The Knight from the Fairytales-Chapter 18: Different Types of Fairy Tale Protagonists

After getting Aurora to sleep, Beihai helped tuck her in properly.
He could sense that Aurora had already begun to change. This little one wanted to venture out on her own adventures, to see the world, and perhaps even save it along the way.
After all, most of the stories Beihai told were about heroes battling demons—scenes of worlds on the brink of destruction, where heroes gathered companions and embarked on epic journeys.
In contrast, what this world's princess knew best was waiting for a prince to rescue her.
"I might have caused some trouble here. Well, whatever. With twelve blessings and protections, it'd be a waste if she didn't go out and make something of herself. I look forward to your adventures, little one. I hope your story will be passed down through generations."
Finally, Beihai gently patted Aurora's head. It was time for him to leave—whether for the witch's sake or to fulfill his promise to the Green Knight.
Things were different now. He needed to find that castle within a year.
Beihai immediately sought an audience with the King, then retrieved the Golden Scale Dragon from the royal treasury, tucking it into his chest pocket.
This departure wasn't marked by any grand celebration. Only the King himself came to hold Beihai's horse, presenting him with a set of knight's armor.
"You refuse gold and status, so I must give you something. This is armor crafted by our kingdom's finest artisans. I hope you will accept it."
"Your Majesty, you're always so formal."
"To be honest, I'd prefer to be greedy and argue, but you never want anything. I need to repay this debt somehow."
The King spoke these words with a smile, then gave the horse's rump a pat.
Beihai didn't say much more, leaving only one promise—that he would help lift the princess's curse.
As Beihai departed, he began traveling through this world once more.
Sometimes he'd help an elderly woman cross the street, other times assist in building houses, doing whatever good deeds he could manage to earn some meager attribute points.
During this time, Beihai inquired about the Green Chapel, deliberately avoiding asking about witches.
Because whenever he tried to forget, the memory of that promise and wager would resurface in his mind, compelling him to resolve the Green Chapel matter first.
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Fortunately, with help and guidance from animals, Beihai located the Green Chapel.
Finally, as winter approached on Christmas Eve, Beihai rode his horse into a city.
It was here that Beihai encountered the protagonist of a story.
A little girl—not a princess by any means, from a family situation that could only be described as wretched. If Little Red Riding Hood preserved her childish innocence while having a loving mother and grandmother...
Then this little girl, this Little Match Girl, had nothing left but her childish innocence.
A poverty-stricken home with drafty walls, a cruel father who beat his child at the slightest provocation, and an indifferent, heartless society.
This little girl never experienced family warmth. The only person who treated her kindly was an elderly woman, but unfortunately, that woman had long since passed away.
In this freezing snowy weather, all she could do—what her family forced her to do—was sell matches.
This royal capital was quite unusual. The King here preferred self-deception, and his rule wasn't as ideal as one might hope. Some ministers proposed that if begging wasn't allowed on the streets, then it would be as if there were no beggars. No beggars would prove the capital remained prosperous.
Begging was forbidden, and anyone caught begging would be thrown in jail. So the local homeless devised various methods.
One approach was street performance—taking a broken instrument and creating noise pollution, claiming to be artists performing for money.
Another method was selling small items like tissues or matches, so if caught, they could claim to be merchants selling goods rather than beggars.
Which meant that in the story of the Little Match Girl, selling matches one by one was essentially a form of begging.
This disguised begging couldn't fool anyone locally—everyone knew it was begging—but there was nothing to be done about it.
Beihai walked up to the little girl, who immediately displayed the matches in her hand, accompanied by the child's innocent smile.
She seemed to be trying her hardest to make a sale.
At a glance, the little girl carried many bundles of matches wrapped in an old apron, yet no one had given her a single copper coin.
She could only walk on, cold and hungry, sometimes gazing at the light shining from windows by the roadside, but only able to look.
She had no shoes on her feet. When the little girl left home, she had been wearing slippers—her mother's shoes, far too large and ill-fitting.
When she hurried across the street earlier, two carriages came rushing by, causing her to lose both slippers in her panic. One she couldn't find anywhere.
The other was picked up by a boy who said that when he had children someday, he could use it as a cradle.
That boy was only thinking about how the little girl wore ill-fitting shoes and wanted to tease her—not actually planning to use the slipper as a cradle.
Now the little girl could only walk barefoot, her small feet frozen blue and red.
She didn't dare return home either. She hadn't sold any matches, and she'd lost her shoes. Going back would mean a severe beating.
This was a completely different kind of protagonist from what Beihai had encountered before—not a princess, without a good family environment, where no one would help her despite her kindness.
Beihai took out several gold coins and placed them in the little girl's hand, then bundled up all her matches.
"It's so cold out—you should head back quickly. I'll buy all these matches."
Actually, in Hans Christian Andersen's fairy tales, death appears everywhere. Among his 166 fairy tales,
approximately 40 involve death. Besides the Little Match Girl, the most famous examples include "The Little Mermaid" and "Under the Willow Tree," among others, all ending with characters' deaths.
Most importantly, this cannot be ignored—it's inextricably linked to the era in which they were written.
The authors must have witnessed such scenes personally, or there were many such poor souls freezing to death during their time.
Even the smiling expression could be a symptom of hypothermia.
And in the final stages of hypothermia, victims often remove their clothing, so this dignified ending could be considered the author's mercy...
The little girl's reddened hands now held gold coins, but she grew frantic, desperately searching through her tattered dress until tears nearly spilled from her eyes.
Soon her movements stilled as Beihai's hand gently grasped hers.
"Don't look for change. It's all yours."
"This won't do, it's not right. The matches aren't worth this much."
Despite everything she'd experienced—her unfortunate family background, society's cruelty, life's hardships—the little girl's innocence remained intact.
Beihai didn't speak further. He felt that if he let this little girl run back on her own, she might not make it home safely.
If she could lose her shoes so easily, this naive child might not be able to protect the gold coins either.
Beihai could only temporarily change his plans. He picked up the little girl, then cupped her freezing small feet in his hands.