The Drop of Water
by Hans Christian Andersen · from Collected Fairy Tales
Adapted Version
Look closely at a water drop. What do you think lives inside?
A special glass makes small things big. See tiny things in water. They are very busy. They move fast, fast, fast!
This is Old Mr. Kribble. He knows a little magic. He held his special glass. He looked at a drop of water. It came from a puddle.
Old Mr. Kribble was surprised. The tiny things moved so fast. They bumped into each other. They were not always friends. He watched them in the water.
Old Mr. Kribble wanted them to play nicely. He tried his magic. He wanted them to be kind. But it did not work. They still moved fast.
He put in special pink drops. It was magic liquid. Now the tiny things turned pink. They looked like The Little Pink Movers. They moved all around.
Then The Other Magician came. He had no name. "What do you see?" he asked. Old Mr. Kribble smiled. He held up the glass.
"Guess right, get a gift." The Other Magician looked. He thought for a moment.
The Other Magician looked close. He saw The Little Pink Movers. They moved very fast. They bumped into each other. They were not sharing.
But others were not fair. They were a little bit mean. They did not play nicely. It was a very busy place.
"I know what it is!" he said. "It is a very big town. People live there. They are all very busy. Yes, it is a big, busy town!"
Old Mr. Kribble smiled again. "No," he said. "It is not a big town. It is just a drop of water. From a little puddle!"
And so, Old Mr. Kribble showed us. No matter big or small. It is good to be kind. We must be kind to everyone. That is a good lesson.
Original Story
The drop of water
A fairy tale by Hans Christian Andersen
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? 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. But there they are, and it is no delusion. It almost looks like a great plateful of spiders jumping about in a crowd. And how fierce they are! They tear off each other's legs, and arms and bodies, before and behind; and yet they are merry and joyful in their way.
Now, there once was an old man whom all the people called Kribble-Krabble, for that was his name. He always wanted the best of everything, and when he could not manage it otherwise, he did it by magic.
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. But what a kribbling and krabbling was there! All the thousands of little creatures hopped and sprang and tugged at one another, and ate each other up.
"That is horrible!" said old Kribble-Krabble. "Can one not persuade them to live in peace and quietness, so that each one may mind his own business?" And he thought it over and over, but it would not do, and so he had recourse to magic. "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. And now the wonderful little creatures were pink all over. It looked like a whole town of naked wild men.
"What have you there?" asked another old magician, who had no name– and that was the best thing about him.
"Yes, if you can guess what it is," said Kribble-Krabble, "I'll make you a present of it." But it is not so easy to find out if one does not know.
And the magician who had no name looked through the magnifying-glass. It looked really like a great town reflected there, in which all the people were running about without clothes. It was terrible! But it was still more terrible to see how one beat and pushed the other, and bit and hacked, and tugged and mauled him. Those at the top were being pulled down, and those at the bottom were struggling upwards. "Look! look! his leg is longer than mine! Bah! Away with it! There is one who has a little bruise. It hurts him, but it shall hurt him still more." And they hacked away at him, and they pulled at him, and ate him up, because of the little bruise. And there was one sitting as still as any little maiden, and wishing only for peace and quietness. But now she had to come out, and they tugged at her, and pulled her about, and ate her up.
"That's funny!" said the magician.
"Yes; but what do you think it is?" said Kribble-Krabble. "Can you find that out?"
"Why, one can see that easily enough," said the other. "That's Paris, or some other great city, for they're all alike. It's a great city!"
"It's a drop of puddle water!" said Kribble-Krabble.
- * * * *
Story DNA
Moral
Humanity, when viewed objectively, often exhibits the same savage, self-serving, and destructive behaviors as the most primitive creatures.
Plot Summary
An old man named Kribble-Krabble uses a magnifying glass to observe a drop of puddle water, witnessing thousands of tiny, violent creatures constantly fighting and devouring each other. After failing to magically instill peace, he colors them pink with witches' blood, making their brutal interactions even more vivid. Another magician, challenged to identify the scene, observes the chaos and confidently declares it to be a bustling, cruel city like Paris, only for Kribble-Krabble to reveal it's merely a drop of water, satirically equating human society with microscopic savagery.
Themes
Emotional Arc
curiosity to disillusionment
Writing Style
Narrative Elements
Cultural Context
Andersen often used seemingly simple tales to comment on contemporary society, human nature, and social issues. This story reflects a cynical view of human behavior, comparing it to the primal struggle for survival seen in the microscopic world, a concept gaining scientific traction in the 19th century with advancements in microscopy.
Plot Beats (11)
- The narrator explains how a magnifying glass reveals tiny, violent creatures in a drop of pond water.
- Old Kribble-Krabble, a man who uses magic to get his way, observes a drop of puddle water with his magnifying glass.
- He is appalled by the constant fighting and eating among the microscopic creatures.
- Kribble-Krabble tries to magically make them live in peace, but it doesn't work.
- He adds witches' blood to color them pink, making them resemble 'naked wild men'.
- Another magician, 'who had no name', arrives and asks what Kribble-Krabble is looking at.
- Kribble-Krabble challenges him to guess, promising a gift if he succeeds.
- The unnamed magician looks through the glass, seeing the pink creatures fighting, pulling each other down, and eating the weak.
- He observes their petty cruelties, such as attacking one with a bruise or a peaceful maiden.
- The unnamed magician declares the scene to be Paris or another great city, as 'they're all alike'.
- Kribble-Krabble reveals it's only a drop of puddle water.
Characters
Kribble-Krabble
Old, uses a magnifying glass
Attire: Magician's robes (inferred from being a magician)
Curious, meddling, controlling
The magician who had no name
Not described, but assumed to be similar to Kribble-Krabble
Attire: Magician's robes (inferred from being a magician)
Observant, witty, insightful
The creatures in the water
Thousands of tiny, spider-like creatures, now pink
Attire: Naked
Fierce, aggressive, chaotic
Locations
Pond
A pond from which a drop of water is taken.
Mood: natural, source of life
The origin of the water drop observed under the magnifying glass.
Kribble-Krabble's Laboratory
Where the old man sits with his magnifying glass.
Mood: curious, experimental
The old man observes and manipulates the drop of water.
Drop of Puddle Water
A microscopic world teeming with creatures, now dyed pink with witches' blood.
Mood: violent, chaotic, miniature
The main setting where the creatures fight and devour each other, mirroring a city.