Beautiful by Hans Christian Andersen. Short summary

5 seconds

A sculptor fell in love with a beautiful but silly young lady. When he married, he saw that he had made a mistake. When his wife died, he married her friend, not as beautiful, but intelligent and educated.

1 minute

Alfred the sculptor was invited to a dinner party. An incredibly silly widow was sitting there. But she was accompanied by a very beautiful daughter. She was mostly silent and sighing.

Alfred decided that Kala was embarrassed by her mother’s stupidity. He fell in love with the beauty and soon married her.

His mother did not leave the newlyweds and went with them to Italy. But gradually Alfred realized that his wife could only be admired, sweetened, but not spoken to. In intelligence, Cala was just like her mother. In addition, neither knew how to run a household.

When all three returned to Denmark, Kala’s friend Sophie came to visit. Her wife thought she was crooked, but that was just her «best friend’s» opinion. Alfred saw that Sophie was not a dazzling beauty, though she was not devoid of cuteness. But he found it pleasant and interesting to talk to her.

He saw that he and Sophie were kindred spirits. He began to compare his wife to an empty case. Soon Kala died.

Alfred married Sophie. It was a happy marriage. After all, the couple had fun in each other’s company.