The Rags
by Hans Christian Andersen · from Collected Fairy Tales
Adapted Version
Once, there were many old rags. They were in a big pile outside a paper mill. Two rags were special. The Soft Rag was one. The Strong Rag was the other.
The Soft Rag and The Strong Rag talked. They were different. The Strong Rag was very strong. The Soft Rag was very soft. They liked to talk about their homes.
The Strong Rag spoke first. 'I am strong!' it said. 'My home is big and strong. It has big rocks. I am like the rocks. I like my strong home. I am a strong rag.'
The Strong Rag said, 'My home is good. We have good things. We like our own ways. I like my home best. My home is good.'
The Soft Rag spoke then. 'I am soft,' it said. 'I am kind. I am gentle. I do not talk big. I am good inside. I like to be soft. I am a good rag.'
The Strong Rag did not like this. It moved away. It did not understand. They were very different. They moved apart.
Then, the rags went into the mill. The mill was big. It made new things. The rags changed. They became new, clean paper. It was a big change.
The Strong Rag became paper. A person wrote on it. He wrote kind words. He wrote to a nice girl. It was a happy message. The paper was good.
The Soft Rag became paper too. A person wrote on it. She wrote kind words. She wrote about a strong place. It was a happy song. The paper was good.
See? Even different rags can make happy paper. They help people share kind words. They help people be friends. This is a good thing. Everyone can be friends.
Original Story
The rags
A fairy tale by Hans Christian Andersen
Outside the paper mill, masses of rags lay piled in high stacks; they had been gathered from far and wide. Every rag had a tale to tell, and told it, too; but we can't listen to all of them. Some of the rags were native; others came from foreign countries.
Now here lay a Danish rag beside a rag from Norway; one was decidedly Danish, the other decidedly Norse, and that was the amusing part about the two, as any good Dane or Norwegian could tell you. They could understand each other well enough, though the two languages were as different, according to the Norwegian, as French and Hebrew. "We go to the hills for our language, and there get it pure and firsthand, while the Dane cooks up some sort of a suckling-sweet lingo!"
So the rags talked - and a rag is a rag in every land the world over; they are considered of no value except in the rag heap.
"I am Norse!" said the Norwegian. "And when I've said I'm Norse I guess I've said enough. I'm firm of fiber, like the ancient granite rocks of old Norway. The land up there has a constitution, like the free United States. It makes my fibers tingle to think what I am and to sound out my thoughts in words of granite!"
"But we have literature," said the Danish rag. "Do you understand what that is?"
"Understand?" repeated the Norwegian. "Lowland creature! Shall I give him a shove uphill and show him a northern light, rag that he is? When the sun of Norway has thawed the ice, then Danish fruit barges come up to us with butter and cheese - an eatable cargo, I grant you - but by way of ballast they bring Danish literature, too! We don't need the stuff. You don't need stale beer where fresh springs spout, and up there is a natural well that has never been tapped or been made known to Europeans by the cackling of newspapers, jobbers, and traveling authors in foreign countries. I speak freely from the bottom of my lungs, and the Dane must get used to a free voice. And so he will someday, when as a fellow Scandinavian he wants to cling to our proud mountain country, the summit of the world!"
"Now a Danish rag could never talk like that - never!" said the Dane. "It's not in our nature. I know myself, and all the other rags are like me. We're too good-natured, too unassuming; we think too little of ourselves. Not that we gain much by our modesty, but I like it; I think it's quite charming. Incidentally, I'm perfectly aware of my own good values, I assure you, but I don't talk about them; nobody can ever accuse me of that. I'm soft and easy going; bear everything patiently, envy nobody, and speak good of everybody - though there isn't much good to be said of most other people, but that's their business. I can afford to smile at them; I know I'm so gifted."
"Don't speak to me in that lowland, pasteboard language - it makes me sick!" said the Norwegian, as he caught a puff of wind and fluttered away from his own heap to another.
They both became paper; and, as it turned out, the Norwegian rag became a sheet on which a Norwegian wrote a love letter to a Danish girl, while the Danish rag became the manuscript for a Danish poem praising Norway's beauty and strength.
So something good may come even of rags when they have once come out of the rag heap and the change has been made into truth and beauty; they keep up understanding relations between us, and in that there is a blessing.
That is the story. It's rather amusing and offends no one - but the rags.
- * * * *
Story DNA
Moral
Even seemingly insignificant things, like rags, can be transformed into something beautiful and foster understanding between people, despite initial differences.
Plot Summary
Outside a paper mill, a proud Norwegian rag and a modest Danish rag engage in a conversation filled with nationalistic boasting and subtle self-assertion. The Norwegian rag dismisses Danish culture, while the Danish rag humbly defends its own nature. Despite their initial friction, both rags are eventually transformed into paper. The Norwegian rag becomes a love letter from a Norwegian to a Danish girl, and the Danish rag becomes a poem praising Norway, ultimately demonstrating how even discarded things can foster understanding and beauty between different cultures.
Themes
Emotional Arc
conflict to harmony
Writing Style
Narrative Elements
Cultural Context
Hans Christian Andersen often used anthropomorphism to comment on societal issues. The rivalry and distinct identities of Denmark and Norway were a relevant topic in the 19th century following Norway's separation from Denmark.
Plot Beats (10)
- Rags from many places are piled outside a paper mill, including Danish and Norwegian ones.
- The Danish and Norwegian rags begin to talk, immediately highlighting their perceived national differences in language and character.
- The Norwegian rag proudly declares its Norse identity, comparing itself to granite and boasting about Norway's constitution and pure language.
- The Norwegian rag dismisses Danish literature as unnecessary ballast, preferring Norway's 'fresh springs' of culture.
- The Danish rag responds by describing its own good-natured, unassuming, and modest character, while subtly acknowledging its own inherent value.
- The Norwegian rag expresses disdain for the Danish rag's 'lowland, pasteboard language' and physically separates itself.
- Both rags are processed and transformed into paper.
- The Norwegian rag becomes a sheet for a Norwegian's love letter to a Danish girl.
- The Danish rag becomes the manuscript for a Danish poem praising Norway's beauty and strength.
- The narrator concludes that good can come from rags when transformed, fostering understanding and blessing.
Characters
The Danish Rag
Soft, easy-going
Attire: Torn and faded remnants of Danish peasant clothing, likely linen or wool
Modest, good-natured, unassuming, self-aware but not boastful
The Norwegian Rag
Firm of fiber, like granite
Attire: Torn and faded remnants of Norwegian clothing, likely thick wool
Proud, outspoken, nationalistic, independent
Locations
Rag Heap outside the Paper Mill
High stacks of rags gathered from far and wide, some native, others foreign.
Mood: Desolate, undervalued, conversational
The Danish and Norwegian rags engage in a nationalistic argument.
Sheet of Paper (Formerly Norwegian Rag)
A blank sheet ready to be written on.
Mood: Neutral, potential for beauty
A Norwegian writes a love letter to a Danish girl on the paper.
Manuscript (Formerly Danish Rag)
A manuscript filled with a poem.
Mood: Creative, appreciative
A Danish poem praising Norway's beauty and strength is written on the paper.