The snow is still to come!"

"That's why the bishop told us to shovel snow, and it can't melt by the sun."

Two soldiers, dressed in thick clothes and carrying torches, walked through the city towards the palace, and one of them, as soon as he spoke, his nose began to run non-stop, and he looked miserable, as if he were going to flush out all the dirt.

As they walked down the street, neither of them noticed that there was a little girl walking barefoot on the road without a hat or shoes, and in fact they may have noticed, but they also selectively ignored the fact that many of the peasants who had been affected by the war had moved into the cities, and the business class was not necessarily rich, and some of them had gone bankrupt because of the war, and their families had fallen into poverty.

"Sir, all right, buy a box of matches, just a copper plate."

"Don't bother me, little thing."

"Sir, in such a cold weather, you should buy a box of matches."

"You're in my way."

"Beautiful lady, would you like to buy a box of matches?"

"What a smell, you stink!"

The little girl carried a wooden box with a matchbox and sold it to the passers-by, who either ignored or refused, or even quickened their pace when they saw her coming.

The little girl's heart was cold in an instant, and not a single match was sold, and if she went back like this, her father would have beaten her, and she did not want to go home, because her home was as cold as the city, and the cold wind blew through, and the holes in the house, even if they were covered with hay and rags, were still cold and useless.

The warmest place in the city is the luxurious house in the aristocratic quarter, the house is brightly lit, there is the smell of roast goose in it, and there is a large iron stove for heating, and the warmest house is the palace of the prince of this country, Sanssouci Palace.

Even as a little girl, she has heard of Sanssouci Palace and the happy prince in Sanssouci Palace, Sanssouci Palace is covered with carpets, whether it is day or night, it is so warm as spring under the power of magic, the lights are bright everywhere, and grand banquets are often held in the palace, according to the wandering little beggar next door, as long as the banquet is over, the next morning in the trash can outside the palace, you will definitely be able to find those nobles have not finished eating, this life can not eat delicious food.

I really envy the happy prince who is the same age as me. Although they had never met, the little girl longed for him, outside the palace of Sanssouci Palace, the soldiers braved the cold to guard outside, three strong black dogs were outside the door, licking the hot water, in order to avoid snow in Sanssouci Palace, the servants in the castle dug a small pit for the hot water of the bath to draw out.

She wanted to put her feet in the hot water, but she was cold and hungry at this time, and it would be nice if she could put her frozen feet in the cold water. She had been wearing a pair of slippers when she left home, just to avoid the speeding carriage, and hurried through the street and lost her, the shoes were very large, very large, they were originally worn by her mother, and I really didn't know how to face my mother.

One slipper was not found, but the other was taken away by a little boy, who told the other that her slippers were thrown around, so that she had to run back and forth, until she was tired of running and could no longer run, and had to give up, and the little boy who felt that he was not interested, said that when he had a child of his own, he would use the slippers as a cradle.

The little girl wanted to get close to the hot water, but the three big dogs who were licking the hot water saw the little girl's arrival, grinned and roared, and the little girl was so frightened that she fell to the ground, the wooden box fell to the ground, and the matchbox fell to the ground.

The little girl picked up the matchbox on the ground in a panic, picked up the match that had fallen on the ground and was stained with the mud of the snow box, carefully picked it up, and in the spirit of not wasting it, the little girl lit one of the matches.

The match burned, like the sun on the horizon, emitting a warm and bright light, like a candle, reflecting the world, at this time she felt infinite warmth, like sitting next to a big stove, at this time she was no longer cold, just when she wanted to stretch out her feet to keep warm, after a while, the match burned out, and the stove disappeared.

The little girl lit the second match, and she saw the warm room, with a sumptuous dinner on the table, stuffed with all kinds of food, delicious and tempting. The little girl was just about to pluck a chicken leg when the fire went out.

She hurriedly lit a third match, and the only grandmother who loved her appeared in the firelight, and she must have fallen asleep in her arms on such a snowy night when she was still alive.

Grandma was smiling and looking at the little girl at this time, and she was sitting under the beautiful Christmas tree, which was even bigger than the Christmas tree in Sanssouci Palace, and was even more decorated, and the little girl wanted to touch the Christmas tree, touch her grandmother's face, and couldn't wait to hug her grandmother's arms, but her eyelids were getting heavier and heavier, and her body had lost its strength, and she was going to die.

The candles from the Christmas tree rose higher and higher, higher and higher, and finally she felt that they were like stars in the sky. Then she saw a star fall, leaving a bright line of fire behind it.

"There is a man who is dying," thought the little girl, for her old grandmother, the only one who had ever loved her, is now dead, had told her that when a star fell in the sky, a soul on earth ascended to God.

It's just that what she didn't expect was that countless stars fell, forming a shower of meteors, could it be that countless people are going to God?

"No, it's the fall of the gods!" Andersen said as he looked at the meteor shower in the sky.

William stood outside Sanssouci Palace, looking at the little girl who was about to lose her life, with mixed feelings.

"Countless lives will be saved, the earth will have a good harvest, all people's diseases will be cured, and the lives that are about to die will be restored, because the whale will fall."

William looked at the sky, and he saw the most touching moment in the world, like the opening of heaven and earth, and the goddess brought this shattered land and country back to life at the cost of her own fall.

This is the deepest love of the Goddess for herself and for the countless creatures on this land and the earth.

Whale fall refers to the phenomenon of a whale sinking to the bottom of the sea after death. When a whale dies in the ocean, its carcass eventually sinks to the bottom of the ocean, a process that biologists have given the name of a whale fall. A whale carcass can support a circulatory system dominated by decomposers for up to 100 years.

The death of a god born as a Nymph has blessed the world.