The Sweathearts (Top and Ball)
by Hans Christian Andersen · from Collected Fairy Tales
Adapted Version
Once, there was a little Top. He lived in a toy box. He saw a pretty Ball. "Will you marry me?" asked the Top. The Ball was very proud. She had pretty leather. She did not answer. She thought, "I am too good."
The Boy came. He painted the Top red and yellow. The Top looked very nice. He spun around. "Look at me now!" said the Top. "Will you be my friend? I dance, you jump. We are good together."
The Ball said, "No. I am too good for you." She was still proud. "I have a bird friend. He flies high in the sky. He asks me to fly. I say yes in my heart."
The Boy took the Ball outside. She flew high. She flew very high. She came back. She flew high again. One day, she did not come back. She was gone.
The Top felt sad. He missed the Ball. He thought about her. He thought she was with the bird. He wanted her to come back. He thought of her often.
Many days passed. The Top got new paint. He was shiny and gold. He looked very grand. He spun and danced. One day, he jumped too high. He fell into an old, dark box.
In the box, the Top saw a Ball. She was old and dirty. She was wet. "I was once pretty," said the Ball. "I had nice leather. I had a bird friend. He flew high. I fell in here."
The Top looked at the Ball. He knew her. It was his Ball. She was old now. She was not pretty. She was worn out.
A person came. She saw the shiny Top. She picked him up. The Top was happy. He was clean. He was saved.
The Top looked at the old Ball. He felt a little sad. He thought, "Being kind is more important than being pretty." The Top went to a new home. He was happy. The old Ball stayed in the dark box.
Original Story
The sweathearts (Top and Ball)
A fairy tale by Hans Christian Andersen
A whipping top and a little ball lay together in a box, among other toys, and the top said to the ball, "Shall we be married, as we live in the same box?"
But the ball, which wore a dress of morocco leather, and thought as much of herself as any other young lady, would not even condescend to reply.
The next day came the little boy to whom the playthings belonged, and he painted the top red and yellow, and drove a brass-headed nail into the middle, so that while the top was spinning round it looked splendid.
"Look at me," said the top to the ball. "What do you say now? Shall we be engaged to each other? We should suit so well; you spring, and I dance. No one could be happier than we should be."
"Indeed! do you think so? Perhaps you do not know that my father and mother were morocco slippers, and that I have a Spanish cork in my body."
"Yes; but I am made of mahogany," said the top. "The major himself turned me. He has a turning lathe of his own, and it is a great amusement to him."
"Can I believe it?" asked the ball.
"May I never be whipped again," said the top, "if I am not telling you the truth."
"You certainly know how to speak for yourself very well," said the ball; "but I cannot accept your proposal. I am almost engaged to a swallow. Every time I fly up in the air, he puts his head out of the nest, and says, 'Will you?' and I have said, 'Yes,' to myself silently, and that is as good as being half engaged; but I will promise never to forget you."
"Much good that will be to me," said the top; and they spoke to each other no more.
Next day the ball was taken out by the boy. The top saw it flying high in the air, like a bird, till it would go quite out of sight. Each time it came back, as it touched the earth, it gave a higher leap than before, either because it longed to fly upwards, or from having a Spanish cork in its body. But the ninth time it rose in the air, it remained away, and did not return. The boy searched everywhere for it, but he searched in vain, for it could not be found; it was gone.
"I know very well where she is," sighed the top; "she is in the swallow's nest, and has married the swallow."
The more the top thought of this, the more he longed for the ball. His love increased the more, just because he could not get her; and that she should have been won by another, was the worst of all. The top still twirled about and hummed, but he continued to think of the ball; and the more he thought of her, the more beautiful she seemed to his fancy.
Thus several years passed by, and his love became quite old. The top, also, was no longer young; but there came a day when he looked handsomer than ever; for he was gilded all over. He was now a golden top, and whirled and danced about till he hummed quite loud, and was something worth looking at; but one day he leaped too high, and then he, also, was gone. They searched everywhere, even in the cellar, but he was nowhere to be found. Where could he be? He had jumped into the dust-bin, where all sorts of rubbish were lying: cabbage-stalks, dust, and rain-droppings that had fallen down from the gutter under the roof.
