--- title: The Drop of Water — Fairy Tales of Hans Christian Andersen · full text with trees description: The Drop of Water, «Fairy Tales of Hans Christian Andersen» by H. C. Andersen: the whole chapter, every sentence with its dependency tree and pragmatics. It begins: Of course you know what is meant by a magnifying glass--one of those round spectacle-glasses that make everything look a hundred times --- [Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) · [this page in HTML](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg27200/23/) [home](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) / [corpora](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/) / [tales](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/) / [Fairy Tales of Hans Christian Andersen](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg27200/) / The Drop of Water # The Drop of Water The Drop of Water of «Fairy Tales of Hans Christian Andersen» by H. C. Andersen: the whole text, 40 sentences and 606 words. Every sentence has its own page with its syntax tree and pragmatics, parsed by Mova itself; 2 of them are in the tales treebank and were checked by a teacher model. - [1](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg27200/23/1/) — Of course you know what is meant by a magnifying glass--one of those round spectacle-glasses that make everything look a hundred times bigger than it is? - [2](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg27200/23/2/) — When any one takes one of these and holds it to his eye, and looks at a drop of water from the pond yonder, he sees above a thousand wonderful creatures that are otherwise never discerned in the water. - [3](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg27200/23/3/) — But there they are, and it is no delusion. - [4](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg27200/23/4/) — It almost looks like a great plateful of spiders jumping about in a crowd. - [5](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg27200/23/5/) — And how fierce they are! - [6](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg27200/23/6/) — They tear off each other's legs and arms and bodies, before and behind; and yet they are merry and joyful in their way. - [7](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg27200/23/7/) — Now, there once was an old man whom all the people called Kribble-Krabble, for that was his name. - [8](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg27200/23/8/) — He always wanted the best of everything, and when he could not manage it otherwise, he did it by magic. - [9](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg27200/23/9/) — There he sat one day, and held his magnifying-glass to his eye, and looked at a drop of water that had been taken out of a puddle by the ditch. - [10](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg27200/23/10/) — But what a kribbling and krabbling was there! - [11](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg27200/23/11/) — All the thousands of little creatures hopped and sprang and tugged at one another, and ate each other up. - [12](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg27200/23/12/) — "That is horrible!" said old Kribble-Krabble. " - [13](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg27200/23/13/) — Can one not persuade them to live in peace and quietness, so that each one may mind his own business?" - [14](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg27200/23/14/) — And he thought it over and over, but it would not do, and so he had recourse to magic. - [15](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg27200/23/15/) — "I must give them color, that they may be seen more plainly," said he; and he poured something like a little drop of red wine into the drop of water, but it was witches' blood from the lobes of the ear, the finest kind, at ninepence a drop. - [16](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg27200/23/16/) — And now the wonderful little creatures were pink all over. - [17](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg27200/23/17/) — It looked like a whole town of naked wild men. - [18](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg27200/23/18/) — "What have you there?" asked another old magician, who had no name--and that was the best thing about him. - [19](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg27200/23/19/) — "Yes, if you can guess what it is," said Kribble-Krabble, "I'll make you a present of it." - [20](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg27200/23/20/) — But it is not so easy to find out if one does not know. - [21](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg27200/23/21/) — And the magician who had no name looked through the magnifying-glass. — checked by a teacher - [22](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg27200/23/22/) — It looked really like a great town reflected there, in which all the people were running about without clothes. - [23](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg27200/23/23/) — It was terrible! - [24](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg27200/23/24/) — But it was still more terrible to see how one beat and pushed the other, and bit and hacked, and tugged and mauled him. — checked by a teacher - [25](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg27200/23/25/) — Those at the top were being pulled down, and those at the bottom were struggling upwards. - [26](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg27200/23/26/) — "Look! look! his leg is longer than mine! - [27](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg27200/23/27/) — Bah! - [28](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg27200/23/28/) — Away with it! - [29](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg27200/23/29/) — There is one who has a little bruise. - [30](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg27200/23/30/) — It hurts him, but it shall hurt him still more." - [31](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg27200/23/31/) — And they hacked away at him, and they pulled at him, and ate him up, because of the little bruise. - [32](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg27200/23/32/) — And there was one sitting as still as any little maiden, and wishing only for peace and quietness. - [33](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg27200/23/33/) — But now she had to come out, and they tugged at her, and pulled her about, and ate her up. - [34](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg27200/23/34/) — "That's funny!" said the magician. - [35](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg27200/23/35/) — "Yes; but what do you think it is?" said Kribble-Krabble. " - [36](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg27200/23/36/) — Can you find that out?" - [37](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg27200/23/37/) — "Why, one can see that easily enough," said the other. " - [38](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg27200/23/38/) — That's Paris, or some other great city, for they're all alike. - [39](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg27200/23/39/) — It's a great city!" - [40](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg27200/23/40/) — "It's a drop of puddle water!" said Kribble-Krabble. - ← previous: [Delaying Is Not Forgetting](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg27200/22/) - next →: [The Dryad, part 1](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg27200/24/) - ↑ back to [Fairy Tales of Hans Christian Andersen](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg27200/)