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The Drop of Water

A tale from Fairy Tales of Hans Christian Andersen

This reader is drawn from Hans Christian Andersen's Fairy Tales, published throughout the mid-nineteenth century. Andersen, the Danish writer, is best known for tales like 'The Little Mermaid' and 'The Ugly Duckling,' but he also wrote sharp, unsentimental allegories like this one. 'The Drop of Water' is a parable about human society, competition and the observer's role in interpretation. The final reversal—when what appears to be a city is revealed to be a drop of water—invites the reader to ask whether there is any meaningful difference between the two. This text is worth reading because it compresses a large philosophical question into a brief, memorable image, and because Andersen refuses to answer the question for you. This text reflects its era; a few period terms have been modernised.

Band

Red · Complex language and analysisTypical starting range: ages 15–17

Length

long · about 1020 words in 4 sections · 2 pictures

Source

Fairy Tales of Hans Christian Andersen, H. C. Andersen

First published

see the About page in the reader

Regions

Canada · United States

Included formats

• · Web reader and PDF
• · EPUB for e-readers
• · Home-print sheet
• · Folded booklet
• · Binder edition (8.5 × 11)
• · Worksheet
• · Quick Check (11 questions) with answer key
• · Read-aloud script
• · Teacher’s Edition (members)

Readers are engineered from the original public-domain text with AI under HummingRead’s published canon and Content Philosophy, checked by automated audit and sampled by a person. Pictures are made with AI to HummingRead’s brief for each story. How a reader is made.

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