"Now I am in a nice place," said he; "my gilding will soon be washed off here. Oh dear, what a set of rabble I have got amongst!" And then he glanced at a curious round thing like an old apple, which lay near a long, leafless cabbage-stalk. It was, however, not an apple, but an old ball, which had lain for years in the gutter, and was soaked through with water.
"Thank goodness, here comes one of my own class, with whom I can talk," said the ball, examining the gilded top. "I am made of morocco," she said. "I was sewn together by a young lady, and I have a Spanish cork in my body; but no one would think it, to look at me now. I was once engaged to a swallow; but I fell in here from the gutter under the roof, and I have lain here more than five years, and have been thoroughly drenched. Believe me, it is a long time for a young maiden."
The top said nothing, but he thought of his old love; and the more she said, the more clear it became to him that this was the same ball.
The servant then came to clean out the dust-bin.
"Ah," she exclaimed, "here is a gilt top." So the top was brought again to notice and honor, but nothing more was heard of the little ball. He spoke not a word about his old love; for that soon died away. When the beloved object has lain for five years in a gutter, and has been drenched through, no one cares to know her again on meeting her in a dust-bin.
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Story DNA
Moral
Vanity and social pretensions can lead to missed opportunities and a lonely, diminished existence, and time erodes all superficial beauty.
Plot Summary
A humble top falls in love with a vain ball, who rejects his proposals due to her perceived social superiority and a 'half-engagement' to a swallow. The ball disappears during play, leading the top to pine for her for years, his love growing in her absence. After the top himself becomes gilded and then falls into a dust-bin, he encounters a wretched, water-soaked old ball who recounts her past, revealing herself to be his lost love. Upon being rescued and restored to honor, the top silently abandons the now-degraded ball, his love extinguished by her diminished state.
Themes
Emotional Arc
hopeful longing to disillusionment and regret
Writing Style
Narrative Elements
Cultural Context
Andersen often used personified objects to comment on human nature and societal norms of his time, including vanity and social climbing.
Plot Beats (10)
- A top proposes marriage to a ball in a toy box, but the ball, proud of her morocco leather and Spanish cork, dismisses him.
- The boy paints the top, making him splendid, and the top proposes again, highlighting their complementary natures.
- The ball rejects the top, claiming superior lineage and a 'half-engagement' to a swallow.
- The ball is taken out to play, flying high repeatedly, until one day she disappears permanently.
- The top, believing the ball married the swallow, pines for her, his love growing stronger in her absence.
- Years pass; the top is gilded, becoming golden and more magnificent, but eventually leaps too high and falls into a dust-bin.
- In the dust-bin, the top encounters a wretched, water-soaked old ball, who recounts her past, including her morocco leather, Spanish cork, and 'engagement' to a swallow.
- The top realizes this is his long-lost love, now aged and ruined.
- A servant finds the gilded top and rescues him, restoring him to honor.
- The top says nothing about the old ball, his love for her having vanished upon seeing her degraded state, and she is left behind in the dust-bin.
Characters
Top
Initially painted red and yellow with a brass-headed nail, later gilded all over
Hopeful, persistent, ultimately superficial
Ball
Made of morocco leather, containing a Spanish cork
Attire: Morocco leather dress
Proud, condescending, resigned
Swallow
Implied to be a typical swallow
Persistent, opportunistic
Boy
Not described
Attire: Not described
Playful, forgetful
Locations
Toy Box
A box filled with various toys, including a whipping top and a little ball.
Mood: Confined, intimate, potential for connection
The top and ball first meet and the top proposes marriage.
The Air
The open sky where the ball flies high, like a bird, almost out of sight.
Mood: Free, expansive, hopeful
The ball flies away and disappears, presumably to marry the swallow.
Dust-bin
A rubbish bin filled with cabbage-stalks, dust, and rain-droppings from the gutter.
Mood: Desolate, degraded, hopeless
The gilded top lands in the dust-bin and encounters the old, soaked ball.