On a cold New Year’s Eve, a poor girl tries to sell matches in the street. She is freezing badly, but she is afraid to go home because her father will beat her for not selling any matches. She takes shelter in a nook and lights the matches to warm herself.

In their glow, she sees several lovely visions including a Christmas tree and a holiday feast. The girl looks skyward and sees a shooting star, then she remembers her dead grandmother saying that such a falling star means someone has died and is going into Heaven. As she lights the next match, she sees a vision of her grandmother, the only person to have treated her with love and kindness. She strikes one match after another to keep the vision of her grandmother alive for as long as she can.

Running out of matches, the child dies and her grandmother carries her soul to Heaven. The next morning, passers-by find the child dead in the nook and take pity on her, not knowing that she had left this world and will not be cold or hungry any more.

在一个寒冷的除夕,一个可怜的女孩在街上卖火柴。她是很冷,但她不敢回家,一整天也没卖出一根火柴，没赚到一分钱。她会被父亲打骂。她在角落和点燃了火柴取暖。

在他们的光芒,她看到一些可爱的愿景包括一棵圣诞树和一个节日盛宴。这个女孩看起来向上,看到流星,然后她记得她死去的祖母说,这样一个流星意味着有人去世了,并将进入天堂。当她点燃了下一根火柴,她看到她的祖母,唯一的对她好的人。她点燃了一根有一根火柴保持住她祖母的幻像。

火柴烧完了,孩子死了,她的祖母把她的灵魂升入天堂。第二天早上,路人发现孩子死在角落和怜悯她,但他们不知道她已经离开了这个世界,不会冷或饿了。